DOCD-32-20-18 Blues Blues Christmas Vol 3
40 Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Do-Wop and Rocka-billy Christmas greats. (1927-1962)
You hold in your hands the third volume of Blues, Blues Christmas , our most wide-ranging collection yet, jumping genres from blues, gospel, jazz, rock through the 1920's up to the 1960's, many songs which have not been anthologized before. Now that you have all three volumes, you do of course?, you have hours and hours of music for that next Christmas party, enough music until the eggnog runs out!
Christmas come but once a year
And to me it brings good cheer to everyone, who love wine and beer
Those lines were Sung by Bessie Smith when she recorded“At The Christmas Ball” in November 1925 for
Columbia which not only kicked off a tradition of Christmas blues songs, hundreds of which have been recorded through the years, but looked back to an older tradition. Perhaps more than any other music, the blues is deeply enmeshed in a particular culture, entangled in the era of segregation, in the era of Jim Crow and in the era of slavery. In his classic Screening The Blues Paul Oliver wrote“for the Negro, Christmas has a deep-rooted significance beyond that of the religious meaning of the celebration itself; a more worldly one of which has none the less firmly established itself in his folkways. Since far back in slavery Christmas has signified a rest, a break in the year's routine which no other festival affords, proving an opportunity for a man to be with his family and, for a brief period at any ra te, from the rigorous monotony of rural labor.” The annual Christmas Ball was something looked forward to all year and as Oliver astutely notes “there may have been a change of venue--a Harlem cellar dive for the 'quarters' and a jazz band instead of the fiddles, but there was probably little difference in kind and certainly in spirit at the Christmas Ball described by Bessie Smith...” Of course this talk of tradition is all very high-minded but if Christmas has become submerged in commercialism the blues isn't immune. The artists were sure to cajole a few extra nickels and dimes when they sung these songs during the holidays and it ’s almost certainly the case that many of these songs were recorded at the prompting of the record companies. Like any business they were always looking for a new angle or gimmick to sell records and advertised these Christmas records boldly, often with full-page ads, in black newspapers like the Chicago Defender and magazines like
Billboard. In Paramount's 1928 late Fall Dealers' Supplement the label advertised scores of "CHRISTMAS,
SPIRITUAL AND SERMON RECORDS THAT ARE DEPENDABLE SALES PRODUCERS" and warned that they
"SHOULD BE IN YOUR STOCKS NOW.” Paramount stars Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Blake's Christmas records, for example, were displayed as full paged ads in the Chicago Defender.
Most of the pre-war Christmas blues recordings have been issued on our first two anthologies but there are a few leftover gems by Bumble Bee Slim, Victoria Spivey, Lil McClintock and Walter Davis. After refining his skills playing halls and rent parties, Bumble Bee Slim moved to Chicago, where he made his first record for
Paramount Records in 1931. The following year his song "B&O Blues " was a hit for Vocalion Records. "I made my audition “down at 666 [S.] Lake Shore Drive on the 11th floor" Slim recalled. The "contract wasn't much. It couldn't be, 'cause in those days you could buy a record for 25 cents" The deal called for "forty tunes a year."
Between 1934 and 1937 Slim recorded more than 170 titles. His two holiday offerings, "Santa Claus Bring Me A
New Woman" and “Christmas And No Santa Claus" were cut at the same session in 1936. Slim was big stuff as far as the race market of the 30's went but by the time he cut his only album, Bumble Bee Slim: Back In Town
( Pacific Jazz in 1962) probably only a few remembered Slim at all and his fleeting comeback sank beyond rescue.
The provocatively titled "Santa Claus Crave" featured on Blues, Blues Christmas Vol. 1 , was originally cut by singer Elzadie Robinson in 1927 and influenced several other Christmas songs of the era. The song was covered by Walter Davis as“Santa Claus" in 1935 and revived by him again in 1949 which is the version included in this collection.
We all know that a good many blues songs are, well, about sex (anyone surprised?) even if they're clothed in a creative metaphor. Victoria Spivey is pretty transparent on "I Ain't Gonna Let You See My Santa Claus" when she tells her man “It's Christmas time, and I ain't gonna let you see my santa claus" and just for good measure: "You know my santa claus is good." Her other Christmas ditty was 1927's“Christmas Morning Blues" a little number about prison and murder.
