YOU’RE GONNA NEED ME: THE TOP 30 WOMEN’S VOCAL RECORDS FROM THE JUMP & SHAKE ERAS + 5 EARLY JUMPS.

     

 

     Top, left to right: Barbara Lynn, Ella Mae Morse   
Bottom, left to right: Big Maybelle, Jackie Shane

It’s hard to imagine the evolution of American music without the contributions made by these singers, whose work brashly inhabits at least ten genres: swing, jazz, blues, jump blues, rhythm & blues, electric blues, rock ‘n’ roll, gospel, soul, and pop. Some of the songs contributed formatively to the nascent states of their genres. These ladies built a formidable idiom during the Jump Blues and “Shakers” periods, which roughly accounted for the twenty-five year stretch from World War II up until the British Invasion. Their voices howl and holler, they croon and brood, they scat and bounce.

The singers didn’t bring their voices alone to the stage. Nellie Lutcher, Martha Davis, Camille Howard, Cleo Brown, and Aretha Franklin played the piano; surely you remember Aretha Franklin in The Blues Brothers. She wasn’t the only actress from this group. Ruth Brown, LaVern Baker, Sylvia Sims, and Mabel King (What’s Happening!) were actresses, too. Marylyn Scott and Sister Rosetta Tharpe played guitar. Little Sylvia played guitar; later, as Sylvia Robinson, she went on to found Sugar Hill Records and played an irreplaceable role in formation of hiphop music. Barbara Lynn appeared in the 2015 documentary I Am The Blues and continues to play guitar. Irma Thomas is still active. Sugar Pie DeSanto was, and still is, a dancer. Big Mama Thornton played drums and harmonica. Jackie Shane identified as female; she passed away this year after her work, long-neglected, came back into focus with a Grammy nomination. Shane first performed her hit single, “Any Other Way,” in Toronto, backed by Frank Motley, who often played two trumpets simultaneously.

To say that many of these tunes simply concern “love relationships” would grossly underestimate their contents. When Nancy Adams narrates all the activity in her “orchard,” she does so from a gangster standpoint, threatening to take “[her] gun and rat-a-tat-tat” that cat who’s “picking at [her] plum tree.” Irma Thomas and Sugar Pie DeSanto sing about the need (as jilted lovers) to leave town altogether while Rose Mitchell and Jo Ann Henderson both plead for a “baby” to stay, as they perform two different versions of the same song. Dolly Cooper doesn’t mince lyrics in establishing a certain ferocity of passion in “Wild Love,” and similarly, Nellie Lutcher urges her partner to “Hurry on down” since there “ain’t nobody home but [the singer].”

Left: Dolly Cooper, right: LaVern Baker

Some songs describe earthy forms of celebration. Camille Howard’s “Fiesta In Old Mexico,” Marylyn Scott’s “Beer Bottle Boogie,” LaVern Baker’s “Dix-A-Billy,” and the voice of Helen Lancaster in “The Monkey Swing” call to mind jumping juke joints and house rent parties. Big Maybelle and Ann Cole recorded the first versions of iconic songs that later came to be standards for Bill Haley and Muddy Waters, respectively. A dark horse candidate for the best among these songs is the Martha Davis tune, “Sarah Sarah,” which conjures the earnest life of a seamstress in a shoeshine shop. Of course, male characters abound. From a “little boy” to a “baby” to a “hound dog” to “Henry” to “Johnny Lee” to the singer Percy Mayfield (of “Mercy Mister Percy”), these ladies sure do address the fellas. Cleo Brown predicted—“Here’s the news / And it’s the newest”—that Jim Braddock would meet Joe Louis, two years after her song appeared. And they did meet, and Louis knocked out Braddock in what would become a comeuppance that reinforced the message in Brown’s song.

I hope that many of these musicians will be new to you, as they were to me. Seek-out the songs. Play them loud. Jump about. Shake your entire body, then shake individual body parts, one by one. Most importantly, figure out some way to compensate me for bringing this music into your life. I’d like you to know that I accept most—but not all—forms of stout, and stout-porter, and porter. Inquire via modern inquiry techniques, if you will, and you will. Oh yes. Amen. Also, please refer to our Jump Blues post, our Shakers post, and our Unassailable Vocalists post, even as there may be some minor differences between the opinions and lists published therein. Hoy hoy!

