The Best Doo Wop Club On The Net
The Doo Wop Cafe is dedicated to preserving the best music there ever was ... vocal group harmony of the 1950s. 
We also love "Oldies" of all kinds and R&B. 
But, most of all, we believe in having fun along the way !  Come and join us.


"Capitol Jumps"

Volume 3, 1944-53

Formed in 1942, at the height of the Swing Era, Capitol Records' output would only naturally reflect the happy, jumping music of that time.  It is worth noting that two of the label's three co-founders, Buddy DeSylva and Johnny Mercer, were successful songwriters and, as such, knew how to focus the creative energy of their jazz artists into three consise minutes that would grab the ear of the consumer.

Mercer, especially, had the heart of a jazz man and, through his own signings and those of his A&R man Dave Dexter, a former Down Beat writer, brought on board from the beginning a plethora of fine jazz-oriented stars and future stars who would make their names on Capitol.

Such was the stature of Nat King Cole that the Capitol Tower on Vine Street would be known as "the house that Nat built."  But at the time his King Cole Trio recorded "Sweet Lorraine," he was no more than the leader of a currently hot act.  The group had previously cut the tune for radio transcription and commercially for Decca, but this is the classic hit version.  It is interesting to listen to all three, to hear the evolution of Nat's approach to the song, as he finds his way away from his earlier Louis Armstrong phrasing to his own unique singing style.  The electric guitar of Oscar Moore should not be overlooked here.  Oscar, as much as Charlie Christian, should be considererd one of the founding fathers of electric jazz guitar playing.

She looked and sounded like the girl next door.  Pretty, blonde Martha Tilton had already made her name as the female vocalist on Benny Goodman's swing classic, "And The Angels Sing," before joining Capitol as its first recorded artist.  Here, Martha swings out on the never-before-heard gem, "Does Everyone Know About This."

Coleman Hawkins was theh earliest master of the tenor saxophone.  Although he had been around since the 20s, he always had big ears for the latest sounds.  So, when be-bop came along, he had no problem fitting in with the younger cast like Howard McGhee, Oscar Pettiford, Sir Charles Thompson and Denzil Best, all heard here.  The tune we've chosen from this 1945 Capitol date, "Stuffy," although credited to Hawkins, was actually written by Thelonious Monk, Hawk's regular pianist at the time, who was unable to make the trip to Los Angeles.



Benny Carter, born Bennett Lester Carter on August 8, 1907 in Manhattan, figured greatly in Capitol's early success:he co-wrote the label's first hit, Cow-Cow Boogie, sung by Ella Mae Morse. Widely respected among other musicians, the multi-instrumentalist (Benny plays reeds and trumpet) had attempted big bands several times without success. By the time of his Capitol hits of Hurry Hurry, vocal by
Savannah Churchill, and Poinciana, heard here, Benny was already ensconced in the work of scoring for the Hollywood movie studios Just a kid, and with a sexy sound and look, Ella Mae Morse, as mentioned above, was Capitol's first star. Before her photo got around, many assumed she was black, so hip was her delivery, not to mention her choice of material like Buzz Me, a jive tune usually associated  with the grandfather of jump blues, Louis Jordan.

Decried by critics as pompous, too loud and undanceable, the progressive sounds of Stan Kenton & His Orchestra were wildly accepted by young people at a time when big bands were collapsing one after another. The kids would dance to the tunes they could and crowd around the bandstand in awe of Kenton's huge sound on the songs where dancing was impossible. Much of the band's success was due to its youthful soloists, with whom the kids identified. On Artistry Jumps, blasting sax man Vido Musso rips out one of his big-toned, virile solos. June Christy, another of the band's major assets, croons over the Neal Hefti/Pete Rugolo chart of the jazz chestnut, How High The Moon, with brief statements by trombonist Eddie Bert, trumpeter Chico Alvarez and alto sax legend Art Pepper.

We get two greats for the price of one on Juice Head Baby. Vocalist Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson was a member of the band of former Duke Ellington 'growl' trumpeter Cootie Williams at the time of this recording. Eddie would re-record the song a year later for Mercury when he formed his own band. Louis Jordan's manager, Berle Adams, also president of Mercury, wanted another alto- playing novelty blues singer like Jordan, only with a big band, for his label. 'Cleanhead' fit the bill and waxed a number of hits.

Throughout the war, Alvino Rey, born Alvin McBurney in Oakland, California on July 1, 1911, led what critic Barry Ulinov called 'the greatest show band in America.' More than that, it was also a musical one, with charts written by future masters Billy May and Nelson Riddle, both of whom would come to define the Capitol sound in the '50s. Here, Alvino's band singer Rocky Coluccio (real name: Michael Colucchio) takes a stab at Slim Gaillard's Cement Mixer (Put-Ti Put-Ti) which reached the top ten in the slap happy days following World War II.

Johnny Mercer had told The Pied Pipers that if they ever left Tommy Dorsey's band he'd record them for his label. He made the same offer to Dorsey arranger Paul Weston. True to his word, Mercer recorded the group by themselves and with himself on hits like Dream, Candy and the seldom heard My Sugar Is So Refined. The group members were: Clark Yocum, Chuck Lowry, Hal Hopper and June Hutton, the replacement for another Capitol star, Jo Stafford, who wound up marrying Weston in 1952. Johnny and Paul also do a nice job here on Mercer's tune, One For My Baby. Originally written by Mercer with Harold Arlen for Fred Astaire to sing in The Sky's The Limit, it was later turned into a classic on Capitol by Frank Sinatra.

