Thursday, November 25, 2010

Blues & Rhythm Classics Discography


Blues & Rhythm Classics (also known as "Rhythm and Blues Classics") is a series of French Classics Records label devoted to rhythm and blues of the 1940s and 1950s. It contains 190 releases (5000-5189) that began in 2001.

For many years I was wondering why there is no information in regard to the Classics label which played a major role in introducing a generation to classic jazz, and in this case R&B. "I guess he was a bit of a technophobe," wrote Dave Penny, the author of liner notes for the Blues & Rhythm Classics, about the founder and boss of the Classics, Gilles Petard. This may explain many things as far as obscurity of the label is concerned, but still, the comment Dave left at the end of this post shed light on more issues, especially how the job was done:

[The] process was all very mundane; I first began writing for Gilles when he was putting out LPs on French Pathé and his own Official and Sing labels in the 1980s. Around 2001 I got a letter from him [Gilles Petard] (I guess he was a bit of a technophobe), telling me that he was launching an R&B series of his Chronological Classics set, to run parallel to the jazz series that had already been going for over 10 years by that time.

I probably wasn't his first choice of writer, but I was the first one who agreed take on that huge task for the tiny amount of money he wanted to pay (he was always pretty mean when it came to paying fees, but I was more interested in researching and writing about the artists than about how much I was being paid).

From 2001 until 2008 he sent me the track-listings for, first two compilations a month and, then, increased this to three a month once the series became established. There was never any compiling, as such, because it was simply all the artist's tracks in chronological order, and all I got was his typed sheets through the post every month (i.e. no cassettes or CD-Rs of the tracks listed). He had a great record collection, himself, and a fantastic network of heavy-duty blues and R&B collectors to call upon, so that there were very few recordings he wasn't able to track down during those seven years.

It all came to a sudden end in 2008 when two of his distributors in France collapsed owing his company lots of money. The CDs weren't selling very well any more (too many people were downloading them free from blogs and torrent sites), so he decided to call it a day. He told me he was thinking of carrying the series on as downloads only on iTunes, and I did a couple more notes for him on this understanding, but as far as I'm aware they were never released.

While I was relieved that I didn't have the huge pressure of writing three essays a month anymore, I was sad that we hadn't covered every artist we should have...or completed the recording careers of those we had started. I am proud of what we did achieve, though; after all, who else would have bothered releasing CDs of Jo Jo Adams, Tom Archia, Buster Bennett and Rusty Bryant - to name just the As and Bs!
Thanks to Mr. Dave Penny, now we know a lot more!