Little is known of Lil McClintock except that he was from Clinton, South Carolina and traveled to Atlanta to record

four songs for Columbia on December 4, 1930. A photograph of McClintock surfaced just recently that shows him smartly dressed and wearing a top hat“Don't think I'm Santa Claus" has roots in the Irving Jones and
Maxw ell Silver composition“You Must Think I'm Santa Claus" first published in 1904. His repertoire marks him a musician who learned his repertoire before the blues emerged as the popular music of the day.
From the post-war era some fine Christmas blues from Leadbelly, Amos Milburn, B.B. King, Jimmy McCracklin,
John Lee Hooker and Thelma Cooper. Leadbelly's early years were punctuated by violence and stints in prison yet improbably he became a celebrity on the Manhattan folk scene. He also had an undeniable appeal to children, recording many children's songs such as “Skip to My Lou”, “Blue Tail Fly”, “Sally Walker” in addition to several Christmas songs including ”The Christmas Song, also recorded by him as“Rooster Crows At Midnight
(Christmas Day)”,“On a Christmas Day”and our selection,“Christmas Is Coming.”
Around the mid-40's a distinctly smooth piano based blues styled emerged on the West Coast, alternating between smoky blues ballads and romping boogies with artists such as Charles Brown, Floyd Dixon, Little Willie
Littlefield, Cecil Gant, Ivory Joe Hunter, Roy Hawkins and Amos Milburn racked up a pile of hits. Starting in 1946,
Milburn hit the R&B top ten nineteen times including “Let's Make Christmas Merry, Baby” which slid in at number three in November 1949. Milburn was still in fine form when he waxed "Christmas (Comes Once A Year)" in 1960 for King, shortly before switching over to Motown which didn't do much for his already fading career.
If Milburn's career was on the wane in 1960, B.B. King's was still on the rise after having massive success the previous decade. 1960's“Christmas Celebration” is King's lone Christmas song until 2001 when he cut the album
A Christmas Celebration of Hope . The swinging“Christmas Celebration”is good time blues, linked in tradition to
Bessie Smith's early number and the Leadbelly tune that also shares the anthology.
In his heyday, from the late 40's through the 60's, Jimmy McCracklin led one of the toughest, hardest rocking blues bands on the West Coast. He was a prolific and witty composer, a fine singer/pianist and along the way launched a number of hits on the charts. Still he remains something of a neglected figure, his stature always seems to have been higher in the black community. McCraklin always had a knack for adapting his music for the times and 1961's “Christmas Time - Part 1 & Part 2” has a contemporary feel and a philosophical bent, another
McCracklin trademark:
Some people waiting for tomorrow, some celebratin' somehow else
I'm not waiting on tomorrow, let tomorrow speak for itself
Because now Christmas is here and everywhere, and everywhere
Outside of his contemporary B.B. King, few had a longer recording career than John Lee Hooker. Like King,
Hooker wasn't much on Christmas songs, with the lonesome “Blues For Christmas” from 1954 his only holiday offering. Backed by Johnny Hooks' mournful tenor, this just may be the perfect song if you’re planning a blue
Christmas:
Blues for Christmas, I ain't got a dime
I'm sitting here wasted with my head hung down
Santa Claus, send my baby back
I may not have no money, but she be rich enough
Apparently Thelma Cooper “hit the numbers” and is looking to blow off a little holiday steam as she sings on the jumping “I Need A Man”:
I been saving my money and now the holidays are here
Now I need a man to help me spread good cheer.
The prior year Cooper cut“Merry Christmas Baby” and over the course of a decade cut close to three dozen sides for various labels. There's some speculation that Cooper was also the singer recorded as Dolly Copper who cut sides for Dot and Savoy around the same period.
We hear from a fine contingent from the Lone Star State including Lightnin' Hopkins, Hop Wilson and Freddy
King. Hopkins cut several holiday themed numbers during his long career i ncluding our selection, “Santa” from

1960, as well as 1953's twosider "Merry Christmas b/w Happy New Year" and 1962's“Heavy Snow."
Background on Hop Wilson remains sketchy. He served in the Army during WWII and after his discharge decided to pursue a car eer as a blues musician and headed to Houston in the 50’s. He began performing with
Ivory Lee Semien's group in the late '50s. They were sent to see Eddie Shuler at Goldband records in 1958 on the recommendation of a local record distributor. They cut several sessions with a number of sides not issued at the time. Sometime in 1958 Semien started his own studio and issued records under his own Ivory label. Semien recorded fourteen sides by Wilson, three issued as singles. Wilson was approached in the 60's to record but apparently had enough of the record business.
Freddy King needs no introduction. Years before he broke out to a wider audience he was cutting records for
African-American audiences, including his classic two-sided 45 "Christmas Tears b/w "I He ar Jingle Bells” from
1961.
