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Joe Liggins
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Name
Joe Liggins
Role
Musical performer
Siblings
Jimmy Liggins
Died
July 26, 1987, Lynwood, California, United States
Albums
Pioneers of Rhythm & Blues Volume 4
Similar People
Jimmy Liggins, Johnny Otis, Lloyd Price, Roy Montrell, Herb Jeffries
The honeydripper parts 1 2 joe liggins
Joseph Christopher "Joe" Liggins, Jr. (born Theodro Elliott; July 9, 1916 – July 26, 1987) was an American R&B, jazz and blues pianist and vocalist who led Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers in the 1940s and 1950s. His band appeared often on the Billboard magazine charts. The band's biggest hit was "The Honeydripper", released in 1945. Joe Liggins was the older brother of R&B performer Jimmy Liggins.
The son of Harriett and Elijah Elliott, he was born in Seminole, Oklahoma, and took his stepfather's surname, Liggins, as a child. He apparently dropped the name Theodro and adopted the names Joseph Christopher during the 1930s. The family moved to San Diego in 1932.
He moved to Los Angeles in 1939, where he played with Sammy Franklin's California Rhythm Rascals and other groups. When Franklin turned down a chance to record Liggins' song "The Honeydripper", Liggins decided to start his own band. The original Joe Liggins and His Honeydrippers recordings were issued on the Exclusive Records imprint of brothers Leon and Otis René. Joe Liggins' Honeydrippers was formed in the basement of the Los Angeles home of the saxophonist Little Willie Jackson, who co-founded the group and who, at the time of his death in 2001, was the last original surviving member of the Honeydrippers. "The Honeydripper" topped the R&B chart, then called the race chart, for 18 weeks in 1945. More than 60 years later, "The Honeydripper" remains tied with Louis Jordan's "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" for the longest-ever stay at the top of that chart. It logged a reported two million sales.
Liggins had a series of further R&B chart hits on the Exclusive label, including "Left a Good Deal in Mobile" (#2, 1945); "Got a Right to Cry" (#2, 1946); "Tanya" (#3, 1946); and "Blow Mr. Jackson" (#3, 1947). He signed with Specialty Records in 1950, where he gained more hits, including "Rag Mop" (#4, 1950), "Boom-Chick-A-Boogie", "Pink Champagne" (#1 for 13 weeks in 1950), and "Little Joe's Boogie". "Pink Champagne" also reached number 30 on the pop chart, and both "Pink Champagne" and "Got A Right To Cry" sold over one million copies and were awarded gold discs.
His songs were mostly a blend of jump blues and basic R&B. With Roy Milton, he was an architect of the small-band jump blues of the first post-war decade. Liggins often toured with such acts as Jimmy Witherspoon, Amos Milburn and the jump blues shouter H-Bomb Ferguson. In March 1954, the band took part in a benefit show held at the Club 5-4 in Los Angeles for the wife of Stan Getz.
Although Liggins' success stopped in the late 1950s, he continued to perform until his death following a stroke, in Lynwood, California, at the age of 71.
Band members
Little Willie Jackson – alto saxophone, baritone saxophone
James Jackson, Jr. – tenor saxophone
Joe Liggins – piano, vocal
Frank Pasley – guitar
Eddie Davis – bass
Preston "Peppy" Prince – drums
Guest session musicians:
Joe Darensbourg – clarinet
Johnny Moore – guitar
Gene Phillips – guitar
Red Callender – bass
Original 10" shellac (78rpm) and 7" vinyl (45rpm) releases
Bronze Records:
125 The Honeydripper, Part 1 / The Honeydripper, Part 2 -1944
Exclusive Records:
207 The Honeydripper, Part 1 [re-recording] / The Honeydripper, Part 2 [re-recording] -1945
208 Left a Good Deal in Mobile (by Herb Jeffries w/Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers) / Here's Hopin' (by Herb Jeffries Orchestra w/Homer Hall Chorus)
210 Got a Right to Cry/Blue Moods
211 Got Your Love in My Heart (by Herb Jeffries w/Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers) / Tisco Tisco (by Pat Kay w/Herb Jeffries Orchestra)
212 I Know My Love Is True/Harlemesque
213 Lovers Lament/Miss Betty's Blues
216 Caravan/You Ain't Goin' to Heaven No How
219 Sugar Lump/Boddle-do-da-deet
231 Breaking My Heart/Tanya
232 Drippers' Boogie, Part 1/Drippers' Boogie, Part 2
236 T.w.a./Last Night Blues
238 Someday Sweetheart/Yvette
242 Some of These Days/The Blues
244 The Blues/Blow Mr. Jackson
250 Down Home Blues /Ten Toes
252 Think of Me/Little Willie
256 Sugar/You'll Miss Me Sure's You're Born
258 Life Don't Mean a Thing to Me/Siboney
262 Worried /How Come
267 Groovy Groove /Apple of My Eye
271 Drippers' Blues /Sweet Georgia Brown
41x Roll 'Em /Sweet And Lovely
49x Spooks Holiday /The Darktown Strutters' Ball
61x Don't Stop Loving Me/Key Jam
68x Got a Right to Cry [Reissue]/Blue Moods [Reissue]
79x End of a Kiss /He Knows How to Knock Me Out
84x Three O'clock Jump, Part 1 /Three O'clock Jump, Part 2
102x Miss You/Big Baritone
124x The Honeydripper, Part 1 [Reissue]/The Honeydripper, Part 2 [Reissue]
132x Ruth/Loosiana
144x Lonesome Guitar /Hey Mama
151x What Is the Reason (You Don't Love Me)/Ham-bone Boogie
152x I Cover the Waterfront /Fascination
Modern Records:
20-547 58th Street Jump /On the Sunny Side of the Street
20-566 Black and Blue (v: Little Willie Jackson)/Jackson's Boogie
20-571 I Ain't Got Nobody (v: Peppy Prince)/Shasta
20-587 Little Willie's Boogie /You Can Depend On Me (v: Peppy Prince)
20-605 Someday, Somehow, Somewhere (v: Little Willie Jackson)/My Baby's Blues
20-613 The Peanut Vendor /Let's Jump -note: these 12 sides were recorded by The Honeydrippers and released under the name/leadership of Little Willie Jackson.