Sorted by serial number

5000 Ray Charles 1949-1950
5001 Marion Abernathy 1947-1949
5002 Dave Bartholomew 1947-1950
5003 Ruth Brown 1949-1950
5004 Professor Longhair 1949
5005 Earl Bostic 1945-1948
5006 Tom Archia 1947-1948
5007 T-Bone Walker 1929-1946
5008 Muddy Waters 1941-1948
5009 Big Jay Mcneely 1948-1950
5010 Walter Brown 1945-1947
5011 Tiny Bradshaw 1934-1947
5012 Sticks Mcghee 1947-1951
5013 Sunnyland Slim 1947-1948
5014 Lightnin’ Hopkins 1946-1948
5015 Ivory Joe Hunter 1945-1947
5016 Lloyd Glenn 1947-1950
5017 Eddie Vinson 1945-1947
5018 Amos Milburn 1946-1947
5019 Todd Rhodes 1947-1949
5020 Joe Liggins 1944-1946
5021 Roy Brown 1947-1949
5022 Earl Bostic 1948-1949
5023 Lightnin' Hopkins 1948
5024 Crown Prince Waterford 1946-1950
5025 Fats Domino 1949-1951
5026 Ivory Joe Hunter 1947
5027 Johnny Otis 1945-1947
5028 Andrew Tibbs 1947-1951
5029 Muddy Waters 1948-1950
5030 Clarence Gatemouth Brown 1947-1951
5031 Tiny Bradshaw 1949-1951
5032 Milt Buckner 1946-1951
5033 T-Bone Walker 1947
5034 Freddie Mitchell 1949-1950
5035 Sunnyland Slim 1949-1951
5036 Roy Brown 1950-1951
5037 Buster Bennett 1945-1947
5038 Walter Brown 1947-1951
5039 Earl Bostic 1949-1951
5040 Todd Rhodes 1950-1951
5041 Roy Milton 1945-1946
5042 Eddie Vinson 1947-1949
5043 Jim Wynn 1945-1946
5044 Lowell Fulson 1946-1947
5045 Lightnin’ Hopkins 1948-1949
5046 Billy Wright 1945-1950
5047 Amos Milburn 1947
5048 Tiny Grimes 1944-1949
5049 Ivory Joe Hunter 1947-1950
5050 Ray Charles 1950-1952
5051 Jimmy Witherspoon 1947-1948
5052 Sugar Chile Robinson 1949-1952
5053 B.B. King 1949-1952
5054 Bull Moose Jackson 1945-1947
5055 Dave Bartholomew 1950-1952
5056 Howlin’ Wolf 1951-1952
5057 Joe Morris 1946-1949
5058 Big Jay Mcneely 1951-1952
5059 Little Miss Cornshucks 1947-1951
5060 Fats Domino 1951-1952
5061 Paul & Dud Bascomb 1945-1947
5062 Jimmy Mccracklin 1945-1948
5063 Joe Liggins 1946-1948
5064 Saunders King 1942-1948
5065 Chris Powell 1949-1952
5066 Little Esther 1951-1952
5067 Johnny Otis 1949-1950
5068 Mabel Scott 1946-1950
5069 Lloyd Glenn 1951-1952
5070 Jim Wynn 1947-1959
5071 Lowell Fulson 1947-1948
5072 Lil Green 1940-1941
5073 Hal Singer 1948-1951
5074 T-Bone Walker 1947-1950
5075 Joe Lutcher 1947
5076 Sherman Williams 1947-1951
5077 Amos Milburn 1948-1949
5078 Big Bill Broonzy 1949-1951
5079 Lightnin’ Hopkins 1949-1950
5080 Jimmy Witherspoon 1948-1949
5081 King Perry 1945-1949
5082 Elmore James 1951-1953
5083 Jo Jo Adams 1946-1953
5084 Ruth Brown 1951-1953
5085 Jimmy Rushing 1946-1953
5086 John Brim 1950-1953
5087 Ace Harris 1937-1952
5088 Big Mama Thornton 1950-1953
5089 Big Maybelle 1944-1953
5090 Roy Brown 1951-1953
5091 Little Walter 1947-1953
5092 Terry Timmons 1950-1953
5093 Earl Bostic 1952-1953
5094 Sonny Boy Williamson 1951-1953
5095 Fats Domino 1953
5096 Annisteen Allen 1950-1953
5097 Bill Doggett 1952-1953
5098 Howlin’ Wolf 1952-1953
5099 Lil Green 1942-1946
5100 Lloyd Price 1952-1953
5101 Big Bill Broonzy 1951
5102 Johnny Otis 1950
5103 Tj Fowler 1948-1953
5104 Paula Watson 1948-1953
5105 Bull Moose Jackson 1947-1950
5106 Tiny Grimes 1949-1951
5107 Mabel Scott 1951-1955
5108 Joe Liggins 1948-1950
5109 Muddy Waters 1950-1952
5110 Jimmy Mccracklin 1948-1951
5111 Sarah Mclawler 1950-1953
5112 Bill Samuels 1945-1947
5113 Ivory Joe Hunter 1950-1951
5114 Percy Mayfield 1947-1951
5115 The Clovers 1950-1953
5116 Effie Smith 1945-1953
5117 Amos Milburn 1950-1951
5118 T-Bone Walker 1950-1952
5119 Julia Lee 1927-1946
5120 Billy Ward 1950-1953
5121 Charlie Singleton 1949-1953
5122 Lowell Fulson 1948-1949
5123 Martha Davis 1946-1951
5124 Big Bill Broonzy 1951-1952
5125 Joe Morris 1950-1953
5126 Lavern Baker 1949-1954
5127 Gatemouth Brown 1952-1954
5128 J.B. Lenoir 1951-1954
5129 King Perry 1950-1954
5130 Floyd Jones 1948-53
5131 Lil Green 1947-51
5132 Roy Als/Hank Ballard & Midnighters 1952-54
5133 Lightnin' Hopkins 1950-51
5134 Ray Charles 1953-54
5135 Willis Jackson 1950-54
5136 Lula Reed 1951-54
5137 Leroy Foster 1948-52
5138 Johnny Ace 1951-54
5139 Guitar Slim 1951-54
5140 Otis Blackwell 1952-54
5141 Faye Adams- 1952-54
5142 Clyde Mc Phatter & The Drifters 1953-54
5143 Sugar Boy Crawford 1953-54
5144 Julia Lee 1947
5145 Larry Darnell 1949-51
5146 Tiny Grimes 1951-54
5147 Little Esther 1952-53
5148 B.B. King 1952-53
5149 Saunders King 1948-54
5150 Percy Mayfield-1953-54
5151 Titus Turner 1949-54
5152 T-Bone Walker 1952_54
5153 Lonnie Johnson 1949-52
5154 Willie Mabon 1949-54
5155 Joe Liggins 1950-52
5156 Bull Moose Jackson 1950-53
5157 J.T. Brown 1950-54
5158 Amos Milburn 1952-53
5159 Todd Rhodes 1952-54
5160 The Hawks/The Bees 1953-54
5161 Tommy Ridgiey 1949-54
5162 Johnny Otis 1951
5163 Johnny Sparrow 1949-55
5164 Lowell Fulson 1949-51
5165 Jimmy Witherspoon 1950-51
5166 Smiley Lewis 1947-52
5167 Little Junior Parker 1952-55
5168 Sticks Mc Ghee 1951-59
5169 Dave Barthoiomew 1952-55
5170 Big Jay Mc Neely 1953-55
5171 Sunnyland Slim 1952-55
5172 Johnny "Guitar" Watson -1952-55
5173 Viviane Greene 1947-1955
5174 Earl King 1953-55
5175 Bill Doggett 1954
5176 Ike Turner 1951-1954
5177 Lonnie Johnson 1948-49
5178 Billy Ward & His Dominoes 1953-54
5179 Earl Bostic 1954-55
5180 Jimmy Mc Cracklin 1951-54
5181 Ruth Brown 1954-56
5182 Rusty Bryant 1952-54
5183 Little Walter 1953-55
5184 J. B. Lenoir 1955-56
5185 Stomp Gordon 1952-56
5186 Lavern Baker 1955-57
5187 Lloyd Glenn 1954-57
5188 Sonny Boy Williamson 1956-56
5189 Lonnie Johnson 1947-48

