SLIM GAILLARD – 1947-1951 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1221 (2002) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Multi-instrumentalist and gloriously irrational vocalist Slim Gaillard marked 1947 as his last year of steady activity on the West Coast. Popular with the public but rather notorious among record company executives and nosy narks, Gaillard managed to squeeze out a series of records for MGM before relocating to New York City where three more titles apparently fulfilled his contractual obligations with that company in 1949. Gaillard also landed a small piece of work with Mercury in March 1951 and even managed to line up a session with Norman Granz for the Clef label two months later. The first 13 tracks on this peculiar compilation represent the Slim Gaillard/Bam Brown L.A. hipster novelty routine taken to its inevitable extreme. On one session someone named Jim Hawthorne even barks like a dog ("Serenade to a Poodle") and keeps up an irritating refrain of "Hoo-hoo-hoo-Hogan!" ("The Hogan Song"). Discographical rumors persist that the pianist on October 1, 1947, might have been Dodo Marmarosa, but this is almost certainly not the case. The session that took place on December 22, 1947, yielded a surprisingly palatable version of "Down by the Station" and "Communications," a very hip paean to various 20th century modes of keeping in touch. With "Puerto Vootie," Gaillard continued his ongoing tendency to tap into Caribbean and Latin American traditions as fuel for his seemingly endless slaphappy shenanigans. "Money, Money, Money" is one of the best "Cuban" numbers Gaillard ever recorded. The 1949 MGM session brought in bongos, congas, and a very gutsy tenor sax to fortify the old vaudeville standby "When Banana Skins Are Falling." This group dishes out a fiery Cubano bop ritual in "Bongo Cito" and tears up with the brisk "Organ-Oreenie," a vehicle for Gaillard's maniacal manhandling of the electric organ. The Mercury date, with the band billed as Slim Gaillard's Peruvians, had the very versatile Dick Hyman at the piano and bassist Ernie Shepard, fated to become an important ingredient in the Duke Ellington ensemble. "Genius," a previously unissued third title from this obscure date, has a lot more going on in it than the discography discloses, with trombone, saxophone, vibraphone, and tap dancing all clearly audible over the organ and "vout"-infested vocals. On May 25th, Slim Gaillard & His Internationally Famous Orchestra were in the recording studio, singing "Oh, Lady Be Good" in well-rehearsed harmony and diving back into the Gulf of Mexico with "Sabroso," "Babalu," and "Yo Yo Yo." The real gem in this ensemble was none other than Count Basie's star tenor saxophonist, Buddy Tate. Anyone searching for songs inspired by the trials and tribulations of a unionized musician should check out the previously unreleased "Federation Blues," peppered with pointed references to James C. Petrillo and his American Federation of Musicians. Small wonder Granz decided not to issue this one. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist :
1    Slim Gaillard And His Trio–    Boip! Boip!    2:50
2    Slim Gaillard And His Trio–    The Bartender's Just Like A Mother    2:49
3    Slim Gaillard And His Trio–    Arabian Boogie    2:47
4    Slim Gaillard And His Trio–    Tip Light    2:51
5    Slim Gaillard And His Trio–    Momma's In The Kitchen    2:38
6    Slim Gaillard And His Trio–    A Ghost Of A Chance With You    3:02
7    Slim Gaillard And His Trio–    Little Red Riding Woods    2:55
8    Slim Gaillard And His Trio–    Puerto Vootie    2:37
9    Slim Gaillard And His Trio–    Money, Money, Money    2:45
10    Slim Gaillard And His Trio–    The Hogan Song    2:35
11    Slim Gaillard And His Trio–    Serenade To A Poodle    2:16
12    Slim Gaillard And His Trio–    Down By The Station    2:20
13    Slim Gaillard And His Trio–    Communications    2:27
14    Slim Gaillard Sextet–    When Banana Skins Are Falling    2:49
15    Slim Gaillard Sextet–    Bongo Cito    2:43
16    Slim Gaillard Sextet–    Organ-Oreenie    2:40
17    Slim Gaillard And His Peruvians–    Laughing In Rhythm    2:57
18    Slim Gaillard And His Peruvians–    Soony-Roony    2:04
19    Slim Gaillard And His Peruvians–    Genius (Ride, Slim, Ride)    2:49
20    Slim Gaillard And His Internationally Famous Orchestra–    Oh, Lady Be Good    2:30
21    Slim Gaillard And His Internationally Famous Orchestra–    Sabroso    2:30
22    Slim Gaillard And His Internationally Famous Orchestra–    Babalu    3:36
23    Slim Gaillard And His Internationally Famous Orchestra–    Yo Yo Yo    2:46
24    Slim Gaillard And His Internationally Famous Orchestra–    Federation Blues    3:40
Credits :    
Bass – Clyde Lombardi (tracks: 20 to 24)
Bass Guitar – Slim Gaillard (tracks: 14 to 16)
Bass, Vocals – Ernie Shepherd (tracks: 17 to 19), Bam Brown (tracks: 1 to 13)