We turn our attention to the religious side with selections by Rev. JM Gates, Rev. D.C. Rice, Magnolia Five, The
Fairfield Four and the Spartanburg Famous Four. We return to our old friend Rev. JM Gates who we featured twice in our first anthology. Gates virtually cornered the market in recorded sermons waxing some two hundred titles between 1926 and 1941. His outlook on Christmas is not exactly jubilant as you can tell from titles such as
“Death Might Be Your Santa Claus”, “Christmas Dinner In Jail”, "Will The Coffin Be Your Santa Claus?", well you get the picture. He's up to his old tricks in our selection “Gettin' Ready For Christmas”:
“ Some have taken their last nickel, paid it on an automobile, getting ready for Christmas day. But let me tell you something. Somebody is getting ready for you. And let me tell you, namely, the undertaker, he ’s getting ready for your body. Not only that, the jailer he ’s getting ready for you, Christmas day. Hmm?
And not only the jailer, but the lawyer, the police force, now getting ready for Christmas day. And let me tell you, they ’re getting ready for you now, and I want you to bear it in mind that they’re getting ready.”
There's no fire and brimstone in Rev. D.C. Rice's joyous “Who Do You Call That Wonderful Counsellor.” After hearing the recordings Rev. JM Gates and Rev. F.W. McGee, Rice was inspired to make his own records. He got his chance in 1928 through Jack Kapp of Vocalion Records, who told him “to preach like you’re preaching to the whole world out there.
” Though scared, “I just let myself go and preached like the Lord told me to save all the sinners in the world.
” Between 1928 and 1930 cut just over two-dozen sides.
The Magnolia Five recorded four songs for the Library of Congress at College Station, Texas in 1941 at WTAW
Radio. As writer Ken Romanowski notes: “Kylo Turner and I. H. Robinson of the group recorded with the famous
Pilgrim Travelers in the postwar period, and their version of ''Go Where I Send Thee” (here titled“The Holy
Baby'') points to the influential Heavenly Gospel Singers as one antecedent of their sound. Toward the end of the piece, one of the singers cups his hands and imitates a trumpet in the "human orchestra'' or "sing-band'' style popular among barbershop quar tets and the ubiquitous recordings of the Mills Brothers beginning in 1931.”
The Fairfield Four come from the same era but found their way to broad commercial success. In 1942, they won a contest sponsored by the Colonial Coffee Company, winning their own morning show over 50,000-watt WLAC out of Nashville. Within a few years under the sponsorship of Sunway Vitamins, the group's broadcasts were syndicated to major cities across the United States and they began billing themselves as the "Southland's
Famous Fairfield Four." The group ceased touring in 1959 but reunited in 1980 racking up a number of awards and honors including a Grammy award.
The upstate area of South Carolina spawned some signi fi cant quartets in the 1920s and 1930s. The Spartanburg
Famous Four, featuring baritone Buster Porter, was the best- known local group, recording a dozen sides in
Charlotte, North Carolina, for Decca Records in 1938.
Jumping across the tracks we spotlight some fine country and rockabilly performers including Joe Poovey,
Cordell Jackson Fiddling' John Carson, Coy McDaniel & Shorty Warren, the Davis Sisters and
Vernon Dalhart.“Groovey”Joe Poovey as he was sometimes billed, was a kid of fourteen when he waxed
“Santa's Helper” which gives him a little more street cred than the rest of our performers when it comes to knowing a thing or two about Christmas. In fact this was Poovey's debut vocal; the flipside was “Christmas Filled
With Cheer” where he gave a somewhat maudlin holiday recitation. Povey eventually dropped the hillbilly

numbers in favor of rockabilly.
Country certainly gives the blues a run for the money when it comes to colorful monikers. Take Cordell Jackson also known as "Guitar Granny,'' who started performing in the 1930's with her father's band, the Pontiac Ridge
Runners. She founded her own Moon Records, the oldest continuously operating label in Memphis, in 1956, to release her own recordings as well as those of other Memphis based rock & roll artists. She inaugurated the label with her own“Beboppers Christmas b/w Rock and Roll Christmas''
If you're talking about country, real country music, the first of what we know today as "country music" was broadcast by radio and recorded for phonograph by Fiddlin' John Carson. Between 1923 and 1931, Carson recorded almost 150 songs, mostly together with the "Virginia Reelers" or his daughter Rosa Lee Carson, who performed with him as "Moonshine Kate" (now there's a country name!).
