Release Date: May 18, 2015.
Recording Time: 184 minutes.
Release Info: Compilation Recording.
Styles: Rhythm & Blues.
From the mid-'50s to the early '60s, R&B belonged not just to men with guitars, but to women who sang with hungry voices on stages and in studios across the US. Their roots were planted in the blues of Ma Rainey, Mamie Smith, Ida Fox and Bessie Smith, the gospel of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the jazz of Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington. Their legacy lies in the recordings collected on Ain't Gonna Hush by journalist (Mojo, Record Collector) and R&B authority Lois Wilson. Selected because of their collectability and popularity on the club scene, the 32 tracks selected from the 3 CD set Ain't Gonna Hush include contributions by crowned queens of soul Etta James and Aretha Franklin, and other luminaries like Big Maybelle, Little Esther, LaVern Baker and Baby Washington. But lesser-known names are also well represented, whose recordings, like most of the songs collected here, sold poorly, but fetch huge prices today. Their lack of success was not due to ability, performance or quality of songwriting; every artist here shouts, screams and hollers as if their lives depend on it, every song is perfectly crafted. But due to bad luck, lack of promotion or simply the fact that with a market flooded with choice, the competition was tough and these 45s fell through the cracks. Here those unfortunate turns of fate are redressed with a collection that compiles the forgotten alongside the famed. Ain't Gonna Hush reasserts the eminence of revered voices and proposes the coronation of a larger cast of R&B Queens.
Credits: Annisteen Allen - primary artist; Ernestine Allen - primary artist; Fulton Allen - composer; Little Marie Allen - primary artist; Marie Allen - composer; Kenneth Ancell - composer; Dr. Morgan Babb - composer; Baby Jean - primary artist; June "Bug "Bailey - primary artist; LaVern Baker - primary artist; Jeannie Barnes - primary artist; H.B. Barnum - composer; Dave Bartholomew - composer; Brook Benton - composer; Dorothy Berry - primary artist; Big Maybelle - primary artist; Edwin Bocage - composer; Honey Brown - composer, primary artist; Ruth Brown, primary artist; Earl Burroughs, composer; Anna Belle Caesar, primary artist; Papa Cairo - composer; Wynona Carr - composer, primary artist; Willis Carroll - composer; Ray Charles - composer; Willie J Charles - composer; Ann Cole - primary artist; Albert Collins - composer; Eddie Cooley - composer; Ken Curtis - composer; Bobby Darin - composer; Luchi de Jesus - composer; Varetta Dillard - composer, primary artist; Willie Dixon - composer; Aggie Dukes - composer, primary artist; Ruth Durand - primary artist; Vicki Evans - primary artist; Betty Everett - composer, primary artist; Mary Ann Fisher - primary artist; Dorothea Fleming - primary artist; Preston Foster - composer; Aretha Franklin - primary artist; Evelyn Freeman - composer, primary artist; Harvey Fuqua - composer; Clarence Garlow - composer, primary artist; Sylvester Garnes - composer; Paul Gayten - primary artist; Bob Geddins - composer; Berry Gordy, Jr. - composer; Paula Grimes - primary artist; Shirley Gunter - composer, primary artist; Lionel Hampton - composer; Ricky Harper - composer; Joyce Harris - composer, primary artist; Odessa Harris - primary artist; Roy Hawkins - composer; Tony Hilde - composer; Berna-Dean Holland - primary artist; Bob Holloway - composer; Eddie Holmes - composer; Paul Jackson - mastering; Etta James - composer, primary artist; Mamie Jenkins - composer, primary artist; Don Johnson - composer; Mari Jones - primary artist; Myrtle Jones - primary artist; Joy Kennedy - composer; Don Kirshner - composer; Jimmie Lee - primary artist; Jerry Leiber - composer; Joe Lewis - composer; Margaret Lewis - composer; Little Esther - primary artist; Little Miss Jessie - primary artist; Cherri Lynn - composer, primary artist; Theodore MacRae - composer; Jessie Mae - primary artist; Johnnie Malone - composer; Rose Marie McCoy - composer; J. Leslie McFarlane - composer; Ronald Meek - composer; J.D. Miller - composer; Cordella De Milo - composer, primary artist; Rose Mitchell - composer, primary artist; Johnny Moore - composer; Johnny Moore's Three Blazers - primary artist; Vikki Nelson - primary artist; Clyde Otis - composer; Johnny Otis - composer; Mamie Perry - primary artist; Jerry Pinkney - composer; Cole Porter - composer; Thomas Price - composer; Pearl Reaves - primary artist; Lula Reed, primary artist; Charlie Reynolds, composer; Renald Richard, composer; Tommy Roberts, composer; Don Robey - composer; Jessie Mae Robinson - composer; Anna Mae Rogers - primary artist; Benny Sharp - composer; Charles Singleton - composer; Al Smith - composer; Bobby Smith - composer; Bernice Snelson - composer; Dakota Staton - primary artist; Mike Stoller - composer; Jules Taub - composer; Blondene Taylor - composer; Carmen Taylor - composer, primary artist; Elson Teat - composer; Blanche Thomas - primary artist; Sonny Thompson - composer; Big Mama Thornton - primary artist; Willie Mae Thornton - composer; Tiny Topsy - primary artist; Rudy Toombs - composer; Margie Tylor - composer; Baby Washington - composer, primary artist; Katie Webster - primary artist; Kitty White - primary artist; Larsenia Wilkins - composer; Annie Williams - primary artist; Bernice Williams - composer; David Curlee Williams - composer; Lois Wilson - liner notes; Beverly Wright, composer.
