VA - Voodoo Voodoo: Feisty Fifties Females (2014)

Compiled by R&B and rock & roll authority Dave Penny, the 90-track 3CD set Voodoo Voodoo pays tribute to the distaff side of 1950s R&B music that would inform the rock n roll explosion of the latter half of the decade, from the last shout of the 1940s big band thrushes such as Ella Johnson and Dinah Washington, through the fearsome vocal power of the likes of R&B trailblazers such as Big Maybelle, Ruth Brown, LaVern Baker and Big Mama Thornton, to the early experiments of the mainstream pop singers such as Ella Mae Morse, Kay Starr, Peggy Lee, Lillian Briggs and Jaye P. Morgan. That ages old question, who cut the first rock n roll record?, will never be answered as the style evolved over several years, and in any case everyone has their own idea of what constitutes rock n roll. By contrast the question, who was the first white performer to successfully utilise the black R&B style and mould it into a sound that could convincingly be labelled rock n roll ?, sounds more straightforward: surely it was Elvis Presley or Bill Haley? But was it? There is a compelling argument that the women beat the men to the punch when it came to assimilating black music for white consumption in the 1950s and while it might not have been the TKO that history tells us was delivered by Presley or Haley, it was still a mighty blow that deserves to be better documented. Indeed, rather than the black vocal harmony groups that originated Fool, Fool, Fool and Money Honey , it is now suggested that Elvis was influenced to record these songs in his early years from the cover versions by Kay Starr and Ella Mae Morse… So prepare yourself for a whole lot of rhythm and rock from 65 feisty females on Voodoo Voodoo, a compilation that is happy to embrace singers from across a range of styles - R&B, big band and pop - just so long as they deliver the goods vocal-wise. Ice water at the ready.

Tracklist:

CD 1

01. Ella Johnson - Bring It Home To Me (2:33)
02. Ella Mae Morse - Teardrops From My Eyes (2:57)
03. LaVern Baker - Pig Latin Blues (2:42)
04. Terry Timmons - He's The Best In The Business (2:45)
05. Dinah Washington - Don't Hold It Against Me (2:52)
06. Joan Shaw - You Drive Me Crazy (2:44)
07. Little Sylvia - Ain't Gonna Do It (2:54)
08. Mabel Scott - Mr Fine (2:52)
09. Gloria Smith - Low Down Man (2:19)
10. Jane Turner - Danger Blues (3:07)
11. Georgia Lane - Oo-Wee, Mr Jeff (Please Be Yourself) (3:09)
12. Varetta Dillard - Mercy, Mr Percy (2:49)
13. Thelma Cooper - Ooh, Daddy (3:09)
14. Ella Johnson - No More Love (3:06)
15. Big Maybelle - I've Got A Feelin' (2:59)
16. Bettye Jean Washington - Bettye Jean's Blues (3:03)
17. Helen Humes - You Played On My Piano (3:21)
18. Annisteen Allen - My Brand Of Lovin' (2:10)
19. Sadie Madison - Let-Down Blues (2:40)
20. Jeanne Gayle - Bim Bam Baby (2:20)
21. Ruth Brown - Sweet Baby Of Mine (2:33)
22. Faye Adams - I've Gotta Leave You (2:33)
23. Etta James - Market Place (2:54)
24. Little Esther - Talkin' All Out Of My Head (2:50)
25. Margie Day - Just Couldn't Keep It To Myself (2:37)
26. Mickey Champion - Bam-A-Lam (2:23)
27. Kitty Noble - Till The Cows Come Home (2:28)
28. Kay Starr - Night Train (2:46)

CD 2

01. Carol Jarvis - Little Red Rooster (2:36)
02. Margie Day - Snatchin' It Back (2:44)
03. Ella Johnson - What A Day (2:12)
04. Dakota Staton - Don't Mean Maybe (2:54)
05. Jaye P Morgan - Baby, Don't Do It (2:44)
06. Dolores Ware - Thrill-A-Dill (2:43)
07. Rose Marie McCoy - Dippin' In My Business (2:38)
08. Little Esther - T'ain't Whatcha Say, It's Whatcha Do (2:51)
09. Camille Howard - I Tried To Tell You (2:15)
10. Dolly Cooper - Tell Me, Tell Me (2:03)
11. Vicky Lee - Goin' Back Home To Mama (2:02)
12. Marie Knight - Grasshopper Baby (2:17)
13. Eunice Davis - Get Your Enjoys (2:36)
14. Betty Jean Morris - Shack Daddy (2:38)
15. Ella Mae Morse - How Can You Leave A Man Like This (2:47)
16. Kay Starr - Kay's Lament (2:21)
17. Dinah Washington - New Blow-Top Blues (2:39)
18. Ruth Brown - What'd I Say (2:39)
19. Zilla Mays - Take Your Time (2:40)
20. Bertice Reading - I Gotta Know (2:36)
21. Sarah McLawler - Ready, Willin' And Able (2:30)
22. Margie Day - Stubborn As A Mule (2:42)
23. Big Maybelle - That's A Pretty Good Love (2:36)
24. Dolly Cooper - Ay La Bah (2:37)
25. Willie Mae Thornton - My Man Called Me (2:40)
26. Mildred Jones - Mr Thrill (2:34)
27. Bunny Paul - Leave My Heart Alone (1:59)
28. Mabel Scott - Shut-Eye (2:33)
29. Paula Watson - I Love To Ride (2:32)
30. Linda Hayes - Atomic Baby (2:25)

CD 3

01. Chubby Newsom - When Are You Comin' Home (2:07)
02. Big Maybelle - Rock House (2:19)
03. Annisteen Allen - My Bay Keeps Rollin' (2:34)
04. Marie Adams - Ain't Car Crazy (2:49)
05. Helen Humes - Woojamacooja (2:43)
06. Anita Tucker - Hop, Skip And Jump (2:44)
07. Camille Howard - Rock 'N' Roll Mama (2:41)
08. Peggy Lee - Every Night (2:35)
09. Little Esther - If It's News To You (2:40)
10. Willie Mae Thornton - Just Like A Dog (Barking Up The Wrong Tree) (2:47)
11. Fay Simmons - Hangin' Around (2:37)
12. Varetta Dillard - Promise Mr Thomas (2:37)
13. Ruth Brown - Smooth Operator (2:33)
14. Patti Jerome - No Mama, No Papa (2:08)
15. Linda Hopkins - My Loving Baby (2:50)
16. Beverly Wright - Shake Till I'm Shook (2:29)
17. Lula Reed - Sick And Tired (2:30)
18. Gloria Lynn - Cool Daddy (2:27)
19. Pearl Galloway - Get Wit It (2:13)
20. Bunny Paul - Watcha Gonna Do (2:29)
21. Vikki Nelson - Just One More Smile (One More Time) (2:23)
22. Linda Hopkins - Rock And Roll Blues (2:08)
23. Wynona Carr - Nursery Rhyme Rock (1:53)
24. Lillian Briggs - Can't Stop (1:57)
25. Dolly Cooper - Big Rock Inn (2:08)
26. Donna Hightower - He's My Baby (2:11)
27. Dolores (Baby Dee) Spriggs - Zoom De De Ho Ho (2:13)
28. Carmen Taylor - No More, No Less (2:20)
29. Bernice Gooden - Penny, Nickel, Dime, Quarter (On A Teen-Age Date) (2:20)
30. Lady Nell - Don't Forget (3:25)
31. LaVern Baker - Voodoo Voodoo (1:50)
32. Ella Johnson - They Don't Want Me To Rock No More (2:29)