I'm no expert on country music but New Jersey doesn't exactly seem like a hotbed to me. Shory Warren was known as the "Eastern King of Western Swing" and he and his group were the featured act at Shorty's club, "The
Copa Club" located in Secaucus, NJ. They also had their own television show over WATV in Newark ever
Sunday. Shorty recorded for several labels between 1946 and 1952. His partner Coy McDaniel was a recording artist for MGM during the mid-1950s. He was also a member of Smokey Warren's Western Rangers.
The Davis Sisters made their debut recording sessions in Detroit (in either late 1952 or early 1953) and ended with a tragic car accident a year later. The duo, Skeeter Davis and Betty Jack Davis, were unrelated and are probably best known for their 1953 No. 1 country hit "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know." Shortly after the release of "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know", the Davis Sisters were in a car accident just outside of
Cincinnati on August 2, 1953, which killed Betty Jack instantly and seriously injured Skeeter.
Vernon Dalhart saw an advertisement in the local newspaper for singers and applied, was auditioned by Thomas
Edison and would go on to make numerous records for Edison Records. From 1916 until 1923, using numerous pseudonyms, he made over 400 recordings of light classical music and early dance band vocals for various record labels. He was already an established singer when he made his first country music recordings which cemented his place in music history. Dalhart's 1924 recording of "The Wreck of the Old 97" became a runaway hit, alerting the national record companies to the existence of a sizable market for country-style vocals. It was the desire of the Victor Talking Machine Company to duplicate the sales success that led them to contract with Ralph
S. Peer to go to the southern mountains in the Summer of 1927 to facilitate 'The Bristol Sessions', arguably the single-most important recording event in the history of country music, where Jimmie Rodgers and the original
Carter Family were first discovered.
Christmas is supposed to bring families together of course some that closeness can bring up some family drama and maybe some painful memories. Speaking of memories, I grew up in the Bronx, known for many things but musically perhaps best known for doo-wop and vocal harmony groups. As a kid this was not my music of choice, my Mother, however, would have the radio station locked to the oldies station as we drove around on seemingly endless errands. Trapped, as it were, I became something of an expert on this music whether I wanted to or not.
With that we in mind bring you a batch of Christmas vocal group numbers I know all too well by the Penguins,
The Ravens, The Five Keys, The Larks, Billy Ward and His Dominoes, The Youngsters and The Jackson Trio.
The Penguins' "Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)" is forever etched in my brain and was a huge crossover hit for the group. The Penguins never had another national hit. Included in this collection is 1955's double sided 45
“Christmas Prayer” and the B-side of “Jingle Jangle.”
You can probably trace the origin of all those vocal groups named after birds (The Orioles, The Crows, The
Larks, The Robins, The Penguins, etc.) to The Ravens who formed in 1946 and were one of the most successful and influential vocal quartets of the period, racking up a number of R&B hits.“White Christmas b/w Silent Night” was released in 1948 on the National imprint.
The Five Keys are among the most highly regarded among vocal group aficionados. The origins of the 5 Keys go back to 1945, in Newport News, Virginia, when two sets of brothers began singing gospel music as the
Sentimental Four. By 1948, they had branched out into Pop and R&B, as well as gospel. Around 1949 they changed the group's name and were signed to Aladdin in 1951.“It's Christmas Time” was cut in 1951 the flip side

of "Old MacDonald." It was the latter song that gained traction, reissued again in 1952 with a different backing.
As music historian (and fellow Bronxite) wrote:“The Larks were an extraordinary group: beloved by collectors today and revered by their peers at the time. The only ones who didn't seem to idolize them were the recordbuying public. Just two of their songs...ever made the national R&B charts, and then only for a week each. And yet, the influence they had on up-andcoming groups is incalculable.” The Larks have a long, convoluted history emerging from the Selah Jubilee Singers who formed in the 20's through a dizzying number of related groups like The Jubilators and The 4 Barons before becoming The Larks around 1950.
Although the band was called called Billy Ward & the Dominoes the group is probably best known for Jackie
Wilson and Clyde McPhatter – sorry Billy! The group signed to Federal in 1951 and in May of that year topped the R&B charts with “Sixty Minute Man", where they boasted of being able to satisfy his girls with fifteen minutes each of "kissin'" "teasin'" and "squeezin'", before "blowin'" his "top." Despite lineup changes the group continued to have success before losing steam by the late 50's.
