Todd Rhodes Orchestra Blue Sensation Vitacoustic 1002 1948 R&B Detroit Jump Blue

Description: Todd Rhodes Orchestra* ‎– Blue Sensation / Dance Of The Red SkinsLabel:Vitacoustic ‎– 1002Series:Jam Session Series (2) –Format:Shellac, 10", 78 RPMCountry:USReleased:1948Genre:BluesStyle:Rhythm & BluesTracklistABlue SensationBDance Of The Red SkinsCreditsWritten-By – Todd RhodesBarcode and Other IdentifiersMatrix / Runout (Side A Label): 1002AMatrix / Runout (Side B Label): 1002B The first four items to be released in Vitacoustic's R&B series (Vitacoustic 1001 through 1004) all involved Detroit-based pianist and bandleader Todd Rhodes and were obtained from the Sensation label. Vitacoustic 1007 was another Rhodes item from the same source. Todd Rhodes in 1947Todd Rhodes was a veteran of the music business by this time. He was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on August 31, 1900. When he was 4 years old, his father died and his mother had to relocate to Springfield, Ohio. He studied at the Springfield School of Music from 1915 to 1917 and then spent four years at the Erie (Pennsylvania) Conservatory of Music. On returning to Springfield he joined McKinney's Syncos, a group led by drummer William McKinney. As photographed in the summer of 1921, the Synco Novelty Orchestra consisted of Claude Jones (trombone), Milton Senior (alto sax and clarinet), Wesley Stewart (violin), Rhodes (piano), Ralph Wilson (banjo), and McKinney. According to a 1948 "Meet the King Artists" publicity sheet, the Syncos did six summer seasons at Manitou Beach, an inland lake resort in southern Michigan; over the years the Syncos expanded into a big band. In the summer of 1926, bandleader and impresario Jean Goldkette booked the Syncos into the Arcadia Ballroom in Detroit; in September 1927 they went into the Graystone Ballroom. At this point, Don Redman was brought in as their new music director and the Syncos changed their name to McKinney's Cotton Pickers. The Cotton Pickers played the Graystone Ballroom in Detroit from 3 1/2 years, broadcast regularly over radio station WJR for 2 years, and recorded 60 sides for Victor between 1928 to 1931. One of the recording highlights was their 1928 rendition of Rhodes' composition, "Put It There," as arranged by trumpeter John Nesbitt. The Cotton Pickers went downhill with the Great Depression and the ensuing loss of their recording contract; Rhodes finally left the band in the fall of 1934. Remaining in Detroit, Rhodes gigged with many different bands but worked most often with the Swing combo led by clarinetist and alto saxophonist Cecil Lee; "Rhapsody in Blue" was Rhodes' feature number during this time. During World War II he worked a day job as a maintenance man at the Fisher Body plant in River Rouge, Michigan; he did this out of a desire to support the war effort, taking the job after war was declared and leaving promptly after V-J day in 1945. In late 1943, after leaving Cecil Lee's band for the last time, Rhodes was asked to take the leadership of a four piece combo in the Triangle Bar on Michigan Avenue in Detroit, where he remained for seven months. In June 1945 Rhodes took a sextet into Broad's Club Zombie, where he remained through December. Business got even better after that. According to the King Records handout, "The band played the Club Three Sixes [666 East Adams] for six months [starting April 1946], and then was booked into the Club Sensation for a four-week run, but held over for eight months by popular demand." This was Lee's Sensation Lounge (1300 Owen), where Bernard Besman discovered Rhodes in the late spring of 1947 and decided to record him. The first Todd Rhodes session took place at United Sound Studios in Detroit in July of 1947, when the Sensation label started operations. Sensation recorded pretty steadily between 1947 and 1950; in addition, Besman signed bluesman John Lee Hooker to a personal contract. (Exactly when John Lee Hooker cut his first session for Bernard Besman is disputed. Charles Shaar Murray says it was in the summer of 1948, by which time Vitacoustic's pact with Sensation was no longer in force and King Records had become Sensation's new partner. However, Murray also reports that the first Hooker session took place immediately after one of Todd Rhodes' sessions, and Rhodes is not known to have recorded for Sensation between the very end of 1947 and December 1948. Quite possibly Hooker first recorded at a session in late December 