Ivory Joe Hunter - Blues & Rhythm Series 5113: The Chronological Ivory Joe Hunter 1950-1951

Size: 327 MB
Time: 71:36
File: FLAC
Released: 2004
Styles: Blues, R&B
Art: Full

01. Living A Lie (2:52)
02. Don't You Believe Her (2:46)
03. Old Man's Boogie (3:03)
04. Don't Make Me Cry (3:08)
05. You Thrill Me (2:55)
06. I Can't Resist You (2:45)
07. Sorta Need You (2:48)
08. It's A Sin (3:11)
09. I Ain't Got No Gal No More (3:09)
10. Wrong Woman Blues (2:41)
11. Time Has Passed (3:00)
12. I'm Yours 'Til Eternity (2:55)
13. When I Lost You (2:50)
14. Is My Pop In There? (2:41)
15. Tell Her For Me (3:13)
16. You Lied (3:21)
17. I Get That Lonesome Feeling (2:38)
18. Blue Moon (3:11)
19. U Name It (2:56)
20. Music Before Dawn (3:12)
21. Where Shall I Go? (3:11)
22. I Must Be Talking To Myself (3:08)
23. I Thought I Had Loved (3:15)
24. Laugh (2:36)

Bespectacled and velvet-smooth in the vocal department, pianist Ivory Joe Hunter appeared too much mild-mannered to be a rock & roller. But when the rebellious music first crashed the American consciousness in the mid-'50s, there was Ivory Joe, deftly delivering his blues ballad "Since I Met You Baby" right alongside the wildest pioneers of the era.

Hunter was already a grizzled R&B vet by that time who had first heard his voice on a 1933 Library of Congress cylinder recording made in Texas (where he grew up). An accomplished tunesmith, he played around the Gulf Coast region, hosting his own radio program for a time in Beaumont before migrating to California in 1942. It was a wise move since Hunter -- whose real name was Ivory Joe, incidentally (perhaps his folks were psychic!) -- found plenty of work pounding out blues and ballads in wartime California. He started his own label, Ivory Records, to press up his "Blues at Sunrise" (with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers backing him), and it became a national hit when leased to Leon Rene's Exclusive imprint in 1945. Another Hunter enterprise, Pacific Records, hosted a major hit in 1948 when the pianist's "Pretty Mama Blues" topped the R&B charts for three weeks.

At whatever logo Hunter paused from the mid-'40s through the late '50s, his platters sold like hot cakes. For Cincinnati-based King in 1948-1949, he hit with "Don't Fall in Love with Me," "What Did You Do to Me," "Waiting in Vain," and "Guess Who." At MGM, then new to the record biz, he cut his immortal "I Almost Lost My Mind" (another R&B chart-topper in 1950), "I Need You So" (later covered by Elvis), and "It's a Sin." Signing with Atlantic in 1954, he hit big with "Since I Met You Baby" in 1956 and the two-sided smash "Empty Arms"/"Love's a Hurting Game" in 1957.

Hunter's fondness for country music reared its head in 1958. Upon switching to Dot Records, he scored his last pop hit with a cover of Bill Anderson's "City Lights." Hunter's Dot encores went nowhere; neither did typically mellow outings for Vee-Jay, Smash, Capitol, and Veep. Epic went so far as to recruit a simmering Memphis band (including organist Isaac Hayes, trumpeter Gene "Bowlegs" Miller, and saxist Charles Chalmers) for an LP titled The Return of Ivory Joe Hunter that he hoped would revitalize his career, but it wasn't meant to be. The album's cover photo -- a closeup of Hunter's grinning face with a cigarette dangling from his lips -- seems grimly ironic in the face of his death from lung cancer only a few years later. ~Bill Dahl

The Chronological Ivory Joe Hunter 1950-1951

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Ivory Joe Hunter - Blues & Rhythm Series 5049: The Chronological Ivory Joe Hunter 1947-1950

Size: 177 MB
Time: 70:00
File: FLAC
Released: 2002
Styles: Blues, R&B
Art: Full

01. Stop Rockin' That Train (2:48)
02. Siesta With Sonny (2:52)
03. Waiting In Vain (3:06)
04. It's You Just You (2:53)
05. That's The Gal For Me (2:50)
06. Changing Blues (2:52)
07. Guess Who (3:03)
08. Too Late (2:44)
09. Please Don't Cry Anymore (2:53)
10. I Got Your Water On (2:27)
11. I Quit My Pretty Mama (2:51)
12. Lying Woman Blues (3:01)
13. I Have No Reason To Complain (3:05)
14. Jealous Heart (2:55)
15. If I Give You My Love (2:51)
16. I Almost Lost My Mind (3:13)
17. I Need You So (3:13)
18. S.P. Blues (2:51)
19. Let Me Dream (3:08)
20. Leave Her Alone (2:54)
21. Why Fool Yourself (2:47)
22. Gimme A Pound O' Ground Round (2:34)
23. I Can't Get You Off My Mind (3:08)
24. I Found My Baby (2:51)

