"Groove Jumping!" 1954-1956

Bob Jones was one of those rock & roll true believers who existed entirely behind the scenes. A record collector who parlayed his love for old records into a career mastering for such specialty reissue imprints as Charly, Ace, and Bear Family, he also ran his own vinyl-only reissue label called Detour Records in the '80s…...Jones dug deep into the vaults of several labels and assembled tight, thematic collections that packed a real punch, but unfortunately they, like the 45s he compiled, never saw a revival in the CD age. As a tribute to the departed Jones -- he died of cancer in 2009 -- Bear Family reissued five of these collections in 2014, including this 1983 LP Groove Jumping. Groove was RCA's 1953 attempt to get back into the hopping R&B and blues market, an audience they'd abandoned late in the '40s, and while they didn't rack up many successes -- only Mickey & Sylvia's 1957 single "Love Is Strange" was a genuine hit -- they did record a lot of terrific rocking blues and R&B in the mid-'50s, much of it featuring Mickey Baker's wild guitar. Mickey & Sylvia are here with "No Good Lover," a raucous minor-key rocker with a riff reminiscent of "Shaking All Over," and there are other recognizable names in Sonny Terry and "Big" John Greer, both wilder than they've often been heard. Wildness is the order of the day: even the harmony groups the Du Droppers and the Five Keys, who together account for nearly half of this 14-track collection, sound like they're going to careen out of control. Much of that is due to the heavy echo, wailing sax, and that barbed guitar, elements that are showcased best on two wonderful sides by Roy "Mr. Guitar" Gaines ("Worried 'Bout You Baby," "Dat Dat De Dum Dum"), but this entire thing is a potent, damn near addictive collection of rollicking '50s R&B. It deserved to be preserved once, and it deserved to be preserved once again.(Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic)

trax:
1. Ride & Roll - Sonny Terry 2. No Good Lover - Mickey & Sylvia 3. Strange Kind Of Feeling - Tiny Kennedy 4. Bottle It Up And Go - Big John Greer 5. Boot 'Em Up - The Du Droppers 6. Talk That Talk - The Du Droppers 7. Lawdy Miss Mary - The Five Keys 8. Worried 'Bout You Baby - Roy "Mr. Guitar" Gaines 9. Dat Dat De Dum Dum - Roy "Mr. Guitar" Gaines 10. Radar - Mr. Bear 11. How Come? - Mr. Bear 12. Dead Broke - The Du Droppers 13. Speed King - The Du Droppers 14. Smack Dab In The Middle - The Du Droppers
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