Discover Top Posts Tagged with #ace records

Mercy Baby - Marked deck

'Killer blues rocker released in 1957!! Great guitar playing by Frankie Lee Sims! Top two sided gem, Rock and roll baby on the flip! Audio transferred from original vinyl 45.'

#mercy baby #marked deck #frankie lee sims #ace records #Youtube

Etta James “Good Rockin’ Mama: Her 1950’s Rock’N’Roll Dance Party” 2013

Against all odds Etta James had a long and mostly successful career. When she arrived at Chess Records in the early 60’s she excelled at a softer brand of R&B and then she could switch to a gritty brand of it as evidenced on her excellent “Rocks The House” album before finally towards the end of the decade going to Muscle Shoals and trying that southern soul thing with “Tell Mama”.

But what of Ms James prior to Chess? Well, here it is! For six years teenage Ms James recorded for LA based Modern Records. The material was a more traditional, and in the case of this album, more upbeat and dancefloor oriented than what she did later. The first track, “Tough Lover”, she’s clearly trying to get a Little Richard vibe going. It also includes her first hit “The Wallflower” which was a response to Hank Ballard’s hit “Work With Me Annie”. Someday I may do a post documenting the Annie/Henry song cycle… it’s pretty entertaining.