Ivory Joe Hunter was known as "the Baron of Boogie" for his regal appearance and sprightly piano style, and throughout a career that lasted five decades he incorporated blues, gospel, country and a proto-rock & roll style into his smooth brand of R&B. A skilled songwriter, and possessing an emotive, velvet voice that prefigured such crooners as Nat King Cole, Hunter was instrumental in bringing R&B to an uptown audience in the late 1940s. This collection gathers 14 of the 16 sides he cut for King Records between 1947 and 1949, along with ten tracks he recorded for MGM Records shortly before leaving for the Atlantic label, where he enjoyed his greatest success with "Since I Met You Baby" in 1954. Highlights here include two of the King tracks, "Waiting in Vain" and "Guess Who," both of which feature runaway violin lines from Ray Nance, and the beautiful blues ballad "I Almost Lost My Mind," a middling hit in 1950 on MGM. Casual listeners should probably pick up one of the more historically comprehensive greatest-hits packages, but the already converted will be happy to have these early classics by one of the sweetest voices in R&B history. ~Steve Leggett

The Chronological Ivory Joe Hunter 1947-1950

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Ivory Joe Hunter - Blues & Rhythm Series Classics 5026: The Chronological Ivory Joe Hunter 1947

Size: 161 MB
Time: 68:45
File: FLAC
Released: 2002
Styles: Blues, R&B
Art: Full

01. Big Wig (2:41)
02. Jumpin' At The Dew Drop (2:38)
03. She's A Killer (2:41)
04. Boogin' In The Rain (2:44)
05. Did You Mean It (2:43)
06. I Shouldn't Love You (2:51)
07. Foolish Pride (2:50)
08. San Francisco Blues (2:35)
09. I Was Only Playing (3:03)
10. Don't Be No Fool-Fool (2:31)
11. Come On Let Your Hair Down (2:48)
12. All States Boogie (2:37)
13. The Code Song (2:52)
14. In Time (2:57)
15. She's Gone Blues (2:30)
16. No Money No Luck Blues (2:57)
17. Woo Wee Blues (2:39)
18. Landlord Blues (2:51)
19. Old Gal New Gal Blues (2:31)
20. Don't Know (2:31)
21. I Like It (2:42)
22. False Friend Blues (2:43)
23. Don't Fall In Love With Me (3:00)
24. Send Me Pretty Mama (2:56)
25. What Did You Do To Me (2:41)

Ivory Joe Hunter began establishing himself as singer, pianist, and bandleader on the West Coast beginning with his first self-produced records in 1945. His 1947 recordings for the 4 Star label showed the world a seasoned performer, ready for success. The real break took place in New York City on September 6, 1947, when Ivory Joe Hunter made his first recordings for the King label. The personnel in the band backing him on this auspicious occasion have not been identified, although the conjecture that Ben Webster was blowing tenor is probably accurate. "Don't Be No Fool-Fool" signals a new degree of honesty in popular music, sorely needed but scarcely heeded by the mainstream. Ivory Joe's next recording session took place in Nashville, TN, on November 18, 1947, with Owen Bradley's electrically amplified guitar out in front. "In Time" serves as a premonition of Hunter's eventual involvement with country music. "The Code Song" is a delightful number with Morse code syllables built right into the lyrics. There is a wonderful brooding horn arrangement on "No Money No Luck Blues," with a tenor sax solo by Sammy Ford. The real cream of this crop is the amazing session of December 5, 1947, which took place in Cincinnati, OH. Here Ivory Joe was backed by a quintet of players from Duke Ellington's orchestra. There are ballads, blues, rhumba, and boogie played by Harold "Shorty" Baker, Tyree Glenn, either Wendell Marshall or Oscar Pettiford, and reedman supreme Russell Procope, who was the real instrumental star on this particular occasion. ~arwulf arwulf

The Chronological Ivory Joe Hunter 1947

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Ivory Joe Hunter - Blues & Rhythm Series Classics 5015: The Chronological Ivory Joe Hunter 1945-1947

