Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Gotta Darn Good Reason Now (For Bein' Good)
2. St. Louis Blues
3. Sweet Jennie Lee
4. Happy Feet
5. Yaller
6. Viper's Drag
7. Is That Religion?
8. Some of These Days
9. Nobody's Sweetheart
10. St. James Infirmary
11. Dixie Vegabond
12. So Sweet
13. Minnie the Moocher
14. Doin' the Rumba
15. Mood Indigo
16. Farewell Blues
17. I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby
18. Creole Love Song (Creole Love Call)
19. Levee Low-Down
20. Blues in My Heart
21. My Honey's Lovin Arms
22. Nightmare
23. It Looks Like Susie
24. Sweet Georgia Brown
25. Basin Street Blues

Disc 2:

1. Black Rhythm
2. Six or Seven Times
3. Bugle Call Rag
4. You Rascal, You
5. Stardust
6. You Can't Stop Me from Lovin' You
7. You Dog
8. Somebody Stole My Gal
9. Ain't Got No Gal in This Town
10. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
11. Trickeration
12. Kickin' the Gong Around
13. Downhearted Blues
14. Without Rhythm
15. Corrine, Corrina
16. Stack O' Lee Blues
17. Scat Song
18. Cabin in the Cotton
19. Strictly Cullud Affair
20. Aw You Dawg
21. Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Day
22. Dinah
23. How Come You Do Me Like You Do?
24. Old Yazoo

Disc 3:

1. Angeline
2. I'm Now Prepared to Tell the World It's You
3. Swanee Lullaby
4. Reefer Man
5. Old Man of the Mountain
6. You Gotta Ho-De-Ho (To Get Along with Me)
7. Strange as It Seems
8. This Time It's Love
9. Git Along
10. Hot Toddy
11. I've Got the World on a String
12. Harlem Holiday
13. Dixie Doorway
14. Wah-Dee-Dah
15. Sweet Rhythm
16. Beale Street Mama
17. That's What I Hate About Love
18. Man from Harlem
19. I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues
20. My Sunday Gal
21. Eadie Was a Lady
22. Gotta Go Places and Do Things
23. Hot Water

Disc 4:

1. Evenin'
2. Harlem Hospitality
3. Lady with the Fan
4. Harlem Camp Meeting
5. Zaz Zuh Zaz
6. Father's Got His Glasses On
7. Minnie the Moocher
8. Scat Song
9. Kickin' the Gong Around
10. There's a Cabin in the Cotton
11. I Learned About Love from Her
12. Little Town Girl
13. 'Long About Midnight
14. Moon Glow
15. Jitter Bug
16. Hotcha Razz-Ma-Tazz
17. Margie
18. Emaline
19. Chinese Rhythm
20. Moonlight Rhapsody
21. Avalon
22. Weakness

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96496 in Music
• Released on: 2001-10-09
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .87 pounds

Amazon.com
As a young singer Cab Calloway was at his most exuberant, and The Early Years: 1930-1934 has plenty of that exuberance on offer. In 1930, just before his recording debut, he took over a powerful band called the Missourians, and their best soloists (R.Q. Dickerson on trumpet and Thornton Blue on clarinet) can be heard on the first of these four CDs, which includes a startling "St. Louis Blues" as well as the original version of the famous "Minnie the Moocher." Calloway, in spite of a rather nasal tone, was a technically gifted singer who approached songs with the improvising skills of a jazz musician. No doubt because of this he ensured that his bands always swung and contained soloists of character. His repertoire here mixes well-known songs such as "Somebody Stole My Gal" and "I've Got the World on a String" with obscure delights like "Black Rhythm" and "Eadie Was a Lady," but Calloway imparted a unique flavor to whatever he sang. The value of this bargain package is enhanced by the audio restoration work of the expert John R.T. Davies, who has extracted more sonic detail from these old recordings than one would have thought possible. --Graham Colombé

Customer Reviews

Hi-De-Ho! What a deal on the best of Cab Calloway!
JSP Records from the U.K. has really been doing a bang-up, first-rate job with these CD box sets of classic swing jazz: they offer complete chronological catalogs of great artists, re-mastered with terrific sound, and sold at amazing prices! I've enjoyed their Django Rheinhardt, Bill Wills, and Louis Jordan box sets, and this collection of Cab Calloway and His Orchestra (the first of two) is another triumph.

