Blowing the Fuse 1950

Another rerun by request

 Blowing the Fuse is a killer series of compilation CDs issued by Germany's premier archivist label, Bear Family. Subtitled "R&B Classics That Rocked the Jukebox," each volume is compiled by year. 1950 was a boom year for jukeboxes across the United States. This volume, like most of the others, contains 28 affirmed classics of the early postwar years though some of these titles have been obscured a bit by history. Assembled by Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth, the sequencing of these tracks has proved invaluable in this series. Some of the more relatively obscure titles here include Calvin Boze's "Safronia B," Goree Carter's "Come On Let's Boogie," Doc Sausage's' "Rag Mop," and Jewel King's "3 x 7 = 21." But there are plenty of well-known wonders too from Percy Mayfield, Ruth Brown, Roy Milton, Wynonie Harris, Lightnin' Hopkins, Eddie Mack, Professor Longhair, Joe Liggins, T-Bone Walker and over a dozen others. Sound quality is very fine throughout. Colin Escott's detailed liner notes -- a set for each cut -- are in his usual form, authoritative and engaging, and the photographs in this handsome digipack are just beautiful.

Blowing The Fuse 1960

 Ahhh yes... we bid a fond adieu to this wonderful pile of platters but before Chubbs begins to sob on us let me assure you that the set does not really stop, it just changes name to 'Sweet Soul Music' and it continues thru 1970.... Of course those are forthcoming so just stack em' right on top of these.

 "What is it about hearing Jimmy Jones' original 1960 version of the song "Handy Man" that makes one feel like James Taylor should have been prosecuted for song desecration in the 1970s? Checking out the 1960 volume in the German Bear Family label's Blowing the Fuse series makes a dead-set, open-and-shut case. This baby has 31 cuts, all of them burners. The thing opens with Buster Brown's "Fannie Mae," and after Jones' cut, Barrett Strong tears the mother down with the original version of "Money"! The blues are here, too, with Jimmy Reed's smash "Baby, What You Want Me to Do." There is just so much here, from the biggest hits -- and there are plenty, like Maurice Williams' "Stay," Fats Domino's "Walking to New Orleans," and Howlin' Wolf's read of Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" -- to the near ones -- like Sugar Pie DeSanto's "I Want to Know," the Shirelles' "Tonight's the Night" (speaking of criminals, Neil Young should never have been allowed to write a song or title an album with this moniker; the man has no respect), and Hank Ballard's "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go," to name a few. The '60s dawned with plenty of great music: just check the original of "Ooh Poo Pah Doo, Pt. 1," by Jessie Hill. All of these tracks were consumed massively before the mass consumption of the transistor radio! Of course, there were real record stores then, and people gobbled up singles because there were so few albums to buy. Of course, it's going backwards now: today everyone picks rock the iPod way, and the culture for that stuff has just blown away like a tumbleweed. Nonetheless, anybody interested in the greatest singles that rock & roll, R&B, blues, and soul had to offer in the '50s and early '60s needs to scope out these platters from Bear Family."  so sayethThom Jurek

Blowing the Fuse 1959

If you have begun to notice that some very familiar tunes sound different in this set it is likely because these are the originals by the black artists rather than the white covers that sold more copies and are more often played.

"Blowing the Fuse: 29 R&B Classics That Rocked the Jukebox in 1959 is among the finer entries in this excellent series issued by the Bear Family label. For starters just look at the list of artists that appear here: James Brown, Lavern Baker, Lloyd Price, Bo Diddley, Jackie Wilson, Brook Benton, the Coasters, the Flamingos, and more. It's loaded. Just looking over the contents makes a serious music listener wistful for a culture where the juke box still thrived everywhere, from diners to bars and even bowling alleys. These early sides by some of the greatest R&B artists are not to be missed. Brown's "Try Me," drips with so much lonely ache, you want to help him find his woman. Likewise, the lonely sax blowing behind Baker is a response to her every brokenhearted line. Price's "Stagger Lee" is one of the great reads of the song -- whether Greil Marcus likes it or not -- the groove is tight, tough, and it sounds like the unfolding of an epic, and it all happens in two-minutes-and-22 seconds. There's also a smoking version of Wilbert Harrison's stroller "Kansas City." Hank Ballard's "The Twist" is rawer than the Chubby Checker version, which is why the latter was probably the hit. There isn't a track on this monster that doesn't shimmy, shake, or groove, and you need it. Period." Jurek, AMG

