Revision note: We have added label scans of Sax Mallard's Mercury single.
Oett M. Mallard was born in Chicago on September 2, 1915. According to his obituary in the Chicago Defender, "He was six years old when he created his first job, enterprisingly selling shopping bags; and at 10 he was shining shoes." Like so many other Chicago musicians, he started young. He got his first saxophone at 16, while still at Wendell Philips High School, where he studied under that redoubtable bandmaster, Captain Walter Dyett; he almost immediately landed a gig playing on the radio with vocalist Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon. Reportedly he completed his high school education at DuSable.
After graduation, he toured the US and Canada for two and a half years with one of his classmates, Nat "King" Cole, in a show called "Shuffle Along." Drummer Floyd Campbell recalled how King Cole's band was taken on the road by impresario Miller Lyle:
The Bacon's Casino was the most popular dance hall [in Chicago] back then. Nat Cole's brother, Eddie, put a band in there after I left and Nat was playing piano with him. Nat's brother, Eddie, who had toured Europe with Noble Sissle, played bass. Miller Lyle came along and picked that band up and took them to California. That band consisted of Nat, Sax Mallard, and others. Lyle took a big band out there. They revived Shuffle Along...
Miller Lyle didn't half pay the band and some of the guys had to almost walk back to Chicago. Nat was not able to get back. Sax Mallard got married to Miller's daughter and they worked their way back to Chicago.
(Charles Walton's article "Floyd Campbell, drummer, vocalist, bandleader," from which we drew these quotations, is one of his Bronzeville Conversations. The stay in Los Angeles did Nat "King" Cole no harm, of course. His trio became wildly popular there.)
Jack Ellis, in his "Orchestras" column from the Chicago Defender, February 27, 1937, gives a slightly different story. Ellis describes the band as being Nat Cole's, saying that his "cats" headed West on February 24, hitting the RKO houses; they were scheduled to arrive in Hollywood on April 5. According to Ellis, the band consisted of Bill Wright, George Skinner, Sax Mallard, Otis Hicks on reeds; Fostelle [Rostelle] Reese, Kenneth Johnson, Russell Gillom on trumpets; John Thomas and Nat Atkins on trombones; Hurley Ramey on guitar, Henry Fort on bass, Jimmy Adams on drums, and Nat Cole on piano. Various sources on Nat King Cole indicate that this was indeed the orchestra for Shuffle Along and that King Cole was the arranger and musical director for the revue.
While working his way back to Chicago, Mallard joined the Kenny McVey band, which for a time made two half-hour radio broadcasts daily from the Tivoli Terrace in Denver. At age 21, he sold his first arragement (for six pieces) to Lionel Hampton. Arriving back in Chicago, he joined Local 208 of the American Federation of Musicians on August 5, 1937 (according to his union card). Between this time and the beginning of World War II, Sax Mallard also worked with Fats Waller, the Deep River Boys, the Original Ink Spots, the Andy Kirk Band, the Mary Lou Williams Quartet, and others. Sax Mallard may have briefly subbed for Johnny Hodges in the Duke Ellington band during the late 1930s (the obituaries are somewhat unclear about this).
In 1942, he was a member of a 12-piece band in Chicago led by drummer and singer Floyd Campbell (1901 - 1993); this band worked the Parkway Ballroom (45th and South Park) on a regular basis and played gigs in South Bend, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee. The complete personnel, according to a photo dated 1942 by Floyd Campbell and published in the Defender on May 29, 1943, was: Louis Ogletree (tp); Louis Alahard [rendered Acerhart in some sources] (tp); Al Wynn (tb); Herman Barker (as, ts); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as, cl); Al Washington (ts); Nat Walker (p); Les Corley (eg); Earnest Smith (b); Floyd Campbell (d); Carrol Tucker (voc). (Mallard was not in a smaller Floyd Campbell band that is shown in a photo from May 1941.) The 1942 photo can be seen in Charles Walton's article on Floyd Campbell in Bronzeville Conversations. (In his interviews with Walton, Floyd Campbell identified the pianist as John Riggins and did not mention the bassist, guitarist, or female vocalist.) At other times the band included John Riggins, Ruth Crowder, and Billy Brown Marino (piano), and Oliver Coleman or Ellis Bartee (drums, when Floyd Campbell was just singing and directing).
There is no phonographic trace of any of these involvements. We do have recordings, however, from a stay (probably not his first...) with Duke Ellington: five broadcasts, all originating in New York City, from April and May 1943. Mallard was there as a substitute for Otto Hardwick, an Ellington veteran who was taking a hiatus from the band. Mallard's main instrument at the time was alto sax, and Johnny Hodges was his obvious model; at least two months sitting next to his idol (maybe more--there are no extant Ellington recordings from February or March 1943) certainly didn't diminish that influence. Toward the end of Mallard's tenure, Chauncey Haughton left, and Mallard briefly moved over to take his clarinet chair, while one Scotty Scott played second alto. (Mallard's replacement in the Ellington band was another Chicago altoist, Nat Jones, who served from June 1943 until Hardwick's return in November. Jones also played clarinet, but presumably had no need to concentrate on it, since Jimmy Hamilton was now in the band.)
Duke Ellington (p, ldr); Wallace Jones (tp); Rex Stewart (cornet); Harold "Shorty" Baker (tp); Ray Nance (tp, vln); Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton (tb); Lawrence Brown (tb); Juan Tizol (v-tb); Johnny Hodges (as); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as, cl); Chauncey Haughton (cl, ts); Ben Webster (ts); Harry Carney (bars, cl, as); Fred Guy (g); Alvin "Junior" Raglin (b); Sonny Greer (d); Betty Roche' (voc).
MBS Broadcast, Hurricane Restaurant, New York City, April 3, 1943
| Take the "A" Train (and intro) | Azure LP 431 | ||
| Hayfoot, Strawfoot | Azure LP 431 | ||
| I Can't Be Wrong | Azure LP 431 | ||
| What Am I Here For? | Azure LP 431 | ||
| Main Stem | Azure LP 431 | ||
| Could It Be You? | Azure LP 431 | ||
| Goin' Up | Azure LP 431 | ||
| Don't Get Around Much Anymore | Azure LP 431 | ||
| Nevada | Azure LP 431 | ||
| Things Ain't What They Used to Be | Azure LP 431 |
Information from Lord's Jazz Discography. Azure LP 431 was a Swedish LP, release date unknown.
Duke Ellington (p, ldr); Wallace Jones (tp); Rex Stewart (cornet); Harold "Shorty" Baker (tp); Ray Nance (tp, vln); Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton (tb); Lawrence Brown (tb); Juan Tizol (v-tb); Johnny Hodges (as); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as, cl); Chauncey Haughton (cl, ts); Ben Webster (ts); Harry Carney (bars, cl, as); Fred Guy (g); Alvin "Junior" Raglin (b); Sonny Greer (d); Betty Roche' (voc).
MBS Broadcast, Hurricane Restaurant, New York City, April 4, 1943
| Take the "A" Train (and intro) | Rarities 56 | ||
| Don't Get Around Much Anymore | Rarities 56 | ||
| Main Stem | Rarities 56, IAJRC 17 | ||
| I Don't Want Nobody at All [BR voc] | Rarities 56 | ||
| Johnny Come Lately | Rarities 56 | ||
| Things Ain't What They Used to Be (and close) | Rarities 56 |
Information from Lord. Rarities 56 was an LP, released in Denmark and Britain in the 1970s or 1980s. IAJRC 17 was an LP, title unknown.
Duke Ellington (p, ldr); Harold "Shorty" Baker (tp); Ray Nance (tp, voc); Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton (tb); Lawrence Brown (tb); Oett "Sax" Mallard (cl, as); Harry Carney (bars); Alvin "Junior" Raglin (b); with CBS Studio Orchestra.
CBS Broadcast, NYC, April 21, 1943
| Mood Indigo | Rarities 70 | ||
| Sophisticated Lady | Rarities 70 | ||
| It Don't Mean a Thing | Rarities 70 |
Information from Lord. The radio program was called "Cresta Blanca Carnival." Rarities 70 was an LP released in Britain and Denmark in the 1970s or 1980s.
Duke Ellington (p, ldr); Wallace Jones (tp); Rex Stewart (cornet); Harold "Shorty" Baker (tp); Ray Nance (tp, vln, voc); Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton (tb); Lawrence Brown (tb); Juan Tizol (v-tb); Johnny Hodges (as); Scotty Scott (as); Oett "Sax" Mallard (ts?, cl, as); Ben Webster (ts); Harry Carney (bars, cl, as); Fred Guy (g); Alvin "Junior" Raglin (b); Sonny Greer (d); Al Hibbler (voc).
CBS Broadcast, Central Park Mall, NYC, May 1, 1943
| Take the "A" Train | Jazz Anthology [F] JA5124, Philips [J] 15PJ6, Jazz Society [Swd] AA501 | ||
| Hayfoot, Strawfoot | Jazz Anthology [F] JA5124, Philips [J] 15PJ6, Jazz Society [Swd] AA501 | ||
| Don't Get Around Much Any More | Jazz Anthology [F] JA5124, Philips [J] 15PJ6, Jazz Society [Swd] AA501 | ||
| A Slip of the Lip [RN voc] | Jazz Anthology [F] JA5124, Philips [J] 15PJ6, Jazz Society [Swd] AA501 | ||
| Take the "A" Train | Jazz Anthology [F] JA5124, Philips [J] 15PJ6, Jazz Society [Swd] AA501 | ||
| Bond promotion [DE announcement] | Jazz Anthology [F] JA5124, Philips [J] 15PJ6, Jazz Society [Swd] AA501 |
The performance was part of the NBC-WEAF "War Bond Jamboree." Information from Lord. The Jazz Anthology series appeared in the 1970s. Dates for the other LP releases are not known.
Duke Ellington expected his clarinet soloists to play tenor sax parts. Barney Bigard, Chauncey Haughton, and Jimmy Hamilton all fit that pattern. Duke would either have had to rewrite a lot of scores--or ask Mallard to play tenor sax in many of his arrangements. More cannot be said without listening to the broadcasts.
Duke Ellington (p, ldr); Wallace Jones (tp); Rex Stewart (cornet); Harold "Shorty" Baker (tp); Ray Nance (tp, vln, voc); Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton (tb); Lawrence Brown (tb); Juan Tizol (v-tb); Johnny Hodges (as); Scotty Scott (as); Oett "Sax" Mallard (ts?, cl, as); Ben Webster (ts); Harry Carney (bars, cl, as); Fred Guy (g); Alvin "Junior" Raglin (b); Sonny Greer (d); Betty Roche' (voc).
MBS Broadcast, Hurricane Restaurant, NYC, May 1943
| Take the "A" Train (and intro) | Azure LP 431 | ||
| What Am I Here For? | Azure LP 431 | ||
| Barzillai Lew | Azure LP 431 | ||
| Ring around the Moon [BR voc] | Azure LP 431 | ||
| Cotton Tail | Azure LP 431 | ||
| Don't Get Around Much Anymore (and close) | Azure LP 431 |
Information from Lord. Azure LP 431 was a Swedish LP, release date unknown. No fewer than 10 Ellington broadcasts have been issued from June 1943. All include Nat Jones on alto sax and clarinet instead of Sax Mallard.
If the photo reproduced in the Defender for May 29, 1943 accurately portrays the current Floyd Campbell band, Sax Mallard was back in Chicago, at least for a brief time, working with Floyd Campbell's Entire 12 Piece Orchestra at Forum Hall. According to his obituary in the Chicago Sun-Times, Sax Mallard spent 18 months in the Army (before his Ellington stint) and over 2 1/2 years in the Navy (from mid-1943 to the beginning of 1946), where he completed work on his Bachelor's degree in Music.
Like so many Swing musicians, Mallard had to contend with changing popular tastes as the war ended and the Big Bands wound down. When he returned to Chicago and picked up studio work, it was for the Melrose combine, and the music was urban blues or R&B. It appears that his ticket to the studios was his membership in Armand "Jump" Jackson's combo. Mallard must have joined Jackson soon after being discharged from military service (the earlier Melrose sessions that he appeared on already included Jump Jackson and the Jackson combo's trumpet player, Johnny Morton). Jump Jackson, by this time a veteran on the Chicago scene, brought his combo into the Garrick Theater Lounge in January 1946 (his "indefinite" contract was accepted and filed by Local 208 on January 17). If Mallard was not in the group when the engagement opened, he must have joined soon afterward. Getting good publicity throughout its 8-month stay at this Loop nightspot, the Jackson combo helped Sax Mallard relaunch his career.
