Henry Glover’s Monumental Musical Legacy

Part One — Historical Overview & Narrative

Composer, producer, arranger, publisher, talent scout, vocalist, trumpet player, engineer, A&R executive, and later, a label owner in his own right, Henry Bernard Glover — notes Nick Duckett in the liner notes that accompany the 123-track Henry Glover Story anthology — was “one of the most talented music industry entrepreneurs of the twentieth century.” Furthermore, Glover blazed a trail, as “the first producer/writer in the American music industry,” proclaims Duckett, adding that “the fact that he was black and working in an exclusively white executive environment makes his achievements all the more remarkable.” And yet Glover’s legacy is oddly unsung and largely unknown. As Nelson George sagely notes in his seminal history, The Death of Rhythm & Blues, “At King Records in Cincinnati, everybody knew about Syd Nathan and his cigars but few recognized that arranger Henry Glover was critical to actually making the music happen in the studio.”

The Encyclopedia of Country Music, published in 1998 by the Country Music Foundation, contains this entry for Henry Glover (born May 21, 1921 in Hot Springs, Arkansas) written by John W. Rumble:

Henry Bernard Glover was country music’s first major African-American music executive, whose work helped pave the way for the rise of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. He received extensive formal musical education during high school in Hot Springs and at Alabama A&M in Huntsville, where he graduated in 1943. For a time he pursued a master’s program in political science at Wayne State University in Detroit, but dropped out to work with bands led by Buddy Johnson, Tiny Bradshaw, and Lucky Milllinder. While with Millinder, in about 1945, he began to produce Bull Moose Jackson, Millinder’s vocalist at the time, as a separate act for King Records.

Glover wrote and produced several hits for Jackson, including “I Love You, Yes I Do” in 1947, and King owner Syd Nathan signed Glover as a producer and songwriter in 1948. Soon Nathan and Glover organized a publishing company, Jay & Cee. In addition to R&B acts such as Bill Doggett and Little Willie John, Glover produced sessions with King’s country roster, then including Grandpa Jones, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Jimmie Osbourne, and Cowboy Copas. With the Delmore Brothers, Glover wrote and produced the 1949 hit “Blues Stay Away From Me” (based on Glover’s “Boardinghouse Blues”). In blending country and R&B sounds, however, Glover found his most consistent success with country star Moon Mullican, with whom Glover co-wrote “I’ll Sail My Ship Alone,” “Rocket to the Moon,” “Southern Hospitality,” and other songs, many of them derived from R&B hits of the day.

Glover left King in about 1959 and eventually moved to Roulette Records, where he worked with Joey Dee (“Peppermint Twist”), Sarah Vaughn, and other artists. He rejoined the Starday-King organization in about 1968 and managed the New York office of Lin Broadcasting’s music division after Lin purchased Starday. When Lin divested itself of its music holdings early in the 1970s, Glover took up independent production. In this regard, his credits include the Muddy Waters Woodstock Album, winner of a 1975 Grammy; Paul Butterfield’s album Put It In Your Ear (1975); and the soundtrack for the Martin Scorcese film The Last Waltz (1978), documenting a 1976 concert by The Band. In 1986, Glover was placed on the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) Honor Roll of A&R Producers.

Billboard — Nov. 15, 1986

Arthur Prysock presents award to Henry Glover – with emcee Milt Gabler (producer, “Strange Fruit”)

Rumble wrote a long-form profile of Glover for The Journal of Country Music‘s “Black Artists in Country Music” special issue in 1991 that begins with an account of the March 15, 1949 session for Moon Mullican’s “I’ll Sail My Ship Alone” — quite possibly the first country session supervised by an African-American, as well as Mullican’s sole #1 country hit:

“We stood there over the piano,” Glover recalled, “and took the remnants of a thing that he halfway remembered that he had gotten from this gentleman, a buddy of his named Thornton, and we made a song out of it … You know, the structure was there, because he had the title, had a couple of lines. But way back in the thirties, Jimmie Lunceford had a record on the market called “I’m Like a Ship At Sea.” And I borrowed some of the ideas …” This number had been popular with blacks, and Glover’s hunch that white buyers would like the ship-at-sea theme proved right on target. The new song was basically upbeat, but melancholy enough to serve as a follow-up to Mullican’s hit “Sweeter Than the Flowers,” a lament for a mother’s death, which the singer-pianist had recorded two years earlier. Just to be safe, Mullican also cut “Sweeter Than the Flowers No. 2” in this March 1949 session. But it was “I’ll Sail My Ship Alone” that went to #1 on the charts the following year.

“Black Artists in Country Music” special issue

Henry Glover, pg. 30

Glover’s arrival at King in the latter part of the 1940s gave Syd Nathan’s growing enterprise the range of skills needed to compete with more established and better resourced labels. As Rumble notes —

To implement his expansion strategy, Nathan cemented relationships with a number of producers during the late 1940s and 1950s. In addition to Glover, these included Ralph Bass, who worked with r&b acts on the Federal and King labels; Dewey Bergman and Milton DeLugg, whom Nathan recruited for a brief and largely uneventful foray into the pop market; WCKY’s Nelson King, who worked with country acts for a time; and several others. With the possible exception of Nathan himself, however, no producer straddled the country and r&b fields as successfully as Glover did.

Source: Journal of Country Music

King was a very hands-on operation, as Rumble details in his piece —

In the country field [see below], Glover recorded acts that Nathan signed; many, in fact, had joined the King fold before Glover came on board as a salaried producer. Along with the label’s country artists, Nathan also had the last word in choosing material, though once in a while, as with the Wayne Raney hit “Why Don’t You Haul Off And Love Me,” Glover was first to spot a potential hit, and his opinions were almost always valued. On occasion, Nathan would notify the producer well in advance of a recording date and ask him to consult the artist involved and come up with material, with help from professional songwriters, if need be. But with country performers, Glover mainly brought his talents to bear in preparing for sessions and in completing the sessions themselves. Hawkshaw Hawkins, for instance, would sometimes stay with Nathan or Glover when visiting Cincinnati to record, and the three men would gather at Nathan’s house to map out the next day’s work. In the studio, Glover would help artists and back-up musicians run through the songs and decide on tempos and instrumental arrangements. He would also work the mixing board, either by himself or in conjunction with King engineers like Eddie Smith, a former member of [Lucky] Millinder’s band whom Glover himself had helped bring into the firm.

[Henry Glover referenced in The “Pre-Nashville A Team” at Cincinnati’s Herzog Studios]

Attention to detail sometimes meant traveling cross-country with attorney in tow to clear a song’s path, notes Rumble:

While Henry Glover leaned toward country artists who shared his love for rhythm & blues, he worked well with more traditional country singers and accepted them on their own terms. One of the first country acts he recorded in Cincinnati was Jimmy Osborne, the Kentucky folk singer who composed “The Death of Little Kathy Fiscus” about the real-life tragedy of a girl who fell into a well and died after days of unsuccessful rescue attempts. “We were afraid to release it,” Glover related, “until we got certain rights, or found out whether we were within rights to release the record.” The producer accompanied Nathan to California, engaged a lawyer, and secured the family’s permission. “The record was released, Glover went on to say, “and it was quite a big hit. After that, of course, Jimmy became the tear-jerker in that area. He sort of put himself in that position.”

Billboard‘s Sep. 24, 1949 edition

Best-Selling Country & Western Records:

Henry Glover produced and/or co-wrote three of the fifteen records listed

Glover was a key driver of pushing audio engineering forward at King (“I could speak with his engineers on their level. As a result of many of those things, I came up with many of the improvements in the electronics myself, with Eddie Smith.“) Rumble even conjectures that disagreements over technology with Syd Nathan may have factored into his decision to leave the label: “Glover and Nathan clashed on studio design. Glover wanted to go into four-channel stereo recording while Nathan ignored his advice and stuck with a three-channel system.”

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Rumble, unfortunately, has the distinction of writing “the sole extended commentary on Glover’s career” for The Journal of Country Music, notes BMI’s former Director of Archives, David Sanjek, in his examination of Glover’s legacy (entitled “What’s Syd Got to Do With It?”) for 2013’s collection of essays, Hidden in the Mix: The African American Presence in Country Music. Glover’s monumental musical legacy has yet to be unpacked — one key reason why his accomplishments, vexingly, “remain something of a well-kept secret.”

Sanjek’s big-picture perspective reveal Glover, who was especially adept at navigating the color line, to be one of the primary architects of the original rock ‘n’ roll era:

Glover flourished under Nathan’s leadership, and the track record he accumulated during the course of his employment at King attests not only to his musical acumen but also to his perspicacious recognition of the ways musical genres could fuse and intermingle. He was instrumental in the label’s practice of crossover, simultaneously recording material in two different genres and two different musical styles written by individuals in the company’s employ, thereby doubling the company’s publishing royalties as well as augmenting its potential domination of more than one niche of the musical marketplace. This practice may not have originated with King, but the label excelled at the opportunities it afforded for musical experimentation and market share augmentation. While Nathan certainly supported the practice and appreciated its fiscal consequences, he does not appear to have been the sole precipitating figure in the exercise. Glover played a determinant role, certainly choosing which artists would participate in the process and the songs they would perform. He intuited that the public was ready for material that bent established conventions and thereby helped to put in place a number of the crucial stylistic parameters that would in time lead to the emergence of rock and roll.

To fully appreciate the magnitude of Glover’s contributions, it is important to take into account his relative youth, stresses Sanjek:

So considerable are his achievements and so commanding are his skills that one can easily forget how young Glover was when Nathan elevated him to a managerial status few if any among his race held at this point in time, or since for that matter. Barely in his midtwenties when he cowrote Bull Moose Jackson’s hit [“I Love You Yes I Do”], Glover had been a professional musician since his teens as well as completed an undergraduate and nearly a graduate degree. More than that, he appears to have acquired a degree of confidence unblemished by arrogance that permitted him to work comfortably alongside others far older and with more established credentials than his own as well as with members of other races. One of his associates at King dubbed Glover “the Hillbilly in Technicolor,” a memorable designation that simultaneously draws attention to how he seemed to manage effortlessly to cross barriers of race, class, region, and genre at one and the same time.

Billboard — Feb. 24, 1951

Wynonie Harris’s sly take on Hank Penny’s “Bloodshot Eyes” – an early crossover success for Glover at King (along with “Blues Stay Away From Me” by the Delmore Brothers) – is a great demonstration of Glover’s facility as an A&R label executive:

Glover comprehended how the bizarre metaphors and twists of logic that Penny composed could appeal to Harris’s sense of humor and larger-than-life stage persona. That ability not only to read performers but also to maintain a supportive atmosphere in the studio was apparent to his co-workers. The saxophonist Hal Singer, who is featured on Harris’s signature song “Good Rockin’ Tonight” (1949), remarked, “Glover was a guy that had a knack of gathering good material and seeing something in artists. Glover could see where talent was and what this talent needed to be pushed and he was very good at that. [In the studio] he knew what he wanted and you had to give it to him or else you wouldn’t be on the date any more. Glover was a nice musician and creative and not hard to get along with.”

“Flipside = Blacks Sing Country Music” by Arnold Shaw

Billboard — Aug. 16, 1969 (excerpt)

According to Sanjek, “Nathan went so far as to equalize the relationship by offering to make Glover a partner, but he declined. He did not, however, turn down the chance to co-own one of the label’s publishing firms [i.e., Jay & Cee] and retain the copyrights in his material.” Nick Duckett notes that “the BMI publishing rights body lists 629 Glover copyrights, of which 90% were cut by artists for the King group of labels.”*

Blending Country and R&B

As Cincinnati’s Shake It Records owner Darren Blase observed in his 1995 senior thesis for University of Cincinnati’s History Department, since published in 2008 by the King Records Planning Committee as The King Records Story —

The first hybrid of race and hillbilly music at King was Bullmoose Jackson’s version of Wayne Raney’s “Why Don’t You Haul Off and Love Me. Raney was a harmonica playing, country singing, part-time radio disc jockey who first recorded the song in May 1949. The song garnered strong regional success but fell from the charts during the summer. However, Syd knew that there was more money to be made from this song. Almost five months to the day after Raney cut the original, Bullmoose, with producer Henry Glover, entered the Brewster Avenue studios to record the new arrangements that they had written. Jackson’s version was successful and proved to Nathan that the key was “the song, not the singer.”

With this formula, Nathan asked Glover to arrange and produce a series of similar crossovers. Blues shouter Wynonie Harris covered Hank Penny’s “Bloodshot Eyes” in February 1951, and later covered King’s country session guitarist Louis Innis’ “Good Morning Judge.” Blues/jazz guitarist Lonnie Johnson covered a pair of Delmore Brothers songs, “Blues Stay Away From Me” and “Trouble Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues.” Bullmoose Jackson followed up his initial crossover with Moon Mullican’s “Cherokee Boogie” and Jimmy Ballard’s “I Want a Bowlegged Woman.” R&B singer Boyd Bennett later recorded versions of Cowboy Copas’ “Signed Sealed and Delivered” and, in 1957, Carl Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes.”

Most of King’s crossovers were from the hillbilly to the R&B field because the majority of King’s catalog and hits were in the hillbilly field. There were, however, some examples of R&B to hillbilly crossover recordings. The York Brothers, who according to Glover were an important influence on the Everly Brothers, recorded a cover of the Dominoes’ hit “Sixty Minute Man” in 1951 and four years later covered the Five Royales’ “Mohawk Squaw.” The growth of an atmosphere that permitted the artistic exchange of musical ideas between blacks and whites was quite natural, at least at King. It stood, however, in start contrast to the world outside of the recording studio. “There was always a great affinity between country and blues. James Brown was very fond of country music,” King Vice President Hal Neely remembered. “At King, I think country and blues were dealt with on an equal level which encouraged the exchange of ideas.“

Steve Tracy‘s groundbreaking Going to Cincinnati: A History of the Blues in the Queen City devotes a chapter to the King Records story. Fortunately for history, Tracy had the presence of mind to interview Glover who, tellingly, made time to speak with the young music historian, despite a pressing schedule as a Starday-King vice president. Tracy was just sixteen years of age when he interviewed Glover in 1972, “the first extensive discussion with Glover that had ever appeared in print,” Tracy informs us. Here are all the passages that feature Glover’s observations and insights:

Passage #1

Syd was also ahead of his time in his policy concerning the blending of country and rhythm and blues songs and styles, before Ivory Joe Hunter and Ray Charles created hits from the blend, and before Sam Phillips put his Memphis Sun label on the map. Henry Glover, A&R man and later vice president of King Records, discussed their practice:

“Sam Phillips has received great recognition because he did the novel thing of recording R&B with white country boys. He deserves credit, considering that Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash all emerged from the Sun label. But the fact is that King Records was covering R&B with country singers almost from the beginning of my work with Syd Nathan. We had a duo called the York Brothers who recorded many of the day’s R&B hits back in ’47-’48. They sounded something like the Everly Brothers, whom they probably influenced. We were more successful doing the reverse—covering C&W hits with R&B singers. In ’49, as you already know, Bull Moose Jackson’s hit “Why Don’t You Haul Off and Love Me” was a cover of a Wayne Raney country hit. And Wynonie Harris’ “Bloodshot Eyes” — on R&B charts in ’51 — was originally a Hank Penny country record. I’ll confess that we didn’t think we doing anything remarkable. It’s just that we had both types of artists, and when a song happened in one field, Syd Nathan wanted it moved into the other.“

There was, obviously, a strong profit motive behind the move, as Glover realized: “You see, it was a matter of Cincinnati’s population. You couldn’t sell Wynonie Harris to country folk, and black folk weren’t buying Hank Penny. But black folk might buy Wynonie Harris doing a country tune. And since Syd published most of the tunes we recorded, he was also augmenting his publishing income and building important copyrights. He was a smart businessman and didn’t miss a trick. Syd’s motives, then, were not altuistic, but they were smart business, and they did effect a positive change [Jon Hartley Fox, below]:

These ideas he came up with were looked upon as sorta strange at the time, but, by doing this, he sorta made explicit what was always sort of tacitly assumed, and that was the interplay between black and white music … Nathan simply brought it into the studio when he had people like Henry Glover in the studio when they created “Blues Stay Away From Me.” They listened back and forth a lot, and I think all Nathan did was to recognize a fact: Hey, these two musics are swapping juices, and why pretend they’re not … He in many ways was a remarkably open-minded man. He perceived this wonderful notion of American music as not being segregated into different styles of music, but one big cross-ethnic whole. But he did that not because of … altruistic motives, he did that because it was a way to make money.

Passage #2

One of Syd’s smartest moves was hiring a black executive, Henry Glover, for A&R work with King. Glover stated that he was “perhaps the second black man to ever have an executive position with an independent record company in the United States,” following the lead of J. Mayo Williams, and Glover was certainly a highly successful producer of both rhythm and blues and country acts. Glover was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and attended college at Alabama A&M, graduating in 1943 and continuing his graduate work at Wayne University in 1943 and 1944, quitting eight credit hours short of his master’s degree, but gaining valuable experience while there by writing arrangements for Jimmy Lunceford. An education major who wished to teach music, Glover studied trumpet with the man who taught W.C. Handy, and later went with Buddy Johnson, Tiny Bradshaw, Willie Bryant, and Lucky Millinder. It was with Millinder that Glover came to Cincinnati, and to King: “I came through Cincinnati with the Millinder Orchestra and Syd Nathan came to see Millinder and I about making some records. Millinder couldn’t do anything himself because he had to live up to the terms of his agreement with Decca. He did let Bull Moose Jackson, Panama Francis, Sam “The Man” Taylor record, and later the saxophonist by the name of Bernie Peacock … [I] was the arranger and first trumpet player with the orchestra.” They cut a number of sides in the early days at a studio in downtown Cincinnati built by Earl Herzog, until Syd’s temper got him asked to take his business elsewhere, at which point Syd built his own studio. Glover was an employee in the early forties:

“My duties at King in the early days were general. I did quite a few things. Syd was a very brave man. He was in the midst of building equipment. He and I designed the original echo chamber and it was at King that one of the very first was used. We duplicated the system in our early mixing setup at the King Studio and it’s still existing. My duties were not inhibited only to the blues and R&B. I did many of the country and veteran artists like Moon Mullican. I did all of Moon’s early recordings, and Grandpa Jones. I recorded Cowboy Copas and the York Brothers. The Everly Brothers copied their style. Let’s see, Boyd Bennett was one of the original rock groups … we had a thing about Moon and I wrote together called “I’ll Sail My Ship Alone at Today’s Funeral”; a country standard, it’s in our catalog.“

Coming in on the ground floor of the company and working along was it was built up, Glover had an ideal chance to learn the business inside out, and he approached the opportunity with intelligence and verve:

“As I said, I worked with Syd on many projects in the early days of the record company. Naturally, putting together a pressing, printing, studio distribution complex, there were many things that you could do and you at the same time learn. I moved to Cincinnati in 1949, and stayed until 1950 in order to learn the basics of the recording setup; a rare opportunity not only for a black man but also for a white. I was taught the basic fundamentals of the business of music and the studio mechanics and such. So, as I said, it wasn’t a matter of my experience with Syd or with the company which is being tied down to the musical end. I’ve received great knowledge of the business and as well as the complicated copyright situation, licensing and publishing, which I’m still at. Fortunately, I had a fairly decent education and I protected all my songs with copyrights and I own 50% of every song this company has ever recorded by any artist. I recorded and wrote for a company called [Jay & Cee], and in their catalog are big hits like ‘Fever,’ ‘Twist,’ and ‘Drown in My Own Tears.’

Cash Box – Apr. 2, 1955

Glover might also add that he wrote or cowrote such songs as “Pot Likker” (Todd Rhodes), “I’m Waiting Just for You” (Lucky Millinder), “Rock Love” (Lula Reed), and “Honky Tonk” (Bill Doggett). His swing band background helped King become “a major purveyor of big band rhythm and blues” (Arnold Shaw), but Glover was clearly an outstanding utility man and a most valuable player for King. Session man Ray Felder recalls Glover’s work in the studio, sometimes smoothing over Syd Nathan’s rough and rowdy ways:

“Syd Nathan was a beautiful guy. He was kind of rough on the artists sometimes, you know. Because Syd was the king of guy that knew what he wanted. At the time he knew what was sellin’. Because he knew what was sellin’ the records that he produced. And there was a certain tune that didn’t that certain flavor that he had, he knew what he wanted. He would say, “Hey, like I want it like boom de boom be boom de bop de bop,” you know. Not musically, but it was just something he was trying to explain, you know, to clarify. But then he had A&R men like Henry Glover, and those guys they knew just about what was going on.“

Bassist Ed Conley described Nathan in very dramatic terms: “Screaming, turning red, big cigar stuck up in his mouth, you’d think he was getting ready, you know, to go into conniptions or heart attack, he would get so excited, you know, about things. And he just wanted things a certain way and that was it.” But even more than his calming influence, it was because of Glover’s musical expertise—an expertise Syd lacked—that Glover had charge in the studio. Finally, though, the multitalented Glover made important—essential—contributions to the King Record legacy and the legacy of R&B [Arnold Shaw, below]: “Henry Glover was a multiple talent — arranger, songwriter, record producer. As a songwriter he ranks with the leading creators of R&B material, though he little likes the R&B handle … Glover’s biggest, if not his best, song is “Drown in My Own Tears,” a 1952 best-seller for Sonny Thompson, with a vocal by Lulu Reed. Thompson’s was another of the swinging blues bands nurtured by Glover. Glover’s lachrymose ballad became a standard in 1956 when Ray Charles made the definitive version.”

Years later when I met him at King Record Studios on Brewster Avenue, when he was vice president of Starday-King Records, the gracious and patient Glover was in the middle of a hectic time, looking over some masters and preparing to return to New York. He rushed in, finishing off his lunch, remarking that he’d been “running late for the past five years.” His busy-ness certainly helped make the business what it was.

Passage #3

Henry Glover told me about his work with [John Lee] Hooker:

“John Lee Hooker, with whom I had the pleasure of recording—conducting recording sessions, was very unique. He was extemporaneous in his creativity; he wrote songs as he played and his foot was his rhythm, and I believe that my amplifying of my recording—I put the microphone on his left foot to pick up the sound of his patting his foot as he played—had a lot to do with the influence of this four beat that they use today. Of course with him trying to compose a song, play the guitar and pat his foot all at the same time, it wasn’t always the best rhythm you ever heard, but at least he would try his best to do it. My early experience of recording him, I used a 4 x 8, 3/4 inch plywood board on the floor. He sat by that and put a microphone on the sound of his foot.“

Passage #4

There were other country blues artists who turned up on King as well. One was Country Paul, real name Edward P. Harris, not the country artist Paul Howard, a singer-guitarist born in Leasburg, North Carolina, on August 22, 1923. Harris recorded eight sides for King in 1951 and 1952 in New York City, where Glover found him, though he had recorded for Acorn, Savoy, and Sharp in the two years previous to his King sessions. Glover remembers him as “a very sickly young man at the time” who was “in his early twenties” when the recordings were done. “In a couple of years he passed,” Glover added correctly, since Harris died on October 22, 1953.

Sonny Boy Williamson imitator Robert Henry also visited the King studios in March of 1953, cutting four sides that imitate the tongue-twisted vocal style and distinctive harmonica of Williamson rather well. Glover mentioned the session:

“Robert Henry was a kid from Dayton, who wandered into the office one day and made an audition for me. He was, he had to be unique for me to even think of recording him. He played the piano, the guitar, and the mouthharp and sang all at the same time … One song that he had in particular, that I liked very much because it related to me, my knowledge of the old traditional, what we called country-folk blues, it sounded so authentic that, that was my reason for recording him. I think the title of it was “Something Is Goin’ Wrong with My Lovin’ Machine.” Some of his lyrics and expressions were so typical of the old authentic blues singers that down through the South years ago you’d see walking the street playing for a nickel or dime … sometimes they’d dance also.”

The Henry recording to which Glover referred was a reworking of Williamson’s 1940 “My Little Machine,” and “Early in the Morning” was a Williamson tune as well. The session, of course, was not a commercial success, but King was at the time in the habit of recording many things that came down the pike and so, thankfully, Henry made four recordings before dropping back into obscurity. It has been suggested that he had some connection with Detroit because of his inclusion on an LP entitled Detroit Ghetto Blues (Nighthawk LP104), but Glover placed him in Dayton.

Passage #5

But King’s most successful singer, “the artist of all artists,” as Glover called him, was Little Willie John. Johnny Otis discovered him in Detroit and took the seventeen-year-old to Syd Nathan, and from there it was hit time. “All Around the World,” “Need Your Love So Bad,” “Talk to Me, Talk to Me,” and his biggest hit, his No. 1 in 1956, “Fever.” Henry Glover expressed great admiration for his talent, but acknowledges his difficult nature as well: “He was a really, truly great singer. I would say that blues came so natural to him that he was just a master at that and no one living during that day could touch him. He had some of the great blues gymnastics and vocal gyration that you could ever dream of a person having. He was a typical rhythm and blues artist, egotistical, he of course became involved in drinking and some of the other vices that go along with the business. It seems as though some of these artists are the ones that perform better. The very nice artists don’t make it. Willie John was a headache.” But he was the kind of headache you would suffer. Bassist Ed Conley echoed the sentiment: “The only other person that I could say was as [Wynonie Harris] would be Little Willie John. And he was pretty wild. He was a spoiled little brat. That’s the truth of it. But he could sing! He had the flair … the guy was good, but he was a spoiled brat, temperamental, and they put up with him.“

Glover may not have known the problems that walked into his office at 5 o’clock one afternoon when he first met John, but he know enough to get John and musicians in the studio in New York within three hours to record his first hit, a cover of a Titus Turner song, “All Around the World.”

* * *

King’s years of peak commercial success coincided with Henry Glover’s tenure with Syd Nathan’s organization; this is no coincidence, as no other executive at the label had his range of skills, most especially his extensive musical training. Jon Hartley Fox explains what prompted Glover to leave:

“The matter [payola scandal] was essentially resolved for King in October 1960 when the label agreed to an FTC “consent order” prohibiting the payment of payola. King Records and Nathan came through the whole ordeal relatively unscathed. The primary consequence for King – and it was a major one – was the loss of Henry Glover, who left in 1959 because he felt that Nathan had betrayed him during the investigation.”