The jumping side of the blues is well represented on this set by trumpet playing vocalist Vernon "Geechie" Smith, who is aided and abetted on "T-Town Jump" by the great drummer Jesse Price, along with Maxwell Davis, who would go on to arrange and play burning tenor solos on records by the cream of the L.A. R&B scene: Amos Milburn to Percy Mayfield, Etta James to B.B. King. Also, former Jay McShann singer, Crown Prince Waterford is a ribald riot, with his musical instruction to "Move Your Hand, Baby," while the great blues legend, T-Bone Walker, lays down one of his first Capitol sides, "I Got A Break Baby," accompanied by boogie woogie pianist Freddie Slack.

Capitol was fortunate enough to have two singing piano playing babes, each unique and both of whom sold lots of 78s.  Kansas City's Julia Lee was famous for her bawdy tunes like "King Size Papa," which can currently be heard on a Pillsbury TV commercial.  Chicago was about as far as Julia liked to travel, right up to the end of her life.  She was also a favorite of another Missourian, Harry S. Truman, who asked Julia to perform for him at the nations's capitol.

Nellie Lutcher, on the other hand, left her hometown of Lake Charles, Louisiana fo Los Angeles, where she played clubs for a decade until discovered by Capitol A&R man Dave Dexter.  "Fine Brown Frame" is probably
Nellie's best known number.

Sam Donohue, born Samuel Koontz Donahue in Detroit on March 8, 1918, was a powerful tenor sax man and inspiring leader.  he played for a while with the bands of Gene Krupa, Harry James and Benny Goodman, and while in the service, took oer Artie Shaw's Navy band before assembling the group heard here upon his discharge.  Despite never achieving long term success, Sam had several hits on Capitol and had the greatest respect from his sidemen, perhaps due to his lack of fear in tackling material like Illinois Jacquet's "Robbin's Nest."

To give you a break from all this jumpin mayhem, here's beautiful, blonde Peggy Lee on the cool ballad, "Don't Smoke In Bed."  Peggy inbues even this slow tempo number with the hipness of a swinging chick at the end of a love affair--even hip kitties get sad.  Peggy's husband, guitarist Dave Barbour, leads the band, as he did on most of her sides until their unhappy split.

Miss Lee's former employer, Benny Goodman, the King of Swing, is up next, with a typically swinging version of a hit tune of the day, "On A Slow Boat To China."  The vocal is by guitarist Alton Reynolds Hendrickson, only slightly better known as Al hendrickson.  Al had previously played with Artis Shaw.

In April of 1949, when he recorded "Be Bop Spoken Here," good time Charlie Barnet was leading one of his best bands.  Charlie was being encouraged by Capitol to follow in the footsteps of its most popular big bandleader, Stan Kenton, into the land of progressive jazz.  Barnet toyed a bit in that arena, while staying true to his first love, swinging for the dancers.  The vocals here are by Buddy Stewart and Dave Lambert, later co-founder of the popular jazz vocal grop, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.

Later in the year, be-bop pioneer Dizzy Gillespie shows why he had greater fame and fortune than his cohorts in the movement; he never forgot his obligation to entertain as well as play brilliant music.  Diz does the singing himself here, on the politically incorrect "You Stole My Wife--You Horse Thief," replacing his usual partner-in-crime, Joe Carroll.

A great jazz vocalist who lost nothing aesthetically by "going commercial," Kay Starr was, and is, a hard-swinging, soulful singer with a lot of guts and grit.  Here, she essays "Evenin'," a tune made famout in versions by the great blues shouter Jimmly Rushing with count Basie's band and T-Bone Walker.

Billy May did it all at Capitol from children's records like Bozo The Clown, to conducting and arranging for the likes of Nat Cole and Frank Sinatra, in addition to releasing records of his own.  Mr. May is fond of reminding folks that there is a comma in his title, "Lean, Baby," making it a command, rather than the description it bacame when Roy Alfred added the lyric later sung by both Sinatra and Dinah Washington.  Texas tenor saxman Illinois Jacquet also recorded a nice instrumental version.

Stan Kenton discovered the Four Freshmen at an Indiana night club, no doubt impressed by the way they appropriated his horn voicings in their vocals. Kenton brought the group to Capitol, where they had several hits.  Their wordless version of the Erskine Hawkins and Glenn Miller 40s hit, "Tuxedo Junction," was the flip side to the Freshmen's "It's A Blue World," itself a virtual blueprint for the vocal stylings of yet another Capitol act, the Beach Boys.

We close this set with the last hit single of the great swing bands, that of Duke Ellington, whose 100th birthday was celebrated in 1999.  With a lyric later added to Duke's melody by Capitol co-founder Johnny Mercer, "Satin Doll" went on to become a standard.

And that leads us full circle.  The hand, and the taste, of Mercer can be found in every cut on this album.  A full decade into its existence, Capitol remained true to the vision of the man whose passion fueled its very beginning.  Yeah, man, Capitol Jumps.

Billy Vera, 1999