In the studios Mallard took over a role that had belonged to Buster Bennett before the war. Though Mallard was as suave as Bennett had been rough-hewn, he became an extremely active participant in blues recordings for Victor and Columbia through the end of 1947. His skills as a clarinetist and arranger, his calm demeanor, and his extremely reliable work habits (radically different from Buster's, and those of some other saxophone stars of the day) brought him repeat calls for session work. Mallard was well enough liked by some of these blues artists (notably Big Bill Broonzy and Roosevelt Sykes) to pick up work with them after Victor and Columbia had retreated from blues recording and they had moved to other labels.
From April through July of 1950 Mallard would also time to back Joe Williams, Stuff Smith, and Lurlean Hunter while a member of an integrated band that played on WBKB-TV in Chicago, under the sponsorship of DJ Al Benson. He also taught band at four different Catholic schools. No wonder his friends called him an "incurable workaholic"!
Roosevelt Sykes (voc, p) with Johnny Morton (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Leon Washington (ts); Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston (eg); Alfred Elkins (b); Armand "Jump" Jackson (d).
Chicago, February 18, 1946
| D6VB1822 | That's My Gal* | RCA Victor 20-1906, Wolf [Au] WBJ-004 [CD], Document BDCD 6048 | |
| D6VB1823 | Tonight (Sykes) | RCA Victor 20-2051-B, Oldie Blues [Du] OL2818, Document BDCD 6048 | |
| D6VB1824 | Living in a Different World (Sykes) | RCA Victor 20-3315-A, Wolf [Au] WBJ-004 [CD], Document BDCD 6048 | |
| D6VB1825 | Sunny Road | RCA Victor 20-1906, RCA [Fr] PM42028, RCA [Fr] PM42039, Oldie Blues [Du] OL2818, Document BDCD 6048 |
Basic information from Leadbitter and Slaven, Blues Records 1943-1966 (1st edition, 1968). Reissues after 1968 filled in from Lord's Jazz Discography.Document BDCD 6048, Roosevelt Sykes Volume 8 (1945-1947), was released in 1995.
Pianist Bill "Doc" Owens seems to have joined the Jackson combo around April of 1946, after 6 weeks at Sonny Boswell's Lounge (contract accepted and filed at Local 208 on March 7, 1946). In any event, he was on hand in time for the next session.
Bill Crosby (voc); Johnny Morton (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as -1; cl -2; arr); Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar (ts, voc); Bill Owens (p); Bali Beach (b); Armand "Jump" Jackson (d).
Chicago, July 29, 1946
| CCO 4585 | Zooter-Eeny | unissued | |
| CCO 4586-1 | Those Dog-Gone Blues* [SP voc] -1 | Columbia 37327, Columbia 30017, RST 91577 [CD] | |
| CCO 4587 | Eat, Drink and Be Merry (Crosby)* [BC, ens voc] -1 | Columbia 37282, Columbia 30014, RST 91577 [CD] | |
| CCO 4588-1A | Hip Chick Blues* [BC voc] -1, 2 | Columbia 37327, Columbia 30017, RST 91577 [CD] | |
| CCO 4589 | Sneaking Woman Blues (Crosby)* [BC, ? voc] -2 | Columbia 37282, Columbia 30014, RST 91577 [CD] | |
| CCO 4590 | She Done Quit Me | unissued |
William J. "Bill" Crosby was a Sam Theard-like vocalist whose career remains obscure. On April 19, 1945, Musicians Union Local 208 accepted and filed his contract for 4 weeks at the Bar o' Music. On October 18, 1945, he posted a contract for 4 weeks at The Whip. This is all we know about his activity in the clubs, but as a vocalist, Crosby would not usually have been identified as the leader for contracting purposes. As the Bar o' Music regularly booked solo pianists, we can infer that he was playing piano at the time he signed these contracts. Crosby made two sessions for Columbia in Chicago in 1945 and 1946. The first was done with skeletal accompaniment: a George Zack styled barroom jazz pianist, probably Cosby himself, and rather clatttery drums. "Have You Seen My Gal," from the first session, was subsequently appropriated by Roosevelt Sykes for his February 18, 1946 session--see above.
On his second session, Sax Mallard, Johnny Morton, and Bill Owens--plus, of course, Jackson himself--were all members of Jump Jackson's band. Bali Beach (real first name Roscoe) and Sugarman Penigar were gigging around the South Side at the time. Penigar frequently appeared in the clubs as a pianist (he was good enough to be able to take solo gigs) but his studio calls were for his unusually rough, hollow tenor sax work.
Columbia 30014 and 30017 were 78-rpm singles released in the company's "race" series; Columbia 37282 and 37327 were their counterparts in the main release series. All saw release before the end of 1946. The four issued tracks from this session were reissued in 1994 on RST 91577, an Austrian CD compilation titled Chicago Jump Bands: Early R&B Vol. 1, 1945-1953.
Our basic session information comes from the liners to the RST compilation. Our information about Columbia 30000 series issues comes from Anthony Rotante & Paul Sheatsley's Blues Research No. 14 (thanks to Robert Ferlingere for alerting us to this source). Thanks to Howard Rye, co-author of the 4th edition of Blues and Gospel Records 1890-1943 (Oxford University Press, 1997) for information about the unissued titles (derived from Columbia Artist Index Cards) and the Columbia 37000 series issues.
Sax Mallard and Bill Owens can be safely upgraded from their "probable" status in the RST liners. "Those Dog-Gone Blues" (despite the title) uses an Ellingtonian ballad arrangement (probably also by Mallard) and opens with Mallard in Hodges mode; his solo is even more Rabbit-like. "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry" includes ensemble hand clapping as well as vocalizing; Sugarman Penigar is responsible for the tenor solo, after which Morton, with plunger mute, and Mallard, on alto, do a duet, and Penigar returns. "Hip Chick" features a long clarinet solo by Sax Mallard, who continues behind part of Crosby's vocal; Morton rides out on open trumpet. It is not known who is responsible for the dialogue with Crosby at the beginning of "Sneaking Woman Blues," but the sneaky clarinet (which continues behind the vocal) is by Mallard, and the Ellingtonian arrangement probably is as well. Morton (muted) picks up the obbligato. Sugarman Penigar solos on tenor sax.
Roosevelt Sykes (voc, p); Johnny Morton (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Bill Casimir (ts); Sam Casimir (eg); Ernest "Big" Crawford (b); Armand "Jump" Jackson (d).
Chicago, August 23, 1946
| D6VB1935 | Her Little Machine | RCA International [Br] INTS 5099, RCA [Fr] NL98418, Wolf [Au] WBJ-005 [CD] Document BDCD 6048 | |
| D6VB1936 | Flames of Jive* (Sykes) | RCA Victor 20-2382-A, Oldie Blues [Du] OL2818, Document BDCD 6048 | |
| D6VB1937 | Sneakin' and Dodgin' (Sykes) | RCA Victor 20-3176-B, RCA [Fr] PM42028, Document BDCD 6048 | |
| D6VB1938 | Bop De Bip* (Sykes-Davis-Moore) | RCA Victor 20-2382-B, Oldie Blues [Du] OL2818, Document BDCD 6048 |
Basic information from the liner notes to Blues Document BDCD 6048, Roosevelt Sykes Volume 8 (1945-1947), which was released in 1995. "Her Little Machine" was first released in 1981 on RCA International INTS 5099, a British various-artists LP titled Vintage Blues. Thanks to Dave Penny for information about the LP. Wolf WBJ CD-005 is an Austrian CD titled Roosevelt Sykes: West Helena Blues, Postwar Years Vol. 2. Additional reissues are from Lord.
Johnny Morton (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Bill Casimir (ts); Bill Owens (p); Ransom Knowling (b); Armand "Jump" Jackson (d); St. Louis Jimmy [Oden] (voc):
Columbia Studios, Chicago, September 13, 1946
| CCO 4601 | Biddle Street Jump (Jackson) | Columbia 37386, Columbia 30121 | |
| CCO 4602 | Road to Ruin [prob. SLJ voc] | unissued | |
| CCO 4603 | She's Killing Me [prob. SLJ voc] | unissued | |
| CCO 4604 | Yancey's Blues (Jackson) [SLJ voc] % | Columbia 37386, Columbia 30121, Document DOCD-5235 |
Information from Jepsen's Jazz Records. This information (including the lack of further issues up to that time) is corroborated by Leadbitter and Slaven's 1987 edition; we have been able to verify the matrix numbers to Columbia 37386 from a copy in Dan Kochakian's collection. Sax Mallard does not solo on the two issued sides.
Jepsen and Leadbitter/Slaven give September 13, 1945 as the date for this session. But the matrix numbers don't fit. Since CCO 4601 follows CCO 4589 (see the Bill Crosby session above, from July 29, 1946) and precedes CCO 4661 (a Buster Bennett session from September 30, 1946), the correct date is obviously September 13, 1946. This is confirmed by the online listing for the Columbia 35000 and 30000 series at http://settlet.fateback.com.
Columbia 37386 was issued in the label's main series in 1947; Columbia 30121, its counterpart in the "race" series, probably appeared in early 1948. "Yancey's Blues" was reissued on Document DOCD-5235, St. Louis Jimmy Oden, Volume 2: 1944-1955.
In mid-September, it became known that Joe Sherman was going to shut down the Garrick Theater Lounge (which closed on September 23). Jump Jackson promptly moved his combo to the Blue Heaven Lounge ("indefinite" contract posted on September 19, 1946).
Tampa Red (voc, slide g) with Oett "Sax" Mallard (as -1, cl -2); Blind John Davis (p; speech -3); Ernest "Big" Crawford (b); Armand "Jump" Jackson (d).
Chicago, September 16, 1946
| D6VB1945 | You May Be Down Someday* -1 | RCA Victor 22-0009, Wolf [Au] WBJ-001, Document DOCD 5213 | |
| D6VB1946 | She's a Solid Killer Diller* -1 | RCA Victor 20-2597, Oldie Blues [Du] OL2816, Document DOCD 5213 | |
| D6VB1947 | Poor Stranger Blues* -2, 3 | RCA Victor 20-3309, Krazy Kat [Br] KK7411, Document DOCD 5213 | |
| D6VB1948 | New Bad Luck Blues* (Whittaker) -2 | RCA Victor 20-2432-B, Krazy Kat [Br] KK7411, Document DOCD 5213 |
Our information comes from LS 1968, confirmed by the liner notes to Tampa Red Volume 13 (1945-1947), released in 1993 on Document DOCD 5213. LS credit Tampa Red with playing kazoo, which he does not use on this session, and do not identify which instrument Mallard plays on each track. On "New Bad Luck Blues" Tampa Red calls out Sax Mallard's name during his clarinet solo. The Oldie Blues, Wolf, and Krazy Kat reissues are mentioned in Tom Lord's Jazz Discography.
On a rare trip to Chicago, Art Rupe of Specialty Records (then a brand-new Los Angeles-based label) decided to bring some local talent into the studio. For his first session, he used Jump Jackson's working band, with the addition of Bill Casimir, who was bringing his tenor saxophone to many Melrose-sponsored sessions during this period, and guitarist Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston, who was working as a member of the Big Three Trio. Rupe also brought in Roosevelt Sykes, who was under contract to RCA Victor at the time, disguising him under the generic epithet "The Blues Man" and restricting him to vocals only. Sunnyland Slim (whose piano playing was too "down home" for the Melrose combine) also made a guest appearance as a vocalist; though he had been on the Chicago scene since 1942, this was his recording debut.
Johnny Morton (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as, arr); Bill Casimir (ts -1); Bill Owens (p); Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston (eg); Dallas Bartley (b -2); Armand "Jump" Jackson (d); The Blues Man [Roosevelt Sykes] (voc where noted); Sunnyland Slim (voc where noted).
Chicago, September 26, 1946
| SP 505 A | Blues at Midnight -1, 2 | Specialty 505 | |
| SP 505 B | Homesick Blues (Sykes)^ [RS voc] -1, 2 | Specialty 505, Specialty [Br] SNTF5015, Sonet [Fr] SPY LP 28099, Wolf [Au] WBJ CD-005 | |
| SP 507 A | Alley Cat Woman^ [RS voc] -1, 2 | Specialty 507 | |
| SP 507 B | Night Life Blues* [SS voc] -1, 2 | Specialty 507 | |
| SP 508 A | Ice Cream Freezer^ ("R. Veltsy") [RS voc] | Specialty 508, Specialty 5SPCD 4412 | |
| SP 508 B | Jumpin' at the Sunset^ ("R. Veltsy") [RS voc] | Specialty 508 |
Most of our session details are from Leadbitter and Slaven, 1987. However, LS convert the bassist into "Bill" Carter, estimate the date as 1946/1947, and give no information about the lineup on either side of Specialty 508. The Specialty 5-CD box set, 5SPCD 4412, The Specialty Story, which includes two sides from these sessions on Disc 1, gives two dates: September 26 for "Ice Cream Freezer" and October 4 for "Rainy Day Blues." We have reconstructed the two sessions based on the different tenor sax, piano, guitar, and bass players used on each; we of course don't know the order the tracks were cut in at either session, because Specialty's matrix numbers were strictly of the A and B variety.