Size: 166 MB
Time: 72:12
File: FLAC
Released: 2001
Styles: Blues, R&B
Art: Full

01. Blues At Sunrise (3:15)
02. You Taught Me Love (3:34)
03. Seventh Street Boogie (2:42)
04. Reconversion Boogie (3:09)
05. Boogin' In The Basement (2:54)
06. Don't Leave Me (2:36)
07. Tavern Swing (2:47)
08. Bad Luck Blues (2:46)
09. I'm Sorry (2:55)
10. Ivory Joe's Boogie (3:00)
11. Gazing (2:35)
12. Are You Hep (2:42)
13. I Love My Man (2:50)
14. Heavy Hearted Blues (2:55)
15. We're Gonna Boogie (3:01)
16. Why Did You Lie (2:56)
17. Jammin' Down In Town (2:06)
18. Blues At Midnight (2:51)
19. High Cost Low Pay Blues (2:42)
20. Mean Woman Blues (2:51)
21. You're Always Looking For More (3:04)
22. Grieving Blues (3:11)
23. Pretty Mamma Blues (2:50)
24. I Don't Want Cheese No More (2:58)
25. Please Come Back Home Baby (2:52)

Here's a fascinating chronological survey of Ivory Joe Hunter's first commercially released recordings made in Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Francisco during the mid-'40s. Born in Kirbyville, TX, and actually christened Ivory Joe Hunter as an infant, by the age of 13 he had developed into an able pianist capable of playing spirituals in the home and blues whenever he could get away. He made one little record in 1933 on location in Weingate, TX, for Alan Lomax on behalf of the Library of Congress. (Regrettably, that "barrelhouse" piano solo is not included on this compilation.) After several years gigging and leading bands in the southwestern United States he made the California scene in 1941, cutting his first two sides for public consumption with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers in Los Angeles sometime during the year 1945. Released on his own Ivory label and later reissued on Exclusive, "Blues at Sunrise" backed with "You Taught Me to Love" were sung by Hunter with accompaniment by pianist Charles Brown, guitarist Johnny Moore, and bassist Eddie Williams. Months later in San Francisco and Oakland, Ivory Joe started up his second label, Pacific Records, and commenced recording a series of excellent blues, ballads, swing, and boogie tunes that comprise the remainder of this interesting compilation. With him now were trumpeter Ernie Royal, saxophonists Eddie Taylor and John "Pat" Patterson, and guitarist Pee Wee Crayton. "Tavern Swing" is a Louis Jordan/Slim Gaillard-styled routine, while "I'm Sorry" has bop edges similar to what Earl Bostic was starting to put out. Wardell Gray sat in on two excellent sides, "Why Did You Lie" and the explosive "We're Gonna Boogie." Hunter briefly employed a female singer identified only as Aurelia, who sounded more than a bit like Julia Lee. The session of July 2, 1947, bore nine substantial recordings featuring saxophonists Baker Millian and John Patterson. By this time, Ivory Joe Hunter had matured into a very expressive vocalist. His slow tunes in particular are arresting. His "High Cost Low Pay Blues" seems almost frighteningly relevant in today's parsimonious, mean-spirited world. ~arwulf arwulf

The Chronological Ivory Joe Hunter 1945-1947

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Ivory Joe Hunter - Rock & Roll (Bonus Tracks)

Size: 162,6 MB
Time: 68:58
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Blues, R&B
Art: Full

01. Since I Met You Baby (2:50)
02. I Need You By My Side (3:01)
03. I Want Somebody (2:40)
04. I Got To Learn To Do The Mambo (2:42)
05. I'll Never Leave You Baby (2:41)
06. That's Why I Dream (2:44)
07. A Tear Fell (2:54)
08. Heaven Came Down To Earth (2:42)
09. I Need You (2:54)
10. That's Why (2:47)
11. You Mean Everything To Me (2:23)
12. You Can't Stop This Rocking & Rolling (2:17)
13. It's A Doggone Crying Shame (2:39)
14. It May Sound Silly (2:44)
15. Shooty Booty (2:01)
16. You Flip Me Baby (2:16)
17. I'm So Glad I Found You (2:27)
18. Stop Rocking That Train (2:47)
19. If Only You Were Here With Me (2:12)
20. Send Me Pretty Mama (2:59)
21. That's The Gal For Me (2:52)
22. In Time (2:58)
23. Big Wig (2:40)
24. Love's A Hurting Game (2:32)
25. She's A Killer (2:41)
26. I Just Want To Love You (2:21)

Bespectacled and velvet-smooth in the vocal department, pianist Ivory Joe Hunter appeared too much mild-mannered to be a rock & roller. But when the rebellious music first crashed the American consciousness in the mid-'50s, there was Ivory Joe, deftly delivering his blues ballad "Since I Met You Baby" right alongside the wildest pioneers of the era.

