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Honkers & Bar Walkers – Volume 2, Part 2
Delmark DD 452 (1992) [Apollo Series]

The second installment in Delmark’s Honkers & Bar Walkers series of saxophone-oriented R&B from Apollo Records; featuring Charlie Ferguson, Bobby Smith, & King Curtis.

1 Charlie Ferguson And His Orchestra – Doll Baby 2:14
2 Charlie Ferguson And His Orchestra – Bean Head 2:47
3 Charlie Ferguson And His Orchestra – Hard Times 2:54
4 Charlie Ferguson And His Orchestra – Big G 2:26
5 Bobby Smith - That's For Sure 2:13
6 Charlie Ferguson And His Orchestra – That's It 2:42
7 Charlie Ferguson And His Orchestra – Low Light 2:47
8 Charlie Ferguson And His Orchestra – Hi Beam 2:37
9 Charlie Ferguson And His Orchestra – I Got It Bad 2:29
10 King Curtis – Rush Hour 2:05
11 King Curtis – Dynamite At Midnite 3:08

1-4) Charlie Ferguson & His Orchestra

Session date: March 12, 1953

Charlie Ferguson: tenor sax, remainder unknown

5) Bobby Smith
Session date: September 9, 1952

Bobby Smith: alto sax
probably members of the Erskine Hawkins Band

6-9) Charlie Ferguson & His Orchestra

Session date: April 1, 1954

Charlie Ferguson: tenor sax, remainder unknown

10-11) King Curtis

session date: November 26, 1956 (last session in the Apollo 1000 series)

King Curtis: tenor sax
unknown: baritone sax
Ernie Hayes: piano
Mickey Baker: guitar
Lloyd Trottman: bass
unknown: drums


CD liner notes from journalist/radio host Bob Porter from 1992

Music writers are continuously searching for something new. This is not difficult to understand since it is the discovery of a new artist or the ability to identify a new trend that sets a writer up on the authority on whatever it is that he uncovers. Much of American music history (whether one wants to concentrate on Jazz or Rock-N-Roll) is based on the activity of the key figures in each new movement. But what of yesterday's discovery? What of last year's trend? What about artists who continue to remain true to a single vision, even though it is not currently in the spotlight? Those who do not "keep up" or "bend with the breeze" can become old news in a very short period of time. In terms of pop music, this can be fatal. In the terms of jazz, it is not, but it can lead to some periods of neglect.

The late Ralph J. Gleason once reviewed an album featuring Illinois Jacquet and Roy Eldridge with less than normal enthusiasm largely because he felt the players had not broken new ground. Some years later, Gleason remarked that on a trip to France he was vilified by jazz fans who remembered that old review. He was surprised that some people took the review so seriously, but the fans who did were not necessarily faulting his judgement only on one particular album. There are times when an artist or performer must say to himself: this is who I am- this is what I do. The pursuit of the next fad has to stop somewhere.

The second in Delmark's HONKERS & BAR WALKERS series of saxophone oriented Rhythm & Blues brings us to the Apollo label begun in 1944 by Teddy Gottlieb and Hy Siegal. The label sprouted up during the end of the recording ban and flourished through the years of Bebop and R & B prominence. Black Gospel became a key element in the mix, but all of it stumbled, tumbled, and eventually fell apart during the transition from 10"LP to 12"LP while R & B was becoming Rock-n-Roll.

The label was an important spawning ground for saxophone talent. Georgie Auld, Arnett Cobb, and Willis Jackson made their very first recordings as leaders for Apollo while Coleman Hawkins and Illinois Jacquet made some of their very best for the label. Bop stars such as Charlie Parker, Leo Parker, Wardell Gray, and Dexter Gordon contributed as sidemen. But after 1949, there was little if any modern jazz recorded for Apollo. What saxophone instrumentals were recorded during the 1950's were in the more popular R & B mode. Or were they?

A long listen to the music here will reveal a couple of major tenor stars doing what they do best and some splendid music that has nothing much to do with either Bebop or Rhythm & Blues played by some shamefully neglected players more in keeping with the Black Swing tradition than anything else. To be sure, Jacquet and Cobb were models for most of the tenorman here, but generally there is little in the way of concessions to R & B cliches and virtually no hint of Bebop influence - just some solid uptown jazz. Nobody was talking much about the influence of Cootie Williams on trumpet players in the mid-'50's, but you'll hear several players here getting down with that style, while some of the pianists have a thorough knowledge of Milt Buckner's playing.

