The fourth and by no means final volume in our popular series once again shows the breadth and depth of quality R&B that Jules Bihari and Modern Records captured on acetate in the years immediately following WWII.
The odd tick and pop that accompanies some (but by no means all) of these 55-60 year-old sides is more than compensated for by the vibrancy of the music that's represented here.
As ever the MC&K mixture offers a selection of high-profile R&B heroes and heroines (Jimmy Witherspoon, Johnny Otis, Little Esther, Roy Hawkins etc.) with terminally obscure names that had the talent to go big but didn't have the breaks.
Once again we are pleased to be able to bring you a considerable number of unissued masters and takes - almost 1/3 of a CD's worth, in fact! - to complement those sides which, for the most part, have never been reissued since their first appearance on 78. And by popular demand, we're delighted to be including the master take, for the first time on an Ace CD, of the cornerstone blues masterpiece that is Roy Hawkins' 'The Thrill Is Gone'.
Those who have been with us since Volume 1 will need no exhortations whatsoever to buy - and they will be heartened by the news that Volume 5 is already in the works!
Track listing:
- No Steppin' Down - FELIX GROSS AND HIS ORCHESTRA
- The Thrill Is Gone - ROY HAWKINS
- Doggone Shame - HERB FISHER TRIO
- Around The Clock Blues Part 1 - PEARL TRAYLOR with HOWARD McGHEE'S ORCHESTRA
- Jesse Boogie - JESSE PERRY
- I'm Just A Country Boy - JIMMY WITHERSPOON
- I'm Tellin' You Baby - THE NIC-NACS
- Did You Ever Love A Woman? - AL WICHARD AND HIS ALL STAR BAND (Vocal by DUKE HENDERSON)
- I'm Feeling Fine - JOHNNY ALSTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA (Vocal by JEANNE DEMETZ)
- Mercy, Mercy - JESSE PERRY WITH HAPPY JOHNSON'S SEXTETTE
- I Used To Work In Chicago - THREE BITS OF RHYTHM
- If I Be Lucky - JOE "PAPOOSE" FRITZ
- Red Light - JOHNNY ALSTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA (Vocals by JEANNE DEMETZ AND ALTON REDD)
- Hambone Blues - EDNA BROUGHTON
- They Call It the Blues - JIMMY GRISSOM with BUDDY FLOYD'S ORCHESTRA
- We're In Love - THE EBONAIRES
- I Ain't No Fool - GEECHIE SMITH
- Airport Blues - WALTER ROBERTS
- I Got A Guy - JOHNNY OTIS AND HIS ORCHESTRA (Vocal by LITTLE ESTHER)
- Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is - LOUIS BARNETT AND HIS BOPPERS (Vocal by JASPER PATTERSON)
- I've Got That Snakey Feeling - BILLY WILLIAMS
- Nursery Rhyme Boogie - HAPPY JOHNSON AND HIS JIVE FIVE
- Around The Clock Blues Part 2 - PEARL TRAYLOR with HOWARD McGHEE'S ORCHESTRA
- Cuttin' Out - FELIX GROSS AND HIS ORCHESTRA