Hunter was already a grizzled R&B vet by that time who had first heard his voice on a 1933 Library of Congress cylinder recording made in Texas (where he grew up). An accomplished tunesmith, he played around the Gulf Coast region, hosting his own radio program for a time in Beaumont before migrating to California in 1942. It was a wise move since Hunter -- whose real name was Ivory Joe, incidentally (perhaps his folks were psychic!) -- found plenty of work pounding out blues and ballads in wartime California. He started his own label, Ivory Records, to press up his "Blues at Sunrise" (with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers backing him), and it became a national hit when leased to Leon Rene's Exclusive imprint in 1945. Another Hunter enterprise, Pacific Records, hosted a major hit in 1948 when the pianist's "Pretty Mama Blues" topped the R&B charts for three weeks.

At whatever logo Hunter paused from the mid-'40s through the late '50s, his platters sold like hot cakes. For Cincinnati-based King in 1948-1949, he hit with "Don't Fall in Love with Me," "What Did You Do to Me," "Waiting in Vain," and "Guess Who." At MGM, then new to the record biz, he cut his immortal "I Almost Lost My Mind" (another R&B chart-topper in 1950), "I Need You So" (later covered by Elvis), and "It's a Sin." Signing with Atlantic in 1954, he hit big with "Since I Met You Baby" in 1956 and the two-sided smash "Empty Arms"/"Love's a Hurting Game" in 1957.

Hunter's fondness for country music reared its head in 1958. Upon switching to Dot Records, he scored his last pop hit with a cover of Bill Anderson's "City Lights." Hunter's Dot encores went nowhere; neither did typically mellow outings for Vee-Jay, Smash, Capitol, and Veep. Epic went so far as to recruit a simmering Memphis band (including organist Isaac Hayes, trumpeter Gene "Bowlegs" Miller, and saxist Charles Chalmers) for an LP titled The Return of Ivory Joe Hunter that he hoped would revitalize his career, but it wasn't meant to be. The album's cover photo -- a closeup of Hunter's grinning face with a cigarette dangling from his lips -- seems grimly ironic in the face of his death from lung cancer only a few years later. ~by Bill Dahl

Rock & Roll

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VA - The Night Train Route 1: Rare Blues, R&B And Soul For The Dancefloor

Size: 151,9 MB
Time: 63:00
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Blues, R&B, Soul
Art: Front

01. James Brown - Night Train (3:29)
02. Sugar Boy Williams - Little Girl (2:30)
03. Billy Boy Arnold - Rockin' It Is (2:36)
04. King Coleman - Down In The Basement (2:30)
05. Ivory Joe Hunter - I'm Cuttin' Out (2:13)
06. Lightnin' Slim - Mean Ole Lonesome Train (3:10)
07. McKinley Mitchell - You're Not Gonna Break My Heart (2:21)
08. Little Willie John - I'm Shakin' (2:25)
09. Roy Brown & His Mighty-Mighty Men - She's Gone Too Long (2:14)
10. Muddy Waters - Trouble, No More (2:38)
11. Jerry McCain - The Jig's Up (2:30)
12. John Lee Hooker - You Gotta Shake It Up And Go (2:13)
13. Jesse Powell - The Walkin' Blues (Walk Right In, Walk Right Out) (Feat. Fluffy Hunter) (2:52)
14. Annie Laurie - Nobody's Gonna Hurt You (2:21)
15. Danny Cobb - My Isabella (2:51)
16. Dee Irwin - Anytime (1:35)
17. Honey Brown - Ain't No Need (2:40)
18. Otis Blackwell - Let The Daddy Hold You (2:19)
19. Jessie Mae - Don't Freeze On Me (2:13)
20. Wade Jones - I Can't Concentrate (2:26)
21. Rex Garvin - Emulsified (2:32)
22. Vicki Evans - Don't Talk That Talk To Me (1:56)
23. Nellie Rutherford - Laughing At Me (2:24)
24. Phil Flowers - The Dances (2:29)
25. Frances Faye - St. James Infirmary (3:18)

This series of albums from Jasmine charts the evolution of soul music across America through genres like R&B, blues and proto soul, spanning the fifties and early sixties. The music reflects those sounds that after sixty plus years or more, still burn up the dancefloor at new breed R&B, popcorn, northern soul and mod venues across the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.