Dot Records:
1031 The Honeydripper, Part 1/The Honeydripper, Part 2
1032 I've Got a Right to Cry/Last Night Blues
1033 Tanya /Down Home Blues note: these 6 sides are reissues of material originally recorded for Exclusive Records; Dot bought these masters and re-released them in 1951.
Specialty Records:
338 I've Got a Right to Cry [re-recording]/The Honeydripper [re-recording]
350 Rag Mop/Ramblin' Blues
355 Pink Champagne/Sentimental Lover
368 Rhythm in the Barnyard, Part 1/Rhythm in the Barnyard, Part 2
379 Little Joe's Boogie/Daddy on My Mind (v: Joe Liggins & Candy Rivers)
392 I Just Can't Help Myself/Frankie Lee
394 That's the One for Me (v: Joe Liggins & Candy Rivers)/Bob Is The Guy (v: Candy Rivers)
402 Whiskey, Gin & Wine/One Sweet Letter (v: Candy Rivers)
465 Farewell Blues (v: Dell St. John)/Deep Feeling Kind of Love (v: Joe Liggins & Christine)
474 The Big Dipper/Everyone's Down on Me (v: Billy Bivins)
492 Make Love to Me/Tears on My Pillow
529 Whiskey, Woman & Loaded Dice/Do You Love Me Pretty Baby
Mercury Records:
70440 Yeah, Yeah, Yeah/They Were Doin' the Mambo [rel. 1954]
Aladdin Records:
3368 Justina/Go Ahead [rel. 1957]
Duplex Records:
1004 House Party/Tell Me So
Original 10" shellac (78rpm) 3-disc album set
1948 Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers (a self-titled release) [rec. 1945-47] (Exclusive #EX-1004, although not listed on jacket cover), including the following 78-rpm discs:
262 Worried (instrumental) [mx# 1224] / How Come [mx# 1226]
216 Caravan (instrumental) [mx# 1018] / You Ain't Goin' To Heaven No How [mx# 1017]
LP/CD releases/compilations of note
1962 Honeydripper (Mercury #MG-20731/#SR-60731 [LP]) -note: re-recordings of hits.
1974 Great Rhythm & Blues Oldies, Volume 6: Joe Liggins & The Honeydrippers (Blues Spectrum (Johnny Otis' label) #BS-106 [LP])
1976 Joe & Jimmy Liggins: Saturday Night Boogie Woogie Man (Sonet #SNTF-5020 [LP]) -note: one side each from Joe and his brother Jimmy; all Specialty material.
1981 Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers: Darktown Strutters Ball [rec. 1945–1950] (Jukebox Lil #JB-601 [LP])
1988 Joe Liggins With the Original Million-Seller "The Honeydripper" [rec. 1945–1949] (Jukebox Lil #JB-622 [LP])
1989 Joe Liggins & The Honeydrippers (Specialty #SPCD-7006)
1992 Dripper's Boogie: Joe Liggins & The Honeydrippers – Vol. 2 (Specialty #SPCD-7025)
1996 The Honeydripper: Rare And Unreleased Recordings 1946–1949 (Night Train International #7031)
2002 The Shuffle Boogie King (Proper Pairs #PVCD-117 [2CD])
2002 The Chronological Joe Liggins 1944–1946 (Classics 'Blues & Rhythm Series' #5020)
2003 The Chronological Joe Liggins 1946–1948 (Classics 'Blues & Rhythm Series' #5063)
2004 The Chronological Joe Liggins 1948–1950 (Classics 'Blues & Rhythm Series' #5108)
2005 The Chronological Joe Liggins 1950–1952 (Classics 'Blues & Rhythm Series' #5155)