1956
WATCH MY SIGNAL * BULL MOOSE JACKSON * ENCINO 1004 * USA
Archetypal rockin Rhythm and Blues cut, known at the time as Jump Blues, a perfect beat to Jive to. This type of sound became the model for countless pub rock bands and would be up-tempo blues men across Europe and the UK since the late 1950s until today. The sound is simple and solid, and played here by saxophonist and singer Bull Moose Jackson, calling out dance moves like a barn dance caller; it does all you would want from a Jiver, but with subtlety, sophistication and extra oomph. The sound, though now hackneyed and clichéd beyond redemption, was, when Jump Blues artists like Bull Moose were playing it, far from familiar or easy, it was novel, exciting and compelling, they, and their audiences, were inventing, creating the sound as they went along, so that any mistakes ("there are no mistakes") became part of the music's development; contrasted to mistakes of the imitators which become full stops, dead ends. Always the most difficult part of any artistic expression is bringing it into being, no matter how simple or obvious it looks when it has arrived, trouble is Jump Blues, like, say, the object trouvé of artist Marcel Duchamp, became over popular and so stylised that it grew to be easy-peasy to turn in a simulacrum, that for many is indistinguishable from the real thing. So now it takes a little effort, in the case of early Jump Blues, to hear what is good and extra special about this seemingly familiar music. Encino Records (apologies for the degraded condition of this label, I'd like a better example, anyone got one out there?) was a very small imprint run by Barbara Steward from 1608 North Argyle Avenue, Hollywood, CA. for about a year.
See also:
 |
 |
| Bowlegged Woman | Big Ten Inch Record |