Search - Griffin Brothers :: Blues With a Beat

Among The Earliest Dot Record Stars

07/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When Randy Wood started up his own label with the decade of the 1950s approaching, among those artists first signed to a Dot recording contract were The Cap-Tans, Andy Wilson, the gospel group The Fairfield Four, and Cecil Gant, once known as "the G.I. Sing-Sation" during his days with the Gilt-Edge, Bullet, and 4-Star labels during the 1940s.



Another was the Griffin Brothers Orchestra. Led by James (Jimmy} Griffin on trombone and Ernest "Buddy" Griffin on piano [an older brother, Wilbur, sang with the gospel group The Progressive Four], it also included Wilbur Dyer on alto sax, Virgil Wilson on tenor sax, Jimmy Reeves on bass, and Emmett Shields - known to everyone as "Nab" - on drums.



Hailing mostly from Norfolk, Virginia they were well known in the DC area, and the brothers had learned their skills - unlike many black musicians from that era - not on the streets and in smoke-filled clubs, but at the prestigious Julliard School of Music in NY City.



After putting together their band they fell under the guidance of Lillian Clairborne, a music promoter who had recorded many local artists on her small labels and had also secured contracts for the more promising ones with larger labels. For the Griffin Brothers she chose the new Dot outlet, and with Margie Day as their vocalist [born Margaret Hoffler in Norfolk in 1926] they struck paydirt in late 1950 with Street Walkin' Daddy b/w Riffin' With Griffin. Billed to Margie Day with The Griffin Brothers Orchestra, the A-side rose to # 7 on what then passed for the R&B charts. Unfortunately, neither side is in this collection.



But both sides of their next hit are here. Little Red Rooster, with the same billing, peaked at # 5 R&B in February 1951 b/w Blues All Alone [successfully covered by Sam Cooke in 1963]. At this point a bit of friction kicked in with the way they were being billed, both on record and in personal appearances. So, for the follow-up releases the billing became [The] Griffin Brothers Orchestra featuring Margie Day.



The first few failed to chart but when you listen to them you have to think that it likely had more to do with birth pangs in the distribution field for the fledgling record company than a lesser quality in material. Each of Griff's Boogie/Blues With A Beat, Hot Pepper, and Sadie Green/One Steady Baby are every bit as good as the earlier releases.



Or their next hit for that matter which came in August 1951 when a new male vocalist, Tommy Brown, did the honors on a Tommy Ridgley/Dave Bartholomew tune, Tra-La-La, taking it to # 7 R&B. The flipside, the Griffin Brothers Orchestra instrumental Hoppin' also did well, reaching # 8, but that too is excluded here.



A notable addition to the band at this time, replacing Wilson, was Noble "Thin Man" Watts who, eight years later, would record one of the best R&R instrumentals ever for the Baton label - Hard Times (The Slop)- which can be heard on the Ace CD The Golden Age Of American Rock 'n' Roll Volume 6. Wilbur Little on bass and Belton Evans on drums also interchanged at times with the original members.



At the end of 1951 Dot released two singles simultaneously, one featuring Tommy on what would turn out to be their best hit, Weepin' And Cryin' which made it to # 1 R&B for three weeks b/w the instrumental Shuffle Bug. In addition to the vocals he also over-dubbed the hysterical sobbing, something that Clyde McPhatter would emulate a year later on The Bells as lead singer with Billy Ward & The Dominoes.



The other release, and what would turn out to be their last charter, featured Margie doing a cover of the Tampa Red hit, Pretty Baby Blues. Nosed out by the original, which reached # 7 R&B, her version, called simply Pretty Baby, did alright, peaking at # 10 in January 1952 b/w Stubborn As A Mule.



None of the subsequent releases could again crack the charts, but here again there are some classic R&B tunes, including I Wanna Go Back which, at certain stages, makes one think of a Clovers cut, Down In The Alley, itself later covered by Elvis Presley.



The sound quality is nothing short of excellent, and there are six full pages of fascinating background notes written by Dave Penny in April 2003 for this release by Acrobat Music & Media Ltd. of England. Which, if you are at all aware of the releases by Ace Records of London [mentioned above], should not come as a surprise. The best of the old North American R&B, R&R, and Country artists come out of the U.K. and continental Europe.



I cannot praise this release highly enough and I suggest you grab a copy while it remains at the low price currently indicated."

Blues With a Beat - The Griffin Brothers

Elmer C. Boudreaux | 07/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I truly enjoyed this CD collection. The music is "tight"; and it really moves. The vocalist, Margie Day, is in top form on the recordings. The second track (Little Red Rooster) is my favorite track."

23 (TWENTY-THREE) RARE & OUT OF PRINT BARRELLHOUSE R&B INSTR

Mr. Nightshift | Los Angeles, CA | 12/23/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The last time we seen anything on the Griffin Brothers was on an Out Of Print Album (Vinyl) on Ace Records entitled: "Griffin' With The Griffin Brothers" back in 1985! Well this Compact Disc (Volume 1) includes ALL 16 (Sixteen) Tracks from that Out Of Print Album!, Plus 7 (Seven) more Tracks! Recorded in the early 50's every one of these tracks gives you a clear picture on how hot The Griffin brothers and Company was! The Griffin Brothers key vocalists were Margie Day who is featured on 12 (Twelve) tracks including the Billboard Charted Hit Singles: "Little Red Rooster" (#5) and "Preety Baby" (#10). Tommy Brown who is featured on 4 (Four) tracks including the Billboard Charted Hit Singles: "Tra-La-La" (#7) and "Weepin' And Cryin'" (#3). Buddy Griffin takes a stab at singing on the track "I Wanna Go Back". The remaining 6 (Six) tracks are Barrellhouse R&B Instrumentals! Thus giving you 64:00 (Sixty-Four Minutes) of listening, No! Butt-Shaking Goodies from the 50's!!!"