Christmas in jail had a little too much to drink
Ain't got no bail, spending New Year's Eve in the clink
I was in the wrong lane, feeling no pain, souped my car to 75
Ran right into, you can guess who, and they say I'm lucky to be alive
Somehow when you sing those lyrics with impeccable group harmony it really doesn't sound so bad. Now I'm not condoning this behavior so as a public service announcement I say“please stay drunk in your own home people!” The Youngsters were part of the vibrant R&B centered around Los Angeles. The group had one good sized hit on the west coast, several records under different names, and members that were involved in other fine groups. "Dreamy Eyes" became their best-selling record and earned them spots on a few local tours and some great gigs. Our concern is the song's flip sid e, “Christmas In Jail”, following the tradition of songs like Leroy
Carr's “Christmas In Jail (Ain't That A Pain)” and Rev. J.M. Gates'“Christmas Dinner In Jail.”
The Jackson Trio (also called The Ebonaires on some records and as Jake Porter & The
Ebonaires on others) recorded "Jingle Bell Hop" and "Love For Christmas in 1956 for the Hollywood label. As
The Ebonaires they recorded several other sides for labels like Jake Porter's Combo imprint, Colonial, Money,
Lena and Aladdin.
In the late 1940's, early 1950's the clear delineation between blues, R&B and vocal group music got fuzzy and tangled up with groups becoming not so easy to classify. This was the period when rock and roll first emerged.
From that era we feature holiday platters by Dee Dee Ford and Oscar McLolli and His Honey Jumpers.
Don Gardner and Dee Dee Ford reached the charts in 1962 with "I Need Your Loving," a Top 20 hit molded on the formula of Ike & Tina Turner. After the success of "I Need Your Loving," several records followed with little success. Three years prior Ford cut this fantastic and obscure R&B number issued for the Christmas season of
1959. The tune, "Good Morning Blues" gets the holiday treatment by Ford who sings over a finger-snapping, catchy arrangement by Mort Garson.
Singer Oscar McLollie was certainly one of those missing links between jump blues and rock 'n' roll. After serving in World War II, he made his way to Los Angeles, where he would make all of his recordings. "The Honey Jump"
(Parts 1 & 2) cut in 1953, credited - as most of his records as Oscar McLollie and his Honey Jumpers, isn't quite rock and roll but it's not far off. For Christmas 1953, Leon Rene, McLollie's manager, wrote the old-fashioned
"God Gave Us Christmas" which didn't didn't catch on at the time but was reissued by the Modern label for the
1954 holiday season, this time with a jumping B-side, "Dig That Crazy Santa Claus", hoping to appeal to the growing teenage market.
We jump to the jazz side of the street with selections by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan, the Wardell Gray/
Dexter Gordon Quintet and a pair by Duke Ellington.
"Baby, It's Cold Outside" was written by Frank Loesser who wrote the duet in 1944 and premiered the song with his wife at a house party. Pretty romantic stuff right? Well that is until he sold it to MGM in 1948. From there the song entered the mainstream, featured in movies and covered by artists such as Dinah Shore, Jonny Mercer,

Pearl Bailey, Sammy Davis, Jr and countless others. The recording by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on June 17, 1949 and lasted seven weeks on the chart, peaking at number 17. The song hit the charts again in 1961 with a Ray Charles/Betty Carter version.
It was in the Central Avenue clubs that Wardell Gray and Dexter Gordon crossed paths, their tenor battles becoming the stuff of legend. They made some records together starting in 1947. On 1952's swinging "Jingle
Jang Jump" the vocalist is Gladys Bentley. Bentley cut sides for Okeh in 1928 and sides in 1946 and 1952 for the labels Excelsior, Top Hat, Flame and Swing Time. Bentley was a 250 pound woman dressed in men's clothes
(including a signature tuxedo and top hat), who played piano and sang her own raunchy lyrics to popular tunes of the day in a deep, growling voice while flirting outrageously with women in the audience. She appeared at
Harry Hansberry's "Clam House" on 133rd Street, one of New York City's most notorious gay speakeasies, in the
1920s, and headlined in the early thirties at Harlem's Ubangi Club, where she was backed up by a chorus line of drag queens. She relocated to southern California, where she was billed as "America's Greatest Sepia Piano
Player", and the "Brown Bomber of Sophisticated Songs".
Two quite different sides of the Duke Ellington Orchestra with the stately "Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance of the
SugarPlum Fairy)" and the earthier “Santa Claus, Bring My Man Back To Me” featuring a splendid performance by singer Ozie Ware.“Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy)" comes from the album The
Nutcracker Suite recorded for Columbia in 1960. Vaudeville singer Ozie "Daybreak'' McPherson, also recorded as Ozie Ware and possibly as Eliza, Brown. The sides under the name Ozie Ware from 1928-1929 benefit from the presence of Duke Ellington and members of his Orchestra, while the 1925-1926 sides find her in the company of Lovie Austin's Serenaders and Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra.
