Ace recorded such artists as Earl King, Frankie Ford, Jimmy Clanton, Huey "Piano" Smith, Joe Tex, Scotty McKay and Bobby Marchan.
The American Ace label, run out of Jackson Mississippi by shrewd record man Johnny Vincent, was a veritable sweet shop of great 50s and early 60s music.
With five separate volumes, Ace Story is the most comprehensive portrait of the seminal New Orleans R&B record label. Over the course of the series, each of the label's hits are featured, including "Sea Cruise," "Rockin' Pneumonia," and "Pop Eye," among others, as well as many lesser-known gems. During the late '50s and early '60s, Ace's roster featured such R&B giants as Huey "Piano" Smith, Eddie Bo, Joe Tex, Lightnin' Hopkins, Charles Brown, Amos Milburn, and Earl King; each artist is featured on at least one disc of Ace Story, along with several acts that didn't have hits, but recorded some outstanding tracks.
The Ace Story Vol.1
(2:44) 1 Frankie Ford - Sea Cruise
(2:15) 2 Earl King - Everybody's Carried Away
(2:38 ) 3 Frankie Lee Sims - Hey Little Girl
(2:16) 4 Huey Smith & The Clowns - Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu pt1
(2:28 ) 5 Supremes, The - Just For You And I
(2:25) 6 Joe Tex - You Little Baby Face Thing
(2:49) 7 Joe & Ann - Gee Baby
(2:51) 8 Phaetons, The - I Love My Baby
(3:19) 9 Mac Rebennack - Storm Warning
(2:30) 10 Jimmy Clanton & His Rockets - Just A Dream
(2:06) 11 Alvin "Red" Tyler - The Peanut Vendor
(1:50) 12 Hershel Almond with Al Good & His Band - Let's Get It On
(2:41) 13 Bobby Marchan - Quit My Job
(2:22) 14 Morgus & The Ghouls - Morgus The Magnificent
(2:24) 15 Frankie Lee Sims - I Warned You Baby
(2:22) 16 Roland Stone - Just A Moment
(2:54) 17 Huey Smith & His Clowns - Pop-Eye
(2:22) 18 Frankie Ford - Alimony
(2:08 ) 19 Chuck Carbo & His Band - Lovers Of Love
(2:11) 20 Harry Lee - Every Time I See You
(2:35) 21 Calvin Spears - Come On Home
(1:59) 22 Frankie Ford - What's Going On
(2:10) 23 Jimmy Clanton - Another Sleepless Night
(2:20) 24 Huey Smith & His Clowns - Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu pt2
The Ace Story Vol. 2
Johnny Vincent may not have been a musician himself, but he certainly knew which musicians would make his 45s and albums sound as great as they did. By employing hands-on A&R men of the calibre of Huey “Piano” Smith, sax king Alvin “Red” Tyler and the young Mac “Dr John” Rebennack, who commanded respect among their musical peers, he always ensured that Ace’s rhythm tracks would personify the sound of New Orleans at its best.
The beauty of a catalogue such as Vincent’s is that there are so many great records in it that there’s no question of turning to anything not so good in an attempt to fill a CD. Volume 2 offers more of what Volume 1 delivered: the unbeatable goodtime New Orleans rock’n’roll and R&B for which Ace was famous (although one or two tracks were recorded outside of the Crescent City, next door in Houston).
Several Ace label stalwarts inevitably make their welcome return, but we also encounter a number of highly talented people who briefly figured in Johnny Vincent’s discography – and who, but for the lack of a hit record, may have figured more prominently than they did. Our roll call includes 40s R&B megastars Amos Milburn and Charles Brown duetting on Huey Smith’s rocking ‘Educated Fool’, Edgar “Big Boy” Myles and Issachar “Junior” Gordon stepping out from premier vocal groups the Shaweez and the Spiders respectively, more great stuff from blues kings Frankie Lee Sims and Julius “Mercy Baby” Mullins, a brilliant example of the early work of Crescent City legend Eddie Bo and more from the inevitably top quality repertoire of Ace mainstays Frankie Ford, Jimmy Clanton, Bobby Marchan and Huey Smith.