Vinyl Tracks, Side 1: 1) Rough Lover - Aretha Franklin; 2) Put On My Shoes - Mary Ann Fisher; 3) Love Me Right - LaVern Baker; 4) Ain't Gonna Hush - Cordella De Milo; 5) Jump Jack, Jump! - Wynona Carr; 6) My Babe - Dakota Staton; 7) Say Hey Pretty Baby - Lula Reed; 8) Miss You So - Tiny Topsy.
Vinyl Tracks, Side 2: 1) Nobody Loves You Like Me - Etta James; 2) Move On - Baby Washington; 3) Fujiyama Mama - Annisteen Allen; 4) You Ain't So Such A Much - Blanche Thomas; 5) Tough Lover - Etta James; 6) Whipper Snapper - LaVern Baker; 7) Humdinger - Little Marie Allen; 8) Hambone - Mamie Jenkins.
Vinyl Tracks, Side 3: 1) A Little You - Dakota Staton; 2) One Monkey Don't Stop No Show - Big Maybelle; 3) Good Gravy Baby - Varetta Dillard; 4) You Never Could Be Mine - Baby Washington; 5) I'm Hurted - Mamie Perry; 6) Can't Get You Off My Mind - Jeannie Barnes; 7) Little Annie - Anna Belle Caesar; 8) Don't Freeze On Me - Jessie Mae.
Vinyl Tracks, Side 4: 1) I've Got A Man - Annie Williams; 2) Till The Well Runs Dry - Wynona Carr; 3) Puddentane - Lula Reed; 4) You Shocked Me - Tiny Topsy; 5) They Call Me Big Mama - Big Mama Thornton; 6) Hound Dog - Little Esther; 7) You Can't Stay Here - Step It Up And Go; - Pearl Reaves; 8) Jump With Me Baby - Mamie Jenkins.
Tracks, Disc 1: 1) Rough Lover - Aretha Franklin; 2) Put On My Shoes - Mary Ann Fisher; 3) Love Me Right - LaVern Baker; 4) Ain't Gonna Hush - Cordella De Milo; 5) Jump Jack, Jump! - Wynona Carr; 6) My Babe - Dakota Staton; 7) Down In Texas - Mari Jones with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers; 8) You Did Me Wrong - Big Mama Thornton; 9) Say Hey Pretty Baby - Lula Reed; 10) Miss You So - Tiny Topsy; 11) Didn't It Rain - Evelyn Freeman; 12) Baby Please Don't Go - Rose Mitchell; 13) Nobody Loves You Like Me - Etta James; 14) Mambo Baby - Ruth Brown; 15) Fujiyama Mama - Annisteen Allen; 16) You Ain't So Such A Much - Blanche Thomas; 17) Tough Lover - Etta James; 18) John John - Aggie Dukes; 19) Ding Dong - Carmen Taylor; 20) Move On - Baby Washington; 21) Scorched - Varetta Dillard; 22) A Rockin' Good Way - Odessa Harris; 23) Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On - Big Maybelle; 24) Big Mama's Coming Home - Big Mama Thornton; 25) Hambone - Mamie Jenkins.
Tracks, Disc 2: 1) G'wan About Your Business - Annisteen Allen; 2) My Baby Has Gone - Little Miss Jessie; 3) One Monkey Don't Stop No Show - Big Maybelle; 4) Right To Love You - Myrtle Jones with Paul Gayten; 5) Killer Diller - Betty Everett; 6) Can't Get You Off My Mind - Jeannie Barnes; 7) Come On, Come On, Come On - Tiny Topsy; 8) Whipper Snapper - LaVern Baker; 9) Don't Talk Back - Big Mama Thornton; 10) I've Got Nothing Working Now - Ann Cole; 11) I Called You Up Daddy - Anna Mae Rogers with Clarence Garlow; 12) Blue And Lonesome - Jimmie Lee; 13) If You Wanna - Baby Jean; 14) You Never Could Be Mine - Baby Washington; 15) Good Gravy Baby - Varetta Dillard; 16) Bright And Early - Vikki Nelson; 17) Lee Street Blues - June Bug Bailey; 18) I'm Hurted - Mamie Perry; 19) Ain't Gonna Cry - Betty Everett; 20) I've Got Troubles - Annisteen Allen; 21) I'm Gonna Be A Fool Next Monday - Kitty White; 22) Little Annie - Anna Belle Caesar; 23) Oop Shoop - Shirley Gunter; 24) Louisiana Twist - June Bug Bailey; 25) My Baby Waited Too Long - Mamie Perry.
Tracks, Disc 3: 1) I've Got A Man - Annie Williams; 2) Till The Well Runs Dry - Wynona Carr; 3) Puddentane - Lula Reed; 4) You Shocked Me - Tiny Topsy; 5) They Call Me Big Mama - Big Mama Thornton; 6) Hound Dog - Little Esther; 7) Wild As You Can Be - Mary Ann Fisher; 8) No Way Out - Joyce Harris; 9) You Move Me So - Paula Grimes; 10) I Say You're Driving Me Crazy - Dorothy Berry; 11) Your Money Ain't Long Enough - Cherri Lynn; 12) You Can't Stay Here (Step It Up And Go) - Pearl Reaves; 13) Medicine Man - Baby Washington; 14) Ain't No Need - Honey Brown; 15) A Little You - Dakota Staton; 16) One Gal In Town, Five Men Hanging Around - Berna-Dean; 17) Don't Talk That Talk To Me - Vicki Evans; 18) Jump With Me Baby - Mamie Jenkins; 19) I'm Wise - Ruth Durand; 20) Don't Freeze On Me - Jessie Mae; 21) Hoo Wee, Sweet Daddy - Katie Webster; 22) Big Mamou Daddy - Carmen Taylor; 23) Humdinger - Little Marie Allen; 24) Hollerin' And Screamin' - Little Esther; 25) The Devil Is Mad - Dorothea Fleming; 26) Love For Sale - Ernestine Allen.