Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Rock the Joint - Chris Powell
2. That's Right [#] - Chris Powell
3. Chicken Shack Boogie - The Five Scamps
4. No Wine, No Women - Mr. Google Eyes
5. Red Hot
6. Rough and Rocky Road
7. Chi (Chicago) [#] - Jumpin' Joe Williams
8. Lyin' Girl Blues - Jumpin' Joe Williams
9. Gotta Find My Baby - The Ravens
10. Let's Jump Tonight - Chuck Willis
11. I Want a Lavender Cadillac - Maurice King and His Wolverines
12. If You Ever Had the Blues - Earl Williams
13. Catch 'Em Young, Treat 'Em Rough, Tell 'Em Nothin' - Bill Davis
14. Weekday Blues - Jumpin' Joe Williams
15. My Run Around Baby
16. Stuttering Blues [#] - The Five Scamps
17. She Did Me Wrong [#] - Leroy Johnson
18. Honey I Don't Want You - The Ravens
19. Work Baby Work - Larry Darnell
20. Camp Meeting - Pinocchio James
21. Come on Daddy (Let's Go Play Tonight) - Pearl Traylor
22. I Feel So Good [#] - Maurice King and His Wolverines
23. Three Ball Sam (The Pawn Shop Man) - Pearl Traylor
24. Brother's Blues [#] - Little Brother Brown

Disc 2:

1. Hey! Bartender, Give That Man a Drink [#] - Jumpin' Joe Williams
2. Goof Boogie [#] - Little Brother Brown
3. I Rule My House - Chuck Willis
4. Pinnochio's Blues [#] - Pinocchio James
5. I'll Be Sittin', I'll Be Rockin' - Larry Darnell
6. It's Been a Long Time - Annie Laurie
7. Jump Back Honey - Hadda Brooks
8. Got So Much Trouble - Titus Turner
9. Gas Happy Mama [#] - Royals, The Royals
10. My Story - Chuck Willis
11. Gabbin' Blues (Don't Run My Business) - Big Maybelle
12. Moon Dog - The Treniers
13. Stop Talkin' and Start Walkin' - Annie Laurie
14. Dig This Menu Please! - Red Rodney Sextet
15. It Ain't Nothing Happening - Paul Gayten
16. You Broke My Heart [#] - Chuck Willis
17. Poontang - The Treniers
18. Brook's Boggie - Hadda Brooks
19. Jinny Mule - Big Maybelle
20. Livin' in Misery - Titus Turner
21. Voodoo Blues [#] - Jumpin' Joe Williams
22. Bring the Money In - Bill Davis
23. You the Kind of Women - Sammy Cotton
24. I'm in the Mood for You - Annie Laurie
25. Make up Your Mind [#] - Chuck Willis
26. Cow Cow Blues - Paul Gayten

Disc 3:

1. But Officer! - Clifford Solomon
2. Give Me One More Drink - Sammy Cotton
3. Leave It to Me [#] - Annie Laurie
4. Square Dance Boogie - Clifford Solomon
5. Your Cash Ain't Nothing But Trash - Big John & the Buzzards
6. One Monkey Don't Stop No Show - Big Maybelle
7. My Lonely Room - Titus Turner
8. Uh Oh (Get Out of My Car) - The Treniers
9. Creole Alley [#] - Paul Gayten
10. Give Me Your Love [#] - Larry Darnell
11. Bad, Bad Women - Shufflers
12. I'm Gettin' 'Long Alright - Big Maybelle
13. Oop Shoop - Big John & the Buzzards
14. Jump Ted! [#] - Shufflers
15. Ocean of Tears [#] - Big Maybelle
16. Ring Ding Doo - Chuck Willis
17. Little Demon - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
18. I Put a Spell on You - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
19. Bacon Fat - Andre Williams
20. Last Meal - Hurricane Harry
21. Let's Do the Slop - Little Joe & the Thrillers
22. Where You Been - Lloyd Fatman
23. Miss Mushmouth - Lloyd Fatman
24. Wyatt Earp [#]
25. Billy's Heartache [#] - Bo Diddley, Billy Stewart
26. Yellow Coat - Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #316378 in Music
• Released on: 1993-07-13
• Number of discs: 3
• Format: Box set

Amazon.com
Arranged in chronological order, this set begins with a strong emphasis on jump blues in the style of Louis Jordan and Big Joe Turner. Gradually, though, OKeh turned to more modern sounds. It jumped on the New Orleans R&B scene early with vital recordings by Paul Gayten and Lee Allen. The Treniers were an irreverent harmony/comedy group in the style of the Coasters, and Chuck Willis abandoned the swing rhythms of jump blues for the pounding 4/4 of rock & roll. OKeh's greatest moment came on September 12, 1956, when a case of Italian Swiss Colony wine helped Screamin' Jay Hawkins and New York's best session musicians (Mickey Baker, Sam Taylor, etc.) cut crazed, electrifying versions of "I Put a Spell on You" and "Little Demon." --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews

Dig This Menu, Please!
The music contained within these three discs covers the most criminally ignored segment of the last half of the 20th century - the pre-emergance of rock 'n' roll. How that general oversight came to be is inexplicable but suffice it to say if more rock 'n' roll fans heard these 78 cuts that shameful trend might start reversing itself because these songs are blistering hot.

