Kansas City Star |  | Artist: Julia Lee
Label: Bear Family
Category: Music
List Price: $159.97
Buy New: $108.00
as of 9/4/2010 06:24 PDT details
You Save: $51.97 (32%)
New (2) Used (3) from $91.99
Seller: Music By Email
Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 557235
Format: Box set, Import
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 5
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 12.5 x 12.5 x 1.1
EAN: 4000127157706
ASIN: B0000282SZ
Release Date: March 31, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Down Home Syncopated Blues - Julia Lee, | | • | Meritt Stomp - Julia Lee, | | • | If I Could Be with You (One Hour Tonight) - Julia Lee, Creamer, Henry | | • | Paseo Street - Julia Lee, | | • | Ruff Scufflin' - Julia Lee, | | • | St. James Infirmary - Julia Lee, Primrose, Joe | | • | He's Tall, Dark and Handsome - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | Won't You Come Over to My House? - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | Come on Over to My House - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | Trouble in Mind - Julia Lee, Jones, Richard [1] | | • | If It's Good - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | Show Me Missouri Blues - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | Lotus Blossom - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | Dream Lucky Blues - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | Wee Baby Blues - Julia Lee, Johnson, Pete [Pian | | • | If It's Good - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | I've Got a Crush on the Fuller Brush Man - Julia Lee, | | • | Two Loves I Have - Julia Lee, Murray, JP | | • | Some of These Days - Julia Lee, Brooks, Shelton | | • | St. Louis Blues - Julia Lee, Handy, W.C. | | • | Shake That Thing - Julia Lee, | | • | Shake It and Break It - Julia Lee, Clarke, Grant |
Disc 2
| • | Julia's Blues - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | Lies - Julia Lee, Barris, Harry | | • | Gotta Gimme What'cha Got - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | When a Woman Loves a Man - Julia Lee, Hanighen, Bernie | | • | Oh Marie - Julia Lee, DiCapua, Eddie | | • | I'll Get Along Somehow - Julia Lee, Fields, Buddy | | • | A Porter's Love Song to a Chambermaid - Julia Lee, Johnson, James [01] | | • | Have You Ever Been Lonely? - Julia Lee, Brown, George | | • | Since I've Been with You - Julia Lee, Stone, Jesse | | • | Out in the Cold Again - Julia Lee, Bloom, Rube | | • | Young Girl's Blues - Julia Lee, White, Vernon [1] | | • | On My Way Out - Julia Lee, Downey, Morton | | • | There Goes My Heart - Julia Lee, Davis, Benny | | • | Snatch and Grab It - Julia Lee, Pease, Sharon A. | | • | If You Hadn't Gone Away - Julia Lee, Brown, Lew | | • | Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out - Julia Lee, Cox, James | | • | The Curse of an Aching Heart - Julia Lee, Fink, Henry | | • | Bleeding Hearted Blues - Julia Lee, Austin, Lovie [1] | | • | Living Backstreet for You - Julia Lee, Miller | | • | Wise Guys (You're a Wise Guy) - Julia Lee, Windsor, Bonnie |
Disc 3
| • | Mama Don't Allow It - Julia Lee, Davenport, Cow Cow | | • | Doubtful Blues - Julia Lee, Burns, Red | | • | Ain't It a Crime - Julia Lee, Burns, Red | | • | Knock Me a Kiss - Julia Lee, Jackson, Mike [Keyb | | • | Cold-Hearted Daddy - Julia Lee, Cavanaugh, Dave [Sa | | • | My Sin [Take 1] - Julia Lee, Brown, Lew | | • | My Sin [Take 2] - Julia Lee, Brown, Lew | | • | My Sin [Take 3] - Julia Lee, Brown, Lew | | • | My Sin [Take 4] - Julia Lee, Brown, Lew | | • | When You're Smiling - Julia Lee, Fisher, Mark [1] | | • | I Was Wrong - Julia Lee, Burns, Red | | • | Pagan Love Song - Julia Lee, Brown, Nacio Herb | | • | All I Ever Do Is Worry - Julia Lee, Donaldson, Bobby [1 | | • | Take It or Leave It - Julia Lee, Broude, Lynn | | • | That's What I Like - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | King Size Papa - Julia Lee, Gomez, Johnny | | • | Blues for Someone - Julia Lee, Charles, Riff | | • | I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles - Julia Lee, Kellette, John | | • | Breeze (Blow My Baby Back to Me) - Julia Lee, Goodwin, Joe | | • | The Spinach Song (I Didn't Like It the First Time) - Julia Lee, Gomez, Johnny | | • | Tell Me, Daddy - Julia Lee, Black, Bobby [1] | | • | Crazy World - Julia Lee, Burns, Red | | • | Christmas Spirit - Julia Lee, Burns, Red | | • | Until the Real Thing Comes Along - Julia Lee, Cahn, Sammy |
Disc 4
| • | Charmaine - Julia Lee, Pollack, Lew [Compo | | • | Lotus Blossom - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | Lotus Blossom - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | Sit Down and Drink It Over - Julia Lee, Craig, Francis | | • | Away from You - Julia Lee, Craig, Francis | | • | The Glory of Love - Julia Lee, Hill, Billy [1] | | • | Tonight's the Night - Julia Lee, Yates, Yardley | | • | My Man Stands Out - Julia Lee, Yates, Yardley | | • | Do You Want It? - Julia Lee, Smith, Virginia | | • | It Comes in Like a Lion - Julia Lee, Elliot, Richard | | • | Don't Come Too Soon - Julia Lee, Elliot, Richard | | • | Ugly Papa - Julia Lee, Elliot, Richard | | • | Don't Save It Too Long (The Money Song) - Julia Lee, Elliot, Richard | | • | After Hours Waltz - Julia Lee, Burns, Red | | • | You Ain't Got It No More - Julia Lee, Wax, Mildred | | • | When Your Lover Has Gone - Julia Lee, Swan, Einar A. | | • | Oh Chuck It (In a Bucket) - Julia Lee, Elliot, Richard | | • | Decent Woman Blues - Julia Lee, Hanson, Adeline | | • | Dragging My Heart Around - Julia Lee, Hill, Alexander [Pi |
Disc 5
| • | It Won't Be Long - Julia Lee, Yates, Yardley | | • | You're Gonna Miss It - Julia Lee, Gomez, Johnny | | • | Can't Get Enough of That Stuff - Julia Lee, Yates, Yardley | | • | When a Man Has Two Women - Julia Lee, Gordon, Irving | | • | Scream in the Night - Julia Lee, Gordon, Irving | | • | I Know It's Wrong (The Diet Song) - Julia Lee, Wax, Mildred | | • | Music, Maestro, Please! - Julia Lee, Magidson, Herbert | | • | Pipe Dreams - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | When Jennie Does That Lowdown Dance - Julia Lee, | | • | If I Didn't Care - Julia Lee, Lawrence, Jack [Lyr | | • | Lazy River - Julia Lee, Arodin, Sidney | | • | All This Beef and Big Ripe Tomatoes - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | Can't Get It off My Mind - Julia Lee, | | • | I Got News for You - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | Goin' to Chicago Blues - Julia Lee, Basie, Count | | • | Last Call for Alcohol - Julia Lee, Burns, Red | | • | Kansas City Boogie - Julia Lee, Lee, Julia | | • | Love in Bloom - Julia Lee, Rainger, Ralph | | • | Keep Em' Barefoot and Busy - Julia Lee, Hall | | • | Baby I'm Though - Julia Lee, Hall | | • | Scat You Cats - Julia Lee, Hall | | • | I Can't See How - Julia Lee, | | • | King Size Papa - Julia Lee, Gomez, Johnny | | • | Bop and Rock Lullaby - Julia Lee, Tumino, Bob |
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| Customer Reviews:
"...I Used To Run Away From The Stuff...But Now Somehow...I Can't Get Enough..." July 12, 2010
Mark Barry at Reckless Records, London (UK)
"Kansas City Star" is a 5CD Box Set by Bear Family Records of Germany (released March 1995) which offers up a huge 109 remastered tracks in chronological release date order (20 are previously unreleased). It covers everything from her 1st rare 78" on the Meritt label in 1927 where she featured as a Duet Vocalist in her brother George's jazz band - right through to her last recordings in 1957 - privately pressed 45"s on the obscure Foremost label.
