Jesse Powell - The R&B Years

Side One
1 Fluffy Hunter - My Natch'l Man
2 Fluffy Hunter - The Walkin' Blues
3 Jesse Powell - Rear Bumper
4 Jesse Powell - Love To Spare
5 Jesse Powell - Hot Box
6 Jesse Powell - Leavin' Tonight
7 Jesse Powell - Riggin'

Side Two
1 Jesse Powell - Can't Help Myself pts 1 & 2
2 Jesse Powell - Turnpike
3 Jesse Powell - Jesse's Blues
4 Jesse Powell - I'm All Alone (Take 5)
5 The Goofers - Scotch On The Rocks (Take 2)
6 The Goofers - The Head Hunters
7 Jesse Powell & The Caddies - Ain't You Gonna

Well who could resist the temptation? After doing some research on Jesse Powell for the post on El Enmascarado's "Blow Man Blow" LP, I just had to pull together the various Jesse tracks I have scattered across my R&B stash and make up a little compilation for my media player. Add a quick knock off cover for the collection and hey presto, I've got myself a follow up post to "Blow Man Blow".

So now we can appreciate the gutsy, bluesy side of Jesse's music which is quite a contrast to the smooth jazz of "Blow Man Blow."

The Jesse Powell Orchestra backed former Buddy Banks Sextet chantoozy Fluffy Hunter on a Ralph Bass supervised session for Federal on November 3rd, 1951. Four tracks were recorded, including two raunchy pieces of double entendre, "The Walkin' Blues" and "My Natch'l Man". The band line up on this session was: Buck Clayton (trumpet); J.J. Johnson (trombone); Jesse Powell (tenor sax); Cecil Payne (baritone sax); Bill Doggett (piano); Johnny Jones (guitar); James Smith (bass); Herb Lovelle (drums).

On October 9th 1953, Jesse returned to Federal to record four first class slices of R&B - "Rear Bumper", "Love To Spare", "Hot Box" and "Leavin' Tonight." For me these tracks are the absolute cream of the crop on this compilation. The line up on this session was: Jesse Powell (tenor sax); Sir Charles Thompson (piano / organ); Mickey Baker (guitar); Lloyd Trotman (bass); Osie Johnson (drums); Dan Taylor (vocals).

Around 1954 Jessie started recording for Josie, featuring on many Cadillacs' sides as arranger and sax player. A few Jesse Powell singles were released by Josie, the first being "Moonlight In Vermont" / "Riggin'" (Josie 782). Also recorded at this session was the unreleased "Jesse's Blues". In February 1956 a two-parter, "Can't Help Myself, Parts 1 and 2" was released on Josie 799. Part 1 features a bluesy vocal by Jesse while Part 2 is a showcase for some hard blowing tenor sax from our man. An unreleased track, "I'm All Alone" or "I'm Alone" was recorded at the same session.

"Turnpike" / "Ain't You Gonna" (Josie 834) was released in early 1958. "Turnpike" was an instrumental recorded a couple of years beforehand while "Ain't You Gonna" was another vocal outing for Jesse. This side was recorded at a Cadillacs session with the group (billed as The Caddies) sticking around to provide backing vocals.

In September 1958 Jesse recorded two "novelty" sides for the Port subsidiary of Josie. Released on Port 70006 under the pseudonym of The Goofers, the A side, "The Head Hunters" features moody guitar, drums and sax with big cat growls and Tarzan type yelling in the background. Just the sort of thing you would expect to find on one of those Jungle Exotica compilations which Crypt Reords used to put out. The other side of the disc, "Scotch On The Rocks" features the bagpipes. No further comment from this Scotsman!

Listen to some highlights here:










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Sources: Bruyninckx Discography. Sleevenotes from the Sequel CD "Saxophony" by Dave Penny, the Westside CD "Titanic And 23 Other Unsinkable Saxblasters" by Dave Penny, the Sequel CD "Jumping At Jubilee" by Neil Slaven, the Westside CD "Groove Station" by Neil Slaven, the Sequel CD "Roulette Rock'n'Roll Volume 2" by Adam Komorowski.