KOKOMO ARNOLD — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 3 : 1936-1937 | DOCD-5039 (1991) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Another invaluable offering from the blues archivists at Document, Kokomo Arnold's Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1936-1937) compiles 22 performances, recorded between May 1936 and March 1937. Despite the inclusions of a few Arnold classics, including "Dark Angel" and "Wild Water Blues," the disc is a mixed blessing. The combination of a long running time, chronological sequencing, and poor fidelity make for a difficult listen. While serious blues listeners won't have a problem with any of these factors, beginners are advised to look elsewhere first. Thom Owens

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. On 22 May 1936 Decca proposed to record sessions with two of its female artists and needed a backing group. Both of the ladies came from a St. Louis background and belonged to the same loose aggregation of performers that included primitive trombonist Ike Rogers, pianists Henry Brown and Roosevelt Sykes, Charlie Jordan and… Peetie Wheatstraw. One of them, “Signifying” Mary Johnson had achieved her current surname by being married to blues guitarist Lonnie Johnson between 1925 and 1932. Alice Moore had a similar story, having recorded for Paramount during 1929-30 and joining Decca in 1934. She had worked with Peetie Wheatstraw before, so he was an obvious choice to back her up. And for a guitarist? Wheatstraw usually worked with Charlie Jordan or Casey Bill Weldon though, of late, Mayo Williams had paired him off with Kokomo Arnold. The results open this 3rd volume of the complete works of Kokomo Arnold. His efforts, both before and after this session, in the support of Peetie Wheatstraw and Roosevelt Sykes will be found on volumes dedicated to those worthies. Alice Moore had a somewhat nasal voice nicely set off by Wheatstraw’s rolling piano and some untypical single string work from Kokomo who only busts out with his trademark bottleneck rushes here and there on Three Men and I’m Going Fishing Too (a title that must have appealed to the angler in Arnold). Only one of the Mary Johnson tracks was issued; an ode to Delmar Avenue (actually Boulevard), formerly Morgan Street, a famous St. Louis thoroughfare running west from the Mississippi. Mary was just as tough voiced as her nickname made her out to be. Decca decided on a little experiment in July of 1936 when they incorporated Kokomo into Oscar’s Chicago Swingers a sort of Harlem Hamfats set-up backing the vocals of Lovin’ Sam Theard. Just how successfully Kokomo’s unique sound fitted in with a group that consisted of two guitars, a clarinet, piano and drums you can judge yourself. Kokomo’s career had about two years to run at this date. He was still recording under his own name and if his performances were getting to be a little stereotyped he could still pull minor blues masterpieces like Wild Water Blues out of the bag and was far from being a burnt out case. He was always a strong personality and in the final analysis would do what suited him best. At the moment he was sitting pretty, he worked for money as much as any enjoyment he might gain, and with his booze business to fall back on he could take or leave the music game at his choice. DOCD-5039
Tracklist :
1    Alice Moore–    Grass Cutter Blues 2:54
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
2    Alice Moore–    Telephone Blues 2:55
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
3    Alice Moore–    Dark Angel 3:06
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
4    Alice Moore–    Money Tree Man 3:02
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
5    Signifying Mary Johnson–    Delmar Avenue 3:02
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
Piano – Roosevelt Sykes
6    Alice Moore–    I'm Going Fishing Too 3:04
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
7    Alice Moore–    Three Men 3:08
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
8    Kokomo Arnold–    Shake That Thing 2:38
Piano – Unknown Artist
9    Oscar's Chicago Swingers–    Try Some Of That    2:57
10    Oscar's Chicago Swingers–    My Gal's Been Foolin' Me    2:40
11    Kokomo Arnold–    Running Drunk Again 3:06
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
12    Kokomo Arnold–    Coffin Blues 3:15
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
13    Kokomo Arnold–    Lonesome Road Blues 2:57
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
14    Kokomo Arnold–    Mister Charlie 2:40
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
15    Kokomo Arnold–    Backfence Picket Blues    3:05
16    Kokomo Arnold–    Fool Man Blues    3:05
17    Kokomo Arnold–    Long And Tall    2:45
18    Kokomo Arnold–    Salty Dog    2:47
19    Kokomo Arnold–    Cold Winter Blues    3:08
20    Kokomo Arnold–    Sister Jane Across The Hall    2:37
21    Kokomo Arnold–    Wild Water Blues    3:12
22    Kokomo Arnold–    Laugh And Grin Blues    3:07
Credits :
Clarinet – Odell Rand (tracks: 9, 10)
Compiled By, Producer – Johnny Parth
Drums – Unknown Artist (tracks: 9, 10)
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold (tracks: 9, 10), Unknown Artist (tracks: 9, 10)
Piano – Albert Ammons (tracks: 9, 10)
Vocals – Alice Moore (tracks: 1 to 4, 6, 7), Signifying Mary Johnson* (tracks: 5), Sam Theard (tracks: 9, 10)
Vocals, Guitar – Kokomo Arnold (tracks: 8, 11 to 22)

