The way we sang off-key

Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Max Roach, Charlie Mingus

Here’s more Mixed CD music. “The way we sang off-key” comes from one of the songs.

Hey Bartender– Floyd Dixon and I Don’t Know – Willie Mabon. I have these on an Atlantic Blues CD. I assume they made the cut because they both appear on that Blues Brothers album, Briefcase Full Of Blues, here and here, respectively. The label was implicitly saying that those songs came from somewhere.

Salt Peanuts – Gillespie/Parker/Powell. That would be Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and the rest of the Quintet, Max Roach, and Charlie Mingus. I almost certainly learned of the song from the Pointer Sisters’ version.

They Can’t Take That Away from Me – Sarah Vaughan. I LOVE the way she sings “off-key” intentionally off-key.

45 Men in a Telephone Booth – Four Top Hatters (1955). My father had a 45 of this song. When I saw this tune, and a few other songs, on a Cadence Records CD compilation, I HAD to buy it.

Walkin’ the Blues – Willie Dixon. The shot at the singer’s MIL sounds like something my father might have thought.

More than 98.6F

Fever – Little Willie John (#28 pop, #5 RB in 1956). I heard the Peggy Lee version (#8 in 1958)first.

Stranded in the Jungle – the Cadets (#15 in 1956). This is such a strange song.

Why Do Fools Fall In Love – Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (#6 in 1956). I always loved the bass vocal intro. It’s so iconic that Joni Mitchell covered the song on one of her live albums.

Blue Suede Shoes – Carl Perkins (1956). This was a massive hit for him, #2 for four weeks. But he was in a severe car crash at the time and was unable to exploit the momentum. Lots of folks only associate the song with Elvis Presley.

April in Paris – Count Basie (1956). I’m a fan of the Pop Goes the Weasel version that signals the two short encores. I know someone who is irritated by it; so it goes.

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