Miracle Records

Revision note: We have corrected the identification of the bassist in our photo of Memphis Slim's quartet and added scans of Miracle 127 and 157.

Chicago-based Miracle Records, in operation from 1946 to 1950, was a typical post-World War II independent operation. The company focused its recordings on a particular niche market, the African American community, and released a variety of rhythm and blues recordings that sounded fresh and new next to the tired "Bluebird Beat" blues artists that the majors were putting out. Unlike Aristocrat--a similar Chicago independent that arose a few months later--Miracle did not record the deep Mississippi Delta style blues that was growing in appeal in the city. Instead the company put out balladeers, rhythm instrumentalists, and uptown blues singers. The recordings of Miracle represented an era when jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop were not so carefully divided into different musical camps. Jazz musicians were viewed as entertainers as well as artists as part of the same African American recording world that was producing ballads, blues, jive, and rhythm numbers.

Miracle Records was officially launched in August of 1946 by Lee Egalnick, who served as president of the firm. (Recording seems to have started in June.) We know little about the company's founder, but the Social Security Death Index includes a Lee J. Egalnick who was born June 1, 1921, and was issued his Social Security card in Illinois. The company's original address was 107 East 47th Street, on the main business strip of the South Side African American community; the East 47th Street address was shared with S&S Recording Studios, an outfit that is mentioned on the labels of the earliest Miracle issues. After just two releases in August, the company went into hiatus for three months.

Then in Billboard, Miracle placed teaser ads in the November 23 and 30 issues, promising "a Miracle," and on December 7 ran an ad announcing the launch of the label, "Here It Is! Announcing Miracle The Greatest Label in the Race Field Watch for Sensational New Releases" (by now the trial balloon in August must have been nothing more than a bad memory). Smaller copy on the ad promised "the finest talent" that will make their debut "in the near future." While the label obviously had done more recording, and releases were starting to come out, nothing more appeared in the trades for several months. In a Billboard list of record companies in the May 31, 1947 issue, there is a listing for Miracle, at a new address, 500 East 63rd Street, in the heart of a growing nightclub district. Possibly in this intervening time, Lew Simpkins joined the company as an A&R man. Trade ads on the company's acts first appeared in August of 1947 (indicating enhanced revenue as well as greater marketing ambitions).

The principal recording venue for the company was not S&S, but United Broadcasting Studio, which was owned by Egmont Sonderling. Born in Germany on February 27, 1906, Sonderling immigrated to the US in 1923. After a number of years working as a radio announcer, Sonderling opened United Broadcasting Studio in 1939; the first location was the former RCA Victor studio. In 1945, Sonderling moved his studios to 64 East Lake. Next he opened a pressing plant: a January 5, 1946 Billboard ad declared Sonderling's readiness to press 2 million platters for delivery during the year. By 1947 Sonderling was calling his overall operation Master Records, though this seems to have encompassed just the studio and pressing plant; it was not being applied to any commercial releases. Somewhere between June 1947 and March 1948 (we are using telephone books as our source, so we can't pinpoint the date), Sonderling bought World Broadcasting Studios at 301 East Erie and moved his UB operation there. In January 1949, stuck with a pile of R&B and jazz masters that the defunct Vitacoustic company hadn't paid him for, Sonderling opened a subsidiary called Old Swing-Master in partnership with DJ Al Benson (the label was named after Benson's DJ handle).

Toward the end of the label's history, 6 sides that Miracle recorded appeared on Old Swing-Master; 2 of the Old Swing-Master releases also came out on Master, which was now an actual record label. In addition, further sides by Memphis Slim were eventually dealt to Master--we know of 2 singles derived from these--and a single by Jack Cooley (from the early days of Miracle's successor, Premium) was also dealt off to Master. Most likely these sides were provided to Sonderling in compensation for some unpaid studio or pressing bills. The Old Swing-Master sides and three of the Master issues bear the original UB matrix numbers and are placed with their original sessions below. Two Memphis Slim issues on Master have no UB numbers; since we do not know the sessions that they came from, we have listed them separately beneath the 1947 recordings for Miracle. (In fact, the sides on them seem to come from as many as 4 different sessions that Slim made during his years with Miracle.)

The first singles that the new company released were the work of effeminate male singer Rudy Richardson, who usually accompanied himself on piano in the clubs. He was often plugged as "America's only male torch singer." One caption said, "his piano boogies are really on the ball too." The release party for two Richardson singles was scheduled for August 16, as advertised in a sizable display in the Chicago Defender.

Richardson was born Rudolph Richardson Riles in Memphis in 1924. When he was still a young child his family moved to Chicago. After graduating from DuSable High, he entered the club scene; "Rudolphe" Richardson first appears in the Local 208 Board minutes as a leader on April 6, 1944, when he filed an indefinite contract with the Chicken Palace. On September 21, 1944, he posted an indefinite contract with The Hurricane Lounge as "Rudy" Richardson. Richardson was close to continuously employed in Chicago clubs during 1945 and 1946; on February 1, 1945 he filed a contract for 13 weeks at Rudy's Chicken Shack, and on April 5 he posted one for 8 weeks (3 days per) at The Hurricane. On June 21, 1945, he filed a contract for 12 more weeks at the Chicken Shack (no longer Rudy's). In September of that year he moved over to El Casino (indefinite contract filed on September 20); in December he picked up for 2 weeks at Rupneck's (contract filed December 6). A Rudy Richardson recorded in New York with his trio in 1946 (for Manor Records); we are not sure whether this was the same person. In any event, it was not too long after recording his two sessions for Miracle that Rudy Richardson signed a contract for 6 months at Kennedy's Honey Dripper Lounge (accepted and filed by Musicians Union Local 208 on January 16, 1947).

Rudy Richardson (now often spelling his first name "Rudi") released a single on the tiny Rim label in June 1949, singing "If You Get It" and "You Made My Heart Cry Out" to accompaniment by a band led by bassist Bob Carter. (Or so we are told--we have never seen a copy.) He continued to appear fairly often in Chicago nightspots through the early 50s, including a long residency at the Kitty Kat Club. He would make one more record, as Rudi Richardson for Sun in Memphis, in April 1957; although Sun 271 shows some effort to update his sound, songs like "Fool's Hall of Fame" are still torch material. (See http://www.boija.com for details on the Sun singles.) Richardson last made a headline in 1958, when just prior to a club date he was found in a Memphis hotel room dead from "alcoholism and an overdose of narcotics."

On the four tunes that formed his first two releases, Richardson turned over the piano chores to Ted Craig; the trio was completed by William "Lefty" Bates on guitar and Eddie Calhoun on bass. These 78s were apparently released under their matrix numbers, in a 1000 series. But they also carry a second set of matrix numbers in an A-5100 series (and in one case, A-5158 seems to have been misprinted as A-5188). The 1000 series numbers also appear in the trail-off shellac. The first two Miracles bear the further distinction of being issued on dark blue labels.

The only title from the first Rudy Richardson session that we have heard is "Chauffeur," a torch song with a pleasant tune and rather amateurish lyrics ("I'm broken-hearted, so discarded") and, in the middle, a spoken monologue ("Chauffeur, take me home, I'm really gone... Don't think I'm wiggin', man, I'm just gone, you understand"). Richardson sings his weary plea in a high tenor voice, and Lefty Bates gets a little guitar solo. (We doubt that the take we have heard was issued unedited, as it runs to 3:45 or so.)

Despite the optimistic annotation "Select Rhythm Hits," nothing much seems to have happened commercially with the first two releases, because Miracle decided to relaunch itself in December, now with a 100 series on a red label. Still, Egalnick was putting more sides in the can during this period: his diversified investments included a second session by Richardson, as well as items by a jazz vocalist (Gladys Palmer with Floyd Hunt's combo), a blues artist (Memphis Slim), a gospel singer (Brother John Sellers), and a swing combo (the Dick Davis Orchestra).

All of the Rudy Richardson sides appear to have been cut at the same studio, a place whose 1000 series matrix numbers also show up recordings made around this time for Hy-Tone and Sunbeam. We do not know whether S&S Studios, with which Miracle initially shared a domicile, was big enough to have been the venue (the two Sunbeam sessions used a big band). Richardson's last two sides for the label, released on Miracle 100, bear numbers later in the same 1000 series. By contrast, the first Dick Davis release, on Miracle 101, carries matrix numbers with the UB prefix, for United Broadcasting, which would become the company's studio of choice in October 1946.