Blowing he Fuse 1958

 The one thing I will point out personally here is track 4 by Roy Hamilton - now you know who Elvis was REALLY copying!

"While the 1958 volume in the Bear Family label's Blowing the Fuse series may not have as many utterly well-known hits, that doesn't mean it's not every bit a treasure trove of fine music. Far from it, and it does have its share; Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," Johnny Otis' "Willie and the Hand Jive," Jackie Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops," Fats Domino's "Whole Lotta Loving," the Monotones' "Book of Love," and Bobby Freeman's' "Do You Wanna Dance" all qualify in this category, as does Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly." But there are other smoking cuts such as Roy Hamilton's rock & roll and R&B hybrid "Don't Let Go," the early soul of Sam Cooke's early solo effort "I'll Come Running Back to You," and Little Willie John's "Talk to Me, Talk to Me." But the side opens with the inimitable wail of the Hollywood Flames' "Buzz, Buzz, Buzz," which is early rock & roll as it engaged doo wop. And then there's the scorching original version of "Rockin' Robin" by Bobby Day. In other words, it's about as necessary as a record of early rock & roll and R&B can be. Get it." amg

Blowing the Fuse 1957

 Now I know that Cliff will disagree but I still say that any similar collection made over the last 30 years would be laughable in comparison to these babies.I mean just look down that list of names!

1957 was one fun year on the jukebox. The rise of the vocal groups continue; they seem to take up at least half of this one. The teen domination of the market is clearly evident in the increase of cornball and romance and the decrease of adult themes, even the Ruth Brown tune is shockingly 'sweet'. Still the beats will get your foot patting for the whole ride.

While lighthearted fun pieces are clearly in vogue, the are still some surprising moments of gravity provided by Junior Parker, Slim Harpo, Fats, Roy, Bobby, Little Richard and Ernie Freeman.

Blowing The Fuse 1956

 WHEW!! How did the world stay on it's axis? How are you going to keep from jumping into the shower and singing at the top of your lungs? This one is so varied, so.... DENSE, epic moments from giants and forgotten ones both. It is easy to see how the generation coming of age in 1955-56 would have been hard to impress in the 60's.

"Germany's Bear Family label has created an amazing series in their Blowing the Fuse project. Each volume features chart and jukebox sellers of all stripes of R&B, soul, and early rock & roll. From the looks of things, 1956 was a wild and woolly year with Bo Diddley ("Pretty Thing"), Chuck Berry ("Roll Over Beethoven"), and Little Richard ("Rip It Up" and "Long Tall Sally") all making this set. But it's not all rock & roll. Clyde McPhatter's "The Great Pretender" is here, as are Ray Charles' "I'll Drown in My Tears" and Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightnin'," just to name a few more. Also in the register are James Brown's early soul with "Please, Please, Please" and Big Joe Turner's proto-rock & roll/R&B hybrid "Boogie Woogie Country Girl," and there are two items that cannot be forgotten, the Cadillacs' amazing "Speedoo" and Little Willie John's classic of classics, "Fever." Add in fine sound (no "reprocessed for stereo" crap here), fine liner notes, and a handsome package. Along with the rest of the series, this is a must-own. Simply put, these are the best year-by-year compilations out there." Thom Jurek

Blowing The Fuse 1955

 You can get a little jaded going through these collections and take some years for granted but take a look at 1955! Whew!! What a smoking year!