Billboard — Nov. 23, 1959

Syd Nathan: “In that case, we gave the money to Henry Glover to take care of the jockeys“

Fox devoted a chapter to Henry Glover — subtitled, “An Unsung Hero of American Music” — in his seminal 2009 history, King of the Queen City: The Story of King Records, that begins with a quote from Mac ‘Dr. John‘ Rebennack:

“Henry Glover wrote so many killer tunes it makes your mind bend.”

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Writes Fox —

Henry Glover was the living embodiment of the color-blindness and open-minded spirit that Syd Nathan espoused and attempted to live by at King Records. Glover was a black man from the south, but he was as comfortable in the studio producing white country acts as he was producing rhythm and blues acts. Glover knew the barriers erected between white and black music were artificial and not reflective of the way life was actually lived in America. Music was music, and a good song was a good song. It really was as simple as that.

Henry Bernard Glover was born May 21, 1921 in the resort town of Hot Springs, Arkansas. A natural musician, Glover played the piano and cornet by his teenage years, despite his parents’ objections “They looked down on the entertainment field,” Glover told writer John W. Rumble; musicians, to them, were a subject of contempt, “people off the levee camp.” Still, Glover played on, absorbing the country music he heard on local radio stations, the jazz and blues he heard on records, and the formal music instruction he received in high school.

After graduation, Glover attended Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College in Huntsville. He quickly earned a musical scholarship and began playing in several of A&M’s student ensembles. In addition to the formidable technical knowledge he gained in Huntsville, Glover developed a philosophy that would help guide him as he made his way through the world.

[Photo: The Journal of Country Music]

One day in 1940 Glover was telling his A&M mentor, bandmasters James Wilson, about a concert he had played with white musicians the preceding summer back in Hot Springs. Wilson kidded him about playing with “Ofay,” a phrase for white people that Wilson explained was the “pig latin” word for foe. He also had some advice for Glover. “He said, ‘You can’t be afraid of the foe. You can’t fear the foe. You gotta go with it.’ And that’s what I did my whole career. I was not afraid of the Ofay, or anybody else, really, when I had prepared myself not to be.“

Glover received his degree in education in 1943 and enrolled in a master’s program at Wayne State University in Detroit. [As Arnold Shaw notes in Honkers and Shouters, “He was eight credits shy from a master’s degree when he became ill — “sick of education,” in his words.] He still had the music in his blood, though, and when bandleader Buddy Johnson offered the young musician a job, Glover jumped at the chance. He lasted only a few months playing trumpet and arranging for the Johnson band, but subsequent gigs with the bands of Willie Bryant, Tiny Bradshow, and Lucky Millinder further honed his skills.

“Syd Nathan gave me a job back in the 1940s as his Artists & Repertoire (A&R) Director, and I was perhaps the second black man to ever have an executive position with a record company in the United States. The first was a gentleman called by the name of Mayo Williams, who was connected with Decca Records.

“I can recall the first date that I did for Syd, for the company as an employee, as the recording director,” Glover said. “It was with Todd Rhodes, a piano player from Detroit. I came in and we did a couple of instrumentals, ‘Teardrops‘ and ‘Pot Likker.’ I was impressed with Todd’s band because he had a couple of very fine musicians in it.“

Nathan put together an attractive deal for Glover that included a regular salary as well as a weekly advance against songwriting royalties and an expense account. He persuaded Glover to move to Cincinnati to more fully learn the mechanics of running a company. “I moved to Cincinnati in 1949 and stayed until 1950 in order to learn the basics of the recording setup—a rare opportunity not only for a black man but also for a white, said Glover.

“I worked with Syd on many projects in the early days of the record company. Naturally, with him putting together a pressing, printing, studio, and distribution complex, there were many things you could do, and the same time learn. I was taught the basic fundamentals of the business of music and the studio mechanics and such. I received a great knowledge of the business end as well as the complication copyright situation, licensing and publishing.”

Glover enjoyed his first success as a producer with Bull Moose Jackson. Glover not only produced Jackson’s recording sessions but also wrote (or co-wrote) many of Bull Moose’s early hits, including “I Love You, Yes I Do,” “All My Love Belongs to You,” “I Want a Bow Legged Woman,” and “Love Me Tonight.” It was not long Nathan asked Glover to work in the studio with King’s country artists like Moon Mullican. I did all of Moon’s early recordings. I recorded Grandpa Jones, Cowboy Copas, and the York Brothers.” Glover also collaborated in the studio writing songs with Mullican, the Delmore Brothers, Grandpa Jones, and a host of others.

“Moon and I wrote [a song] together called ‘I’ll Sail My Ship Alone,’ said Glover. “We stood there over the piano and took the remnants of a thing that he halfway remembered that he had gotten from a buddy of his, and we made a song out of it. You know, the structure was there, because he had the title and a couple of lines. Way back in the 1930s, Jimmie Lunceford had a record called ‘I’m Like a Ship at Sea’ and I borrowed some ideas from that.” The new song shot straight to the top of the Billboard country charts and was one of the biggest hits of 1950.

The record’s flip side, the rollicking “Moon’s Tune,” was an upbeat boogie number and a revelation to Glover. “I hadn’t seen anything like that.” I know there must have been some [pianists like Mullican] playing in those western bands. But I hadn’t seen a white man the boogie-woogie piano. Moon had such a great soul. He was just like a black man to me, the way he thought, felt, and expressed himself.“ *

Glover returned to King Records for a brief period in the late 1960s, but after about 1971, he primarily concentrated on production. Financially comfortable from his lucrative publishing copyrights, he had the luxury of producing only those acts that really excited him. His production credits from this period include The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album, which won Waters his first Grammy Award in 1975, Put It In Your Ear by Paul Butterfield, and a solo album by Levon Helm, the drummer from The Band.

Glover endorsing Cincinnati-based Baldwin pianos

[Photo: The Journal of Country Music]

Billy Vera‘s biographical profile for UK-based Blues & Rhythm – “The Henry Glover Story” (published October 2008) – is another important piece of research from which I learned the following fascinating details:

“At the request of New Orleans R&B star Paul Gayten, Henry arranged Gayten’s ‘Can’t Help Loving That Girl of Mine’ for Regal Records. This cemented a relationship with Regal co-owner Fred Mendelsohn that would blossom years later when Mendelsohn went to work for King subsidiary DeLuxe.”

“In 1948 [Todd] Rhodes hit with a Glover instrumental called ‘Blues For the Red Boy.’ The tune was later used by disc jockey Alan Freed as his theme song, during the period he broadcast in Cleveland under the name Moondog.”

“Around the same time [c. 1949], Glover was hired by NBC to do some composing and arranging. It was virtually unheard of for a black man to do this kind of work at that time.” John Rumble notes in his Journal of Country Music profile that this NBC engagement lasted six months and that “one notable program in this series, evidently aired in 1950, starred W.C. Handy playing his legendary “St. Louis Blues,” with the orchestra playing Glover’s arrangements behind him.”

“After 1950, Henry left Cincinnati for New York City, where he opened a King office at 154 W. 54th Street, upstairs from Jimmy Ryan’s jazz club and across the street from Al & Dick’s, where music people met to do business. To sweeten the pot, Syd Nathan gave him his own publishing company, Jay & Cee Music, to provide income in addition to his A&R salary and producer’s override.”

In 1951, “Lucky Millinder was finally able to join his friend [Glover] at King. To celebrate Henry wrote, with Carolyn Leigh, the blues balled ‘I’m Waiting Just For You,’ the blueprint for which was Millinder’s Victor hit, ‘I’ll Never Be Free.’ Both were sung by Lucky’s female singer, Annisteen Allen. The tune, the first hit ever written by Leigh – who went on to pen Frank Sinatra’s ‘Young at Heart’ and numerous standards with pianist Cy Coleman – was a bonanza for Henry’s Jay & Cee publishing, with covers by Rosemary Clooney, Hoagy Carmichael, and Cass Daley, as well as a King country cover by Hawkshaw Hawkins.”

After Glover’s time at King — “For Sarah Vaughn, Henry produced the single, “Untouchable,” as well as the albums, Star Eyes and Slightly Classical, which he considered the best work of his career.”

Also this tidbit about Syd Nathan — “A true visionary who, in today’s parlance, thought outside the box, Syd bought up a fleet of bread delivery trucks and had them outfitted with shelves, as a kind of rolling distributorship.”

Henry Glover’s decision to leave King Records would mark the second half of his professional career. Susan Whitall recounts this transitional period in her biography, Fever: Little Willie John – A Fast Life, Mysterious Death and the Birth of Soul:

A seismic shift was going on at King Records in 1959. Willie’s New York producer Henry Glover, the man who harnessed Willie’s raw talent and paired him with the right songs and the best arrangements, was leaving Syd Nathan’s employ at King Records. Glover had been with King since he quit playing trumpet for Lucky Millinder in the early 1940s. Indirectly, the 1959 payola scandal was to blame.

In the midst of the music industry’s collective nervous breakdown over the Congressional hearings on payola — money paid by record companies to radio DJs for airplay — Glover felt that Syd Nathan had thrown him under the bus during his testimony. Syd told investigators that any payola King was involved in was handled out of its New York office. King’s New York office was, of course, run by Henry Glover.

Glover promptly quit and went on to work for several other labels, including Roulette. He described his departure as voluntary, but the rumors persisted that he was fired because he’d been caught doling out payola. That rumor was loudly refuted by Hal Neely, who oversaw King’s business affairs. “The only two people guilty of payola at King…was Syd Nathan and Hal Neely.” Neely said, “The other guys were just doing what they were told. They might have passed money, but they didn’t unless it was approved. They didn’t get the cash unless it was approved.” Neely added gleefully: “I’m the only record executive they didn’t indict for payola, and I’m as guilty as anybody.”

His honesty is refreshing, even if it was safely uttered 50 years after the 1959 Inquisition. While only a few took the fall for payola (DJ Alan Freed being one of the most celebrated of the lot) it was no backroom dealing, but an everyday occurence that oiled the wheels of the music industry. Often it took the benign form of “sponsorship” — a radio station’s “Spin of the Day” would be “sponsored by” (meaning paid for by) a record company, without credit of course. Such practices wouldn’t make a hit out of a bum song — only rabid, record-buying teenagers could do that — but without it, a record by a new artist might by unjustly relegated to the slush pile. Neely was affably blunt. “In those days, everybody’s hand was in the pot.”

The problem for artists like Willie was, although King was dispensing payola to DJs just like any other record company (according to Neely) from the mid 1950s into the early 60s, white pop stations were still not adding a lot of rhythm & blues records — certainly not from core artists like Willie. All the payola in the world was not going to get Hank Ballard and the Midnighters singing double entendres about “working” with Annie played on a pop station. Even a crooner like Little Willie John, with nary a sleazy lyric to his name, had to content himself with small pop victories here and there.

Glover’s departure didn’t appear to be a devastating blow to Willie, not at first. Willie was already recording many sessions in Cincinnati that didn’t involve Glover at all. Ray Pennington started working with Willie in 1958 (Willie’s version of Pennington’s own song “Heaven All Around Me” was released in 1963) and says that, contrary to the idea that Henry Glover produced most of Willie’s sessions, he, Gene Redd and Sonny Thompson were usually the supervising producers in Cincinnati.

During his brief stay at Hy Weiss‘s Old Town Records after departing King, Glover wrote 1959’s “That Was Me” for The Fiestas, as well as co-authored a classic crossover hit – Billy Bland‘s “Let the Little Girl Dance” – that went #7 Pop and #11 R&B in early 1960.

1960 EP — France

The Billy Bland hit hadn’t even peaked in the charts, however, before Glover was already onto his next venture, as Billboard reported in its October 12, 1959 edition:

“Henry Glover has started his own label, Glover Records. He is associated with Hy Weiss of Old Town in the venture. Titus Turner and Dino are Glover’s first pactees.“

Henry Glover Productions:

Glover Records (1959-1960)

Dino (1959’s “Run Home Little Girl” 45, penned by “Henry Bernard”)

Titus Turner (1959’s “We Told You Not to Marry” b/w “Taking Care of Business” & 1960’s “When the Sargeant Comes Marching Home” b/w “Up Jumps the Devil” all sides penned by Glover as “Henry Bernard” + 1960’s “Cool Down” b/w “Get Up Betty Jean” & 1960’s “The More We Get Together” b/w “I’m Set In My Ways,” all sides co-authored by Glover).

Larry Dale (1960’s “Big Muddy” & “Let the Doorbell Ring” 45s)

Rocky Wilkerson (1960’s “Let Me Come Back” 45)

James Ford & Orchestra (1960’s “Double Barrel” 45)

Joe Simmons (1960’s “Oh Father” 45)

Eddie Singleton (1960’s “Do Your Number” 45, penned by Glover)

Vinny Lee (1960’s “Patty’s Theme” 45)

By October of 1960, however, Glover — who entertained an offer from ABC, according to John W. Rumble — would ultimately accept a position as A&R producer for Morris Levy’s Roulette Records. During Glover’s time at Roulette, notes Rumble, “he maintained his 50 percent holding in Jay and Cee, his major source of income over the long-term.”

Cash Box — Oct. 1, 1960

It was around this time that Levon Helm, as a member of The Hawks, Ronnie Hawkins’ backing band, first connected with fellow Arkansan, Henry Glover, of whom the future founding member of The Band would hold in the highest regard, as recounted in This Wheel’s on Fire: Levon Helm And The Story of The Band, co-written with Stephen Davis —

In mid-September [1960] we were back on the Jersey Shore around the time Roulette released our first album, Ronnie Hawkins. On September 16 the Hawks, without Ronnie, were booked into Bell Sound in Manhattan to record a couple of instrumentals under our new producer, Mr. Henry Glover.

Henry was an old-time record man and an Arkansawyer to boot. He had helped build Syd Nathan build Cincinnati’s King Records into America’s first major independent label, becoming the first black record executive [after J. Mayo Williams] while producing early sessions by James Brown, Little Willie John, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Lulu Reed, and the Delmore Brothers. Henry wrote songs as well: “Honky Tonk,” “Drown in My Own Tears,” and later “California Sun” and “Peppermint Twist,” after he’d cut Hank Ballard’s original Twist dance records.

Something clicked between Henry and me. I tried to put myself under the wing of this A&R genius (he’d talked Little Willie John into cutting “Fever”), and for the next twenty-five years we would depend on his counsel and advice.

So we were at this session alone, working on tracks without vocals. After we’d cut a couple of instrumentals on his new four-track machine, Henry came into the studio and said, “Lavon [Helms’ middle name by which he was originally called], you know you’ve got a hell of a band here. If you boys ever decide you want to do something by yourselves, I hope you’ll come talk to me about it first.”

This meant the world to me at the time, because Henry wasn’t just a rock and roll maven. Since coming to New York to work with Morris Levy at Roulette, he’d been involved with jazz artists like Sonny Stitt [review – below], Lockjaw Davis, Sarah Vaughn, and especially Dinah Washington. Henry knew good music when he heard it, and if a veteran music man like man thought we could cut it on our own, well, maybe we could someday — if the need arose.

Record World — Nov. 11, 1967

By the time Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks were recording material for their follow-up Roulette album, a local teenage kid, Robbie Robertson, had already auditioned for the group, having been spotted conspicuously hanging around the bandstand after the group’s Toronto gigs at the Concord Tavern and Le Coq D’Or. Helm picks up the story —

The Hawk cut two of fifteen-year-old Robbie Roberton’s tunes with Henry Glover on October 26 [1959]: “Hey Boba Lou” and “Someone Like You,” as well as “Baby Jean” (co-written by me) and nine other tracks. These came out on the Hawk’s second album, Mr. Dynamo, which Roulette released in January, 1960.

The Hawk told anyone he could that this kid Robbie was going to be one of the biggest stars in the business some day. Ronnie had us all convinced. Nevertheless, he told Robbie he was too young to be in the band.

Four months later, Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks were cutting another album for Roulette. As Helm recalls —

So in March 1960 we were back in Manhattan recording folk songs for Morris Levy. Ronnie sang “John Henry,” “Motherless Child” and “I Gave My Love a Cherry.” He even cut a protest song, “The Ballad of Caryl Chessman,” about the condemned killer whose rehabilitation in prison stirred up those against capital punishment. Henry Glover brought in jazz bassist George Duvivier to back Ronnie, and Roulette released Folk Ballads of Ronnie Hawkins in May 1960.

1961 would see the release of Joe Jones’ original version of “California Sun,” written by Glover, who also hit a home run that same year with “Peppermint Twist,” a single co-written with Joey Dee (“recorded live at the Peppermint Lounge”) that went #1 in early 1962.

45 – New Zealand

Glover’s early years with Roulette kept him busy in the producer (and writer)’s chair working sessions for the following artists —

Henry Glover Productions:

Roulette Years (1961-1964)

Peggy King (including 1961’s “Up Up Up (Flying High),” co-written by Glover)

Machito And His Orchestra (including 1961’s “Twist Changa,” co-written by Glover)

Machito & His Orchestra — Brazil (1964)

Joe Jones (including 1961’s “California Sun“; “One Big Mouth” & “The Big Mule,” all written by Glover)

The Cleftones (including 1961 LP Heart and Soul with “You and I Can Climb,” co-written by Glover + Top 50 R&B hit “For Sentimental Reasons“)

Reissued 2015 in Japan

Valerie Carr (including 1961’s “I Left There Crying,” co-written by Glover)

Harold Corbin (1961’s Soul Brother LP)

Bruce Bruno (1961’s “Hey Little One” 45)

Cathy Carr (1961’s “Yearning” 45)

The Delicates (1961’s “Little Boy of Mine” 45)

Frankie Lymon (1961’s “I Put the Bomp” 45)

Little Anthony & the Imperials (including 1961’s “That Li’l Ole Lovemaker Me,” co-written by Glover)

Joey Dee & the Starliters (including 1961’s “Peppermint Twist,” co-written by Glover + 1962 single “Hey, Let’s Twist” b/w “Roly Poly” + All the World Is Twistin’ LP – all co-written with Glover)

Glover also wrote the music for 1962 soundtrack LP, Two Tickets To Paris

Sarah Vaughan (including 1961’s “Untouchable,” arranged & conducted by Glover + 1963’s Star Eyes LP with “Icy Stone,” co-written by Glover)

France – 1964 EP

“Hills of Assisi” also produced by Henry Glover

Dinah Washington (including three 1962 LPs Dinah ’62 featuring “Where Are You“; In Love, and Drinking Again + 1963’s Back to the Blues LP along with “Soulville” 45 (co-written by Glover) + two 1964 LPs In Tribute and A Stranger on Earth with “Drown In My Own Tears” written by Glover)

Israel — 1963

Barbara English & the Fashions (including a version of “Fever” arranged and conducted by Glover)

Louisiana Red (1962’s “Red’s Dream” & “Ride On, Red” + 1963’s Back Porch Blues LP, all co-written with Glover)

“It took the whole US army to make one school integrate”

Sam & Dave (1962’s “She’s Alright” + 1963’s “You Ain’t No Big Thing,” both co-written by Glover)

Bill Haley & His Comets (1962’s Twistin’ Knights at the Roundtable live LP)

The Playmates (1962’s “A Rose And a Star” 45)

Jimmy Anthony (1962’s “Slow Twist” 45)

The Essex (including 1963’s “What I Don’t Know Won’t Hurt Me,” co-written by Glover)

Germany — 1963

The New Allegros (including 1963’s “For Lovers Only,” written by Glover, who assisted on vocals)

Miller Sisters (1963’s “Silly Girl” 45)

Gene & Jerry With The Homesteaders (1963’s Hootenanny – Nashville LP)

Ronnie Hawkins (including 1963’s “There’s a Screw Loose,” co-written with Glover — important to point out that producer credits )

Album covers below include Dinah ’62

Debbie Dovale (including 1964’s “I’m My Own Doctor,” co-written by Glover)

Anita Humes & the Essex (1964’s “Curfew Lover” 45)

Also amusing to note that Dinah Washington’s Top 30 hit album, Dinah ’62, enjoyed the same title when distributed worldwide, except for the Netherlands, where the title was amended ever so slightly, I kid you not, to Dinah ’63 (not to be confused, mind you, with the following year’s LP release, Dinah ’63, also produced by Henry Glover).

Netherlands — 1962 (go figure)

In 1962, Glover also co-produced The Flamingos’ Sound of the Flamingos LP with George Goldner.

In 1964, Morris Levy established a new Roulette subsidiary, Glover, whose catalog includes the first solo recordings by Valerie (Simpson) & Nick (Ashford).

Henry Glover Productions:

Glover (1964)

Valerie and Nick (three 1964 singles, with two sides co-authored by Glover: “Somebody’s Lying on Love” & “You Don’t Owe Me Anything“

Virgie Till (1964 single “I Didn’t Steal Your Dog” b/w “Loose Me Love,” both songs written by Glover)

Louisiana Red (1964 single “I’m Too Poor to Die” b/w “Sugar Hips,” both songs co-written by Glover)

Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis (1964’s “I Wish You Love” 45)

Titus Turner (1964’s “Last of the Big Time Spenders,” written by Glover)

But it was not enough to keep Levy’s star producer happy, as that same year, Glover left Roulette to launch Ware Records, a short-lived label that released singles by the following artists noted below.

Henry Glover Productions:

Ware Records (1964-1965)

Judy & the Duets (1964’s Glover-penned “A Christmas With The Beatles” 45)

The Cleftones (1965’s “He’s Forgotten You” / “Right From the Git Go” 45, co-written by Glover)

Dee Wonder & the Rhythm Fame (1965’s “Miami” 45)

(Screamin’) Jimmy Churchwell (1965’s “Can I Have Me Some You 45, co-written by Glover)

The Canadian Squires (1965’s “Leave Me Alone” / “Uh Uh Uh” 45)

Indisputably the most sophisticated arrangement of any Beatle novelty 45

The Canadian Squires, it turns out, were an early iteration of Levon and the Hawks. As Helm recalls —

The Colonel [booking agent/talent scout, Harold Kudlets] told us that our first step was to make some records. We had cut a single in 1964 with Henry Glover as the Canadian Squires, which Henry released on his Ware Records label. “Uh Uh Uh” / “Leave Me Alone” were written by Robbie and recorded in New York. I sang “Leave Me Alone,” and the lyrics were about our lives; “Trouble, fight, almost every night. Bad men, don’t come around, or I’m gonna lay your body down.” Both were harmonica-driven R&B songs that sounded and felt a little like the Rolling Stones, who were interested in the same kind of blues music that we were (and who were about to release their breakthrough single, “Satisfaction”).

“That sounds awful,” Garth Hudson said the first time we heard our record. Garth frowned with displeasure, as only he can. We were sitting in a diner somewhere. “Uh Uh Uh” came on the jukebox, and it was twice as low as anything else. “Too bottom heavy,” Garth said. We’d been concerned about getting that presence we liked around the bass pattern, an important part of our sound, but it just didn’t translate onto record.

We were friends with Ronnie Hawkins again; he’d gotten another band together as soon as we left his employ. One day we were chewing the fat, and our record came on. The Hawk said, “Son, you’re gonna have to forget this Canadian Squires thing because American record companies won’t touch a Canadian group. Take my word for it. They know the Canadian market is so small they won’t get their money back.”

Billboard — Jun. 5, 1965

International News Reports — Music Capitals of the World: Toronto

We knew then that things had to change.

We cut again in New York City under our own name, Levon and the Hawks. Henry Glover was producing, and an engineer named Phil Ramone was at the board, if I remember correctly. Robbie came up with “The Stones I Throw” and “He Don’t Love You,” and Richard [Manuel] sang lead on both. They were released on Atlantic’s Atco subsidiary in 1965, but we never heard them in a jukebox anywhere. (We also cut a sped-up version of “Little Liza Jane” that we called “Go Go Liza Jean,” but this remains unreleased.)

No reference on the 45 label to Henry Glover
(who was under contract to Roulette at the time)

Around this same time period, Helm consulted with Henry Glover about a contractual arrangement with Eric Schuster, who was offering to sign Levon and the Hawks —

I took the contract over to Henry Glover’s office in midtown. Henry was doing independent production work, and as a favor he said he’d look over the deal that Eric was offering.

My heart sank as I watched Henry’s face while he went over the figures. Finally he threw the contract on the desk and said, “I told you boys, there’s these two words: ‘retail’ and ‘wholesale.’ Now, look at this right here, and right here, and again right here. This is an even worse deal than the one Morris Levy gave Ronnie, and that was pretty bad. You boys will have to pay each other because nobody else is going to be paying you! You’re going to end up paying Eric Schuster every cent you make.”

It was life with no option.

Henry gave us the hardest advice we could stand. The contract was a complete rip-off. I didn’t want to hear it, but I knew he was right. We all talked about it back at the hotel. We were so anxious — chain-smoking, pacing — because by that point we were ready to do anything for a chance to record.

By early 1966, Glover had returned to Roulette. as reported in the January 29, 1966 edition of Record World, to resume his responsibilities as A&R vice-president. Between the years 1966-1968, Glover’s output would burnish Roulette’s legacy, as well as his own track record, via consistently high-quality 45 sides and albums for the label, as noted below.

Henry Glover Productions:

Roulette Years (1966-1968)

Sam and Dave (1966’s compilation LP that includes the earlier Glover-penned 45 sides + 1966’s “It Feels So Nice” & “No More Pain” 45s)

Spain – 1966

Dave “Baby” Cortez (1966’s In Orbit album, most tracks co-written by Glover, including “Sticks and Stones” + 1967’s “Belly Rub” and “Hula Hoop” 45s, both co-written by Glover)

Sarah Vaughn (1966’s Slightly Classical LP – retitled La Grande Sarah for the Italian market)

Bill Doggett (1966’s Honky Tonk A-La Mod! LP with “Booga Man” & “C’Mon Git It,” co-written by Glover)

Sonny Stitt (1965’s The Matadores Meet the Bull, most of the album written by Glover+ two 1966 LPs What’s New!!! Sonny Stitt Plays the Varitone LP with “Beastly Blues,” co-written by Glover & Stitt’s version of “Fever” + I Keep Comin’ Back!, including “Manhattan Fever,” co-written by Glover)

Wayne Anthony (1966’s “You Ain’t Wrapped Too Tight,” co-written by Glover)

Tommy James and the Shondells (1966’s It’s Only Love LP — the group also recorded “California Sun” in 1967)

Carlos Malcolm (1967’s Don’t Walk: Dance! LP by the Jamaican bandleader)

Wilbert Harrison (1967 “Mini Parade” promo 45 written/produced by Glover)

What’s, uh, the deal?

