Open Web Player
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 25, 1913, Bostic attended university in both Omaha and New Orleans where, studying harmony and theory, he also mastered the sax, clarinet, and flute. After a stint with Fate Marable's band in The Big Easy he drifted north to The Big Apple where he hooked up with Don Redman and then Cab Calloway before forming his own group and recording four sides in 1945 for the New York City-based Majestic Records (The Man I Love/Hurricane Blues (vocal by Bostic) (Majestic 1055), and The Major And The Minor/All On (Majestic 1056).
In 1946 he switched to the just-established Gotham Records, a label specializing in R&B launched by Sam Goode (or Goody) and Irvin Ballen, where his first four sides featured the vocals of Cousin Joe (born Pleasant Joseph in Wallace, Louisiana on December 20, 1907 - died October 2, 1989). These were billed as Cousin Joe with Earl Bostic & The Gotham Sextet: Fly Hen Blues/Lonesome Man Blues (Gotham 500) and Little Eva/You Ain't Such A Much (Gotham 501). These were followed in early 1947 by his solo sides Let's Ball Tonight Parts 1 & 2 on Gotham 503.
Following a label numbering change, he would embark upon a long string of releases, just one of which finally would get him that elusive nationally-charted hit single, that being his instrumental cover of the 1934 Bing Crosby hit Temptation which, in May 1948, topped out at # 10 R&B on Gotham 160 b/w Artistry By Bostic. Finding these sides, and the ones mentioned above, in a quality CD is so far impossible, never mind the other Gotham sides.
His next, and ultimately most enduring stop, was King Records of Cincinnati, a label started in 1943 by Syd Nathan as an outlet for "Hillbilly" music but which soon branched out to encompass R&B. There he would remain, his biting, swinging alto sax style featured on numerous singles and albums right up to the day of his untimely death from a heart attack at age 52 on October 28, 1965.
And this King CD release, first issued in 1990 with a yellow cover in their Vintage Vault Collectors Series, and then again in 2006 in their History Of Original Rhythm & Blues series, with improved sound reproduction. These present sides cut between July 1946 and July 1964, including his only other two national hits. The first at King was his September 1951 instrumental cover of the 1924 Fred Waring & His Pennsylvanians' hit Sleep, which reached # 6 R &B b/w September Song (also here) on King 4444. Then, late that fall, his instrumental cover of Flamingo, the 1941 Duke Ellington hit (vocal by Herb Jeffries) topped the charts at # 1 R &B in November/December on King 4475, spending 20 weeks on the charts. The flipside, I'm Getting Sentimental Over You, is not included here.
As for the rest of these two releases, which really amount to a "samplers" when you consider the amount of material he released, the sources are as follows:
1. That's The Groovy Thing (Parts One And Two) - King 4174 - 1946
2. 8:45 Stomp - King 4198 - 1946 (the b-side was Earl's Rumboogie)
3. Where Or When - King 4943 - 1956 (flip was Roses Of Picardy)
6. Blue Moon - from his 1956 King LP 395-515 "Altotude"
7. Blue Skies - King 4723 - 1954 (the flip was Mambolino)
8. Harlem Nocturn - King 4978 - 1956 (b-side was I Hear A Rhapsody)
10. Stompin' At The Savoy - from his 1958 King LP 571 "Bostic Rocks - Hits Of The Swing Age"
11. Twilight Time - King 5136 - 1958 (flip was Over Waves Rock)
12. Arrivederci Roma - unknown source
13. Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White
14. Walk On The Wild Side - King 5961 - 1964 (flip was Hello Dolly).
