Artist	Song
Jimmy Witherspoon	The Wind Is Blowin' (live) (1952 #7)
Amos Milburn	She's Gone, Again (1951)
Chuck Willis	I Tried (To Get Along with You) (1951)
The Swallows	Beside You (1952 #8)
Little Esther Phillips	Aged And Mellow Blues (1952)
Percy Mayfield	Hopeless (1951)
Todd Rhodes	I Shouldn't Cry, But I Do (v Kitty Stevenson) (1951) (off vinyl)
Jimmy Rushing	I'm So Lonely (1952)
The Dominoes	Have Mercy Baby (1952 #1)
Joe Hill Louis	Gotta Go Baby (1951)
Fats Noel	Ride Daddy Ride (1952)
Lloyd Glenn	Yancey Special (Instrumental) (1952)
Roy Hawkins	The Thrill is Gone (orig version) (1951 #6)
Big Three Trio	Lonesome (1951) (off vinyl)
B.B. King	Don't You Want A Man Like Me (1951)
Stick McGhee	Tennessee Waltz Blues (Instrumental) (1951 #2)
Sonny Boy Williamson	Eyesight To The Blind (1951)
Roy Brown	Big Town (1951 #8)
The Dominoes	Love, Love, Love (1952) (off vinyl)
B.B. King	3 O'clock Blues (1952 #1) (off vinyl)
Howling Wolf	Crying At Daybreak (1951)
Jimmy McCracklin	My Days Are Limited (1952)
Todd Rhodes Orchestra (v LaVern Baker)	Trying (1952)
Mercy Dee	Empty Life (1951)
Sonny Thompson	Mellow Blues, pt. 1 (Instrumental) (1952 #8)
Little Willie Littlefield	I've Been Lost (1951 #10)
Elmo(re) James	Dust My Broom (1952 #9)
Roscoe Gordon	Saddled the Cow (And Milked the Horse) (1952 #9) (off vinyl)
Jimmy McCracklin	Lookin' for a Woman (1951) (off vinyl)

Comment:

If you like blues, this was a period of time when you would enjoy R&B music because, for the most part, rockin' songs weren't part of the equation. B.B. King's career took off in 1952 with his "3 O'clock Blues", used here as track 20 (his first R&B hit, ch_arting in at #1). I include another song from him (track 15) from the previous year that didn't ch_art. That song was redone in 1957, and the later version really rocks (even though it still didn't make the ch_arts), so you may want to check that one out (it's about 20 seconds longer than the original). One interesting fact to consider at this point is that, although 12 songs used here made it onto the R&B ch_arts, none made it onto the Pop ch_arts. Back then, the whites had their music and the blacks had their music. There was no cross over to speak of till 1956 or later (especially 1964 onward). Besides B.B. King, I used songs more than once for Todd Rhodes, The Dominoes, and Jimmy McCracklin. Six of the songs used here were possible due to records lent to me by Rockin' Jim (from the Grinders Grooveyard radio show). I converted the songs from analog to digital for tracks 7, 14, 19, 20, 28 & 29. All of the songs in this mix manage to just fit onto a CD (clocking in at 79m56s).
This mix was inspired from discovering the "Territorial Tips" given in the book "The History of Rhythm & Blues" (volumes 1 & 2), compiled by Galen Gart. From that reference, evolved a list of 39 songs for the two years studied here. Two of those could not be found (Little Boy Blue by Mumbles from 1951 and Bee Hive Boogie by Ben Burton from 1952) and eight were passed over (I'll be Home for Christmas by Bull Moose Jackson, Twilight Blues by Preston Love, Will You Be Mine by The Swallows, and Lump in My Throat by L W Littlefield all from 1951, plus Watching My Stuff by Big Tom Collins aka Champion Jack Dupree, Story From My Heart & Soul by B B King, I'm Lonely by The Dominoes, and Would You by Roy Hawkins, those last four from 1952).

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