Sorted by Artist's name

Ace Harris 1937-1952 5087
Amos Milburn 1946-1947 5018
Amos Milburn 1947 5047
Amos Milburn 1948-1949 5077
Amos Milburn 1950-1951 5117
Amos Milburn 1952-53 5158
Andrew Tibbs 1947-1951 5028
Annisteen Allen 1950-1953 5096
B.B. King 1949-1952 5053
B.B. King 1952-53 5148
Big Bill Broonzy 1949-1951 5078
Big Bill Broonzy 1951 5101
Big Bill Broonzy 1951-1952 5124
Big Jay Mc Neely 1953-55 5170
Big Jay Mcneely 1948-1950 5009
Big Jay Mcneely 1951-1952 5058
Big Mama Thornton 1950-1953 5088
Big Maybelle 1944-1953 5089
Bill Doggett 1952-1953 5097
Bill Doggett 1954 5175
Bill Samuels 1945-1947 5112
Billy Ward & His Dominoes 1953-54 5178
Billy Ward 1950-1953 5120
Billy Wright 1945-1950 5046
Bull Moose Jackson 1945-1947 5054
Bull Moose Jackson 1947-1950 5105
Bull Moose Jackson 1950-53 5156
Buster Bennett 1945-1947 5037
Charlie Singleton 1949-1953 5121
Chris Powell 1949-1952 5065
Clarence Gatemouth Brown 1947-1951 5030
Clyde Mc Phatter & The Drifters 1953-54 5142
Crown Prince Waterford 1946-1950 5024
Dave Barthoiomew 1952-55 5169
Dave Bartholomew 1947-1950 5002
Dave Bartholomew 1950-1952 5055
Earl Bostic 1945-1948 5005
Earl Bostic 1948-1949 5022
Earl Bostic 1949-1951 5039
Earl Bostic 1952-1953 5093
Earl Bostic 1954-55 5179
Earl King 1953-55 5174
Eddie Vinson 1945-1947 5017
Eddie Vinson 1947-1949 5042
Effie Smith 1945-1953 5116
Elmore James 1951-1953 5082
Fats Domino 1949-1951 5025
Fats Domino 1951-1952 5060
Fats Domino 1953 5095
Faye Adams- 1952-54 5141
Floyd Jones 1948-53 5130
Freddie Mitchell 1949-1950 5034
Gatemouth Brown 1952-1954 5127
Guitar Slim 1951-54 5139
Hal Singer 1948-1951 5073
Howlin’ Wolf 1951-1952 5056
Howlin’ Wolf 1952-1953 5098
Ike Turner 1951-1954 5176
Ivory Joe Hunter 1945-1947 5015
Ivory Joe Hunter 1947 5026
Ivory Joe Hunter 1947-1950 5049
Ivory Joe Hunter 1950-1951 5113
J. B. Lenoir 1955-56 5184
J.B. Lenoir 1951-1954 5128
J.T. Brown 1950-54 5157
Jim Wynn 1945-1946 5043
Jim Wynn 1947-1959 5070
Jimmy Mc Cracklin 1951-54 5180
Jimmy Mccracklin 1945-1948 5062
Jimmy Mccracklin 1948-1951 5110
Jimmy Rushing 1946-1953 5085
Jimmy Witherspoon 1947-1948 5051
Jimmy Witherspoon 1948-1949 5080
Jimmy Witherspoon 1950-51 5165
Jo Jo Adams 1946-1953 5083
Joe Liggins 1944-1946 5020
Joe Liggins 1946-1948 5063
Joe Liggins 1948-1950 5108
Joe Liggins 1950-52 5155
Joe Lutcher 1947 5075
Joe Morris 1946-1949 5057
Joe Morris 1950-1953 5125
John Brim 1950-1953 5086
Johnny "Guitar" Watson -1952-55 5172
Johnny Ace 1951-54 5138
Johnny Otis 1945-1947 5027
Johnny Otis 1949-1950 5067
Johnny Otis 1950 5102
Johnny Otis 1951 5162
Johnny Sparrow 1949-55 5163
Julia Lee 1927-1946 5119
Julia Lee 1947 5144
King Perry 1945-1949 5081
King Perry 1950-1954 5129
Larry Darnell 1949-51 5145
