Percy Mayfield Lost Love: The Singles As & Bs 1947-1962

Percy Mayfield
Lost Love: The Singles As & Bs 1947-1962
Jasmine (UK)

Another English public domain reissue of vintage rhythm and blues brings us Percy Mayfield's first 27 singles (whether 78s or 45s) and a previously unissued couple of tracks. While Mayfield's Specialty recordings were subject of classic reissues some time ago, they may hard to find. Furthermore, here are his recordings for Gru-Tone and Supreme that predate his joining Specialty, and also are recordings Checker, Cash, Imperial, 7 Arts, and Tangerine.

The album opens with the two part jump and jive "Jack You Ain't Nowhere," and then his first recording of "Two Years of Torture," both with an unidentified band although his vocal is under-recorded on the latter two. When he signed with Supreme he had a pair of singles including a remake of "Two Years of Torture," with a band that included Maxwell Davis, Marshall Royal, and Chuck Norris and much better recorded presaging the time with Specialty. His first record for Specialty, with a band that included Maxwell Davis as well as Jack McVea, Gene Phillips, Red Callender and Lee Young, had the classics "Please Send Me Someone To Love," and "Strange Things Happening." So many classics are here including "Lost Love (Baby Please Come Back to Me)," "The Hunt Is One," "The River's Invitation," "The Bachelor Blues," "My Heart Is Crying," with Maxwell Davis being a constant on these. Besides his tenor saxophonist, I suspect Davis was responsible for the arrangements and leading the studio band.

 While Davis is not present on the recordings for Cash and Checker, those sides produced gems like "No.43 (My Story About A Woman)," with a choice Fred Clark tenor saxophone solo, and the moody "The Bluest Blues." "Please Believe Me" is an unusual ballad recording with a sweeter sound than earlier selections, while he produced a urban blues gem "My Heart is a Prisoner," with the guitar more prominent in the backing along with some tough tenor sax. One of his last Specialty singles was the jazzy cocktail ballad, "When Did You Leave Heaven" while for 7 Arts he recorded "Ha Ha In The Daytime, Boo Hoo At Night," a tune he would remake a bit more emphatically later. A Tangerine coupling included Ray Charles, Hank Crawford, Teddy Edwards and Chuck Norris include the hard swinging big band groove of "Never No More," which would also be on his LPs that he recorded for Ray Charles' label. Mayfield would continue to make strong music beyond the singles documented here including albums for Brunswick and RCA Victor along with a single for Atlantic.

Besides one of the great songwriters of the blues leading him to be called "The Poet Laureate of the Blues," Percy Mayfield was a suave, sophisticated singer and a major touring attraction until his face was heavily disfigured in an automobile accident. While his career as a star was over, the music here shows that his music remained original and distinctive. Some of the material (the non-Specialty recordings) on this is rare and even those having the Specialty reissues might want this to fill-in gaps in their collection of his recordings. There is a discography of the songs here and astute notes from Dave Penny. For those not having much by him, this does present the core of his recorded legacy.

I purchased this. Here is a later recording than that on this collection of "The River's Invitation."

The British Ace Records label has been reissuing numbers reissues from the catalogues and archives of Modern Records and its affiliates. Among its recent reissues is Beating the Petrillo Ban: The Late December 1947 Modern Sessions, a two-CD compilation with 49 selections that were recorded in late December 1947 as part of the label’s efforts to stock up on recordings in anticipation of the Recording Ban that the American Federation of Musicians were going to start at the start of the 1948 New Year. Like other labels, the Bihari Brothers' Modern Records engaged in a flurry of recording sessions. Between November and December, Modern recorded almost 130 masters by 16 different artists.

The two discs of Beating The Petrillo Ban contain 49 performances from between December 17 and New Year’s Eve of 1947, and while some of the recordings were issued, many were not at the time, nor have they been reissued in prior Ace releases. Tony Rounce, in his liner notes in the accompanying booklet, notes that 80% of the selections have previously never been issued previously (some are alternate takes of recordings that were issued on 78 or on various LP or CD reissues.

The opening performances are by an early vocal group, The Ebonaires. One of Modern’s biggest stars in its early days was Hadda Brookes and there are three sessions (12 selections) by her including instrumentals and vocals (There is a nice The Best Things In Life Are Free) in a Nat King Cole Trio vein with sophisticated piano and deft guitar accompaniment along with her vocals. This serves as a nice introduction to Brookes for whom Ace has several reissues of.

Drummer Al ‘Cake’ Wichard is heard on two sessions (12 selections) of jump blues that showcase shouters Duke Henderson and Jimmy Witherspoon who are both in fine form. Henderson’s “Gravels in My Pillow” and Witherspoon’s T.B. Blues are terrific examples of their music here along with a hot instrumental Cake Jumps. Spoon is also heard on a nice interpretation of That’s Your Little Red Wagon Ace also has a reissue of titles recorded under Wichard’s name with more Henderson and Witherspoon. There may be duplication of songs, but as noted, most of the selections here are unissued or alternate takes.

Another jump blues artist was Guitarist Gene Phillips heard with his Rhythm Aces as he tells his “Snuff Dipping Mama” to stop snuffing and button up her bottom lip. Its a nice band and Phillips clean single note picking is featured on “Gene’s Guitar Blues,” a reworking of “Floyd’s Guitar Blues.” Another session in this vein was with saxophonist Little Willie Jackson. Jackson was part of Joe Liggins Band and Modern signed Jackson who recorded with The Honeydrippers minus Liggins. The four numbers range from a jumping “Little Willie’s Boogie”, the sweet instrumental “Shasta” (similar in tone to Liggins’ “Tanya”) and the swinging sweet ballad “Baby.”

The Art Shackelford Sextette is led by a guitarist about which Tony Rounce advises little is known. His guitar leads the pleasant swing-based instrumentals that includes a rendition of the early New Orleans standard Jazz Me Blues and an untitled blues instrumental that Ace titled Beatin’ The Ban for its release here. Butch Stone was vocalist with Les Browns’ Band of Renown and heard on songs in the vein of Louis Jordan, Fats Waller and others including Baby Face and Waller’s Your Feets Too Big retitled as My Feets Too Big). As Rounce observes, Stone wisecracks and ad-libs his way on these performances in the zany manner of Harry ‘The Hipster’ Gibson.

The final performances on this compilation are the gospel songs from Ida Mae Littlejohn. Rounce observes her music was informed by Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Arizona Dranes, "Who both employed the same animated vocal style." Her fervent renditions of Lonesome Road Blues (which you have to walk all alone’), He’ll Make The Way (I know the Lord will make a way”); and the rollicking Go Devil Go (with a vocal chorus) have piano and guitar as accompaniment.

Beating the Petrillo Ban: The Late December 1947 Modern Sessions is another outstanding Ace compilation from the Modern Archives. It is a varied collection of a diverse group of performers and music. Presentation is up to Ace’s usual high standards with Tony Rounce’s liner notes in the accompanying booklet providing background on the second Petrillo band and the recordings contained here which are presented here in the order of recording.

I purchased this. Here is a video of Hadda Brookes (or Brooks).