Ace Records

After a few months of seeking out 12"s and LPs, I went back to 7"s this past weekend. I picked up a ton of great new 45s to keep me satisfied for at least a week or two - a great Little Walter record on Checker, an alternate Argo label 7" I hadn't seen and a few new Chess sides as well - including another alternate label layout from them I didn't have in my collection - being some of the highlights.

There are two records on Ace that immediately rose to the top of the stack. One being Huey "Piano" Smith and the Clown's "Rocking Pnemonia" 7" and the other being Frankie Ford with Huey Smith doing "Sea Cruise." These are some seriously rocking late 50s rock & roll from New Orleans. Smoking! You can hear the huge influence these kind of records had on the formation of ska - just fabulously relentless driving beats. The B-side to Sea Cruise, "Roberta," swings like crazy.





I had one 7" on Ace Records previously - Jimmy Clanton of "Venus in Blue Jeans" fame doing a slower tempo track called "Just a Dream." I liked it enough to remember the label and am glad I did.



Ace Records is now a buy on sight, no questions asked label for me.