Our information about the vocals and matrixes of Specialty 507 is confirmed from a copy in Otto Flückiger's collection; 506B from a tape copy in Daniel Gugolz' collection; label copy for 506 from copies in the Big Joe Louis collection.
The label of 507 B has the above personnel without The Blues Man but spells Bartley as "Bartel." 507 A has "vocal by The Blues Man acc. by his Blues Band." Specialty 505 supposedly also appeared under "Baby Doo" Caston's name. French Sonet SPY LP 28099 was a various artists compilation titled City Blues. Wolf WBJ CD-005 is an Austrian CD titled Roosevelt Sykes: West Helena Blues, Postwar Years Vol. 2. We filled in the other reissues of "Homesick Blues" from Tom Lord's Jazz Discogaphy.
There is a salient electric guitar solo on "Ice Cream Freezer," putatively the work of Baby Doo. "Blues at Midnight" and "Jumpin' at the Sunset" have not been checked yet.
Eight days later, Art Rupe put together a second session that featured Jump Jackson as leader and once again used his horn men Morton and Mallard. Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar, who did double duty on piano and tenor sax in the clubs, was brought in to reinforce the front line. Instead of Jackson's rhythm players, Rupe hired Bob Carter's trio, which was doing steady business in South Side clubs at the time. Carter began working as a leader on the South Side in 1945; from September 1946 to April 1947 his trio held down a stead engagement at the Wonder Bar. Carter's bandmates were "Prof." Art Simms on piano and Walter Scott on guitar.
This session was Bob Carter's debut on record. In March 1947 he would cut 4 sides for Sunbeam with the same trio. Toward the end of 1947, the trio recorded two more sides for the Universal label. In 1949, Carter's trio (expanded to a sextet for the session) cut two singles for a tiny label called Rim. In the early 1950s, Scott would join the combo led by tenor saxophonist Eddie Chamblee.
Johnny Morton (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as, arr); Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar (ts); Art Simms (p); Walter Scott (eg); Bob Carter (voc, b); Armand "Jump" Jackson (d).
Chicago, October 4, 1946
| SP 506 A | Rainy Day Blues (Milton) [BC voc] -3, 5, 7, 8 | Specialty 506, Specialty 5SPCD 4412 | |
| SP 506 B | Red Light* (Callender-Enois) -3, 5, 7, 8 [BC, ens voc] | Specialty 506 | |
| SP 509 A | Worryin' Blues ("Rupe") [BC voc] -3, 5, 7, 8 | Specialty 509 | |
| SP 509 B | All Alone Blues ("Rupe") [BC voc] -3, 5, 7, 8 | Specialty 509 |
Our information on Specialty 506B comes from a tape copy in Daniel Gugolz' collection; label copy of 506 from copies in the Big Joe Louis collection; label copy for 509 from a copy in Robert L. Campbell's collection.
Mallard is prominent on "Rainy Day Blues" but gets no solo; Sugarman Penigar is responsible for the tenor solo.
A Chicago Defender advertisement (September 28, 1946) for Jump Jackson's band, including Sax Mallard, "Funny Man Johnny Morton," and pianist Bill Owens, indicates how well established they were by this time. The same ensemble can be seen in the above photo from the Garrick Theater Lounge. (It was signed by the band members on October 4, 1946, probably at the end of the recording session, but must have been taken somewhat before that—since the Garrick closed on September 23.) Sax Mallard wrote, "To Art [Rupe]—a 'hard driver.'"
Meanwhile, business must have been booming at the Blue Heaven, because on October 3, Jackson posted a six-month contract with the establishment.
Big Bill Broonzy (voc, g) with Johnny Morton (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Bill Casimir (ts); Charles Belcher (p); Ransom Knowling (b); Lawrence "Judge" Riley (d).
Chicago, December 4, 1946
| CCO 4686 | I Can Fix It | Columbia 37502, Columbia 30051, Document BDCD 6047 | |
| CCO 4687 | Old Man Blues | Columbia 37502, Columbia 30051, Document BDCD 6047 | |
| CCO 4688 | I Can't Write | Epic EG37318, Document BDCD 6047 | |
| CCO 4689 | What Can I Do* | Columbia 37314, Columbia 30016, Document BDCD 6047 |
Information from LS 1968 and LS 1987. Columbia 30016 was a late 1946 or early 1947 release in the company's "race" series; 30051 was a 1947 release in the same series. Columbia 37314 and 37502 were 1947 releases in the company's main series. Epic EG37318 was a 2-LP set titled OKeh Chicago Blues. Document BDCD 6047, Big Bill Broonzy Volume 12 (1945-1947), was released in 1995.
There was a lull in Mallard's recording activities for the first 5 months of 1947, though the rest of the the year would more than make up for it. Starting in March the Jackson combo seems to have divided its appearances between the Blue Heaven (3 week contract accepted and filed on March 6, 1947) and the Argyle Show Lounge (indefinite contract filed on the same date). On June 5, Jackson posted contracts with the Zanzibar Lounge (known mostly as a blues club; 4 weeks with an option) and the Blue Heaven (also for 4 weeks). In mid-June the band moved to Morocco Lounge (Jackson posted a two-week contract on June 19).
When Mallard reappeared on record, it was for a new independent called Aristocrat. Talent scout Sammy Goldberg brought Jump Jackson to the label, which gave him the opportunity to record as a leader of a larger studio ensemble. Mallard's role was to provide arrangements and lachrymose alto sax solos on two ballads, one of them his own composition. Tenor saxophonist Tom Archia, recruited from the house trio at the Macomba Lounge, was the designated jump soloist (see the Tom Archia Discography).
A photo in the Chicago Defender, June 14, 1947, proclaims: "Giving the Patrons an earful of swing and jive that has kept the New Morocco Lounge, Drexel and Oakwood Boulevard, rocking in rhythm, Jump Jackson's engagement has been extended by popular request." Four musicians are seen in the photo: Sax Mallard, Bill Owens (the pianist) holding a clarinet, Johnny Morton playing his trumpet, and Jump Jackson. The caption gives Mallard's first name as "Jay," and renders Morton's last name as "Martin." The same photo and blurb ran in the Chicago Bee on June 22. Sloppy captioning aside, the core band for the next session obviously came from the New Morocco Lounge. Tom Archia was in the house band at the Macomba Lounge, just a few blocks away; he was probably brought to the session by talent scout Sammy Goldberg. Hurley Ramey, Dallas Bartley, and Sugarman Penigar were active at other Chicago clubs.
Armand "Jump" Jackson (d); Johnny Morton (tp except -1); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as except -1); Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar (ts except -1); Tom Archia (ts); Bill Owens (p); Hurley Ramey (eg); Dallas Bartley (b); Melrose Colbert (voc); Benny Kelly (voc).
Universal Recording, Chicago, June 1947
| U7018 | Sweet Thing (Eddie Penigar)* [MC voc] | Aristocrat 401A | |
| U7019 | Choo Choo Blues (D. Clark) [BK voc] | Aristocrat 403A | |
| U7020 | The Greatest Mistake (Sax Mallard)* [MC voc] | Aristocrat 402B | |
| U7021 | Not Now Baby (Kelly-Goldberg) -1 [BK voc] | Aristocrat 401B | |
| U7022 | Hey Pretty Mama (Hickman-Jackson)* [BK, ens voc] | Aristocrat 402A | |
| U7023 | I'm Cutting Out on You [prob. BK voc] | unissued |
Jepsen's Jazz Records and Michel Ruppli's discography The Chess Label have mistakenly split this session in two. They have U7018-U7020 with Morton, Mallard, Penigar, and the rhythm section; then they list U7021-U7023 with only Archia and the same rhythm section. Yet all four horns are present on U7018, U7019, U7020, and U7022. Only on U7021 is Tom Archia the sole horn.
A major cause of confusion for the previous discographies was swapping U7019 and U7022 (and besides being given the wrong matrix number in these sources, U7019 was retitled "Train Blues.") The dangers of relying on Chess record company files are fully evident! Jepsen and Ruppli's longer title for U7021, "Not Now Baby, I'll Tell You When," is presumably derived from the files.
Correct information on U7018-U7022 from copies of Aristocrat 401, 402, and 403 in Dan Kochakian's collection. U7023 as per Ruppli--since 78s needed flip sides, a 5-track session would not have been done on purpose. "The Greatest Mistake" features Sax Mallard's alto sax (Melrose Colbert, it should be noted, was a female vocalist). Mallard draws another assignment to the schmaltz patrol on "Sweet Thing."
"Hey Pretty Mama" has solos by Tom Archia, Hurley Ramey (presumably--the guitarist sounds a little different from the guitarist on the next session), Johnny Morton, an "oo-bop she-bam" riff led by Archia, and a break by Sax Mallard. Archia is the sole horn on "Not Now Baby" and has a long solo on "Choo Choo Blues."
The flip side of 403 was the last item from the Clarence Samuels session with Dave Young's Orchestra (U7047, "I Don't Love You Mamie"). U7023 was left unused.
According to George R. White, "The Aristocrat of Records,"Blues and Rhythm, 124, Nov. 1997, pp. 4-8, Aristocrat 401 was released in September 1947, 402 in November 1947, and 403 in December of that same year. (See the Aristocrat Checklist.)
Shortly after the Aristocrat session, Jackson got the call to put together a comparable all-star band for Columbia. This session used a different guitarist and bassist and dispensed with Tom Archia's services.
Johnny Morton (tp, voc); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as -1; cl -2); Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar (ts, voc); Bill "Doc" Owens (p); Elmer Ewing (eg); Roscoe "Bali" Beach (b); Armand "Jump" Jackson (d).
Columbia Studio, Chicago, June 27, 1947
| CCO 4804-1 | No No Baby* [SP voc] -1 | Columbia 37928, Columbia 30098, RST 91577 [CD] | |
| CCO 4805-1 | I Love You Mama ("Melrose") [SP voc] -1 | Columbia 37595, Columbia 30056, RST 91577 [CD] | |
| CCO 4806-1 | Hey Hey Big Mama* [JM, ens voc] -1, 2 | Columbia 37928, Columbia 30098, RST 91577 [CD] | |
| CCO 4807-1N | Green Light* [JM, ens voc] -1 | Columbia 37595, Columbia 30056, RST 91577 [CD] |
Our basic information comes from Lord's Jazz Discography. Lord gives the title of the the first track as "No Baby" and gives the release number as 37828 (which was really a Kay Kyser single) instead of 37928. Our information about 30000 ("race") series releases and the exact session date come from the Mohr-Flückiger-Demeusy files. Willie "Long Time" Smith cut the preceding session for Columbia (up to CCO 4803) on June 13. (Leadbitter and Slaven 1987 give the date as July 27, but that is almost certainly wrong.)
Columbia 37928 was reviewed in Billboard on November 8, 1947. 37595 and 37928 were 78s issued in the label's main series, which was offered to White record buyers. during 1947; 30056 and 30098 were roughly simultaneous offerings in its remaining "race" series.
"No No Baby" features a solo by Sax Mallard on alto and a guitar solo by Elmer Ewing. "I Love You Mama" includes solos by Sugarman Penigar, Johnny Morton (muted), Ewing, and Penigar again. "Hey Hey Big Mama" has solos by Bill Owens and Sugarman Penigar, a break by Ewing, and a clarinet outing by Mallard. On "Green Light" there are solos by Sugarman Penigar (tenor sax), Bill Owens (piano), and Sax Mallard (alto).
All four tracks were reissued in 1994 on RST 91577, an Austrian CD titled Chicago Jump Bands: Early R&B Vol. 1, 1945-1953.
Around the time of the Columbia session, Jackson moved his band again, to the Brown Derby (4-week contract posted on July 3, 1947). In mid-August (indefinite contract posted August 21), Jackson moved to the Bee Hive, which at this early point in its history was oriented toward boogie woogie and R&B (it would become most famous, in the early 1950s, as a bebop venue).
At this point we previously listed a July 1947 session by Tom Archia and his All Stars for Aristocrat. (This session produced Aristocrat 801 and 802--all four sides featuring vocals by Dr. Jo Jo Adams.) However, careful listening to the entire session reveals that the alto saxophonist is a bebopper (our best guess is Archia's old colleague Goon Gardner) and definitely not Sax Mallard.