This set encompasses the earliest recordings in Cab's incredible career, starting with his first session with the musicians who had once been the Missourians (they changed to the Cab Calloway orchestra when he became their singer) through his years as the top act at the Cotton Club. Before Benny Goodman made swing a commercial smash, Cab and his orchestra were swingin' hard, and you can hear in these first four years of recordings. His band leaps from hot jazz to hard swing to Cab's bizarre slow blues that became his trademark (exemplified in "Minnie the Moocher," heard in two different versions in this set). Cab Calloway was a remarkable showman, a born entertainer, a funny guy, and a unique singer. He was also an exceptional bandleader, and this extensive collection of songs lets you savor the musicianship of the boys in the band in a way that wasn't previously possible.

The first CD shows the band and Cab finding their identity. Cab seems a bit hesitant on the first track, his first recording as a leader, "Gotta Darn Good Reason (For Bein' Good)," but with the second track, a recording of the already old "St. Louis Blues," he finds his groove and starts having fun. And the fun never stops after this.

Here are some of the classic and un-earthed gems and other delightful treasures you'll find here:

Two recordings of "Minnie the Moocher," the first of which is extremely different from what people usually think of the song. (The most famous version wasn't recording until 1942). You'll also hear two of the sequels to "Minnie the Moocher": "Kickin' the Gong Around" (two versions) and "Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Day." Cab does some great nonsense scatting with "Zaz Zuh Zaz," "Hotcha Razz-Ma-Tazz," "The Scat Song," and "Wah-Dee-Dah." Some of the songs have strong racial overtones that reflect the kind of shows the Cotton Club put on for the white patrons: "Yaller," "Black Rhythm," and "Strictly Cullud Affair." These are somewhat unpleasant songs if you focus on the lyrics, but extremely interesting from the historical perspective. (The excellent liner notes discuss Cab's opinion about having to sing songs like this.) And then there's the extremely naughty, but red-hot song about marijuana, "Reefer Man." Cab also croons quite well on some very pretty, slow blues numbers, even though ballad singing wasn't his strength: "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues," "Stardust," and "Six or Seven Times" are among the best tracks on these CDs. Some other personal favorites of mine: "Aw You Dog," instrumentals like "Moon Glow" and "Mood Indigo" that show how great a band was backing up Cab, and the defiant "I Gotta Go Places and Do Things," and...

Oh, there's just too much that's good on these CDs! And how can you turn it down at this price? You also get four informative booklets (actually, it's one continuous set of liner notes spread over four booklets) that detail the history of band, it's many exceptional players, and background on the racial situation of the times, which ties very closely into Cab Calloway's music. This information will help you appreciate the genius of Cab Calloway and His Orchestra even more.

And if you like this, make sure to get JSP's Volume 2 set of Cab Calloway, covering 1935-1940.

AN OLD FAN OF THE TALENTED ONE.
Anything to do with Cab Calloway I've got it. I'm a fan of his and always will be. These well organized CD's gives out that crisp sound of the 1930's down home jazz melody; that only Cab can sing out. This is the only CD that gives you all of his hits of the 1930's. The first recording of Minnie the moocher, Kickin' the gong around, you gotta hi de ho (To get along with me) and many more. You haven't heard Cab Calloway until you've heard him in his early years. This is a perfect introduction to your jazz collection.

Great Collection - Ready for more!!!
While I'm a big fan of this collection, along with the continuing collection "1935-1940", I'd be really interested in knowing if JSP is planning on putting out a collection of Cab's 1940-1947 stuff. If such a collection exists from JSP & I'm just being ignorant, please let me know!