Heart Breakin' Baby

Five Birmingham Babies | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 20, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Frog UK
• ASIN: B000AA4GEG
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #640,102 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Arkansas

2. Hard Hearted Hannah

3. Tessie! Stop Teasing Me

4. Go, Emmaline

5. Deep Sea Blues

6. Copenhagen

7. Pickin' On Your Baby

8. Down And Out Blues

9. Not Now, Not Yet, But Soon

10. You Better Keep The Home Fires Burning

11. You're In The Wrong With The Right Baby

12. Mamie

13. Love Me Daddy Blues

14. As Far As I'm Concerned

15. I'm Grieving For You

16. I Know What It Means

17. Indigo Blues

18. One Week From Now

19. Dixie Stomp

20. Go Back Where You Stayed Last Night

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another fine disc from Frog, April 10, 2006

By 

"Gimpy" Peach Johnson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heart Breakin' Baby (Audio CD)

How sad to open the case of this CD and read the memorial notices for sound engineer John R. T. Davies *AND* Frog producer David French. I knew that both had passed away shortly before this disc was completed, but seeing it in print on the CD booklet made it somehow more real. The two contributed so much to the preservation and dissemination of early jazz music over the past several decades. They will be sorely missed.

Fortunately, the Frog label continues, and this release is another great addition to their catalogue. As the other reviewer here pointed out, the Five Birmingham Babies was just another pseudonym for the California Ramblers--the one they used when recording for Pathe. The disc is crammed with 26 of their 28 recordings, made between 1924-1927. This is decidedly "hot dance" music with some inspired jazzy solos. The real stars of the disc are of course Adrian Rollini's swingin' bass sax, Bill Moore's cornet, and Frank Cush's trumpet. Cornetist Red Nichols even makes an appearance for two sides ("You're In Wrong With The Right Baby" and "Mamie"). The band has an infectious "bounce" that seems lacking on many other dance band sides from the era. If you've heard any of the group's recordings under such other pseudonyms as the University Six, the Varsity Eight, the Goofus Five, or the Vagabonds, you'll know what to expect. If you haven't, you're in for a treat!

Considering that these were originally recorded for Pathe, John R. T. Davies' remastering is superb! Pathe records present a special challenge to reissue engineers. Unlike pretty much every other record company of the time, Pathe continued to master its recordings on large cylinders through the end of acoustic recording (which came at about early 1927 for them). Once a master cylinder was made, the recording was dubbed mechanically to a disc master for pressing the final records. The dubbing process greatly reduced the fidelity of Pathe records (compared to other discs from the time) and introduced a low-pitched rumble. Davies effectively removed that rumble when remastering these sides, without adversely affecting the sound of the band. They still sound as rich and full as can be expected from acoustic recordings. And everything on this disc, with the exception of the last track, was recorded acoustically (that is, into a horn without microphones). Despite the generally VERY good sound, I am a bit disappointed with the transfer of the first track, which begins with about 10 seconds of somewhat heavy, but even surface noise which suddenly cuts out, almost as if Davies forgot to throw his EQ switch until 10 seconds into the record. The effect is rather distracting at first, and it takes a few additional seconds to adjust to the new "sound" after the surface noise is cut out. This is a nitpicky point, but something that should have been corrected.

The records on this CD were originally issued two-at-a-time on double-sided 78s--they were not meant to be listened to in long sets, thus, I find that they can get rather tiring after a while. Like most dance band CDs, it's best to pull the disc out for a few tracks at a time.

The liner notes by John Capes are decent; they offer a brief glimpse into the workings of the group, without going into too much detail. It's hardly ground-breaking research. The notes could have benefitted from an extra round of prooofreading; I spotted a few errors, chief among them a mention in the middle of the third page where Capes discusses the recording of "Remember The Night," adding afterwards that "The group was to make its final recordings two days later and, as will be seen from the discography, with changed personnel." Capes might have wanted to double-check that discography himself--the next and last session was recorded a full year, two months, and two days later. Perhaps *that's* why the personnel had changed. A lot can happen in a year! Another annoying error is the inconsistent spelling of clarinetist Bobby Davis' name (sometimes it's "Bobbie," other times "Bobby").

Overall, this is an excellent set with the best sound we're ever likely to hear from these records. Any fan of 1920s jazz and dance bands should be pleased with this CD. I certainly am. Recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent hot dance music featuring Adrian Rollini, March 4, 2006

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heart Breakin' Baby (Audio CD)

This group is an offshoot of the California Ramblers, and the CD collects all their sides (except two) that they made for the Pathe Actuelle label between 1924 and 1927. The star of the group was undoubtedly bass saxophonist Adrian Rollini, who wields the big horn with the lightest of touches. (He also plays something called the goofus, a kind of harmonica with keys.) He is especially fine on LOVE ME DADDY BLUES and HEART BREAKIN' BABY. This last track is perhaps the CD's best, done in June 1927, and features excellent solo work by all (in addition to a so-so Ed Kirkeby vocal). Trumpeter Fank Cush and reedman Bobby Davis appear on most of the tracks, and both of them improve noticeably from session to session, especially Davis. His confidence grows in leaps and bounds, and his alto playing goes from tentative to assuredly hot and swinging. There are a couple of bum tracks - the one featuring the horrible vocal by Frank Nichols on WHAT! NO WOMAN? and the very shaky clarinet playing of Sam Ruby, especially on SOME BABY, MY GAL - but for the most part it's a terrific CD of hot dance music from a vintage group circa the mid-1920s.