Tenor saxophonist Dick Davis (birth name Richard Earl Davis) was born in Jackson, Mississippi on April 15, 1917 (according to the Chicago Federation of Musicians Member Death Files 1940 - 1979). His family moved to Chicago in 1924. He graduated from DuSable High School in January 1938 (the Chicago school ran mid-year and June graduations then). And he won an award while in the DuSable band, which means he was trained by Captain Walter Dyett. On graduating he went promptly to work as a professional musician; the first name band he joined was the Sunset Royals (1938). After World War II service in the Army's 869th Engineer Aviation battalion in the Pacific, where he led the unit's dance band, he returned to Chicago and reestablished himself on the local club scene. He rejoined Local 208 on January 23, 1946 and was soon leading his own band at the Tradesmen's Show Lounge (6240 Cottage Grove Avenue). In an effort to make something of his time in the military, his outfit was billed as "Richard E. Davis & His Westcoast Swingsters." Davis spent several months at the Tradesmen's, posting a 1-month contract on June 6 and an 8-week contract on July 18. He also worked the Boulevard Lounge (indefinite contract filed on March 21) and Jimmie's Palm Garden (2-week contract filed May 2).

Dick Davis cut his first recordings for Miracle around June of 1946, if we are reading the UB matrix numbers correctly. He made the customary four sides, but only three were used. They were held for release until the label was relaunched at the end of the year, when they appeared on Miracle 101. (Three sides were used the company came out with two versions of 101, using different B sides. Egalnick must have had second thoughts about the coupling.)

Egalnick got the idea to record Davis with George Rhodes, piano; Eddie Calhoun, bass; and "Little Jimmy" [Hoskins], drums--and an enhanced front line with Tommy "Madman" Jones and Eddie Chamblee also on tenor sax. The three tenors make a massive wall of sound that still excites the listener. According to the contract lists maintained by Musicians Union Local 208 during this period, in early June a group led by George Rhodes took up a residency at the Blue Heaven Lounge for 3 months. On the same date (June 6, 1946), "Edwin" Chamblee posted a contract for 2 weeks at the same venue. And Tommy Jones was a known quantity at the Blue Heaven, having performed there earlier in the year (his 3 week contract was accepted and filed on January 3; a 3-month contract followed on February 21). Around the time of the session he was working at the Band Box (1-week contract filed June 6) and Frank's Caravan (indefinite contract filed on the same day).

One of the vocal sides used on Miracle 101 is "Blues in My Heart," a superior ballad written by Benny Carter. It may have been George Rhodes who sought to evoke Carter's brilliant scoring with a lush arrangement for the three saxes (one of the tenorists--our guess would be Eddie Chamblee--makes an unannounced switch to alto). The vocal line is affectingly handled by Savannah Strong. "Tenor-Mental Moods" is a vigorous late-Swing instrumental based on "I Got Rhythm." There are solos for Dick Davis, Tommy Jones, and Eddie Chamblee (in that order) and the fast tempo leaves room for a little barrelhouse piano by Rhodes and some surprise bowing by Calhoun before the ensemble takes it out. The three tenors make an imposing ensemble whether riffing or playing the theme. A complete alternate take also survives.

Used on some other copies of 101 was "Sorry We Said Goodbye," featuring another vocal by Savannah Strong. This is a better than average lounge ballad, nicely sung, but the arrangement is much looser and the song is just not the equal of "Blues in My Heart." Davis does provide a ballad intro in the Coleman Hawkins tradition. The fourth, unissued side, "Ain't That Just like a Man," is a fast blues sung by Savannah Strong. The riffing is thrilling and Dick Davis provides a booting tenor solo with an uncharacteristic reed bite. It's just too bad that they didn't extend the number, which clocks in under 2 1/2 minutes. Miracle would redo the piece, with extra verses and more instrumental interludes, as a vehicle for Gladys Palmer.

In September, Miracle recorded Rudy Richardson for the second time, but now the company was trying to position him as an R&B artist and the backing was provided by Dick Davis's band. George Rhodes had moved on to New York City, where he got steady work in Arnett Cobb's combo, so Sonny Thompson was now at the piano, along with Eddie Calhoun on bass, and probably Jimmie Hoskins on drums. "No Meat" is a humorous recollection of wartime rationing (though other interpretations are simultaneously possible); here Richardson (who exclaims "A steak! Why, man, you must be wiggin'," and makes the unsatisfactory offer of a "meatless stew" during the opening conversation), sings the lead and banters with the other members of the group. "No Meat" required 6 takes, on account of the complicated vocal exchanges; on one take a group member forgets the acronym for the Office of Price Administration. Davis and Thompson get a little solo space. "My Apartment" is a pseudo-Latin novelty number, apparently completed in one take. Vocally, it is mainly noteworthy for the sexual ambiguity of its lyrics; Davis and Calhoun (doing a passable imitation of the bowing and singing Slam Stewart) provide straightahead solos. If other sides were made on this date, they appear to be lost.

On January 25, 1947, "Dick Davis and his swing combo" were still holding the fort at the Tradesmen's Lounge, according to the Defender. The rhythm section consisted of Sonny Thompson, piano; Eddie Calhoun, bass; and Jimmie Hoskins, drums. The caption claimed that the combo had recorded several numbers, including "Tenor-mental Moods." In fact, they had also backed Rudy Richardson, and would soon be cutting Davis's second session for Miracle. But it was Sonny Thompson who would end up selling a ton of records for Miracle; Dick Davis would not record again as a leader.

In early April 1947, Dick Davis moved out of the Tradesmen's, where he was replaced by Buster Bennett, and headed on to Jimmy's Palm Garden, 808 Oakwood Boulevard. According to the caption on a photo of him that the Defender ran on April 26, his combo was participating in a Saturday battle of the bands series being broadcast over WGES (Al Benson's radio station) and would be up against "Linn's aggregation" (i.e., Claude McLin's group) the next day. In October 1947, Davis and his band were back at the Tradesmen's Lounge. When the band's engagement wound up on November 1, however, Matt Lightfoot, the owner, emptied the cash register and absconded; Davis had to press a claim against Ralph and Harold Lightfoot, who managed the place, with the Musicians Union for one week plus 3 days' pay (see Board meeting minutes to Local 208, November 20, 1947, p. 3).

A Defender ad from July 2, 1949 had Dick Davis and His Combo headlining at the "Q" Lounge, 114 East 43rd Street. The rhythm section consisted of Johnny Young, piano; Eddie Calhoun, bass; and Buddy Smith, drums. In April 1950, the Dick Davis Combo was holding forth at the Corner Lounge (1900 West Lake), in a variety show format that inclucded Grant "Mr. Blues" Jones (see the Chicago Defender, April 29, 1950, p. 34). From September 1951 until he became ill at the beginning of 1954 Dick Davis was a regular member of the King Kolax combo, which brought him a few more recording opportunities. On January 19, 1954 he died after a three-day battle with lobar pneumonia. (His obituary ran in the Chicago Defender on January 30, unfortunately with an incorrect date of death). Dick Davis was only 36.

Blues pianist Memphis Slim was among the most prolifically recorded of Miracle's artists. He was born John L. Chatman (not Peter Chapman Jr. as most sources say) on September 3, 1915, in Memphis. In 1939 he moved to Chicago, and in 1940 made his first recordings, for OKeh, under the name Peter Chapman. (Meanwhile, the Musicians Union local knew him as Peter Chatman.) He recorded for Bluebird in 1940 and 1941 as Memphis Slim. From 1940 to 1944, and occasionally in 1945 and 1946, he was teamed up with Big Bill Broonzy. After several years away from the studios, he recorded with two different trios for Hy-Tone in late 1945 or early 1946, and made a non-commercial recording (as much talk as music) with Big Bill and John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson in New York City, probably in the summer of 1946; it was released years later on a United Artists LP. He joined Miracle in the fall, cutting his first session for the label in October. During this period he was a mainstay at the South Side's preeminent blues club, the Flame Lounge (3020 Indiana Avenue). For instance, on November 7, 1946 Slim's contract for another 3 months at the Flame was accepted and filed by Musicians Union Local 208. Miracle had the happy idea of recording him with two saxes and string bass, an ensemble that was eventually dubbed the House Rockers. Slim's piano style included elements of boogie-woogie and traditional blues, and the House Rockers, driven by fervent riffing from the alto and tenor sax, helped to transform his music into rhythm and blues.

