Singles Going Steady 73-Golden Age Of Rock N Roll From Davenport

DAV Thrift Store in Davenport has been very very good to me in terms of finding lost 45s.  The majority of them have seen better days, worn out labels, water damage, vinyl crack that makes them unplayable.  As a record hoarder/collector, I get the most fun out of seeing 50s and 60's 45s, mainly whatever comes from Atlantic or Chess or RCA.  I am aware of other collectors out there that are scouring the same places that I go to and the pickings usually are slim.  Nobody seems to want Let Love Come To Us from James and Bobby Purify, that was donated from Stuff Etc when it didn't sell there.   On a different subject, Ragged Records has reopened, which means I can get replacement record sleeves (and a couple of CDs to boot).  However, it's the thrift stores that the bargains remained there.  And I swear next time, I'll cross the Mississippi to Moline and the other stores there, but for now 

Being an old prune faced collector,  records are the only thing that keeps me going.  I love summer and all the beautiful girls in summer wear out and about, but let's face it, I'm not attracted to somebody whose mom is closer to my age and four decades younger too.  I cannot tolerate music from the great jukebox in the sky on a tinny smart phone.  I'll go to my grave wanting actual product in my hands.  And ruining the needle on the record player in the process tho I do try to find records that are in decent shape.

Which leads us back to the DAV and two brass 45 storage unit holders with some old time records.  And the more I went deeper into these things, the more vintage rock and roll forty fives came out.  Somebody was really into Bill Haley And The Comets, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, and Elvis.  And a couple of Atlantic sides from Joe Turner, to which I have never seen anywhere and The Clovers.  Most of the Chuck Berry singles were trashed, except for Oh Baby Doll, to which the last time I saw a copy was at the Independence Goodwill and was trashed sad to say.    I didn't buy all the Elvis singles, Don't Be Cruel and Hound Dog was left for somebody else to get.  Some other ones had Roy Brown Let The Four Winds Blow, three Fats Domino, 7 or 8 Bill Haley And The Comets and the Cheers Black Demin Trousers, a single I have no use for.

It is a shame that these records were not in better shape. My guess is that most of these records were on these things for a good fifty plus years;  they came into the store like that I suppose.  A couple had little vinyl dings and chippings on the vinyl edge but they are playable.  

Other notable finds:

Swoardfishtrombones was found for a friend.

Ars Nova-Sunshine and Shadows

Bonzo Dog Band-Keysham

Chris Issak

Loaded, Best of Blake Sheldon

Tomita's Greatest Hits CD

Atlantic Jazz-Bebop

Earl Klugh-Dream Come True

Lee Roy Parnell-On The Road

LPs

Happy Moods-Amand Jamal

Zoot Sims and Bob Brookmeyer-Tonite's Music Today

45's

Corrine Corrina-Joe Turner (Atlantic 45-1088) #41 1956

Love, Love, Love-The Clovers (Atlantic 45-1094) #30 1956 

Let's Have A Party-Wanda Jackson (Capitol 4397) #37 1960

Easy Loving-Freddie Hart (Capitol 3115) #17  1971 #1 Country 

Pride Goes Before A Fall-Jim Reeves (RCA 47-8080) 1962 #18 country 

Susie Q-Dale Hawkins (Checker 863) #27 1957

Good Morning Captain-Joe D Gibson (Tetra 4450) 1956

I Want You, I Need You, I Love You-Elvis Presley (RCA 47-6540) #1 1956

Too Much-Elvis Presley (RCA 47-6800)  #1 1957

Oh Baby Doll-Chuck Berry (Chess 1664) #57 1957

Lucille-Little Richard (Specialty 598) #21 1957

Well Now Dig This-The Jodimars (Capitol F-3285) 1955

Lawdy Miss Clawdy-Elvis Presley (RCA 47-6542) 1956

Guitar Rock-Bill Flagg (Tetra 4448) 1956 

The Low Road-Mac Curtis (King 45-4965) 1956 

Touch The Morning-Don Gibson (Hickory HK-301) 1973  #6 country  

I Still See The Want To In Your Eyes-Conway Twitty (MCA 40282) 1974 #1 country

Big Four Poster Bed-Brenda Lee (MCA 40262) 1974 #4  country

It's hard to find decent jazz albums and alas, the Amund Jamal album had a couple of vertigo craters that made it hard to play.  The Zoot Sims/Bob Brookmeyer is cool 1956 bebop underrated classic, on George Wein's Storyville label.  

