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Johnny Moore's Three Blazers - Los Angeles Blues (Complete RCA Recordings 1949-50) (1950)

Track listing:
CD1
  1. How Blue Can You Get? 3:05
  2. How Could I Know? 2:58
  3. Rosamay 3:07
  4. What Does It Matter? 3:08
  5. Blues for What I've Never Had 3:03
  6. I Was Wrong 3:02
  7. Fire, Fire, Fire 2:48
  8. This Is One Time, Baby (You Ain't Gonna Two Time Me) 2:34
  9. A New Shade of Blues 2:56
  10. What I Meander in the Meadow 2:40
  11. Bop-a-Bye Baby 2:41
  12. Citation 2:38
  13. Forever 2:44
  14. What Am I Gonna Do This Christmas? 2:51
  15. Walkin' Blues 2:58
  16. You Can Go Feed Yourself 2:36
CD2
  1. Rock With It 2:56
  2. Johnny's Guitar Blues 3:29
  3. Driftin' Blues 3:08
  4. Shuffle Shuck 2:38
  5. Cut Off the Fat (Take Out the Bone) 2:55
  6. So Long 3:05
  7. Misery Blues 2:57
  8. Los Angeles Blues 2:50
  9. The Jumping Jack 2:42
  10. Rain-Chick 2:36
  11. Melody 2:57
  12. Three Handed Woman 2:32
  13. Someday You'll Need Me 3:07
  14. Competition Blues 3:01
  15. Wrackin' My Brain Over You 2:18

Notes

This double-disc anthology gathers all of the sides that Johnny Moore's Three Blazers documented during their brief tenure on RCA Records. The outfit featured here had evolved out of Nat King Cole's enormously successful King Cole Trio -- featuring Oscar Moore (guitar). Oscar's brother Johnny Moore (guitar) and Eddie Williams (bass) -- who wanted to create a derivative of Cole's laid-back and suave synthesis of jazz with R&B. The aggregate was solidified with the addition of Charles Brown (piano/vocals) as his unique and personalized style was rooted more deeply in the blues, yielding a notable distinction and separating them from their contemporaries. After some unpleasant business dealings resulted in Oscar Moore leaving Cole in 1947 to join his sibling's act, less than two years later Brown signed a solo deal and Williams formed his own band. From the remnants, the Moore brothers, Johnny Miller (bass) -- another King Cole Trio renegade -- as well as Lee Barnes (piano/vocals) began cutting platters for RCA Records in February of 1949, most notably "A New Shade of Blues" and "What Does It Matter." Also included are the previously unissued titles "Rosamay," "I Was Wrong" and "Fire, Fire, Fire" from this specific incarnation. Barnes would be replaced by a Charles Brown sound-alike -- although far less captivating -- named Billy Valentine. While certainly not on par with some of the Blazers' earlier recordings, there are a few standout selections, such as the incendiary instrumental "Shuffle Shuck," and some above-average overhauls of songs from their heyday with Brown, in the form of "So Long" and the Blazers' biggest hit "Driftin' Blues." Among the unreleased material from the latter outfit are "Los Angeles Blues," "Three Handed Woman," "Competition Blues" and "Wrackin' My Brain Over You." Valentine's departure in the fall of 1950 effectively marked the end of Johnny Moore's Three Blazers' -- however, packages like these are a testament to the combo's resilience.