Slim's quartet on his first session for Miracle included Alex Atkins on alto saxophone, Ernest Cotton (1926 - ) on tenor--both had come to Chicago from Memphis--and Willie Dixon (1915 - 1991) on string bass.

Dixon, whose usual gig at the time was with the Big Three Trio, contributes to the conversation that opens "Kilroy Has Been Here." (On the first two takes, Slim actually addresses him as "Big Three.") It took five attempts to properly coordinate Slim and Dixon's alternating shouts of "Kilroy!" with the continuation "have been here and gone." The rousing boogie "Rockin' the House," which ended up giving Slim's group its name, got flying after one false start. At this point in the group's evolution, Alex Atkins was the major soloist after the leader--he can be heard to advantage on "Kilroy" and "Rockin'." Ernest Cotton also gets a solo on "Rockin'." The two vigorous numbers are counterbalanced by the pensive "Lend Me Your Love" and the brooding "Darling I Miss You," each of which needed just one take. All four numbers from this classic session were promptly released, selling well enough to bring Slim and his ensemble back for no fewer than five follow-up sessions in 1947.

Jazz singer Gladys Palmer was profiled in Sharon A. Pease's column in Down Beat, July 14, 1947. She told Pease that she was born in Kingston, Jamaica (misrendered by Down Beat as "Kensington"), and came to America at the age of seven to attend boarding school in Atlanta. Her mother was a talented vocalist and pianist and taught young Gladys piano. In the States, she continued to develop her pianistic skills, and cited her influences as Duke Ellington and Fats Waller. (Accompanying the Peace profile was her boogie woogie composition, "Palmer's Boogie," which formed the flip of her second Miracle release.) She began performing professionally while still in high school. She was working a long run at Atlanta's Biltmore Hotel when she was discovered by J. Mayo Williams and Dave Kapp of Decca Records. They brought her to Chicago to record a solo session in 1935, followed by a legendary session with Roy Eldridge in 1937. Palmer made her home in Chicago, and played a long run at the Three Deuces. From 1937 to 1940, she worked the clubs in New York, then returned to Chicago.

From 1942 to 1946, Palmer was based in Hollywood, though she made trips to Chicago from time to time (for instance, on October 7, 1943, her contract for 1 week at the Latin Quarter was accepted and filed by Musicians Union Local 208). She returned to Chicago in time to produce Miracle's first national hit. She recorded "Fool That I Am" (Miracle 104) as the vocalist on the Floyd Hunt Quartet session in late 1946. This ballad standard went to the lofty #3 position on Billboard's Race Jukebox chart in the fall of 1947. A classic torch song, "Fool That I Am" was initially taken so slowly that the take ran to 4 full minutes and couldn't be released on a 10-inch 78; after a brief introduction, it went straight into the Palmer's vocal. The released take, which featured a full chorus on the vibes before the vocal, was just a hair faster, but the solo interlude for the guitarist and the reprise of the final section of the vocal were taken out.

The Floyd Hunt group consisted of Hunt (vibes), Tommy House (guitar), Clarence Hall (piano), and Al McDonald (bass). The release was credited to the "Floyd Hunt Quartette" with Gladys Palmer indicated as the vocalist. The flip side, "Harlem Breakdown," was a moderate boogie instrumental that prominently featured Hall's two-fisted piano, House's rocking guitar, a Hamptonesque solo by Hunt, even an interlude for McDonald. Two sides were left unissued. "Ain't That Just like a Man" (the same piece previously recorded by Savannah Strong with Dick Davis) was an uptempo blues feature for Gladys Palmer, with plentiful solo space for Hunt and House. But the success of "Fool That I Am" apparently ruled out further efforts at R&B from the singer. Meanwhile, "I'll Get By" was a Swing performance by an older male vocalist with some ensemble vocal accompaniment. To judge from the way that the vibes fall silent after the Hamp-style solo that precedes the vocal, the singer was Floyd Hunt himself.

Meanwhile, Palmer was also generating considerable notice during 1947 at the Monte Carlo, playing a 24-week engagement. Said the Chicago Defender in April, "Miss Palmer who handles the spot's entertainment program was grabbed from the Loop several months ago and has become a fixture at the hot spot. Her singing and fine piano plucking attracts large crowds from the Loop district nightly and is the reason for the lounge being the gathering place for musicians from theatres and other places on the southside and the Loop."

Although Gladys Palmer brought Miracle a hit, her style of singing did not have lasting appeal with the record-buying public. The company brought her back into the studio on several occasions as 1947 wound down, probably recording much of her active repertoire, but her later singles did not sell well and much of her work for Miracle has never seen release.

When Miracle signed Brother John Sellers in 1946 he had already built careers in both blues and gospel singing. He was born May 27, 1924 in Clarksville, Mississippi, and moved to Chicago as a youngster. In the early 1940s he was mentored by Mahalia Jackson. He recorded his first blues for the Southern label and the King label during 1945. His first session for Miracle consisted of 4 gospel numbers, including Mahalia's signature song, "Move On Up a Little Higher."

On Miracle 106 and 107 the accompaniment on vibes, piano, and bass were provided by Floyd Hunt and two of his musicians, Clarence Hall and Al McDonald. Hunt adapted to the gospel setting by cranking the motor on his vibes way up (as he had already done on "Fool That I Am") and playing sweetly to approximate the sound of an organ, while Hall provided rather stiff elementary accompaniment on the piano. (The sweetness and the clunky pianistics can be heard on "Precious Lord," which McDonald joins only on the final chord. Hunt does work jazzy runs into "Move On Up.") On "Beginning of Sorrow," a remarkably jaunty tune considering its apocalyptic references to "the last days," which also gives Hunt ample solo space, Sellers can be heard using the folk pronunciation "Norah" for Noah. The more reverential "Just Wait a Little While" cuts back to just Hunt and McDonald in accompaniment. The unorthodox backing was reasonably effective, and Sellers sang soulfully in a pleading tenor voice, but one wonders how the sides did in the marketplace.

In 1947 Sellers recorded a blues session for RCA Victor. In late 1948, as Rev. John Sellers, he returned to Miracle for another gospel session. After two Chance blues sessions in 1952 (he was billed as "Johnny" Sellers for these), Sellers moved to New York and became involved in the folk club scene, recording albums that included blues, gospel, and folk stylings. Sellers died March 27, 1999.

For Miracle, 1946 was a year of dipping toes into the water. Total output, so far as we know, was 26 sides.

The first sides recorded in 1947, probably in January, were by the Dick Davis Orchestra featuring Sonny Thompson. The personnel as listed by Walter Bruyninckx were Dick Davis on tenor sax; Eddie Chamblee on tenor sax and vocals; Tommy "Mad Man" Jones on tenor sax and vocals; Sonny Thompson on piano; Lefty Bates on electric guitar; Eddie Calhoun on bass; and Buddy Rich on drums. (The Dave Penny story on Sonny Thompson, "Screaming Boogie," published in Blues & Rhythm, gives Buddy Smith on drums, which rather strongly suggests that "Buddy Rich" is a mistype, and says that Bates is inaudible.)

Bruyninckx and subsequent disocgraphers are way off. There was only one tenor saxophonist on Miracle 108 and 109, and that is Dick Davis himself (thanks to Tom Kelly and Daniel Gugolz for confirming this). Jones and Chamblee were incorrectly carried over from the June 1946 session. And the rhythm section was misidentified as well. The band that was playing the Tradesmen's Show Lounge in late January of 1947 featured Davis on tenor sax, Thompson on piano, Jimmie Hoskins on drums, and Eddie Calhoun on bass. The caption to a wonderful photo of the group in action says, "The combo, shown above, has recorded several numbers, including 'Tenor-Mental Moods' that are hit parade material." ("Tenor-Mental" had been recorded the previous year, with George Rhodes at the piano.) In February the outfit was billed as "Dick Davis Combo, featuring Sonny Thompson, Savannah Strong on vocals." Meanwhile, on March 12, 1949, the Defender stated that Dick Davis and his combo had just come back from a three-month stand in Cincinnati at the Sportsman Club, and was opening March 14 for a long engagement at the Congo Club. The personnel for that group was John Young on piano, Eddie Calhoun on bass, and Buddy Smith on drums. Clearly, Jimmie Hoskins and not Buddy Smith was the drummer on the 1947 session.

