Duces Of Rhythm And Tempo Toppers (Lead: Little Richard), "Fool At The Wheel" c/w "Ain't That Good News," Peacock 5-1616 (rel. 6/1953)

 

Today's post is what the music industry once called a loss-leader: an attempt to draw more attention to a product. Our product is a twice-a-month, hour-long podcast that presents 20 to 25 full songs--many never heard on the daily iteration of Frank's Jukebox. Hardly anyone who reads the daily posts bothers with the podcast. The numbers don't lie. While many posts here have broken into the triple-figure zone (our post for July 17 has been seen by 560 unique readers, e.g.), the audience for the podcast never exceeds 40-50 individuals.
    Damnit, I create an excellent podcast every two weeks and have been doing so for five years. It's not a chore to listen to: some of the fine folks who listen to it burn it onto a CD and play it in their cars while they do their daily stuff. I do not mind if someone has it on the background. It's intended to entertain, and to create a different feeling than the daily posts. There's no intense narrative to follow, no devastating series of facts that add up to a big-impact finale. Not on my watch! It's music, music, music--sometimes with a theme, as in our recent episode devoted to the songwriting team of Charlie Singleton and Rose Marie McCoy--and with a little between-tracks information, but nothing that demands your attention.
    Today's two tracks bookend the current episode of the podcast, and I repeat them here as friendly encouragement for you to give the podcast a try. It demands nothing of you except to enjoy some music. That's it. No strings attached. You have your pick of 118 episodes (barring the lost 11th show, which had to be taken down due to a sociopath's meddling). That's several days' worth of music, of which I'd guesstimate 60% has never been featured on this daily blog. I hope some of you will give the podcasts a try. If you like the daily posts, the podcasts will also float your boat.
    Today's record is an anomaly in the career of the controversial Richard Penniman, BKA Little Richard. In-between attempts to succeed as a solo r&b vocalist, these two sides find the flamboyant, self-titled "Quasar of Rock 'n' Roll" in a group setting--as a vocalist fronting a band and singing in the jump blues style of the early post-war style. The two sides were recorded in Dallas, TX in February 1953, with a local band whose name was mis-spelled by Peacock Records, who issued these two songs in April of that year. The leader of the Duces (sic) was Raymond Taylor, a multi-instrumentalist who penned both sides of this single. Another group, The Tempo Toppers, joined in this session; they were a vocal group who worked with Richard in this period. Their bass singer provides a humorous contrast to Richard's pixie-like vocal on "Fool at the Wheel," an account of a reckless fellow who uses his car as an agent of chaos and potential assault.
    "Drive, fool, drive," the group chants as songwriter Raymond Taylor wails on his trumpet. "He's a great big fool--that's all!" Tempo Topper Billy Brooks summarizes at record's end. Is this a warning or celebration? It's unclear, but the rollicking mood of this recording--and its excellent mastering--remain delightful. It's fascinating to hear Little Richard not as the sole focus of a recording but as part of a team. Since vocal groups were approaching their peak of popularity in 1953, it made sense for him to be part of one. Rock 'n' roll's arrival would celebrate the solo vocalist, and Richard rose to the occasion. All this was under two years in the future, and no one could see it coming.

Cash Box deemed this the best new release of June 13, 1953. It sold well in the r&b market but didn't become a chart hit, Erelong, Little Richard was back in Macon, GA, washing dishes in a local diner.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/5aftizytn2wysdhluk39x/2275a.mp3?rlkey=7h7iur0z3eiounohhzg0s9wae&st=0a3tum49&dl=0

"Ain't That Good News" is an odd song. "Ev'rybody's crazy 'bout the blues," Richard sings, as if deep depression was something akin to flagpole sitting or cramming numerous freshmen into a telephone booth. Richard turns in a passionate, restrained performance on this multi-tempo oddity that he and The Tempo Toppers turn into a quasi-spiritual and climaxes with a true moment of doo-wop, with all voices in harmony on a chant that, in my book, could continue for an hour; it's mesmerizing.
    This was the intended A-side, as Cash Box reports, but "Fool at the Wheel" might've been a better pick. Had this record taken off, we might not have the later Specialty Records sides of Little Richard, which would be a tragic loss to American popular culture. Perhaps it was for the best...

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/yxifxw3f9i8ez1jrzu2mn/2275b.mp3?rlkey=3tpox3rmjfr71wpfedkxcnvbj&st=caqoux1q&dl=0

    With The Tempo Toppers, Penniman made a second single for Peacock Records in 1954. When that one failed, Richard returned to his native Macon, Georgia and endured a year of obscurity. Then stardom came calling via a revolutionary rock 'n' roll session in Cosimo Matassa's New Orleans recording studio. The rest is history!

Do give our podcast a try, dear reader, if you've not done so 'til now. It won't bite; it sits up and does tricks and will not insist you throw a slobbery ball hundreds of times for it to fetch. Plus, you get to hear me talk! Give it a go. Pick one at random; just type "music podcast" into our search engine and you'll get a choice of several episodes. Have fun!

Tomorrow: late-stage single by The Drifters, with an excellent song by Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann on a 1966 Atlantic Records platter.