Goin' To Chicago - Jimmy Rushing

Goin' To Chicago

Goin' To Chicago
Jimmy Rushing - Blues Singer
With Sam Price - Piano
Pat Jenkins - Trumpet
Henderson Chambers - Trombone
Ben Richardson - Alto and Clarinet
Buddy Tate - Tenor Sax
Walter Page - Bass
Jo Jones - Drums
Vanguard Jazz Showcase
Vanguard Recording Society VRS-8518

From the back cover: When Bessie Smith died in 1937, an era came to an end in the history of the blues. The years of depression had affected both live music and recording. Of the great blues shouters like Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Big Bill Broonzy, some were dead and others had vanished into obscurity. These names were not even known to the general nation wide public for popular music. They were known to Negros in city and countryside who made up the main audience for the blues, and to a comparatively few connoisseur collectors of the blues and jazz music.

But also, during the late 'thirties, a new era began in the popularization of the blues, largely through the agency of Count Basie and the voice of Jimmy Rushing. Working with remarkable integrity in an atmosphere beset with commercial pressures, Basie succeeded in making record after record which broke with the formulas of song arrangement and song plugging, and were from beginning to end infused with the spirit of the blues. Starring on these records was Jimmy Rushing, whose powerful voice made juke box favorites out of such material as Boogie Woogie, Sent For You Yesterday, Good Mornin' Blues and Goin' To Chicago. Something of the authentic blues idiot became absorbed in the mainstream of popular music. It is undeniable, however, that in making the records, preparing arrangements and meeting time limitations, some concessions had to be made to commercial demands.

It is no detraction from the esteem deservedly earned by these old Basie records, to say that with this album Jimmy Rushing has achieved new stature as an artist. This is due to the new possibilities opened up by long-playing records. There are no written arrangements to serve as a brake on his exuberance, and no confining time limits to his numbers. Although the accompanying band has its share of stars, whose influence is subtly felt throughout the performances, they subordinate themselves to the vocalist in much the same way that Bessie Smith's accompanists did int the 'twenties. And this is but one of many parallels to the greatest of all blues recordings, those made by Bessie Smith.

Jimmy Rushing was born in 1902 in Oklahoma City. He started his professional career as a pianist with Walter Page in a trio in 1919, and went on to become a singer with Page's Blue Devils. His first recording was in 1928, a literally priceless Vocalion disc of Blue Devil Blues, in which he did not even receive credit. After that came hundreds of discs with Bennie Moten and Count Basie. For the last five years Jimmy has been a star in his own right, appearing in theaters, ballrooms and concerts throughout the country and making occasional juke box records.

In the band are two veterans of the Basie rhythm section, Jo Jone and Walter Page. Sam Price, one of the few authentic blue pianists extant, is sensitive and imaginative, both at the keyboard and as co-writer of two of the tunes, Leave Me and How You Want Your Lovin' Done. Another Texan, Buddy Pat Jenkins and Ben Richardson, are on trumpet and alto. Henderson Chambers is the trombonist. All of them feel at home with the blues.

Count Basie has called this disc the greatest of Rushing's career, and the recording nothing less than perfection. Boogie Woogie, Goin' To Chicago, I Want A Little Girl, and Sent For You Yesterday are all numbers Rushing featured while with Basie. How Long is one of the great blues by Leroy Carr, and Jimmy dedicates his performance of it on this disc to the memory of his friend. Lips Page. It is one of the most moving performances on records today. – John Hammond
Also from the back cover: This Vanguard Jazz Showcase record was produced under the supervision of the distinguished jazz critic and commentator, John Hammond. The Vanguard Jazz Showcase was instituted in cooperation with the noted magazine, Down Beat, to record creative jazz for the first time with wide range high fidelity reproduction. Its aim is also to give full range to the musical ideas of the best contemporary jazz performers, and to win public attention for previously unrecognized talent.

From Billboard - June 17, 1972: Rushing, Jazz Singer, Dead - Jazz singer Jimmy Rushing died here Thursday (8) after a brief illness. He was 68. He started his singing career in California in 1925 before returning to his hometown, Oklahoma City, to join Walter Page's Blue Devils. With Page he met up with the band's pianist. Count Basie and (after a brief period with Bennie Moten) became singer with Basie's first band in 1935 in Kansas City. He remained with Basie until 1950, led his own seven-piece band at the Savoy Ballroom in New York for two years, then worked as a single.

Rushing's hard-driving singing touched with much blues, was recorded by Decca, Columbia, Vanguard, Colpix, Master Jazz, Impluse Bluesway and RCA. His last album earlier this year by RCA. Material closely associated with Rushing – "Mr. Five by Five" was his nickname – included the classic "Sent For You Yesterday" and "Goin' To Chicago.

Goin' To Chicago
I Want A Little Girl
Leave Me
Sent For You Yesterday
How Long
Boogie Woogie
How You Want Your Lovin' Done