Bongos – Pepe Benque (tracks: 17 to 24)
Congas, Percussion – Armando Peraza (tracks: 14 to 16)
Drums – Charlie Smith (tracks: 20 to 24), Herbie Lovelle (tracks: 17 to 19), Bam Brown (tracks: 5 to 8, 12, 13)
Guitar – Slim Gaillard (tracks: 1 to 13, 17 to 24)
Organ – Slim Gaillard (tracks: 16)
Piano – Cyril Haynes (tracks: 14 to 16), Dick Hyman (tracks: 17 to 19), Maceo Williams (tracks: 20 to 24), Slim Gaillard (tracks: 1 to 4, 9 to 11)
Piano [probably] – Dodo Marmarosa (tracks: 5 to 8)
Speech [barks] – Jim Hawthorne (tracks: 11)
Tenor Saxophone – Buddy Tate (tracks: 20 to 24)
Vocals – Slim Gaillard

SLIM GAILLARD – 1951-1953 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1437 (2007) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

During the early 1950s, producer Norman Granz managed quite a number of seasoned jazz musicians with challenging personalities; these included Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Lester Young and Bulee "Slim" Gaillard. Each of these individuals struggled with tendencies, habits and addictions; Gaillard would outlive Bird, Pres and Lady Day but his career was beginning to unravel and he wouldn't fully regain his popularity until his London-based comeback during the '80s. Volume eight in the Classics Slim Gaillard chronology presents 19 recordings made between August 1951 and December 1953, and issued by Granz on the Mercury, Clef and Norgran labels. Although adept as both pianist and vibraphonist, Gaillard excelled primarily as a singing guitarist during the '50s. His wild sense of humor extends even unto the names of the groups represented here. They are Slim Gaillard & His Middle Europeans, Slim Gaillard & His Atomic Engineers, Slim Gaillard & His Southern Fried Orchestra, Slim Gaillard & His Bakers Dozen, Slim Gaillard & His Shintoists and Slim Gaillard & His Musical Aggregation, Wherever He May Be. Although some of the personnel remain anonymous, Granz made sure to include several master musicians in some of Gaillard's groups; these included bassist Ray Brown and trombonist Benny Green as well as Kansas City-trained saxophonists Ben Webster and Buddy Tate. The December 1952 session that resulted in "Gomen Nasai (Forgive Me)" and a cheery paean to snack food titled "Patato Chips" documents a rare occasion when vibraphonist Milt Jackson sat in at the drums. On this compilation, Gaillard presents two distinctive aspects of his public persona: the squirrelly novelty performer who was a borderline surrealist ("Yip Roc Heresy," "The Hip Cowboy," "Chicken Rhythm") and the well-oiled crooner who reinvented Billy Eckstine's romantic chortling aesthetic. Slim Gaillard obviously loved to ladle on the Grenadine, even if Mr. Hyde was invariably present, softly giggling behind a debonair layer of polished veneer. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist :
1    Slim Gaillard And His Middle Europeans–    For You 2:57
2    Slim Gaillard And His Middle Europeans–    Yip Roc Heresy 2:33
3    Slim Gaillard And His Atomic Engineers–    The Hip Cowboy 2:45
4    Slim Gaillard And His Orchestra–    Chicken Rhythm 2:31
5    Slim Gaillard–    I Only Have Eyes For You 2:36
6    Slim Gaillard–    As You Are 2:31
7    Bulee Gaillard And His Southern Fried Orchestra–    St. Louis Blues 2:21
8    Bulee Gaillard And His Southern Fried Orchestra–    I Know What To Do 2:34
9    Slim Gaillard And His Orchestra–    Taxpayers Blues 2:28
10    Slim Gaillard And His Orchestra–    Eatin' With The Boogie 2:31
11    Slim Gaillard And His Musical Aggregations, Wherever He May Be–    Make It Do 2:51
12    Slim Gaillard And His Musical Aggregations, Wherever He May Be–    You Goofed 2:47
13    Slim Gaillard And His Musical Aggregations, Wherever He May Be–    I Can't Give You Anything But Love 2:40
14    Slim Gaillard And His Musical Aggregations, Wherever He May Be–    This Is My Love 2:34
15    Slim Gaillard And His Shintoists–    Gomen Nasai (Forgive Me) 2:35
16    Slim Gaillard And His Bakers Dozen–    Potato Chips 3:07
17    Slim Gaillard And His Orchestra–    I'm In The Mood For Love 2:41
18    Slim Gaillard And His Orchestra–    Mishugana Mambo 2:22
19    Slim Gaillard And His Orchestra–    Go, Man, Go 2:43
Credits :    
Bass – Clyde Lombardi (tracks: 1 to 4), Ray Brown (tracks: 15, 16), Unknown Artist (tracks: 17 to 19)
Brass – Unknown Artist (tracks: 17 to 19)
Chorus – Unknown Artist (tracks: 5)
Drums – Charlie Smith (tracks: 1 to 4), Milt Jackson (tracks: 15, 16), Unknown Artist (tracks: 17 to 19)
Orchestra – Unknown Artist (tracks: 5 to 14)
Piano – Cyril Haynes (tracks: 15, 16), Maceo Williams (tracks: 1 to 4), Unknown Artist (tracks: 17 to 19)
Strings – Unknown Artist (tracks: 5, 6)
Tenor Saxophone – Ben Webster (tracks: 15, 16), Buddy Tate (tracks: 1 to 4)
Trombone, Alto Saxophone – Benny Green (tracks: 1 to 4)
Vocals, Guitar – Slim Gaillard