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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZALADDINR&B label founded on West Coast early '46 as Philo, by Leo, Edward and Ida Mesner. Jazz-oriented at first, as black pop was dividing into bebop and R&B; Helen Humes made 'Be-Baba-Luba' for Philo (as Lionel Hampton and Tex Beneke had hits with the similar 'Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop'); also recorded Nat Cole Trio, Lester Young, Jay McShann, one Billie Holiday session '51, but soon had R&B success with the smooth barroom style of Charles Brown. First to record Lightnin' Hopkins '46, and Amos Milburn the same year, who had huge R&B hits '48--54 such as 'Let Me Go Home Whiskey'; also on the booze theme was Peppermint Harris (b Harrison D. Nelson, 17 July '25, Texarkana TX) with a no. 1 hit 'I Got Loaded' '50. Vocal quartet the Five Keys (Rudy and Bernie West, Ripley and Raphael Ingram, from Newport News VA) had no. 1 '51 with 'The Glory Of Love'; also brought dark sound to white ballads 'Red Sails In The Sunset', 'These Foolish Things': they had more hits later on Capitol, but the Aladdin singles are collectors' items. The label's hits infl. pop music directly with Thurston Harris (b 11 July '31, Indianapolis IN; d 14 April '90, Pomona CA) and Shirley and Lee. Though Shirley and Lee's 'Let The Good Times Roll' was banned by some disc jockeys, Harris's simple plea was far more erotic: 'Little Bitty Pretty One' (no. 5 R&B, no. 6 pop '57) was written by Bobby Day. Aladdin was sold to Imperial late '50s, the label name revived '75, but the original catalogue is owned by EMI. |