Bull Moose Jackson & His Buffalo Bearcats: Big Fat Mamas are Back in Style Again (1980)
Bull Moose Jackson’s name may not ring any bells with modern day listeners, but ‘70s hard rock enthusiasts and Aerosmith fans, in particular, have heard his music, whether they know it or not, via the band’s 1975 cover of Jackson’s “Big Ten Inch” on their best-selling Toys in the Attic album.
That song, alas, is not found on this particular collection, but I bought it anyway (at New York City’s Jazz Record Center) on the strength of another cheeky number called “Big Fat Mamas Are Back in Style Again,” which I’d heard in the mid ‘90s, covered by bluesman Taj Mahal (as “Big Legged Mamas.”
And before you cry misogyny, please read the lyrics, which are clearly aimed to praise, not disrespect their subjects -- certainly not by the politically-incorrect standards of 1950s and the general time-frame of Bull Moose’s career.
About that: born Benjamin Clarence Jackson in 1919, in Cleveland, Ohio, Bull Moose cut his teeth on saxophone before finding his rich, resounding voice and signing with the Cincinnati-based King Records, also home to James Brown, Ivory Joe Hunter, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Valerie Carr, and many others.
Bull Moose’s 1947 recording of the romantic ballad “I Love You, Yes I Do” (also not included here) went to No. 1 on the R&B charts and reportedly sold a million copies, but his specialty was swinging jump blues like “I Know Who Threw the Whiskey (In The Well)” and “Miss Lucy.”
And his legacy, for better or worse, has become tied to those saucy, suggestive novelty numbers, further exemplified here by the innuendo-drenched “Nosey Joe” (penned by Lieber & Stoller) as well as more innocent, fun-loving fare like “Why Don’t You Haul off and Love Me” and “I Wanna Hug Ya, Kiss Ya, Squeeze Ya.”
(Two other tracks I’d call your attention to, for the purpose of illustrating Bull Moose’s range, are the excellent, slow-rolling “Cleveland Ohio Blues” and another totally straight, uncharacteristic croon through “Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide.”)
Anyway, even before the end of the 1950s, Jackson had grown tired of touring and effectively retired from music, taking up a regular ol’ day job at a catering company in Washington D.C.
But he was eventually lured back by encouraging disciples for the occasional performance and recording engagement, even enjoying a particularly acclaimed revival stretch in the 1980s, before succumbing to lung cancer 1989, at the age of 70.
More Vintage Blues & R&B: James Brown’s Sex Machine, Ray Charles’ What’d I Say, Albert Collins’ Truckin’ with Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker’s “Boogie Chillen’,” Howlin’ Wolf’s Howlin’ Wolf, Etta James’ Etta Rocks the House, Chris Kenner’s “I Like it Like That,” Albert King’s Born Under a Bad Sign, Bobby Lewis’ “Tossin’ and Turnin’,” ‘Sticks’ McGhee’s “Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee,” Muddy Waters’ The Real Folk Blues, Wilson Pickett’s The Exciting Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding’s Otis Blue, Sam & Dave’s Greatest Hits, Taj Mahal’s The Natch’l Blues.