DISC 1
1. Lead Belly Christmas Is Coming (A)
2. Rev JM Gates
3. Victoria Spivey
4. John Lee Hooker
5. Dee Dee Ford
6. Penguins
7. Magnolia Five
8. The Fairfield Four
9. Cordell Jackson
10. Coy McDaniel & Shorty Warren
11. Davies Sisters
12. Thelma Cooper
13. Jimmy McCracklin
14. Bumble Bee Slim
15. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordon
16. Amos Milburn
17. Freddy King
18. Jo Poovey And The Big “D” Boys
19. Fiddlin' John Carson
Gettin' Ready For Christmas
I Ain't Gonna Let You See My Santa Claus
Blues For Christmas
Good Morning Blues
Jingle Jangle
The Holy Baby
Go Tell It To The Mountain
Rock and Roll Christmas
Christmas Choo Choo Train
The Christmas Boogie
I Need A Man
Christmas Time - Part 1
Santa Claus Bring Me A New Woman
Baby It’s Cold Outside
Christmas (Comes Once A Year)
Christmas Tears
Santa's Helper
Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over
20.
Wardell Gray - Dexter Gordon Quintet Jingle Jangle Jump
(I)
(J)
(K)
(L)
(M)
(N)
(O)
(P)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
(F)
(G)
(H)
(Q)
(R)
(S)
(T)

DISC 2
1. Lightnin’ Hopkins
2. Jimmy McCracklin
3. Hop Wilson
Santa Claus
Christmas Time - part 2
Merry Christmas Darling
(U)
(M)
(V)
4. Duke Ellington and his orchestra Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy) (W)
5. Ozie Ware with Duke Ellington’s Hot Five Santa Claus, Bring My Man Back
6. Rev. Rice’s Sanctified Singers Who Do You Call That Wonderful Counsellor
(X)
(Y)
7. Spartanburg Famous Four
8. The Ravens
9. The Youngsters
Go Where I Send Thee
Silent Night
Christmas In Jail
(Z)
(A1)
(B1)
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Jackson Trio
Cordell Jackson
Vernon Dalhart
Lil McClintock
Walter Davis
BB King
The Larks
Jingle Bell Hop
Be-boppers Christmas
Santa Claus That's Me!
Don't think I'm Santa Claus
New “Santa Claus”
Christmas Celebration
Christmas To New Year's
(C1)
(I)
(D1)
(E1)
(F1)
(G1)
(H1)
17. The Five Keys It's Christmas Time
18. Oscar McLolli and His Honey Jumpers Dig That Crazy Santa Claus
19. Billy Ward and His Dominoes
20.
Ella Fitzgerald
Ringing In A Brand New Year
The Secret Of Christmas – 1959
(I1)
(J1)
(K1)
(L1)
A: Lead Belly, vocal guitar. San Francisco, California. February 15th 1945. Folkways 7533.
B: Rev. J.M. Gates, sermon with singing. Kimball Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia. Thursday, 2 nd
October 1941. 071089-
1, Bluebird B8883.
C: Victoria Spivey and her Chicago Four. Victoria Spivey, vocal; Lee Collins, trumpet; Arnett Nelson, clarinet;
H.H. Shayne, piano; John Lindsay, stand-up bass. Chicago, Illinois. Thursday, 15 th
October 1936.
D: John Lee Hooker, vocal, guitar; Johnny Hooks, tenor sax; Bob Thurman, piano; Tom Whitehead, drums.
Detroit. 1954. H51, Hi-Q5018.
E: Dee Dee Ford, vocal, accompanied by unknown vocal group with orchestra directed by Mort Garson. New
York City. November 1959. PC-9673, TODD 1049.
F: The Penguins. Cleveland Duncan, lead vocal; Dexter Tisby tenor vocal, Curtis Williams bass vocal, Bruce
Tate, baritone vocal. Accompanied by unidentified musicians. Los Angeles, California. November 12 th
1955.
YW12410, Mercury 70762X45
H: Magnolia Five. Robert Washington, tenor vocal; Kylo Turner, lead vocal; I.H. Robinson, baritone vocal;
Winthrop Washington, lead vocal; unknown, bass vocal. College Station, Texas. June, 1941. Library of
Congress.
