Buddy Ace - The Duke Recordings

Another repost by request:

I've finally found a collection of Buddy Ace's Duke singles! They have not yet received any modern remastering so they are still mixed for jukeboxes, but it is better than nothing.

Born Jimmy Lee Land in Jasper, TX, on November 11, 1936, bluesman "Buddy Ace" was known as "The Silver Fox of the Blues". His name was changed to "Buddy Ace" by Duke's Don Robey after Johnnie Ace's younger brother (St. Clair Alexander) had no success with the handle. Lee Land started out singing in gospel groups (at least one of which also contained Joe Tex) before going into R & B in the early 50s. He toured in Bobby Bland and Junior Parker's bands before he finally got a record contract of his own with Duke/Peacock in 1955. In the mid-'60s, Ace had several R&B hits including "Nothing in the World Can Hurt Me (Except You)" and "Hold On (To This Fool)," but he never scored a major breakthrough. Buddy relocated to Los Angeles in 1970 (after the sale of Duke and death of Don Robey) and later moved to Oakland; he spent much of this period touring in and around the Bay Area. (including Eli's Mile High Club, Jack's and Larry Blake's) Ace continued to perform and record into the '90s with 3 albums released on Leon Haywood's Evejim imprint. Ace passed away on December 26, 1994, at 58 while performing in Waco, TX.

Buddy Ace - The Real Thing & From Me To You (Incomplete)

 Here is a bit more Buddy Ace in response to the request by KC.   The Silver Fox gave me quite a few unforgettable evenings in the SF Bay Area back in the day.   He was a very dynamic live performer with an incredible voice.   I have still never heard anything on wax that generates quite the excitement that he could in concert.   But I haven't heard it all yet.  I would be forever grateful if somebody could post all of Buddy Ace's Duke singles on this blog.  I have heard only a few of them.

Quite frankly, "The Real Thing" is very much a mixed bag.  To my ears, a number of the songs sound hastily and poorly arranged, and often fail to inspire Buddy Ace.   On a few numbers, they don't even choose an appropriate key for Buddy's voice.   That said, there are a few nice songs on the album, including "I Kicked the Habit," even if it is pretty much in a straight Bobby Bland mold.  I would enjoy the title track a bit more without the overly obtrusive background vocals.  The real highlight on this album for me is "Do What You Think Is Best," where Buddy evokes the spirit of Otis Redding over the infectious riff that Wilson Pickett used for Soul Dance Number Three.   Nevertheless, "The Real Thing" falls quite short in my book of being prime time Silver Fox.

From Me to You is another matter, an exceptionally fine tribute from Buddy Ace to his mentor, Bobby Blue Bland.  Ten Bobby Bland classics with tasteful no-frills accompaniments clearly inspire Buddy Ace to put his heart and soul into every song.   I have to apologize that two of these tracks, Two Steps From the Blues and I Pity the Fool,  are not here.  I will try to rectify that fact when I get back home to my source record collection in the States (I am currently working abroad).  For now, enjoy these eight!

I miss Buddy Ace.

Buddy Ace - Don't Hurt No More

This guy was another of the miracles who performed at Eli's Mile High Club in Oakland, CA. (I didn't get to see him, sadly) Eli's was most definitely a Chitlin Circuit bar/ Blues club. It was a hell of a place and I never had less than a stellar time there but it wasn't always easy to convince others to go with me and even if you took a cab there it was not easy to get one back home; Eli's was in a rough neighborhood.

"Buddy Ace (November 11, 1936 – December 26, 1994) was an American blues singer, known as the "Silver Fox of the Blues." His best known tracks were "Root Doctor" and "Pouring Water on a Drowning Man".

Born James Lee Land in Jasper, Texas, United States, he was raised in Baytown, Texas, and began his singing career by singing gospel together with Joe Tex. He joined Bobby "Blue" Bland and Junior Parker, before being signed to Duke/Peacock Records in 1955. His hits include "Nothing In the World Can Hurt Me (Except You)." In the late 1960s, he moved to California performing on live shows.

Buddy Ace died of a heart attack performing in Waco, Texas, in December 1994, aged 58."


Such a tiny bit of biographical info at wiki. I can only find a little bit more:
"Born Jimmy Lee Land in Jasper, TX, on November 11, 1936, bluesman "Buddy Ace" was known as "The Silver Fox of the Blues". His name was changed to "Buddy Ace" by Duke's Don Robey after Frankie Ace's younger brother (St. Clair Alexander) had no success with it! Lee Land was in gospel groups at first (one contained Joe Tex) before going R & B in the early 50s. He played in Bobby Bland and Junior Parker's bands before he finally got a record contract with Duke/Peacock in 1955. In the mid-'60s, Ace scored several R&B hits but never scored a major breakthrough. Relocating to Los Angeles in 1970 and later to Oakland, he spent much of this period touring in and around the Bay Area. Ace continued to perform and record into the '90s with 3 albums released on Leon Haywood's Evejim imprint. On December 26, 1994, Ace passed away in Waco, TX." Soul Blues Music   

This guy's discography is tiny; the Duke singles disc plus four albums, hopefully we will find all of them before we are thru.