Fond of sentimental
ballads and downhearted laments, West Coast singer and guitarist
Saunders King led a series of little bands that also handled
novelty jive swing and bluesy
jump tunes.
King's pioneering electric guitar work puts him in league with
Charlie Christian,
Eddie Durham, and
Tampa Red. This chronological compilation documents the records he made for several small-time labels in San Francisco and Los Angeles between 1948 and 1954. The survey begins with four rare
Cava-Tone sides involving unidentified personnel.
"Nobody Wants Me," first recorded earlier in 1948 by its composer,
Memphis Slim, would soon be popularized by
Joe Williams and
Count Basie as
"Every Day I Have the Blues." The most interesting track from this session concerns an overweight member of the order Lepidoptera. Although he receives composer credits on both his 1942 version (see
Classics 5064) and the 1948 remake heard here,
Saunders King most certainly was not the originator of
"Big Fat Butterfly," a cocky variation on the popular slow
ballad "Poor Butterfly." This catchy routine, also served up by
Lorenzo Flennoy's trio in 1945 on
Melodisc, was written by
Harold Austin and the great
Skeets Tolbert, composer of
"Hit That Jive, Jack." Tolbert recorded the song in 1941 (see
Classics 993) and
King absorbed it into his own act shortly afterwards. The chronology unfolds with a series of rare tracks originally issued on the
Modern,
Aladdin,
Rhythm, and
Flair record labels.
King's small bands included trumpeters
Eddie Walker and
Allen Smith; a succession of fine saxophonists in
Eddie Taylor,
Pony Poindexter,
Kermit Scott,
Curtis Lowe, and
Jerome Richardson; and excellent support from pianist
Cedric Haywood.
King is at his soulful best on the cool and ruminative
"Empty Bedroom Blues," the old
"St. James Infirmary Blues," and the excellent
"Something's Worrying Me," while the band rocks nicely on the upbeat rhythm tunes like
"Little Girl" and
"2:00 AM Hop." Rather than offering spiritual advice, his
"Read the Good Book" cops out instead by reworking the tired-assed patriarchal formula of biblically bolstered misogyny, a sour cul-de-sac all too common in the world of
blues music. Always willing to pull back and sing pretty,
King periodically slowed things down and satisfied his penchant for crooning with
"Summertime" or even
"Danny Boy." ~ arwulf arwulf
![Little Girl Blue [2021 Stereo Remaster]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/4050538671476_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Little Girl Blue [2021 Stereo Remaster]")