CHARLEY JORDAN — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 3 • 1935-1937 | Plus The Complete LEROY HENDERSON 1935 | DOCD-5099 (1992) RM | FLAC (tracks), lossless

This volume is somewhat less compelling than the other two in the series, if only because even the producers themselves acknowledge that eight of the 23 songs here, credited to "The Two Charlies," probably don't feature the St. Louis-based Charley Jordan at all, but another artist of the same name, while four others, credited to Leroy Henderson, may feature Jordan. On other songs, Jordan sings duets with Verdi Lee and Mary Harris (possibly also Verdi Lee working under a pseudonym), and those are great tracks, to be recommended without reservation, except perhaps for the fact that the guitar is a bit muted on these numbers, compared with Jordan's solo stuff. "Signifying at You" is a great piece of female-sung blues, raw, angry, defiant and funny. The Two Charlies tracks, featuring a Charley Jordan working with a guitarist/singer named Charlie Manson, are fine acoustic blues, all good songs (especially "Don't Put Your Dirty Hands On Me") and even better guitar duets, including the surprisingly dissonant "Pork Chop Blues," but they sound much more like Atlanta blues than St. Louis material -- their inclusion here adds nothing to the St. Louis Charley Jordan's reputation, but they make an enjoyable interlude. Bruce Eder  

 

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Charley Jordan was not the strongest of blues singers but his voice is not off-putting, in fact it has quite an unusual characteristic which one easily brings to mind when one returns to any of his records. The strengths of his recordings are in his guitar playing and his song writing. Steffan Grossman wrote; “The often whimsical songs recorded belie the violent world that he apparently lived”. He was shot in 1928 during his bootlegging activities leaving him with a bullet lodged in his spine and having to use crutches. “There’s a wry, gentle humour in Jordan’s songs, a child-like delight in playing with words and imagery. His melodies, too, often evince a naive charm. Jordan’s guitar picking masterfully combines an airy delicacy with punchy dynamics he may have gathered from such Mississippians as Big Joe Williams. Paul Oliver has praised Jordan’s “uncorrupted country style of blues guitar with an effortless, light technique”. Chris Smith observes in Jordan “an extraordinary sense of rhythm. The steady pulse that underlies his playing and singing is often a long way removed from the accenting of the guitar part.”” Having switched from Vocalion to Decca in 1934 (see Document DOCD-5098), Charlie Jordan was on the move again the following year; in 1935 he was back with Vocalion. As leaves began to turn during the fall of that year the thoughts of Xmas was already in the mind of Charley or was it that of the record execs…? Charley goes Seasonaltastic with four yuletide blues recorded within the same day. The first, Xmas Blues sung by Charley Jordan on his own finds him very pleased that Xmas is here but only because of the prospect of getting a decent meal for a change. At first, he would be grateful if he gets a little piece of chicken but then it starts getting a little out of hand; turtledoves, goose, biscuits, pie, fruitcake. And then things really start getting serious with demands for “eggnog, whiskey and gin”. “Let’s have a good time”, Charley says. “The fun is going to begin” (what with all of that inside you?) and there the record ends as if we have had the door closed on us just the party is about to really heat up. DOCD-5099
Tracklist  
1 –Charley Jordon Christmas Christmas Blues 2:37
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
2 –Charley Jordan Christmas Tree Blues 2:55
Piano Accordion – Peetie Wheatstraw
Vocals – Verdi Lee
3 –Charley Jordan Get It If You Can 2:44
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Vocals – Verdi Lee
4 –Charley Jordan Signifying At You 2:43
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Vocals – Verdi Lee
5 –Charley Jordan No Christmas Blues 2:36
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Vocals – Mary Harris 
6 –Charley Jordan Happy New Year Blues 2:59
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Vocals – Mary Harris 
7 –The Two Charlies I Couldn't Stay Here 2:45
8 –The Two Charlies Bad Feeling Blues 2:57
9 –The Two Charlies Got Your Water On 2:59
10 –The Two Charlies Don't Put Your Dirty Hands On Me 3:16
11 –The Two Charlies Pork Chop Blues 2:56
12 –The Two Charlies Tired Feelin' Blues 2:50
13 –The Two Charlies Low Moan Blues 3:05
14 –The Two Charlies Hard Time Papa 3:02
15 –Charlie Manson     Nineteen Women Blues 2:48
16 –Uncle Skipper Twee Twee Twa 2:56
Contrabass – Unknown Artist
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
17 –Uncle Skipper Cutting My ABC's 3:20
Contrabass – Unknown Artist
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
18 –Uncle Skipper Chifferobe 3:18
Contrabass – Unknown Artist
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
19 –Uncle Skipper Look What A Shape I'm In (Bonus Blues) 2:58
Contrabass – Unknown Artist
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
20 –Leroy Henderson Deep Sea Diver 3:02
Guitar – Casey Bill Weldon
Guitar [Or Probably] – Teddy Darby
Guitar [Possibly] – Charley Jordan
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
21 –Leroy Henderson Good Scuffler Blues 3:26
Guitar – Casey Bill Weldon
Guitar [Or Probably] – Teddy Darby
Guitar [Possibly] – Charley Jordan
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
22 –Leroy Henderson Low Mellow Man Blues 3:20
Guitar – Casey Bill Weldon
Guitar [Or Probably] – Teddy Darby
Guitar [Possibly] – Charley Jordan
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
23 –Leroy Henderson Good Grinder Blues
Guitar – Casey Bill Weldon
Guitar [Or Probably] – Teddy Darby
Guitar [Possibly] – Charley Jordan
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Credits
Vocals, Guitar – Charley Jordan (tracks: 1 to 3, 7 to 14, 16 to 19)

