Jimmy Liggins Specialty Albums That Never Existed

Jimmy Liggins is one of those nearly-forgotten pioneers of R&B. Born in Oklahoma, his family moved to San Diego when he was a teenager. His older brother Joe Liggins would hit the big time with the hit "The Honeydripper," which topped the R&B charts for 18 weeks in 1945.

Jimmy followed his brother a couple of years later, signing with Specialty Records in L.A. His first single was released in 1947. At this time, Specialty only issued 78s and 45s. As far as I can tell, the label didn't issue an actual 33 1/3 album until Little Richard's debut in 1957, three years after Jimmy left Specialty. I wanted to see what it would have been like if Jimmy's songs had been packaged as LPs. In all, he recorded enough music to fill four standard LPs.

CADILLAC BOOGIE

SIDE A
1. I Can't Stop It    

2. Troubles Goodbye          

3. Teardrop Blues 

4. Cadillac Boogie 

5. Rough Weather Blues

6. Move Out Baby

SIDE B
1. Homecoming Blues

2. Careful Love      

3. Lookin' For My Baby      

4. Baby I Can't Forget You 

5. Nite Life Boogie

6. Don't Put Me Down       

The interesting thing about the title song (at least to me) is how it so obviously influenced the song "Rocket 88," which many people consider the first rock and roll song. One could argue that "Cadillac Boogie" should actually hold that title. Lots of other good R&B and blues can be found here as well. For cover art, I used a concept sketch GM did for the 1948 Cadillac. Looks similar to the Batmobile.

LONELY NIGHTS

SIDE A
1. Mississippi Boogie          

2. Misery Blues     

3. Answer to Teardrop Blues

4. That Song Is Gone

5. Sincere Lover's Blues     

6. Saturday Night Boogie Woogie Man

SIDE B
1. Down and Out Blues

2. Lonely Nights Blues

3. The Washboard Special

4. Lover's Prayer   

5. Goin' Down with the Sun

6. That's What's Knockin' Me Out  

This album contains more great music and you can hear confidence building in Liggins' and his band's performances. I titled this LP Lonely Nights after the song "Lonely Nights Blues." For cover art, I thought this picture captured the concept well.

NOW’S THE TIME

SIDE A
1. Stolen Love

2. Low Down Blues

3. Brown Skin Baby

4. Dark Hour Blues

5. Drunk

6. I'll Never Let You Go

SIDE B
1. Come Back Home

2. Going Away       

3. Shuffle Shuck

4. I'll Always Love You

5. Hep Cat Boogie

6. Now's the Time

"Drunk" may be my favorite Liggins song, and it was one of his biggest hits, reaching the top 10 in late 1953 and early 1954. It contains the great line, "Came home one night with a swimmin' in the head, reached for the pillow, missed the whole durn bed." But "Drunk" would probably not be the best title for an album, so I went with Now's the Time. For cover art, I found this one of a couple embracing in front of a big clock and thought it worked well.

JUMPIN’ AND STOMPIN’

SIDE A
1. Come Back Baby

2. Train Blues

3. Baby's Boogie

4. Bye Bye Baby Good-Bye

5. Give Up Little Girl            

6. Unidentified Instrumental 
SIDE B         

1. Blues for Love   

2. Jumpin' and Stompin'

3. Cloudy Day Blues             

4. Pleading My Cause                         

5. Railroad Blues  

These are the last recordings by Liggins on Specialty Records. Lots of blues here -- "Train Blues," "Blues for Love," "Cloudy Day Blues" and "Railroad Blues." I can't find that Specialty released any of these songs at the time. Liggins himself released "Blues for Love" on his own Duplex Records label in 1959, but I'm not sure if it was the same recording or a remake. "Jumpin' and Stompin," which I used for the album title, is a rockin' instrumental with a piano up front. For cover art, I found this artwork that was used for a Liggins compilation CD and altered it a bit with a new title and the Specialty logo.

Notwithstanding his success at Specialty, or perhaps because of it, Liggins left the label and never had a big hit again despite recording on Aladdin and his own Duplex Records. He eventually faded from the scene -- his big band style no longer popular. From what I've read, after returning to San Diego for a few years he eventually ended up in North Carolina as a music teacher. He died in 1983.