For the second session, Miracle kept on with the trend set by the second Rudy Richardson session, pushing the Davis ensemble away from Swing and into R&B. A copy of Miracle 109 in the late Otto Flückiger's collection reveals an ensemble vocal (a common device on Miracle releases). Typical of the period, Miracle 109 was a recording designed to get the powerful deejay Al Benson to play the company's records. On "Benson Jump" an ensemble vocal (three males, including Sonny Thompson who sings the bridge by himself, with obbligato by Dick Davis) sing about the joys of jivin' to the music played by Al Benson; the flip is a dramatization of two travelers, a porter, and a lady on the train from Chicago to Memphis.

According to Dave Penny, Sonny Thompson the featured vocalist on "Sonny's Blues" from this session. Aside from some bantering on Rudy Richardson's "No Meat," and contributions to the ensemble vocals on "Benson Jump" and "Memphis Train" from this session, it would be the first time his voice was heard on a record. However, Miracle would make only sparing use of Thompson's vocal talents during his residency at the label.

A May issue of Billboard reported that "Miracle Records, independent race label, has started sponsoring a 15-minute disk jock spot by Al Benson weekly over WGES." The item also discussed how the firm was building up its distribution net, adding distributors in Dallas, Houston, Birmingham, Jackson. Miss., and Cleveland.

Memphis Slim continued his work for Miracle with three more sessions in 1947 (his band backed Lillie Mae Kirkman on a fourth). His quartet continued to feature Alex Atkins (alto sax) and Ernest Cotton (tenor sax). Charles Jenkins played the string bass on the first session; after that the chair was occupied by Ernest "Big" Crawford, whose trademark string-snapping could also be heard on more down-home sessions by Sunnyland Slim and Muddy Waters. Slim took up residence at the Hollywood Lounge in January 1947 (indefinite contract accepted and filed by Local 208 on January 16). Around the end of April he moved his group into the Timber Tap (indefinite contract posted on May 1).

The first session (which included the invigorating "Pacemaker Boogie" and the reflective "Life Is like That") took place around March 1947, in time for the third and final launch of Miracle Records that took place in May. After that the band didn't return to the studio until October. By then, though, the "recording ban" had been announced for January 1, 1948, and the company was eager to stockpile Memphis Slim slides. So several further visits followed before the end of the year.

Memphis Slim gave Miracle a #1 national hit in the spring of 1948 with the reflective "Messin' Around" (Miracle 125), which, from our reading of the matrix numbers, was recorded in December of 1947. Interestingly, the composition was credited to another Miracle artist, pianist and vibraphonist Floyd Hunt, whose work would occasionally surface on later Slim sessions. The flip of Miracle 125, "Midnight Jump" is, unusually for Slim, a late Swing number with strong solos by Alex Atkins and Ernest Cotton. Slim has no trouble with the idiom; it's just not what Miracle's customers most wanted to hear. Recorded at the end of October were "Blue and Lonesome" (Miracle 136) and "Angel Child" (Miracle 145), both of which made the national R&B charts in 1949. Miracle was able to mine its deep Memphis Slim catalog throughout the history of the label.

The flip side of "Angel Child" deserves some notice as well. Under the title "Nobody Loves Me," it was Memphis Slim's first recording of "Every Day I Have the Blues." (A second take of "Nobody Loves Me," also apparently cut in October 1947, has survived and can be heard on Memphis Slim: The Complete Recordings Vol. 2 1946-1948 on Blues Collection CD 159862. Vol. 3 1948-1950 in this most valuable series, Blues Collection CD 160142, includes Slim's Miracle recordings from "Midnight Jump" onward, includes the four sides that were taken over by Master, and continues through his first session for Premium.) Slim claimed writing credit (and often got it on subsequent releases) but in fact the tune was first recorded, under its usual title, back in 1935 by Aaron "Pinetop" Sparks for Bluebird. The celebrated 1952 version by Joe Williams with King Kolax could have been inspired by either Slim's "Nobody Loves Me" or Lowell Fulson's 1950 hit version under the "Every Day" title.

Miracle also recorded local blues singer Lillie Mae Kirkman, who appeared as plain old "Lillie Mae" on two sides with Memphis Slim's House Rockers, "Lovin' Man Blues" and "Lonesome." Each was apparently cut in one take during a session around December 20. (Another couple of Memphis Slim tracks that subsequently lost their original UB numbers could have been done at this same session.) Released on Miracle 129 in November 1948, the two sides retained too much of the old "Bluebird beat" style to attract buyer interest. The slow "Lovin' Man" features a thoughtfully lyrical tenor sax solo by Ernest Cotton. The perkier "Lonesome" makes good use of the House Rockers' sax riffing and Big Crawford's string slapping.

A singer out of the Victoria Spivey school, Lillie Mae had previously recorded twice in 1939. Her first session was made for Bluebird in May 1939 under the pseudonym of Ramona Hicks. It featured Buster Bennett on alto sax, and full details can be found on his page. (An item in the Chicago Defender for June 17, 1939 refers to one Ramona Hicks, originally from St. Louis, "who is also known as Lillie Mae Kirk.") In July 1939 she made a session for Vocalion, with accompaniment by pianist Curtis Jones and guitar Hobson "Hot Box" Johnson. Now billed as Lillie Mae Kirkman, she had two discs released (these featured such family-values titles as "Hop Head Blues"; another titled "He's Just My Size" has been featured on several latter-day packages of blues with bawdy lyrics). Kirkman spent much of the 1940s singing at Martin's Corner (1500 West Lake) on the West Side, often backed by the Jump Jackson band. She was variously called Kirkman, Kirkmond, Kerkmond and Kirkland in Defender ads and items. Maybe Egalnick threw up his hands and avoided the quandary by leaving her last name off the label. Though often billed as "Queen of the Blues," Kirkman obviously built her reputation as a local club performer. These were in fact her last performances on record.

One of the sides on Lillie Mae's Miracle release is credited to John E. Coppage, a songwriter and record producer who had some kind of association with United Broadcasting Studios. Coppage's relationship with Miracle may have been casual, but we know that he freelanced at the studio on occasion (for instance, when he recorded two sessions with guitarist Floyd Smith at UB in 1949, later selling one of them to Aristocrat.)

In August 1947, Miracle recorded the first of six sessions featuring a singer named Browley Guy. Possessed of a smooth baritone instrument, Browley Guy graduated from Wendell Phillips High School in June 1936, which means he was probably born in 1918 or 1919. Obviously he was holding his own in the clubs when Lee Egalnick discovered him, and much was expected from him. But his first session, which featured Sonny Thompson at the piano with an unknown band, was held back.

The company would record Guy again in October, with his vocal group The Skyscrapers and a band led by Eddie Chamblee. Miracle was much happier with these items, releasing "Certain Other Someone" and "Last Call" (an instrumental) in December 1947 and bringing out "Knock Me a Zombie" at some point during the next year and a half.

Before 1947 was out, Guy appeared on two more sessions with Sonny Thompson and the Sharps and Flats; one of his vocal sides from the first session would see release. "That Gal of Mine" is partly redeemed by Thompson's Wilsonian piano and a few splashes of vibes from Floyd Hunt. But "For the First Time," a solo vocal from the early December session, is pretty dire, and "Just Can't Fool Myself," which exists in at least four takes (two from around November 27 and two from early December) didn't get any better with practice. Guy's faithful clientele in the clubs never translated into record sales, so most of his tracks were left unissued.