1966 UK single on the “King” label b/w Glover’s “You Ain’t No Big Thing Baby“

Glover would last two years in his second stint with Roulette before leaving in 1968 to help oversee the newly-consolidated Starday-King label following Syd Nathan’s death.

In 1968, Glover also independently produced (& conducted) Baby Washington‘s With You In Mind LP

By the time of the sale of Starday-King to Lin Broadcasting in November, 1968, Henry Glover would once again be back in New York City (though located at 211 W. 53rd Street), this time as VP and general manager of the label’s East Coast operations.

Billboard — Oct. 18, 1969

Without Syd Nathan to hold everything together, the situation on the ground would move pretty quickly over the next few years. Fortunately for history, Randy McNutt and Rick Kennedy‘s Little Labels, Big Sound, keeps the details straight:

Investors sold the company to Hal Neely, who by then was working for Starday Records in Nashville. Neely bought all King music and publishing assets, contracts, and properties for $1.75 million, and formed a new company called King Records of Ohio, Inc. He then merged King with Starday to form Starday-King Records, Inc., which controlled 22,000 song copyrights and 20,000 audio masters.

In late 1968, the owners sold the company to Lin Broadcasting Corporation. Both labels continued to release records under their own names, and James Brown opened his office at the King plant in Cincinnati. He placed a marble top on Nathan’s desk and added an engraved metal plaque: “I’ll Always Remember the Man, S. Nathan.”

In 1971, Neely purchased from Lin all Starday-King assets and contracts for $3.5 million in cash. He sold James Brown’s personal services contract, which had seven years to run, and the singer’s masters to Polydor for $1 million and his share of jointly owned publishing companies to Polydor for $376,000.

Glover remained with Starday-King until Lin sold the label in October, 1971 to “four music men”: Starday-King President/Lin VP, Hal Neely; music publisher, Freddy Bienstock; and songwriter-producers, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller. The principals of the newly organized company – now named the Tennessee Recording & Publishing Corporation – had hoped that Glover would run its Nashville office, according to John W. Rumble. “Busy with independent productions and sensing the instability of the situation,” notes Rumble, Glover refused.

As Hal Neely told McNutt in 1994 —

“The new partnership was not a happy one. It did not work. Conflicts of interests and personalities. Neither party would sell to the other. In early October 1973, I sold my interests in a bizarre turn of events on the flip of a coin. I lost.”

In late 1973, Moe Lytle of Gusto Records acquired the Starday-King masters, catalog, contracts, and property from Tennessee Recording & Publishing.

Henry Glover Productions:

Starday-King Years (1969-1972)

Arthur Prysock (1969’s Where the Soul Trees Grow LP including (I Wanna Go) Where the Soul Trees Grow” and “Soul Soliloquy,” both penned by Glover + versions of “I Love You, Yes I Do” & “Fever“)

Hank Marr (1969’s Greasy Spoon LP – though a Gene Redd production – includes Marr’s take on “All My Love Belongs to You,” originally written by Glover)

Marie “Queenie” Lyons (1970 LP Soul Fever co-produced by Glover, with updated soul versions of “Fever” and “Drown In My Own Tears” plus “Your Key Don’t Fit It Anymore,” written by Glover & Alicia Evelyn)

Piano Red (1970 LP Happiness Is Piano Red produced by Glover – includes update of “I Want a Bowlegged Woman“)

Kay Robinson (1970’s We Need Time LP – though a James Brown production – kicks off with “This Old World,” a Henry Glover composition)

Redd Foxx (1970 LP Bare Facts Part One was recorded at Foxx’s Hollywood club and edited by Glover, who also wrote the liner notes)

Overnight Low (1972’s heavy funk 45 “The Witch Doctor” purports to have been co-written by Glover)

Despite the reprehensible manner with which Syd Nathan allowed his talented and trailblazing producer-songwriter — whose contributions were an indispensable part of King’s peak commercial years — to take the fall during the Congressional Payola investigation, Glover was able to mend the rift between himself and the irascible owner, with Glover even spending a fair amount of time at his former boss’s Florida home during the latter part of the 1960s, according to Rumble. Nathan’s wife, Stella, liked having Glover around, as “he always seemed to cheer the older man out of a tendency toward hypochondria,” says Rumble.

Based on the fact that [Syd Nathan] put me, as a black man, in pretty high regard, because it wasn’t one of those things where I was just hired there, like a flunky, or something, anything else. I had stock, and I was part of the thing, you know. I had a contract, agreements, and things, and he had a little respect for me because of my intelligence, because in many cases he would ask me in a manner that required — how did he put it? — “Come help me mastermind this, with your big-time education,” as he would put it.
Henry Glover to music historian, John W. Rumble

1972 saw funky new life breathed into both “Annie Had a Baby” courtesy of Hank Ballard and “Honky Tonk” thanks to the James Brown Soul Train. That same year, Louisiana Red released his debut album for Atlantic’s Atco subsidiary, with two songs co-written by Glover, “I Am Louisiana Red” and “Red’s New Dream.”

By 1975, ten years after their last recording session in New York City, Henry Glover and Levon Helm would reconnect in Woodstock —

Back in Woodstock I hooked up with my old friend and mentor Henry Glover. I’d met Henry when I was eighteen years old and the Hawks came to New York to record. Now I was almost thirty-five years old and once again turning to Henry to help realize my ambitions. He and I talked and talked and decided we should work together as a team. Between my musical contacts and his expertise in the music business, we felt we could do some worthwhile projects. So we formed a company and called it RCO, which stood for “Our Company,” and started to realize several dreams we’d both had. The first of these was to bring Muddy Waters from Chicago to record an album in Woodstock. I got a twelve-thousand-dollar advance from the record company in early 1975, which helped to pay the plumbing bill for my barn.

Muddy Waters came to Woodstock in February. He brought along Pinetop Perkins to play piano and Bob Margolin, his regular guitarist. We produced a pretty good album for him in a barn with a mobile truck and artists like Dr. John and Paul Butterfield, who at that time was working with his band Better Days. Most of The Band played on it as well. Muddy was wonderful to work with and extremely generous of spirit, and just to spend some time with him was a great honor for me. That, and the spirit we got out of our version of Louis Jordan’s “Caledonia.” We had a lot of fun giving Muddy the keys to the town at a reception in the great bluesman’s honor on the Woodstock town green on February 14, 1975. I wish you could have seen the look on Muddy’s face when he stepped out of that limo and saw two hundred cheering people waiting for him on a bright winter afternoon. (We were all thrilled when Muddy Waters in Woodstock won a Grammy for best blues recording).

Henry Glover Productions:

The Woodstock Years (1975-1978)

Muddy Waters (1975’s The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album, produced by Glover)

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Muddy-Waters-Woodstock-Album.jpg

Paul Butterfield (1976’s Put It In Your Ear LP produced, arranged & conducted by Glover)

Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars (1977’s Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars LP includes “Blues So Bad,” co-written by Glover and Helm & “Rain Down Tears,” co-written by Glover)

The Band (1978’s The Last Waltz includes horn parts arranged by Glover on “Tura Lura Lural (That’s an Irish Lullaby)”)

Levon Helm – interviewed by Scott Jordan in 1998

Q: And your RCO All-Stars Band that you put together when the Band first broke up was such an underrated band: you and Dr. John and Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn. Did you hand-pick that band?

Helm: Yeah, ABC Records had not been conglomerated up yet – they got bought out shortly after that – but I signed with them, and all of a sudden I had a record budget to spend on a record, so I said, hell yeah, I called up Duck and Fred Carter and Dr. John and everybody, and we all got to Woodstock and started having fun. I had as good a time with that project as I’ve ever had. And of course we had Henry Glover there, who was our main guidance system there. Everybody knows who Henry was.

Q: Is Henry still alive?

Helm: No, dammit. We lost the studio there that we cut the RCO thing, I had just built the studio that we got there, and we had a damn fire, and lost the building, or most of it. And the night the building burned down, damned if Dr. Henry Glover didn’t die that night. So I get up the next day at the damn Holiday Inn with a bathrobe and a pair of cowboy boots, and answer the phone, and now I’ve got to rent a tuxedo and go to Henry Glover’s funeral. Jesus. What a day. When it rains, it pours. But he sure did do right by us. He brought Muddy Waters to town, and we did the Muddy Waters Woodstock record, and Butterfield did some great stuff. Henry did some string things with Butterfield that I don’t think people have gotten to hear yet, where Butterfield’s playing and singing with strings behind his voice and his harp. It’s great stuff. And he helped me do the RCO All-Star thing, and did the horn arrangements for Van Morrison on The Last Waltz. With Henry Glover being around, music would happen all the time. Something good was always happening.

* * *

David Sanjek gets the last word —

While Glover might well have originally pursued the creative strategy of crossover for pragmatic reasons as a fundamental means of accessing as wide as possible an audience for the King catalogue, over the course of time his practices would become foundational to the very essence of American popular music. Syd Nathan may well have convinced himself, and others, that in the management of King Records he simply “done business,” but an ancillary element of his economic agenda ratified the pluralistic essence of our national character.

Henry Glover:

Oral History

Henry Glover Interviewed by Scott Fish – c. 1982

Billy Vera, Bob Margolin & Howard Johnson, et al. Discuss Henry Glover’s Legacy With Brian Powers

* * *

–Case Study–
Tracing a Song’s Evolution:
“Blues Stay Away From Me”

When you’re scanning songwriter credits, do you ever wonder about the song’s back story when you see more than two names listed, like on Cher’s big hit from 1999 “Believe” which boasts (are you ready for this) six names? Did each individual named contribute equally is the question I usually ask myself. For example, there are four names attached to one of King’s most influential recordings, “Blues Stay Away From Me” — a song covered by Merle Haggard, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Owen Bradley, Merle Travis & Johnny Bond, Roy Clark, Wanda Jackson, Gene Vincent, Slim Whitman, Charlie McCoy, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Floyd Cramer, Doc Watson, Margaret Whiting, The Sweet Inspirations, The Browns, Ray Price, The Louvin Brothers, The Willis Brothers, The Band, Doug Sahm, kd lang, Yo La Tengo, Jeff Beck, Jorma Kaukonen & Bela Fleck, The Notting Hillbillies, and Asleep at the Wheel among others.

Q: To what extent did Alton Delmore, Rabon Delmore, Henry Glover, and Wayne Raney each contribute in the creation of that song?

The answer to that question can be found in a profile of Henry Glover written by John W. Rumble entitled “Roots of Rock and Roll: Henry Glover at King Records” and published in The Journal of Country Music in 1991. The story, which has a few twists and turns, is a fascinating one about the creative process, as well as the lengths people will go to be the first ones to show up in the marketplace —

In subsequent sessions the Delmores recorded a wealth of blues and boogie material, looking for another boogie hit [after “Freight Train Boogie”]. On May 6, 1949, they found it, when [Henry] Glover took them into the King studio along with harmonica wizard Wayne Raney to record ‘Blues Stay Away From Me.’ As Glover recounted, he derived this number from songs he had written earlier. The idea began with ‘Boarding House Blues,’ which Glover had arranged as theme music for a 1948 movie short by the same title. Lucky Millinder began using the number on the road, and his RCA recording of the tune, recast as ‘D’ Natural Blues,’ first made Billboard’s R&B charts in April 1949. Meanwhile, bandleader Paul Williams had gotten a copy of Glover’s ‘Boarding House Blues’ arrangement from Andy Gibson, a young arranger then working for Millinder along with Glover. Williams had beaten Millinder to the street and gained a chartmaking hit on Savoy Records with ‘The Hucklebuck,’ whose similarity to ‘Boarding House Blues’ Glover considered more than coincidental. Glover obtained a favorable ruling from the American Federation of Musicians declaring Glover and Millinder the rightful composers, but later he and Gibson made a handshake agreement to keep their respective songs. As it turned out, ‘The Hucklebuck’ eclipsed ‘D’ Natural Blues,’ went to #1 and stayed on the R&B charts for 32 weeks.

‘I felt left out in the cold,’ Glover continued. ‘So I went to Cincinnati and got the Delmores together and came up with ‘Blues Stay Away From Me,’ based on the same melodic structure and the [electric guitar] doing the same moving at the bottom, with the bom-ba-pa-dum-ba-pa-dum, and we came up with ‘Blues Stay Away from Me’ … I taught Wayne the melody, which was actually nothing but [an] old blues thing, very closely, from years ago. And Wayne played that harmonica on it right away.’ Electric guitarist Zeke Turner supplied the low-register melodic rhythmic sequence that underpins the arrangement. As Glover recollected, Louis Innis, played rhythm guitar, and Ralph Gunther, who also did a good deal of lithographic work for King, played bass. The lyrics, Glover said, were largely Alton Delmore’s, though both Alton and Rabon Delmore shared songwriting credits along with Glover and Raney. The record made all three of the country charts Billboard was publishing by mid-1949 = retail sales (#2), jukebox (#1), and radio airplay (#9). ‘That did my heart good when I saw the thing selling,’ Glover related. It also piqued Syd Nathan’s interest. Once ‘Blues Stay Away From Me’ hit, the ever-combative Nathan wanted to demand royalties on ‘The Hucklebuck’ from his competitors, but Glover dismissed the idea. ‘I says, “Syd, that was before this. This had nothing to do with it. We have ‘Blues Stay Away From Me.’ Let it stay at that. The other thing is over.’

Clip of Lucky Millinder Orchestra playing “Boarding House Blues” in the 1948 film of the same name:

“D’ Natural Blues” by Lucky Millinder Orchestra — the melodic foundation for “Blues Stay Away From Me”:

“The Hucklebuck” by Paul Williams — written (?) by Andy Gibson:

As it turns out, the song’s story was far from over, as the very next paragraph from the John W. Rumble profile of Henry Glover reveals the cut-throat nature of the music business:

Decca country producer Paul Cohen soon gave Nathan something else to rant and rave about. Cohen saw a good thing coming in ‘Blues Stay Away From Me’ and recorded the song in Nashville with a combo led by Owen Bradley, Cohen’s right-hand man in Nashville recording sessions. According to Glover, Cohen heard Nathan play an acetate dub of ‘Blues Stay Away From Me’ at a music convention in Chicago. ‘Paul Cohen heard it,’ Glover recounted, ‘and saw Syd put it back in his briefcase, and he stole it out [of] the briefcase and went to Nashville and recorded it with Louis Innis, Zeke Turner — the same musicians that I used up there behind the Delmores … They put it out with Owen, and it was a hit. But we came out a day later (or something like that) with ‘Blues Stay Away From Me,’ and it swept ’em out. Then, the next time I assembled these musicians to come up from Nashville, I didn’t allow Syd in the studio because it disturbed musicians when I’m in there, you know. I said, ‘Syd, don’t come down there. We don’t need you.’ But he would like to come in. But this time, I had these musicians there — the same ones, he found out, that had recorded this thing for Paul Cohen. I had the musicians down in the studio. Louis Innis was always shaky and nervous, anyway. And Zeke Turner was there, and I think Jerry Byrd … Syd came there and picked up the microphone from the control room and started cussin’ ’em. Oh [Lord], he could cuss ’em. He said, ‘You bunch of [goshdarn] thieves!’ … Then they all ran out of the studio back there to talk with him. And one guy went in and said, ‘Syd, look. We didn’t mean to do that. We just played what the man [asked us to play]’ … I think it was Jerry Byrd [who] said, ‘All I can say is, when you get hit in the butt with a buzz saw, you can’t blame one tooth. You gotta blame the whole [goshdang] saw!’ That meant all of ’em were responsible for taking his song and taking his record.

Artist Spotlight:

Steven Kroon

Musician Mentored by Henry Glover

As Steven Kroon explains on his website –

My name is Steven Kroon. I’ve been a professional musician for the last 50 years. I was born in Harlem, and lived there until the age of nine. In 1957, we moved to St. Albans, Queens. My experience of being raised in Queens was very influential. At the time, there were many great Jazz and R&B artists living right in our neighborhood. At home I mostly listened to my father’s records, which were Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez and Machito. Then when I would visit my friends, I would listen to all the great Jazz artists. Right in my neighborhood was Lester Young, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Count Basie and many more. Also, a great influence on me was the great producer Henry Glover, who lived right on my corner. With all that diversity and style, I would say most of my musical appreciation began with those early years. At this early stage I progressed to playing percussion. My brother Bobby and I would practice along with the recordings of these great artists, then, as I progressed, I undertook studying with various music teachers. A great influence on me was the great Tommy Lopez, Sr. I took conga lessons with him for quite some time, shortly after that I studied with the great percussionist Dom Um Romao.

Tommy Lopez, Sr. (far right)

Photo courtesy of HerenciaLatina.com

In a telephone conversation with Zero to 180, Kroon revealed that Arthur Prysock and Buddy Johnson also lived four blocks away in his section of St. Albans, Queens, while Lena Horne, Brook Bention, and James Brown, lived further out. Growing up, Kroon remembers a Gold Record for Bill Doggett’s “Honky Tonk” that hung over Henry Glover’s fireplace – Glover once confided to Kroon that a pillow had to employed in the studio during the recording of 1956’s runaway instrumental hit to muffle the sound of Doggett’s stomping feet.

Glover loved to barbecue, recalls Kroon, who was once caught eavesdropping on an outdoor grilling session attended by Hall Johnson, Jocko Henderson, Titus Turner, Arthur Prysock, and Eddie Davis — and invited to join. Kroon also remembers one time being entranced by the glorious harmonies emanating from Glover’s basement cellar (or “bulkhead”) doors, only to discover that he was listening to Roulette recording stars, The Cleftones, rehearsing “Red Sails In The Sunset” and “Sentimental Reasons”! Joey Dee And The Starlighters would also rehearse in Glover’s basement, says Kroon.

1961 LP

Produced by Henry Glover

Glover was very mechanically-minded and could be found with the latest high-end equipment in photography, film, and sound recording, remembers Kroon. Glover went so far as to develop his own photographs and use a Moviola-type editing machine for his own film experiments. Glover would sometimes show old boxing matches for friends at home using a film projector. Glover’s “toys” also included a burgundy Jaguar XKE and gold Thunderbird.

Kroon is privileged to have heard the sound of Glover, who had an upright piano on his back porch, performing his own composition “I’ll Drown In My Tears” alfresco. Imagine being friends and neighbors with one of the top A&R producers of the day and asking them, as Kroon once did, what exactly is “producing”? Kroon remembers being present one time when Glover assured Hank Ballard over the phone that he need not worry about Chubby Checker’s version of “The Twist” — originally the B-side to Glover’s “Teardrops On Your Letter” when released in December 1958 on King.

Glover was gracious enough to critique the doo wop harmony group formed by Kroon and his two older brothers. Bobby Kroon was the group’s “super talented” musical leader and tutor for Steven, who later would be tapped to become lead vocalist. After their performance in Glover’s basement, Henry informed the brothers in his typical frank and forthright manner that they “had a lot to learn” with regard to harmony and arrangement, but they possessed a promising sound nevertheless.

Perhaps it was inevitable that Kroon would pursue music professionally, being the son of a musicologist (father), jazz enthusiast (mother) and raised amidst such top talent in St. Albans, Queens. As a proven hit maker, Glover would advise the budding musician and future bandleader to “give them something you know” and also to make a connection with the dance of the moment. Later as Kroon was beginning to establish his own musical career, Glover would suggest working up a “Latin funk” arrangement of “Fever” to add to the repertoire of Kroon and his ensemble.

Kroon was twenty-three (c. 1972) when he got his prized union card — AFM local #802, “the world’s largest local union of professional musicians.” Henry Glover was instrumental in making that happen, Kroon tells Zero to 180. Once Glover saw the serious of Kroon’s intent, he promptly placed a call to union president, Hy Jaffe, and vouched for the young musician. Just like that, Kroon was in like Flynn.

Kroon picks up the story from there —

As my career progressed, I began working with such notables as Luther Vandross (from 1981 to 2001). I’ve appeared on seven platinum albums and fifteen world tours, which include two live video performances. Also, an array of television shows from The Tonight Show and Late Night With David Letterman, as well as the Grammys. I’ve also performed with Ron Carter from 1987 to 2004, which included extensive tours of the U.S., Japan and Brazil, as well as the well-known NY Jazz scene. Some of the places we’ve performed include The Village Vanguard, The Iridium, and The Blue Note chain from the U.S. to Japan. I’ve also recorded with much of the “Who’s Who” in the recording business, names such as Ron Carter, Roberta Flack, Luther Vandross, Bill Cosby, Aretha Franklin, Diana Krall, Stanley Turrentine, Bette Midler, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga, just to name a few. I’m also proud to announce that I made the Downbeat Critics poll as a Rising Star for 2016 and 2017.

Steven Kroon Discography –

Favorite performances on other artists’ recordings

Paul Butterfield — Put It In Your Ear album (1975)

Percussion overdubs were done during an overnight session attended by Glover, Butterfield, Kroon, and a bottle of vodka.

Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga —“Let’s Face The Music And Dance”

From 2014’s Cheek To Cheek album

Steven Kroon Discography –

Bandleader on his own solo releases

In My Path (2000)

Contributing musicians include Jon Lucien, Paulette McWilliams, Lisa Fischer, David Sanchez & Ron Carter

El Mas Alla (2008)

Without A Doubt (Sin Duda) (2011)

Featuring arrangements from a wide variety of collaborators = Oscar Hernandez, Bobby Franceschini, James Shipp, Zaccai Curtis, Bryan Carrott, Hubert Eaves III, Adam Perez, Marty Sheller & Igor Atalita.

[Note: “Tombo in 7/4” included on UK compilation, Jazz Dance Fusion Volume 2]

On The #1 (2014)

In Your Dreams (2018)

* * *

* * * * *

Part Two

Henry Glover, Songwriter:

A Chronology –

The King Years

[click on song title for link to streaming audio]

–1947–

“I Love You Yes I Do” by Bull Moose Jackson & His Buffalo Bearcats

[Recorded Aug. 1947 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover, Sally Nix & [Guy Wood & Sol Marcus]*

Notes: According to one 78RPM contributor, “I Love You Yes I Do” (with Bull Moose on tenor sax and Frank Galbreath on trumpet) is considered “one of the first R&B million sellers, crossing over to the Pop charts.” Glover relayed to historian John W. Rumble that it was “the very first big hit that King had in the rhythm & blues category,” while also pointing out that it was “unheard of in those days” to open a song with sixteen bars of instrumental. “I Love You Yes I Do” would go on to win Cash Box‘s 1949 Music Award. *Unfortunately, five years after the song’s release, the courts would deem the song to have infringed on Decca’s “Tonight He Sailed Again” (written by Guy Wood & Sol Marcus) – a song recorded by future King artist, Lucky Millinder.

Full-page Billboard ad

Nov. 15, 1947

Updated: Jackson’s re-recorded version of the song for 7 Arts cracked Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in September, 1961.

Covered by — James Brown & the Famous Flames; Dinah Washington; Sammy Kaye; Raymond Scott; Ella Mae Morse; Duke Groner & His Honey Dripper Lounge Boys; Chris Connor; Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston; Earl Grant; Ted Taylor; Tommy Ridgely; The Merseybeats; Tab Hunter; Clarence Henry, and others.

Cash Box

Jan. 17, 1948

“(I Want a) Bowlegged Woman” (A) & “Houston Texas Gal” (B) by Bull Moose Jackson & His Buffalo Bearcats

[Recorded Aug. 1947 in New York City]

Both songs written by Sally Nix** & Henry Glover

Notes: **Lucky Millinder, who was already signed to Decca, was also under contract to ASCAP, while Glover was a BMI writer. Millinder’s solution, therefore, was to use an alias: Sally Nix, the name of his girlfriend. Both songs recorded at the same recording session as “I Love You Yes I Do.” “Bowlegged Woman” possibly peaked the week of June 26, 1948, per Billboard, as one of the best-selling retail and most-played jukebox “race” records.

Covered by — “Bowlegged Woman” also recorded by Piano Red; Jimmy Ballard & The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies.

“We Can Talk Some Trash” (A) & “Love Me Tonight” (B) by Bull Moose Jackson & His Buffalo Bearcats

[Recorded Sep. 15 & 17, 1947 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Lucky Millinder (A); Henry Glover, Lucky Millinder & Sally Nix (B)

Note: “Love Me Tonight” was also recorded by Trini Lopez (Feb. 26, 1959 – King Studios) and Lonnie Johnson (May 29, 1964 – King Studios).

“All My Love Belongs to You” (A) &”I Can’t Go On Without You” (B) by Bull Moose Jackson & His Buffalo Bearcats

[Recorded Dec. 1947, likely in Cincinnati]

Both songs written by Henry Glover & Sally Nix

Note: “All My Love Belongs to You” performed well at the jukebox and over the counter, as did “I Can’t Go On Without You,” which was the top-selling “race” record for the week of Jul. 31, 1948, as well as the week of Sep. 11, 1948, as reported in Billboard.

Covered by — “All My Love Belongs to You” also recorded by Little Willie John on Sep. 24, 1958 in New York City; also recorded by Marva Whitney; Arbee Stidham & Jerry Wallace.

Cash Box review

Jul. 3, 1948

Covered by — “I Can’t Go On Without You” also recorded by Ella Fitzgerald & Hank Marr; “All My Love Belongs to You” also recorded by Steve Lawrence, Little Willie John, Brook Benton, Marva Whitney, Tommy Ridgley, The Platters, The Vibrations, Eddie Fontaine (with Neal Hefti & the Excels), Bobby Marin & the Latin Chords, Timi Yuro, Jerry Wallace & Billy Daniels.