(2:17) 1 Junior Gordon - Blow Wind Blow
(2:21) 2 Lightnin' Hopkins - Bad Boogie
(3:37) 3 Mercy Baby - Silly Dilly Woman
(2:25) 4 Frankie Ford - Roberta
(2:25) 5 Eddie Bo - I Love To Rock & Roll
(2:20) 6 Bobby Marchan - Rockin' Behind the Iron Curtain
(2:25) 7 Blue Dots, The - Please Don't Tell 'Em
(2:29) 8 Gene & Al's Spacemen - Mercy
(2:53) 9 Little Shelton - Sea Cruise
(2:21) 10 Joe Dyson/Johnny Collins - Looped
(2:18 ) 11 Amos Milburn/Charles Brown - Educated Fool
(2:15) 12 Jimmy Clanton - Go, Jimmy, Go
(2:21) 13 Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns - Would You Believe It (I Have a Cold)
(1:51) 14 Little Booker - Teen Age Rock
(2:36) 15 Sammy Myers - Sleeping In the Ground
(2:13) 16 Frankie Lee Sims - My Talk Didn't Do Any Good
(2:01) 17 Frankie Ford - I Want To Be Your Man
(2:19) 18 Earl King - Little Girl
(2:11) 19 Supremes, The - Honey Honey
(2:16) 20 Bobby Marchan - Chickee Wah-Wah
(2:51) 21 Jimmy Clanton & His Rockets - I Trusted You
(2:23) 22 Big Boy Myles - New Orleans
(2:02) 23 Joe & Ann - Curiosity
(2:17) 24 Huey & Curley - The Second Line
TheAce Story Vol. 3
Here on the third volume, the tracks that appeared on the original vinyl LP are joined by eight more goodies from the vault of Ace Records of Jackson, Mississippi, each selected to complement those originally chosen by Ted Carroll, Roger Armstrong and Ray Topping back in the early 1980s. Although nearly all of the featured tracks have been issued on CD at some point, most have been out of circulation for at least a decade and we’re mighty glad to restore them all to catalogue.
Johnny Vincent’s little label might have been based one state over, and a few hundred miles away, but there is no more consistent provider of the great New Orleans sound of the 1950s than Ace. The sheer exuberance of Huey Smith’s ‘Little Liza Jane’ and ‘Everybody’s Whalin’’ and the crackling excitement of Bobby Marchan’s ‘Loberta’ (finally heard here in mastertape quality for the first time in 52 years) sound as fresh today as they did when committed to tape. The sessions Vincent cut elsewhere on blues acts such as Mercy Baby and Frankie Lee Sims are just as vital now as they ever were. And even the tracks Johnny bought or leased in, represented by Jerry McCain and Sonny Boy Williamson II, have a quality that immediately identifies them as Ace.
John Vincent Imbragulio was one of the most astute A&R men of his time, with a vision matched only by the quality of his catalogue and the timeless hits that came out of it. For dancing or listening, there’s really no better way to have a good time than by slipping this compact disc into your player and, to coin a phrase from Earl King’s ‘Darling Honey Angel Child’, let the good times roll!
(2:28 ) 1. Sonny Boy Williamson II - Boppin' with Sonny
(2:15) 2. Blue Dots, The - Saturday Night Fish Fry
(2:43) 3. Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns - Everybody's Whalin'
(2:23) 4. Mercy Baby - Marked Deck
(2:27) 5. Alvin 'Red' Tyler - Snake Eyes
(2:00) 6. Albert Scott - I'm So Glad You're Mine
(2:17) 7. Bobby Marchan - Don't Take Your Love From Me
(2:14) 8. Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns - Somebody Told It
(2:21) 9. Supremes, The - Don't Leave Me Here To Cry
(2:26) 10. Jerry McCain - She's Tough
(2:32) 11. Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns - For Cryin' Out Loud
(2:10) 12. Junior Gordon - My Love For You
(2:18 ) 13. Mac Rebennack - Sahara
(2:11) 14. Joe Tex - Cut It Out
(2:07) 15. Mercy Baby - Rock and Roll Baby
(2:08 ) 16. Jerry McCain - Steady
(2:24) 17. Bobby Marchan - Loberta
(2:08 ) 18. Harry Lee - You Don't Know
(2:23) 19. Earl King - Darling Honey Angel Child (Come On) (Let The Good Times Roll)
(2:09) 20. Frankie Ford - Cheatin' Woman
(2:30) 21. Emeralds, The - I Kneel At Your Throne
(2:24) 22. Mac Rebennack - Foolish Little Girl
(2:22) 23. Frankie Lee Sims - What Will Lucy Do
(2:09) 24. Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns - Little Liza Jane
The Ace Story Vol. 4
This fourth volume more than matches the quality of the first three. Some of its inclusions are among the rarest singles on any of Vincent’s labels. The advent of eBay and GEMM might have made some of them a little more accessible than they used to be, but the tracks by Johnny Angel, Dicky Williams, Albert Scott and Jesse Allen still command high prices. Among the less rare (but no less good) sides are seldom reissued cuts by New Orleans mainstays Huey Smith, Alvin “Red” Tyler and Eddie Bo, as well as no less than three classic Joe Tex cuts in best-ever sound!