CHARLIE "LITTLE JAZZ" FERGUSON was an accomplished tenor and baritone saxophonist who recorded for Prestige as well as Apollo and backed King Pleasure on some of Pleasure's hits of 1952 and '53. He had also recorded with Arnett Cobb and was frequently a participant on arranger Teacho Wiltshire's sessions. He was the bandleader on most of the Royales Apollo sides, so the thought of that group popping up on "Hard Times" and, probably on "I Got It Bad", shouldn't surprise anyone. There is competent accompaniment on all eight of his sides but most of the identities are not known. On "That's It," the baritone player is likely Harold Cumberbatch, often on view at New York's West End during the '70's and '80's and a player known to have recorded with Ferguson.

BOBBY SMITH was an alto sax star of Erskine Hawkins' Band for many years. He also made a good number of sides for both Apollo and Timely, but on "That's For Sure," we get solos from baritone, tenor, and trombone. Who the players are, is anybody's guess.

On "Rush Hour" and "Dynamite At Midnight," we have KING CURTIS in the late adolescence of his career. This was not his first date as a leader, but he was still a year away from his association with The Coasters, which would begin a swift rise to stardom. But in terms of his style, we have a twenty-two year old, fully formed (hear the "chicken tenor" licks in "Dynamite). The baritone player here is likely Haywood Henry, while the drummer may be the aforementioned Panama Francis. Based on the gimmicks used on these sides, there really is little connection with R & B and what we have musically is Rock-n-Roll tenor, of which Curtis was the master.

Exactly how many saxophonists on this disc actually walked the bar is probably irrelevant. What matters is that the music works after all these years. It doesn't break new ground and it won't start any new trends, but it certainly satisfies.
- Bob Porter, PORTRAITS IN BLUE, WBGO Network


CHICAGO TRIBUNE review, Chris Heim

Honkers and Bar Walkers Vol. 2 (Delmark)(STAR)(STAR)(STAR)

"About four years ago Chicago`s Delmark label released a well-received set called ”Honkers and Bar Walkers,” a joyous blast from the past of wailing tenor sax style R&B. Now the label has unveiled another 22 tenor tracks, this time from a different group of artists doing tunes originally recorded in the `50s for the Apollo label. Tenor tirades are in ample supply thanks to master blasters like King Curtis, who serves up the well-titled ”Dynamite at Midnite” here, but it`s variety that is this set`s greatest asset. A sultry ”Bess`s Blues” from Panama Francis is perhaps the finest, but not the only example of the slow burners that heat up this album, while tracks like Morris Lane`s ”Blue Jeans” show off the jazzy approach many artists here favor. The seriocomic mystery of Willis Jackson`s ”Pee Wee (Call of the Gators),” the cool strutting (not to mention steamy double-entendres) of Bill Harvey`s ”Walk Right In” and the rocking rhumba of Charlie Ferguson`s ”Hi Beam” light up this album with their stylistic detours and droll hepcat humor. This sudsy sax-honking is strictly draft beer music, but it can keep a party rolling all night long."


ALL MUSIC GUIDE review

Honkers & Bar Walkers, Vol. 2 Review by Jim Todd

"Founded in 1944, New York-based Apollo Records was home for a time to an impressive roster of artists, including saxophonists Coleman Hawkins, Arnett Cobb, and Illinois Jacquet. Honkers & Bar Walkers, Vol. 2, a compilation of meat-and-potatoes blues, blues-based swing, R&B, and some early rock & roll, is one of a series of reissues by Delmark of material from the Apollo archives. This volume focuses on some of Apollo's other sax players and sax-based bands and combos. Sequenced chronologically, the set presents rare and previously unreleased sides from eight sessions recorded between 1950 and 1956, opening with Willis Jackson's "Call of the Gators" and concluding with King Curtis' "Dynamite at Midnite." The riffing and bumptious beats here can blur into an indistinct haze over the course of its 22 tracks, but taken individually, there are a number of fine performances. Highlights include an astonishing artistic and technical display from alto master Hilton Jefferson on the ballad "Darkness on the Delta" -- one of four tracks from drummer and bandleader Panama Francis; the unidentified baritone sax player with Bobby Smith on "That's for Sure"; and the prototypical yakety sax of King Curtis' "Rush Hour." There are also some interesting vocal choruses, notably the lugubrious moaning behind the unidentified bluesy tenor sax on "Hard Times" from Charlie Ferguson & His Orchestra. The hopelessly politically incorrect stereotyping on "Gitchie Gitchie Goomba," one of two tracks from Morris Lane & His Orchestra, is the only lame moment.

The compilation's documentation is helpful: Bob Porter's useful liner notes provide context and attempt to identify as many of the key performers as possible, and the track listings include session dates, master numbers, and take numbers. The remastering is also very good, bringing to life sounds that current players might be able to approximate but never replicate."

https://www.allmusic.com/album/honkers-bar-walkers-vol-2-