UK 78

1949 release

–1948–

[1948 Recording Ban & Musicians Strike]

Harmonicas: exempt from the 1948 Musicians Strike

“One of the few instruments unaffected by the record ban“

–

Billboard

Jan. 24, 1948

“The Things You Do to Me” by Savannah Churchill & The Four Tunes

[released 1948]

Written by Savannah Churchill & Henry Glover

Notes: Churchill — who enjoyed a #1 R&B hit “I Want To Be Loved (But Only By You)” in 1947 — was a rising star who suffered debilitating injuries caused by a drunken man’s balcony fall during a live stage performance in 1956.

–1949–

King Records = 1st Place Winners – “Most Played Race Records”

Billboard‘s 2nd Annual Juke Box Operator Poll

Jan. 22, 1949

Note: All but two of King’s top juke box performers were co-written by Henry Glover.

“D Natural Blues” by Lucky Millinder And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jan. 3, 1949]

Written by Lucky Millinder & Henry Glover

Note: See Case Study – “Blues Stay Away From Me” (above). In the race to the marketplace — “The Hucklebuck” vs. “D Natural Blues” — RCA Victor’s failure to capitalize in a timely manner would be a defining moment for Henry Glover who later told historian John Rumble, “That sort of dampened my desire to be with any major company, because they moved too slow. This little record company that Paul Williams was running – it may have been Savoy or one of those little companies like that – they got that record out on the street so fast that when RCA Victor got their record out, our ‘D Natural Blues’ was too late.”

Covered by — Also recorded by Cozy Cole (Jun. 18, 1959 – King Studios), though retitled as “D Natural Rock,” with instrumental support from Ed Conley (bass), Fred Jordan & John Faire (guitars), John Thomas (piano), and George Kelly (tenor sax).

“Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide” by Bullmoose Jackson & His Buffalo Bearcats

[Recorded Jan. 5, 1949 in St. Louis]

Written by Henry Glover

Musicians: Bull Moose Jackson (tenor sax & vocals), Frank Wess (tenor sax), Euguene ‘Heads’ Adams (alto sax), Ted ‘Snooky’ Hulbert (baritone & alto sax), Harold ‘Money’ Johnson (trumpet), Billy Mann (piano), Franklin Skeete (bass), and Les Erskine (drums).

Note: Cash Box Jazz & Blues Reviews ‘Award o’ the Week’ winner per the March 25, 1950 edition — “The flip is another grade-A tune that should catch on with great favor. Bull Moose offers a bit of clever advice in his vocal refrain, with the band joining in the background.”

“Gayten’s Nightmare” by Paul Gayten

[Recorded Jan. 1949 in New Orleans]

Written by “Glover-Braun”

Musicians: Paul Gayten (piano & vocals), Lee Allen (tenor sax), Wallace Davenport (trumpet), Peter ‘Chuck’ Badie (bass), and Robert Green (drums).

Note: Glover’s sole contribution to Gayten’s recorded output.

“Pot Likker” by Todd Rhodes Orchestra (a.k.a., Todd Rhodes And His Toddlers)

[Recorded Jan. 25, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Todd Rhodes & Henry Glover

Note: This single was one of the best-selling retail and most-played jukebox “rhythm & blues” records for the week ending July 15, 1949, as reported in Billboard.

Musicians: Todd Rhodes (piano), Louis Barnett (tenor sax), Halley Dismukes (alto sax), George Favors (baritone sax), Howard Thompson (trumpet), Joe Williams (bass), and Huestell Talley (drums).

Quote: As Henry Glover told Steve Tracy in his extensive interview from 1972, “I can recall the first date that I did for Syd, for the company as an employee, as the recording director (1949). It was with Todd Rhodes, a piano player from Detroit. He had had a couple of records like ‘Page Boy Shuffle,’ but I came in and did a couple of instrumentals, ‘Teardrops,’ ‘Pot Likker.’ I was impressed with Todd’s band, because he had a couple of very fine musicians in it. This band read and, of course, I was just out of a band that read, and I could get more out of it than I could some of the others.”

Covered by — Washboard Bill (rec. Feb. 10, 1957 in NYC).

1960 EP

France

“Page Boy Shuffle” by Joe Thomas, His Sax & His Orchestra [recorded at the same Todd Rhodes session]

[Recorded Jan. 25, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Notes: “Page Boy Shuffle” and its B-side “Teardrops” also released as a 78 on the Sensation label and attributed to Todd Rhodes And His Toddlers. “Page Boy Shuffle” has also enjoyed issue in Jamaica more than once. Record registered by Cash Box as “hot” in New Orleans and Los Angeles, among other major urban centers, such as San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, and Cleveland.

“No One No Sweeter Than You” (A) & “It’s Love” (B) by George Hudson and His “Modern” Music

[Recorded Feb. 7, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover (A); Henry Glover & Syd Nathan (B)

Note: Scant information on the internet about George Hudson and his “modern” music.

“Get Lost” (A) & “Let It Rain” (B) by The Jubalaires

[Recorded Mar. 8, 1949 in Los Angeles]

Written by Henry Glover & Lois Mann (A); “Flennoy-Thrower-Glover” (B)

Notes: According to Marv Goldberg’s R&B Notebooks, three years prior to this King session, The Jubalaires were a daily fixture on Arthur Godfrey’s CBS radio show (11:00-11:30 am) and were billed as “the best quartet on the air East of the Pacific.”

“Bloodshot Eyes” by Hank Penny

[Recorded Mar. 9, 1949 in Los Angeles]

Written by Hank Penny & Ruth Hall –or– *Lois Mann & Henry Glover

Covered by — Wynonie Harris (rec. Feb. 27, 1951 – NYC), a top ten R&B hit; also Ann Jones & Smokey Rogers; Percy Dixon And His Merry Boys; Asleep at the Wheel; Emile Ford; Pat Benatar; Powerhouse with Tom Principato; Calypso Joe; Millie Small; Denzil Laing & the Wrigglers (with Ernest Ranglin).

*How come Glover’s name is listed on UK releases only of Wynonie Harris’ recording?

“I’ll Sail My Ship Alone” by Moon Mullican

[Recorded Mar. 15, 1949 in Los Angeles]

Written by Lois Mann, Morry Burns, Henry Thurston & Henry Bernard***

Notes: “Sail My Ship Alone” – as notes John W. Rumble – is historic for being quite likely the first country session supervised by an African American, not to mention a #1 country hit. ***With regard to the alias, Henry Bernard, historian John W. Rumble observes that, “a more effective tactic Nathan used with BMI was threatening to switch the Lois catalog to ASCAP. Glover cooperated in the negotiations by temporarily using the pseudonym Henry Bernard, as he did on ‘I’ll Sail My Ship Alone,’ but never became an ASCAP writer.” Nevertheless, looking back at his career, Glover would also tell Trumble that, because of ASCAP’s writer classification system, “if I had it to do all over again, I would have been an ASCAP writer.”

Covered by — Ramblin’ Jimmie Dolan; Delbert Barker; Ray Price; Jerry Lee Lewis; Ferlin Husky; Cal Smith; Leon Russell; Mac Wiseman, Doc Watson, and Del McCoury, among others.

Cash Box

Dec. 24, 1949

“Moon’s Tune” by Moon Mullican

[Recorded Mar. 15, 1949 in Los Angeles]

Written by Lois Mann, Morry Burns, George Bledsoe, & Henry Bernard

Note: Song co-written by George Bledsoe of the Max Roach Quintet. Recorded at the same session as “I’ll Sail My Ship Alone.” Morry Burns is a pseudonym for Moon Mullican.

“Tropical Fever” & “Cross Bones” by Russell Jacquet And His Bopper Band

[Recorded Mar. 18, 1949 in Los Angeles]

Written by Henry Glover (A); Joe Newman & Henry Glover (B)

Notes: Jacquet, the trumpet-playing brother of tenor saxophonist, Illinois Jacquet, is backed by Chico Hamilton (drums) and Charlie Drayton (bass), among others. “Tropical Fever” anticipates the exotica of Martin Denny almost a decade later, notes Nick Duckett.

1956 EP

“Ee-Tid-Ee-Dee” (A); “Ja-Hoosey Baby” (B) & “Love Me Or Please Let Me Be” (C) by Marion Abernathy

[Recorded Mar. 26, 1949 in Los Angeles]

Written by Henry Glover (A & B); “Garrington-Glover” (C)

Note: Billboard‘s November 3, 1951 review — “[Love Me Or Please Let Me Be] Gal does an intense job on this slow bluesy ballad. Modern trumpet obbligato highlights backing.”

Musicians: Joe Newman (trumpet), Henry Coker (trombone), Marshall Royal (clarinet & alto sax), Bumps Myers (tenor sax), Maurice Simon (baritone sax), Gerald Wiggins (piano), Charlie Drayton (bass), and Chico Hamilton (drums).

Also covered by — “Love Me Or Please Let Me Be” was also recorded by Rita Moss.

“Don’t Play Bad With My Love” by Lonnie Johnson

[Recorded Apr. 8, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Dewey Bergman, Henry Glover & Syd Nathan

Note: Lonnie Johnson (guitar & vocals) is backed by Jerry Lane (guitar), Frank Payne (piano), and Ed Conley (bass).

Quote: As Henry Glover relayed to Steve Tracy in 1972, “When I came with King Records, as the recording director in the late ’40s, Lonnie Johnson was a blues singer-guitarist. I had known him for many years, because he had been in Detroit, singing in different clubs. One in particular was a club that the famous Joe Louis Sparks owned, called ‘The Three Sixes.’ Lonnie was what you would call a table troubadour, and he would go from table to table playing and singing.”

“Blues Stay Away From Me” by The Delmore Brothers

[Recorded May 6, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover, Alton Delmore, Rabon Delmore & Wayne Raney

Notes: Recorded with Zeke Turner on guitar and “possibly” Louis Innis or Henry Glover on bass, according to Praguefrank. See Case Study – “Blues Stay Away From Me” (above)

Covered by — Lonnie Johnson; Otis Williams & His Charms; Owen Bradley Quintet; Merle Travis, Eddie Kirk & Tennessee Ernie with Cliffie Stone’s Band; Cousin Wilbur & Blondie Brooks (on Nashville’s Bullet); Les Paul & Mary Ford; Eddie Crosby; The Spotnicks; Rock-Ragge & His Four Comets; Merle Travis & Johnny Bond; Merle Haggard; Roy Clark; Wanda Jackson; Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps; Slim Whitman; Charlie McCoy; Paul Revere & the Raiders; Floyd Cramer; Doc Watson; Margaret Whiting; The Browns; The Sweet Inspirations; Ray Price; The Louvin Brothers; The Band; Doug Sahm; kd lang; Yo La Tengo; Jeff Beck; Jorma Kaukonen & Bela Fleck; The Notting Hillbillies; Asleep at the Wheel & The Willis Brothers, among others.

Billboard

Sep. 17, 1949

“Hoe-Down Boogie” by Red Perkins

[Recorded May, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Lois Mann & Henry Glover

Notes: Red Perkins was a vocalist with Paul Howard And His Arkansas Cotton Pickers (a group that included bassist Bob Moore, fiddler Red Herron, and steel guitarist Billy Bowman), whose first recordings “possibly” took place at E.T. Herzog Studios in Cincinnati.

Review: Billboard‘s July 9, 1949 edition — “Fine hoe-down fiddle and guitar plus Perkins’ expert blues warbling makes this an excellent pairing.”

78 –

Canada

“Who Snuck the Wine in the Gravy” (A) & “Earl’s Blues” (B) by Earl Bostic And His Orchestra

[Recorded May 28, 1949 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover (A); Henry Bernard & Lois Mann (B)

Notes: Musicians on this session — Earl Bostic (alto sax), Lowell ‘Count’ Hastings (tenor sax), Roger Jones (trumpet), Rufus Webster (piano), Keter Betts (bass), and Shep Shepherd (drums).

Review: Cash Box‘s October 15, 1949 edition — “Pair of hot tunes for music ops to listen to are these fresh sides by maestro Earl Bostic. Wax, titled ‘Who Snuck the Wine in the Gravy” and “Platter Pappa,” makes for mellow listening pleasure and should be greeted warmly. Top deck rolls in up tempo fashion with a set of cute lyrics. The flip is a fast driving instrumental that should do well in those jump locations. Top deck gets our nod.”

“Battle Ax” (A) & “Come On In” (B) by King Porter And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jun. 7, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Bernard (A); King Porter & Henry Bernard (B)

Note: King Porter – an alias for trumpeter, James Poe – is backed by Wild Bill Moore (tenor sax), Charles ‘Lefty’ Edwards (tenor & baritone saxes), Ted Sheely (piano), Jasper Patterson (“guitar?”), Lewis Martin (bass), and Leonard Christian (drums).

“Hail to Old Blackstone” by The Syrian Temple Shrine “Chanters“ of Cincinnati, Ohio

[Recorded c. 1949, possibly in Cincinnati]

Written by Sydney Nathan & Henry Glover

Cash Box

Jun. 18, 1949

BLACKSTONE, VA — King Records Inc., this past week disclosed their whole-hearted support of a huge folk festival scheduled to take place in this city on Saturday, June 18th. Syd Nathan, president of the firm, and John S. Kelley, Jr., vice-president and general manager, were learned to be planning on attending in addition to many King recording artists. King artists Grandpa Jones, Clyde Moody and Jimmy Osborne are scheduled to appear. Tony Wren, King Records’ Richmond, Va. salesman, has been appointed festival program director by Ed Silverman of station WKLV. Mr. Nathan has especially written a song in honor of the city, and will officially present the original copy to the City Fathers at the festival.

“Crying Blues” (A) & “When You Love (You Should Love From the Heart)” (B) by Cliff Butler

[Recorded Jun. 27, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Lois Mann & Henry Bernard (A); Syd Nathan, Cliff Butler & Henry Glover (B)

Note: Supporting musicians — Benny Holton (piano), Ben Ingram (bass), and John Wood (drums).

Covered by — “When You Love” also recorded by Bettie Clooney at King Studios on Sep. 14, 1950.

“I Have No Reason to Complain” by Ivory Joe Hunter

[Recorded Jul. 15, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Ivory Joe Hunter & Henry Glover

Quote: As Henry Glover told Steve Tracy in his extensive 1972 interview, “Ivory Joe Hunter I knew, because, just as Lonnie Johnson, when I came with the company as a regular employee, Ivory Joe had a hit on the label with ‘Don’t Fall In Love With Me.’ He had several others. We did a R&B version, which was perhaps the first on an R&B artist doing a country song. We did ‘Jealous Heart’ with Ivory Joe and it was a very big hit. Peculiar to that record also, we had a jazz saxophonist, Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis, play the introduction.”

Note: Musicians on this session — Ivory Joe Hunter (piano & vocals), Russell Procope (tenor sax), Johnny Hodges (alto sax), Harold ‘Shorty’ Baker (trumpet), Tyree Glenn (trumpet & vibes), Wendell Marshall (bass), and Sonny Greer (drums).

Special attention: Cash Box Jazz & Blues Reviews ‘Award o’ the Week’ winner per the July 22, 1950 edition.

“Sugar Hill Blues” (A) & “Choppin’ It Down” (B) by Earl Bostic And His Orchestra

[Recorded Aug. 2, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Both songs written by Henry Bernard

Note: Musicians on this session — Earl Bostic (alto sax), Lowell ‘Count’ Hastings (tenor sax), Roger Jones (trumpet), Rufus Webster (piano), Keter Betts (bass), and Shep Shepherd (drums).

Review: Cash Box‘s December 31, 1949 edition — “On the flip, ‘Sugar Hill Blues,’ Maestro Earl Bostic cuts an instrumental with a terrific beat in slow, bluesy blues tempo that keeps the heat thruout and almost melts itself off the turntable.”

“I’m Gonna Wind Your Clock” (A); “Wineola” (B) & “Somebody Done Stole My Cherry Red” (C) by Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson

[Recorded Aug. 10, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Lois Mann & Henry Bernard (A & C); Henry Glover & Big John Greer (B)

Notes: Musicians on this session — include Wynton Kelly (piano) and Eddie ‘Lockjaw‘ Davis (tenor sax).

Billboard review — Sep. 24, 1949

“Mountain Oysters” (A) & “Huckle Boogie” (B) by Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis

[Recorded Aug. 16 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Bernard (A) & Henry Glover (B)

Notes: Vocal by Henry Glover, with Bill Doggett on piano and John Simmons on bass — drummer Jo Jones‘s backbeat sounds like the newly emerging “rock” rhythm.

“No Good Woman Blues” (A); “I’m Weak But Willing” (B) & “Featherbed Mama” (C) by Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson

[Recorded Aug. 30, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by “Garland-Vinson-Bernard” (A); Henry Bernard & Lois Mann (B & C)

Notes: Vinson (alto sax & vocals), is supported by Eddie ‘Lockjaw‘ Davis & Harry Porter (tenor saxes), Calvin Hughes (trumpet), James Buxton (trombone), Wynton Kelly (piano), Franklin Skeete (bass), and Leon Abrams (drums). Worth nothing that “Sittin’ On It All the Time” was also recorded at this session but later rejected.

“Back to the Dog House” by Hawkshaw Hawkins

[Recorded Sep. 2, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Lois Mann, Henry Bernard & Hawkshaw Hawkins

Note: Musical intersection between western swing and jazz. According to PragueFrank, that’s Hank Garland on lead guitar, assisted by Jerry Byrd on steel, and Zeke Turner on second electric guitar.

“A Fool In Love” (A) & “Not Until You Come My Way” (B) by Bull Moose Jackson

[Recorded Sep. 14, 1949 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Bruce Bowman-Morgan (A); Syd Nathan & Henry Glover (B)

Special attention: “A Fool In Love” – Cash Box Jazz & Blues Reviews ‘Award o’ the Week’ winner per the March 25, 1950 edition: “The high-flying Bull Moose Jackson, currently hot via a number of click disks, comes up with another pair of great sides to nab this featured spot this week. Both ends of this platter have all the ear-marks of becoming hot coin cullers that should wear white in the phonos. Titled ‘A Fool In Love’ and ‘Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide,’ Bull Moose demonstrates the great style that has made him the top popular performer he is. Top deck is a bit of romantic blues, with Bull Moose pitching the lyrics in wonderful manner. Ork backing on the side rings true to round out the side. Ditty is one that should be taken up by music fans in no time at all … The side that we feel will step out and be a big one is ‘Fool In Love.’ Ops should latch on — but pronto!”

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Bull-Moose-Jackson-His-Buffalo-Bearcats-Let-Your-Conscience-Be-Your-Guide-Cash-Box-review-Mar-25-1950.jpg

“Troubles Ain’t Nothing But the Blues” by The Delmore Brothers

[Recorded Sep. 19, 1949 in Dallas]

Written by Alton Delmore, Rabon Delmore, Wayne Raney & Henry Bernard

Note: Accompanied by Wayne Raney on harmonica.

Covered by — Lonnie Johnson (rec. Nov. 29, 1949 at King Studios) & Lonnie Glosson.

“Boogie At Midnight” (A) & “The Blues Got Me Again” (B) by Roy Brown

[Recorded Sep. 20, 1949 in New Orleans]

Written by Roy Brown & Henry Bernard (A); Lois Mann & Henry Bernard (B)

Regional: “Boogie at Midnight” doing well in Detroit, as reported in Cash Box‘s January 21, 1950 edition.

Quote: Henry Glover on Roy Brown, as told to Steve Tracy in 1972 — “Roy also had a very big boogie record called ‘Boogie at Midnight’ that I wrote with him. We recorded it in New Orleans. The city of New Orleans had quite a bit to do with some of the early rhythm-and-blues artists. The Biharis from the coast with their different artists would come in to New Orleans and record various blues talents, and Roy Brown, Paul Gayten, Dave Bartholomew, and some of the others were instrumental in getting these artists together for these independent manufacturers. I will say that if Roy had been a guitarist, he would be as popular today as B.B. King, because in those days Roy was bigger than B.B. King and people said that B.B. sounded like Roy Brown. But today you play some of the old records by Roy Brown, and you’ll say he sounds like B.B. King.”

Note: Musicians on this session — Johnny Fontenette (tenor sax), Teddy Riley (trumpet), Edward Santineo (piano), Louis Sargent (guitar), Thomas Shelvin (bass), and Frank Parker (drums).

Covered by — “Boogie At Midnight” also recorded by Boyd Bennett & His Rockets in January, 1955 at King Studios.

“Sittin’ On It All the Time” (A); “I Like My Baby’s Pudding” (B); and “Baby, Shame on You” (C) by Wynonie Harris

[Recorded Oct. 19, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Lois Mann & Henry Bernard (A & B); Lois Mann, Henry Bernard & Wynonie Harris (C)

Quote: As Henry Glover told Steve Tracy in 1972, “Wynonie Harris, without a doubt, is one of the greatest blues shouters. Sometimes you have to make distinctions between the sounds and types of blues singers. Now, Wynonie Harris was not a true blues singer, because he couldn’t do all the those tricks that Roy Brown or Willie John could do with their voices. However, he could do a shout, a blues shout.”

Note: Musicians on this session — Orrington Hall (tenor sax), Leroy Harris (also sax), Curtis Peagler (baritone sax), Bill Martin (trumpet), Moses Gant (trombone), Simeon Hatch (piano), Franklin Skeete (bass), and Calvin Shields (drums).

Review: [“Sittin’ On It All the Time”] Billboard‘s January 14, 1950 edition — “Wild blues shout is unlikely to pass the air censors, but should see plenty of action on the boxes and counters. The cast will be quoting many of Wynonie’s choice couplets.”

Original version — “Sittin’ On It All the Time” originally recorded by Eddie ‘Cleanhead‘ Vinson on August 30, 1949 but rejected for release by King (though issued by Ace UK in 2003).

Cash Box

Feb. 18, 1950

“Butcher Pete (Pts. 1 & 2)“ by Roy Brown

[Recorded Nov. 2, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Roy Brown & Henry Bernard

Review: Billboard‘s February 11, 1950 edition — “A bawdy, jiving, jumping blues that should hit quick and hit hard. Two-sided disc is loaded with imagination, humor and vitality. Not for airplay, but boxes and retail counters should do brisk biz in this one.”

Note: According to the King session notes edited by Ruppli, same musicians as the “Boogie at Midnight” session from September 20, 1949 with the addition of Leroy Rankins on baritone sax. Two-part single reissued in the UK in 2014.

Covered by — Buster Poindexter & The Cramps.

“The Feudin’ Boogie” by Cowboy Copas & Grandpas Jones

[Recorded Nov. 2, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Bernard & Charles Schroeder

Review: Cash Box‘s November 26, 1949 edition: “Copas and Jones team up once again to turn in another great side. [Juke box operators] should get this platter – it’s a winner.”

Note: Sounds like Wayne Raney on harmonica and possibly Jerry Byrd on steel guitar.

“I’m So Happy I Could Cry” by Red Perkins

[Recorded Nov. 25, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Lois Mann, Shorty Long & Henry Bernard

Note: Red Perkins (who got his start as a vocalist with Paul Howard And His Arkansas Cotton Pickers, along with bassist, Bob Moore, fiddler, Red Herron, and steel guitarist, Billy Bowman) appears to be taking a playful poke at the Hank Williams hit “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” that was recorded two months earlier at Cincinnati’s E.T. Herzog Studios with Jerry Byrd, Tommy Jackson, Zeke Turner, and Louis Innis. Henry Glover told Steve Tracy in 1972, “The early sides on many of the R&B artists were cut in a studio downtown called the Herzog.”

“Gravy Train” by Tiny Bradshaw

[Recorded Nov. 30, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Bernard

Note: Musicians on this session, Bradshaw’s first for King — Rufus Gore (tenor sax), Orrington Hall (alto & baritone saxes), Leslie Ayres (trumpet), Jimmy Robinson (piano), Leroy Harris (guitar), Clarence Mack (bass), and Calvin Shields (drums).

Review: Billboard‘s January 14, 1950 edition — “Jump boogie bounces along with a strong beat. [Raucous] tenor makes with the Jacquet bird calls between vocal shout choruses.” Hot in Dallas, according to Cash Box‘s January 21, 1950 edition.

Also covered by — The York Brothers (rec. Jan. 24, 1950 in Cincinnati).

1952 LP

France

7 of 8 songs on this LP (including “Gravy Train”) co-written by Glover

“Huckleberry Boogie” by Zeb Turner

[Recorded Dec. 15, 1949 in Cincinnati]

Written by Zeb Turner & Henry Bernard

Notes: Sounds like Jerry Byrd, possibly, on steel guitar. Cash Box‘s June 3, 1950 review — “[Huckleberry Boogie] is a cute boogie piece, flavored by Zeb Turner’s vocal work and some smart string background. The tune itself weaves a pleasing spell and is sure to be taken up by music fans.”

-1950-

“Sugar Cane” by Sonny Thompson

[Recorded Jan. 19, 1950 in New York City]

Written by Sonny Thompson & Henry Bernard

Note: Musicians on this session include Bashful Bubber Brooks & Gene Phipps (tenor saxes), Floyd Jones (trumpet), and Sonny Thompson (piano).

Review: Cash Box‘s write-up of the King EP (below) in their Feb. 27, 1954 edition — “Sonny Thompson sends up orchestrations of four beaty items matched for a strong offering to the trade. Thompson fans will go for his pianistic magic.”

1953 King EP

All songs except “Long Gone” co-written by Glover

“Boodie Green” (A); “Walkin’ the Chalk Line” (B) & “Well Oh Well” (C) by Tiny Bradshaw

[Recorded Feb. 8, 1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by “Bradshaw-Bernard-Lawrence-Rogers” (A); “Bernard-Norman” (B); Lois Mann, Tiny Bradshaw & Henry Bernard (C)

Musicians: Same lineup as the Nov. 30, 1949 session — Rufus Gore (tenor sax), Orrington Hall (alto & baritone saxes), Leslie Ayres (trumpet), Jimmy Robinson (piano), Leroy Harris (guitar), Clarence Mack (bass), and Calvin Shields (drums).

