Elliot Shavers & His Bossmen - "Toe Jam" - Checker, 1964

Today I've got another R&B stormer from one of my favorite labels, Checker. Not much info out there on this cat, but I've come across some other great tunes by Elliot Shavers "and his Blazers".   Blazing indeed, both sides of this 45 will burn up a dancefloor.  The flip, "Rice And Gator Tails", is no slouch; but this is the side that really does it for me.  Have a listen:

LaVern Baker - Tweedlee Dee - Atlantic, 1954

Baker

Lavern Baker had music in her blood, being related to both Memphis Minnie and Merline Johnson. A Chicago native, she was born there in 1929. By the mid-40s she was performing around town as "Little Miss Sharecropper".  After signing to Atlantic in '53, this was her second release and first big hit - it went to #4 on the R&B chart and #14 on the national US pop charts. "Tweedlee Dee" was an even bigger hit for Georgia Gibbs (a bit of a sore subject for LaVern, she sued unsuccessfully).

And in this corner - Gibbs

LaVern's other big hit was "Jim Dandy", a tune probably familiar to most of you.
From Wikipedia:
"She received the 1990 Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. In 1991, Baker became the second female solo artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, following Aretha Franklin in 1987. Her song "Jim Dandy" was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and was ranked #343 on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."
LaVern Baker passed away in 1997, and was buried in Maple Grove Cemetery, Queens, NY.

Bo Diddley - "We're Gonna Get Married" - Checker,1966

Today's one of my favorites - Bo Diddley.  I'm pretty sure everything this man touched turned to gold, I've really enjoyed all of the records of his I've come upon.  This one's a real stomper of a tune, where Bo reminds all you guitar players out there that rhythm guitar ain't no second fiddle! This song was released towards the end of Bo Diddley's career at Chess, but he shows no signs of slowing down on this wild cut. You may remember this song from my last mix, which featured only songs from the Chess / Checker catalog. Check it out here.

Sporting his trademark guitar

I don't have anything to say about Bo Diddley that hasn't been said a hundred times already. Check the web for details, I thought I'd just share this clip of his most famous (only?) acting cameo from a personal fave, "Trading Places".

And of course, the clip!

Fontella Bass & Bobby McClure - "Dont Mess Up A Good Thing" - Checker, 1965

This is one of my favorite records! Of course, I play the hell out of it.
Fontella Bass (born July 3, 1940, St. Louis, Missouri) is best known for her hit "Rescue Me", which was released the same year.  She was already singing in front of crowds at church by the time she was 5 or 6. (Personal secret: I sang in church as a kid. Apparently, even shitty singers get a break sometimes!) A few years later, she was touring and singing with her mother throughout the South.

In the early Sixties she recorded a few tunes for the Bobbin label which were produced by Ike Turner, but they didn't get much play outside of St. Louis. A few years later she moved to Chicago and hooked with Chess Records, and the hits came fast and furious.
Bobby McClure was born in Chicago but raised in St. Louis. Similarly, he got his start singing in church and took it from there. He did some work in St. Louis with Fontella Bass as the "The Oliver Sain Soul Revue featuring Fontella and Bobby McClure".

After a split with Sain, McClure and Bass released a few duets on Checker - I believe this was the first and it did quite well, reaching top five at R&B radio and peaking at #33 at pop. Later that year she returned to the studio for "Rescue Me". From Wikipedia: "The song "Rescue Me" shot up the charts in the fall and winter of 1965. After a month-long run at the top of the R&B charts, the song reached #4 at the pop charts and gave Chess its first million-selling single since Chuck Berry a decade earlier. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc."
Checker Records was born in 1952 and was an offshoot of giant Chess Records out of Chicago, a label that comes here up often and will much more.
And now, the clip!

Friday, October 8th at Beauty Bar Chicago!

I'm pleased to announce a gig in the city that city that I schooled me musically, Chicago! October the 8th, 7PM-9PM at Beauty Bar! Sweet home Chicago, here I come!

The Facebook invite can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=130061460378215&ref=mf