I: Cordell Jackson, vocal, guitar. Unknown, bass; Unknown, drums. Memphis, Tennessee. August 1956. G8OW
6407 and G8OW 6408, Moon 9.
J: Coy McDaniel & Shorty Warren With the Western Rangers. Coy McDaniel vocal, poss guitar; Shorty Warren, vocal; prob. Cy Sweed, fiddle; prob Dick Richards, accordion, poss. Frank Neves, bass; poss. Slim Bland, guitar. Prob New York City. c. early 1952. R-2029 Rainbow No. 151.
K: The Davis Sisters. “Skeeter Davis” (Mary Frances Penick), vocal; Georgia Davis, vocal; Chet Atkins, guitar;
George Barnes, guitar, Billy Mure, guitar; Herb Johnson, steel guitar; Charles Grean, bass; Phil Kraus, drums;
Shorty Long, fiddle; Mac Ceppos, fiddle; Marty Gold, piano. New York City. 17 August 1954. E4VW-4966,
RCA Victor 47-5906
L: Thelma Cooper with “Doc” Bagby and His Orchestra. Thelma Cooper, vocal; Doc Bagby, piano; unknown, tenor sax; unknown, guitar; unknown, bass; unknown, drums. Philadelphia. 1949. THC3, Gotham 210.
M: Jimmy McCracklin, vocal; unknown, trumpet; Wiley Kizart, tenor sax; Bob Geddins Jnr.,piano; Johnny
Heartsman, guitar; unknown, bass; unknown, drums. Oakland. 1961. X and XX, Art Tone 826.
N. Bumble Bee Slim (Amos Eaton), vocal; Honey Hill, piano; poss. Bill Gaither, guitar. New York City. Friday 21 st
August 1936. 61235, Decca 7239.
O: Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan and his Tympani Five : Ella Fitzgerald, vocal; Aaron Izenhall, Bob Mitchell,
Harold Mitchell, trumpet; Louis Jordan, alto sax, tenor sax, vocal; Josh Jackson, tenor sax; Bill Doggett, piano; James "Ham" Jackson, electric guitar; Billy Hadnott, bass; Joe Morris, drums. New York City. April 28
1949. W 74866-A Decca 24644.

P: Amos Milburn, vocal, piano; unknown guitar; unknown, bass; unknown drums; unknown, bells. Cincinnati.
21 st
September 1960. K 4913, King 5405.
Q: Freddy King, vocal, guitar; Sonny Thompson, piano; Fred Jordan, guitar; Bill Willis, bass; Phillip Paul, drums.
Cincinnati. 24 th
July 1961. F 789-X2, Federal 12439.
R: Jo Poovey And The Big “D” Boys. Joe Poovey, vocal; “Tex” Raye Crutsinger lead guitar; Buddy Griffin, rhythm guitar; Donald “Don” Messick, steel guitar; William “Bill” Noble, bass; William “Bill” Simmonds, piano; Harlan
Powell, pipe; John “Johnny” Hicks, tuned whiskey glasses. Dallas, Texas. October 1955. Rural Rhythm 45-
503-B.
S: Fiddlin' John Carson & his Virginia Reelers: John Carson,fiddle; Earl Johnson, fiddle; T. M. Brewer, banjo or guitar; Moonshine Kate, banjo or guitar; Atlanta, Georgia. October 11 th
1927. 81755-B-OK 45273.
T: Wardell Gray - Dexter Gordon Quintet. Dexter Gordon, tenor sax; Wardell Gray, tenor sax; Gerald Wiggins, piano, celes te, organ; George “Red” Callender bass; Chuck Thompson, drums; Gladys Bentley, vocal.
Hollywood, California. June 9 th
1952, 4123-1, Swingtime 321.
U: Lightnin’ Hopkins, vocal, guitar; Delmar Donnell, drums. New York City. November, 1960. 6582, Fire 104.
V: Hop Wilson, vocal, slide guitar; Elmore Nixon, piano; Pete Douglas, bass; Ivory Lee Semien, drums. Houston,
7 th
November 1961. L134, Ivory 134/5.
W: Duke Ellington and his orchestra. Duke Ellington, piano; Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Paul Gonzalves,
Russell Procope, Jimmy Hamilton, saxophones; Ray Nance, Willie Cook, Andres Meringuito, Eddie Nullins, trumpets; Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown, Britt Woodman, “Booty” Wood, trombones; Sam Woodyard, drums;
Aaron Bell, bass. Los Angeles, California. c. between 26 th
March and 22 nd
June 1960. (CL 1541) CBS BPG
62030.