Never fear--there were plenty of other recording opportunities to come. Every recording operation in Chicago, big or small, started stockpiling sides in anticipation of the recording ban announced by the American Federation of Musicians for January 1, 1948.
Eddie Boyd (voc, p); Oett "Sax" Mallard (cl -1, as -2); Bill Casimir (ts); E. L. Liggett (b); Booker T. Washington (d).
Chicago, September 16, 1947
| D7VB1021 | You Got to Leave That Gal (Boyd) -2* | RCA Victor 20-2555, Crown Prince [Swe] IG-400, Blues Collection [Fr] 160002 [CD] | |
| D7VB1022 | Rosa Lee Swing (Boyd) -1* | RCA Victor 20-2703, Crown Prince [Swe] IG-400, Blues Collection [Fr] 160002 [CD] | |
| D7VB1023 | Unfair Lovers (Boyd) -2 | RCA Victor 20-2555, Blues Collection [Fr] 160002 [CD] | |
| D7VB1024 | Blue Monday Blues (Boyd) -2* | RCA Victor 20-2703, Crown Prince [Swe] IG-400, Blues Collection [Fr] 160002 [CD] |
Our basic session information comes from Leadbitter and Slaven, Blues Records 1943-1970 A-K (1987). However, LS lump the 4 sides from this session with the 4 sides from a second Eddie Boyd session recorded on October 28--despite the evidence of the matrix numbers. E. L. Liggett is presumably the same bass player as Leroy Liggett, who was mentioned in Chicago Defender advertisements.
Eddie Boyd refers to Sax Mallard by name on all three of Mallard's solo features, "You Got to Leave That Gal," "Rosa Lee Swing" and "Blue Monday Blues." Mallard is well represented on this session, which includes some of his best blues solos from the period. "Gas me, Mr. Mallard! Blow it till she come back home!" is Boyd's exhortation to him on "Blue Monday Blues." On "Unfair Lovers" Mallard and Casimir play an arranged duet passage instead of soloing.
Three tracks from this session were included in Swedish Crown Prince LP IG-400, Rattin' and Running Around, which was issued in 1981; our thanks to Dave Penny for this information.
All four tracks from this session are now included on Blues Collection 160002, a French CD titled Eddie Boyd: The Complete Recordings 1947-1950 and issued in 2001.
Arbee Stidham (voc) with Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Bill Casimir (ts); Bob Call (p); Tampa Red (eg); Ransom Knowling (b); Lawrence "Judge" Riley (d).
Chicago, September 18, 1947
| D7VB1032-1 | In Love with You (Stidham) | RCA Victor 20-2767, Blue Moon BMCD 6038 | |
| D7VB1033-1 | I Found Out for Myself (Stidham) | RCA Victor 20-2572-B, RCA Victor 20/47-4951, RCA Victor 50-0003, Crown Prince [Swe] IG-404, Blue Moon BMCD 6038 | |
| D7VB1034-1 | I Don't Know How to Cry* (Stidham) | RCA Victor 20-2767, Blue Moon BMCD 6038 | |
| D7VB1035-1 | My Heart Belongs to You (Stidham) | RCA Victor 20-2572-A, RCA Victor 20/47-4951, RCA Victor 50-0003, Camden CAL 470, Crown Prince [Swe] IG-404, Blue Moon BMCD 6038 |
Our session information comes from Leadbitter and Slaven 1968. The 20- prefix indicates a 78-rpm release; the 47- and 50- releases indicate 45s. (The reissue on RCA Victor 50-0003 dates from 1950.) Camden CAL 470 was an anthology LP titled Original Rhythm & Blues Hits by Rhythm & Blues Stars from 1963. Crown Prince IG-404 was a Stidham LP released in Sweden in 1982, under the title My Heart Belongs to You. Blue Moon BMCD 6038 is the first Stidham CD collection, issued in 2004; the title is The Complete Recordings Volume 1 1947-1951.
This was Stidham's first session as a leader. "My Heart Belongs to You" was a sizeable R&B hit. So sizeable, in fact, that it ended up being released three times: first as a 78 in late 1947 or early 1948, then on both 78 and 45 when RCA introduced 45s in the early part of 1949 (the 47 prefix indicates the 45), finally as a 45 in RCA's new blues series in 1950 (50-0003 resplendently features a dark green label and a pressing on light orange vinyl). Bill Casimir has a prominent tenor sax solo on "My Heart Belongs to You" and can also be heard on "In Love with You." Bob Call is the soloist on "I Found Out for Myself." "I Don't Know How to Cry" has an alto solo from Sax Mallard. Our thanks to Daniel Gugolz for a tape dub from Victor 20-2767.
Big Bill Broonzy (voc, eg) with Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Bill Casimir (ts); Bob Call (p); unidentified (b); Lawrence "Judge" Riley (d).
Chicago, September 29, 1947
| CCO 4848-1N | Big Bill's Boogie* | Columbia 37965, Columbia 30101, Document BDCD 6047 | |
| CCO 4849-1 | Just Rocking* | Columbia 38070, Columbia 30109, Document BDCD 6047 | |
| CCO 4850-1 | Shoo Blues | Columbia 37965, Columbia 30101, Document BDCD 6047 | |
| CCO 4851-1 | I Feel like Crying* | Document DOCD 5525 |
Our session information is from Leadbitter and Slaven 1968 and LS 1987. Columbia 37965 and 38070 were released in late 1947 and early 1948 in the label's main series. Columbia 30101 and 30109 were the contemporaneous 78s in the company's "race" series. The take numbers are derived from the liners to Document BDCD 6047, Big Bill Broonzy Volume 12 (1945-1947).
The Document CD gives the title of CCO 4850 as "Shoo Blues," as apparently Columbia 37965 and 30101 did--and that is what Big Bill sings. Leadbitter and Slaven have "Shoo Shoo Blues." The source for "I Feel like Crying" is Document DOCD 5525, Too Late, Too Late: More Newly Discovered Titles and Alternate Takes, Volume 7 (1927-1955). Mallard gets a brief tag on this number.
Besides Columbia and Victor, Mallard remained in demand at Aristocrat, which did not use the Jackson band again, but did call him and Johnny Morton back for a Tom Archia session.
Andrew Tibbs (voc); Tom Archia (ts, ldr); Johnny Morton (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as, arr); Bill Searcy (p); Lowell Pointer (b); Robert "Hendu" Henderson (d).
Universal Recording, Chicago, October 1947
| U-7074 | I Feel like Crying (Tibbs) | Aristocrat 1103B, Chess MCA 380-596 [CD], Classics 5028 [CD] | |
| U-7075 | Going Down Fast (Mallard) | Aristocrat 1104^, Classics 5028 [CD] | |
| U-7076 | Same Old Story (Tibbs) | Aristocrat 1104^, Classics 5028 [CD] | |
| U-7077 | Married Man Blues* (Austin-Mallard) | Aristocrat 1103A, Classics 5028 [CD] |
Ruppli omits personnel other than Tibbs (who sings on all 4 sides) and Archia; no previous discography mentioned the alto sax or the trumpet. The solo alto spot on "Married Man Blues" is by Sax Mallard, who co-composed the tune. Mallard also wrote "Going Down Fast," and is obviously responsible for several arranged ensembles. There are prominent piano intros on all four sides; they are definitely by the same pianist who participated in the previous session. Bill Searcy is the logical choice. Andrew Tibbs becomes "Andy" on Aristocrat 1104.
Aristocrat 1103 and 1104 were 78-rpm singles; according to White's article in Blues and Rhythm, they were released in June and October 1948. There are no side indications on Aristocrat 1104. "Married Man Blues" was Side A of Aristocrat 1103; Ruppli omits U7077 and incorrectly gives U7078 as the matrix for "Married Man Blues." Lord mentions Aristocrat 1103 but gives no matrix numbers or date; he omits Aristocrat 1104 entirely. Aristocrat 1103 was one of Aristocrat's best sellers in the early going (we are talking modest numbers here).
MCA 380-596 is 15-CD extravaganza, released in 1999 and titled The Chess Story 1947-1975. It contains the first reissue of anything from this session in 52 years. The entire session (unfortunately with incorrect discographical information) was reissued for the first time in February 2002 on Andrew Tibbs 1947-1951, Classics 5028.
Roosevelt Sykes (voc, p) with Johnny Morton (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Bill Casimir (ts); Sam Casimir (eg); Ernest "Big" Crawford (b); W.B. "Sleepy" Nelson (d).
Chicago, October 15, 1947
| D7VB1070 | Mama Mama (Sykes) | RCA Victor 20-3176-A, RCA [Fr] PM42028, Document BDCD 6048 | |
| D7VB1071 | I Got Eyes for You | unissued | |
| D7VB1072 | Doodle Rag | unissued | |
| D7VB1073 | Walkin' and Drinkin'* | RCA Victor 22-0011, RCA [Fr] PM42028, Document BDCD 6048 |
Information from LS 1968 and LFP 1994; the French RCA issue is mentioned in Lord. The previously issued tracks are also included in Roosevelt Sykes Volume 8 (1945-1947) on Document BDCD 6048. Mallard's solo contribution to "Walkin' and Drinkin'" is a brief tag in the coda.
W. B. "Sleepy" Nelson, who appeared on this Roosevelt Sykes session, would become Sax Mallard's regular drummer.
Washboard Sam (voc, wbd) with Oett "Sax" Mallard (cl); Bob Call (p); Big Bill Broonzy (g); Ernest "Big" Crawford (b).
Chicago, October 16, 1947
| D7VB1078 | Facing Life* | RCA Victor 20-3024, Document DOCD 5177 | |
| D7VB1079 | No Special Rider* | RCA Victor 20-2606, Document DOCD 5177 | |
| D7VB1080 | Ramblin' with That Woman* | RCA Victor 20-2606, Document DOCD 5177 | |
| D7VB1081 | Love Me or Let Me Be* | RCA Victor 20-3024, Document DOCD 5177 |
Information from LS 1968. The same information can be found in the liners to Document DOCD 5177, Washboard Sam, Volume 7 (1942-1949). Both sources have Mallard playing alto sax and clarinet on the session. In fact, he plays clarinet throughout.
Eddie Boyd (voc, p); Oett "Sax" Mallard (cl -1; as -2); Bill Casimir (ts); E. L. Liggett (b); Booker T. Washington (d).
Chicago, October 28, 1947
| D7VB1109 | Why Did She Leave Me (Boyd) -1* | RCA Victor 20-3058A, Victor 20-3060, Blues Collection [Fr] 160002 [CD] | |
| D7VB1110 | Playmate Shuffle (Boyd) -2 | RCA Victor 20-2920A, Blues Collection [Fr] 160002 [CD] | |
| D7VB1111 | Mr. Highway Man (Boyd) -1, 2 | RCA Victor 20-3058B, Blues Collection [Fr] 160002 [CD] | |
| D7VB1112 | Getting My Divorce (Boyd) -2* | RCA Victor 20-2920B, Blues Collection [Fr] 160002 [CD] |
The flip of Victor 20-3060 was by Illinois Jacquet. Leadbitter and Slaven 1968 and 1987 incorrectly included these four sides with the September 16 session; the correct date comes from Robert Ferlingere's chronological list of Victor matrix numbers.
Thanks to collector Mike Kredinac we were able to hear all four sides. Mallard's clarinet shares the solo duties with Bill Casimir's tenor sax on "Why Did She Leave Me?". "Blow it, Mallard. Rock a while!" says Eddie Boyd. On "Mr. Highway Man" Mallard only gets to do background figures, though his chalumeau-register accompaniment to the piano solo is very nice. Mallard plays the only solo (on alto sax) on "Getting My Divorce" whereas Casimir has both solos on "Playmate Shuffle".
Neglected by reissuers, all four tracks from this session are now included on Blues Collection 160002, a French CD titled Eddie Boyd: The Complete Recordings 1947-1950 and issued in 2001.
Tampa Red (voc, g) with Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Bill Casimir (ts); Bob Call (p); Ransom Knowling (b); Lawrence "Judge" Riley (d).
Chicago, October 31, 1947
| D7VB1114 | Sugar Baby | RCA Victor 20-3309, Krazy Kat [Br] KK7411, Document DOCD 5213 | |
| D7VB1115 | Keep Jumping | RCA Victor 22-0009, Wolf [Au] WBJ-001, Document DOCD 5213 | |
| D7VB1116 | I'll Dig You Sooner or Later | RCA Victor 20-3160, Wolf [Au] WBJ-001, Document DOCD 5213 | |
| D7VB1117 | Roaming and Rambling | RCA Victor 20-3008, Oldie Blues [Du] OL2816, Document DOCD 5213 |
Our session information comes from LS 1968, confirmed by the liners to Document DOCD 5213, Tampa Red Volume 13 (1945-1947), which was released in 1993. LS 1968 has Mallard also playing clarinet; both LS and the Document liners have Tampa Red also playing kazoo. The Wolf, Oldie Blues, and Krazy Kat reissues are mentioned in Lord's Jazz Discography.
