Cab Calloway and His Orchestra
The Chronological Cab Calloway
Volume 1: The Early Years: 1930-34 
[Box set][Original recording remastered]
4 Discs
.FLAC

Original Release Date: October 9, 2001
# Label: Jsp Records
# ASIN: B00005O13O

One of the great entertainers, Cab Calloway was a household name by 1932, and never really declined in fame. A talented jazz singer and a superior scatter, Calloway's gyrations and showmanship on-stage at the Cotton Club sometimes overshadowed the quality of his always excellent bands. The younger brother of singer Blanche Calloway (who made some fine records before retiring in the mid-'30s), Cab grew up in Baltimore, attended law school briefly, and then quit to try to make it as a singer and a dancer. For a time, he headed the Alabamians, but the band was not strong enough to make it in New York. The Missourians, an excellent group that had previously recorded heated instrumentals but had fallen upon hard times, worked out much better. Calloway worked in the 1929 revue Hot Chocolates, started recording in 1930, and in 1931 hit it big with both "Minnie the Moocher" and his regular engagement at the Cotton Club. Calloway was soon (along with Bill Robinson, Ethel Waters, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington) the best-known black entertainer of the era. He appeared in quite a few movies (including 1943's Stormy Weather), and "Minnie the Moocher" was followed by such recordings as "Kicking the Gong Around," "Reefer Man," "Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Day," "You Gotta Hi-De-Ho," "The Hi-De-Ho Miracle Man," and even "Mister Paganini, Swing for Minnie." Among Calloway's sidemen through the years (who received among the highest salaries in the business) were Walter "Foots" Thomas, Bennie Payne, Doc Cheatham, Eddie Barefield, Shad Collins, Cozy Cole, Danny Barker, Milt Hinton, Mario Bauza, Chu Berry, Dizzy Gillespie, Jonah Jones, Tyree Glenn, Panama Francis, and Ike Quebec. His 1942 recording of "Blues in the Night" was a big hit.

With the end of the big band era, Calloway had to reluctantly break up his orchestra in 1948, although he continued to perform with his Cab Jivers. Since George Gershwin had originally modeled the character Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess after Calloway, it was fitting that Cab got to play him in a 1950s version. Throughout the rest of his career, Calloway made special appearances for fans who never tired of hearing him sing "Minnie the Moocher." ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Disc: 1
1. Gotta Darn Good Reason Now (For Bein' Good)
2. St. Louis Blues
3. Sweet Jennie Lee
4. Happy Feet
5. Yaller
6. Viper's Drag
7. Is That Religion?
8. Some of These Days
9. Nobody's Sweetheart
10. St. James Infirmary
11. Dixie Vegabond
12. So Sweet
13. Minnie the Moocher
14. Doin' the Rumba
15. Mood Indigo
16. Farewell Blues
17. I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby
18. Creole Love Song (Creole Love Call)
19. Levee Low-Down
20. Blues in My Heart
21. My Honey's Lovin Arms
22. Nightmare
23. It Looks Like Susie
24. Sweet Georgia Brown
25. Basin Street Blues

Disc: 2
1. Black Rhythm
2. Six or Seven Times
3. Bugle Call Rag
4. You Rascal, You
5. Stardust
6. You Can't Stop Me from Lovin' You
7. You Dog
8. Somebody Stole My Gal
9. Ain't Got No Gal in This Town
10. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
11. Trickeration
12. Kickin' the Gong Around
13. Downhearted Blues
14. Without Rhythm
15. Corrine, Corrina
16. Stack O' Lee Blues
17. Scat Song
18. Cabin in the Cotton
19. Strictly Cullud Affair
20. Aw You Dawg
21. Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Day
22. Dinah
23. How Come You Do Me Like You Do?
24. Old Yazoo

Disc: 3
1. Angeline
2. I'm Now Prepared to Tell the World It's You
3. Swanee Lullaby
4. Reefer Man
5. Old Man of the Mountain
6. You Gotta Ho-De-Ho (To Get Along with Me)
7. Strange as It Seems
8. This Time It's Love
9. Git Along
10. Hot Toddy
11. I've Got the World on a String
12. Harlem Holiday
13. Dixie Doorway
14. Wah-Dee-Dah
15. Sweet Rhythm
16. Beale Street Mama
17. That's What I Hate About Love
18. Man from Harlem
19. I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues
20. My Sunday Gal
21. Eadie Was a Lady
22. Gotta Go Places and Do Things
23. Hot Water

Disc: 4
1. Evenin'
2. Harlem Hospitality
3. Lady with the Fan
4. Harlem Camp Meeting
5. Zaz Zuh Zaz
6. Father's Got His Glasses On
7. Minnie the Moocher
8. Scat Song
9. Kickin' the Gong Around
10. There's a Cabin in the Cotton
11. I Learned About Love from Her
12. Little Town Girl
13. 'Long About Midnight
14. Moon Glow
15. Jitter Bug
16. Hotcha Razz-Ma-Tazz
17. Margie
18. Emaline
19. Chinese Rhythm
20. Moonlight Rhapsody
21. Avalon
22. Weakness 

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Enjoy!

> Strictly the FLACs, Jack.