X: Ozie Ware with Duke Ellington’s Hot Five. Ozie Ware, vocal; Duke Ellington, piano; Barney Bigard, clarinet;
Billy Taylor, bass; prob. Freddy Jenkins, trumpet. New York City. 30 th
October 1928. BVE-48100, Victor
21777.
Y: Rev. Rice’s Sanctified Singers. Rev D.C. Rice, vocal; unknown vocal group; unknown, piano; unknown, brass bass; Mr Hunter, Senior, percussion. Chicago, Illinois. Saturday 23 rd
November 1929. C-4741-, Vocalion
1462.
Z: Spartanburg Famous Four. Buster Porter, lead vocal; Willie Gladden, tenor vocal; Gino Dillard, baritone vocal;
Richard Rice, bass vocal; unaccompanied. Charlotte, North Carolina. Monday, 6 th
June 1938. 64041-A,
Decca 7468.
A1: The Ravens. Howard Biggs, piano, arranger; unknown, guitar; unknown, bass; unknown, drums; Maithe
Marshall, lead tenor vocals; Leonard Puzey, 2nd tenor vocals; Richard Cannon, baritone vocals; Jimmy
Ricks, bass vocals. St Louis, Missouri. c. September 1948. National 9062.
B1: The Youngsters (with Earl Hyde’s Orchestra). Charles Everidge lead vocal; Herman Pruitt (tenor), Robert
Johnson (tenor), Harold Murray (baritone), and James Monroe Warren (bass). Prob. Los Angeles,
California. c. September 1956.EM209 Empire 109. Accompanied by Earl Hyde’s Orchestra; musicians unidentified.
C1: The Jackson Trio. Eugene Jackson, alto sax or tenor sax; rest of group unidentified. Prob. Los Angeles.
1956. Hollywood 635, 1046
D1: Vernon Dalhart, vocal;. Adelyne Hood, fiddle; unknown, guitar; unknown, effects. New York City. Thursday,
October 4 th
1928. 147104, Harmony 754-H.
E1: Lil McClintock, vocal, prob. own guitar. Atlanta, Georgia. Thursday, 4 th
December 1930.151017-2, Columbia
14575-D.
F1: Walter Davis, vocal, piano. Chicago, Illinois. Friday, 21 st
March 1941. 053978-1, Bluebird B8860.
G1: BB King, vocal, guitar; Henry Boozier, John Browning or Kennth Sands, trumpet; Pluma Davis, trombone;
Lawrence Burdine, alto sax; Barney Hubert, baritone sax; Johnny Board, tenor sax; Lloyd Glen, piano;
Marshall York, bass; Ted Curry or Sonny Freeman, drums. Los Angeles, California. 16 th
March 1960. -1,
Kent 387.
H1: The Larks. Thermon Ruth, baritone; Allen (Alden) Bunn, baritone; David McNeil, bass; Raymond "Pee Wee"
Barnes, tenor; Eugene Mumford, tenor; accompanied by unidentified musicians. October 18 th
1951. Appollo unissued.

I1: The Five Keys. Rudy West, first tenor; Maryland Pierce, second tenor; Ripley Ingram, octave tenor;
Dickie Smith, baritone tenor; Bernie West, bass; poss. “Virginia Joe” Jones, piano. New York City. October
9, 1951. X-52, Aladdin 3113.
J1: Oscar McLolli and His Honey Jumpers. Oscar McLollie, vocal, leader; unidentified vocal group, unidentified musicians. 1954. Prob. Culver City, California. 1954. MM2126, Modern 943.
K1: Billy Ward and His Dominoes. Billy Ward, first tenor, poss. piano; Milton Merle, second tenor; Cliff
Givens, bass; James Van Loan, tenor/baritone; Jackie Wilson, lead tenor. Prob. Cincinnati, Ohio. October
12, 1953. F1129, King 1281.
L1: Ella Fitzgerald vocal; Pete Candoli, Philip Candreva, Buddy Childers, Stu Williamson, trumpet; Murray
McEachern, George Roberts, Lloyd Ulyate, trombone; Jay Corre, Chuck Gentry, Bill Holman, Ted Nash, woodwind; Mary Jane Barton, harp; David Frisina, Dan Lube, William Miller, Eudice Shapiro, Felix Slatkin, violin; Claude JR. Williamson, piano; Herb Ellis, guitar; Red Mitchell, bass; Tommy Shepard, electric bass;
Jack Sperling, drums; Russell Garcia, conductor, arranger. Los Angeles, California. 3 rd
September 1959.
22896-4, Verve V 10186