The Night Train Route 1

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Various - Instrumental Rhythm & Blues/Rhythm & Blues 1945-1951

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:29
Size: 168.2 MB
Styles: R&B
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[2:36] 1. Joe Thomas - Page Boy Shuffle
[2:39] 2. Earl Bostic - Flamingo
[2:35] 3. Young John Watson - Space Guitar
[3:04] 4. Bill Doggett - Honky Tonk Part 1
[2:36] 5. Bill Doggett - Honky Tonk Part 2
[2:32] 6. Jimmy Dorsey - So Rare
[2:38] 7. Johnny Pate Quintet - Swinging Shepard Blues
[2:35] 8. Freddie King - Hide Away
[2:42] 9. Bull Moose Jackson - I Know Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well
[2:58] 10. Slim Gaillard - Travelin' Blues
[2:41] 11. Wynonie Harris - Good Rockin' Tonight
[3:01] 12. Lonnie Johnson - Tomorrow Night
[2:42] 13. Chubby Newsome - Hip Shakin' Mama
[2:42] 14. The Ravens - Bye Bye Baby Blues
[2:52] 15. John Lee Hooker - Devil's Jump
[2:56] 16. Ivory Joe Hunter - Guess Who
[2:58] 17. Bull Moose Jackson - Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me
[2:39] 18. Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson - Somebody Done Stole My Cherry Red
[2:38] 19. Todd Rhodes - Pot Likker
[2:38] 20. Tiny Bradshaw - Well, Oh Well
[2:54] 21. Roy Brown - Cadillac Baby
[2:57] 22. Roy Brown - Hard Luck Blues
[2:35] 23. Mabel Scott - Baseball Boogie
[2:03] 24. Roy Byrd - Rockin' With Fes
[2:28] 25. The Dominoes - Sixty-Minute Man
[3:03] 26. Brownie Mcghee - Real Good Feeling
[2:35] 27. Lucky Millinder - I'm Waiting Just For You

Great record of R&B when it first started. Lots of this stuff never got played in "respectable" places. So you know it's good! ~ coolfreehardbop

Instrumental Rhythm & Blues/Rhythm & Blues 1945-1951 mc
Instrumental Rhythm & Blues/Rhythm & Blues 1945-1951 zippy

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VA - Swinging On The Golden Gate (1944-1958)

Size: 181,1+177,7 MB
Time: 76:10+74:26
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2010
Styles: Blues, R&B, Jazz
Art: Front

CD 1:
01. Lafayette Thomas - Cockroach Run (2:34)
02. Mystery Man (Bob Geddins) - Mar-Rier (3:20)
03. Mystery Man (Bob Geddins) - Louegge Blues (3:12)
04. Percy Mayfield - Jack You Ain't Nowhere (Part 1) (2:37)
05. Percy Mayfield - Jack You Ain't Nowhere (Part 2) (2:40)
06. Ivory Joe Hunter - Blues At Sunrise (3:11)
07. Ivory Joe Hunter - You Taught Me Love (3:31)
08. Marcellus Thomas & His Rhythms Of Rocketts - Breather Blues (3:16)
09. Marcellus Thomas & His Rhythms Of Rocketts - Hallers 89 Whisky Boogie (2:57)
10. Pee Wee Crayton - Don't Ever Fall In Love (2:55)
11. Pee Wee Crayton - Pee Wee Special (2:42)
12. Jimmy Nelson & His Blues - My Civil Rights (2:45)
13. Jimmy Nelson & His Blues - Rock Heart Blues (3:05)
14. Leon Bryant & The Bar-None Orchestra - High As A Georgia Pine (2:40)
15. Rusty Carlyle & The Bar-None Orchestra - I'm A Lemon Squeezer (2:42)
16. Betty Roche & McVea-Bailey Inc - Rainy Day Blues (3:00)
17. Nick Esposito & His Band W Joey Sano (Little Mr. Dynamite) - Wrong Joe Blues (3:08)
18. Bob Geddins' Cavaliers - Thinkin' And Thinkin' (3:26)
19. Bob Geddins' Cavaliers - I'm Just A Stranger Here (3:15)
20. Percy Mayfield - Two Years Of Torture (3:00)
21. Percy Mayfield - Get Way Back (2:27)
22. Jesse Fuller - Railroad Blues (5:18)
23. Chick Morris & His Band & Al Joseph Harris - A Prayer (2:47)
24. Ivory Joe Hunter & His Band - Jamin' Down In Town (2:47)
25. Ivory Joe Hunter & His Band - Pretty Mama Blues (2:43)