As with previous volumes in this series, the original 16 tracks of the vinyl edition have been augmented by eight other gems from Vincent’s vaults. These include Ace’s debut release (and the original of Little Richard’s ‘Slippin’ And Slidin’’), Al Collins’ ‘I Got The Blues For You’ and the label’s first-ever hit in Earl King’s ‘Those Lonely, Lonely Nights’. Collectors will also be thrilled to hear Huey Smith’s ‘Don’t You Know Yockomo’ at the same speed as the vinyl 45 for the first time on CD and the single master of Bobby Marchan’s ‘You Can’t Stop Her’ from a recently located tape source. In fact, all but three of these tracks are appearing here from transfers of the original tapes, some of which have only previously appeared from second or third-generation copy tapes
(1:36) 1 Johnny Angel - Teenage Wedding
(2:30) 2 Dicky Williams - Tee-Na-Na
(2:14) 3 Alvin ''Red'' Tyler - Walk On
(2:28 ) 4 Roland Cook - I Wanna Know Why
(2:45) 5 Joe & Ann - Wherever You May Be
(2:10) 6 Huey Smith & His Clowns - Free, Single And Disengaged
(3:14) 7 Jesse Allen - Goodbye Blues
(2:18 ) 8 Joe Tex & His X Class Mates - Charlie Brown Got Expelled
(2:38 ) 9 Huey Smith - Scald-Dog
(2:25) 10 Alvin ''Red'' Tyler - Happy Sax aka Stinky
(2:08 ) 11 Floyd Brown - Can I Have A Word
(2:11) 12 Albert Scott - Can't Let You Go, I Love You So
(1:55) 13 Joe Tex - Yum, Yum, Yum
(2:54) 14 Joe Tex - Mother's Advice
(2:34) 15 Eddie Bo - I'll Keep On Trying
(3:32) 16 Frankie Lee Sims - Walking With Frankie
(2:27) 17 Al Collins & Orchestra - I Got The Blues For You
(2:00) 18 Bobby Marchan & The Clowns - You Can't Stop Her
(2:27) 19 Huey & Jerry - I Think You Jivin' Me
(2:24) 20 Earl King - Those Lonely, Lonely Nights
(2:30) 21 Sammy Myers with The King Mose Royal Rockers - My Love Is Here To Stay
(2:12) 22 Bat Carroll - Aw! Who
(2:38 ) 23 Earl King - Well-O Well-O Well-O Baby
(2:24) 24 Huey ''Piano'' Smith & His Clowns - Don't You Know Yockomo
The Ace Story Vol. 5
From his home base of Jackson, Mississippi, Johnny Vincent established his place in R&B/rock’n’roll history by recording some of the best artists and best music ever to find their way out of the American South. Just about all of Ace’s most significant artists are featured here, from rambunctious Texas bluesman Frankie Lee Sims and local R&B heroes Eddie Bo and Earl King to the label’s musical backbone Huey Smith and its biggest selling artist Jimmy Clanton. All of them are represented by some of the best music they ever recorded.
We’ve had to make a slight modification to the original vinyl LP, as Edgar Blanchard’s ‘Let’s Get It’ was not contractually available this time around. We’ve augmented the rest of the track listing with a superb selection of extras, many of them unavailable on CD for many years and at least a couple totally new to CD.
Along the way you’ll hear ultra-rare and uproarious Tennessee rockin’ courtesy of future “Memphis Boy” Bobby Wood, the original version of ‘Sea Cruise’ by Huey Smith and lady Clown Gerri Hall, what happens when Louisiana rockabilly meets Crescent City rock’n’roll courtesy of Jimmie Lee Fautheree (aka Johnny Angel), the debut recording of soul star Lee Dorsey, a rare re-cut of Sugar Boy Crawford’s signature song ‘Jockomo’ (aka ‘Iko Iko’) and so much more besides.
(2:25) 1 Johnny Fairchild - Well I Never Get Tired
(2:24) 2 Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns - Educated Fool
(2:55) 3 Albert Scott - Hey Hey Baby Come Home
(2:25) 4 Jesse Allen - Baby Say You Will
(2:30) 5 Bobby Webb - Somebody Else is Taking My Place
(2:28 ) 6 Elton Anderson - Roll On Train
(3:17) 7 Frankie Lee Sims - Well Goodbye Baby
(2:41) 8 Calvin Spears - Doing the Rock and Roll
(2:40) 9 Red Tyler & the Gyros - Classy Lassie
(2:11) 10 Bobby Woods - Love is My Business
(2:38 ) 11 Earl King - I'm Packing Up
(2:30) 12 Ronnie & the Delinquents - Keeps Dragging Me On
(2:25) 13 Charles Brown - Love's Like a River
(2:15) 14 Big Boy Myles - Who Can I Turn To
(2:52) 15 Eddie Bo - Roll 'Em Back
(2:39) 16 Huey & Jerry - Sea Cruise
(2:34) 17 Mac Rebennack & His Orchestra/Sugar Boy Crawford - Jockomo
(2:37) 18 Jimmy Clanton & His Rockets - You Aim To Please
(2:21) 19 Elton Anderson - Shed So Many Tears
(2:31) 20 Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns - If It Ain't One Thing It's Another
(2:26) 21 Lee Dorsey - Rock
(3:09) 22 Frankie Lee Sims/Jimmy Clanton - What Am I Living For
(2:07) 23 Frankie Lee Sims/Jimmy Clanton - She Likes To Boogie Real Low (A.K.A. Blue Light Boogie)
(2:30) 24 Johnny Angel - Baby It's Love