Lavern Baker 1949-1954 5126
Lavern Baker 1955-57 5186
Leroy Foster 1948-52 5137
Lightnin' Hopkins 1948 5023
Lightnin' Hopkins 1950-51 5133
Lightnin’ Hopkins 1946-1948 5014
Lightnin’ Hopkins 1948-1949 5045
Lightnin’ Hopkins 1949-1950 5079
Lil Green 1940-1941 5072
Lil Green 1942-1946 5099
Lil Green 1947-51 5131
Little Esther 1951-1952 5066
Little Esther 1952-53 5147
Little Junior Parker 1952-55 5167
Little Miss Cornshucks 1947-1951 5059
Little Walter 1947-1953 5091
Little Walter 1953-55 5183
Lloyd Glenn 1947-1950 5016
Lloyd Glenn 1951-1952 5069
Lloyd Glenn 1954-57 5187
Lloyd Price 1952-1953 5100
Lonnie Johnson 1947-48 5189
Lonnie Johnson 1948-49 5177
Lonnie Johnson 1949-52 5153
Lowell Fulson 1946-1947 5044
Lowell Fulson 1947-1948 5071
Lowell Fulson 1948-1949 5122
Lowell Fulson 1949-51 5164
Lula Reed 1951-54 5136
Mabel Scott 1946-1950 5068
Mabel Scott 1951-1955 5107
Marion Abernathy 1947-1949 5001
Martha Davis 1946-1951 5123
Milt Buckner 1946-1951 5032
Muddy Waters 1941-1948 5008
Muddy Waters 1948-1950 5029
Muddy Waters 1950-1952 5109
Otis Blackwell 1952-54 5140
Paul & Dud Bascomb 1945-1947 5061
Paula Watson 1948-1953 5104
Percy Mayfield 1947-1951 5114
Percy Mayfield-1953-54 5150
Professor Longhair 1949 5004
Ray Charles 1949-1950 5000
Ray Charles 1950-1952 5050
Ray Charles 1953-54 5134
Roy Als/Hank Ballard & Midnighters 1952-54 5132
Roy Brown 1947-1949 5021
Roy Brown 1950-1951 5036
Roy Brown 1951-1953 5090
Roy Milton 1945-1946 5041
Rusty Bryant 1952-54 5182
Ruth Brown 1949-1950 5003
Ruth Brown 1951-1953 5084
Ruth Brown 1954-56 5181
Sarah Mclawler 1950-1953 5111
Saunders King 1942-1948 5064
Saunders King 1948-54 5149
Sherman Williams 1947-1951 5076
Smiley Lewis 1947-52 5166
Sonny Boy Williamson 1951-1953 5094
Sonny Boy Williamson 1956-56 5188
Sticks Mc Ghee 1951-59 5168
Sticks Mcghee 1947-1951 5012
Stomp Gordon 1952-56 5185
Sugar Boy Crawford 1953-54 5143
Sugar Chile Robinson 1949-1952 5052
Sunnyland Slim 1947-1948 5013
Sunnyland Slim 1949-1951 5035
Sunnyland Slim 1952-55 5171
T-Bone Walker 1929-1946 5007
T-Bone Walker 1947 5033
T-Bone Walker 1947-1950 5074
T-Bone Walker 1950-1952 5118
T-Bone Walker 1952_54 5152
Terry Timmons 1950-1953 5092
The Clovers 1950-1953 5115
The Hawks/The Bees 1953-54 5160
Tiny Bradshaw 1934-1947 5011
Tiny Bradshaw 1949-1951 5031
Tiny Grimes 1944-1949 5048
Tiny Grimes 1949-1951 5106
Tiny Grimes 1951-54 5146
Titus Turner 1949-54 5151
Tj Fowler 1948-1953 5103
Todd Rhodes 1947-1949 5019
Todd Rhodes 1950-1951 5040
Todd Rhodes 1952-54 5159
Tom Archia 1947-1948 5006
Tommy Ridgiey 1949-54 5161
Viviane Greene 1947-1955 5173
Walter Brown 1945-1947 5010
Walter Brown 1947-1951 5038
Willie Mabon 1949-54 5154
Willis Jackson 1950-54 5135

