Monday 22 April 2019

Bull Moose Jackson born 22 April 1919


Benjamin Clarence "Bull Moose" Jackson (April 22, 1919 – July 31, 1989) was an American blues and rhythm-and-blues singer and saxophonist, who was most successful in the late 1940s. He is considered a performer of dirty blues because of the suggestive  nature of some of his songs, such as "I Want a Bowlegged Woman" and "Big Ten Inch Record".

Jackson was born Benjamin Joseph Jackson in Cleveland, Ohio. He played violin as a child but quickly became drawn to the saxophone and started his first band, the Harlem Hotshots, while he was still in high school. In 1943, he was recruited as a saxophonist by the bandleader Lucky Millinder, and the musicians in Millinder's band gave him the nickname "Bull Moose" for his appearance. He began singing when he was required to stand in for Wynonie Harris at a show in Texas.


Millinder encouraged Jackson to sign a solo contract with Syd Nathan of King Records to play rhythm and blues. The first recording in his own right was "I Know Who Threw the Whiskey", in 1946, an answer song to Millinder's "Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well". The following year, his recording of "I Love You, Yes I Do" reputedly became the first R&B single to sell a million copies, holding the number 1 spot on the R&B chart for three weeks and crossing over to the pop chart, where it reached number 24.


                           

He formed his own group, the Buffalo Bearcats, and over the next five years recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, including both romantic crooning and bawdy jump blues. His big hits in 1948 included the double-sided hit "All My Love Belongs to You" / "I Want a Bowlegged Woman", and his biggest R&B chart hit, "I
Can't Go on Without You", which stayed at number 1 on the R&B chart for eight weeks. He also made an appearance in the 1948 film Boarding House Blues, with Millinder.

In 1949, Jackson covered "Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me", a song that been successful for Wayne Raney and also for several country-and-western performers. Jackson toured throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s. Around 1951, his band included the bebop composer and arranger Tadd Dameron on piano and Benny Golson, another jazz musician, on saxophone.

Some of Jackson's later risqué material, including "Big Ten Inch Record" and "Nosey Joe" (written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller), caused a sensation during live performances but were too suggestive for the radio, and few of the records were sold. However, his band faithfully played "Big Ten Inch Record" at every show.

Jackson kept recording for King Records until 1954 and had a total of 34 singles issued on Queen/King between 1945 and 1955. Credit on the label usually went to “Bull Moose Jackson And His Buffalo Bearcats”, a slimmed-down version of the Lucky Millinder orchestra. The rock n roll years were not good to Bullmoose and he had very few releases between 1955 and 1960. In 1960-61 he 

recorded for Morty Craft’s Warwick label and its 7 Arts subsidiary. A re-recording of “I Love You Yes I Do” (1961) returned him to the charts for the last time..

Jackson was virtually out of the music business by 1962 although he occasionally still performed at private parties. He later managed food service at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In a strange twist of fate, the ageing Jackson was lured back on stage after a Pittsburgh rock band named The Flashcats, scored a local hit with “Nosey Joe” in 1983.

The concerts with the Flashcats made him something of a cult figure around Pittsburgh. A new single, “Get Off the Table, Mabel (The Two Dollars Is For the Beer)” got an enthusiastic reception and was followed by an album with the Flashcats, “Moosemania!”. The 1980s proved to be the most successful decade of Jackson’s career. He played Carnegie Hall in 1985, toured Europe as a special guest of The Johnny Otis Show, and thrilled stateside audiences from coast to coast.

In 1987, though, Bull Moose got sick. Stricken with cancer, he performed his final show in Pittsburgh on April 23, 1988. An old girlfriend, who had read about Jackson’s fame, came to care for him during the last days of his life.

Bull Moose Jackson died July 31, 1989, in Cleveland

(Mainly edited from Wikipedia & Black Cat Rockabily)

3 comments:

boppinbob said...

For “Bull Moose Jackson - I want A Bowlegged Woman –
The Greatest Hits 1945-1955” go here:

https://www.upload.ee/files/9859533/Bull_Moose_Jackson.rar.html

Track Listing

BULL MOOSE JACKSON AND HIS BUFFALO BEARCATS
1. THE HONEY DRIPPER
2. HOLD HIM JOE
3. I KNOW WHO THREW THE WHISKEY (IN THE WELL)
4. BAD MAN JACKSON, THAT'S ME
5. I LOVE YOU YES I DO
6. SNEAKY PETE
7. ALL MY LOVE BELONGS TO YOU
8. I WANT A BOWLEGGED WOMAN
9. I CAN'T GO ON WITHOUT YOU
10. FARE THEE WELL, DEACON JONES
11. CLEVELAND OHIO BLUES
12. LOVE ME TONIGHT
13. WE CAN TALK SOME TRASH
14. DON'T ASK ME WHY
15. OH JOHN
16. LITTLE GIRL DON'T CRY
17. MOOSEY
18. WHY DON'T YOU HAUL OFF AND LOVE ME?
19. BIG FAT MAMAS ARE BACK IN STYLE AGAIN
20. CHEROKEE BOOGIE
MOOSE JACKSON and HIS BEARCATS
21. NOSEY JOE
22. (LET ME LOVE YOU) ALL NIGHT LONG
23. BOOTSIE
24. BEARCAT BLUES
with TINY BRADSHAW'S ORCHESTRA
25. BIG TEN-INCH RECORD
MOOSE JACKSON
26. MEET ME WITH YOUR BLACK DRESS ON
27. HODGE-PODGE
28. I WANNA HUG YA, KISS YA, SQUEEZE YA

There have been a few anthologies on the work of Bull Moose Jackson in the CD era but very few have covered all of the stylistic bases that this hugely popular saxophonist and singer enjoyed success with.

Perhaps best known for his raucous double-entendre classics like 'I Want A Bowlegged Woman' or 'Big Ten Inch Record' it was actually hits like 'I Love You Yes I Do' and 'I Can't Go On Without You', written by the great Henry Glover that topped the R&B charts and made him a superstar in the African-American community.

Along with the aforementioned chart successes Bull Moose had many more hits such as 'I Know Who Threw the Whiskey (In The Well), 'All I Want is You', 'Little Girl Don't Cry' which are included on this set along with many more superb tracks. Here are 28 examples of his recorded work, blues, romantic ballads and jump blues all performed with equal aplomb. (Jasmine notes)

A big thank you to Rockin’ Bandit for original post.

Bakeliedjes said...

Thank you Bob.
Best wishes Theo

boppinbob said...

Hello Javier, here's the new link...

https://www.upload.ee/files/14207893/Bullmoose_Jackson_-_Greatest_Hits.rar.html