There is little prospect of reviving them now. For today's listener, the lounge ballads of the late 1940s are the only items that have badly dated, and lounge ballads, crooned sweetly, apparently were Guy's specialty. He didn't treat slow standards much better. But when Miracle let him do a jump, he and his mates in the Skyscrapers were more than bearable. "Knock Me a Zombie" is a hip late Swing number (complete with a little Swing scatting, and a reference to Duke Ellington on the jukebox). Unfortunately it is one of just two such pieces that Miracle recorded. The other jump, which celebrates the "Man from Timbuktu" (who, despite his exotic origins and large shoe size, wears a "zoot suit with a reet pleat"), was left in the vault. (There is further evidence, from their August 1952 session for States, that Guy and the Skyscrapers could sing blues and jumps respectably.)

In October 1947, the company brought the great tenor saxophonist Eddie Chamblee, who had appeared on the first Dick Davis session, back into the studio as a leader. Edwin Leon Chamblee was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 24, 1920. He attended Wendell Phillips High in Chicago, where he was a classmate of Ruth Jones (1924 - 1963, better known to posterity as Dinah Washington). While in the Army during World War II he became deeply involved in music, and after the war he joined the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, touring with the band for two years.

The October 1947 session uses accompaniment by a piano, guitar, and bass trio. Chamblee makes the most of his limited opportunities on the two vocal ballads from the date and shines on the jump ("Knock Me a Zombie"). And "Last Call" is a booting instrumental that should have encouraged Miracle to bring Chamblee right back into the studio without a vocalist. Miracle 119, a December 1947 release which coupled one of the vocal group ballads with the instrumental, did not sell well. (Another drippy ballad, titled "On the Blue Side," was never released.) Chamblee's big break would come just a little later, out of his work as a sideman on several of Sonny Thompson's sessions.

Miracle scored its biggest hit in the spring of 1948 with keyboardist Sonny Thompson's great rolling instrumental, "Long Gone." Like so many other things, it was recorded during the last quarter of 1947 while the company was feverishly stockpiling sides in anticipation of "B-Day." (B-Day was the Petrillo-led "recording ban" that went into effect on January 1, 1948.) On Part 1, the record featured Thompson on piano and Arvin Garrett of the Sharps and Flats on guitar; tenor sax player Eddie Chamblee took over for Part 2. The two parts actually came from different sessions. Part 1 was done at Thompson's second session, in early November, while part 2 had to wait for his third session toward the end of the same month). The relaxed rhythm behind the pair was maintained by the Sharps and Flats, namely Arvin Garrett (guitar), Leroy Morrison (bass), and Thurman "Red" Cooper (drums). The Sharps and Flats had been working the clubs for some time on their own when Miracle teamed them up with Thompson (who at this point in his career often worked as a solo pianist). The Sharps and Flats did a lot of harmony singing on their club gigs; however, Miracle was not initially interested in this aspect of their work. (Sharps and Flats vocals would be featured on a session with Sonny Thompson around December 22, 1947 and, at greater length on a session they shared with Eddie Chamblee around July of 1948, but the company never released any of them.)/p>

The company brought Sonny Thompson into the studio in August, primarily to back Browley Guy on two ballads. Nothing from the session was ever released. Thompson brought in a guitarist and a bass player; a violinist can also be heard on "I Live to Worship You." Despite some interesting solo work by the pianist, the performance is lugubrious and syrupy and the instruments sound as though they're being played in somebody's living room. "Out of Nowhere" is a far better song, the violinist is now approximately in balance with the other musicians, and Sonny Thompson pulls out all of his Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum tricks--but Guy's drippy vocal, marred by tasteless scoops and slides, is hard to bear. After the two vocal tracks were completed, the violinist was sent packing and Thompson turned in a Tatumesque performance of "Just You, Just Me" that cries out for reissue.

Undaunted by this false start, Miracle began to get the results that it wanted when Thompson and the Sharps and Flats came into the studio in October to back Gladys Palmer. A vibraphonist, probably Floyd Hunt, was added on the two of the numbers. "Strangest Feeling," "I Understand We're Through," and "If It's Love" were strong ballad performances. "I'm Pullling Through" is Palmer's tribute to Billie Holiday. Palmer and Thompson brought a lighter touch to "S'posin'," which seems to have been too much of a Swing number to interest Miracle's management.

In November, Thompson and company made "Long Gone Part 1" in a session that mostly featured the vocalist once again. Gladys Palmer's ballad performance on "If I Didn't Have You," which was issued in December 1947, before "Long Gone," adds vibes, again probably by Floyd Hunt; the flip, "Palmer's Boogie," credits Palmer for playing piano and actually sounds as though Palmer and Thompson are playing four hands.

Around a week later, Gladys Palmer returned to the studio to lay down more ballads. "In the Rain," credited on the label to freelance producer John Coppage, is one of her better ballad vehicles, with Tatumesque accompaniment by Sonny Thompson and splashes of vibes from Floyd Hunt. "Forget It" picks up the tempo a little and gives Thompson and the Sharps and Flats some interesting things to do (check out Sonny's introduction to the second take), but the song is nothing special. Nor is "You're Getting Me Down," another fairly slow ballad, despite Thompson's Wilsonesque accompaniment. A real curiosity, worked in at the end of the session, is "Heartaches"--the first item that Miracle chose to record with just the Sharps and Flats. It features whistling by one member of the trio.

"Long Gone Part 2" was made around November 27, at the tail end of a session on which Thompson's group backed Browley Guy and his vocal group. The combo's ebullient contributions to "Man from Timbuktu" suggested that something special might be in the offing, but Guy and company's two ballads called for nothing more than calm professionalism. "Long Gone Part 2," however, proves that the decision to add Eddie Chamblee's tenor sax to Thompson and the Sharps and Flats gave Part 2 the precise touch that it needed.

Miracle was obviously seeing a lot of commercial potential in Sonny Thompson, for the company brought him back into the studio seven times during the stockpiling period in December. The first, around December 7, consisted mostly of solid instrumentals with Eddie Chamblee and the Sharps and Flats. "Walkin'" and "Late Freight" were blues, while "Bounce" and "Devil Grape" were Swing numbers out of Hines, Wilson, Tatum, and Basie. Only "Late Freight" would see release while Miracle was in business.

Particularly noteworthy is the session from around December 16, when Sonny, Eddie Chamblee, and the Sharps and Flats got to lay down four instrumentals without any vocal distractions. They obliged with two tasty Swing originals, "Sonny's Special" and "Tip Lightly," and a Jacquet-style romp on "Sweet Georgia Brown" featuring Chamblee. Miracle nothing but the eloquent "Blue Dreams," whose genre is obvious from the title: Chamblee, Garrett, and Thompson are the soloists. It required two complete runthroughs only because of some cutting faults on take 2.

The session of December 19, or thereabouts, caught Gladys Palmer apparently suffering from laryngitis. She turned in two affecting takes of "Once You Were Mine," on which her hoarseness was already audible. But after that she either had to quit singing--or she should have, and her sides were rejected by the company. On "I Really Did," a pretty good male vocalist took over--Sonny Thompson, doing his first ballad for Miracle. At the end of the session, Palmer essayed a runthrough of "Don't Be That Way" (a lounge ballad unrelated to the Swing instrumental by that name); she finished the song, hoarser than ever. Nothing from the session was released, and the company had to try again with Palmer less than two weeks later.

A session around December 22 finally gave the Sharps and Flats a chance to show off their group vocals. "Turn It Over" is a slickly swinging R&B number featuring strong guitar and piano solos. One member of the group takes a solo turn at "Rash Trash," a number in the mold of "You Rascal You," but less creative. The company left these items in the can. "In a Little Spanish Town" is an instrumental feature for Sonny Thompson and the Sharps and Flats; the guitar-piano unison in the theme statement is on the precious side, but Thompson gets to do his Wilson-Tatum thing (becoming more extravagant on the unissued second take), and Garrett takes a swinging solo. (Maybe Egalnick and Simpkins shared our opinion, because the acetate of the master take carries a notation to fade the piece around 2:45, before the out chorus.) "Dreams" is an instrumental ballad on which Thompson pulls several runs out his bag of tricks, but in the end the tune drags him and Garrett down; it was done in two takes only because the band couldn't decide how to end the first). Nothing from the session ended up being released on Miracle, but "In a Little Spanish Town" eventually came out on the British Esquire label in the early 1950s.

