The Legends Of Specialty Series Part 2

Among recent reissues in Fantasy's The Legends of Specialty series are the second volumes devoted to Roy Milton, Joe Liggins, Jimmy Liggins and Percy Mayfield along with a volume of Art Neville's Specialty recordings. Another reissue, Shouting the Blues, includes Joe Turner's recordings for the Texas Freedom label Big Maceo's Specialty sides, and recordings by Smilin' Smokey Lynnand H-Bomb Ferguson. Musically, most of these recordings date from the heyday of jump blues, the late forties through the mid-fifties. All six releases contain Billy Vera's perceptive annotations and discographical information.

Not quite as consistent (as releases by Percy Mayfield and Roy Milton) is Rough Weather Blues, the second volume by Jimmy Liggins and His Drops of Joy. Vera suggests that Jimmy Liggins recordings are among the closest to rock'n'roll records of anyone of his generation. These sides feature some hard rocking rhythm sections along Saxophonist Harold Land and Charles 'Little Jazz' Ferguson on the earliest sides here which include an extended five minute plus jam on Charlie Parker's Now's The Time, while the latest sides include a undubbed version of Drunk, one of his biggest records. Maxwell Davis is present on many of the latter sides. Liggins, no mean guitarist, gets a fair amount of solo space particularly on the later recordings included here.

Brother Joe, was more commercially successful than Jimmy with a more mellow, melodic jump blues style. His first recordings were made for the Exclusive label and had such hits as I Got A Right to Cry, Tanya and standards like When It's Sleepy Time Down South, and When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano. While he remade some of his hits for Specialty, including The Honeydripper, he had hits with Pink Champagne and Frankie Lee. The second volume of his Specialty Recordings, Dripper's Boogie, collects 20 recordings that date from 1950 to 1954. His somewhat flat vocals have a certain charm. Several of the vocals are by Candy Rivers and Dell St. John. A solid pianist and arranger, he had smooth jump combos, often with saxophonists Willie Jackson and Maxwell Davis as he waxed hot on novelties like Boogie Woogie Lou or cool on ballads like Tenderly with Candy Rivers clean delivery. Dripper's Boogie is a remake of one of his Exclusive recordings that is marked by his deliberate, clipped phrasing. Those interested in Joe Liggins' output would be advised to check out his earlier Specialty volume first.

This review appeared in Jazz & Blues Report in 1993. I am splitting it up and will include this top paragraph with all three parts. I received my review copies from Fantasy Records. I am not sure about the availability of these albums, although one might check ebay. Here is a popular Jimmy Liggins track, although not on this recording.