"... 1955 was a pivotal year for jukeboxes across the United States as rhythm & blues and rock & roll collided in the cultural atom smasher. This volume contains 29 affirmed classics of the early postwar years. The more well-known tunes of the era are given great balance by some nearly forgotten gems that are juxtaposed in the brilliant sequencing -- by producer Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth. This batch opens with LaVern Baker's awesome "Tweedle Dee," and is followed by Lowell Fulson's stellar "Reconsider Baby." The big names of the era are packed in tight here, from Etta James and Jimmy Reed to Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. But there are tunes that have all but disappeared into the smoke and ether of pop culture history such as the Jacks' "Why Don't You Write Me," the Nutmegs' "Story Untold," and Nappy Brown's ' "Don't Be Angry." Add to this Louis Brooks' gorgeous "It's Love Baby," and the spectrum is complete...." Thom Jurek

Blowing the Fuse 1954

 And back to the magnificent Blowing the Fuse series from Bear Family.

1954's set demonstrates a radical turn in what is rocking the jukeboxes, the vocal groups are taking over. If you look back through the earlier sets, from 1945 through 1950 there is only one vocal group represented in each year on the 28 or 29 tracks. In 1949 & 1950 the tracks are dominated by LA club blues, southern/Chicago bar blues, Jump/band jazzy blues, New Orleans R&B, and country blues with only the Ravens and the Orioles representing a different concept. In 1951 the number of vocal groups swells to 6 and holds there thru 52 and 53 but in 1954 the number explodes to 11!

In this set the road to Rock n' Roll is becoming plainly evident. The set begins, appropriately enough, with one of the many vocal groups seeking to emulate the Orioles with a bird name (the list is endless), the Crows. The move towards music directed to the teen market is on and this bouncy, super clean, testimony of teen angst is clear evidence. Little Walter follows with his uniquely sophisticated take on Chicago Blues; at this point in time Walter's own records actually far outsell his employer, Muddy Waters'. Johnny Ace is at the peak of his popularity featuring a style somewhere in between the L.A. Club Blues of Charles Brown and the Band Blues of his Beale Street brother Bobby Bland. Faye Adams comes in with a Jump Band piece complete with wailing sax and then the Spiders with Chuck 'The Barber' Carbo singing lead show that the New Orleans version of the new vocal groups  was still loaded with plenty of Bartholomew/Domino style R&B. 

Throughout the rest of the compilation, groups like the Harptones, the 5 Royales, the Clovers, Hank Ballard's Midnighters, The Chords, The Cadillacs and the Charms all take their shots at simple teen-age ballads with similar results, only The Robins 'Riot in Cell Block 9' and The Drifters latin beat driven Honey Love featuring dynamic vocalist Clyde McPhatter show any imagination.

More interesting is what still exists here side by side with the ballad crooning groups; Buddy and Ella Johnson offer a great Jump Jazz piece, Guitar Slim follows with his epic 'Things I Used to Do', Ray Charles and B.B. King both establish what will be a steady presence for many years to come, Muddy and the Wolf are growling out some of their finest raw bar blues. Big Joe Turner has not only jumped into the R&B world with both feet but is pointing the way to Rock N' Roll with his classic 'Shake Rattle and Roll'. Chuck Willis begins his meteoric rise as does Ruth Brown hers. Sugar Boy Crawford and Dave Bartholomew demonstrate that New Orleans hasn't lost it's appeal despite the unusual lack of a Fats hit this year, Shirley Gunter & The Queens give us our first example of a girl group but they are still far more adventurous than their white counterparts like The Andrews Sisters. The set closes with a strong Jump Blues instrumental ala Bull Moose Jackson or Earl Bostic from Joe Houston.