CHARLEY JORDAN — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 2 • 1931-1934 | DOCD-5098 (1992) RM | FLAC (tracks), lossless

As good as the Charley Jordan material here is, the real find of this disc is Hi Henry rown's recording of "Titanic Blues" and its guitar duet between Brown and Jordan. As a piece of belated topical blues, it is an extraordinary song, but the exciting interplay between two guitars really makes the record and, coupled with Brown's rough-hewn voice, makes it a track to own -- the additional Brown/Jordan tracks "Preacher Blues" and "Nut Factory Blues" constitute a good bonus. This volume of Charley Jordan's material covers the period from his brief stay at Victor Records (four sides cut in September of 1931) to his first session with a full band on Decca Records in the summer of 1934. The four Victor sides (which were cut in Chicago) have a peculiar, authentic "live" ambience that, coupled with their good fidelity, makes them especially vibrant; Peetie Wheatstraw's piano accompaniment has a certain distance and echo that evokes a true club atmosphere. Jordan's subsequent Vocalion sides give much greater prominence to the guitar and Wheatstraw's piano isn't nearly as vivid. As a solo player, Jordan was more laidback, but he still manages to impress as a virtuoso. The four Decca sides are the best recordings here on a technical level -- "It Ain't Clean" is amazingly crisp -- but two of them, "Lost Airship Blues" (what a title, and what a phallic image) and "Rolling Moon Blues," are particularly notable for the presence of a full band, complete with sax and violin. Their sound is completely different (although Jordan still makes himself felt on guitar) from Jordan's earlier output, but both find him able to work well in this more sophisticated idiom. The overall audio quality is good, apart from the barely listenable "Brown Skin Angel" -- a few sides, like "Hell Bound Boy Blues" and the wonderful "Rolling Moon Blues," are a little noisy, but that's par for the course. Bruce Eder
 
Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Between June 1930 and March 1931, Charley Jordan had recorded for Vocalion, but in September 1931 he cut four titles for Victor, accompanied, as had become the norm, by his friend Peetie Wheatstraw on piano. These were fine performances, but the Depression was biting hard; sometime in 1933, probably around March, Victor noted the sales figures for their 23000 series releases. Jordan was in exceptional form on guitar, as may be heard on all his titles at this two day session, but particularly perhaps on Honey Sucker Blues and Hell Bound Boy Blues, which also features one of Peetie Wheatstraw‘s finest accompaniments. If he was outstanding accompanying himself, however, Jordan was truly sensational in guitar duet with “Hi” Henry Brown, whose nickname was presumably adopted to distinguish him from the celebrated St. Louis piano player whose name he shared. Jordan is particularly inspired on Titanic Blues; to his usual rhythmic freedom, even more remarkable than when he was accompanying himself, he adds a near three octave playing range, and extremely forceful picking. The Depression kept Charlie Jordan away from the studios for two years; he cut two songs for Vocalion in March 1934, but thereafter he alternated between ARC and Decca for the remainder of his recording career. Later in 1934, he was recording for Decca, accompanied on two titles by an unusual line-up of clarinet, violin and traps, plus his own guitar, a pianist, and (on one title) saxophone. The clarinettist may be Arnett Nelson, though I doubt it, and Bill Lowry has been suggested as the violinist. Lost Airship Blues is a startling title, which masks the updating of an old line, while Rolling Moon Blues is even more surprising in its folk-style use of association and contrast to unify seemingly random verses, quite unlike Jordan’s usual carefully worked, thematic lyrics. More typical were the two songs where the wind and fiddle players dropped out: a fourth and last version of Keep It Clean, on which Jordan refers to “Kokomo”, who has been taken to be Kokomo Arnold, and the fine Depression piece Tight Time Blues, where Peetie Wheatstraw is surely the pianist. Tight Time Blues was still highly topical, but the New Deal was beginning to have an effect on the economy, and on black peoples’ purchasing power; Charlie Jordan‘s recording career was to continue for another three years, as may be heard on DOCD-5099, and he continued to develop his music and to explore new areas of the blues. DOCD-5098

Tracklist
–Charley Jordan Greyhound Blues 3:23
–Charley Jordan Workingman's Blues 3:22
–Charley Jordan Santa Claus Blues 2:53
–Charley Jordan Bad Breaks Blues 2:57
–Charley Jordan Doin' Wrong Blues 3:02
–Charley Jordan Honey Sucker Blues 3:16
–Charley Jordan Sugar Farm Blues 3:16
–"Hi" Henry Brown Titanic Blues 3:08
–"Hi" Henry Brown Preacher Blues 3:24
–Charley Jordan Cherry Wine Woman 2:51
–Charley Jordan Hell Hound Boy Blues 2:47
–"Hi" Henry Brown Nut Factory Blues 2:54
–"Hi" Henry Brown Hospital Blues 2:54
–"Hi" Henry Brown Brown Skin Angel 2:35
–"Hi" Henry Brown Skin Man Blues 2:50
–Charley Jordan Don't Pat It So Long 3:20
–Charley Jordan Bottle Passing Blues 3:05
–Charley Jordon Lost Airship Blues 3:09
–Charley Jordon Rolling Moon Blues 3:20
–Charley Jordon It Ain't Clean (That Thing Ain't Clean) 2:56
–Charley Jordon Tight Time Blues 3:07

CHARLEY JORDAN — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 1 • 1930-1931 | DOCD-5097 (1992) RM | FLAC (tracks), lossless

A fine St. Louis singer and guitarist, this was the first volume of songs Charley Jordan did in the early '30s. He could be very humorous or cuttingly poignant, and there are examples in both veins on this anthology. The sound quality ranges from good to awful. Ron Wynn

 

