Jazz
An advanced stylist on alto saxophone who vacillated throughout his career between jump blues and jazz, bald-pated Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (he lost his hair early on after a botched bout with a lye-based hair-straightener) also possessed a playfully distinctive vocal delivery that stood him in good stead with blues fans.
Vinson first picked up a horn while attending high school in Houston. During the late '30s, he was a member of an incredible horn section in Milton Larkins's orchestra, sitting next to Arnett Cobb and Illinois Jacquet. After exiting Larkins' employ in 1941, Vinson picked up a few vocal tricks while on tour with bluesman Big Bill Broonzy. Vinson joined the Cootie Williams Orchestra from 1942 to 1945. His vocals on trumpeter Williams' renditions of "Cherry Red" and "Somebody's Got to Go" were in large part responsible for their wartime hit status.
Vinson struck out on his own in 1945, forming his own large band, signing with Mercury, and enjoying a double-sided smash in 1947 with his romping RB chart-topper "Old Maid Boogie" and the song that would prove his signature number, "Kidney Stew Blues" (both songs featured Vinson's instantly identifiable vocals). A 1949-1952 stint at King Records produced only one hit, the amusing sequel "Somebody Done Stole My Cherry Red," along with the classic blues "Person to Person" (later revived by another King artist, Little Willie John).
Vinson's jazz leanings were probably heightened during 1952-1953, when his band included a young John Coltrane. Somewhere along about here, Vinson wrote two Miles Davis classics, "Tune Up" and "Four." Vinson steadfastly kept one foot in the blues camp and the other in jazz, waxing jumping RB for Mercury (in 1954) and Bethlehem (1957), jazz for Riverside in 1961 (with Cannonball Adderley), and blues for Blues Time and ABC-BluesWay. A 1969 set for Black Blue, cut in France with pianist Jay McShann and tenor saxophonist Hal Singer, beautifully recounted Vinson's blues shouting heyday (it's available on Delmark as Old Kidney Stew Is Fine). A much later set for Muse teamed him with the sympathetic little big-band approach of Rhode Island-based Roomful of Blues. Vinson toured the States and Europe frequently prior to his 1988 death of a heart attack.
By Bill Dahl, All Music Guide.
**
Fresh from his galvanizing tenure with the Cootie Williams orchestra, Eddie ?Cleanhead' Vinson began making records with his own excellent fourteenpiece rhythm and swing band. This compilation presents everything Vinson recorded for the Mercury label in New York beginning in December of 1945, continuing through 1946 into the spring of 1947. While Vinson's piquant voice and solid alto saxophone invariably stimulate and entertain, the big band itself is magnificent, sounding at times like the exciting ensembles being led during the 1940s by Count Basie, Buddy Johnson, Gerald Wilson, Earl Hines, Earl Bostic or the aforementioned Cootie Williams. Every player was on his toes and special mention should be made of Earl Van Riper's masterful piano technique. Mingled with Vinson's patented blues vocals are a number of fascinating instrumentals: "Mr. Cleanhead Steps Out", "It's A Groovy Affair", "Boogie Woogie Holiday", "Br'er Rabbit" and a smoking hot swing version of "Three O'Clock In The Mor...ning", this last item an artifact originally published as a waltz in 1922 But the balance of the tunes on this compilation are exactly what seasoned Cleanhead Vinson fans would expectgutsy blues with feisty lyrics describing domestic troubles and peculiar personal predicaments. Why Mercury originally rejected tracks 5 through 9 is anybody's guess. Thank goodness the producers of this excellent Classics retrospective included them here. The final three selections were recorded in St. Louis on April 29th 1947 with a band that included a 26yearold jazz trumpeter by the name of Clark Terry.
By arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide.
**
01. Lazy Gal
02. Bonus Pay
03. Oil Man Blues
04. Ever-Ready Blues
05. Wandering Mind
06. Have You Ever Missed Your Baby
07. Some Women Do
08. Alimony Blues
09. High Class Baby
10. When I Get Drunk
**
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