During a session a couple of days later, Thompson and the Sharps and Flats without Eddie Chamblee backed Browley Guy on one plodding old schmaltzy ballad ("Tears Follow My Dreams"). They also recorded an instrumental version of the sentimental pop tune, "Moon Is on My Side," in a style akin to King Cole's (and in a better performance than "Dreams" from the previous session). This pairing was promptly released on Miracle 124. Obviously Thompson and the Sharps and Flats could handle materlal like "Moon Is on My Side," and Thompson was probably doing so regularly during his nightclub sets, but once the bluesy material caught on with record buyers, Miracle stopped asking for such performances. Among the instrumental sides from the session, "Blues on Rhumba" and "Just Boogie" (which were used on Miracle 131 and 127, respectively) were better suited to Miracle's intended market. And the laid-back blues "Sonny's Return" was the second item to see release from the session, on Miracle 128. The session stands out among Miracle's from December 1947, because five out of the six sides recorded were released. Just "Swing Alley," a superior performance in a genre that Miracle felt it had no buyers for, was held back.

Sonny Thompson and the Sharps and Flats' final session of the year, which may well have taken place on December 31, brought Gladys Palmer back to redo "Once You Were Mine." Just one take was needed to get a satisfactory result, but the company sat on the song. Palmer completed four others on the date, which would be her last for Miracle. Floyd Hunt was again added on vibes; he can be heard on the first take of the moody ballad "Caress Me," with the motor on his instrument turned up. The other two takes were done without Hunt. "I'll Say It Again" is a run-of-the-mill ballad, lent some interest by Sonny Thompson's piano intro à la Wilson and his Tatumesque runs behind the vocal; "My Heart Cries" is a somewhat better ballad, again with good accompaniment by Thompson et al. With some studio time left over, the late-1920s classic, "If I Could Be with You One Hour Tonight," was given a loose, impromptu performance; unusually for her, Palmer gets into an Ella Fitzgerald groove. "Not on a Xmas Tree" is an impromptu New Orleans-flavored blues featuring Sonny Thompson himself (thanks to Dani Gugolz and Big Joe Louis for verifying this, as Miracle never credited Thompson's vocals on the label). Because Miracle lost interest in Gladys Palmer, only "Not on a Xmas Tree" would see release—and it had to wait for nearly two years.

Egalnick's investment in Sonny Thompson paid off hansomely when Miracle 126, a two-part release of "Long Gone," sold some 200,000 copies and went to the top of the charts. It lasted more than 30 weeks on the Billboard R&B charts, and was still logging non-trivial sales into the first half of 1949. On July 3, 1948, Cash Box announced that "Sonny Thompson and Memphis Slim, setting the pace on Miracle Records, [are] planning a joint nationwide tour in the next few weeks." "Long Gone" even nosed briefly into the pop charts (where it hit #29 for the week of July 10, 1948). The record was so popular that Egalnick had to fight bootleggers in Saint Louis, who were selling counterfeit copies of the record.

Thompson was born Alphonso Thompson in Memphis on August 22, 1916. While he was a preschooler, his family moved to Chicago. He attended Wendell Phillips High School, and studied at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. In the clubs he learned his craft from Art Tatum and Earl Hines. He began working regularly in 1940. After a short time in the Army (he was given a medical discharge after being injured in a cave-in accident), Thompson returned to Chicago to recuperate, resuming work in the clubs as a soloist in early 1944. He continued to work as a solo pianist, except for a period of 7 months (May through December 1945) when he led a big band at El Grotto, the basement club in the Pershing Hotel. Thompson made his first two sides under his own name as a solo pianist for the Detroit-based Sultan label in May of 1946. (Sultan's gimmick was "double-headed hits," which meant that Thompson, billed for the occasion as the "Prince of the Ivories," split one 78 with an Eddie Wiggins combo and another with Red Saunders; the gimmick wasn't successful, and Sultan folded after its first 3 releases.) After several months in the Dick Davis combo, which included recording twice for Miracle with them, Sonny Thompson went back out on his own (on August 21, 1947, he posted an indefinite contract to play solo piano at the Bar o' Music). Thompson reached the peak of his performing career with his Miracle sides. After Miracle folded, he recorded extensively for King Records, then handled A&R for the label until 1964, when King closed its Chicago office. Thereafter he produced recordings on an occasional basis for Chess and other labels. Thompson died on August 11, 1989.

A new artist inked by Miracle in 1947 was blues shouter Piney Brown. The singer was born was born Columbus Perry on January 20, 1922, in Birmingham, Alabama. (He has kept his birth name under wraps; we got this information from Brian Baumgartner.) Piney Brown's first music experience was in a family gospel group. In 1940 he moved to Baltimore and there broke into show business. His October 1947 session for Miracle was his recording debut.

Although Piney Brown was described in the February 7, 1948 Chicago Defender as a "Miracle recording artist," just one side was ever released: "That's Right Little Girl," which came out only in Great Britain, on an Esquire release during the early 1950s. We know now that Piney Brown recorded 4 sides with Sonny Thompson and the Sharps and Flats, plus significant contributions by Eddie Chamblee. "That's Right" and "Return of Piney Brown" are declamatory blues showing a strong Kansas City influence; "Return of Piney Brown" even refers to 18th and Vine. "A New Kind of Lovin'" is closer vocally to Wynonie Harris; the number features strong solos by Chamblee, guitarist Arvin Garrett, and Thompson. "Vi," on the other hand, celebrates "a little girl in Chicago."

The Defender item said that Piney Brown was beginning a tour on March 13, and added, "The idea is to keep Brown before his record public and put a shot in the arm to a fast dying show business. Plan is to make [a] small compact package and offer to promoters at [a] price enabling them to make a profit. Package will feature Piney Brown, and include Randy Sherman Orchestra, Gip Roberts, comic; Toni Palmer, song thrush; Fred and Sledge, dancers; and Ann Butler, novelty dancer." The rest of the lineup indicates that Miracle wasn't sponsoring the tour. Piney Brown moved on pretty quickly after Miracle failed to use his material; he made a series of recordings in New York City for different labels, starting with Apollo in 1949, then Jubilee (1951), Sittin' in With (1952), Par (1952), and Atlas (1954). After a successful run at the Club DeLisa in a duo with Billy Brooks, they recorded in Chicago as a duo for Duke in 1957 (see the King Kolax discography). In 1959 he recorded for Tommy Jones' Mad label. Brown subsequently moved to Kansas City, and then to Dayton, Ohio, recording for several other small companies.

See the outstanding article by Brian Baumgartner, "Piney Brown: Now and Then," Juke Blues No. 48 (2000), pp. 28-37.

Since we have never seen a Miracle master book with recording dates in it (in fact, we don't know whether the company kept documents at that level of detail in 1947), the reader may be curious how we arrived at the estimated recording dates during the last quarter of the year.

Completely by accident, we were able to establish an anchor point on October 13, 1947, when Hy-Tone recorded a session with gospel singer R. L. Knowles and his pianist James Miller that included matrix numbers UB 21765 through 21767. (We know this date because Miller complained to Local 208 of the Musicians Union about not being paid half an hour overtime for the session.) The highest number in the UB2000 series that we have encountered is UB 22508, from the year-ending session by Sonny Thompson and Gladys Palmer. So between October 13 and December 31, 1947, United Broadcasting was cranking out the sides at the rate of 9.4 per day, not counting alternate takes. Egmont Sonderling must have thought that was good business--but one wonders just how many record companies ended up significantly in the hole, and owing him money afterward...

Bernd Kratochwil notes (in his article, whose title, in full Germanic splendor, is Die Geschichte des Entrepreneur Al Benson aus Chicago oder die labels "Old Swingmaster", "Parrot", und "Blue Lake": Teil 2 Old Swingmaster Discography, Rockin' Fifties,1997, 45-49) that Egmont Sonderling bought 10 Memphis Slim masters from Old Swing-Master in March 1950. These originally derived from Miracle and were first dealt off to Old Swing-Master. Old Swing-Master did issue a 1010 and a 1011, probably both in December 1949, from Miracle masters, but by March 1950 Old Swing-Master was inactive (it would close its doors in June of that year). The Master issues were presumably done by Sonderling alone and came in March 1950. We know of a Master 1020 and a Master 1030; these obviously were intended to come after OId Swing-Master / Master 1010 and 1011, but were issued only on Master. Sonderling had already consolidated his pressing plant with Art Sheridan's Armour Plastics in March 1950 and by the end of the year had shut down Master Records entirely.

