Description
Release Date: 2023
Label: Acrobat
Track List
Disc: 1
- Benson’s Groove
- Wild Wig
- The Deacon’s Hop
- Artie’s Jump
- California Hop
- Sunday Dinner
- Cherry Smash
- Man Eater
- Midnight Dreams
- Blow Big Jay
- Willie The Cool Cat
- Roadhouse Boogie
- Hoppin’ With Hunter
- Tondalayo
- Junie Flip
- K&H Boogie
- Boogie In Front
- Gingercake
- Jay’s Frantic
- Deac’s Blowout
- Let’s Split
- Real Crazy Cool
- All That Wine Is Gone
- Don’t Cry Baby
- Sad Story
- Insect Ball
Disc: 2
- Let’s Do It
- I’ll Never Love Again
- The Deacon Blows For Ray
- Tall Brown Woman
- Deacon Rides Again
- Blow Blow Blow
- Jay Walk
- Night Ride
- Love From The Heart
- Old Black Mule
- Jet Fury
- Deacon’s Express
- Big Jay’s Hop
- Three Blind Mice
- Jay’s Rock
- There Is Something On Your Mind
- Back . . . Shack . . . Track
- I Got The Message
- Psycho Serenade
- Minnie
- My Darling Dear
- I Love You, Oh Darling
- Oh, What A Fool
- Before Midnight
- After Midnight
- Without A Love
- The Squat
Notes
Big Jay McNeely was an R&B saxophonist, whose music ran the gamut of R&B styles, from jazz-tinged pieces and pure blues to out-and-out rock ‘n’ roll He was famous as one of the leaders in the “honkin'” saxophone style alongside the likes of Sam ‘The Man’ Taylor, King Curtis and Lee Allen, developing a wild stage act as he as he explored every sound the sax could make played in every bizarre position. He recorded for a variety of labels after making his debut with Johnny Otis, and this great-value 53-track 2-CD collection comprises A & B sides of his singles with his band The Blue Jays on the Savoy, Exclusive, Aladdin, Imperial, Veejay and Swingin’ labels, during this era. It features his R&B No. 1 with “Deacon’s Hop” in 1949 that immediately brought him to public attention, along with his other R&B hits “Wild Wig” and, from later years “There Is Something On Your Mind”. On some of his releases he featured vocalists like Clifford Blivens, Ted Shirley, Jesse Belvin, Mercy Dee Walton and Sonny Warner as well as organist Leon Haywood. He was one of the most distinctive and unusual R&B artists of the ’50s and this collection is an entertaining trawl across his primary recording career.