CD 2:
01 Roland Mitchell & His Band - Roland Mitchell & His Band - Irma Special (2:41)
02 Odie Ervin - Odie Ervin - My Woman's Gone (2:57)
03 Odie Ervin - Odie Ervin - My Downfall (2:17)
04 Al Harris & Rusty Carlyle & The Bar-None Orchestra - Al Harris & Rusty Carlyle & The Bar-None Orchestra - Get Hep, Sadie May (2:33)
05 Jesse Fuller - Jesse Fuller - San Francisco Bay Blues (3:27)
06 Sherman's Trio - Sherman's Trio - Jumping For Julia (2:53)
07 Floyd White & The Lyrics - Floyd White & The Lyrics - Pains Of Love (2:57)
08 Odie Ervin - Odie Ervin - She's A Bad, Bad Woman (2:24)
09 Odie Ervin - Odie Ervin - A Note Pinned On My Bed (2:59)
10 Chick Morris & His Band & Al Joseph Harris - Chick Morris & His Band & Al Joseph Harris - Moving Out Baby (2:19)
11 The Four Aces - The Four Aces - I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder Part 2 (3:06)
12 Little Frances - Little Frances - You Just Ain't Right (2:36)
13 Little Frances - Little Frances - I Want To Know Why (2:35)
14 Earl 'good Rockin' Brown & Band - Earl 'good Rockin' Brown & Band - Turn Back The Time (3:01)
15 Earl 'good Rockin' Brown & Band - Earl 'good Rockin' Brown & Band - Tambourine (2:53)
16 El Domingoes - El Domingoes - Evening Bells (2:54)
17 Morry Williams & The Kids - Morry Williams & The Kids - Are You My Girlfriend (2:51)
18 Fabulous Flames - Fabulous Flames - Josephine (2:30)
19 Fabulous Flames - Fabulous Flames - You Got Me Whistling (2:05)
20 Johnny Fuller - Johnny Fuller - All Night Long (2:55)
21 Baby Calloway - Baby Calloway - Midnight Blues (2:36)
22 Gladys Parker & The Wilbert Baranco Trio - Gladys Parker & The Wilbert Baranco Trio - Yesterdays (2:42)
23 Bill Newman & Bob Scobey's Alexander's Jazz Band - Bill Newman & Bob Scobey's Alexander's Jazz Band - How Come You Do Me Like You Do (2:39)
24 Pat Casey & Bob Scobey's Alexander's Jazz Band - Pat Casey & Bob Scobey's Alexander's Jazz Band - Alcoholic Blues (2:34)
25 Nick Esposito & His Band W Bill Smith - Nick Esposito & His Band W Bill Smith - Back Fat Boogie (2:39)
26 Frisco Jazz Band & Red Gillham - Frisco Jazz Band & Red Gillham - You Got To See Mama Every Night (2:15)
27 Frisco Jazz Band &Clancy Hayes - Frisco Jazz Band &Clancy Hayes - Mamie's Blues (3:54)

Migrants from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi brought new blood to the Bay Area in the WWII era, and a new R&B sound began to take shape. Some of these artists shot to fame, some did not, but all sing their heart out: Blues at Sunrise Ivory Joe Hunter; Railroad Blues Jesse Fuller; Jack You Ain't Nowhere Percy Mayfield; Don't Ever Fall in Love Pee Wee Crayton; Breather Blues Marcellus Thomas; My Downfall Odie Ervin; I Want to Know Why Little Frances 52 tracks!

Swinging On The Golden Gate CD 1
Swinging On The Golden Gate CD 2

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Ivory Joe Hunter - I Need You So

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 25:49
Size: 59.1 MB
Styles: West Coast blues, Piano blues
Year: 1955/1975/2010
Art: Front

[2:20] 1. Lonesome
[3:29] 2. Cold Blooded Woman
[2:09] 3. I'm Cuttin' Out
[3:12] 4. I Need You So
[2:29] 5. It's Been Too Long
[2:03] 6. I'm Lost Without You
[2:45] 7. If You Were My Own
[3:05] 8. In Memories
[2:07] 9. How About Me
[2:06] 10. If You Want My Love

Bespectacled and velvet-smooth in the vocal department, pianist Ivory Joe Hunter appeared too much mild-mannered to be a rock & roller. But when the rebellious music first crashed the American consciousness in the mid-'50s, there was Ivory Joe, deftly delivering his blues ballad "Since I Met You Baby" right alongside the wildest pioneers of the era.

