Spiritually, this tribute to 50s Bmore music is a bonus episode: unlike previous installments, it was built from a loose pile of found “scraps” rather than an intentional quest for material, as my original vision for the series only included rock & R&B from the 60s onward. That said, even limited research revealed Charm City to be a doo-wop Mecca in the Eisenhower years (the Honey Tones, Orioles, Marylanders, Plants, Cardinals, Blentones, Kings, Jolly Jax, Marveleers, Sonnets, and Baltineers); given that it also harbored a few top-shelf jazz legends (Ethel Ennis, Ellis Larkins), early rock pioneers (Joey Welz & the Rock-A-Billies, Little Jimmy & the Tops, Ronnie Dove), fiddle-y hoedown starters (Earl Taylor & the Stoney Mountain Boys, Hank Rector), and inspired novelty artistes (Grico Samon, the Antwinetts) – as well as one fascinating mix of brassy Rosemary Clooney-style crooning and Valium bait for gaslit housewives (Mary Lou Brewer) – there was more than enough in my vault to toss together a mix.
Mix Notes
Open secret: cataloguing a city’s music by decade is an imperfect (and somewhat arbitrary) way to approach its cultural ebb and flow. That in mind, this week’s episode is a bit more permissive than previous episodes, as I have allowed a couple of (gasp!) early 60s gems onto the roster. My reasoning is noted below, but the criteria in brief: if it was performed by a local 1950s fixture, had a pre-Beatles/-Motown vibe, and just generally sounded more Sputnik than Telstar I, I was comfortable giving it a slot in the mix.
On a similar note, I included a number of artists that are basically cyphers: poorly documented doo-wop groups, grumbling novelty singers (Grico Samon), minor country figures (Hank Rector), etc. While the 1950s weren’t exactly Greil Marcus’s “Old Weird America” – for the most part, these artists were entertainers, not porch-dwellers singing ballads to Alan Lomax – the decade was still an era of one-and-done record labels and disposable teen fads/novelties, so many of these songs have murky origins (i.e. release dates) at best. When in doubt, I have tried to cross-reference relevant info from Discogs with Joe Vaccarino’s legendarily well-researched local tome, Baltimore Sounds.
01 Cities & Signs Radio – “Intro”
02 Ellis Larkins – “Four Bars With Tag” (Blue and Sentimental LP, 1958)
+ Like a few other folks on this list, Ellis Larkins made his name as a sideman – in this case, for Ella Fitzgerald, one of the the reigning queens (along with Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan) of mid-century vocal jazz. But as “Four Bar Intro With Tag” illustrates, Larkin was also an able and sophisticated solo pianist, one whose tasteful Peabody Conservatory background – he was the institution’s first black student -comes through in his sweet, subtle trills and in-the-pocket swing.
03 The Four Buddies – “Sweet Slumber” (“Sweet Slumber”/”Don’t Leave Me Now” single, 1951)
04 Mary Lou Brewer – “My Man” (My Man LP, 1958)
+ A long-forgotten (and difficult-to-Google) pop singer, Mary Lou Brewer remains a bit of a mystery to me. This is likely because history has consigned her to a sort of 50s Chanteuse Ash Heap – as a vocalist, she recalls Peggy Lee and Rosemary Clooney at their most dinner theater cloying, conjuring a similar brassy vim without necessarily approaching her peers’ heights. She does have at least one outre masterpiece, though: “My Man,” a pre-feminist psychodrama so mired in gaslit Stockholm Syndrome id it makes the Crystals’ “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)” feel like an article for Ms. Magazine.
05 Ronnie Dove – “Party Doll” (“Party Doll” single, 1961)
+ Yeah, I know – “Party Doll” came out in 1961, which is (wait for it) not the 50s. I’ve included this forgotten Buddy Knox cover anyway, mostly because a) it’s pure 50s rock & roll; b) it features Ronnie Dove’s 50s backing band, the Belltones; and c) the band broke up soon afterward, lending “Doll” some added interest as a final snapshot of Dove during his Holly/Perkins/Haley-esque boogie-woogie club days.
06 Joey Welz & the Rock-A-Billies – “Boppin’ the Stroll” (“Boppin’ the Stroll” single, 1959)
+ Speaking of Bill Haley, Joey Welz made his name as a member of the singer’s Comets in the early 60s. But visible as the Comets gig turned out to be, it ultimately amounted to moonlighting: after the Haley years came to an end, Welz – who spent the 50s as a young rockabilly bandleader himself – embarked on a long-lived, surprisingly varied solo career that has lasted nearly six decades. Boasting Buddy Holly-esque hicccup vox, gum-chewing boogie piano, and a garage-y swing, “Boppin’ the Stroll” captures the goofy teenage charm of Welz’s 1950s salad days.
07 The Cardinals – “The Wheel of Fortune” (“The Wheel of Fortune” single, 1952)
08 Earl Taylor & the Stoney Mountain Boys – “They’re At Rest Together” (Mountain Music Bluegrass Style comp, 1991; original recording ca. 1958)
09 The Antwinetts – “Johnny” (“Johnny”/”Kill It” single, date unknown)
+ Plenty of teen pop from the 1950s has a wild-eyed, desperate quality, but “Johnny” – the sole single by anonymous group the Antwinetts – sounds positively deranged, conjuring nothing so much as a Dionysian girl gang chanting across an empty Ocean City beach. It’s pure screaming madness, offering a solid reminder of why the era’s parents were slowly growing terrified of their kids. Side note: if you get a chance, check out B-side “Kill It,” which manages to amp up an already weird premise (i.e. girls being freaked out by a household pest) by slathering it in Shaggs-/Slits-like shrieks and mumbled asides.