After appearing in a slew of recording sessions (none of which used Jump Jackson at the drum kit), Mallard was ready to go out on his own. He left the Jackson combo and opened at the New Harlem Club (indefinite contract accepted and filed by Local 208 on November 6, 1947). On November 20, he filed another indefinite contract with the New Harlem Cafe (as it was called on this occasion) and picked up relief night work at the Ritz Lounge. Meanwhile Jackson put together a new group featuring a tenor saxophonist; he would continue leading combos in this format for another decade.
Washboard Sam (voc, wbd) with Oett "Sax" Mallard (cl); Bob Call (p); Big Bill Broonzy (g); Ransom Knowling (b); Lawrence "Judge" Riley (d).
Chicago, November 4, 1947
| D7VB1132 | She's Just My Size* | RCA Victor 20-2856, Document DOCD 5177 | |
| D7VB1133 | You Know How I Feel* | RCA Victor 20-3201, Document DOCD 5177 | |
| D7VB1134 | Fool about That Woman* | RCA Victor 20-2856, Document DOCD 5177 | |
| D7VB1135 | Dollar Is Your Best Friend* | RCA Victor 20-3201, Document DOCD 5177 |
Information from LS 1968; the same information is contained in the liner notes to Document DOCD 5177, Washboard Sam, Volume 7 (1942-1949). Both sources say Mallard played alto sax and clarinet; actually, he played clarinet throughout this session.
Roosevelt Sykes (voc, p) with Johnny Morton (tp -1); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Walker "Blankey" Broadus (ts); Bill Casimir (ts); Emmanuel Sayles (eg); Ransom Knowling (b); Lawrence "Judge" Riley (d).
Chicago, November 18, 1947
| D7VB1169 | Heavy Hearted Blues -1 | unissued | |
| D7VB1170 | Boogie Honky Tonk -1 | RCA Victor 20-2902, Oldie Blues [Du] OL2818, Document BDCD 6049 | |
| D7VB1171 | Booze Blues -1 | RCA Victor 20-2902, Oldie Blues [Du] OL2818, Document BDCD 6049 | |
| D7VB1172 | Time Wasted on You (Sykes) -1 | RCA Victor 20-3014-A, Oldie Blues [Du] OL2818, Document BDCD 6049 | |
| D7VB1173 | What Is Your Aim Today | unissued | |
| D7VB1174 | Until the Cows Come Home (Sykes) | RCA Victor 20-3315-B, Wolf [Au] WBJ-004 [CD], Document BDCD 6049 | |
| D7VB1175 | High as a Georgia Pine (Sykes) | RCA Victor 20-3014-B, Oldie Blues [Du] OL2818, Document BDCD 6049 | |
| D7VB1176 | I Know How You Feel | RCA Victor 22-0041, RCA Victor 50-0025, Wolf [Au] WBJ-005 [CD], Document BDCD 6049 |
Session information from LS 1968 and LFP 1994; reissues filled in from Lord's Jazz Discography. Wolf WBJ CD-005 is an Austrian CD titled Roosevelt Sykes: West Helena Blues, Postwar Years Vol. 2. All previously issued tracks are included in Roosevelt Sykes Volume 9 (1947-51) on Document BDCD 6049, a CD released in 1994. The Document notes give the matrix number of "Boogie Honky Tonk" as D7VB1171; "Booze Blues" as D7VB1172; and "Time Wasted on You" as D7VB1173; this appears to be an error. Document (followed by Lord on this particular) has "Walker" Broadus instead of Walter.
There are no Sax Mallard solos on the issued tracks. Bill Casimir solos on "High as a Georgia Pine" and Walker Broadus on "I Know How You Feel." In both cases, Sykes obligingly identifies the soloist. According to John Newman (email of August 20, 2006), Walker Broadus (not "Walter," as he is called in some discographies) may have originally come from Lexington, Kentucky; he would later show up on Specialty accompanying guitarist Lester Williams.
Dinah Washington (voc) accompanied by Dave Young Orchestra: Harry "Pee Wee" Jackson (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Dave Young (ts); poss. Prentice McCarey (p); unidentified (eg); Bill Settles (b); Curtis "Geronimo" Walker (d).
Mercury Studios, Chicago, late November 1947
| 1266 | Tell Me So | Mercury 8094, Mercury 832 444 [CD] | |
| 1267 | I Can't Face the Music | Mercury 832 444 [CD] | |
| 1268 | Pete | Mercury 8133, Mercury 832 444 [CD] | |
| 1269 | Am I Asking Too Much* | Mercury 8095, Mercury MG 20119, Mercury 832 444 [CD] |
Mercury 8094, 8095, and 8133 were 78-rpm singles released at the time. Mercury MG 20119 is a mono LP from the 1950s. Mercury 832 444, The Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury Vol. 1 (1946-1949), is a 3-CD set issued in 1987.
Existing discographies, following the Kiyoshi Koyama listing in the leaflet to Mercury 832 444, suggest the same personnel as on the two previous Dave Young sessions (behind Dinah Washington for Mercury on August 5, 1947; behind Clarence Samuels and Andrew Tibbs for Aristocrat in late August or early September, 1947). We also have a short item from the Chicago Defender for October 5, 1947, "Dave Young's Ork Jumps at the Ritz," which gives a lineup of: Young (ts); Harry "Pee Wee" Jackson (tp); Andrew "Goon" Gardner (as); Prentice McCary (p); William "Porky" Settles (b); and Curtis "Geronimo" Walker (d). The session date was estimated by interpolation in the Mercury matrix number series; the previous Dinah Washington session (also in Chicago) took up numbers 1224-1227 and took place on November 13, 1947.
Dave Young can't have used quite the same personnel as on August 5 or in September--or quite the same group he used at the Ritz in October. There is a rhythm guitarist on this session and Young didn't use one on those previous occasions. On "I Can't Face" Pee Wee Jackson, who was in the band on the previous sessions, gets an intro. On "Am I Asking" the alto player gets an intro and ending, both played in a Hodges-inspired style with a wide vibrato. There are no other instrumental solos on the session, but these are enough to indicate who the trumpet player and the altoist are. No way is the alto player Goon Gardner (who appeared on the earlier Young sessions). Since Mallard was leading the relief night band at the Ritz when this session was cut, he was the obvious musician to substitute for Gardner.
Some of the drumming on the session suggests Young's collaborator Curtis Walker. Nothing from the rhythm section rules out McCarey or Settles; that's the best we can do. There is very little to go on in identifying the guitarist.
Persistence pays off, as Oett Mallard was no doubt in the habit of saying. Sax Mallard had recorded 26 times before he got a session as a leader. He made the most of the opportunity that Aristocrat presented him, recruiting musicans to amplify his working group (which was probably a quartet). On this session, Mallard showed his strength as a clarinetist. But "Clarinet" Mallard just didn't have that cachet...
Oett "Sax" Mallard (as -1, cl -2, ldr); prob. Johnny Morton (tp -3); unidentified (as -4, cl -2; ts -5); prob. Bill Casimir (ts); Jimmy Bowman (p, voc); unidentified (eg); unidentified (b); prob. W. B. "Sleepy" Nelson (d); "Pro McCram" [Clarence "Pro" McClam] (voc).
Universal Recording, Chicago, December 1947
| U7098 | Insurance Man Blues | unissued | |
| U-7099 | Rolling Tears # (McClam) [PM voc] -1, 3, 4 | Aristocrat 2002B | |
| U-7100 | Evelyn @ (Austin-Mallard) | Aristocrat 2003A | |
| U-7101 | Lets Love Again % (Bowman) [JB voc] -2 | Aristocrat 2001A | |
| U-7102 | The Mojo ^ (Mallard) -1, 3, 5 [Listen to The Mojo] | Aristocrat 2001B | |
| U-7103 | Summit Ridge Drive * (Shaw) -1, 2, 3, 4 [Listen to Summit Ridge Drive] | Aristocrat 2002A |
Our information about these three releases derives from 78s in the collections of Dan Kochakian, Tom Kelly, and George Paulus.
Leadbitter, Fancourt, and Pelletier (1994) described the instrumental lineup as trumpet, tenor sax, poss. other saxes, p, eg, b, and d. They don't seem to have realized that Mallard played alto sax, and they identify the group as the Sax Mallard All Stars. Jimmy Bowman had been the pianist in Duke Groner's trio from late 1946 through the earlier part of 1947, so we can fill in the credit for that instrument. We identified Morton and Casimir by ear. Mallard actually solos on clarinet on "Lets Love Again" and "Summit Ridge Drive" (the latter being the well-known Artie Shaw number). The guitarist solos on both of those as well as "The Mojo" (where Mallard solos on alto sax).
LFP give U7098 as "Insurance Man Blues" and U7099 as "I've Got the Blues," both supposedly unissued. But then they list "Rolling Tears" and "Dedicated to You" without matrices, and say they were "retitled from above session." Ah, the vagaries of company files! "Rolling Tears" is a blues, so it may have been entered as "I've Got the Blues." Meanwhile "Dedicated to You" is the real title on Aristocrat 2003B--but it's the number recorded in April 1947 by the 5 Blazes and already issued on Aristocrat 201. However, on the Aristocrat 2003B version of "Dedicated to You," pianist Ernie Harper, who handled the lead vocal on the song, is given top billing. Aristocrat must not have been happy with "Insurance Man Blues," which has never been issued.
Leadbitter, Fancourt, and Pelletier (1994) give 1948 as the recording date; this is incorrect, for reasons explained on the Aristocrat page.
Aristocrat 2001 was released in March 1948. Sax Mallard's first release enjoyed at least regional success. In February 1948, Cash Box opened its "Hot on Central Avenue" feature, covering R&B hits in Los Angeles. "The Mojo" first appeared at number 6 on April 2. It was in 9th position on April 24, 1948, #6 on May 1, #4 on May 15, and #9 on May 22. Clearly the record was selling in LA and getting on the jukeboxes there. However, "The Mojo" did not chart in the "Hot in Harlem" listing or in "Hot on Chicago's South Side." Aristocrat 2002 followed in October 1948, and Aristocrat 2003 (which gives Jimmy Bowman top billing on the A-side label) was held till February 1949. Aristocrat 2002 has "Sax Mallard & his Orchestra" while 2001 settles for "Sax Mallard & Orch." Vocalists are as identified on the label.
In mid-December, Mallard moved his group to George's Cocktail Lounge (indefinite contract accepted and filed on December 18).
Big Bill Broonzy (voc, eg); with Johnny Morton (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Bill Casimir (ts); Bob Call (p); Ransom Knowling (b); Lawrence "Judge" Riley (d).
Columbia Studios, Chicago, December 19, 1947
| CCO 4950-1 | Stop Lying Woman | Columbia 30143, Document BDCD 6047 | |
| CCO 4951 | Rambling Bill | Columbia 38180, Columbia 30118, Document BDCD 6047 | |
| CCO 4952 | Summer Time Blues* | Columbia 38180, Columbia 30118, Document BDCD 6047 | |
| CCO 4953 | Bad Luck Man | Columbia 30135, Document BDCD 6047 |
Information from Leadbitter and Slaven 1987. Columbia 38180 was a 1948 78-rpm release in the label's main series; 30118 was its counterpart in the company's "race" series. Apparently Columbia backed off putting further Big Bill records into its main series after 1948; 30135 and 30143 were "race" releases from 1948 and 1949. Document BDCD 6047 is a compilation released in 1995 under the title Big Bill Broonzy Volume 12 (1945-1947).
Rosetta Howard (voc) accompanied by Johnny Morton (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Bill Casimir (ts); Bob Call (p); Big Bill Broonzy (eg); Ransom Knowling (b); Lawrence "Judge" Riley (d).
Columbia Studios, Chicago, December 20, 1947
| CCO 4954 | Sweep Your Blues Away* | Columbia 30161, RST JPCD 1514 | |
| CCO 4955 | It Was You | Columbia 30161, RST JPCD 1514 | |
| CCO 4956 | You Made Me Love You | Columbia 40495, RST JPCD 1514 | |
| CCO 4957 | Plow Hand Blues | Columbia CAK 47911 [CD], RST JPCD 1514 |
Session information is basically drawn from Lord. Columbia 30161 was a 78-rpm single released (in the company's "race" series only) in 1949. Columbia CAK 47911 was a 4-CD set, Roots 'n Blues: The Retrospective (1925-1950), released around 1990. RST JPCD 1514 is a CD titled Rosetta Howard (1939-1947). It was issued in 1994. Columbia 40495 was a 78 and 45-rpm single issued in 1955; the coupling was "Ebony Rhapsody," from Howard's session of June 10, 1947 with the Big Three Trio. The liners to the RST CD misrender it as 40494--which was by Mitch Miller and His Music.