Sadly obscure artists from Chris Powell and the Blue Flames, to the wonderfully showboating Treniers, to the Five Scamps make their case for inclusion alongside such comparitively better known artists as Big Maybelle, Chuck Willis, The Ravens, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and even the earliest notices from Marvin Gaye and Billy Stewart under the guidence of the Moonglows and Bo Diddley respectively. But known to one and all or only their families it doesn't change the fact that there's not a bum song in the lot, and some, like the hilarious "The Last Meal" by Hurricane Harry and "No Wine, No Women" by Mr. Google Eyes and His Musical V-8's are true lost classics and should be heard by anybody who's ever snapped his fingers or shuffled her feet to music. Don't worry if you've never heard of the singers or the song titles before, if you like rockin' and rollin', no matter what it was actually called at the time (R&B, jump blues, etc.), you will love the songs contained here and the entire set will be an eye and ear opening experience you'll want to share with your more close-minded friends.

The packaging is fine (though the discs and jewel cases are identical, which can cause confusion on a quick glance), with a slim, but very good booklet that does its best to give sketch bios of the artists as well as sort out who played on what. Since that information is not quite clear thanks to shoddy A&R work at the time of the recordings, there is a lack of a full sessionography, unfortunate but entirely understandable. The booklet has tremendous pics though, all the writing credits, recording dates and a well written concise intro to the birth of this style of rhythm and blues as well as the OKeh label itself.

The one problem, if it can be called that, is this: Boxed sets are by nature meant for the hardcore fanatic, not the casual listener. This is especially true if the boxed set in question covers an entire label, multiple artists and the corresponding neglected era in music history. Thus the compilers had to be aware that they weren't going to get many spur of the moment impulse purchases just to see what the music was like (although those who do will be amply rewarded for their faith). Yet they seemed to try and hedge their bets by having just three discs rather than a more uniform four. While it may have kept the price down and swayed a handful of potential buyers to pick it up, the true audience for this type of set is going to want more, especially considering OKeh had plenty of material to do so. As it is they left off the Treniers only charted hit "Go Go Go", Big Maybelle's original version of the well-known "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", and a number of Andre Williams songs they praise lavishly in the notes while offering up just one to hear. Furthermore, despite Amazon's inclusion of his name under the product title at the top of the page, inexplicably left off is legendary white vocalist Johnnie Ray who worked with LaVern Baker (who's here under the name Bea Baker) at the Flame Bar in Detroit, a notorious stop on the black R&B circuit, and along with Baker was signed to OKeh. Because he recorded on a black R&B label, and before he was seen on television or in person by most, he was initially thought by record buyers to be black (not to mention perhaps female), and as a result his early two-sided smash "Cry" b/w "The Little White Cloud That Cried" made it to #1 and #2 respectively on the R&B charts in late '51/early '52. His later work veered entirely towards pop songs and arrangements, which along with his increased visability that showed he was pale white subsequently kept him out of the R&B realm in the future (though he and Baker remained good friends for life), but it would be great, as well as historically accurate, to hear Ray's first OKeh effort "Whiskey & Gin" as well as his two previously mentioned hits. But they are nowhere to be found here nor is Ray even mentioned in the notes.

What they DO offer however is extraordinary, much of it previously unreleased at the time (including many Chuck Willis songs, who was perhaps their biggest star), and much from virtually unknown artists which would be near impossible to even find out about today, much less actually track down to hear. Just the sheer varience of approaches to songs you may know already from their more famous versions is facinating (Gene Vincent's "Jump Back Honey, Jump Back" which Hadda Brooks turns into playful flirting, Big John & The Buzzards turning both Shirley Gunter & The Queens doo wop classic "Oop Shoop" and the Clovers "Your Cash Ain't Nothing But Trash" into a comic bass-sung send-ups, or the scalding workout the Blue Flames give the proto-rock classic "Rock The Joint", later covered by Bill Haley as his first true rock effort). If that's not enough you can sample the delightful political incorrectness of "Stuttering Blues", the subtle jab at being black and dealing with white-enforced laws in "But Officer", or the birth of reggae rhythms in "Billy's Heartache".

If all this isn't enough to convince you that this music and this set are at least worth a try then go back to your cheap little 8 song greatest hits collections, insipid Oldies radio and pitifully sheltered life. After all, you might be too old to change now, for as the song says - to get results you gotta "Catch 'Em Young, Treat 'Em Rough, Tell 'Em Nothin". You've been told. But will you listen?

Heartily recommend this set.
On the recommendation from a friend, I bought this 3-disc set today. I was looking to hear Big Maybelle sing "Ocean of Tears" which had become a favorite of mine after hearing my favorite local band play it at their gigs. This song from Big Maybelle had not been released before this set came out. Anyway, I first threw it in and jammed on that particular song. I then started with the first song on that disc not knowing what was coming my way. Well, of course I knew it would be some blues, but I had not been into blues that much. I do like big band and jump blues type music. That being said, I am impressed with the sound quality and the great music on these discs. After having listened to just 2 discs so far I can honestly say that I haven't heard one bad song. There is some great horn blowin' and piano strummin' and a ton of heavenly voices on these discs. I can't accurately describe what it is I enjoy about this set like I was some kind of major-league musicologist. I just know it hits me in the right place. For me that's all that counts. Also I would like to point out that it is a great bargain for the price. It has 78 songs that will knock your socks off.

Most Pleased
I had been searching for this set and happened to "hit the right day at the right time". It is a wonderful selection of R&B cuts and well worth collecting.