tracks.
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1.StopDig This Boogie – Wynonie Harris 02:29
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2.StopLightning Struck the Poorhouse – Wynonie Harris 02:40
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3.StopMy Baby's Barrel House – Wynonie Harris 02:48
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4.StopDrinkin' by Myself – Wynonie Harris 02:38
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5.StopBrown Skin Woman Blues – Max Blues Bailey 02:40
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6.StopMy Baby's Blues – Max Blues Bailey 02:44
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7.StopTeardrops Are Falling – Max Blues Bailey 02:36
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8.StopDrive Soldiers Drive – Max Blues Bailey 03:01
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9.StopSherman's Boogie – Sherman Williams 02:47
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10.StopI'm Lucky with My Brown Gal – Sherman Williams 02:42
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11.StopBaby Don't You Want to Go – Sherman Williams 02:43
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12.StopMy Flamin' Gal – Sherman Williams 02:44
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13.StopBaby Please Don't Go – Sherman Williams 02:42
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14.StopOoh Wee Baby Gee – Sherman Williams 02:36
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15.StopLet's Go to the Liquor Store – Tuff Green 02:42
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16.StopHere Comes the Man with the Gin – Red Calhoun 02:31
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17.StopGonna Bring My Baby Back – Bobby Plater Orchestra 02:26
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18.StopBeer Bottle Boogie – Bobby Plater Orchestra 03:01
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19.StopDon't Get Excited – Tucker Coles 02:51
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20.StopTC Blues – Tucker Coles 02:39
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21.StopWhoa Mule – Dusty Brooks 02:39
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22.StopChili Dogs – Dusty Brooks 02:35
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23.StopThe Doctor's Jump – Doc Wiley 02:44
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24.StopPlay Your Hand – Doc Wiley 02:56
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25.StopI'm All Dressed Up with a Broken Heart – The Five Bars 02:37
Founded in 1945 in Nashville by Jim Bulliet, Wally Fowler, and C.V. Hitchcock, Bullet Records was one of the most successful independent record labels in the immediate post-World War II era. The label had an initial plan to release records across a broad range of styles that included pop, gospel, country, RB, and blues, but by the time Bulliet departed the label in 1948, the company's releases were largely for the country (then called hillbilly) and blues markets only. Bulliet was replaced by Overton Ganong in 1949, who stayed around just long enough to hand the reins over to W.C. "Red" Wortham a year or so later. By 1952, Bullet Records was dead in the water, which certainly wasn't Wortham's doing, since he had essentially inherited a sinking ship. Wortham and Bulliet revived the label toward the end of the decade, and when Bulliet again backed out, Wortham steered things through into the '70s, by which time Bullet had descended to being a custom label for hire, putting out anything anyone would pay to have released. This set features 25 jazz-flavored RB sides from Bullet's late-'40s and early-'50s run. Much of the label's catalog (the masters were kept on aluminum discs -- tape was not yet the dominant recording medium at the time) was foolishly discarded or sold as scrap, so what's here is here by fortune. As a rule, Bulliet's jump blues material was often horn heavy and tied closely to the jazz side of things, but there was a certain looseness in the production style that gives many of these sides an endearing tone that somehow suggests both elegance and ragged abandon all in one swoop. Among the highlights are Wynonie Harris' wry "Lightning Struck the Poorhouse" (the rumor is that Harris actually played drums on this cut), Tuff Green's only slightly ironic "Let's Go to the Liquor Store," and Tucker Coles' easy, crisp "TC Blues," which appears to be the only recording Coles ever made. The final track here is another rarity, an Ink Spots-influenced version of "I'm All Dressed Up with a Broken Heart" by the Five Bars, a mystery group who only released four songs across two singles, all of them recorded in one session. There are no big chart-busting hits included here, and it is probably best approached as an archival and historical set, but there are enough gems scattered throughout this collection to give it some appeal to the casual listener as well. Steve Leggett, Rovi
- Genre: Blues, R&B
- Category Electric Blues, Jump Blues, Piano Blues
- Label: BLUE LABEL
- Release Date: November 6, 2007
- Artist: Bullet Records Rhythm & Blues
- Additional Artist: Various artists collection