Sax Mallard made his final appearance with the Jump Jackson gang on a return engagement for the Chicago All Stars. This was a reunion session: Mallard was now leading his own group, Jackson was probably working in a combo led by tenor saxophonist Epp James, and Bill Owens was temporarily leading the house band at the Macomba Lounge while Tom Archia was on the road.
Johnny Morton (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar (ts); Bill Owens (p); Elmer Ewing (eg); Roscoe "Bali" Beach (b); Armand "Jump" Jackson (d); Joseph "Cool Breeze" Bell (voc); Cyril "Cozy" Eggleston (voc); Clarence "Pro" McClam (voc).
Columbia Studio, Chicago, December 26, 1947
| CCO 4958 | I'm the Boogie Man [CB voc] | unissued | |
| CCO 4959 | Cool Breeze Blues [CB voc] | -- | |
| CCO 4960 | Ice Man Blues [PM voc] | -- | |
| CCO 4961 | Strange Strange Lover* [PM voc] | Columbia 30133, RST 91577 [CD] | |
| CCO 4962 | Keep Cool Fool [CE voc] | unissued | |
| CCO 4963 | Are You Getting Married, Brother? [CE sermon, PM, ens response] | Columbia 30133, RST 91577 [CD] |
Our session information comes from Lord, with a date correction and help with the vocal credits from the MFD files. Advertisements for a group including "Bali, Bali Beach" (and occasional mentions on the Local 208 list of contracts accepted and filed) indicate that the bassist really went by this name. He also appears on the Local 208 lists as Roscoe Beach. Cozy Eggleston confirms that he sang on "Getting Married" (on which the other band members address him by name) and didn't play on the session. Clarence "Pro" McClam, an active blues shouter on the local scene, would make two sessions under his own name for Vee-Jay, in 1953 and 1954.
"Strange" has an opening alto solo by Mallard, a muted Morton obbligato behind the vocal, another alto solo by Mallard, and a Ewing obbligato behind the second vocal. On "Married," there is a brief trumpet spot by Morton before the sermon and response that occupy most of the record.
Columbia 30133 was a 78-rpm single, put out in 1948 in the company's "race" series only. The two issued tracks from this session were reissued in 1994 on RST 91577, an Austrian CD titled Chicago Jump Bands: Early R&B Vol. 1 1945-1953. The other four remain unissued and have not been checked. One wonders whether "Ice Man Blues" was the same number that George Kirby sang on the first Tom Archia session for Aristocrat, back in July 1947.
Victor, Columbia, and Aristocrat had all cranked out recordings at a frantic pace from September 1947 through the end of the end of the year (Columbia reached at least CCO 4992, from the last Buster Bennett session on December 30). The recording ban petered out around July 1948, as far as little operations like Aristocrat and Miracle were concerned; Victor, Columbia, and the other major labels, who had stackloads of masters in their vaults and were under greater pressure from the Union, decided to wait till the ban was officially over on December 13. Aristocrat bounced back afterwards; the Chicago-based "race records" operations of Victor and Columbia never did. Mallard did get back for two more sessions with Arbee Stidham in 1949 (Victor also did two final sessions with Washboard Sam; Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar was the designated horn on those). But the Melrose operation was nearing the end of the road, and Sax Mallard would never record at such a pace again.
Mallard continued his activity in the clubs during 1948. On January 22, he filed a new contract with the New Harlem Cafe. On February 19, he posted indefinite contracts with the both the Ritz Lounge and Kennedy's Honeydripper. On June 3, Musicians Union Local 208 accepted and filed his contract for 6 nights at the Tampico Lounge. The Tampico management must have liked what they heard, because on June 17, Mallard was able to file an indefinite contract with the club. On September 2, Mallard filed an indefinite contract with the Honeydripper Lounge. It was while his band was working the Honeydripper that he got the call for two sessions at Aristocrat, where recording activity was beginning to pick up again.
Andrew Tibbs [Melvin Andrew Grayson] (voc); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as, ldr); unidentified (tp); unidentified (as); Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar (ts); prob. Milton Ramey (p); unidentified (b); prob. W. B. "Sleepy" Nelson (d).
Universal Recording, Chicago, October or November 1948
| U7144 | He's Got Her and Gone^ (Tibbs) [AT, ens voc] | Aristocrat 1106-B, Classics 5028 [CD] | |
| U7145 | Telephone Blues | unissued | |
| U-7146 | The Holidays Are Over (Mallard) | Aristocrat 1105B, Classics 5028 [CD] | |
| U7147 | One Sided Affair | unissued |
Our information about Aristocrat 1105 and 1106 derives from copies in the collections of Len Bukowski, Tom Kelly, Daniel Gugolz, and Dr. Robert Stallworth; the unissued items from this session were filled in from Leadbitter, Fancourt and Pelletier (1994). We identified the instrumental lineup by ear. There are no horn solos on "Holidays"; on "He's Got Her," there are breaks for piano (a boogie-woogie artist) and tenor sax (sounds like Sugarman Penigar). See our Aristocrat Discography for the recording date.
According to Jay R. Monroe, there is a "repro" bootleg reissue of Aristocrat 1105 as 45-1105. This is obviously not the genuine article, despite the facsimile labels: Aristocrat issued only 78s.
The flips of 1105 and 1106 came from a separate session by Andrew Tibbs with the Dozier Boys and session pianist Herman "Sonny" Blount. The use of sides from two different sessions caused much confusion at Aristocrat. The label to "He's Got Her and Gone" (which features ensemble vocal responses by the band) incorrectly credits the Dozier Boys instead of Sax Mallard!
Classics 5028 [CD] is the first reissue ever of material from this session. Titled Andrew Tibbs 1947-1951, it came out in February 2002.
An advertisement for a Mallard's appearance at the Wonder Bar in April 1949 mentions Milton Ramey on piano and Sleepy Nelson on drums (as was still the custom in low-budget Chicago clubs, there was no bassist). So Ramey and Nelson are likely suspects here.
The Dozier Boys: Bill Minor (lead tenor voc); Eugene Teague (tenor voc, g, arr); Cornell Wiley (tenor, baritone voc); Benny Cotton (bass voc); with Sax Mallard's Combo: Oett "Sax" Mallard (ldr); prob. Jimmy Bowman (p); unidentified (b); prob. W. B. "Sleepy" Nelson (d).
Universal Recording, Chicago, late November 1948
| U7156 | She Only Fools with Me (Teague) | Aristocrat 3001 | |
| U7157 | St. Louis Blues (W. C. Handy) | Aristocrat 3001 | |
| U7158 | Invitation to the Blues | unissued | |
| U7159 | Big Time Baby (Mallard) | unissued |
Aristocrat 3001 was a 78-rpm single released in April 1949. Many thanks to Marv Goldberg for reporting that "St. Louis Blues" shows U7157 on the label (not U7156, as claimed in previous sources; not a UB number, as we once surmised) and that the accompaniment was provided by Sax Mallard's Combo. All previous discographies had either bailed on the accompaniment (like Lord) or confused this session with another session during the same month (UB9545-UB9548, at United Broadcasting Studios, with Eugene Wright and the Dukes of Swing.) A purported reissue of U7159 on Classics 5028, Andrew Tibbs 1947-1951 is actually of the same title as remade by Dozier Boys with Eugene Wright, matrix number UB 9545, as released on Aristocrat 3002.
Ruppli, Leadbitter and Slaven, and more recent sources like Lord's Jazz Discography have given matrix numbers from the Aristocrat company files. The matrix numbers belong to this session, but have been presented without the matrix numbers from the previous session. Add to this the fact that the two sessions had different accompaniment, and the same number ("Big Time Baby") was recorded at both, and you have a recipe for serious confusion.
Now that we have had the opportunity to hear dubs of Aristocrat 3001 provided by collector George Moonoogian, we know that Sax Mallard did not play on either of the issued sides--no horns are heard at all! (The unissued sides could be a very different story, but we have no access to these.) The pianist sounds like Jimmy Bowman and Eugene Teague obviously brought his guitar along. On "St. Louis Blues," Bill Minor and Benny Cotton alternate leads; it's Minor all the way on "She Only." By the way, the Doziers actually sing, "She only fooledwith me."
This session took place at Universal Recording, Aristocrat's usual venue. The session was mastered after U7154 and U7155 by Leroy Foster (mastered November 30, 1948) and before U7164 through U7167 by Forest City Joe (mastered December 2, 1948). Allowing for some delay between recording and mastering, a mastering date of December 1 and a recording date in November 1948 seem indicated (see http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~campber/aristocrat.html for a complete chronological chart of recordings on the Arisocrat label).
The Doziers remade "Big Time Baby" in early December on a session with Eugene Wright and the Dukes of Swing. The label of Aristocrat 3002-A indicates that Sax Mallard was the composer of "Big Time Baby."
Sax Mallard continued his residency at the Honeydripper into the new year, posting another indefinite contract with the establishment on January 20, 1949. He moved over to Club Sky Box around the beginning of February; contract accepted and filed on February 3. On February 17, he posted an indefinite contract with Club "Marimba" (usually spelled "Maramba," this West Side establishment specialized in sax-playing frontmen). (By this time, Jimmy Bowman was definitely out of Mallard's combo, for on February 17 Bowman filed a contract for 2 weeks at the Pershing Lounge.) During the Sky Box or the Maramba gig, Mallard appears to have gotten invited to a Decca session featuring blues shouter Grant Jones and pianist Bob Call.
Grant Jones (voc); Bob Call (p, ldr); unidentified (tp -1); prob. Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar (ts); prob. Oett "Sax" Mallard (as -1, ts -2); unidentified (eg -2); poss. Ransom Knowling (b); unidentified (d).
Chicago, February or March 1949
| 74776 | Talking Baby Blues* [GJ voc] -1 | Coral 65009A, RST 1580 [CD] | |
| 74777 | I Love Your Boogie So | unissued | |
| 74778 | Call's Jump^ -2 | Coral 65009B | |
| 74779 | Bob Call Blues | unissued |
Coral 65009 was a 78-rpm single released in 1949. Information about the four tracks recorded at this session comes from Leadbitter and Slaven, Blues Records 1943-1970 Volume 1: A-K, published in 1987. LS indicate that Grant Jones did not sing on "Call's Jump"; they identify only Grant Jones and Bob Call among the personnel.
"Talking Baby Blues" from this session is included in the Austrian CD, Grant "Mr. Blues" Jones: In the Dark (1949-1958). No further personnel are identified there. However, there are solos on "Talking" by the alto sax, who sounds like Mallard, the tenor sax, who sounds like Penigar, and a boppish trumpeter (not Johnny Morton), as well as Bob's familiar boogie. "Call's Jump" has no alto sax or trumpet; there is a tenor sax solo and a guitar solo. A listen to the tenor solo on "Call's Jump" suggests that it may be Oett himself; if so, this is his very first tenor sax outing on record. The guitarist is serioulsly into T-Bone Walker. Thanks to Mike Kredinac for dub of this B side. According to Kredinac, the matrix number in the wax has a suffix: 74778T3A.
The matrix numbers are from the main Decca series (Coral was a subsidiary) and indicate a February or March 1949 recording date. Lionel Hampton cut three numbers in New York City on January 24, 1949 (74727-74729) and four more on January 28 (74730-74733); the next Hampton sessions for Decca were on April 26, 1949 (74853-74855) and May 10 (74897-74899). (The RST set, which aims at chronological order, incorrectly carries this piece after a December 1, 1949 session by Jones with the Danny Manners Orchestra.)
Around this time, Sax Mallard also participated in a date with Sugarman Penigar that has garnered zero attention from discographers--too bad, in light of the talent assembled for the occasion.
Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar (ts, voc); Ellis "Stumpy" Whitlock (tp); Oett M. Mallard (as); prob. Clifford Clark (ts); Wild Bill Davis (p); Robert Lee Wilson (b); Oliver S. Coleman (d); Little Miss Sharecropper [LaVern Baker] (voc).
