Will Bradley • Beat Me Daddy

When one thinks of Will Bradley, the first song that comes to mind is his big hit “Beat Me Daddy, Eight To The Bar.” Recorded when big-band boogie-woogie was starting to reach the height of its popularity, this two-sided romp from 1940 features pianist Freddie Slack, either Joe Wiedman or Al Mitchell taking a stirring trumpet solo (no reference book seems to tell who the soloist was), and the leader on trombone with drummer Ray McKinley driving the band. The ironic part was that Bradley did not care for boogie-woogie and he actually preferred playing ballads.

Will Bradley (1912-89) was a very skilled trombonist capable of being both a top-notch studio musician and an excellent swing soloist. During 1939-42, his big band recorded 104 titles (not counting alternate takes). 41 of the best are included on the double-CD Beat Me Daddy along with five selections from 1943 and 1946-47. Strangely enough, the recorded are programmed in the order that they were released rather than when they were recorded which makes following the band’s progress during 1940 a little confusing, but the music is consistently rewarding.

Beat Me Daddy has all of the Bradley boogie-woogie pieces (including “Rhumboogie,” “Rock-A-Bye The Boogie,” “Scrub Me Mama, With A Boogie Beat,” “Chicken Gumboogie,” “Bounce Me Brother With A Solid Four,” and “Booglie Wooglie Piggy”) but also has a generous number of swing tunes and some ballads with most of the vocals being by Carlotta Dale, Jimmy Valentine, and/or the good-humored Ray McKinley. Bradley led a well-rounded band as can be heard on fine versions of “Memphis Blues,” “I’m Coming Virginia,” “Jimtown Blues,” and “In The Hall Of The Mountain King.” There are also a few small-group numbers such as the eccentric “Celery Stalks At Midnight,” “Down The Road A Piece,” and “Basin Street Boogie.”

After the big band broke up in 1942 due to the World War II. draft robbing Bradley of many of his sidemen, Freddie Slack forming his own orchestra, and musical differences with Ray McKinley, Bradley worked on radio and in the studios. He did lead an occasional record date including four numbers (three of which are included in the twofer) as the leader of “Will Bradley & His Boogie Woogie Boys” despite his reluctance to play that music. The final song on this release is 1947’s “Bop ‘N’ Boogie,” a big band number with fellow studio players that lives up to its title.

Beat Me Daddy succeeds at being the definitive Will Bradley set. It is heartily recommended to all swing and boogie-woogie fans.

Will Bradley • Beat Me Daddy
Acrobat ADDCD 3593
www.acrobatmusic.net and www.mvdb2b.com

Scott Yanow

Since 1975 Scott Yanow has been a regular reviewer of albums in many jazz styles. He has written for many jazz and arts magazines, including JazzTimes, Jazziz, Down Beat, Cadence, CODA, and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, and was the jazz editor for Record Review. He has written an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic.com. He has authored 11 books on jazz, over 900 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings. Yanow was a contributor to and co-editor of the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz. He continues to write for Downbeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, the Jazz Rag, the New York City Jazz Record and other publications.