 Irma Thomas “Break-A-Way” (1964)    

Discography information appears below

Top 30 Records

Nellie Lutcher: “Hurry On Down” (1947) [Capitol, A-side b/w “The Lady’s In Love With You”]

Martha Davis: “Sarah Sarah” (1948) [Jewel B-side b/w “When I Say Goodbye”]

Camille Howard: “Fiesta In Old Mexico” (1949) [Specialty A-side b/w “Miraculous Boogie” ]

Marylyn Scott: “Beer Bottle Boogie” (1950) [Regent A-side b/w “Uneasy Blues”]

Little Sylvia: “Little Boy” (1951) [Savoy A-side b/w “How Long Must I Be Blue”]

Big Mama Thornton: “Hound Dog” (1952) [Peacock A-side b/w “Night Mare”]

Terry Timmons: “Got Nobody To Love” (1952) [RCA Victor A-side b/w “I Shouldn’t Have To Cry Over You”] 

Varetta Dillard: “Mercy Mr. Percy” (1953) [Savoy A-side “No Kinda Good, No How”]

Rose Mitchell: “Baby Please Don’t Go” (1953) [Imperial A-side b/w “Live My Life”]

Ruth Brown: “Hello Little Boy” (1954) [Atlantic B-side b/w “If I Had Any Sense”]

Blanche Thomas: “You Ain’t So Such A Much” (1954) [Imperial A-side b/w “Not The Way That I Love You”]

Big Maybelle: “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” (1955) [OKeh A-side b/w “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show”]

Marie Knight: “Who Rolled The Stone Away” (1955) [Decca A-side b/w “Easter Bells”]

Sylvia Sims: “Each Day” (1956) [Decca A-side b/w “Dancing Chandelier”]

Faye Adams: “Johnny Lee” (1957) [Imperial B-side b/w “You’re Crazy”]

Dolly Cooper: “Wild Love” (1957) [Ebb B-side “Time Brings About A Change”]

Tiny Topsy: “Miss You So” (1957) [Federal B-side b/w “Aw! Shucks Baby”]

Ann Cole: “Got My Mo-Jo Workin’” (1957) [Baton A-side b/w “I’ve Got A Little Boy”]

Jo Ann Henderson: “Baby Please Don’t Go” (1957) [Phonograph A-side b/w “Just Leave Me Alone”]

Etta James: “Dance With Me, Henry” (1957-58) [Crown from A Rock ‘N Roll Dance Party]

LaVern Baker: “Dix-A-Billy” (1958) [Atlantic B-side b/w “I Cried A Tear”]

Mary Ann Fisher: “Put On My Shoes” (1959) [Fire A-side b/w “Wild As You Can Be”]

Sugar Pie DeSanto: “Going Back Where I Belong” (1960) [Veltone A-side b/w “Wish You Were Mine”]

Aretha Franklin: “Won’t Be Long” (1961) [Columbia from Aretha: With The Ray Bryant Combo]

Mabel King: “Go Back Home Young Fella” (1962) [Amy A-side b/w “Lefty”]

Barbara Lynn: “You’re Gonna Need Me” (1963) [Jamie B-side b/w “I’m Sorry I Met You”]

Jackie Shane: “Any Other Way” (1963) [Sue Records A-side b/w “Sticks And Stones”]

Nancy Adams: “Somebody’s In My Orchard” (1964) [RCA Victor A-side b/w “You’ve Got To Show Me”]

Irma Thomas: “Break-A-Way” (1964) [B-side b/w “Wish Someone Would Care”]

Yum Yums: “Gonna Be A Big Thing” (1965) [ABC Paramount B-side b/w “Looky, Looky (What I Got)”]

+ 5 Early Jumps

Cleo Brown: “When Hollywood Goes Black And Tan” (1935) [Brunswick A-side b/w “When”]

Helen Lancaster with the Harlem Stompers: “The Monkey Swing” (1938) [Decca A-side b/w “My Understanding Man”]