RCA Victor Studio C, Chicago, February 25, 1949, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm
| D9-VB-383 | Easy Baby (Penigar) [LB voc] | RCA Victor 22-0036A, RCA Victor 50-0020A | |
| D9-VB-384 | I Wonder Baby (Penigar) [LB voc] | RCA Victor 22-0016B | |
| D9-VB-385 | Lost and Blue (Penigar) [SP voc] | RCA Victor 22-0036B, RCA Victor 50-0020B | |
| D9-VB-386 | Brand New Baby (Penigar) [SP voc]* | RCA Victor 22-0016A | |
| D9-VB-387 | Strange Melody (L. Melrose) | unissued |
On a 78-rpm release of RCA Victor 22-0016 in the late Otto Flückiger's collection, Sugarman and Little Miss Sharecropper are given vocal credits on the labels; nothing is indicated there about the rest of the personnel. And as was typical for postwar Victor 78s, there are no Victor matrix numbers on the labels or in the wax, just 22-0016-A and 22-0016-B. Many thanks to Art Zimmerman for his research in the BMG Archives; he discovered why the Penigar material had proven refractory to researchers in the past--it had been filed under "S" for "Sugarman"! We are now able to recover the personnel (many of whom rlc had misidentified by ear) and the other tracks from this session.
"I Wonder" has a boppish trumpet solo by Whitlock, who is brash, technically accurate, and into Roy as well as Diz. "Brand New" features Penigar's singing (with alto sax obbligato by Mallard), a superficially Garnerish piano solo, and a tenor solo and tag by Penigar. The pianist, identified only as "W. S. Davis" in the company file, is William Strethen Davis, aka Wild Bill. During his time on the Chicago scene, Wild Bill had previously worked with the Milt Larkin band (which included Tom Archia), with Claude McLin, and with Buster Bennett (he also appeared on two of Buster's recording sessions). One C. Clark is listed as being on the second tenor sax; we believe this was Clifford Clark, who can be seen in a 1953 photo of Al Hibbler backed by a King Kolax group at the Toast of the Town club.
RCA Victor 22-0016 was a 78 rpm single mastered in April 1949 and released shortly afterward. 22-0036 was a 78 rpm single released later in 1949; in 1950 it was issued on a 7-inch 45 as 50-0020.
This was LaVern Baker's very first recording session. In the company files she appears as "D. L. McMurley." A separate page inserted into the company files in March 1949, before 22-0016 was released, carries instructions to refer to her as "Little Miss Sharecropper." Her birth name was Delores LaVern Baker, and she had been married earlier to Eugene Williams.
Eddie Penigar made an earlier session for RCA Victor on December 12, 1947 (2 to 5 pm) with Paul King, trumpet; Johnny Board, alto sax; Ruth C. Crowder, piano and vocal; Robert Lee (also known as Rail) Wilson, bass; Earl Leroy Phillips, drums; and George Layne, vocal. One single was released from it; the other two sides have never seen the light of day.
Mallard made a quick return to the studio, along with Stumpy Whitlock and Eddie Penigar from the Penigar session and Bob Call from the Call/Jones session. The tremulously voiced Arbee Stidham, who began recording in 1947, was one of the last Victor blues artists to join the label.
Arbee Stidham (voc) with Ellis "Stumpy" Whitlock (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar (ts); Bob Call (p); Willie Lacey (eg); Ransom Knowling (b); Lawrence "Judge" Riley (d).
Chicago, March 10, 1949
| D9VB0426-1 | What the Blues Will Do (Stidham) | RCA Victor 22-0040-A, RCA Victor 50-0024-A, Blue Moon BMCD 6038 | |
| D9VB0435-1 | A Heart Full of Misery (Stidham) | RCA Victor 22-0018, Blue Moon BMCD 6038 | |
| D9VB0436-1 | Falling Blues (Stidham) | RCA Victor 22-0040-B, RCA Victor 50-0024-B, Blue Moon BMCD 6038 | |
| D9VB0437 | You'll Be Sorry* (Stidham) | RCA Victor 22-0101, RCA Victor 50-0101, Crown Prince [Swe] IG-404, Blue Moon BMCD 6038 | |
| D9VB0438 | I've Got So Many Worries (Stidham) | RCA Victor 22-0018, Crown Prince [Swe] IG-404, Blue Moon BMCD 6038 |
Our session information comes from LS 1968, except for the reference to the Crown Prince LP, which was released in Sweden in 1982, under the title My Heart Belongs to You. Blue Moon BMCD 6038 is the first Stidham CD collection, issued in 2004; the title is The Complete Recordings Volume 1 1947-1951. Unless 0426 was a remake of a rejected item from an earlier session, it was presumably made at a slightly earlier date than the other items.
The 22 series releases were 78s issued in 1949 (22-0018), 1950 (22-0040), and in the early 1950s (22-0101). The 50 series releases were 45s, which began appearing in 1950. At least some issues of 22-0040 give the matrix numbers as 22-0040-A and 22-0040-B instead of using the numbers from the master book.
Mallard solos on "You'll Be Sorry." Sugarman Penigar is the featured soloist on "I've Got So Many Worries" and "What the Blues Will Do." Willie Lacey is heard from "A Heart Full of Misery" and "Falling Blues" has a trumpet obbligato and a piano solo. Thanks to Daniel Gugolz for tape dubs of the unreissued material.
There is a Chicago Defender ad for Sax Mallard's Combo in the April 23, 1949 issue; all three of his axes duly noted ("Alto, Tenor, Clarinet"), he was working weekends at the Wonder Bar, 544 East 63rd Street, with Milton Ramey (piano), Sleepy Nelson (drums), and Harry Rozelle (vocals). This is our first indication that Sax Mallard was playing tenor. He'd posted a 2-month contract with the Wonder Bar on April 21. On June 2, Mallard signed a contract for 3 days at The Coliseum (for some kind of special event); on July 7, his renewal contract with the Wonder Bar was posted. While still at the Wonder Bar, Mallard got his final studio call from Lester Melrose. He worked with Call and Penigar again; on this occasion Calvin Ladnier, who had come up to Chicago from Texas in August 1942 with the Milt Larkin band, took over from Stumpy Whitlock on trumpet.
Arbee Stidham (voc) with Calvin Ladnier (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar (ts); Bob Call (p); Willie Lacey (eg); Ransom Knowling (b); Lawrence "Judge" Riley (d).
Chicago, July 19, 1949
| D9VB1135 | So Tired of Dreaming (Stidham) | RCA Victor 22-0101, RCA Victor 50-0101, Crown Prince [Swe] IG-404, Blue Moon BMCD 6038 | |
| D9VB1136 | Send My Regrets* (Stidham) | RCA Victor 22-0053, RCA Victor 50-0037, Blue Moon BMCD 6038 | |
| D9VB1137 | Marcia | unissued | |
| D9VB1138 | Barbecue Lounge (Stidham) | RCA Victor 22-0053, RCA Victor 50-0037, Crown Prince [Swe] IG-404, Blue Moon BMCD 6038 |
Our session information is from LS 1968. The Crown Prince LP was released in 1982. Blue Moon BMCD 6038 is the first Stidham CD collection, issued in Spain in 2004; the title is The Complete Recordings Volume 1 1947-1951.
The 22 series 78s were released in 1949 (0053) and probably 1950 (0101); the 50 series 45s are from 1950. Sugarman Penigar is the featured soloist on "So Tired of Dreaming" and "Barbecue Lounge." Sax Mallard has an introduction and a break on "Send My Regrets"; there is also a muted trumpet solo for Calvin Ladner.
Arbee Stidham made one final session for RCA Victor on March 21, 1950; the company had begund winding down its "race record" operations, and his contract was not renewed. The saxophonists on this last session were Nat Jones (alto) and Cozy Eggleston (tenor). Stidham also recorded in Chicago in April 1953 (for Checker); on this session Goon Gardner played alto and Tommy "Mad Man" Jones handled the tenor sax. In later years, Stidham would take up the guitar.
Sax Mallard left the Wonder Bar in late October 1949; on November 3, he posted an indefinite contract with the Grove Circle Lounge. On April 20, 1950, Musicians Union Local 208 accepted and filed Sax Mallard's indefinite contract with Jimmy's Palm Garden.
The commercial dominance of R&B, as it began to move toward rock and roll, put saxophonists of the Hodges school in a bind. Though Hodges himself played jump blues successfully, the style was perceived as overly sentimental and not tough enough by the R&B audience. Tab Smith, who enjoyed a successful string of recordings for United in the 1950s, did not alter his basic sound much, but simplified his figuration and adopted more emphatic rhythms (he also took up the tenor sax, and by 1953 was showing a marked bebop influence on that instrument, not heard in his alto stylings). Porter Kilbert would reduce his vibrato and blunt his alto sax sound; he also took up the tenor sax (and assimilated bebop licks) in the 1950s. Mallard did not change his approach to the alto much, but he played more and more tenor, initially with mixed results. (Some of his 1951-1952 recordings on tenor are unintentionally maudlin.)
In late April 1950, disc jockey Al Benson, who had already done some freelance recording, sponsored dances and jam sessions, and even fronted for a short-lived record label (see our Old Swing-Master page), got an opportunity to host a weekly TV show on WBKB in Chicago. For the show, which probably aired on Saturday nights, he put together a band with some of the best young jazz musicians in town, both black and white. The Chicago Defender soon took note in Al Monroe's column "Swinging the News":
FIRST MAJOR television show to be run by a Negro goes to Al Benson, local radio figure who will appear on WBKB-TV with 'flesh' talent. BERNADINE Carickett, local fashion show commentator, will aid Benson put the show over. (May 6, 1950, p. 13; odd capitalizing and lumpy syntax as per the original)
When Al Benson made a personal appearance at the grand opening of a new supermarket on 95th Street, Carickett, duly billed as a "Television Star," was there alongside him (Defender, June 10, 1950, p. 28).
The White musicians who were recruited to play the show--Hotsy Katz, Cy Touff, and Kenny Mann --were members of the Jay Burkhart band. This bop big band, much admired by the scribes in Down Beat, was bursting with talent but unfortunately never recorded. Cornell Wiley was a member of the Dozier Boys, who not so coincidentally were being heavily publicized by Benson's associate McKie Fitzhugh during this period. Sleepy Nelson was Sax Mallard's drummer, and Goon Gardner was working regularly during this period, sometimes as a leader.
Sax Mallard was the leader (however, the initial contract for the show was in Cornell Wiley's name; with a term of 4 weeks, it was accepted and filed by Local 208 on May 4, 1950). Cy Touff, who played valve trombone in the band, told the late Charles Walton that "Stuff Smith was one of the performers, and Lurlean Hunter was a vocalist. That work at WBKB in the State Lake Building only lasted a few months." The show was still running in early July; on July 6 and 20, 1950, the Board of Musicians Union Local 208 briefly discussed a complaint by bassist Johnny Pate that stemmed from a guest appearance on the show by the Henry "Red" Allen Orchestra on April 29. Also at the July 6 Board meeting, Claude Jones brought a complaint against Stuff Smith, who had fired Jones from a gig at the Blue Note after Jones informed Smith that he was scheduled to appear on Benson's TV show on Saturday night. (This was presumably after Stuff got into a fistfight with Al Benson on the air, abruptly ending his string of guest appearances on the show.)
Andrew Tibbs (voc); poss. Hotsy Katz (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (cl -1; as -2; ts -3, arr); poss. Goon Gardner (bars); prob. Claude Jones (p); prob. Cornell Wiley (b); prob. Sleepy Nelson (d).
Universal Recording, Chicago, July 1950
| U-7251 | You Can't Win (Tibbs) -1, 2 | Chess 1430, Classics 5028 [CD] | |
| U-7252 | Aching Heart (Tibbs) -1, 3 | Chess 1430, Classics 5028 [CD] | |
| U-7253 | She's My Baby | unissued | |
| U-7254 | Crying the Blues | -- | |
| U-7255 | Boogie | -- | |
| U-7256 | Blues in Hawaii | -- |
Our basic information from is drawn from Leadbitter, Fancourt, and Pelletier (1994). In this case, LFP credit Mallard with playing tenor sax only. Mallard plays clarinet in the intro and coda of "Aching Heart" and switches to tenor for the body of the piece. On "You Can't Win" he plays licks behind Tibbs on the clarinet and switches to alto for the ensembles. There are carefully worked out arrangements on both sides, obviously Mallard's. We have not been able to hear the four sides that are still unissued. The other identifications are based on the personnel of Mallard's TV show band, which was probably still working when this session was made.
LFP give the date as 1950, but we can do better. Chess 1430 was a single released in August of 1950. U-7251 follows the Gene Ammons session (U7247-U7250) of May 2, 1950, and the session precedes the Claude McLin sides (U7259 and 7260). We have a firm date of July 21, 1950 for the Claude McLin session because he failed to pay "Local tax" to the Musicians Union on it and the matter was discussed by the Local 208 Board on August 3. It appears that the Chess brothers suspended new recording after May 2, 1950, in preparation for the name change from Aristocrat to Chess, which was announced on June 3, and that recording sessions did not resume for another month afterward.