The provenance of these items is less clear than we would like, because the original UB matrix numbers were stripped off after the sale.

Close listening indicates that "Restless Nights" is the work of a quartet with Big Crawford on bass, so it was done in 1947. The same applies to "Love at Sight," on which Slim says "Blow It, Mr. Cotton." "Jumping Bean," which unusually for Slim features New Orleans rhythms, has a drummer on it and a different bassist, so it can't have been done before 1948. "If You Live That Life" is a boogie that appears to have Alfred Elkins on bass, as well as a fairly discreet drummer--Slim's October 1949 session is most likely.

As the Petrillo-ordered recording ban ran out of steam, Miracle resumed studio sessions in the summer, though like other record companies that had overspent and overstocked in 1947, it did so at a much reduced pace. Again Sonny Thompson came through for the label. From one of his December 1947 sessions came "Late Freight" (Miracle 128), which prominently featured Eddie Chamblee. (The piece was called "Creepin'" when it was issued in Britain.) It entered the charts in August 1948 and went to #1 on the Billboard national R&B chart.

Actually recorded in 1948 (we don't know what United Broadcasting was doing with a UB10000 series, but they may have tried this when they first resumed commercial recording, then switched to the more familiar UB9000 series) was another good seller by the ever reliable Memphis Slim and His House Rockers. "Frisco Bay" (Miracle 132) hit in March of 1949. The flip side, "Timsy's Whimsy," is credited to Timothy Overton, who had replaced Ernest Cotton on tenor sax. Alex Atkins continued on alto sax. The new bassist didn't snap strings à la Big Crawford; either Alfred Elkins or Timothy's wife Betty Dupree Overton are possibilities here. And for the first time, the group added a drummer (probably Leon Hooper).

Both artists were able to tour on the strength of their hits for Miracle. In June 1948 Sonny Thompson undertook a month-long string of dates with Memphis Slim. In August, Thompson actually took over for a while as intermission bandleader at the Savoy Ballroom in New York. In the fall, Thompson and Memphis Slim undertook another tour, throughout the Midwest.

The massive success of "Long Gone," which featured his long solo on Part 2, landed Eddie Chamblee another studio date as a leader, which we estimate took place around July of 1948. This produced a hit in "Back Street" (Miracle 133), which was released in the spring of 1949.

To the July 1948 session, Chamblee brought a group including John "Streamline" Ewing (trombone), Andrew "Goon" Gardner (baritone sax), and James Craig (piano). The bassist and drummer have been identified as Ernie Shepard and Chuck Williams, but judging from the overall sound it seems more likely that Chamblee used the Sharps and Flats as his rhythm section. Note, in particular, the prominent but uncredited guitar parts on "Back Street" and "Dureop," which sound like the work of Arvin Garrett. Gardner, who became a Charlie Parker disciple all the way back in 1939 when they played side by side in a King Kolax band, delivered several bop solos on the big horn. "Song of India" is a passionate, guttural tenor sax showpiece. "Back Street," announced by a band member as "Back Street Boogie" on all takes except the one that Miracle issued, is the kind of number that the adjective "bootin'" was invented to describe. Gardner's long solo in the Leo Parker manner is particularly impressive. "Dureop" is a relaxed blues jam with a bop riff periodically sung by band members, spread over both sides of a 78. Part II is mostly given over to guitar and piano solos. On "Cradle Rock" Chamblee used the Sharps and Flats as his rhythm section without the extra horns.

The long session was quite productive, leading to 5 issued sides on Miracle, and 5 more left unissued. "I Shouldn't Care" is an unannounced ballad feature for Browley Guy accompanied by the entire Chamblee group; through the 5 takes that the piece required, Guy is dreadfully unctuous, but Streamline Ewing gets a rare opportunity to do his Bill Harris ballad thing. The Sharps and Flats did several vocal numbers of their own; instrumentation on their sides is guitar, bass, and drums. "When Will I See You Again" provides more slick and sappy balladeering, somewhat easier on the ears than Browley Guy's (though on take 3 the lead vocal slides out of tune); the added piano on this one is presumably by James Craig. "Hawaiian War Chant" is a novelty number (in double-talk Polynesian) that gives Red Cooper a good excuse to bring out his mallets. "I Knew He Would" is a mock-tragic spoken dialogue rather loosely inspired by the story of Little Red Riding Hood; the pianist returns for this one. The best ensemble vocal that the Sharps and Flats did for Miracle is the laid-back, bluesy "See Me Go Baby," which also features a good piano solo by Craig and a reflective guitar solo by Garrett.

The next month Chamblee cut one instrumental track, "Lazy Mood," to fill out the studio time on a session that featured St. Louis Jimmy Oden, the blues singer, who was otherwise accompanied by Roosevelt Sykes (piano), an unidentified guitarist, Andrew Harris (bass), and supposedly Osie Johnson (drums). The two issued St. Louis Jimmy sides are both slow blues (if additional tracks were cut at the session they appear to have been lost). Chamblee gets a solo on "Biscuit Roller"; the guitarist is featured on "I'm Sorry Now."

For reasons that are no longer clear, Miracle brought Eddie Chamblee and a rhythm section of piano, guitar, bass, and drums back into the studio, probably just a few days after the St. Louis Jimmy outing. (The other participants sound like James Craig and the Sharps and Flats once again.) Three takes of a remake of "Dureop" survive; if anything else was done at the session, it is now lost. The remake takes up just one side of a 78; it features guitar and piano solos with accompaniment by the tenor sax; the riff is sung just on take 3, and then only at the end of the piece. The exercise turned out to be for nought, as Miracle ended up going with the original 2-sided recording by the larger ensemble.

The final session cut during this relatively quiet year was a return engagement for gospel singer John Sellers, now promoted from Brother to Reverend. We have not been able to hear anything from this particular session. Although the company retained an interest in gospel, it would be Sellers' last for Miracle.

The tremendous success of the Sonny Thompson hits, "Long Gone" and "Late Freight," both of which crucially depended on Eddie Chamblee's sax work, produced huge dividends for the tenorist. In January 1949, he formed a combo of his own consisting of Jimmy Craig (piano), Eugene Wright (bass), and Chuck Williams (drums), and began a lengthy engagement at the Blue Heaven Lounge, 742 East 63rd street. The Chicago Defender gushed, "'Rockin' Rhythm' is what Eddie (Long Gone) Chamblee and his combo call it... It combines blues, bop, and swing in a manner fit for the most severe critic of present day music. A favorite on the juke box, Eddie has hit the top with his sax solos on 'Long Gone' and 'Late Freight.'"

Meanwhile, Sonny Thompson cut his last two sessions for the label. By now he had put together his own touring group, featuring two tenor saxes and a trumpet in the front line, and the Sharps and Flats had ended their association with Miracle.

Thompson's April session was done with Floyd Jones (trumpet), Eddie Chamblee (back on tenor sax by popular demand), Leo Blevins (guitar), Curtis Ferguson (bass), and Sonny Cole (drums). (This was the Floyd Jones who played trumpet and sang, changing his his name to Floyd Valentine when he recorded for Vee-Jay in 1954. He made the name change to avoid confusion with the Floyd Jones who played guitar and sang the blues for Marvel, Tempo-Tone, JOB, Chess--and Vee-Jay.) Not credited in the existing discographies is a second tenor saxophonist, who sounds to us like Thompson's one-time bandleader Dick Davis. The slow blues called "Dreaming Again" (featuring solos by Jones, Davis, and the leader) and the two-sided "Still Gone" were drawn entirely from the April session. "Still Gone, Part 3" continues "Long Gone" with a featured solos by Chamblee and riffing by the horn section; "Part 4" picks up with Blevins' guitar and the leader's piano prestidigitation.