Sister Rosetta Tharpe: “Rock Me” (1938) [Brunswick A-side b/w “Lonesome Road”]

Ella Mae Morse with Freddie Slack And His Orchestra: “Get On Board Little Chillun” (1942) [Capitol A-side b/w “Old Rob Roy”]

Helen Humes: “Be-Baba-Leba” (1945) [Philo Recordings B-side b/w “Every Now And Then”]

   

Top, left to right: Annie Laurie, Dolly Lyon     

Bottom, left to right: Wynona Carr, Inez Foxx

+ Also Considered:

Annisteen Allen: “Oo-Ee-Bab-A-Lee-Bob” (1945). Marion Abernathy aka The Blues Woman: “Voo-it! Voo-it!” (1946). Blue Lu Barker: “A Little Bird Told Me” (1948). Paula Watson: “Hidin’ In The Sticks” (1948). Albennie Jones: “Hole In The Wall” (1949). Erline Harris: “Jump And Shout” (1950). Julia Lee & Her Boyfriends: “Mama Don’t Allow It” (1951). Mabel Scott: “Catch ‘Em Young, Treat ‘Em Rough, Never Tell ‘Em Nothing” (1951). Margie Day: “Snatchin’ It Back” (1953). Pearl Reaves: “You Can’t Stay Here (Step It Up And Go)” (1955). Lula Reed: “Rock Love” (1955). Wynona Carr: “Jump, Jack, Jump” (1956). Annie Laurie: “Rockin’ And Rollin’ Again” (1956). Anita Tucker: “Hop Skip And Jump” (1956). Dolly Lyon: “Palm Of Your Hand” (1957). Lillian Offit: “Miss You So” (1957). Fay Simmons: “Hangin’ Around” (1957). Carol Fran: “I Quit My Knockin’” (1958). Sharon Smith: “I’m Waiting” (1958?). Baby Jean: “Oh Johnny” (1962). Jessie Mae: “Don’t Freeze On Me” (1962). Inez and Charlie Foxx: “Mockingbird” (1963). Cookie Jackson: “Do You Still Love Me” (1963). Patti LaBelle and the Blue Bells: “Academy Award” (1963). Pearl Woods “Stickum Up Baby” (1963).

Sources of Information

Wikipedia, AllMusic Guide, YouTube, Discogs, 45cat, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, The Guardian obituary on Nellie Lutcher, Nick Tosches The Unsung Heroes of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Mary Unterbrink Jazz Women at the Keyboard, Black Cat Rockabilly article on Camille Howard, New York Times obituary for Sylvia Robinson, Gillian Gaar She’s a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll, Last.fm article on Terry Timmons, Kim Clark’s Record Shack article on Varetta Dillard, Tony Russell The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, Jazz Archivist article on Blanche Thomas, Robert Santelli The Big Book of Blues, W. K. McNeil Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music, Black Cat Rockabilly article on Faye Adams, Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc Blues - A Regional Experience, Black Cat Rockabilly article on Ann Cole, IMDB page for LaVern Baker, Bob Gulla Icons of R&B and Soul, SF Gate article about Sugar Pie DeSanto, Mary J. Blige profile of Aretha Franklin at Rolling Stone, IMDB page for Mabel King, NEA Heritage Fellowship page for Barbara Lynn, NPR article on Jackie Shane, Jeff Hannusch I Hear You Knockin : The Sound of New Orleans Rhythm and Blues, NEA Jazz Masters article on Cleo Brown, Dan DeLuca article on Sister Rosetta Tharpe at Pop Matters, New York Times obituary for Ella Mae Morse, Whitney Balliett American Singers: Twenty-Seven Portraits in Song.

Discographical information for “Break-A-Way”

In addition to Irma Thomas (vocals), personnel may have included: Jessie Willard Carr (guitar), Paul Hornsby (keyboards), Pops Powell (bass), Squirm (drums), Swamp Dogg (piano), and the Blossoms (backup vocals). All other instruments, if any, and additional vocals, if any, unknown. Recorded in 1964 as a B-side b/w “Wish Someone Would Care” on Imperial Records No. 66013.