Gene & Eunice, "Bom Bom Lulu" c/w "Hi Diddle Diddle," Aladdian 45-3351 (rel. 12/1956)

 

 

Gene Forrest and Eunice Levy were the best male-female duet in 1950s r&b. Though I love Shirley & Lee and the great Johnnie & Joe, G & E combined solid harmony singing, jive-tastic songwriting and a great, gritty urban sound. Their Aladdin and Case singles are among my favorite records of the era. I have two of their Aladdin 45s left to complete my set.

        Today's single proved elusive due to inflated prices. It seems some DJ or influencer made quite the impression with "Bom Bom Lulu" and demand for the 1956 record spiked. For ages,  prices sat between 40 and 50 bucks for a clean copy. Since most of their other singles don't have similar demand, they can be had for a buck or two; they're equally good, by the way.

           Demand has relaxed and influencers have moved on to other records. (That's the thing with influences: short attention spans. Here today, gone tomorrow.) I loathe that attitude towards music, but it works for many people. 

           Onto the record. You know "Bom Bom Lulu" is gonna be good by the sinister piano and guitar intro. A dancefloor sensation is saluted in this rockin' ode to a woman who's "puttin' down a whole lotta jive" when she moves to the music. Loaded with hipster patois, the lyric is delivered with harmonized glee by this divine duo. 

          The instrumental break gets red-hot, with a wild sax, tinkin' piano and that gentle groan of the guitar. There's a final verse and then a long fade-out on a perfect LA r&b record. 10/10--I can see why some DJ got behind this one in modern-day soul clubs!

Cash Box's word salad of compliments never sounded better.

"Hi Diddle Diddle" continues the nonsense-phrase theme on a song that reminds me of contemporary New Orleans music. Our heroes confess that they got the bop from reading nursery rhymes as kiddos. They've got a point: those rhymes are percussive and lend themselves to rock 'n' roll cadence.

        Oh, that sax man! How he does wail on this side. The drummer deserves props as well--and the pianist, whose well-placed asides add to the funky appeal of this grand li'l groover! Value for money B-side for the win!

It's easy to take performers like Gene and Eunice for granted. They always sound good, have their act together and convey a sense of joy and hip. While it lasted, their act was top-drawer and they remain under-estimated. 

Tomorrow: Alvin Robinson (as Al) delivers a pair of New Orleans goodies on a 1961 Imperial Records platter--one of Dave Bartholomew's productions as his style of r&b began to sunset.