Blowing the Fuse 1953

A quick look at the song list tells you that 1953 was a VERY good year. Ruth Brown, Big Maybelle, Big Mama Thornton, and Dinah Washington are all belting it out for the ladies. Ray Charles first Atlantic hit with Mess Around, The Beale Street Boys - BB King, Junior Parker, and Johnny Ace all have hits, Fats Domino, Amos Milburn, and Little Walter keep chuggin' and another new light named Clyde McPhatter dazzles the girls....yes 1953 was a very good year indeed.

Blowing The Fuse 1952

 I haven't done one of these in too long so here is the next one -

The magnificent jukebox march through musical history continues -- talk about a diverse and fertile year, this is certainly one. Blues shouters like Big Joe Turner, Tiny Bradshaw, and Wynonie Harris are at their peak, some of the Beale Street Boys like BB King, Roscoe Gordon and Johnny Ace are making their first appearances, vocal groups like the Orioles, Clovers, Ravens, Swallows & Dominoes, hard blues from Elmore James and Little Walter, Dinah and Ruth, the New Orleans contingent represents with Fats, Smiley Lewis, Lloyd Price and Roy Milton, and a pair of wild card gems in Little Caesar and Willie Mabon doing what I assume is the original of a song we have all heard from someone.....Man this stuff is good.

1952

Blowing the Fuse 1951

"This seventh volume -- of 11 (16 actually) in the Bear Family Blowing the Fuse series -- is another case of the woollier and wilder side of R&B as it moved into the 1950s. The 28 tracks from 1951 showcased here offer sure signs of the music's big bang that would erupt as rock & roll in just a few short years. While many of the artists here have appeared on the other volumes in the series, it nonetheless remains stellar in both selection and sound. Sure, Amos Milburn's "Bad, Bad Whiskey," and Joe Liggins' "Little Joe's Boogie" have appeared on dozens of compilations, but hardly juxtaposed against Margie Day's read of "Little Red Rooster," Muddy Waters' "Long Distance Call," the Larks' "Eyesight to the Blind," or Tiny Bradshaw's "Walkin' the Chalk Line." What's more, other well-known R&B pharaohs like Louis Jordan, Wynonie Harris, the Treniers, Johnny Otis and Peppermint Harris (with Maxwell Davis on "I Got Loaded") are here as well. The number of groups coming out of the woodwork on this set, such as the Four Buddies, the Larks, the Clovers and the Dominoes showcase a shift in the way these comps were arranged and produced -- by Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth. One of the treasures here is Joe Turner with Van "Piano Man" Walls on the inimitable "Chains of Love," which is underscored later by Earl Bostic's swaggering "Flamingo." The set closes with the Howlin' Wolf burner "How Many More Years." Each of these 28 cuts have their own set of liner notes by Colin Escott, and the digipack itself is just to die for.  Thom Jurek

Blowing the Fuse 1949

 Germany's Bear Family Records doesn't do anything half-assed, and the dozen or so volumes in the label's Blowing the Fuse series (which chronicles R&B sides year by year starting with this entry for 1949) are generous (each disc has well over 20 selections), fascinating and full of half-forgotten gems. This volume is no exception, as 1949 was the year that launched John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen" into the world as well as Stick McGhee's immortal "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee," just two of the enduring sides to be found here. Anyone who still needs proof that the world was rockin' long before rock & roll officially hit, look no further. ~ Steve Leggett

Blowing the Fuse 1948

Blowing the Fuse is a killer series of compilation CDs issued by Germany's premier archivist label, Bear Family. Subtitled "R&B Classics That Rocked the Jukebox," each volume is compiled by year. 1948 was a boom year for jukeboxes across the United States. This volume, like most of the others, contains 28 affirmed classics of the early postwar years though some of these titles have been obscured a bit by history. Assembled by Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth, the sequencing of these tracks has proved invaluable in this series. With the Ravens "Write Me a Letter" opening it all up, Julia Lee files in with "King Size Papa" and gets trailed by T-Bone Walker's monster "They Call It Stormy Monday," which is tailed by the Paul Williams's "Thirty-Five Thirty" and Crown Prince Waterford's risqué "Move Your Hand, Baby." Is this six tracks of pure gold or what? But it gets better, with Bull Moose Jackson's "I Love You, Yes I Do," Nellie Lutcher's "Fine Brown Frame," and a host of others including Mabel Scott's "Elevator Baby," and Lonnie Johnson's awesome "Tomorrow Night." Other artists featured here are Paul Watson, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Liggins, Amos Milburn and Roy Brown, among many others. Colin Escott has written authoritative liner notes -- there is a small set for each cut -- and the package is full of killer photos and housed in a handsome digipack. Sound quality is consistently fine throughout. Thom Jurek
 