Notes: “Walkin’ the Chalk Line” sounds like another early example of the “new” rock beat. Worth noting that at Tiny Bradshaw’s second session for King, Henry Glover co-wrote three of the four songs. As Neil Slaven points out in the liner notes for the Tiny Bradshaw “Best of the King Years” CD anthology released by UK’s Westside label:

“To bolster his artist roster, Nathan employed trumpeter/arranger Henry Glover as talent scout and songwriter. Glover wrote arrangements for Jimmy Lunceford while studying at Detroit’s Wayne State University and went on to work with Buddy Johnson, Willie Bryant, Tiny Bradshaw and Lucky Millinder. It was he that brought Bradshaw to the label and co-wrote many of his hits.”

Covered by — “Well Oh Well” recorded by Moon Mullican (Jul. 3, 1950 at King Studios); also Lionel Hampton; Bill Darnel & Tom Principato.

Denmark –

1960

“Bewildered and Confused” by Red Miller with Tiny Bradshaw and His Orchestra

[Recorded Feb. 9, 1950 in New York City]

Written by Syd Nathan & Henry Glover

Note: Prior to signing with King, vocalist Red Miller was riding high from his #1 R&B smash hit, “Bewildered.”

“Who Said Shorty Wasn’t Coming Back” (A); “Mr. Trumpet Man” (B) & “Baby, You’ve Been Wrong” (C) by Henry Glover with Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra

[Recorded Feb. 23, 1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by Sally Nix & Henry Glover (A); Sally Nix, Henry Glover & Jimmy Mundy (B); “Nathan-Robbins-Glover” (C)

Notes: “Who Said Shorty Wasn’t Coming Back” features vocals by Henry Glover, who is backed by Jimmy Nottingham, Frank Galbreath, Abdul Salaam, & Lamar Wright (trumpets), Elmer Crumbley & Alfred Cobbs (trombones), Big John Greer & Seldon Powell (tenor saxes), Musheed Karween (Rudy Powell) & Burnie Peacock (alto saxes), Orrington Hall (baritone sax), Laverne Barker (bass) and Al Walker (drums). “I Love You Yes I Do” was also recorded at this session. — “Who Said Shorty Wasn’t Coming Back” was reissued in the UK in 2010.

Review: Cash Box‘s September 30, 1950 edition — “[Who Said Shorty Wasn’t Coming Back] Flip side is a follow up to the standard ‘Shorty’s Got to Go‘ and makes for wonderful listening pleasure. Disk is hot – [juke box] ops should grab it!”

Special note: The 78 label for “Who Said Shorty Wasn’t Coming Back” (below) includes an early appearance of Glover’s publishing company, Jay & Cee. With regard to the origin of the name, Glover told John Rumble that the publishing arrangement among the three principals, Nathan, Glover, and Lucky Millinder, would essentially “lock Millinder up” like a jail. “But there would be other benefits that would be the equal of the church,” Glover added with a laugh. “You know, like blessed with something of the church. I says, ‘We’ll call it Jail & Church Music.’ That ended up being called Jay & Cee.” The motivation for Glover, of course, was financial, as Nathan was only paying “half of the complete mechanicals based on his mechanical licensing to his own companies of 1¢ instead of 2¢ statutory [rate],” as explained to John Rumble. “That’s why I came up with this agreement about having the publishing firm, J & C. J & C made me actually get what you are supposed to get based on your license to a record company, which is 2¢, which is considered the statutory, really, provided for in the copyright law.”

“Stop and Go Boogie” by “The Brewster Avenue Rhythm Boys“

[Recorded Mar. 1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Syd Nathan

Notes: Not an actual King release but, in fact, a backing track for “Rag Man Boogie” — originally intended for Hawkshaw Hawkins — that features the pre-Nashville “A Team” of Louis Innis (rhythm guitar), Zeke Turner (lead guitar), Jerry Byrd (steel guitar), and Tommy Jackson (fiddle). Recorded by Zeb Turner on April 22, 1950 in New York City (produced by Glover?) and released as King 931, but that can’t be correct, since that catalog number is assigned to Moon Mullican’s “Short But Sweet” single. Red Perkins would record the song in July after Hawkins ultimately passed on it. The original March 1950 recording can be heard on Ace UK’s King Hillbilly Bop ‘n’ Boogie and also The Henry Glover Story.

“Neck Bones And Collard Greens” by Wild Bill Moore And His Orchestra

[Recorded Mar. 3, 1950 in New York City]

Written by Teddy McRae & Henry Bernard

Notes: Billboard‘s May 20, 1950 review — “Combo shouts the title phrase at intervals, as tenor sax rambles easily thru another light riffer.” Musicians on this session are Wild Bill Moore & Paul Quinichette (tenor saxes), Bill Graham (baritone sax), John Hunt (trumpet), Milt Buckner (piano/organ), Franklin Skeete (bass), and Joe Harris (drums).

“Rollin’ the Blues” (A) & “Big Foot” (B) by Joe Thomas And His Orchestra

[Recorded Mar. 20,1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by Joe Thomas & Henry Bernard (A); Joe Thomas, Henry Bernard & George Duvivier (B)

Note: Musicians on this session — Joe Thomas (tenor sax), Orrington Hall (baritone sax), Johnny Grimes (trumpet), Dickie Harris (trombone), George Rhodes (piano), George Duvivier (bass), and Alphonso Bright (drums).

“Rollin’ the Blues” –

Closing track on this 1954 King EP

“I Found My Baby” by Mabel Scott

[Recorded Mar. 25, 1950 in New York City]

Written by Lois Mann & Henry Bernard

Note: One of four songs recorded at the first recording session for Scott, who was backed by drummer Jo Jones, and pianist Milt Buckner, among others — selected as the flip side for “Baseball Boogie.”

“Nightfall” (A); “Palmetto” (B) & “Harlem Rug Cutter” (C) by Sonny Thompson

[Recorded Mar. 28, 1950 in New York City]

All songs written by Sonny Thompson & Henry Bernard

Note: Palmetto is the name of a street that runs through the heart of Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Review: Cash Box‘s July 29, 1950 edition — “Both edges of the new Sonny Thompson platter are placed in the instrumental groove with ‘Nightfall’ airing top-notch blues treatment. The Sonny Thompson organization shines on the polished performance given to the melody and solos. [‘Palmetto’] is in a modified jazz setting, once again well played throughout. Ops on the lookout for instrumentals can get first rate material for their juke boxes with these waxings.”

“My Tears Will Pour Just Like Rain” (A); “Love Is the Light (That Leads Me Home)” (B) & “Southern Hospitality” (C) by Moon Mullican

[Recorded Apr. 16, 1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by Moon Mullican, Lois Mann & Henry Glover (A); Henry Bernard, Lois Mann & Sally Nix (B); Moon Mullican & Henry Bernard (C)

Note: Musicians on this session, according to PragueFrank — Moon Mullican (piano & vocals), Ken Jones (guitar), Jerry Byrd (steel guitar), Tommy Jackson (fiddle), Louis Innis (bass & vocals), and Calvin Shields (drums).

Special attention: “Southern Hospitality” – Cash Box “Folk” & “Western” Record Reviews ‘Bullseye of the Week‘ for June 24, 1950: “Top deck has Moon spooning a mellow song with some excellent instrumental work seeping thru in the background. Ditty rolls along in happy fashion, with a driving tempo and some cute licks on piano featured. Lyrics of the song extoll the praises of the South, with Moon’s vocal coming thru in crystal clear tones.”

“I Trusted You Baby (But You Double-Crossed Me)” by Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson

[Recorded May, 1950 in New York City]

Written by Lois Mann & Henry Bernard

Note: Musicians on this session — Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson (alto sax), Rudy Williams (tenor sax), Orrington Hall (baritone sax), Rostelle Reese & Cornelius Tate (trumpets), Milt Larkins (piano), Dave Richmond (bass), and Rudy Nichols (drums).

“Let It Roll Again” (A); “My Little Baby” (B) & “Clap Your Hands” (C) by Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra

[Recorded May, 1950 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Sally Nix (A, B & C)

Note: Vocal on “Let It Roll Again” and “Clap Your Hands” by Big John Greer. Musician lineup “similar to” the musicians used on “Who Said Shorty Wasn’t Coming Back” (Feb. 23, 1950)- according to the King session notes compiled by Michel Ruppli.

Cash Box review –

Sep. 30, 1950

“Rock Mr. Blues” (A); “Be Mine My Love” (B) & “Stormy Night Blues” (C) by Wynonie Harris

[Recorded May 18, 1950 in New York City]

Written by Lois Mann & Henry Bernard (A & B) and “Brannon-Theard-Bernard” (C)

Note: Musicians on this session — Joe Allston & John Hartzfield (tenor saxes), Bill Graham (alto & baritone saxes), Joe Wilder (trumpet), Henderson Chambers (trombone), Milt Buckner (piano), Bruce Lawrence (bass), and Samie Evans (drums).

Special attention: Cash Box Jazz & Blues Reviews ‘Award o’ the Week’ winner.

Cash Box’s — Sep. 30, 1950

Both songs co-written by Henry Glover

“My Big Brass Bed Is Gone” (A) “Queen Bee Blues” (B); If You Don’t Think I’m Sinking (Look What A Hole I’m In)” (C) & “Jump and Grunt” (D) by Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson

[Recorded Jun., 1950 in New York City]

Written by Lois Mann & Henry Glover (A & D); Written by Eunice Davis, Lois Mann & Henry Glover (B); Horace Ott, Lois Mann & Henry Glover (C)

Note: Musicians on this session — Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson (alto sax & vocal), Buddy Tate (tenor sax), Bill Graham (baritone sax), Joe Wilder (trumpet), Milt Buckner (piano), Gene Ramey (bass), and Percy Brice (drums).

“I’m Going to Have Myself a Ball” (A); “Breaking Up the House” (B) & “If You Don’t Love Me, Tell Me So” (C) by Tiny Bradshaw and His Orchestra

[Recorded Jun. 8, 1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by Tiny Bradshaw, Sally Nix & Henry Glover (A); Lois Mann & Henry Glover [though credited to “Bradshaw-Glover” in Europe (see image below)] (B); Tiny Bradshaw, Calvin Shields, Henry Glover & Bernard Norman (C)

Note: Musicians on this session — Rufus Gore (tenor sax), Orrington Hall (alto & baritone sax), Leslie Ayres (trumpet), Jimmy Robinson (piano), Clarence Mack (bass), and Calvin Shields (drums).

78 –

Denmark

“Got To Have Her Lovin’” by Joe Thomas And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jun. 28, 1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by Joe Thomas & Henry Glover

Note: Musicians on this session — Joe Thomas (tenor sax), Orrington Hall (baritone sax), Johnny Grimes (trumpet), Dickie Harris (trombone), Kelly Owens (piano), Ted Sturgis (bass), and Bazeley Perry (drums).

“Rag Man Boogie” by Red Perkins

[Recorded Jul. 7, 1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by Lois Mann & Henry Bernard

Note: Song was originally intended for Hawkshaw Hawkins, who declined to record it — see info above for “Stop and Go Boogie” by The Brewster Avenue Rhythm Boys (recorded in March, 1950).

“Mr. Blues Is Coming to Town” (A); “I Want to Love You Baby” (B) & “Put It Back” (C) by Wynonie Harris

[Recorded Jul. 12, 1950 in New York City]

Written by Sally Nix & Henry Glover (A); Sally Nix, Henry Glover & Lois Mann (B); Sally Nix & Henry Glover (C)

Note: Musicians on this session — Big John Greer & George Tate (tenor saxes), Bill Graham (alto & baritone saxes), Joe Wilder (trumpet), Sonny Thompson (piano), Carl Pruitt (bass), and Alfred Walker (drums).

“I’ll Always Belong to You” by Mabel Scott

[Recorded Jul. 15, 1950 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Musicians on this session — Buddy Tate (tenor sax), Reuben Phillips & Clement Toussaint (alto saxes), Joe Wilder (trumpet), Henderson Chambers (trombone), Sonny Thompson (piano), Carl Pruitt (bass), and Sonny Payne (drums).

“Burnt Toast” (A) & “Goon Blues” (B) by Wild Bill Moore

[Recorded Aug. 28, 1950 in Detroit]

Both songs written by Henry Glover & Wild Bill Moore

Note: Musicians on this session — Wild Bill Moore & Louis Barnett (tenor saxes), Tate Houston (baritone sax), Russell Green (trumpet), Ted Sheely (piano), Emmitt Slay (guitar), Lewis Martin (bass), and Leonard Christian (drums).

Bonus tracks: Two other songs recorded at that same session including “Hey Miss Bessie.”

“Love Me Darling” (A) & “As Long As Forever” (B) by Red Miller

[Recorded Aug. 30, 1950 in Detroit]

Written by Lois Mann & Henry Glover (A); Lois Mann, Howard Kessel & Henry Glover (B)

Note: Red Miller (vocals) backed by Ted Sheely (piano), Emmitt Slay (guitar), and Levi Mann (bass).

“Nobody’s Lovin’ Me” by Lonnie Johnson

[Recorded Sep. 14, 1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Musicians on this session — Lonnie Johnson (guitar & vocals), Simeon Hatch (piano), Paul Henry Parks (bass), and Nelson Burton (drums).

Covered by — Recorded by The Swallows at King Studios on Oct. 9, 1952.

“My Little Baby” (A) & “Have You No Mercy” (B) by Bull Moose Jackson & His Buffalo Bearcats

[Recorded Sep. 27, 1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Sally Nix (A); Henry Glover (B)

Note: Musicians on this session — Bull Moose Jackson (tenor sax & vocals), Sam ‘The Man’ Taylor (tenor sax), Ted ‘Snooky’ Hulbert (alto & baritone saxes), Eugene ‘Heads’ Adams (alto sax), Harold ‘Money’ Johnson (trumpet), Irving Greene (piano), Eddie Smith (bass), and Kelly Martin (drums).

“Walk That Mess” (A) & “Snaggle Tooth Ruth” (B) by Tiny Bradshaw

[Recorded Sep. 28, 1950 in Cincinnati]

Both songs written by Tiny Bradshaw & Henry Glover

Note: Musicians on this session — Rufus Gore (tenor sax), Orrington Hall (baritone & alto sax), Leslie Ayres (trumpet), Jimmy Robinson (piano), Clarence Mack (bass), and Calvin Shields (drums).

Bonus track: “Snaggle Tooth Ruth” was an unissued track until included on 1999 UK anthology, Walk That Mess – Best of the King Years.

1969

Germany

“Blues You Never Lose” by The Delmore Brothers

[Recorded Oct. 5, 1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by Alton Delmore, Henry Glover & Rabon Delmore

Note: According to PragueFrank, Rabon Delmore (guitar & vocals) and Alton Delmore (guitar & vocals) are backed by Wayne Raney (harmonica), Lonnie Glosson (harmonica), Zeke Turner (guitar), Tommy Jackson (fiddle), and Louis Innis (bass).

“The Family Tree Musta Fell On Me” (A) & “I’m On My Way” (B) by Wayne Raney

[Recorded Oct. 9, 1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by Lois Mann, Wayne Raney & Henry Glover (A); Written by Henry Glover, Lois Mann & Eddie Smith (B)

Note: According to PragueFrank, Wayne Raney enjoys backing on this session from Alton & Rabon Delmore (guitar & vocals); Zeke Turner (lead guitar); Tommy Jackson (fiddle), and Louis Innis (bass). With regard to Eddie Smith, Henry Glover relayed these biographical details to John Rumble: “Before we was an engineer, he played with me in Lucky Millinder’s band. Young white pianist named Eddie Smith. Very good musician. I brought him out to Cincinnati to be the pop A&R man. Since Syd was talking about going into the pop business, I said, ‘Well, here’s a man here that knows music, can record everything.’ But Eddie got out there and got so interested — he was a ham operator before, when he was a youngster — he got so interested, he went into the engineering, where be became very successful. When he got ready to leave Cincinnati many years later, he called me up and said, ‘Look out for something. I want to come back to New York.’ He called me on a Friday. I had him in New York Monday, had him a job. He reported to Bell Sound Studios in New York.”

“Please Open Your Heart” (A) & “Silent George” (B) by Lucky Millinder And His Orchestra

[Recorded Oct. 18, 1950 in New York City]

Both songs written by Henry Glover & Sally Nix

Notes: Vocal on “Please Open Your Heart” by Lee Richardson; vocal on “Silent George” by Myra Johnson. Musicians on this session: Big John Greer & John Hardee (tenor saxes), Curby Alexander & Rudy Powell (alto saxes), Numa ‘Pee Wee’ Moore (baritone sax), Lamar Wright, Frank Galbreath, Andrew ‘Fats’ Ford & Joe Wilder (trumpets), Tyree Glenn, Harry Davito & Henderson Chambers (trombone), Sonny Thompson (piano), James Cannady (guitar), Carl Pruitt (bass), and James Crawford (drums).

“A Love Untrue” (A) & “Triflin’ Woman” (B) by Wynonie Harris

[Recorded Oct. 23, 1950 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Sally Nix (A); Moon Mullican, Lois Mann & Henry Bernard (B)

Note: Musicians on this session — Reuben Phillips (tenor sax), Numa ‘Pee Wee’ Moore (baritone sax), Alonzo Lucas (alto sax), Joe Wilder (trumpet), Sonny Thompson (piano), Jimmy Shirley (guitar), Carl Pruitt (bass), and Herman Bradley (drums).

“Your Love Is Getting Me Down” by Carl Van Moon

[Recorded Nov. 18, 1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by Edward J. Smith & Henry Glover

Review: “Moon turns on a fine, romantic bary in the [Al Hibbler] groove, but his material is thin.”

Review –

Billboard‘s Jan. 27, 1951 edition

“Too Many Irons in the Fire” by Moon Mullican

[Recorded Dec. 8, 1950 in Cincinnati]

Written by “Mullican-Mann-King-Glover”

Note: Musicians on this session, according to PragueFrank — Moon Mullican (piano & vocals), Mutt Collins (guitar), Acie Peveto (steel guitar), Ralph Lamb (fiddle), Reggie Ward (bass), and Richard Prine (drums).

-1951-

“A Crazy Afternoon” by Ruby Wright with Bob Snyder And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jan. 2, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Covered by — Also recorded by Bubber Johnson (Mar. 11, 1955 – New York City).

“Uncle Sam Blues” (A) & “Smoke Stack Blues” (B); “Gone Again Blues” (C) & “Jumping With the Rhumba” (D) by Sonny Thompson And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jan. 3, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by “Glover-Mann-Bernard” [i.e., Glover using two different names] (A); Henry Glover (B); Sonny Thompson & Henry Glover (C); Henry Glover & Wilhelmina White (D)

Notes: “Jumping With the Rhumba” – more evidence of early rock ‘n’ roll’s Latin roots. Musicians on this session: Harold ‘Tina’ Brooks (tenor sax), Walter Hiles (baritone sax), Henry Glover & Lee Harper (trumpets), Sonny Thompson (piano), William Shingler (guitar), Zain El Hussaini (bass), Bill English (drums), and Jesse Edwards (vocals).

Oops!

Same songwriter listed twice

“The Blues Came Pouring Down” by Clyde Moody

[Recorded Jan. 11, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Shorty Long, Lois Mann, Lee Roberts & Henry Glover

Note: Guitarist Clyde Moody, former member of J.E. Mainer’s Mountaineers, was part of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys before signing with King.

Covered by — Tiny Bradshaw, who recorded the song at King Studios five days later on January 16, 1951.

“Bradshaw Boogie” (A); “Two Dry Bones on the Pantry Shelf” (B); “The Blues Came Pouring Down” (C) & “Long Time Baby” (D) by Tiny Bradshaw

[Recorded Jan. 16, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Lois Mann & Henry Glover (A); Tiny Bradshaw & Henry Glover (B); Shorty Long, Lois Mann, Lee Roberts & Henry Glover (C); Tiny Bradshaw & Henry Glover (D)

Note: Musicians on this session — Red Prysock (tenor sax), Orrington Hall (baritone & alto sax), Leslie Ayres (trumpet), Jimmy Robinson (piano & organ), Willie Gaddy (guitar), Eddie Smith (bass), and Calvin Shields (drums).

Covered by — “Two Dry Bones on the Pantry Shelf also recorded by Dutch group, Gigantjes.

“I Haven’t Seen You in a Month of Sundays” by Bettie Clooney

[Recorded Jan. 21, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Lois Mann

Note: Vocalist is the sister of both Rosemary and Nick Clooney (not to mention George’s aunt).

Review: Cash Box‘s May 5, 1951 edition, “[Month of Sundays] is a novelty with some cute lyrics which Bettie again does in accomplished style. [Juke box] ops might take a listen.”

“Turtle Dovin’” by Bob Newman

[Recorded Feb. 5, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Musicians on this session, according to PragueFrank — Bob Newman (guitar & vocals), Al Myers (lead guitar), Louis Innis (rhythm guitar), Jerry Byrd (steel guitar), Tommy Jackson (fiddle), and Shorty Long (piano).

“Would You Like To Know About Heaven” by Joe Bailey

[Recorded Feb. 14, 1951 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Carolyn Leigh

Notes: Vocalist Bailey is backed by Al Cobbs & the Federalites — Al Cobbs (trombone), Emmett Berry (trumpet), Leroy Fletcher (tenor sax), Dave McRae (baritone sax), Dave Martin (piano), Al Norris (guitar), Walter Page (bass), and Jo Jones (drums).

“I’ll Never Give Up” (A) & “Tremblin’” (B) by Wynonie Harris & His Orchestra

[Recorded Feb. 27, 1951 in New York City]

Written by Sam Theard & Henry Glover (A); Henry Glover & Annisteen Allen (B)

Note: “Bloodshot Eyes” was also recorded at this session.

Covered by — “Tremblin’ also recorded by the York Brothers (Mar. 27, 1951 – Cincinnati) and Rusty York (May 24, 1961 – Cincinnati).

Musicians: According to PragueFrank, musicians on the York Brothers recording include Zeke Turner (lead guitar); Jerry Byrd (steel guitar), Louis Innis (bass), Tommy Jackson (fiddle), and Henry Glover (piano).

“Tremblin'” & “Here Comes the Night” –

Included on this 1961 UK EP on Blue Beat

“I’m Waiting Just For You” (A) & “Bongo Boogie” (B) by Lucky Millinder And His Orchestra

[Recorded Feb. 28, 1951 in New York City]

Written by Carolyn Leigh & Henry Glover (A); Henry Glover & Sally Nix (B)

Notes: Vocal on “I’m Waiting Just For You” by Annisteen Allen; vocal on “Bongo Boogie” by Annisteen Allen and John Carol. Musicians on this session: Andrew ‘Fats’ Lord, Lamar Wright, Frank Galbreath & Leon Merian (trumpets), Henderson Chambers, Alfred Cobbs & Fred Zito (trombones), Rudy Powell & Harold Minerve (alto saxes), Harold Clark & Harry S. Johnson, Jr (tenor saxes), Sid Brown (baritone sax), Danny Small (piano), James Cannady (guitar), Leon Spann (bass), and Ed Shaughnessy (drums).

Sales citation: “I’m Waiting Just For You” – according to the “Music Popularity Chart” in Billboard‘s August 11, 1951 issue – was rated as one of the ‘Most Played Juke Box R&B Records’ and also ‘Best Selling Retail R&B Records.’

Covered by — “I’m Waiting Just For You” recorded by Hawkshaw Hawkins [recorded Mar. 17, 1951 – King Studios] and Otis Williams & the Charms [recorded 1956 – New York City]; also Rosemary Clooney; Cass Daley & Hoagy Carmichael; Bob Crosby & His Orchestra; Ken Marvin with The Harmonettes; Wanda Jackson; Pat Boone.

South Africa

(year unknown)

“Rainy Mornin’ Blues” by Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson

[Recorded Mar. 22, 1951 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: “Rainy Mornin’ Blues” was also issued on this 1976 Starday-King LP. Musicians on this session — Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson (alto sax & vocals), Lee Pope (tenor sax), Rostelle Reese (trumpet), Milt Larkins (trombone), Freddie Washington (piano), Billy Taylor (bass), and Percy Brice (drums).

“Since You’ve Been Away” by Henry Hill

[Recorded Mar. 26, 1951 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

Musicians: Lorenzo Holderness (tenor sax), Devonia Williams (piano), Pete Lewis (guitar), Mario Delagarde (bass), and Leard Bell (drums).

Note: Recorded eleven days later by The Swallows (April 6, 1951) in New York City.

“Blue Piano” (A); “Sunshine Blues” (B) & “Mellow Blues (Pt. 1 & 2)” (C) by Sonny Thompson And His Orchestra

[Recorded Apr. 9, 1951 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Sally Nix (A); Henry Glover & Sonny Thompson (B); Sonny Thompson & Henry Glover (C)

Musicians: Sonny Thompson (piano), Robert Hadley (tenor sax), Hurley Ramey (guitar), Carl Pruitt (bass), Harold Austin (drums), and Royal Brent (vocals).

Note: “Mellow Blues (Pt. 2)” recorded April 11, 1951 in New York City.

“You’re Just My Kind” by Joe Thomas, His Sax And His Orchestra

[Recorded Apr. 24, 1951 in New York City]

Written by “Cobbs-Glover”

Musicians: Joe Thomas & Fred Williams (tenor saxes), Emil Devillia (trumpet), Dickie Harris (trombone), George Rhodes (piano), Laverne Barker (bass), and Bazeley Perry (drums).

“Gin Gin Gin” (A) & “I Shouldn’t Cry (But I Do)” (B) by Todd Rhodes And His Orchestra

[Recorded May 24, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Todd Rhodes & Henry Glover (A); Henry Glover (B)

Musicians: Todd Rhodes (piano), Howard Thompson (trumpet), Hallie Dismukes (alto sax), Charles ‘Lefty’ Edwards (tenor sax), Teddy Buckner (baritone sax), Joe Williams (bass), and Huestell Talley (drums).

Note: Vocal on “I Shouldn’t Cry” by Kitty Stevenson, mother of future Motown producer, Mickey Stevenson, according to Nick Duckett.

“Santa Claus Shuffle” (A) & “It’s You (You’re Not the Stepping Out Kind)” (B) by Tommy Scott

[Recorded Jun. 4, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Both songs written by Tommy Scott & Henry Glover

Note: According to PragueFrank, Tommy Scott (rhythm guitar) is enjoying support from Jerry Byrd (steel guitar), Gaines Blevins (electric guitar), and Tommy Jackson (fiddle), among others.