Meanwhile, "The Fish" (released by Old Swing-Master in March 1950) took one side from this session and its mate from the next one, with no discernible ill effects. Also known as "Jam, Sonny, Jam," Part I is a bop-flavored blues instrumental with a whomping backbeat: solos are by Davis, Blevins, Jones, Chamblee, and Thompson. Because the instrumental was initially titled "Jam, Sonny, Jam" on the acetates that were acquired by King, one take has been issued under this title. Additional work will be needed to sort out which of the 3 complete takes was originally issued as "The Fish-I" and which showed up many years later as "Jam, Sonny, Jam."

In June, Thompson returned to the studio with Dick Davis on tenor sax, along with trumpet, second tenor sax, guitar, bass, and drums; they quickly cut five sides. The lineup appears to be the same as on the April session, except for the guitarist. On "Backyard Affair," Floyd Jones gets some exposure on trumpet. Apparently the company was sufficiently encouraged by "I Really Did" that it allowed Thompson to try two ballad vocals on this session. The first was a decent performance of "Danny Boy." Dick Davis takes a lengthy opening solo rather reminiscent of Don Byas's famous rendition of the tune. The leader continued with "I'll Get Along Somehow,"one of the better lounge ballads that Miracle recorded. But the ballads were left in the can. "The Fish-II" is an R&B riff-based instrumental that carries over the backbeat from Part I; it includes solo spots for Thompson and Davis. "Sonny Claus Blues" features Davis (who throws in a reed bite or two) over riffing horns, Thompson's blues vocal, and a sparkling piano solo over a different riff. Miracle was sufficiently interested in Thompson's efforts as a blues singer to put "Sonny Claus Blues" b/w "Not on a Xmas Tree" on Miracle 148, around November 1949. But the release was a bit of a stealth operation, as there are no vocal credits--and "Sonny Claus" was identified on the label as an instrumental!

Sales must have still been going well for Miracle in April of 1949, because following a successful road trip, Egalnick announced that Miracle planned to release new records every ten days. New artists signed and recorded by the company in 1949 were gospel singer Cleophus Robinson, the popular radio vocal group, the Four Vagabonds, the Bill Samuels Trio, and pianist Tommy Dean.

Reverend Cleophus Robinson was born on March 18, 1932, in Canton, Mississippi, and moved to Chicago in 1948. His four-tune session led to one release. Miracle 142, featuring a stirring rendition of "Now Lord" and an extremely slow recital of "I Love the Name Jesus," came out in September 1949 under the name Brother Cleophus Robinson. The other two titles have never been issued. Robinson went through 13 takes of "Eternal Home," but after approving take 12, Miracle decided to release Robert Anderson's version instead. After all that travail, "I Love the Name Jesus" and "My Prayer" were done in a single take. Robinson sang affectingly in a grainily wistful tenor, to the customary gospel accompaniment of organ and piano. His outing with Miracle failed to launch his recording career, which was not firmly established until 1953 when he began an extensive series of releases for Houston-based Peacock. He died on July 2, 1998.

The Four Vagabonds--John Jordan (lead), Norval Taborn (baritone), Robert O'Neal (first tenor), and Ray Grant (guitar/bass vocals)--were formed at Vashon High School in St. Louis in 1933. In 1936 they came to Chicago, and began a decade-long stay, performing three times a week on the famed Don McNeil Breakfast Club network radio show. In 1938 they began performing on Club Matinee, hosted by Garry Moore, Durward Kirby, and Ransom Sherman. From 1941 through 1947, the group recorded for Bluebird, Mercury, and Apollo, then broke up in 1948. The group reformed in early 1949, with new member Bill Sanford as guitarist and bass singer in for Grant. The group cut four sides for Miracle in May or June 1949, two of which were released in November. The recordings were mentioned in the Chicago Defender of June 25, 1949, which also stated that "When Will I See You Again" featured an accompaniment on the celeste. What really happens is that the session pianist plays an arpeggio on the celeste to introduce the song. (A session bassist can also be heard, alongside Bill Sanford's rhythm guitar.) The Vagabonds' sides feature immensely polished harmony singing in a Swing idiom; John Jordan's relaxed lead completely avoids the lugubriousness that too often afflicted Browley Guy's performances. The group imparts a bounce to "Sorry That We Said Goodbye" (the same tune that Savannah Strong recorded with Dick Davis on the first session for the label, back in 1946). While talking to researcher Marv Goldberg several years ago, Jordan's only recollection of Miracle was how "dumpy" their studio was (not a compliment to United Broadcasting!). The Miracle sides were the group's last recordings under their own name, though the label was sufficiently interested in the Vagabonds to bring them back to sing backing vocals on the first session by the Bill Samuels Trio.

The unsettling trend toward recording sides that were publicized but not released continued with Browley Guy's session, on which the lounge singer was backed by a group led by veteran violinist Leon Abbey. The recordings were reported in Down Beat on May 20, 1949 (p. 4). The Down Beat article supplies the titles; our thanks to jazz violin expert Anthony Barnett for turning up this reference. The Ace Records list confirms the four titles but the matrix numbers it supplies are in the UB9300s. The UB9000 series is a much more complicated beast than the UB2000, and some deliberate misdirection may have been involved, but on their face these numbers specify a recording date some months earlier, even in the fall of 1948. (Howewer, on the strength of the mention in Down Beat, we have left the sides on the 1949 list for the time being.) Abbey used his regular pianist, Barrington Perry, and bassist, Rail Wilson; John Goodloe's guitar was added for the date.

Guy sings solo on the session--no Skyscrapers in evidence. Though still drippy, his remake of "Out of Nowhere" is a good deal more tasteful than his first attempt from August 1947. "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" swings nicely; had he done more like it, Guy could have persuaded his audience that he was a jazz singer. "Oh Marie" is a sappier song, but it also swings. Only "You Will Remain in My Heart" remains mired in lugubriousness. Abbey and his trio provide effective backing, nudging Guy into more of a jazz groove than Sonny Thompson ever managed to, and Abbey's accompaniments and solos are a significant addition to his fairly slim discography. Perry's brief piano solos and Goodloe's brief guitar solos are also effecctive.

Although Lee Egalnick had high hopes for Browley Guy, who had 5 previous outings under his belt, this would be his last session for the company. Meanwhile, during a much longer career, Leon Abbey had made a few unreleased sides of his own.

By the time the Bill Samuels Trio--featuring pianist/lead vocalist Bill Samuels, bassist Sylvester Hickman, and guitarist Adam Lambert--recorded for Miracle in the summer of 1949, they have already made a name for themselves as major recording stars, as Bill Samuels and the Cats 'n Jammer Three (those earlier recordings had also included drummer Hillard Brown). The group came together in the spring of 1945, and shortly thereafter became the second act to be signed by the fledging major, Mercury Records. Their first record, a smooth ballad presentation of "I Cover the Waterfront" (b/w "Jockey Blues," Mercury 8003) was a national hit and sold some 250,000 copies. Pete Grendysa in his ground-breaking article on the group, "Blues and Jazz Collide in Chicago: Cats 'n' Jammers; Four Shades of Rhythm" (Record Collector's Monthly, April 1983) said the group represented the coming together of jazz, blues and pop, and that this fusion "was the direct ancestor of rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll." Mercury recorded the group regularly through the big rush of recording activity at the end of 1947 (one session in 1947 was done by Bill Samuels with the Ram Ramirez Orchestra instead of the regular group). The company put out no fewer than 28 sides by the Cats 'n' Jammers before releasing them from their contract in early 1949.

"So Tired" included a surprise appearance by the Four Vagabonds, who were limited to wordless vocal harmonies in the background; the focus was on Samuels' ballad singing and Adam Lambert's solo work on the guitar. The Vagabonds get a little more to do on the blue ballad "Delta Bound." The session featured no fewer than 9 takes of the standard "That Old Black Magic," done to a rhumba beat. The company wasn't happy with the results, however; Samuels, who sang this version solo, comes across as enervated (listeners are unlikely to credit his protestations of being "aflame with such burning desire"), and his diction is curiously slack. A second standard, "How Deep Is the Ocean," posed no problems for the group; it was done in a single take. "Say It Isn't So" also came out well; the guitar solo by Lambert is a bonus. Samuels' rather overripe bass-baritone will not be to everyone's taste, however.

The four sides that Miracle released on the group, out of a total of 12 recorded under their new name, were their last. The trio broke up in 1950, when Bill Samuels moved to Minneapolis. Lambert then joined the Four Shades