Hunter was already a grizzled R&B vet by that time who had first heard his voice on a 1933 Library of Congress cylinder recording made in Texas (where he grew up). An accomplished tunesmith, he played around the Gulf Coast region, hosting his own radio program for a time in Beaumont before migrating to California in 1942. It was a wise move since Hunter — whose real name was Ivory Joe, incidentally (perhaps his folks were psychic!) — found plenty of work pounding out blues and ballads in wartime California. He started his own label, Ivory Records, to press up his "Blues at Sunrise" (with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers backing him), and it became a national hit when leased to Leon Rene's Exclusive imprint in 1945. Another Hunter enterprise, Pacific Records, hosted a major hit in 1948 when the pianist's "Pretty Mama Blues" topped the R&B charts for three weeks.

At whatever logo Hunter paused from the mid-'40s through the late '50s, his platters sold like hot cakes. For Cincinnati-based King in 1948-1949, he hit with "Don't Fall in Love with Me," "What Did You Do to Me," "Waiting in Vain," and "Guess Who." At MGM, then new to the record biz, he cut his immortal "I Almost Lost My Mind" (another R&B chart-topper in 1950), "I Need You So" (later covered by Elvis), and "It's a Sin." Signing with Atlantic in 1954, he hit big with "Since I Met You Baby" in 1956 and the two-sided smash "Empty Arms"/"Love's a Hurting Game" in 1957.

Hunter's fondness for country music reared its head in 1958. Upon switching to Dot Records, he scored his last pop hit with a cover of Bill Anderson's "City Lights." Hunter's Dot encores went nowhere; neither did typically mellow outings for Vee-Jay, Smash, Capitol, and Veep. Epic went so far as to recruit a simmering Memphis band (including organist Isaac Hayes, trumpeter Gene "Bowlegs" Miller, and saxist Charles Chalmers) for an LP titled The Return of Ivory Joe Hunter that he hoped would revitalize his career, but it wasn't meant to be. The album's cover photo — a closeup of Hunter's grinning face with a cigarette dangling from his lips — seems grimly ironic in the face of his death from lung cancer only a few years later. ~Bio by Bill Dahl

I Need You So mc
I Need You So zippy

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Ivory Joe Hunter - Blues At Midnight

Size: 119,9 MB
Time: 50:58
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1998
Styles: West Coast Blues, R&B, Piano Blues
Art: Front

01. You Taught Me How To Love (3:36)
02. Jumping At The Dew Drop (2:37)
03. Adios Senorita (1:59)
04. High Cost Low Pay Blues (2:41)
05. We're Gonna Boogie (3:00)
06. Heavy Hearted Blues (2:55)
07. Gazing (2:32)
08. Ivory Joe's Boogie (2:54)
09. Bad Luck Blues (2:53)
10. Tavern Swing (2:45)
11. The Cold Grey Light Of Dawn (2:43)
12. Coming Down With The Blues (2:00)
13. Can I Help It (2:45)
14. Empty Arms (2:00)
15. I'll Give You All Night To Stop (2:08)
16. Stolen Moments (1:57)
17. Working On Me (2:20)
18. Brenda Brown (2:52)
19. I Almost Lost My Mind (4:16)

Bespectacled and velvet-smooth in the vocal department, pianist Ivory Joe Hunter appeared too much mild-mannered to be a rock & roller. But when the rebellious music first crashed the American consciousness in the mid-'50s, there was Ivory Joe, deftly delivering his blues ballad "Since I Met You Baby" right alongside the wildest pioneers of the era.

Hunter was already a grizzled R&B vet by that time who had first heard his voice on a 1933 Library of Congress cylinder recording made in Texas (where he grew up). An accomplished tunesmith, he played around the Gulf Coast region, hosting his own radio program for a time in Beaumont before migrating to California in 1942. It was a wise move since Hunter -- whose real name was Ivory Joe, incidentally (perhaps his folks were psychic!) -- found plenty of work pounding out blues and ballads in wartime California. He started his own label, Ivory Records, to press up his "Blues at Sunrise" (with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers backing him), and it became a national hit when leased to Leon Rene's Exclusive imprint in 1945. Another Hunter enterprise, Pacific Records, hosted a major hit in 1948 when the pianist's "Pretty Mama Blues" topped the R&B charts for three weeks.