Review: Cash Box from their Nov. 24, 1951 issue: “[Santa Claus Shuffle] Tommy Scott throws another tune into the Xmas derby and comes up with a jumpy ditty. The lyrics and melody help make this a strong number for the [juke box] machines for the coming holiday. [It’s You (Not the Stepping Out Kind)] The lower end is a pleasant tune with a bounce and again Tommy makes it sound good. We think it’s the top level.”

“If You Only Knew” by Clyde Moody

[Recorded Jun. 5, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Lois Mann

Note: YouTube contributor JerryByrdChannel tells us unequivocally that Jerry Byrd is the steel guitarist on this recording (listen to the solo beginning at the 1:17 mark).

“That’s What I Got For Loving You” (A) & “I Oughta Bust Out And Love You” (B) by Jimmy Thomason

[Recorded Jun. 22, 1951 in Los Angeles]

Both songs written by Henry Glover & Lois Mann

Note: According to PragueFrank, Thomason’s backing band on this session is The Western Jamboree.

Bio: “Jimmy Thomason makes his record debut with this new recording, but he is quite an old hand at the game. He was a fiddler with [Jimmie] Davis when Moon Mullican was the pianist in the same band.”

“The Right Kind of Lovin’” (A); “No One Else Could Be” (B); “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” (C) & “The Grape Vine” (D) by Lucky Millinder And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jun. 28, 1951 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover (A); Henry Glover & Lois Mann (B); Sally Nix & Henry Glover (C); Carol Erskine & Henry Glover (D)

Note: Vocal on “No One Else Could Be” by Annisteen Allen, who is backed by Leon Merian, Abdul Salaam, Lamar Wright & Frank Galbreath (trumpets), Henderson Chambers, Tyree Glenn & Alfred Cobbs (trombones), Bobby Smith & Burnie Peacock (alto saxes), Harry Johnson & Skippy Williams (tenor saxes), Pinky Williams (baritone sax), Sonny Thompson (piano), Skeeter Best (bass), and Kelly Martin (drums), with vocal support from Brother John Sellers, Melvin Moore & Annisteen Allen.

Canada –

1951

“Here Comes the Night” (A); “My Playful Baby’s Gone” (B) & “Luscious Woman” (C) by Wynonie Harris

[Recorded Jul. 2, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover (A); Henry Glover, Lois Mann & Wynonie Harris (B); Lois Mann & Henry Glover (C)

Note: Ruppli’s session notes say “Wynonie Harris And His All Stars”: Howard Thompson (trumpet), Ted Buckner & Hallie Dismukes (alto saxes), Charles Edwards (tenor sax), Todd Rhodes (piano), Joe Williams (bass), and William Benjamin (drums).

UK –

1952

“Evening Breeze” (A); “Possessed” (B); “Your Daddy’s Doggin’ Around” (C) & “Rocket 69” (D) by Todd Rhodes And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jul. 6, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover (A); Henry Glover, Willie Stone, Eddie Smith & Sonny Thompson (B); Henry Glover & Lois Mann (C & D)

Note: Vocal on “Your Daddy’s Doggin’ Around” & “Rocket 69” by Connie Allen, who is backed by Todd Rhodes (piano); Hallie Dismukes (alto sax); Charles “Lefty” Edwards (tenor sax); Teddy Buckner (baritone sax); Howard Thompson (trumpet); Joe Williams (bass), and William Benjamin (drums).

Covered by — “Possessed” also recorded by Melvin Moore.

“Fusée 69”

France

“The Atomic Telephone” (A) & “The Ten Commandments” (B) by The Spirit of Memphis Quartet

[Recorded Aug. 14, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by “Smith-Glover-Mann” (A); “Smith-Glover-Kay” (B)

Covered by — The Harlan County Four [Alton Delmore, Rabon Delmore, Zeke Turner & Ulysses “Red” Turner], who recorded both songs on Oct. 29, 1951 in Cincinnati (related Zero to 180 piece from 2018).

“The Rain Is Still Falling” by Grandpa Jones & His Grandchildren

[Recorded Aug. 15, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover, Lois Mann & Eloise Riggins

Note: According to PragueFrank, Grandpa Jones on this session are Ramona Jones (bass/mandolin & vocals), Joe Wheeler (guitar), and “unknown members of Shorty Long Band.”

Review: Cash Box praised the song thusly in its Dec. 15, 1951 edition, “The first end of this Grandpa Jones waxing is a bouncy thing that has a pleasant melody. The artist’s distinctive styling makes this a listenable level.”

“The Rain Is Still Falling” included on this 1959 compilation LP

“To Be With You” (A) & “If This Is SIn” (B) by Billy Strickland

[Recorded Aug. 17, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Hope Harlow (A); Written by Billy Strickland, Henry Glover & Hope Harlow (B)

Note: Prior to signing with King, Strickland enjoyed backing from His Hillbilly Kings.

Bio: “Billy has played at many radio stations, having been featured at stations in Cincinnati, Atlanta and Washington, for long runs. At present, Billy is playing in the Washington area.”

“Don’t Leave My Poor Heart Breakin’” by Elliott Lawrence And His Orchestra

[Recorded Aug. 21, 1951 in New York City]

Written by “Kanter-Glover-Mann”

Note: Vocal by Lloyd Copas & Rosalind Patton, who receive backing from Bernie Glow, Nick Travis, Ed Badgley & Neal Hefti (trumpets), Ollie Wilson, Earl Swope & Bart Varsalona (trombones), Tony Miranda (French horn), Joe Soldo & Mike Goldberg (alto saxes), Phil Urso & Zoot Sims (tenor saxes), Sid Brown (baritone sax), Elliott Lawrence (piano), Mert Oliver (bass), and Don Lamond (drums). According to Ruppli’s session notes, Neal Hefti also served as the arranger.

“It Ain’t the Meat” by The Swallows

[Recorded Sep. 19, 1951 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Lois Mann

Musicians: Eddie Rich (lead vocal), Herman ‘Junior Denby (vocal), Earl Hurley (tenor vocal), Frederick ‘Money’ Johnson (baritone vocal), and Norris ‘Bunky’ Mack (bass & lead vocal).

Review: Billboard‘s Dec. 22, 1951 edition — “The vocals group has a winner in a rhythmic, hand-clapper with an intriguing lyric. This one could follow the ‘Sixty Minute Man’ success story. Could meet with difficulty at radio censors.”

Note: Song reported by Cash Box as doing well in Winston-Salem, NC in the early weeks of 1952.

78 –

France

“Love Sweet Love” (A) & “I Gotta Have You” (B) by Sarah McLawler

[Recorded Sep. 28, 1951 in New York City]

Both songs written by Henry Glover

Notes: According to Marv Goldberg’s R&B Notebooks, “Probably in early September 1951, Henry Glover, King Records’ A&R man, signed Sarah McLawler and the Syncoettes to the Cincinnati label. Their first King session took place in New York on September 28. Known musicians were Harold Clark (alto sax), John Greer (tenor sax), Sonny Thompson (piano), Carl Pruitt (bass), Kelly Martin (drums), and Tyree Glenn (vibes).” Sadly, McLawler’s all-female outfit, The Syncoettes — Violet Mae Wilson (bass), formerly with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Hettie Mae Smith (drums) and Lula Roberts (tenor sax), both former members of the Darlings of Rhythm — are not listed in the musician credits, although the 78 label on “Love Sweet Love” says that the Syncoettes provide the backing vocal. Ruppli’s recording notes indicate that hired musicians were used for both of McLawler’s sessions for King that netted eight songs, despite Cash Box‘s belief (per March 29, 1952) that the Syncoettes provided instrumental backing. McLawler, interestingly, played piano on a session at King Studios for The Royals (pre-Hank Ballard & the Midnighters) on January 8, 1952.

Covered by — “Love Sweet Love” was also recorded by The York Brothers (January, 1952 – King Studios).

“Haulin’ Freight” (A) & “Hangover Boogie” (B) by Bob Newman

[Recorded Oct. 9, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Shorty Long & Henry Glover (A); Gene Crabb, Lois Mann & Henry Glover (B)

Notes: According to PragueFrank’s musician notes, Henry Glover may have been the drummer on this session, along with Al Myers (lead guitar), Louis Innis (rhythm guitar), Shorty Long (piano), and Tommy Jackson (fiddle). “Haulin’ Freight” is the subject of a Zero to 180 truckin’ country piece from 2016.

Review: Cash Box gave the “re-tooled” version a B+ in their Aug. 10, 1963 edition — “Bob Newman pulls out all the stops on this raunchy, pulsating, high-powered affair with some potent bluesy chord changes. Could break quickly.”

Bio: Biographical information about Gene Crabb, courtesy of Discogs: “Drummer, bandleader and vocalist Gene Crabb was a fixture on the Dallas scene for about a decade after WWII, working clubs like the Old Top Rail and the Round-Up before dropping out of sight. He worked as far away as Amarillo (with Rip Ramsey’s Texas Wanderers) and Carlsbad, New Mexico (with Dick Dyson and Buddy Griffin) and in 1950-51 was part of the house band that Johnny Gimble put together at the Bob Wills Ranch House to hold the fort whenever Wills was on the road.”

“It’s Me Who Has To Suffer” by Jimmie Osborne

[Recorded Oct. 11, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Gene Crabb, Lois Mann & Henry Glover

Review: Billboard‘s Apr. 12, 1952 edition — “Both the material and the chanting are just ordinary.”

“I’ll Be There” (A) & “Heartbreak Ridge” (B) & “Good Time Saturday Night” (C) by The Delmore Brothers

[Recorded Oct. 22, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover (A); Alton Delmore, Rabon Delmore, Lois Mann & Henry Glover (B); Alton Delmore, Henry Glover & Rabon Delmore (C)

Note: PragueFrank says that backing musicians include Wayne Raney (harmonica) and Henry Glover (piano).

Covered by — “I’ll Be There” also recorded by Little Esther (Nov. 8, 1951 – NYC) & Melvin Moore (Dec. 18, 1951 – NYC).

Review: Cash Box‘s Nov. 24, 1951 edition — “[Heartbreak Ridge] The Delmore Brothers pay a sentimental tribute to the fighting men in Korea. It’s a slow number that the boys put over well enough to get some attention.”

Review: Cash Box‘s Mar. 1, 1952 edition — “[I’ll Be There] The same artists get together on the second side to present a slow, catchy tune. Ops might find some play here.”

“Me And My Crazy Self” by Lonnie Johnson

[Recorded Oct. 26, 1951 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Lois Mann

Musicians: Johnson is backed by Tiny Bradshaw‘s band, including Red Prysock (tenor sax), Jimmy Robinson (piano), Clarence Mack (bass), and Calvin ‘Eagle Eye‘ Shields (drums).

Review: Cash Box‘s Mar. 1, 1952 edition — “Lonnie Johnson has himself a grand time as he chants a slow, low down number. Johnson’s warm delivery of a cute set of lyrics makes this a listenable side.”

“Lost Time” (A) & “Remember My Love” (B) by Erskine Hawkins And His Orchestra

[Recorded Dec. 6, 1951 in New York City]

Both songs written by Henry Glover

Musicians: Vocal on both songs by Lou Elliott, with instrumental support from Erskine Hawkins, Sammy Lowe, John Grimes & Bobby Johnson (trumpets), Ted Donelly, Bob Range & George Matthews (trombone), Jimmy Mitchell & Bobby Smith (alto saxes), Julian Dash & Bobby Green (tenor saxes), Haywood Henry (baritone sax), Freddie Jefferson (piano), Lee Stanfield (bass), and Sonny Payne (drums).

Note: Flip side of “Remember My Love” is a version of “Steel Guitar Rag.”

For amusement only: Down Beat posts this open letter to Syd Nathan in its review of Erskine Hawkins’ latest release in the May 21, 1952 edition — “Suggestion to King and all the other companies: please give the soloists label credit on records like ‘Down Home Jump.’ They deserve it, and it might help to revive interest in the bands and their personalities per se.”

“I’ll Drown In My (Own) Tears” by Sonny Thompson And His Orchestra (vocal by Lula Reed)

[Recorded Dec. 14, 1951 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

Notes: Years later, Henry Glover would tell historian John Rumble that his “first brush with the big-time choral music was that Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt was to appear in Montgomery [Alabama] on behalf of something, she and Mary McLeod Bethune.” In recognition of the event’s importance, four singers from each of the historically black colleges and universities were sent to represent a big choir. Glover served as one of the representatives for Alabama A&M University and remembers rehearsing for nearly a year to learn the whole score for The Death of Minnehaha. Glover was particularly struck by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “use of what became popular after in the regular music industry”: the diminished chord [i.e., diminished triad — root note + minor third + flatted fifth — plus a double-flatted seventh]. Glover’s use of the diminished chord (i.e., when Lula Reed sings, “It brings tears into my eyes, when I began to realize” dah-dah [diminished chord]) was on the leading edge of “popular rhythm and blues,” as he explained to John Rumble.

Covered by — Ray Charles, whose 1954 recording is the definitive version; Aretha Franklin; Marie ‘Queenie’ Lyons; Dinah Washington; Jimmy McCracklin; Monty Alexander Trio; Chet Atkins; Bobby Darin; Ramsey Lewis; Herbie Mann; Jimmy McGriff; Jackie DeShannon; Don Shirley; Billy Preston; Little Stevie Wonder; Derek Trucks Band; Troyce Key; Johnny Winter; Lottie Jo Jones; Jesse Butler; Earl Grant; Jimmy Thomason; Billy Daniels; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Spencer Davis Group; Joe Cocker; Janis Joplin; Jean Wells; The Righteous Brothers; Johnnie Taylor; Percy Sledge; Arthur Prysock; Timmy Thomas; Simply Red; David Newman; Mitty Collier; Chuck Brown & Eva Cassidy; Jeff Beck, et al.

Netherlands –

1964

“While I’m Gone” by Melvin Moore

[Recorded Dec. 18, 1951 in New York City]

Written by Ray Barrow, Lois Mann & Henry Glover

Musicians: Terry Gibbs (vibes), Billy Taylor (piano), Mundell Lowe (guitar), Charles Mingus (bass), and Charles Smith (drums), plus “strings, flute, and oboe.”

Also covered: “I’ll Be There” was also recorded at this session.

Review: Cash Box‘s May 21, 1952 edition — “Melvin sings a momentary duet with himself on one side, has flute and all kinds of fancy embroidery on the other. He’s a good singer, but neither side has the earmarks of a sensation either in material or interpretation.”

“Take It Away” by Jimmy Tyler And His Orchestra

[Recorded Dec. 28, 1951 in Los Angeles]

Written by “Glover-Morgan-Harris”

Musicians: Jimmy Tyler & Dan Turner (alto & tenor saxes), Bill Dorsey Jimmy Harris & Thad Jones (trumpets), Rufus Wagner (trombone), Bill Dorsey (tenor sax), Fletcher Smith (piano), Al Morgan (bass), and Clarence Johnson (drums).

-1952-

“Keep On Churnin’ (Til the Butter Comes)” (A) & “Married Women, Stay Married” (B) by Wynonie Harris With Todd Rhodes Orchestra

[Recorded Jan. 9, 1952 in Cincinnati]

Written by Juanita Hairston, Lois Mann & Henry Glover (A); “Glover-Carson” (B)

Musicians: Todd Rhodes (piano), Halley Dismukes & Ted Buckner (alto saxes), Louis Stephens (tenor sax), Willie Wells (trumpet), Joe Williams (bass), and William Benjamin (drums).

Review: Down Beat‘s July 2, 1952 edition — “[Married Women, Stay Married] ‘There’s too many men in the graveyard from snatchin’ apples from another man’s tree,’ laments Wynonie Harris on the up side. [Keep on Churnin’] rates because the combination of double entendre lyrics, a firm beat and Wynonie’s Machiavellian tonal qualities can hardly miss.”

78 –

France

“Real Real Fine (pt. 1 & 2)” (A) & “Down in the Dumps” (B) by Sonny Thompson And His Orchestra

[Recorded Feb. 1, 1952 in New York City]

Both songs written by Sonny Thompson & Henry Glover

Musicians: Sonny Thompson (piano), David Brooks (tenor sax), Bill Johnson (guitar), Lloyd Trotman, and Les Erskine (drums).

“Mailman’s Sack” (A) & “Lay It On the Line” (B) by Tiny Bradshaw And His Orchestra

[Recorded Feb. 27, 1952 in Cincinnati]

Both songs written by Tiny Bradshaw, Henry Glover & Lois Mann

Note: Musicians on this session — Rufus Gore (tenor sax); Jimmy Coe (alto sax); Alexander Nelson (baritone sax); Leslie Ayres (trumpet); Jimmy Robinson (piano); Willie Gaddy (guitar); Clarence Mack (bass) & Calvin Shields (drums).

Review: Cash Box‘s Apr. 26, 1952 edition — “[Mailman’s Sack] Tiny Bradshaw belts out a fast moving shouty item with zest. Bradshaw’s dynamic vocal is supported in spirited fashion by the ork as they handle a driving arrangement solidly. Featured is a raucus and wild bit of saxing that does much for the waxing.”

Review: Cash Box‘s Jul. 5, 1952 edition — “A wild double entendre item is treated to the shouty vocal of Tiny Bradshaw. Tiny runs through the fast moving, warm lyrics with gusto.”

78 –

France

“Loaded With Love” by Hawkshaw Hawkins

[Recorded Mar. 27, 1952 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Lucky Millinder

Note: According to PragueFrank, that’s Claude Brown on steel guitar and Sammy Barnhart on bass.

Covered by — Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra (Apr. 2, 1952 – NYC) plus Dotty Mack & Bob Braun (Sep. 28, 1954 – Cincinnati).

Special Merit:

Lucky Millinder – “Jazz ‘n’ Blues Sleeper of the Week”
Cash Box –

Apr. 26, 1952

“When I Gave You My Love” by Lucky Millinder And His Orchestra

[Recorded Apr. 2, 1952 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Lucky Millinder

Musicians: Frank Galbreath, Lamar Wright, Abdul Salaam & Jimmy Nottingham (trumpets), Henderson Chambers, Fred Zito & Tyree Glenn (trombones), Hilton Jefferson & Rudy Powell (alto saxes), Lowell ‘County’ Hastings & Harry Johnson (tenor saxes), Norman Thornton (baritone sax), Danny Small (piano), Lloyd Trotman (bass), and Ed Shaugnessy (drums), with vocal support from Pigmeat Peterson, Corky Robbins, and Johnny Bosworth.

Covered by — Recorded as a duet by Ruby Wright & Charlie Gore (Jan. 9, 1953 – King Studios).

78 –

Norway

“Bootsie” by Moose Jackson And His Buffalo Bearcats

[Recorded Apr. 4, 1952 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Lucky Millinder

Musicians: Joe Wilder (trumpet), Herb Geller & Ted Hulbert (alto saxes), Lowell ‘Count’ Hastings (tenor sax), Bill Doggett (piano), Lloyd Trotman (bass), and Les Erskine (drums).

Note: Who knew there was more than one way to spell “Bootsy”?

Review: Cash Box‘s May 17, 1952 edition — “Moose Jackson and His Buffalo Bearcats dish up a big beat instrumental in sprightly fashion. The big play goes to the sax with backing from the brass section as the band handles the lively tune.”

“Everybody Loves a Fat Man” by Pigmeat Peterson

[Recorded Apr. 28, 1952 in New York City]

Written by “Bowen-Glover-Millinder”

Musicians: Pigmeat Peterson (guitar & vocals), Lowell ‘Count’ Hastings (tenor sax),

“Ready, Willin’ And Able” by Sarah McLawler

[Recorded May 21, 1952 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Lucky Millinder

Question: Is it possible that The Syncoettes are the backing vocalists on “Ready, Willin’ And Able”?

“Oh Oh Oh Baby” (A) & “My Prayer Tonight” (B) by The Checkers

[Recorded c. Jun. 4, 1952 in New York City]

Both songs written by Henry Glover

Covered by — “My Prayer Tonight” was also recorded by the York Brothers (Jun. 17, 1953 – Cincinnati) and Otis Williams And His Charms (Mar. 6, 1959 – Cincinnati).

“Lord Knows I Tried” (A); “Heavy Sugar” (B); “Backslider’s Ball” (C); “Old Spice” (D) by Lucky Millinder And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jun. 25, 1952 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Lucky Millinder (A, B & C); Jimmy Mundy, Henry Glover & Lucky Millinder (D)

7-inch EP –

Italy

“Drinking Blues” (A) & “Adam Come And Get Your Rib” (B) by Wynonie Harris

[Recorded Jun. 25, 1952 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover (A); Fred Weismantel & Henry Glover (B)

78 –

France

“Last Night” (A); “Waiting To Be Loved By You” (B) & “Pastry” (C) by Sonny Thompson And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jun. 30, 1952 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover (A & B); Sonny Thompson & Henry Glover (C)

Note: Vocal on “Waiting To Be Loved By You” by Lula Reed.

“Pastry” can be found on this 1958 King LP

“Snuff Dipper” (A) & “Pig Latin Blues” (B) by Todd Rhodes And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jul. 1, 1952 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover (A); “Glover, Kari & Williams” (B)

Note: Vocal on “Pig Latin Blues” by LaVern Baker, who cut her first sides for King, notes Arnold Shaw in Honkers and Shouters, before moving to Atlantic, where she recorded her big hits.

“Lonesome Train” by Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson

[Recorded Jul. 7, 1952 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: King session musician, John Faire, does an exceptional job evoking train sounds out of his guitar.

“Let Me Come Back” (A) & “Love Wasn’t There” (B) by The Checkers

[Recorded Sep. 19, 1952 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover (A); Henry Glover & Lois Mann (B)

“In the Moonlight” (A); “She’s Mine, She’s Yours” (B) & “Where Were You” (C) by Jimmy Rushing

[Recorded Sep. 23, 1952 in New York City]

All songs written by Jimmy Rushing & Henry Glover

Note: Drummer on this session – Clarence “Bobby” Donaldson – is the same musician who provided the backbeat on “Good Rockin’ Tonight” by Wynonie Harris at King Studios on December 28, 1947.

UK (and Italy)

“No One’s Crying But Me” by Wayne Raney

[Recorded Oct. 3, 1952 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

“Strange” by Tiny Bradshaw And His Orchestra

[Recorded Oct. 6, 1952 in Cincinnati]

Written by Tiny Bradshaw & Henry Glover

Note: Also recorded by Cozy Cole on June 19, 1959 at King Studios.

78 –

Netherlands

“Low Flame” by Sonny Thompson And His Orchestra

[Recorded Oct. 8, 1952 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Vocal on “Low Flame” by Lula Reed.

King EP

1954

“Please Baby Please” by The Swallows

[Recorded Oct. 9, 1952 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: “Nobody’s Lovin’ Me” (originally recorded by Lonnie Johnson at King Studios on Sep. 14, 1950) also recorded at this session.

“Our Love Is Dying” (A) & “Where Do I Go From Here” by The Swallows

[Recorded Oct., 1952 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover (A); Fred Weismantel & Henry Glover (B)

Note: One original vinyl copy of “Our Love Is Dying” sold for $103 in 2015 at auction (after 11 bids).

“Lost Child” by Todd Rhodes And His Orchestra

[Recorded Oct. 14, 1952 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Delores Williams

Note: Vocal by Lavern Baker.

“Rot Gut” (A) & “Bad News Baby (There’ll Be No Rockin’ Tonight)” by Wynonie Harris

[Recorded Nov. 7, 1952 in Cincinnati]

Written by Lois Mann & Henry Glover (A); Wynonie Harris, Lois Mann & Henry Glover (B)

“So Many Hard Times” by Johnny O’Neal

[Recorded Nov. 26, 1952 in Bradenton, FL]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Musicians on this recording — Earl Hooker (guitar); Roosevelt Wardell (piano); Robert Dixon (bass), and William Cochran (drums).

“Eggs And Grits” by Red McAllister

[Recorded December, 1952 – location unknown]

Written by “Dobbins-Glover”

Note: One original vinyl copy sold at auction for $432 in 2012.

“Tell Her For Me” by Ivory Joe Hunter

[Released December, 1952]

Written by “Glover-Leighton-Stevenson

Note: Released on MGM.

-1953-

“I Let You Slip Through My Finger Tips” (A) & “Soft” by Henry Glover And His Quartet

[Recorded Jan. 7, 1953 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Lois Mann (A); Tiny Bradshaw & Henry Glover (B)

Note: On this Netherlands 78 release, curiously, “Soft” is attributed to “Bradshaw-Glover” (recorded Oct. 6, 1952 in Cincinnati). Nick Duckett writes in the liner notes to The Henry Glover Story —

1953 saw a change in style for the bandleader after he adopted a Glover instrumental as his theme tune. “Soft” climbed to #3 in June 1953 and was essentially bebop jazz in character but sprinkled with blues riffs in a laid-back yet uptempo R&B setting. Glover occasionally found time to put out jazz-based material under his own moniker, Henry Glover And His Quartet. One of the most interesting of these was a bebop vocal version of the Bradshaw hit, “Soft.” Another was a nod to pianist Thelonious Monk entitled “One For the Monk,” which appeared in 1955 backed with “Sassy’s Dream,” an evocative piece of slow-tempo late-night jazz.

78 –

Netherlands

“Head Happy With Wine” by Sticks McGhee

[Recorded Jan. 14, 1953 in New York City]

Written by Alan Freed, Lois Mann & Henry Glover

Note: Did radio’s Alan Freed, in fact, help Henry Glover compose this song, McGhee’s “first King release”?

“Trying To Live Without You” (A); “My Baby Keeps Rollin’” (B) & “Baby I’m Doin’ It” (C) by Annisteen Allen

[Recorded Jan. 28, 1953 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Fred Weismantel (A & B); Lois Mann, Henry Glover, Fred Weismantel & Alan Freed (C)

Note: “Baby I’m Doin’ It” is an answer song to “Baby Don’t Do It” by (future King recording artist) The ‘5’ Royales.

Covered by — “Trying to Live Without You” was recorded by Wayne Raney on June 23, 1953 at King Studios.

