LP-601

 Al Hibbler - Melodies by Al Hibbler

Released 1956

Recording and Session Information

New York, early 1947
Al Hibbler, vocal; Ray Nance, trumpet; Jimmy Hamilton, clarinet; Al Sears, tenor saxophone; Harry Carney, baritone saxophone; Billy Strayhorn, piano; Junior Raglin, bass; Fletcher Jackson, drums

EB1001A Fat and Forty
EB1002 Solitude
EB1003A My Little Brown Book
EB1004 Feather Roll Blues

Detroit, November 1947
Al Hibbler, vocal; Taft Jordan, trumpet; Johnny Hodges, alto saxophone; Al Sears, tenor saxophone; Harry Carney, baritone saxophone; Billy Strayhorn, piano; Oscar Pettiford, bass; Sonny Greer, drums

SU-2029 Trees
SU-2030 Lover Come Back to Me

Chicago, 1948-1949
Al Hibbler, vocal; Ray Nance, trumpet; Tyree Glenn, tuba, vibraphone; Ben Webster, tenor saxophone; Billy Strayhorn, piano; Junior Raglin, bass; Fletcher Jackson, drums

SU-2135 It Don't Mean a Thing

Chicago, April 1949
Al Hibbler, vocal; unknown trumpet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, piano, bass, drums

SU-2140 What Will I Tell My Heart?
SU-2141 Poor Butterfly
SU-2142 I Love You

Track Listing

Title	Author	Recording Date
What Will I Tell My Heart	P. Tinturin/J. Lawrence	April 1949
Poor Butterfly	R. Hubbell/J. Golden	April 1949
My Little Brown Book	Billy Strayhorn	Early 1947
Feather Roll Blues	unknown	Early 1947
I Love You	Cole Porter	April 1949
Solitude	D. Ellington/E. De Lange/I. Mills	April 1949
Lover Come Back To Me	S. Romberg/O. Hammerstein III	Early 1947
Trees	O. Rasbach/J. Kolmer	November 1947
It Don't Mean A Thing	D. Ellington/I. Mills	1948
Fat And Forty	Skeets Tolberts	Early 1947

Liner Notes

Individual stature is likely to come for a vocalist after he leaves the band and has "been on his own" for a time. Al Hibbler was an artist who achieved much of this stature during the time he WdS connected integrally with a band - the Duke Ellington organization. Not every singer profits from long association with a band but not everyone has the good fortune of being part of a good band. And not every singer has the ability to profit from it.

The union of Hibbler and Ellington was one complimentary to singer and to band and both respected the other and the use was wise. As a result, Al was able to absorb and learn from the band. He took on some of its nuances and his thinking musically began to emulate it in several ways. Perhaps the greatest quality the band imparted to Hibbler's voice was that of a sophisticated iazz. Al possessed a wonderful feeling for the blues, an instinctive natural way of singing and an uninhibited approach that bespeaks the folk singer. He had also been influenced, very probably, by the Kansas City style as there was that too in his voice. This was the background he brought to the Ellington band and it was all these things that were to make of him one of the great iazz singers of the contemporary music world.

Al Hibbler was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. He began his music career as a professional in 1939 when he got a job on a radio program in Memphis, Tennesssee, singing with the Dub Jenkins band. He left Memphis to go with a midwest territory band, Boots and his Buddies. The next step was to the famous Jay McShann Kansas City band and it was with Jay that Al came to New York. In 1943 he joined Duke Ellington.

Quite a few years later, he appeared with Johnny Hodges' group in a series of nightclub performances. The latest (1955) and possibly most interesting detail in his professional history has to do with the cutting of a ballad considered almost wholly a pop tune and without sacrificing any of his good taste or personal interpretation the record sold and is still selling to the large audience that is the popular record collector. The song is, of course, "Unchained Melody".

The unique qualities of Al's voice are well-known to the jazz world. They are now familiar to the larger mass of music listeners. He has a remarkable range, is noted for a use of scooped pitch and displays ready control of his voice. He is one of the earlier singers to use the voice in jazz as an instrument and make it pleasant and provocative to hear.

His approach and his interpretation to a song is always a musicianly one. When you see him perform, this comes more clearly in view because his presence is unobtrusive...the song becomes the obtect of the listener's attention. The album is particularly good in that it showcases some Hibbler standards...compositions he made well-known and that served to illustrate his special talents. You will hear Al sing a blues from that Kansas City tradition, you will hear him sing up-tempo swing that is vibrant and exciting and you will hear Hibbler, the balledeer - probably the best-known and praised.

Shirley Hoskins Collins

Notes

From the fantastic Chess history site hosted by Robert Campbell.

https://campber.people.clemson.edu/chess1.html
https://campber.people.clemson.edu/chess2.html

For their first 12-inch microgroove release, on Marterry, [the Chess Brothers] turned to the singer who had saved the label commercially back in 1951. This was the first item on Marterry, released in early November 1955 (plans had been made earlier; the matrix numbers indicate that the LP sides were mastered in August). The name changed to Argo so fast that the Marterry version of the LP is hard to find nowadays (the Billboard reviewer, November 12, 1955, p. 94, noticed that the tracks were old and the sonics of variable quality, but some were of "truly historical interest"). The Al Hibbler LP (matrix numbers 7881A for Side A, 7881B for Side B) was a straight reissue of the five Chess singles that had featured him. "Feather Roll Blues," an instrumental by Billy Strayhorn and band from Hibbler's first session for Sunrise, was included in the LP because it had been the flip side of Chess 1457. There was more from Sunrise and Miracle in the Chess vaults, but none of it was used on this occasion. Argo also released a 45-rpm EP consisting of four of the Hibbler items.

Melodies by Al Hibbler

Original matrix number	Title	Recording Date	Original release	First Chess release	LP release
EB1001A	Fat and Forty	early 1947	Sunrise 2001A	Chess 1569	Marterry LP 601, Argo LP 601
EB1002	Solitude	early 1947	Sunrise 2002-A	Chess 1457	Marterry LP 601, Argo LP 601
EB1003A	My Little Brown Book	early 1947	Sunrise 2001B	Chess 1481	Marterry LP 601, Argo LP 601
EB1004	Feather Roll Blues	early 1947	Sunrise 2002-B	Chess 1457	Marterry LP 601, Argo LP 601
SU-2029	Trees November	1947	Miracle M-501	Chess 1456	Marterry LP 601, Argo LP 601
SU-2030	Lover Come Back to Me	November 1947	Miracle M-501	Chess 1456	Marterry LP 601, Argo LP 601
SU-2135	It Don't Mean a Thing	1948	Chess 1455		Marterry LP 601, Argo LP 601
SU-2140	What Will I Tell My Heart?	April 1949	Chess 1455		Marterry LP 601, Argo LP 601
SU-2141	Poor Butterfly	April 1949	Sunrise 503	Chess 1569	Marterry LP 601, Argo LP 601
SU-2142	I Love You April	1949	Sunrise M-515	Chess 1481	Marterry LP 601, Argo LP 601

Reviews

Cash Box 19 October 1956
It is very fortunate that sooner or later the great jazz singers are “discovered” by the non-jazz conscious record buyer — the pop music enthusiast. This year A1 Hibbler made the jump when he clicked with his smash waxing of “Unchained” and he’s proving that he’s not a one-timer as the tune “He” continues to climb the lists. On this album, we hear Hibbler as he sounded some years ago, singing standards, blues and swing numbers. The record could be tagged a collector’s item and should reveal to all of Hibbler’s newer enthusiasts, the many facets of the singer’s great talent. Hibbler’s former fans should also enjoy this greatly.