The 45's are a cross breed of rock's golden age with a few 70s country chart hits from Freddie Hart and Conway Twitty's lovely I See The Want to In Your Eyes.  Connie Francis's Drowin' My Sorrows was a middling pop hit with a country slant (Bill Justis arranged) the B side an Italian version of Evil Woman  which you can take or leave.  Another Connie Francis picture sleeve.   Brenda Lee continued to chart on the country charts with this S. Silverstein composition, this might have made the bubbling under chart on Billboard.  And Freddy Hart's Easy Loving is his only top ten hit on the pop chart, tho he did better on the country side of things.  And I continue to find Jim Reeves singles such as this forgotten weeper Pride Goes Before A Fall.  The B side I'm Gonna Change Everything shows Jim was very good at uptempo songs to which Sony Music seems to forget.  Like George Hamilton IV's RCA years.  Don Gibson's Touch The Morning is his second wind at Hickory MGM, but then again he begin to cover an unknown songwriter named Eddy Raven.  Gibson remains one of my fave singer songwriters but he also made me a Eddy Raven Fan too.  B side Too Soon To Know is another revisit of his classic song, updated for the 70s.

The Chuck Berry is the 45 I got with the original Chess label and it has a nice loud mix but a couple of scratches to boot.  The little heard b side Lajaunda continues' Berry's calypso fascination, tho not as good as Havana Moon.  

You Ain't Treating Me Right is rockabilly goodness from King Records and Mac Curtis and has made a couple rockabilly comps.  The Low Road is picked as a A side, but it was a bit dark for radio back then, a answer record to Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel perhaps?  Guitar Rock from Bill Flagg is hillbilly rockabilly from the mid 50s, I'm So Lonely, is the B side. These sides reveal that hillbilly rockbilly was the the punk music of the those days.  They're rare, even in so so shape but I can listen to this every day. The Jordimars have that Bill Haley influence, including bouncy sax and loud drums and a sea whistle to start things out.  There were a couple more singles at the store but I thought they were more rough looking, just like the Bill Haley numbers, whoever had these 45s played them a lot.  B side Let's All Rock Together might have taken the Bill Haley rock a bit more than they should, but it's rockabilly. Shake that thang!  What better way to play next?  Let's Have A Party by Wanda Jackson.

I have been slowly been finding more Little Richard singles here and there and Lucille was the best shape of the 3 forty fives.  B side the number 54 charting blues of Send Me Some Loving is Richard singing the blues.  The New Orleans backing band of Lee Allen and Charles Connor bringing out the best of the late great king of rock n roll.   Connor was a southpaw drummer and can be seen in the old rock movies of the 1950s.  Connor passed away on August 1, 2021 at age 86.

The more I dig into this collection the more harder rocking these songs are. Susie Q from Dale Hawkins with James Burton doing the wild guitar riff.  Judging by the sound and Hawkins not upfront on the first verse, this might have been a one take.  We found a couple Elvis number 1's I want you etc, and Too Much but I like the number 21 b side My Baby Left Me more, plus I Want You got plenty of plays, and scratches. Somehow Shake Rattle and Roll and Lawdy Miss Clawdy somehow didn't chart for all the chart topping singles from Elvis.  B side to Too Much, is the Stan Kesler written Playing For Keeps Lawdy Miss Clawdy was from a collection of 7 singles that RCA issued for those who couldn't afford to buy the album at that time.  Good Morning Captain is Joe Gibson's manic remake of Mule Skinner Blues and made it to the Chicken House compilation that I brought earlier in the year from Moondog Music. 

The Clovers' Love Love Love was their only pop showing, whereas Joe's Corine Corrina was one of two (the other was Honey Hush), but both Joe and the beloved Clovers charted a few times on the R and B charts. Your Tender Lips, the B side was the B side to Ivory Joe Hunter's Since I Met You Baby on the Oldies reissue and may have been better suited for that Ivy Joe's.  Classic doowop tho it's not one of my go to Clovers numbers. I don't play the Ivy Joe Hunter single all that much, I doubt if I'll play this song, but Love Love Love is a keeper,  Overall, this was one of the better 45 hunts despite the age and rough looking shape but most did play fine with the occasional scratch or two.

Paul Cotton, best known for his time in Poco, passed away Saturday of natural causes.  He was 78.  He's best known for Heart Of The Night and Bad Weather but after Richie Furay left the band, He and Rusty Young (who passed last year) wrote the majority of the songs.  He was also part of Illinois Speed Press that made two albums for Columbia/Epic before Furay asked him to join Poco. 

Forty years ago on August 1, MTV was born.   It died when Road Rules and other reality crap channels took over eight years later.