“(My Dearest) Don’t Desert Me” by Linda Shannon

[Recorded Feb. 2, 1953 in New York City]

Written by “Goldworm-Wolfson-Bernard”

“Rocket to the Moon” (A) & “I Done It” (B) by Moon Mullican

[Recorded Mar. 6, 1953 in Cincinnati]

Written by Lois Mann & Henry Glover (A); Moon Mullican, Lois Mann, Henry Glover & Louis Innis (B)

Notes: Billboard‘s review of “Rocket to the Moon” in their Apr. 25, 1953 issue: “Here’s a driving tune that has its roots in an R&B hit of a year ago. Mullican’s vocal is good and a male duo behind him helps drive it along.” Amusingly, “I Done It” is King’s second answer song to “Baby Don’t Do It” by (future King recording artist) The ‘5’ Royales.

“Sweet Lips” (A) & “Cherry Wine” (B) by Little Esther

[Recorded Mar. 11, 1953 in Cincinnati]

Written by Leonard Bailey & Henry Glover (A); Henry Glover (B)

Note: “Cherry Wine” – more evidence of early rock ‘n’ roll’s Latin roots. Musicians on this session: Rufus Gore (tenor sax), Hank Marr (piano), John Faire (guitar), Clarence Mack (bass), and Calvin Shields (drums).

Reissued in the UK in 2014

“If You Will Let Me Be Your Love” by Cowboy Copas

[Recorded Mar. 11, 1953 in Cincinnati]

Written by Cowboy Copas and Henry Glover

Note: According to PragueFrank, Cowboy Copas (rhythm guitar & vocals) is backed by Howard White (steel guitar), Zeke Turner (guitar), Zeb Turner (guitar), Louis Innis (bass), and Marion Sumner (fiddle).

Test pressing on Parlophone, future home of The Beatles

1954

“Bicycle Tillie” by The Swallows

[Recorded c. Mar. 20, 1953 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Nick Duckett writes in the liner notes to The Henry Glover Story —

Bicycle Tillie” is Henry Glover’s rewrite of a song by the same name recorded in 1945 by Bill Samuels’ Cats ‘n’ Jammer Three. It was pretty near the knuckle in 1953, it’s a mystery how it got past the censors in 1945.

“Ghost of My Baby” by The Checkers

[Recorded Apr. 17, 1953 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Fred Weismantel

“Stretch Out” by The Cecil Young Quartet

[Recorded Apr. 23, 1953 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Two other compositions recorded that remain unissued, including “You Better Go Now.”

“Don’t Make Me Love You” (A) & “I’m Losing You” (B) by Lula Reed

[Recorded Apr. 23, 1953 in Cincinnati]

Both songs written by Henry Glover

Note: Note that Henry Glover compositions were recorded on the same day (Apr. 23, 1953) in two different locations (New York City & Cincinnati)– how likely is it that Glover was in NYC helping Cecil Young Quartet lay down their modern jazz sounds?

“I Shoulda Been On My Merry Way” (A) & “Knock Him Down Whiskey” (B) by Sugar Ray Robinson

[Recorded May 22, 1953 in New York City]

Written by Fred Weismantel & Henry Glover (A); “Watts, Kelley & Glover” (B)

Note: Robinson is backed by Earl Hines and His Orchestra.

“I Only Have One Lifetime” (A); “You Walked Out of My Dreams” (B) & “Boy You Got Yourself a Girl” (C) by Ruby Wright

[Recorded Jun. 20, 1953, likely in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover, Fred Weismantel & Lois Mann (A & B); Henry Glover & Fred Weismantel (C)

1954

“Let Down Blues” by Todd Rhodes And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jun. 20, 1953 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Fred Weismantel

Note: Vocal by Sadie Madison.

“Adam” by Wayne Raney

[Recorded Jun. 23, 1953 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Fred Weismantel

Note: “Trying to Live Without You” was also recorded at this session — link to Cash Box‘s Mar. 27, 1954 review. “Adam” is Raney’s version of “Adam, Come And Get Your Rib,” with instrumental support from Jethro Burns (electric guitar), Louis Innis (bass), and Henry Glover (piano).

“Let’s Move” by Sonny Thompson And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jul. 23, 1953 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Musicians on this recording — Sonny Thompson (piano); David Brooks (tenor sax); Fred Clark (alto sax); Walter Hiles (baritone sax); Clarence Kenner (guitar); Clarence Mack (bass), and Philip Thomas (drums).

Lead-off track on this 1956 UK EP

“Powder Puff” (A); “South of the Orient” (B); “Later” (C) & “Ping Pong” (D) by Tiny Bradshaw And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jul. 29, 1953 in Cincinnati]

All songs written by Tiny Bradshaw & Henry Glover, with tenor saxophonist Sylvester Austin sharing songwriting credits on “Ping Pong”

Note: “Later” was recorded by Ella Fitzgerald in 1954.

“In the Attic” by Earl Hines And His Orchestra

[Recorded Aug. 19, 1953 in New York City]

Written by Earl Hines & Henry Glover

Opening track on this 1956 UK EP

“Quiet Whiskey” (A); “Down Boy Down” (B) & “Nearer My Love to Thee” (C) by Wynonie Harris

[Recorded Sep. 11, 1953 in New York City]

Written by Bob Schell, Henry Glover, Wynonie Harris & Fred Weismantel (A); Henry Glover & Fred Weismantel (B); Fred Weismantel, Gordon ‘Specs’ Powell & Henry Glover (C)

Notes: Released with “Quiet Whiskey” as the A-side, “Down Boy Down” as the B-side. Musicians who played on these tracks: David Van Dyke & Wilburt ‘Red‘ Prysock (tenor saxes); Mickey Baker (guitar); Sir Charles Thompson (xylophone-A) & (piano-A+B); George Duvivier (bass); Gordon ‘Specs‘ Powell (drums).

“My Baby Please” (A) & “Function at the Junction” (B) by Erskine Hawkins And His Orchestra

[Recorded Sep. 17, 1953 in Cincinnati]

Written by “Lowe-Mitchelle-Glover” (A); “Lowe-Mitchelle-Glover-Mann” (B)

Notes: Vocal by Jimmie Mitchelle & The Four Hawks — song title “borrowed” thirteen years later for Shorty Long’s 1966 soul classic.

“You Never Had It So Good” by The Checkers

[Recorded c. Sep. 26, 1953 in New York City]

Written by “McRae-Barna-Glover”

“Underneath the Lamp Post” (A) & “Lovers Only” (B) by Henry Glover And His Orchestra

[Recorded Oct. 30, 1953 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Fred Weismantel (A); Henry Glover (B)

Note: Two other songs recorded — “There’s No Fool Like an Old Fool” & “You Caught Me (When My Love Was Down)” — that remain unissued.

Both songs included on this rare 7-inch King EP

“My Tissue Paper Heart” by Jimmie Osborne

[Recorded Nov. 10, 1953 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Lois Mann

Note: Cash Box‘s February 20, 1954 review: “Jimmie Osborne waxes a quick tempo cuties in a tantalizing manner. Solid strings support the warbler’s zestful rendition, as a chorus vocals the opening and closing refrains.”

“Watch Dog” (A); “Your Key Don’t Fit No More” (B) & “So-o-o Good” (C) by Lula Reed with Sonny Thompson And His Orchestra

[Recorded Dec. 8, 1953 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover (A & C); Henry Glover & Alicia Evelyn (B)

Note: “So-o-o Good” is credited to Sonny Thompson And His Orchestra.

“So-o-o Good” included on this 1954 King EP

-1954-

“Troubles On Your Mind” (A); “Bump On a Log” (B) & “I Ain’t No Watch Dog” (C) by Lula Reed with Sonny Thompson And His Orchestra

[Recorded Feb. 6, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Written by Sonny Thompson & Henry Glover (A); Henry Glover (B); Henry Glover & Lois Mann (C)

Note: “I Ain’t No Watch Dog” released under the name Sonny Thompson And His Orchestra.

“House With No Windows” (A) & “Don’t Stop Dan” (B) by The Checkers

[Recorded Mar. 12, 1954 in New York City]

Both songs written by Henry Glover

Note: “House With No Windows” recorded by the York Brothers (Jan. 6, 1955 – Cincinnati) and Hank Ballard & the Midnighters (Nov. 13, 1958 – Cincinnati).

“Overflow” by Tiny Bradshaw And His Orchestra

[Recorded Apr. 5, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Glover had a hand in writing 3 of the 4 tracks on this 1954 King EP

“A Tennessee Ocean” by Jimmie Osborne

[Recorded Apr. 20, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Leave it to Billboard to bum us all out by taking such a literalist slant in their review — “A weepy ballad with a rather far-fetched lyric-imagery. He sings of flooding the State with tears for his love.”

Cash Box

May 29, 1954

“The End of the Rainbow” (A) & “No Stranger” (B) by Moon Mullican

[Recorded Apr. 21, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Lois Mann (A); Lois Mann, Henry Glover & Louis Innis (B)

Note: According to PragueFrank, that’s Boyd Bennett on drums.

78 –

New Zealand

“A Little Bit of Love” by Bill Robinson & the Quails

[Recorded May 24, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Cash Box sounds an optimistic note in its July 31, 1954 review — “The group gets into the swinging groove on this sides and socks out a rocker with an infectious quality. This group has it and could make it with this release.”

“Ain’t It a Shame” by Roy Brown And His Mighty Mighty Men

[Recorded May 27, 1954 in New Orleans]

Written by Henry Glover

“Darlin’ Why” by Bonnie Lou

[Recorded May 30, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Written by Louis Innis, Lois Mann & Henry Glover

“Silver Sunset” by Todd Rhodes And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jul. 16, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

“Silver Sunset”

Included on this 1960 King LP

“Annie Had a Baby” by The Midnighters

[Recorded Jul. 30, 1954 in Washington, DC]

Written by Henry Glover & Lois Mann

Notes: Hank Ballard later updated the song in 1972 (with arrangement by David Matthews) for James Brown’s People label, with another Henry Glover composition, “Teardrops on Your Letter,” as the flip side. Originally released on Federal.

Cash Box

Sep. 4, 1954

“The Midnighters definitely are in the process of racking up their third straight hit, ‘Annie Had a Baby.’ Not only is it their third straight, but the three are appearing on the charts at the same time. ‘Work With Me Annie’; ‘Sexy Ways’; and ‘Annie Had a Baby.’ The latter tune, which has taken off in the unbelievable fashion, was written by Henry Glover and Syd Nathan, King prexy [president], after a couple of jockeys had gagged up the title of a non-existent release. When orders started coming in, Nathan realizing the potential of what had started out as a jockey’s gimmick, wrote a tune, cut the group, and sent out samples — all in a matter of days . . . .”

Also covered by — Ike & Tina Turner; Teegarden & Van Winkle; Ronnie Lane & Lonnie Mack.

1972 version produced by James Brown

“Love My Love” by Ray Allen Trio

[Recorded Aug. 11, 1954 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

“Jealous Love” by Lula Reed

[Recorded Sep. 9, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Sonny Thompson

“Let the Happenings Happen” by The Charms

[Recorded Sep. 13, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

“Everybody Do the Chicken” by The Five Jets

[Recorded Sep. 28, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Billboard‘s October 30, 1954 review — “The boys ask everyone to help them do the chicken, on this swingy new disk. It’s cute, and good for dancing. Boxes can use it, too.”

“Crippled For Life” by Moon Mullican

[Recorded Oct. 28, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Written by Louis Innis, Lois Mann & Henry Glover

“Rock Love” (A) & “Without Love (Ain’t It a Shame)” (B) by Lula Reed

[Recorded Nov. 29, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Both songs written by Henry Glover

Note: Check out the prolonged vocal fade-out on “Without Love (Ain’t It a Shame)” which must have been a fairly radical production technique for 1954 — musicians on this session: David Brooks & Rufus Gore (tenor saxes), Tommy Purkson (alto sax), Sonny Thompson (piano), Clarence Kenner (guitar), James Royal (bass), and Robert Boswell (drums).

Also covered by — “Rock Love” also recorded by Elaine Gay around this same time (possibly in Cincinnati) and released on DeLuxe; also recorded by Little Willie John (King Studios – Apr. 12, 1961), as well as Eddie Fontaine (with Neal Hefti & The Excels); The Fontane Sisters; Teresa Brewer; Dolores Gray; Bill Farrell; Nita, Rita & Ruby [i.e., Anita Carter, Rita Robbins & Ruby Wright]; Halley Sisters & the Prom Orchestra.

Majority of tracks on this 1958 LP including “Rock Love” written by Glover

“Man’s Best Friend” (A); “I Don’t Know Where to Go” (B) & “Drinkin’ Sherry Wine” (C) by Wynonie Harris

[Recorded Nov. 29, 1954 in Cincinnati]

All songs written by Henry Glover

“Wine, Wine, Sweet Wine” (A); “Git With the Grits” (B) & “Fishtail Blues” (C) by Wynonie Harris

[Recorded Nov. 30, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover (A & B); Rudy Toombs & Henry Glover (C)

“Big Ends” by Rufus Gore

[Recorded Dec. 15, 1954 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Billboard‘s review in their January 8, 1955 edition — “A bouncy instrumental with a good beat and commendable tenor sax work by Gore.”

-1955-

“Oh Yes” by The Admirals

[Recorded Jan. 9, 1955 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

“Come On” by Tiny Bradshaw And His Orchestra

[Recorded Jan. 11, 1955 in Cincinnati]

Written by Tiny Bradshaw & Henry Glover

“Johnny’s Still Singing” by The Five Wings

[Recorded Feb. 2, 1955 in New York City]

Written by Henry Stone, Lois Mann & Henry Glover

Notes: Released with “Johnny Has Gone” on the flip side. 45Cat contributor mickey rat observes, “No doubt a tribute to Johnny Ace? (We don’t have promo pic here yet with DJ hype text.) Anyway it’s interesting to see two songs apparently written totally by record company execs: Henry Stone, Syd Nathan (“Lois Mann”) and Henry Glover at King and Fred Mendelsohn and Ozzie Cadena at Savoy (the flip being a cover of Varetta Dillard’s Jan ’55 record).”

“Blues For Everybody” by Jack Dupree

[Recorded Feb. 15, 1955 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Lucille Dupree

“My House Is Not a Home” by Earl Connelly King

[Recorded Feb. 16, 1955 in New York City]

Written by “Glover-Davis”

Quote: As Henry Glover explained to Steve Tracy in 1972, “Earl (Connelly) King walked into my office for an audition. His name was Earl King. I think our first records were put out under the name of Earl Connelly, but we felt that the name Connelly was a little hard and you didn’t have it right on your tongue, so we started to put ‘Connelly’ in parentheses until we dropped it completely. It became just Earl King. His very big record was ‘Don’t Take It So Hard.’ He was a very good blues singer based in the church, with which there is, of course, a very close tie. The line of demarcation is so thin that you can almost say that they are the same when it comes down to the soul part of a hymn. Earl was an artist like this.”

“Firewater” (A) & “Ghost Walk” (B) by Rufus Gore

[Recorded Feb. 24, 1955 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover (A); “Glover-Baker” (B)

Note: Billboard‘s review of both sides in their April 9, 1955 edition — “[Firewater] An exuberant waxing of a spirited Southern blues, with Gore warbling in a personable fashion” b/w [Ghost Walk] “Tenor sax man Gore has an attractive instrumental here, which should fare well with jukes.”

“I’m Here Love” (A); “It’s a Sad Sad Feeling” (B); “Ow!” (C) & “Goody Good Love” (D) by Lucky Millinder And His Orchestra

[Recorded Mar. 8, 1955 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover (A); Lucky Millinder & Henry Glover (B, C & D)

Note: Vocal on “It’s a Sad Sad Feeling” by Cathy Ryan.

Covered by — “Ow!” was recorded by Herbie Mann in 1958.

“Caught Me When My Love Was Down” by Lula Reed

[Recorded Mar. 29, 1955 in Los Angeles]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Cash Box‘s review in their May 7, 1955 edition — “Lula Reed sings a fast beat romantic cutie in which she receives a strong chorus and orchestral support. Lula’s distinctive vocal handling of the infectious tune gives her a good chance with this one.”

“Grinding” by Doc Bagby

[Recorded Apr. 20, 1955 in Cincinnati]

Written by Doc Bagby, Henry Bush & Henry Glover

“Grinding” is the lead-off track on this 1960 French EP

“Miss the Love (That I’ve Been Dreaming Of)” by Otis Williams & His Charms

[Recorded c. Apr. 22, 1955 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Also recorded by Bonnie Lou at King Studios on May 9, 1955.

Quote: As Henry Glover shared with Steve Tracy in 1972, “The gentleman who just walked in was with Otis Williams and the Charms. I heard the Charms [for the] first time outside my window in the Manse [Hotel] in Cincinnati. They serenaded out the window for about four or five weeks, and finally (laughs) Henry Stone came to town and heard about that. I was so busy doing other things that I didn’t have a chance to record them. He signed them up on a label called Chart, and I recorded them for him. I recall that night in the studio, I used the same gimmick that I did in the case of Willie John. I had just heard about a record that came out in California that was a hit. I can’t even think of the group’s name, but it was a thing called ‘Hearts of Stone.’ I had the record into Cincinnati so fast, no one ever heard of the other group. We got the record out on the street before they ever got it distributed. Of course, the Charms had the big hit on ‘Hearts of Stone.'”

“Miss the Love” is the lead-off track on this 1956 DeLuxe EP

“God’s Love” by The Speer Family

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Cash Box‘s “Country Roundup” column in its April 23, 1955 edition concluded with this announcement — “Introducing the Speer Family are two fine gospel songs, “Heavenly Love” and “God’s Love” (done to the tune of “Rock Love“)! This is the first for the group on Victor.” Billboard was equally enthusiastic in their May 14, 1955 review: “‘Rock Love,’ an r & b hit tune has been transformed into ‘God’s Love.’ If customers are not aware of this switch, as many of them possibly might not be, they will find this a lively and engaging piece of material.” RCA Victor would reissue the song in 1960.

Billboard

October 22, 1966

“Henry’s Got Flat Feet” by The Midnighters

[Recorded May 1, 1955 in Dallas]

Written by Henry Glover & Lois Mann

78 –

New Zealand

“Rock and Roll Wedding” by The Midnighters

[Recorded Jun. 6, 1955 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

“One For the Monk” (A) & “Sassy’s Dream” (B) by Henry Glover And His Quartet

[Recorded Jun. 7, 1955 in Cincinnati]

Both songs written by Henry Glover

Note: Henry Glover informed historian John Rumble that in the late 1940/early 1950s, Thelonious Monk could sometimes be found playing piano in the music room of one of the apartments near NYC’s Columbia University made available to Glover through the generosity of a close family friend.

“24 Hours a Day (365 a year)” by Cathy Ryan

[Recorded Jul. 1, 1955 in New York City]

Written by Rudy Toombs & Henry Glover

Note: Answer song to “Sixty Minute Man” by The Dominoes, with uncredited vocal backing by The Admirals.

Covered by — Georgia Gibbs.

“I Get So Happy” by Earl Connelly King

[Recorded Jul. 12, 1955 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

“This Is the Last Time” by Dave Dudley

[Recorded Aug. 18, 1955 in Cincinnati]

Written by Louis Innis, Henry Glover & Lois Mann

Note: Zero to 180 is delighted that Glover co-wrote a song for one of the kings of truck-driving country music.

“It Just Ain’t Love” by Kay Adams

[Recorded by Aug. 19, 1955 in Cincinnati]

Written by Louis Innis & Henry Glover

Notes: “It Just Ain’t Love,” the flip side of Adams’ take on Titus Turner’s “All Around the World” (made famous by Little Willie John, of course), received this review from Billboard in their Sep. 24, 1955 edition: “Another good blues, Miss Adams’ chanting is swingy and there are relaxed horns adding to the effect.” Interesting to note that Henry Glover produced two other King artists on August 19, 1955: Hardrock Gunter (four songs, including “I’ll Give ’em Rhythm”) and Herb & Kay (Adams), their final King session that produced the single “I’ve Got a Right to be Jealous, Honey” and its flip side “We Did” (subject of a Zero to 180 piece).

“Someone Made You For Me” (A) & “I Ain’t Getting Caught” (B) by The ‘5’ Royales

[Recorded c. Aug. 24, 1955 in Cincinnati]

Both songs written by Henry Glover

Covered by — “Someone Made You For Me” recorded by Joe Medlin (Jan. 13, 1956 – NYC) and Donnie Elbert (Jun. 8, 1958 – NYC); also Isaac Hayes & Dan Penn.

Cash Box Review

Oct. 22, 1955

“Silent Partner” by Jack Dupree

[Recorded Sep. 15, 1955 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Lois Mann

78 –

Canada

“I’m Stickin’ With You” by Little Willie John

[Recorded Sep. 20, 1955 in New York City]

Written by Rudy Toombs & Henry Glover

Note: As Glover told Steve Tracy in his 1972 interview, “The artist of all artists, ha-ha, Little Willie John. I didn’t consider Willie John in the category of artists I have just referred to, because he was in a class all to himself. He was a really, truly great singer. I would say that blues came so natural to him that he was a master at that, and no one living during that day could touch him. He had some of the greatest blues gymnastics and voice gyration that you could ever dream of a person having.”

“Overhead” by Jack Dupree

[Recorded Nov. 8, 1955 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Rudy Toombs

Note: Musicians on this session — Jack Dupree (piano & vocals), George Smith (harmonica), Barney Richmond (bass), and Al Dreares (drums).

“Overhead” included on this 1965 UK EP

“Dear One” by Earl Connelly King

[Recorded Nov. 9, 1955 in Cincinnati]

Written by “Medley-King-Glover”

“Rock Granny Roll” by The Midnighters

[Recorded Dec. 1, 1955 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Cash Box‘s review in their Mar. 17, 1956 edition — “Here’s a hard-hitting cutie that the teeners can jump to. A crazy lyric has granny jitterbugging, and offers her solid advice, telling her to stay out of that rocking chair as long as she can. Don’t overlook this side.”

-1956-

“Record Hop” by Big John Greer

[Recorded Jan. 5, 1956 in New York City]

Written by John Greer & Henry Glover

Note: Musicians on this session — Big John Greer (tenor sax & vocals), Budd Johnson (baritone sax), Ernie Hayes (piano), Specs Powell (vibes), Milt Hinton (bass), and Panama Francis (drums).

King test pressing

“Seven Nights To Rock” by Moon Mullican with Boyd Bennett And His Rockets

[Recorded Jan. 26, 1956 in Cincinnati]

Written by Buck Trail, Louis Innis & Henry Glover

Note: Cash Box‘s review in their Mar. 10, 1956 edition: “Mullican socks out this solid-driving, r & r deck in a manner that’s gonna keep the boxes hoppin’. Potent support by Boyd Bennett and the Rockets on both ends.”

Italy

1956

“Box Car Letters” (A) & “Grandma Loves to Rock and Roll” (B) by Red Klimo

[Recorded Feb. 2, 1956 in Chicago]

Written by Red Klimo & Henry Glover (A); Henry Glover & Lois Mann (B)

“Drive Me Home” by Little Willie John

[Recorded Mar. 1, 1956 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Recorded at the same session as “Fever” (which, for some reason, includes Glover’s name in the songwriting credits when reissued by King in 1962). Musicians on this session: Ray Felder & Rufus Gore (tenor saxes), Jon Thomas (piano), Bill Jennings (guitar), Ed Conley (bass), and Edison Gore (drums).

“Let’s Call It a Day” by Billy Gayles

[Recorded Mar. 12, 1956 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Gayles is backed by Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm on this recording.

“Rock and Roll Merry Go Round” by Joe Ward

[Recorded c. Apr/May 1956 in New York City]

Written by Bernice Snelson & Henry Glover

Eight-year-old Joe Ward —
“Youngest singer in the history of the recording industry”?

King promo photo courtesy 1540Brewster.com

“Come Back Uncle John” by Big John Greer

[Recorded May 18, 1956 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Cash Box‘s review in their Jun. 23, 1956 edition — “Another Uncle John follow up to ‘Long Tall Sally’ that is well done and should pick up a piece of the change. It is a fast beat rocker with Greer handling the cute vocal in good style.”

“One Track Love” by Bonnie Lou

[Recorded by Jun. 7, 1956 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Louis Innis

“Honky Tonk (Pt. 1 & 2)” by Bill Doggett

[Recorded Jun. 16, 1956 in New York City]

Written by Bill Doggett, Shep Shepherd, Clifford Scott, Billy Butler & Henry Glover

Notes: The song’s lineage is deceptively complicated. The original two-part recording (King 4950) took place in New York City on June 16, 1956 at Beltone Recording Studio (not King Studios, as Ruppli claims) and was overseen by Glover, per music historian, John Broven. Little Tommy Brown appears to have also recorded a vocal version of “Honky Tonk” in Cincinnati on Sep. 18, 1956 backed by Bill Doggett’s Combo that was released as King 4976, however scant evidence of this King 78 can be found (this web link being the only validation online). According to Ruppli, Tommy Brown then recorded another vocal version of “Honky Tonk” on October 29, 1956 that was released as King 5001. But wait — “Honky Tonk Number Three” had also been recorded a couple weeks earlier on October 12, 1956 at King Studios and released as King 5044. Doggett would also re-record “Honky Tonk” for Henry Glover in 1962 for the Roulette label after Glover had left King. The following year, Doggett also released “Honky Tonk Bossa Nova Part 2.” Lastly, worth noting that in 1969, James Brown and Bill Doggett partnered on a funk update – retitled as “Honky Tonk Popcorn” – with a new recording of “Honky Tonk” on the flip side.

Covered by — Lonnie Mack (titled “Honky Tonk ’65”); The James Brown Soul Train; Granville Williams Orchestra (titled “Honky Tonk Ska“); Ernest Ranglin; Monty Alexander; Bobby Keys; Dennis Coffey; Joey Dee & the Starlighters; Merle Haggard’s Strangers & Friends; Buddy Holly; Bill Black’s Combo; The Ventures; The Beach Boys; Barry Goldberg; Harvey Mandel; Yusef Lateef; The Fendermen; Link Wray; Duane Eddy; Sandy Nelson; Earl Palmer; Earl Grant; Paul Revere & the Raiders; Loggins & Messina; Moby Grape; King Curtis; Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington; Ruben & the Jets; Alan Price Set; Al Caiola Guitars; Roy Clark; Willie Mitchell; Memphis Slim With Matt Murphy; Big Jay McNeely Meets the Penguins; Harlow Wilcow & the Oakies; Rusty Bryant & the Carolyn Club Band; Jack Pleis & Owen Bradley; Mighty Joe Young; Johnnie Johnson; Jimmy Smith; Johnny Jenkins; Jeff Beck & The King All-Stars, among many others.