8 comments:

  1. It is interesting to see three volumes dedicated to the great Tiny Grimes, one of the most amazing musicians in history. This series rightly honors him as a pioneer in R & B but he also participated in the early days of bebop with Charlie Parker. Before that he was Art Tatum's guitarist in the early 40's. Later he embraced hard bop and soul jazz and made some wonderful recordings on Prestige including the remarkable 'Blues Groove' with Coleman Hawkins and Ray Bryant. I had the good fortune to see him in New York in 1973 and enjoyed him thoroughly. He primarily played a four string 'tenor guitar' but I seem to remember him using a six string occasionally during the Prestige era. I was around 18 when I saw him and he seemed ancient to me then but he actually lived until 1989 and continued to play for most of those years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep, thanks for sharing the infos! ... But who is Dave Penny, who wrote the notices ??

    (Signed : The man who created the page of this collection on french Wiki, back 2009 !)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hectorvadair, thanks for the comment. Just checked your interesting blogs. I'm afraid I don't know what you mean by "Dave Penny who wrote the notices"...can you explain more, please?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've just stumbled across this webpage and thought I'd answer Hectorvadair's query as I am the Dave Penny who wrote the notes for all 190 releases. I have been writing about blues, r&b, jazz and rock 'n' roll for thirty years and was closely connected to the magazine, "Blues & Rhythm" in the 1980s and 1990s. I had worked for Gilles Petard before during this time and he contacted me when he had the idea to start a "Blues & Rhythm" series of Chronological Classics to complement the long standing jazz series.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Dave, thanks for shedding light on this hard-to-research matter of classics series. I should have guessed myself that Hector was referring to the author of line notes. Dave, can you, kindly, provide us with more information in regard to the series, the concept behind it, more pragmatic aspects of compiling it and finally Mr Gilles Petard himself? If you could, that would be a giant step forward in knowing more about this invaluable source of music.

      Delete
  5. Ehsan, I'm afraid the process was all very mundane; I first began writing for Gilles when he was putting out LPs on French Pathe and his own Official and Sing labels in the 1980s. Around 2001 I got a letter from him (I guess he was a bit of a technophobe), telling me that he was launching an R&B series of his Chronological Classics set, to run parallel to the jazz series that had already been going for over 10 years by that time.
    I probably wasn't his first choice of writer, but I was the first one who agreed take on that huge task for the tiny amount of money he wanted to pay (he was always pretty mean when it came to paying fees, but I was more interested in researching and writing about the artists than about how much I was being paid).
    From 2001 until 2008 he sent me the track-listings for, first two compilations a month and, then, increased this to three a month once the series became established. There was never any compiling, as such, because it was simply all the artist's tracks in chronological order, and all I got was his typed sheets through the post every month (i.e. no cassettes or CD-Rs of the tracks listed). He had a great record collection, himself, and a fantastic network of heavy-duty blues and r&b collectors to call upon, so that there were very few recordings he wasn't able to track down during those seven years.
    It all came to a sudden end in 2008 when two of his distributors in France collapsed owing his company lots of money. The CDs weren't selling very well any more (too many people were downloading them free from blogs and torrent sites), so he decided to call it a day. He told me he was thinking of carrying the series on as downloads only on iTunes, and I did a couple more notes for him on this understanding, but as far as I'm aware they were never released.
    While I was relieved that I didn't have the huge pressure of writing three essays a month anymore, I was sad that we hadn't covered every artist we should have...or completed the recording careers of those we had started. I am proud of what we did achieve, though; after all, who else would have bothered releasing CDs of Jo Jo Adams, Tom Archia, Buster Bennett and Rusty Bryant - to name just the As and Bs!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for this great info, Mr. K.

    ReplyDelete