Andrew Tibbs' first two sessions for Aristocrat (released on 1101-1104) are covered in the Tom Archia Discography. He made two more sessions for the label (one with the Dozier Boys was used on one side each of 1105 and 1106; the other, with guitarist Leo Blevins and his trio, was released on Aristocrat 1107) can be found in the Aristocrat Discography. All of Andrew Tibbs' released sides for Aristocrat and Chess are finally brought together Classics 5028, a CD released in February 2002 under the title Andrew Tibbs 1947-1951.
Not long after this session, Andrew Tibbs went to Lexington, Kentucky, to be treated for heroin addiction. He would never record for the Chess operation again, though he did cut sides for Peacock (1951), Savoy (1951--never issued), Mercury (1951-1952; see below, as these also involved Sax Mallard), Atco (1956, with his older brother Kenneth), and m-pac! (1965). By the mid-1960s he had long since moved into a day job in the computer industry, where he remained for the rest of his life, though he still sang at parties and occasional engagements. Andrew Tibbs died in 1992.
The Benson TV show seems to have wound up by the end of July. On October 7, 1950, the Chicago Defender advertised the Sax Mallard Combo at the Circle Inn, 63rd and Cottage Grove. The gig started around the end of July; Sax Mallard's "indefinite" contract with the Circle Inn was accepted and filed by Local 208 on August 3.
In the new year, Mallard moved his combo to the Blue Heaven Lounge (indefinite contract accepted and filed by Local 208 on January 18, 1951). Mallard's tenor sound was quite respectable on the July 1950 session, though his tone would develop more body over time. And without the heavy application of reverb on his Chess sides (after the model of Claude McLin's "Mona Lisa") he would have sounded good. But as recorded, his tenor sax sound on the next sessions is distinctly mawkish, and we have reason to regret the production decisions made at the time.
Oett "Sax" Mallard (ts); unidentified (tp); prob. Jimmy Bowman (p); prob. Ernest "Big" Crawford (b); Osie Johnson (d, voc).
Universal Recording, Chicago, January 8, 1951
| U7284 | Turn Me Loose | unissued | |
| U7285 | Angels Sing | unissued | |
| 7286 | Slow Caboose* [Listen to Slow Caboose] | Checker 750A, Chess MCA 380-596 [CD] | |
| 7287-C | Darling, Let's Give Love a Chance* [OJ voc] | Checker 750B |
We got our basic information on this session from Leadbitter, Fancourt, and Pelletier 1994, who do not identify Mallard as the tenor saxophonist. The vocalist is of the "sweet music" variety, and resembles George Floyd, but LFP identify him as Osie Johnson, the drummer. Peculiarly, Lord's Jazz Discography, which omits all Sax Mallard-led sessions, does carry "Turn Me Loose" and "Angels Sing" under Osie Johnson's name ("others unidentified"). The misattribution originated with Ruppli's Chess discography, which lists U7284 and 7285 as though Osie Johnson, and not Sax Mallard, were the leader.
Heavy echo is applied to the sax solos on the two released sides, as was the custom at the time; the crude bass playing points to "Big" Crawford, who was on the January 9, 1952 session. The cocktaily piano on "Slow" and "Darling" (with occasional block chords) suggests Jimmy Bowman. The trumpet player is virtually inaudible on "Slow Caboose."
Checker 750 was the initial release on the Chess brothers' new subsidiary; it was advertised in Cash Box on April 5, 1952. The first CD reissue of any Sax Mallard recording for Aristocrat/Chess took place in 1999, when "Slow Caboose" was included in Chess MCA 380-596, a 15-CD extravaganza titled The Chess Story 1947-1975
After a long stint at the Blue Heaven, Mallard's combo took up at Ziggie's Gridiron Lounge (indefinite contract accepted and filed by Local 208 on May 3, 1951; an extension was posted on June 7). The combo seems to have remained at Ziggy's till mid-August, when Tommy "Madman" Jones was brought in. While at Ziggy's Mallard was invited to participate in the inaugural session for the brand-new United label.
Roosevelt Sykes (voc, p) with Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Robert "Little Sax" Crowder (ts); Robert McCollum [aka Robert Nighthawk] (eg); Ransom Knowling (b); Armand "Jump" Jackson (d).
Universal Recording, Chicago, July 12, 1951
| U1001-1 | Fine and Brown (Sykes)* | Delmark DE-642 [CD], Delmark DE-542 [CD], Delmark DD-775 | |
| U1001-2 | Fine and Brown (Sykes)* | United 101, Vogue [Fr] V2389 [?], Vogue [Fr] V.3297, P-Vine Special [J] PLP-9039, Delmark DL 642, Document BDCD 6050, Delmark DE-642 [CD] | |
| U1002-1 | Lucky Blues (Sykes) | United 101, P-Vine Special [J] PLP-9039, Delmark DL 642, Document BDCD 6050, Delmark DE-642 [CD] | |
| U1003-5 | Raining in My Heart | United 120, P-Vine Special [J] PLP-9039, Delmark DL 642, Document BDCD 6050, Delmark DE-642 [CD] | |
| U1004-2 | Heavy Heart* | United 120, P-Vine Special [J] PLP-9039, Delmark DL 642, Document BDCD 6050, Delmark DE-642 [CD] |
United 101 was a 78 and 45-rpm single, released in August of 1951. United 120 was a single released in May 1952. Vogue V2389 was a 45-rpm single released in France in the early 1950s; thanks to Mario Schneeberger for alerting us to this issue. Vogue 3297 was released on 78 rpm, possibly also on 45; it was brought to our attention by Jean-Marc Pezet.
P-Vine Special [J] PLP-9039 was an LP issued in the early 1980s; Lord mentions it but leaves off the Delmark LP. We derived our information from the liners to Delmark DL 642, a Roosevelt Sykes LP titled Raining in My Heart. It was released in 1987. The remainder of this LP consisted of a session from August 21, 1952, with Remo Biondi (vln), John "Schoolboy" Porter (guitar), Knowling, and Jackson, and another from March 19, 1953 with J. T. Brown (ts), unidentified (eg), Ernest "Big" Crawford (b), and Fred Below (d). In 2000, an expanded CD edition of Raining in My Heart was released as Delmark DE-642. Among the tracks added was U1001-1, the alternate take of "Fine and Brown." The alternate "Fine and Brown" was also included in the 2002 CD compilation, Honkers and Bar Walkers Volume 3 on Delmark DE-542, and again in the 2004 compilation, The United Records Story on Delmark DD-775.
United recorded Roosevelt Sykes, Robert Nighthawk, and J. T. Brown during a single "gang" session on this date, in which each worked with his own group. However, Sykes probably played on the Nighhawk sides, and, while not handling the keyboard on the J. T. Brown numbers, can be heard whooping and shouting encouragement. The Sykes session is also included in Roosevelt Sykes Volume 10 (1951-1957), Document BDCD-6050, released in 1994.
John "Schoolboy" Porter, who headlined on tenor sax for Chance Records from 1950 to 1952, also played guitar on the Roosevelt Sykes session of August 21, 1952 (Sykes can be heard shouting "Schoolboy!" after a guitar solo). While we have previously identified the guitarist as Porter on this page, Robert Nighthawk (minus slide) is a safer choice. Nighthawk is the only guitarist we know was present that day! Besides, other recorded evidence shows that he was versatile enough to play the accompaniments heard here.
Mallard plays alto throughout this session, with a somewhat grittier tone than on his previous recordings.
For several months in 1951-1952, Mallard was a regular at the Crown Propeller Lounge. On September 29, 1951, the Defender advertised "Sax Mallard Quartette," along with the Leon Abbey Trio and the Ding Bell Trio (Mallard's first contract with the Crown Propeller, for 2 weeks with an option, was posted on September 6). Mallard was also responsible for the early dance on Sunday, starting at 5 P.M. The January 5, 1952 Defender advert had "Sax Mallard and his Band" along with singer Donna Hightower, the Revel Aires, "Father" Howard, and Eddie Penigar, "Hot & Torrid at the Piano." The biggest draw, as would nearly always be the case at the Crown Propeller through the end of 1954, was "Atlantis, Exotic Aqua Queen."
Here's what Herb Kent, the Kool Gent, has to say about Atlantis. Herb Kent was one of the top Black DJs in Chicago during the 1950s; for a time he promoted dances at the Pershing Ballroom, 64th and Cottage Grove. His reminiscences of 63rd Street in its heyday appeared in his "Tales from the Kool School" column in N'Digo (October 8-14, 1998):
During its height, that whole area up and down 63rd street was littered with swank nightclubs of every conceivable kind. There was the fabulous Crown Propeller, which had a huge tank of water surrounded by seats for spectators.
Every few minutes, a well endowed female would swim in the tank and turn some very seductive underwater flips. White male customers bombed out of their skulls would look at these brown honeys gyrating in the water with great amazement and supplication.
Herb Kent's story makes for great copy. But Vernel Fournier recalled that Atlantis was White.
Although Mercury had quit recording Chicago blues artists in 1949, there was a brief revival in 1951-1952 when the company brought in Bob Shad as a recording director. Among the veteran blues artists that Mercury recorded in Chicago were Sunnyland Slim, Memphis Slim, and Big Bill Broonzy. Sax Mallard was was hired to back Big Bill, then got two sessions of his own with Andrew Tibbs as the featured vocalist.
Big Bill Broonzy (voc, g) with Oett "Sax" Mallard (ts -1; as -2); Bill Casimir (ts); Bob Call (p); Ransom Knowling (b); Lawrence "Judge" Riley (d).
Mercury Studios, Chicago, November 9, 1951
| YBF 4529 | Leavin' Day (Broonzy)* -1^ | Mercury 70039, EmArcy MG 36137, Mercury 314 528 292-2 [CD] | |
| YBF 4530 | South Bound Train (Broonzy) -1^ | Mercury 70039, EmArcy MG 20822, EmArcy MG 36137, Mercury 314 528 292-2 [CD] | |
| YBF 4531 | Tomorrow (Broonzy)* -2 | Mercury 71352, EmArcy MG 20822, EmArcy MG 36137, Mercury 314 528 292-2 [CD] | |
| YBF 4532 | You Changed (Broonzy) -2 | M-MEP 49, EmArcy MG 36137, Mercury 314 528 292-2 [CD] |
Our session information is from Leadbitter and Slaven 1968. The 8-CD box titled Mercury Blues 'n Rhythm Story 1945-1955 (released 1996) contains the entire session and the information about the first release of "You Changed." At least on later 78-rpm pressings, the labels to Mercury 70039 referred to the artist simply as "Big Bill Broonzy" (our thanks to Han Enderman for bringing this to our attention).
It is not clear what happened to matrix YBF 4533 (which appeared on the label to Mallard's instrumental "The Bunny Hop," but not in the company files). In any event, tracks under Mallard's name seem to have followed immediately after these.
The Mercury box credits Sax Mallard with alto sax only. In fact, he plays tenor sax on the first two tracks, and alto on the third and fourth. Mallard appears to be responsible for the tenor solo on "Leavin' Day" while Bill Casimir solos on "South Bound Train" and "You Changed." The alto sax solo on "Tomorrow" is the grittiest one that Mallard ever recorded on that instrument. Mercury identifies the pianist as Bob Call or Memphis Slim, but there is little resemblance between the piano playing here and what can be heard on the sessions that Memphis Slim cut for Mercury around this time.
Oett "Sax" Mallard (as); Bill Casimir (ts); Bob Call (p); Ransom Knowling (b); Lawrence "Judge" Riley (d); Andrew Tibbs (voc).
Mercury Studios, Chicago, November 9, 1951
| YBF 4534 | Everything I Have Is Yours [AT voc] | unissued | |
| YBF 4535-5 (YB 4533 on label) |
The Bunny Hop* (Mallard) | Mercury 70002 | |
| YBF 4536 | I Ain't Got Nobody [AT voc] | unissued | |
| YBF 4537 | My Final Affair [AT voc] | unissued |
Thanks to Les Fancourt for a much improved listing of these items. "The Bunny Hop" was previously listed in discographies as YBF 4553, which obscured its connection with the preceding session, and the unissued titles were left out of previous versions of this discography. Although the company files give the matrix number for "The Bunny Hop" as YBF 4535, the labels to Mercury 70002 read YB 4533. Han Enderman points out that there were two different 78-rpm labels for Mercury 70002. Both labels were in standard Mercury silver on black, but the earlier version shows the matrix number to the left of the center hole and the Alto Sax Solo credit to the right; on the later verson the matrix number appears on