“My Nerves” by Little Willie John

[Recorded Jun. 28, 1956 in New York City]

Written by Rudy Toombs & Henry Glover

Note: Reissued on seven-inch vinyl in the UK in 2015 and also in Spain in 2016.

2016 EP — Spain

“I’d Like To Thank You, Mr. D.J.” (A) & “Pardon Me” (B) by Otis Williams & His Charms

[Recorded c. July, 1956 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Bernice Snelson (A); Otis Williams & Henry Glover (B)

Note: “Blues Stay Away From Me” and “I’m Waiting Just For You” also recorded at this session.

“My Loving Baby” (A) & “I Can’t” (B) by Linda Hopkins

[Recorded Aug. 8, 1956 in New York City]

Written by Titus Turner, Rudy Toombs & Henry Glover (A); Bernice Snelson & Henry Glover (B)

Note: Cash Box‘s review from their October 13, 1956 edition includes both tracks — “[My Loving Baby] Linda Hopkins gives a full-voiced, hearty reading of a slow beat, rhythm blues. The lass is of the reserved belty school and is given an exciting instrumental backing. Good deck that generates sparks.” b/w [I Can’t] “Miss Hopkins wails a slow beat blues that comes off well. However, the material is not as strong as the ‘My Loving Baby’ side.” Ruppli’s notes have no information about the session musicians, but this web source says that Linda Hopkins enjoyed backing from Arvell Shaw, Louis Armstrong’s bassist, along with Granville Hogan (drums), Mickey Baker (guitar), Willene Barton (tenor sax), and Don Abney (piano).

“Every Second” by Lula Reed

[Recorded Aug. 21, 1956 in Cincinnati]

Written by Rudy Toombs & Henry Glover

Note: Cash Box‘s December 15, 1956 review — “Lula Reed rocks a middle beat story of wanting a man all her own who’ll love her and be at her side all the time. Gal wails a good blues. Potent side.”

-1957-

“I’ve Got to Go Cry” (A) & “Love, Life And Money” (B) by Little Willie John

[Recorded Jan. 4, 1957 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover, Rudy Toombs & Albert Shubert [i.e., Andy Gibson] (A); Julius Dixon & Henry Glover (B)

Covered by — “Love, Life And Money” also recorded by Marianne Faithfull, Johnny Winter (with Dr. John), and James Chance & the Contortions.

“Daddy Laddy” by Earl Connelly King

[Recorded Jan. 15, 1957 in New York City]

Written by Earl Connelly King, Henry Glover & Fred Mendelsohn

Review: Cash Box‘s February 23, 1957 edition — “King wails a slow, syncopated blues, in good style. King has a quality about his delivery that makes his sides different and good. Powerful wailing and a wax to be watched.”

Note: Reissued in the UK in 2012, with another Glover co-wrote “Every Whicha Kinda Way,” on the flip side.

UK reissue

2012

“Cling To Me” by Bill Doggett

[Recorded Feb. 12, 1957 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

Canada

1957

“That’s Me Right Now” by Wynonie Harris

[Recorded Apr. 15, 1957 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

“That’s Me Right Now”

Included on this 2017 EP from Spain

“Oh So Happy” by The Midnighters

[Recorded May 15, 1957 in New York City]

Written by “Owens, McCoy & Glover”

Cash Box review

Jun. 8, 1957

“Runnin’ Away” by Bonnie Lou

[Recorded Jun. 6, 1957]

Written by Louis Innis & Henry Glover

New Zealand

1957

“Young Girl” (A) & “If I Thought You Needed Me” (B) by Little Willie John

[Recorded Jun. 13, 1957 in New York City]

Written by Rudy Toombs & Henry Glover (A); Rose Marie McCoy & Henry Glover

“You Turned the Lamps Too Low” by Titus Turner

[Recorded Jun. 27, 1957 in New York City]

Written by Rose Marie McCoy, Henry Glover & Fred Mendelsohn

“So Much Tonight” by Bubber Johnson

[Recorded Jun. 27, 1957 in New York City]

Written by “Glover, Owen & McCoy”

Note: Cash Box‘s review in their Jul. 20, 1957 edition — “Johnson handles this medium-beat opus with a sure rock ‘n roll hand. Tune and delivery have an inviting quality, and should impress the R & R crowd. Infectious waxing.”

King bio-disc (below): “Thinking that he had talent for songwriting only, Bubber Johnson had been trying to get the publishers to listen to his songs for some time. He finally decided to go directly to a recording company. Arriving at the King offices in New York, he auditioned for A&R man Henry Glover. Glover was so impressed that he signed Johnson as an exclusive writer and vocalist.”

“Nowhere On Earth” by Otis Williams & His Charms

[Recorded July, 1957 in New York City]

Written by Otis Williams & Henry Glover

Note: Cash Box‘s review in their May 11, 1957 edition — “Williams and his Charms offer a delightful slow beat ballad pretty with the usual Williams touch. It is a pleasing offering with a smart blend of voices and an appealing tune. This side should step out.”

“Shindig” by Bill Doggett

[Recorded Jul. 17, 1957 in Chicago]

Written by Henry Glover

“Shindig” included on this 1957 King EP

“Green Moss” by Dolph Prince

[Recorded Aug. 12, 1957 in New York City]

Written by Rose Marie McCoy & Henry Glover

King test pressing

“Uh Uh Baby” by Little Willie John

[Recorded Aug. 29, 1957 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Rose Marie McCoy

“Uh Uh Baby” is the lead-off “twist” track on this 1962 French EP
(King session drummer, Philip Paul, in the background)

“Miss Hula” by Jimmie Diggs

[Recorded Sep. 9, 1957 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

Cash Box

Oct. 26, 1957

“Dynamite Darling” by Otis Williams & His Charms

[Recorded c. Autumn, 1957]

Written by Rose Marie McCoy, Henry Glover & Louis Innis

Note: “Well Oh Well” also recorded at this same session.

“Somewhere Down the Line” by Jimmy Scott

[Recorded Oct. 2, 1957 in New York City]

Written by Rose Marie McCoy & Henry Glover

Note: One of the top ten “hot” tracks in Detroit, as reported by Cash Box in its April 12, 1958 edition.

“The Whisperers” by Bubber Johnson

[Recorded Oct. 16, 1957 in New York City]

Written by “Smalls & Glover”

“Every Whicha Kinda Way” by Earl Connelly King

[Recorded Nov. 7, 1957 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Titus Turner

Note: Reissued in the UK in 2012 paired with another Glover co-write, “Daddy Laddy” — original vinyl copies can fetch three figures. Musicians on this session: Ray Felder (tenor sax), Jon Thomas (piano), Clifford Bush (guitar), Ed Conley (bass), and Philip Paul (drums).

2012 UK reissue

“The Truth About Youth” by The Velvet Keys

[Recorded c. Nov/Dec 1957, likely in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Rudy Toombs

“Baby-O” by Otis Williams & His Charms

[Recorded Dec. 18, 1957 in Cincinnati]

Written by “Innis, Gore, Abner & Glover”

-1958-

“Don’t Be Ashamed To Call My Name” (A) & “Spasms” (B) by Little Willie John

[Recorded Jan. 4, 1958 in New York City]

Written by Rudy Toombs & Henry Glover (A); Otis Blackwell & Henry Glover (B)

Note: “Spasms” served as the B-side for “Talk to Me, Talk to Me” — Cash Box‘s review from their Feb. 8, 1958 edition: “The flip, ‘Spasms,’ is a middle beat novelty rocker that Little Willie John milks. He swings out with a number of gimmicked phrases and we feel he has a strong two-sided release, with a little more to offer in ‘Talk to Me, Talk to Me.'”

Australia

1958

“Let the School Bell Ring Ding a Ling” by Bonnie Lou & Rusty York

[Recorded Jan. 9, 1958 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Listed in the #4 spot on Cash Box‘s Top 60 Best Selling Tunes on Records chart for the week ending Feb. 1, 1958.

UK 45

1958

“Top Ten Rock” by Fuller Todd

[Recorded Jan. 12, 1958 in Cincinnati]

Written by Fuller Todd & Henry Glover

Note: Cash Box‘s review from their February 22, 1958 edition — “The lyrics of this cute jump item are made up of the titles of current hit R & R tunes. Ok novelty the kids will enjoy.”

“Bushes” by Tiny Bradshaw

[Recorded Jan. 16, 1958 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: Cash Box‘s review in their Feb. 8, 1958 edition — “Tiny Bradshaw and his orchestra dish up a middle beat instrumental that makes pleasing listening and good teener dance wax.”

“Pimento” by Bill Doggett

[Recorded Feb. 26-28, 1958 in Cincinnati]

Written by Sonny Thompson & Henry Glover

Note: Musicians on this session — Clifford Scott (tenor sax), Thomas ‘Bean’ Bowles (baritone sax), Lawrence ‘Tricky’ Lofton (trombone), Billy Butler (guitar), Ed Conley (bass), and Shep Shepherd (drums).

1958 EP

France

“Eleven O’Clock Twist” by Bill Doggett

[Recorded Mar. 4-5, 1958 in Cincinnati]

Written by Bill Doggett & Henry Glover

Note: Song title precedes “The Twist” by Hank Ballard, recorded November 11, 1958.

Final track on this 28-track CD compilation from Europe released in 2020

“Finger Tips” by Bubber Johnson

[Recorded Apr. 4, 1958 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover & Lois Mann

Side two, track three of this 1959 King LP

“Everybody’s With You When You’re Winning” by Bubber Johnson

[Recorded Jun. 13, 1958 in New York City]

Written by Bubber Johnson & Henry Glover

King test pressing

“George Washington Twist” by Bill Doggett

[Recorded Jun. 17, 1958 in Cincinnati]

Written by Glover & Harding

Note: Clifford Scott on flute, joined by Floyd ‘Candy’ Johnson (tenor sax), Lawrence ‘Tricky’ Lofton (trombone), Billy Butler (guitar), Ed Conley (bass), and Shep Shepherd (drums)

Kick-off track on this 1960 King LP

“Good Gosh” by Clifford Scott

[Recorded Jul. 8, 1958 in Chicago]

Written by Henry Glover

“Don’t Wake Up the Kids” by Otis Williams & His Charms

[Recorded Aug. 25, 1958 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Joy Kennedy

Note: Almost fools you into thinking it’s a Leiber-Stoller classic novelty song.

Covered by — The Four Dots (featuring Jerry Stone & Jewel Adkins).

Lead-off track on this 1958 King LP

“You I Love” (A) & “Watermelon” (B) by Frank Minion

[Recorded Sep. 7, 1958 in New York City]

Both songs written by Frank Minion & Henry Glover

Note: Included on Frank Minion’s 1960 Bethlehem LP The Soft Land of Make Believe, an album that enjoyed backing from such musicians as Ed Thigpen & Jimmy Cobb (drums), Paul Chambers & Joe Benjamin (bass), Kenny Burrell (guitar), and Bill Evans & Tommy Flanagan (piano).

“I Keep Falling in Love” (A) & “Just a Little Bit of Lovin’” (B) by Donnie Elbert

[Recorded Sep. 21, 1958 in Cincinnati]

Written by Donnie Elbert & Henry Glover (A); Donnie Elbert, Henry Glover & Sonny Thompson

Both songs included on this 1959 King LP

“Sioux Rock” by The Sugar Canes

[Recorded November, 1958, probably in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Ray Felder

Note: Tenor saxophone work by Ray Felder. Billboard‘s terse review in their Nov. 10, 1958 edition —

“Bouncing rocker with honking sax work has appeal.”

“Teardrops On Your Letter” by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters

[Recorded Nov. 11, 1958 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Covered by — Hawkshaw Hawkins (Sep. 10, 1962 – Cincinnati); Billy “Crash” Craddock (Jun. 15, 1964 – Cincinnati) & Freddy King (Aug. 26, 1964 – Cincinnati). Also Don Carroll; Eddie Ringo; The Raindrops; Bertha Colbert; The Amos Garrett, Doug Sahm, Gene Taylor Band.

Note: Recorded at the same session as “The Twist,” with Sonny Thompson on piano, Cal Green on guitar, and two bassists, Edwyn Conley on upright and Navarro Hastings on electric, George De Hart (drums), and Ray Felder & Henry Moore (tenor sax).

New Zealand

1964

“Cute Little Ways” by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters

[Recorded Nov. 13, 1958 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: “House With No Windows” also recorded at this same session.

3 of the 4 songs on this 1959 King EP were written by Glover

“In the Wee Hours” (A) & “Big City Drag” (B) by Bill Doggett

[Recorded Dec. 10, 1958 in Cincinnati]

Written by Shubert [i.e., Andy Gibson] & Glover (A); Henry Glover

Note: Accompanying Doggett on this session — Clifford Scott (alto & tenor sax), Ray Felder (tenor sax), Floyd ‘Candy’ Johnson (tenor & baritone sax), Billy Butler (guitar), Ed Conley (bass), and Shep Shepherd (drums)

“In the Wee Hours”

Closing track on this 1959 King EP

“That’s Enough, Lock ’em Up” (i.e., “Monster Party“) by Bill Doggett

[Recorded Dec. 15, 1958 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

Note: 45Cat contributor David Stockhoff says “That’s Enough, Lock ’em Up” is the same recording as “Monster Party” but heavily edited, particularly the beginning.

-1959-

“What Makes You So Tough” (A); “Guitar Pickin’ Fool” (B); “Firm Foundation” (C) & by Teddy Humphries

[Recorded Jan. 31, 1959 in New York City]

All song written by Henry Glover

Review: Billboard‘s March 2, 1959 edition — “[Guitar Pickin’ Fool] Humphries rocks in enthused style as he tells about the guitar picker who stole his chick away. Fem vocal group is heard in support. A well-made side that could attract some exposure.” b/w “[What Makes You So Tough] Humphries hands this gospel-inspired side a find reading. Gals in the backing give the side a churchy blues sound. Humphries is a talented cat and rates a listen.”

Note: Original 45 copies of “Firm Foundation” (often tagged as “mod R&B/popcorn soul”) trade hands for two figures.

“Return of Stagolee” by Titus Turner

[Recorded Feb. 11, 1959 in New York City]

Written by Rudy Toombs & Henry Glover

Note: “Return of Stagolee” was a Billboard pop pick for the week of March 16, 1959 that reached #29 on Billboard‘s “Hot R&B Sides” chart for the week ending April 12, 1959.

“It’s Gonna Come Out in the Wash Someday” by Annie Laurie

[Recorded Feb. 21, 1959 in New York City]

Written by Henry Glover

“Rain Down Tears” by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters

[Recorded Mar. 12, 1959 in New York City]

Written by Rudy Toombs & Henry Glover

Note: Recorded by Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars.

Canada

1959

“Miss Rubberneck Jones” (A) & “Tarzan” (B) by Titus Turner

[Recorded Mar. 22, 1959 in New York City]

Written by Rudy Toombs & Henry Glover (A); Rudy Toombs, Titus Turner & Henry Glover (B)

Review: Cash Box‘s March 4, 1961 edition — “Contagious R&B-flavored novelty about a gal who pops-up where she’s least wanted. Both pop-R&B listeners will enjoy the bright-beat humor.”

Note: “Miss Rubberneck Jones” was released on Blue Beat in the UK in 1961.

“Ocean Liner Bossa Nova” by Bill Doggett

[Recorded Apr. 9, 1959 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover & Bill Doggett

Note: Flip side of “Honky Tonk Bossa Nova Part 2” — included on this 1963 King LP (also used as the “featured song” in Zero to 180’s tribute to King session drummer, Calvin ‘Eagle Eye’ Shields).

“Backwards” (A); “Back Woods” (a.k.a., “Down Home Bossa Nova)” (B) by Bill Doggett

[Recorded Apr. 10, 1959 in Cincinnati]

Both songs written by Henry Glover

1961 EP

France

“Raw Turkey“ by Bill Doggett

[Recorded Apr. 11, 1959 in Cincinnati]

Written by Henry Glover

“Raw Turkey”

Included in this 1959 King LP

“Let Nobody Love You” by Little Willie John

[Recorded Jun. 3, 1959 in New York City]

Written by Rudy Toombs & Henry Glover

1959

“D Natural Rock” by Cozy Cole

[Recorded Jun. 18, 1959 in Cincinnati]

Written by Lucky Millinder & Henry Glover

Denmark

1959

“A Heart Full of You” (A) & “Call On Me” (B) by Beverly Ann Gibson

[Recorded Jul. 15, 1959 in Chicago]

Both songs written by Rudy Toombs & Henry Glover

“The Slush” by Bill Doggett

[Recorded Aug. 19, 1959 in Cincinnati]

Written by Lucky Millinder & Henry Glover

Note: Doggett receives instrumental support from Ray Felder (tenor sax), Clifford Scott (alto sax), Floyd ‘Candy’ Johnson (baritone sax), Billy Butler (guitar), Ed Conley (bass), and Calvin Shields.

Opening track on this 1960 King LP

Postscript:

Post-King

Henry Glover’s critical contributions as the music industry’s first producer-songwriter are directly responsible for King’s peak years of commercial success, it is easy to argue after one examines Glover’s legacy laid out end to end in this fashion. Credit certainly needs to be shared with Syd Nathan, who had the “radical” vision in the late 1940s to allow his African-American partner the latitude to develop his full potential as an A&R producer who often collaborated with artists from all across the musical spectrum, even those who were otherwise sufficient in writing their own material.

Nick Duckett points out in the liner notes to The Henry Glover Story that “Glover prided himself on having a distinct production sound for each of his artists, and he had a policy of using different sidemen on different sessions in order to bring freshness to an artist’s body of work.” As Glover told Steve Tracy in 1972, “I kept a format going whereas I would only use a certain sound for one artist, and never duplicate it in connection with another. I find that is one of the evils of today’s recording. Too many producers feel that they can go in the studio with the same men on every artist and create good records. They don’t because it’s a oneness that goes along with the continual use of musicians and you cannot get away from it. It really puts the overall sound, the image of your recorded product, in a rut.”

Thanks are also due to Henry Glover, who advocated behind the scenes for the highest quality in both vinyl and audio engineering, as he later recounted to John Trumble:

Royal Plastics was the beginning of [Syd Nathan] pressing and making his own biscuits and things for pressings, recycling returns, and coming up to develop later a high quality of pressing material, you know, like he eventually got up to as much vinyl as possible, because it made the best quality records.

But he had it all — he had it down to a science, where these biscuits contained more labels after they had been ground up, you know, like than this over here, because we took out the labels, and this one has more labels in the content than the others. Some of the quality in the beginning there with some of the old records was so horrible that they would break down after about fifteen plays. A buyer would buy it, and it would break down because the material just couldn’t take that constant play. But he used it to his advantage, like it got to the point where we knew exactly where these records were going to break down. If it was a big hit, it wasn’t a bad idea to sell three other copies of the same thing, you know. [laughs]

I became concerned about this practice, because it was really no good. He wasn’t going to have a class label going into tactics like that. It was hard enough to make a record that could be played a number of times, you know, the number that it should be played, and you almost guarantee this buyer that this record’s going to withstand the play up to this thing. So we put on a very special effort of trying to update the quality of the records, especially in wear. And we started putting counters on the arms that tested these plays, and I would go in there where, you know, to get the results from some of these plays and everything else, and many of them would break down. You have three records, say; they’d all break down in the same spot.

[We had machines that would] count the number of plays, and where’d you go in—I’d go in and read it, and it would be where it broke down, or the arm is going back and forth and not moving, and it’s on a number where it had punched in as to the number of plays. It would make like you take a gauge where people used to use them in the dance halls, a counter, where the people come in, you just press the thing. So when that arm came back, it would press to say it’s played one more time. Run through, come back, press. The numbers on the top, how many times or where it stopped or whatever.

Then we could tell later. I had the side view of records blown up to be about two inches, and you could see the configuration of the groove as to how and why it broke down. Tremendous kisses from bass notes that the needles wouldn’t even go through, because one groove had gone over and overlapped the other one because of the tremendous physical pattern that the sound made in matrix, you know? Worked on that a long time, and the thing that really alleviated that was they came out with a cutting system that they called variable lines.

Variable lines — this thing could read before and tell that there were heavier modulations coming ahead, and it would automatically adjust itself to the number of lines per inch that it would go. Like if it’s running at 120 lines per inch, and it reads out that there’s a tremendous sound increase in volume of what’s coming up, it would cut itself down to 86 lines per inch just for that, for that passage, and then go back to the regular. That did a lot for the record industry, and I know that it’s still being used.

They had the variable lines, the variable pitch; that was a form of limiting that the radio stations eventually did themselves. It would automatically broadcast things that were limited. But my sharp ears always like to hear my music played without any compression or limiting, but today they have perfected the science of digital graphics — or equalization, really is what it is, you know — like the highs and lows and emphasis in the middle, bring out the treble or the bass at this so many frequencies.

It is moving to learn from John Trumble’s interview with Henry Glover how Syd Nathan once got into a fistfight with a bigoted neighbor who lived across the hall in the apartment building where Glover and Nathan had adjacent units. But then how utterly tragic to see King’s visionary founder throw his creative and business partner under the bus during the height of the federal Payola investigation (“we gave the money to Henry Glover there [in NYC] to take care of the jockeys,” Nathan told Billboard in late 1959). As Nick Duckett writes in the liner notes to The Henry Glover Story box set:

The split with King came in 1959 after Nathan attempted to offload the blame for the payola scandal on to Glover. An arrangement came about with Hy Weiss whereby Glover would operate as an independent producer for Old Town Records at the same time as setting up his own label, Glover Records, which was founded in October 1959.

Glover shrewdly continued to collaborate with Titus Turner, a songwriting partnership that produced “Sticks and Stones” for Ray Charles and “Soulville,” a song that would later get covered by Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, and The Zombies. Glover Records, however, was but a brief weigh station until April 1961’s Cash Box announcement of Glover’s appointment as A&R chief of a reactivated Gee Records for Morris Levy.

Check out: Part One (above) for more information about Henry Glover‘s Post-King years.

* * *

“The Hillbilly in Technicolor“:

The Story Behind the Nickname
(as told by Henry Glover to John W. Rumble)

Syd Nathan, yeah. Half the time we was sick or complaining of being sick, and many of the times, I don’t think Syd was really sick, because I often said, “You know, you’re going to be the only man that on his tombstone, it’ll read, ‘I told you I was sick.'” [Laughs]

Where the record company was located, it was built around an icehouse, because as you walked from one complex in this little building to the next, through the printing department and everything else, the icehouse was in between it, and they had a long loading platform out front. You could come out the King Records on the left or come out on the right side, and if you turned to the left, you’ve come out on the right. It was the boarding platform there for the icehouse, and usually guys would stand out there, some of them truckers coming through the area or whatever, and employees of the company and everything, drinking beer. So when the musicians would come in, just before they would go into the sessions, they would assemble out there.

But they had an old drifter, I would call him, and back in those days the kind of guy that always — we had them in the rhythm & blues bands and everything else, they would follow the bands and usually sometimes become the valet, set up the stands, make themselves useful enough that they can get on the bus with you and ride to the next town or whatever, make part of the tour. This guy, it was like I said, was one of them there called Pop Eckler. He took up with Syd before I came to Cincinnati. Because Syd had come into New York, and he was talking about this great country singer that he had, and he had written a song that he destined to be the biggest country hit ever.

And I said, “Yes? What is it?”

He says, “It’s called ‘Money, Marbles, and Chalk.'”

Pop Eckler had written this song, and the lyric went, “I have money, marbles, and chalk, my dear. But I still feel like I am poor, because my money won’t spend, my marbles won’t roll, and my chalk won’t write anymore.” Syd thought that was the greatest of country music ever written, and he preached that up until he put the record out there with Pop Eckler, and it didn’t sell. He didn’t even buy a copy. [Laughs]

But Pop Eckler had noticed me recording all of these country people, and I handled a couple of sessions for him. I could very easily repeat and sing after them any phrase that they sang, because I could apply that tremendous musical knowledge I had of memory and association of musical abilities and all that. So it was so unusual for them to see — and maybe in those days I probably twanged my voice to a certain extent to make myself sound like whatever that was, you know, that I was doing. In some places I would do that, and in some places I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t dare do that in front of [Cowboy] Copas, because, you know, like it would have been like stereotyping or whatever. But a guy like Pop Eckler, I didn’t care, and I would do it.

So he came up with a name for me. He says, “You’re nothing but a hillbilly in Technicolor.” And he used to see me, he goes, “Here comes the hillbilly in Technicolor.” You know, like, and it was very friendly, joyful, old guy, and I liked it. It was all right.

Thank you to 1540Brewster.com for providing many vinyl images used in this piece

One Response

Rick Higgins says:

March 21, 2022 at 12:58 pm

Thank you! This is tremendous! I have many records, have seen Mr. Glover’s name many times. I cherish many of his recordings, particularly with Dinah Washington. A lot of this is ego, `toot your own horn to obtain attention,’ if you say how great you & your songs are, perhaps someone will pay attention, sooner or later. Most people don’t want to give anyone else credit, lest this takes away any attention, credit, recognition from them. But, Henry was the real deal, and appears to have had a good career in a very competitive arena, environment through sheer force of talent, consequent success. Henry’s name is on millions of records. There are many people who are attracted to the Music Business, think that it will be easy to attain success, make lots of $. When they find out that it isn’t, is usually very unpredictable, difficult, inconsistent, these individuals pay attention to the relative few such as Mr. Glover who seem to have the, “Magic Touch,” be able to predict and achieve in advance what the public will want in the near future, AND take out their hard – earned dollars to buy! This excellent collection of articles will help to perpetuate Mr. Glover’s memory, especially for & to those who care!

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