Customer Reviews

Very Best of

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I was surprised that nobody had yet reviewed this fun and historically interesting compilation. Born in 1919, Benjamin 'Bull Moose' Jackson first gained fame in Lucky Millinder's big band in the mid and late 1940s. And, he learned something about the music business from the Millinder, who managed to sell big band records into the mid-1950s with a mix of jazz, pop, and R&B.

Jackson scored hits with straight ahead pop ballads like 'I Love You, Yes I Do' and macho jump tunes like his famous 'Big Ten Inch Record.' Several songs on this CD have double entendre filled lyrics. The X-rated content presented with G-rated vocabulary is sometimes witty, usually reflective of high testosterone levels, and always attention grabbing.

'Very Best of' contains 25 classic tracks Jackson recorded for the King label between 1945 and 1955. You will find blues, R&B, ballads, and novelty songs. Jackson's saxophone is featured in nearly all tracks, and he blows with energy. Several of the jump blues numbers are clear precursors of early rock and roll. The jump/blues/R&B music of this era contained much of the DNA for early rock music.

Bottom Line: ****1/2. I could not imagine a better one CD collection of Jackson's music. This is a fun anthology with generally gorgeous sonics. You will find tunes that fit within the jazz tradition, others that are hand-clapping jump numbers, and you'll even find a Leiber & Stoller penned number ('Nosey Joe'). Among the various musicians, Panama Francis appears on drums, Red Prysock (Arthur Prysock's brother) plays tenor, and Sir Charles Thompson sits at the piano.