Label: Document Records.
Release Date: March 18, 1997.
Recording Time: 69 minutes.
Releases: 1997, 2000, 2005.
Releases: 1997, 2000, 2005.
Recording Date: 1921 - 1931.
Styles: Classic Female Blues, Dixieland, Early Jazz.
Vol. 11 of this 14-CD series that includes the complete recordings of quite a few obscure classic blues singers of the 1920s is a varied affair. Four of the vocalists (Flo Johnson, Ruth Johnson, Josephine Jones, and Eliza Christmas Lee) only cut two songs apiece and one can understand, listening to these rare performances, why there were no encores! Better is Genevieve Jordan (whose only recording went unissued until now), Florence Lowery's four selections and the 11 performances by Mandy Lee, whose name might have been used for two different singers! The backup groups are often unidentified (lost to history) but pianist Casino Simpson does what he can to uplift Ruth Johnson's two numbers, and Ladd's Black Aces (with cornetist Phil Napoleon) is on the first five Mandy Lee numbers. Intriguing music, well worth hearing by fans of 1920s blues-oriented singers, despite being a bit erratic! - Review by Scott Yanow
Credits: Milton Ager - composer; Gus Aiken - trumpet; Joe Banks - drums; Garvin Bushell - clarinet; Choo Choo Jazzers - ensemble; Bud Cooper - composer; John Erby - piano; Dr. David Evans - liner notes; Jake Frazier - trombone; Bob Fuller - clarinet; Willie Gant - piano; Percy Grainger - composer; W.C. Handy - composer; Mike Jackson - piano; James P. Johnson & His Orchestra - banjo; Florentine Johnson - primary artist, vocals; Lonnie Johnson - guitar; Ruth Johnson - performer, primary artist, vocals; Genevieve Jordan - primary artist, vocals; Martha E. Koenig - composer; Anton Lada - composer; Ladd's Black Aces - ensemble; Eliza Christmas Lee - primary artist, vocals; Mandy Lee - primary artist, vocals; Jimmy Lytell - clarinet; Thomas Morris - cornet; Tom Morris - cornet; Phil Napoleon - cornet; Charles Panelli - trombone; Johnny Parth - producer; Everett Robbins - composer; Jack Roth - drums; Frank Signorelli - piano; Cass Simpson - piano; Elmer Snowden - banjo; Andrew "Big Babe" Webb - cornet; Gilbert Wells - composer; Gerhard Wessely - remastering; Spencer Williams - composer; Jack Yellen - composer.
Tracks: 1) Four O'Clock Blues - Flo Johnson; 2) Sugar Blues - Flo Johnson; 3) Rockin' Chair - Ruth Johnson; 4) Careless Love - Ruth Johnson; 5) I Wonder What's Become Of Sally? - Josephine Jones; 6) Just One Word Of Consolation - Josephine Jones; 7) Baby's Got The Blues - Genevieve Jordan; 8) I Ain't Givin' Nothin' Away - Eliza Christmas Lee; 9) Arkansas Blues - Eliza Christmas Lee; 10) Aggravatin' Papa - Mandy Lee; 11) I'm A Harmony Baby - Mandy Lee; 12) If Your Man Is Like My Man - Mandy Lee; 13) Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do - Mandy Lee; 14) Papa Better Watch Your Step - Mandy Lee; 15) Rounders Blues - Mandy Lee; 16) Wandering Papa Blues - Mandy Lee; 17) I Needs Aplenty Of Grease In My Frying Pan - Mandy Lee; 18) Crap Shootin' Papa, Mama Done Caught Your Dice - Mandy Lee; 19) Harlem Blues - Mandy Lee; 20) Somebody's Been Loving My Baby - Mandy Lee; 21) Bow Down Blues - Florence Lowery; 22) Moving Day Blues - Florence Lowery; 23) Poor Girl Blues - Florence Lowery; 24) Thirty Day Blues - Florence Lowery.