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Charlie Jordan is one of the many major figures in the blues of whom we know surprisingly little. He was born in Arkansas, around 1890, and is reported to have led a hobo’s life after service in the US Army during World War I. By 1925, he was living in St. Louis, which was to be his home for the rest of his life. He was already a guitarist by this time, and it’s a good bet that his wanderings had taken him to Memphis and the Mississippi Delta, for the guitar styles of the city and the repertoire of the Delta are both evident at his first recording session. He played in a clean, confident three-finger style that owed a good deal to ragtime, but more to his own extraordinary sense of rhythm. The steady pulse that underlies his playing and singing is often a long way removed from the accenting of the guitar part; what Bernard Klatzko calls “inexact timing (that is exact)”. Jordan’s first session revealed a wide range of song styles, and some intriguing possible connections. Dollar Bill Blues bears a surprising resemblance to Leadbelly‘s “Little Children’s Blues”, as well as to the “Lost Lover Blues” recorded by Blind Boy Fuller and Sam Collins, while his stunning version of Just A Spoonful surely owes something to Charley Patton, though whether from personal encounter or through records is not known. Exposure to recordings of “T. B. Blues” probably accounts for the melody of Raidin’ Squad Blues, but the lyrics are very much Jordan’s own. Even when he performs songs from tradition, like Stack O’Dollars, Jordan embellishes them with lines of his own; his verbal originality is always in evidence, as on the extended metaphor of Gasoline Blues and the double meanings of Hunkie Tunkie Blues and Keep It Clean, a heavily self-censored song that seems to have been Jordan’s most popular number on record, and of which he made several versions. In September 1930, Charlie Jordan had accompanied the pianist / vocalist Peetie Wheatstraw on a couple of titles, and it’s probably he and Wheatstraw behind Bessie Mae Smith on Sugar Man Blues. (Eddie Miller has been suggested as the pianist, which is possible; I think Henry Brown can be ruled out.) In November 1930, Charlie Jordan made the first of many recordings with Wheatstraw accompanying him on piano. Peetie’s piano was rather subdued at first on Jordan’s records, and the duo sound is initially an odd one, for Jordan sustains his individual approach to rhythm, and Wheatstraw’s playing often sounds semi-improvised in response to the guitar part – rather like what Lonnie Johnson had to do behind Texas Alexander. Their duetting became more regularized on later recordings, but was always interesting, with Jordan seeming to bring out the inventive in Wheatstraw. Just as inventive were Jordan’s lyrics; like so many of the St. Louis singers (compare Walter Davis, Lonnie Johnson, or indeed Peetie Wheatstraw) he was an original chronicler of city life, hard times and infidelity; his lyrics invariably repay attention. Tight Haired Mama Blues has some witty comments on the fashion for straight hair: Tough Times Blues is a particularly fine combination of the traditional and the original:
You can take the Rock Island, baby, you can ride to the end of the line, But you won’t find nothing, baby, but a tough, tough time.
I said tough time here, baby, and it’s a tough time everywhere, Well I would go home, but it seem like a tough time there.
Days Of The Weeks Blues shows Charlie Jordan‘s capacity for working within an extended structure without overloading it; the song’s chronicle of the effects of the Depression achieves a remarkable cumulative force. By March 1931, Jordan was an established recording artist; he was to continue to be sought after by the record companies despite the catastrophic downturn in sales induced by “a tough time everywhere”. DOCD-5097 Tracklist  :
1 –Charley Jordan Stack O'Dollars Blues 2:37
2 –Charley Jordan Dollar Bill Blues 2:55
3 –Charley Jordan Keep It Clean 2:44
4 –Charley Jordan Big Four Blues 2:43
5 –Charley Jordan Just A Spoonful 2:36
6 –Charley Jordan Two Street Blues 2:59
7 –Charley Jordan Raidin' Squad Blues 2:45
8 –Charley Jordan Hunkie Tunkie Blues 2:57
9 –Charley Jordan Running Mad Blues 2:59
10 –Charley Jordan Gasoline Blues 3:16
11 –St. Louis Bessie Sugar Man Blues ~ Part 1 2:56
Guitar – Charley Jordan
Piano [Possibly] – Eddie Miller 
Piano [Probably] – Peetie Wheatstraw
12 –St. Louis Bessie Sugar Man Blues ~ Part 2 2:50
Guitar – Charley Jordan
Piano [Possibly] – Eddie Miller 
Piano [Probably] – Peetie Wheatstraw
13 –Charley Jordan Lost Ship Blues 3:05
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
14 –Charley Jordan Hungry Blues 3:02
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
15 –Charley Jordan My "Lovin' Good" Blues 2:48
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
16 –Charley Jordan Tough Times Blues 2:56
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
17 –Charley Jordan Cheating Blues 3:20
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
18 –Charley Jordan Starvation Blues 3:18
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
19 –Charley Jordan Keep It Clean ~ No. 2 2:58
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
20 –Charley Jordan You Run And Tell Your Daddy 3:02
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
21 –Charley Jordan Tight Haired Mama Blues 3:26
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
22 –Charley Jordan Days Of The Weeks Blues 3:20
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Credits
Vocals – St. Louis Bessie (tracks: 11, 12)
Vocals, Guitar – Charley Jordan (tracks: 1 to 10, 13 to 22)