Monday, August 2, 2010

Big Danny Oliver - "Sapphire" - Trend, 1958


Today I've got a Little Richard-esqe screamer for ya! This is one of my favorite records of all time.  Feel the pounding piano as Big Danny Oliver screams about that wicked woman Sapphire! Here's a snippet of the lyrics:

You told me you went to see your mama,
You claimed she was sick in bed.
I checked up on your story -
And you was dancing with a cat named Fred!

If this doesn't make you dance - please go to the doctor immediately because you are dead!

Big Danny Oliver is a mystery man - I can find no bio, no picure, nothin'! He appears to have released two singles, "Sapphire" / "I Wanna Go Steady" and "In The Bottom Of My Heart" / "49th State Blues", both on Trend.  "Handle With Care" and "Baby Don't Cry" are other songs which appeared on comps in the 80s but don't seem to have been released any earlier.  The ripping piano work on this song was probably performed by David Clowney, who would later have a few big instrumental hits as 'Dave 'Baby' Cortez.

Info on Trend is also scarce.  I found out that is was a subsidiary of the Kapp label (started by David Kapp, brother of Decca Records' Jack Kapp).  It appears this song also released on Kapp (# 941, in 1965). Side side side bar - some of Ronnie Dio's pre-Metal pop stuff was on Kapp as well!

Well, even though info on Danny Oliver and Trend is pretty damn hard to come by, and this record is moderately scarce, this song is on a ton of comps. I recommend "Mad Mike Monsters Vol. 2" - loads of great tunes in all sorts of genres.  Just buy the whole damn Mad Mike series and thank me later.

And now - the clip!

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