10 The Plants – “I Took a Trip Over the Sea” (“I Searched the Seven Seas”/”I Took a Trip Way Over the Sea” single, 1959)
11 The Orioles – “Don’t Cry Baby” (“Don’t Cry Baby”/”See See Rider” single, 1952)
12 Grico Samon – “Who Put the Hole in the Doughnut?” (“Who Put the Hole in the Doughnut?” single, date unknown)
+ Baltimore has produced many fine novelty songs – Bruce Springstone’s “Bedrock Rap/(Meet the) Flintstones,” Berserk’s “Giant Robots,” and Edith Massey’s “Punks, Get Off the Grass” all leap to mind – but this Fugs-like open mic of a track, recorded by the mysterious (and pseudonymous) Grico Samon, beats them all in terms of pure homebrew intimacy and winking beatnik charm. While Discogs says this single was released in the mid-70s, Joe Vaccarino (of Baltimore Sounds) places it in the 1950s; I have deferred to the latter’s judgment here.
13 Hank Rector – “I’m Gonna Let You Go” (“I’m Gonna Let You Go”/”My One Desire” single, 1958)
+ As far as I can tell, Hank Rector may still be around – and have a Facebook page! – but according to Discogs, the avowed Hank Williams acolyte’s recorded output has been limited to a couple minor singles on the long side of the McCarthy era. Due to the occasional appearance on early rockabilly anthologies, “I’m Gonna Let You Go” – a delightful, pre-“Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” kiss-off song – has become his default signature tune, but its popularity makes sense: beyond the song’s good-natured breakup speech lyrics (“I’ve got lots of land!”), it hits true rockabilly notes, mixing the sneer of early rock with a dance-friendly hootenanny bounce. Like the best Elvis Presley or Wanda Jackson, it’s a bit of a cross-genre miracle, but the root appeal is pure Williams: it’s a universal song that still reads as intimate and conversational.
14 The Blentones – “Lilly” (“Military Kick”/”Lilly” single, 1959)
15 The Sonnets – “Why Should We Break Up?” (“Please Won’t You Call Me”/”Why Should We Break Up?” single, 1956)
16 Bobby Hall & the Kings – “Sunday Kind of Love” (“Love No One”/”Sunday Kind of Love” single, 1953)
17 The Honey Tones – “Vippity Vop” (“Vippity Vop”/”Never Lose Faith In Me” single, 1956)
+ It feels dismissive to say most of the doo-wop on this mix feels largely interchangeable; after all, every Baltimore group, from the Cardinals to the Plants to the Orioles, Marylanders, Blentones, and so on, had distinct strengths, weaknesses, and levels of vocal talent. Still, as genres go, doo-wop’s songs do tend to bleed together – if you’ve heard one jumped-up dance tune or syrupy ballad with a warm basso, you may feel like you’ve heard them all – so all credit to the Honey Boys’ “Vippity Vop” for planting its flag via pure brazenness. With its “who me?” declaration of “she called me daddy!”, “Vop” provides some memorably offhand subversion akin to the Doors’ “Backdoor Man,” Little Richard’s “Lucille,” or the Kinks’ “Lola”, transcending its moment by sneaking a timeless carnal smirk into an otherwise by-the-books arrangement. Ideas of romance may change over time but, as “Vop” coyly suggests, young lust never goes out of style.
18 The Jolly Jax – “Pony Shuffle” (“Pony Shuffle”/”Things Are Tough” single, 1961)
+ Another 1961 addition, but for reasons similar to Ronnie Dove: a) the Jolly Jax were very much a going concern for the length of the 50s (they formed in 1949) and b) the sound of “Pony Shuffle” is still pure pre-Beatles, -James Brown, and -Motown – that is to say, pre-1960s.
19 Little Jimmy & the Tops – “Puppy Love” (“Puppy Love”/”Say You Love Me” single, 1959)
20 The Marveleers – “I’ve Only Myself to Blame” (“I’ve Only Myself to Blame”/”All My Heart” single, date unknown)
21 Ethel Ennis – “Lullaby for Losers” (Lullaby for Losers LP, 1955)
+ Dubbed “the First Lady of Jazz” by local heads, Ennis was perhaps Bmore’s most beloved ambassador for the genre during the 50s-90s; though Billie Holiday may have spent her youth in Charm City, Ennis was a lifer, and she maintained a regional musical presence well into her 70s. While Ennis’s catalogue has become semi-obscure over time, during her heyday she was well-known among jazzbos, touring overseas with swing legend Benny Goodman and performing at Richard Nixon’s 1973 presidential inauguration. “Lullaby for Losers,” from her 1955 debut of the same name, is one of her signature tunes.
22 The Baltineers – “Moments Like This” (“Moments Like This”/”New Love” single, 1956)
23 The Marylanders – “Make Me Thrill Again” (“Make Me Thrill Again”/”Please Love Me” single, 1952)
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