1947. In any event, Besman dealt the first Hooker sides to Modern Records of Los Angeles in September 1948; Modern was the national label that benefited from the Hooker phenomenon, racking up big hits with "Boogie Chillen" [released November 1948] and "Hobo Blues"). The matrix numbers on the first Sensation-derived batch do not come from the Vitacoustic series. Masters from the sessions conducted after the Sensation / Vitacoustic alliance was concluded carried matrix numbers in the Vitacoustic series, indicating that processing and mastering (and some of the recording) took place in Chicago, at United Broadcasting Studios. After Vitacoustic filed for reorganization in February 1948 and quit putting out new issues in its "race" series Sensation (which never had distribution of its own beyond Pan American's territory) was in a bind. Sensation seems to have put out a few releases (Sensation 7, 8, and 9) in early 1948 without Vitacoustic, but without distribution muscle these weren't going to go anywhere. On June 26, Besman and Kaplan struck a new deal with Cincinnati-based King Records (this was announced in Billboard on July 3, 1948). Billboard explains that they had "recently [taken] back a stable of Negro masters from Vitacoustic and revived their old Sensation label." Sensation had previously bought back Vitacoustic's share of the artist contracts for Todd Rhodes and others. Under the terms of the new deal, King obtained a five-year lease on 60 Sensation masters, including 24 by Rhodes. The items covered were to be released on both Sensation and King, but the Sensation releases would be sold only in Michigan and Ohio; Besman and Kaplan were allowed to release the Sensation versions two weeks before the King versions. (Although this may not have been intended, Sensation ended up putting out some singles that were not picked up by King.) The pact ended prematurely in August 1949, after Sensation and King got into a fight over who owned Todd Rhodes' contract. Below we are supplying a triple release listing: first Sensation, then Vitacoustic, and finally King. Matrix NumberSensation ReleaseVitacoustic ReleaseKing ReleaseOther ReleaseArtistTitleRecording DateFirst Release Date2132 A[K5465]Sensation 1Vitacoustic 1002 BKing 4237Todd Rhodes OrchestraDance of the Red SkinsJuly 1947(August 1947) October 19472132 A alt. (Ace CDCHD 856)Todd Rhodes OrchestraDance of the Red SkinsJuly 1947(August 1947) October 19472132 B[K5466]Sensation 1Vitacoustic 1002 AKing 4237(Ace CDCHD 856)Todd Rhodes OrchestraBlue SensationJuly 1947(August 1947) October 19472133 A[K5469]Sensation 2 AVitacoustic 1001AKing 4239(Ace CDCHD 856)Todd Rhodes OrchestraBell-Boy BoogieJuly 1947October 19472133 B[K5470]Sensation 2 BVitacoustic 1001 BKing 4239(Ace CDCHD 856)Todd Rhodes OrchestraFlying DiscJuly 1947October 1947The Todd Rhodes band had a stable personnel during this period: Rhodes (piano and director); Howard "Eggy" Thompson (trumpet); Hallie "Hal" Dismukes (alto sax—also the group's top soloist); Louis Barnett (tenor sax); George Favors (baritone sax, vocal); Joe Williams (bass); and Huestell Talley (drums). (This personnel is listed on the label of Vitacoustic 1001; according to Jim Gallert, the same lineup appeared on all of Rhodes' recordings for Sensation until his final session in mid-1950.) Dismukes' name has sometimes been given as "Holley," but according to Jim Gallert's article on Rhodes the correct form is "Hallie." Some of the recordings under Rhodes' name included vocals by Louie Saunders, a singing waiter at Lee's Sensation Club who had performed nightly with the band there. Kitty Stevenson did a session under her own name with Rhodes for Sensation in late 1949 or early 1950, and sang on a Rhodes session for King on May 24, 1951. Unfortunately she fell ill shortly afterwards (she was replaced by Connie Allen in July 1951, then in early 1952 by LaVern Baker). She died in early June 1952. The second, third, and fourth sessions took place after the pact. The second session took place on October 15 and 16, 1947. The third and fourth were part of the rush to to beat B-Day, in November and December 1947. The second session was definitely recorded at United Broadcasting Studios in Chicago; the rest were at least processed at United Broadcasting Studios in Chicago; Vitacoustic's masters were assigned to a special V1800 series there.

Price: 49.99 USD

Location: Utica, New York

End Time: 2024-12-18T03:27:47.000Z

Shipping Cost: 6 USD