Gabe's Dirty Blues: Gabe's Archive of Sounds Rhythm And Blues
MISC NOTES: This 2-LP set features no music made by Pacific Northwest-based musicians, but is included here because the fantastic liner notes evoke such a great sense of the wild and crazy nightlife action that took place in one of Seattle's seediest watering holes – Gabe McManus's Gabe's Tavern (at 1426 Sixth Avenue) all throughout the 1950s and 1960s. It should also be noted that many of the musicians featured here – including Little Willie John, Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, and Roy Brown –did tour repeatedly through town back in the day, performing for grateful dance crowds in Black-oriented nightclubs as well as at the old Eagles Auditorium (at 700 Union Street).
FORMAT: disc
SIZE: 12"
SPEED: 33 1/3 rpm
LINER NOTES:
Gabe’s Dirty Blues
by Gabe McManus
Gabe's was a bar in Seattle that catered to Jazz & Blues-seamen, gamblers, pimps, hustling broads & chippies, oh don’t forget the pinball mechanics, pill heads & addicts. Sounds like it was quite the place. When I bought the Shamrock Tavern in Seattle, the seamen and street people didn’t cotton up to me at first. It took 6 months for me and my crazy music to win them over – and then it was standing room only for years. You see we started with blues and never changed except for jazz. That was it for 17 years. Jazz and blues – you never had it so good.
Hell, I didn’t know that these singers were legends-to-be. I just loved them and so did my crazy customers. Sometimes during the break of music, the screams of the whores and chippies defying each other, I never could figure out why they placed such a distinction between giving it away and selling it. Jack and Betty helped run the Shamrock for awhile – then came Ed, an old seaman bartender, and his wife Maria, Ed and Maria came to my rescue many times – they were one of the good things that happened at first.
Jazz and blues – folk – rhythm and blues – what a hell of an umbrella covers all these forms and interrelates them. But that is for the musicians, writers, managers, and the critics – not for me. I am a listener and have been for over 55 years. I just got stung with the bug and have been in love with jazz and blues practically my whole life. The tunes in this album were basically the tunes I played on a jukebox at the original Shamrock and later "Gabe’s" – a downtown Seattle joint in the 1950s and 1960s.
Now we had an old juke box with one speaker and we would turn it up as loud as we could. The customers were mostly seamen and street people – pimps, hustling broads and chippies – gamblers and boozers – pinball mechanics (some of the
most lovable bastards of all) – pill-heads and addicts. It was a rough joint and we only had one light in the place – the jukebox. Constant fights – the seamen were mean. But it was exciting too. Seamen and street people are something else and we never knew what the hell would happen any given moment. Wow, did seamen love to fight – drink – screw and listen to jazz and the blues. And Jack and Betty were right in there with them – running tremendous shifts. Jack started drinking pretty heavy – but what the hell. Just another visit from the Liquor Board.
And now we had another segment of society added to our very unusual clientele – the gay boys. They loved the blues and the seamen. Pretty touchy at times. Special rules and all that. One to the can at a time and no fraternizing with straights.
I have always been confused as to the exact musical differences between rock and roll and rhythm and blues. Music experts can give you a technical difference. My ear tells me there is a great difference. Like as if they put a hill billy kick in a rhythm and blues tune – it becomes rock and roll. One thing it seems to adapt itself to the white dancing styles. Just as soul music adapts itself to the black dance movement. Although I have been a blues and jazz addict most of my life, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be programming these sounds. True, I have always collected jazz, blues, swing, and some popular music but this was dictated more by love and necessity (I owned a lot of taverns) than by reason. Blues and jazz are my obsession.
This two-album set comprises just a few rhythm and blues highlights of the late ’40s to the late ’60s. Some of the greatest and toughest are not represented. It would take 20 albums to chronicle a fairly complete history of the great rhythm and blues hits. This saddens me but for what it’s worth, here they are. There are 25 years of great memories shared by thousands of my customers.
I particularly dedicate this set to my beloved son Mike McManus, who shared my dream and made it possible; to Richard Schenkar, who unselfishly and devotedly gave the benefits of his extensive research in ragtime, jazz, and blues history to this project when it was just an idea; to my beloved friend Robert Hardwick, who discovered me, promoted me, put me on radio – he’s the first man on a commercial radio station who had the guts to feature blues, jazz, Dixieland, any old thing that Gabe loved and he did it with Our Hour – four hours every Saturday morning – and, to my knowledge, first exposed the city of Seattle to Jack Dupree’s famous song “Walking the Blues”; to Buddy Webber who played my stuff almost as much as Hardwick; and to Danny Niles, a real friend, who’s helping us tell people about this album.
SIDE A:
1. Fever (Little Willie John) 2:39
2. Walkin’ The Blues (Champion Jack Dupree) 2:49
3. Sick & Tired (Lula Reed) 2:25
4. Shake ’em Up (Roy Brown) 2:38
5. Work With Me, Annie (The Midnighters) 2:45
6. Cherry Wine (Little Esther Phillips) 2:20
7. 60-Minute Man (Billy Ward & Dominoes) 2:27
8. Ride Jockey Ride (Lamplighters) 2:34
SIDE B:
1. Keep On Churnin’ (Wynonie Harris) 2:54
2. Rocket 69 (Todd Rhodes& Connie Allen) 2:37
3. 10 inch Record (Bull Moose Jackson) 2:14
4. Black Diamond (Roy Brown) 2:26
5. Jealous Love (Lula Reed) 2:26
6. Bloodshot Eyes (Wynonie Harris) 2:42
7. Sexy Ways (Midnighters) 2:28
SIDE C:
1. Salty Dog (Lamplighters) 2:33
2. Monkey, Hips & Rice (Five Royales) 2:52
3. T-99 (Tiny Bradshaw) 2:56
4. Rock Love (Lula Reed) 2:05
5. Wasn’t That Good (Wynonie Harris) 2:26
6. Annie Had A Baby (Midnighters) 2:36
7. Gal From Kokomo (Roy Brown) 2:30
8. All Around The World (Little Willie John) 2:53
SIDE D:
1. I Want A Bow Legged Woman (Bull Moose Jackson) 2:45
2. Quiet Whiskey (Wynonie Harris) 2:27
3. Use What You Got (Freddy King) 3:03
4. Queen Of Diamonds (Roy Brown) 2:52
5. Loving Machine (Wynonie Harris) 2:24
6. Shake That Thing (Wynonie Harris) 2:14
7. Adam, Come and Get your Rib (Wynonie Harris) 2:22