Lloyd "Fatman" (Smith), "Good Gracious" c/w "Miss Mushmouth," OKeh 4-7083 (rel. 3/1957)
Welcome to yet another week. They keep settin' 'em up and we keep knockin' 'em off. Let's put four to the floor for this mundane Monday with a pair of powerful pounders by the one-of-a-kind Lloyd "Fatman" Smith!
His was a colorful career. He was a beloved live performer who found his calling as a disc jockey on Philadelphia's WHAT radio station. Before that, he rocked crowds at live shows and made a handful of wild, memorable singles. None of them were big chart hits but they sold well to his fans and he sustained a long journey through the perilous waters of r&b music.
We check in on him at his fall 1956 session for Columbia's OKeh imprint--a bastion of great Black music within a corporation who didn't get it (unless it was jazz). Smith, who was 35 at the time, had a wailin' blues voice similar, as Cash Box notes, to Joe Turner--a pre-rock 'n' roll style that translated well into the vernacular of r&b. This is the last of two OKeh outings, issued in the early spring of '57.
Up first is "Good Gracious," co-penned by Ivory Joe Hunter and Johnny Otis. They work the Otis Blackwell formula: take a common saying and build a song around it. Smith sings with force and style and his band, which includes a low, grunting baritone sax (or is it a tuba?), drives this vehicle around dangerous curves with glee and abandon. Gritty and playful, it's a winner (chicken dinner sold separately)!
His was a colorful career. He was a beloved live performer who found his calling as a disc jockey on Philadelphia's WHAT radio station. Before that, he rocked crowds at live shows and made a handful of wild, memorable singles. None of them were big chart hits but they sold well to his fans and he sustained a long journey through the perilous waters of r&b music.
We check in on him at his fall 1956 session for Columbia's OKeh imprint--a bastion of great Black music within a corporation who didn't get it (unless it was jazz). Smith, who was 35 at the time, had a wailin' blues voice similar, as Cash Box notes, to Joe Turner--a pre-rock 'n' roll style that translated well into the vernacular of r&b. This is the last of two OKeh outings, issued in the early spring of '57.
Up first is "Good Gracious," co-penned by Ivory Joe Hunter and Johnny Otis. They work the Otis Blackwell formula: take a common saying and build a song around it. Smith sings with force and style and his band, which includes a low, grunting baritone sax (or is it a tuba?), drives this vehicle around dangerous curves with glee and abandon. Gritty and playful, it's a winner (chicken dinner sold separately)!
Cash Box reviewer sounds impatient with all this wild r&b stuff.
Perhaps it had been a long day.
"Miss Mushmouth" is a "Fatman" original. IT's a gossip comedy, with the titular tattler causing social damage via marathon phone calls. What Lloyd's stake in all this isn't mentioned, but his performance is that of a man possessed; he lets his hair down, as they say, to fine effect. The band has a real swing and drive and one can imagine how great they sounded in a club setting (if one could tolerate the second-hand smoke). Cash Box had this pegged as the A-side, and I think they're onto something.
If you're game, our pal Marv Goldberg tells the story of Smith's long career, including his time as a top DJ, in a rambling and fact-packed essay that's worth a moment of your time.
Tomorrow: Texas pop-rocker Don Lanier delivers a school-of-"Fever" minor-key finger-snapper, coupled by a contrived pop item that works despite itself. A Gee Records obscurity from 1960.
"Good Gracious" is way too short. Wish he had repeated a verse. The fun "Miss Mushmouth" musically bears more than a passing resemblance to Big Joe Turner's 1954 version of "Shake, Rattle and Roll." "Fatman" on record sounds like a jolly man and his joy is infectious.
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