Blowing the Fuse 1947

Blowing the Fuse is a killer series of compilation CDs issued by Germany's premier archivist label, Bear Family. Subtitled "R&B Classics That Rocked the Jukebox," each volume is compiled by year. 1947 was a boom year for jukeboxes across the United States. This volume, like most of the others, contains 28 affirmed classics of the early postwar years. Louis Jordan was at the height of his powers in '47 and his "Let the Good Times Roll" opens the set and is followed by Albert Ammons' "Swamp River Boogie," a burning boogie-woogie piano jumper. Sequencing is key in a collection like this, and the folks at Bear Family understand this implicitly. Here, Jack McVea's "Open the Door Richard" is just ahead of Amos Milburn's "Down the Road Apiece," which is followed by Savannah Churchill's "I Want to Be Loved Only by You." Elsewhere the Ravens, the Five Blazes, Julia Lee and Walter Brown make appearances, as do Joe Turner, Hadda Brooks and Roy Milton. In some, the more well-known tunes of the era are given great balance by some nearly forgotten gems. The package is beautiful with Colin Escott's liner notes detailing every cut, accompanied by photographs and a lovely digipack. Sound quality is as good as it can be for archival material making this, and would prove a fine introduction to postwar R&B for the novice, and a killer chronological listen for the connoisseur.

Blowing The Fuse 1946

 This is the second of 11 volumes in Bear Family's remarkable series (produced by Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth), and annotated exhaustively (each track has its own liner notes) by Colin Escott. One of the most remarkable things about these collections -- besides the awesome music -- is the packaging, which combines period photos, session and liner notes in an irresistible foldout digipack. Like its predecessor, this set features well-known artist like Wynonie Harris, Louis Jordan, Lionel Hampton, Joe Turner, Big Maceo, Jay McShann, the King Cole Trio, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Roy Milton, and Dinah Washington (at the dawn of her career as a blues singer), alongside nearly forgotten acts like the Blues Woman (aka Marion Abernathy), with her one regional hit "Voo-It! Voo-It!" The Cats 'N Jammer Three with the original version of "I Cover the Waterfront," Bill Samuels and his "Port Wine," steamroller, and Velma Nelson with the raw "If I Were a Itty Bitty Girl, Part 1." Other artists who appear here, such as Red Callendar, T-Bone Walker, Erskine Hawkins, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup and Julia Lee, round out a truly stomping, slice of history where the world may have been at war but at the corner juke joint, things were hoppin'. Thom Jurek

Blowing the Fuse 1945

Blowing the Fuse, 1945 Jukebox Hits 

Bear Family put out 16 consecutive years of these and before we are done I expect we will see all 16. There is a whole 6 disc set of Goldwax singles too. I've been concentrating on single artist posts but these types of compilations are a lot of help putting things into focus. Bear Family, Proper, Ace (the English reissue label not the old American one) and JSP have done incredible work over the last 15 years or so, preserving so much music that might already be lost if not for them. The Dutch Chrono Classics and of course Mosaic have done huge work as well. All of these labels feed the collections I'm offering but in some of the individual artists posts I will have to pare down some huge sets into something a bit more digestible, I'll try to follow some existing blueprint of an existing release when I can but in many cases I'm looking to distill a giant collection of singles.