At whatever logo Hunter paused from the mid-'40s through the late '50s, his platters sold like hot cakes. For Cincinnati-based King in 1948-1949, he hit with "Don't Fall in Love with Me," "What Did You Do to Me," "Waiting in Vain," and "Guess Who." At MGM, then new to the record biz, he cut his immortal "I Almost Lost My Mind" (another R&B chart-topper in 1950), "I Need You So" (later covered by Elvis), and "It's a Sin." Signing with Atlantic in 1954, he hit big with "Since I Met You Baby" in 1956 and the two-sided smash "Empty Arms"/"Love's a Hurting Game" in 1957.

Hunter's fondness for country music reared its head in 1958. Upon switching to Dot Records, he scored his last pop hit with a cover of Bill Anderson's "City Lights." Hunter's Dot encores went nowhere; neither did typically mellow outings for Vee-Jay, Smash, Capitol, and Veep. Epic went so far as to recruit a simmering Memphis band (including organist Isaac Hayes, trumpeter Gene "Bowlegs" Miller, and saxist Charles Chalmers) for an LP titled The Return of Ivory Joe Hunter that he hoped would revitalize his career, but it wasn't meant to be. The album's cover photo -- a closeup of Hunter's grinning face with a cigarette dangling from his lips -- seems grimly ironic in the face of his death from lung cancer only a few years later. ~Biography by Bill Dahl

Thanks to DrPeak.
Blues At Midnight

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Ivory Joe Hunter - Woo Wee! The King & DeLuxe Acetate Series

Size: 204,4 MB
Time: 72:11
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2006
Styles: Piano Blues, West Coast Blues
Art: Full

01. I Like It (2:38)
02. Changing Blues (2:48)
03. All States Boogie (2:36)
04. That's The Gal For Me (2:49)
05. I Quit My Pretty Mama (2:46)
06. The Code Song (I Love You) (2:53)
07. Stop Rocking That Train (2:45)
08. Lying Woman (2:56)
09. Siesta With Sonny (2:49)
10. Don't Be No Fool, Fool (2:31)
11. Come On, Let Your Hair Down (2:46)
12. Blues At Sunrise (3:12)
13. She's Gone Blues (2:29)
14. Old Gal And New Gal Blues (2:29)
15. No Money, No Luck Blues (2:52)
16. In Time (2:55)
17. False Friend Blues (2:39)
18. Send Me, Pretty Mama (2:54)
19. Landlord Blues (2:50)
20. Woo Wee Blues (2:37)
21. Don't Know (2:28)
22. I Got Your Water On (2:23)
23. Guess Who (2:56)
24. All States Boogie (2:42)
25. Lying Woman (3:14)
26. Old Gal And New Gal Blues (3:03)

While Ivory Joe Hunter is most famous for his 1950s recordings for MGM and Atlantic, some of his earliest (though not his very first) R&B hits were done in the late 1940s for the King label. Woo Wee! The King & DeLuxe Acetate Series is a 26-track compilation which has several of them, including "I Like It," "Guess Who," and "I Quit My Pretty Mama." However, it's not exactly a best-of for his King stint, as it (with the exception of "Guess Who") concentrates on the bluesiest material he did for the company (including an odd turn into semi-calypso, "Don't Know"). That's a plus or a minus, depending on your taste. If you're a hard-line R&B fan, you'll probably appreciate the emphasis, but it does mean the omission of some of the King R&B hits he had with more pop-oriented ballads. Too, the general listener might appreciate the balance that a few such ballads would have lent to the program. That understood, it's a good compilation of much of his early work, as well as an above-average, single-artist anthology from the era in which blues, jazz, boogie, and pop were merging to form R&B. Hunter's a cut above even most of his fellow hitmakers in the genre, with superb piano work and rich, higher-than-normal vocals that are both lightly soaring and considerably earthier than, say, Nat King Cole's. His 1950s recordings are still more significant, as their absorption of country and pop influences into R&B led to a more innovative, modern-sounding, and varied style, but these earlier tracks are noteworthy as well. The song quality might be better than it's ever been for this material, as it's mastered from the original acetates, and doesn't include the overdubs and echo that King added to some of the tracks when they were issued on LPs. As additional bonuses, there are extremely detailed, lengthy liner notes; three previously unissued alternate takes; and his first hit, 1945's "Blues at Sunrise," originally released by the Exclusive label, but acquired by King. ~Review by Richie Unterberger

Woo Wee!

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