Bear Family BCD 15770 EI breaks down as follows...
Disc 1, 22 Tracks, 61:24 minutes
Previously unreleased tracks are - "Wee Baby Blues" (15), "If It's Good" (16), "I've Got A Crush On The Fuller Brush Man" (17), "Two Lovers Have I" (18), "Some Of These Days" (19), "St. Louis Blues" (20), "Shake That Thing" (21) and "Shake It And Break It" (22)
Disc 2, 20 Tracks, 57:47 minutes
Previously unreleased tracks are - "Have You Ever Been Lonely" (8) and "The Curse Of An Aching Heart" (17)
Disc 3, 24 Tracks, 73:53 minutes
Previously unreleased tracks are - "My Sin" [Takes 1, 2 and 3] (6, 7 and 8)
Disc 4, 19 Tracks, 54:50 minutes
Previously unreleased track is - "Marijuana" (3)
Disc 5, 24 Tracks, 62:51 minutes
Previously unreleased tracks are - "Music, Maestro Please" (7), "If I Didn't Care" (10), "Lazy River" (11), "Can't Get It Off My Mind" (13), "Kansas City Boogie" (17) and "Love In Bloom" (18)
CONTENT:
This box will allow you to sequence all her 78"s and 45"s (42 entries) on the Meritt, Brunswick, Capitol, Premier, Mercury, Damon and Foremost labels. Her debut 1950 10" LP "Party Time" on Capitol Records and its extended 1955 12" LP equivalent are here in their entirety - as is her 2nd big official album - 1964's "Julia Lee & Her Boy Friends". During the Eighties Charly Records of England and Jukebox Lil of Sweden began to license unreleased Capitol recordings from her 1940s heyday - and along with 78" sides that had never been on album before - they issued 4 LPs between them. You get Charly's "Tonight's The Night" (1983) and "Of Lions And Lambs" (1988) and Jukebox Lil's "Ugly Papa" (1983) and "A Porter's Love Song" (1985) - all 4 LPs are here in their entirety too.
BOOKLET/SOUND:
The 32-page album-sized booklet features a superb life/music appraisal by noted UK writer BILL MILLAR, while CHARLES J. HADDIX and Bear Family's own RICHARD WEIZE compiled the very detailed session-by-session Discography. Like most Bear Family booklets of the time, it's a lovely thing to behold featuring full page black & white shots of Julia in the Capitol Records studio, trade adverts, newspaper clippings, sheet music, repros of those beautiful American 78" labels and so on... And each CD has a different photo with a 78" repro'd on the other side of the single-sheet inlay.
The Disc/Metal Part Transfers have involved great names like Walter DeVenne and Boppin' Bob Jones - while the mastering was handled by Adam Skeaping. Excepting the 4 x 78"s featuring George E. Lee and His Novelty Singing Orchestra from the 1920s (rough sounding), once you hit the Capitol stuff (bulk of what's on here), the sound quality is amazingly good. Some of the takes have studio chatter at the beginning and end and Disc 1 contains a newly discovered 8-track session from 1947 that is brilliant.
Musically - Julia Lee was a saucy soul - almost all of her songs involved sexual innuendo of some kind, which was both daring for the day and huge fun. Like her Capitol label mate Nellie Lutcher, you only had to hear that great voice and cast an eye on her ample frame - and good things were bound to happen. Julia had Big Joe Turner in her blood and Bessie Smith in her soul (at times compared to her). Her piano playing was good too. Highlights for me include the salacious and sly lyrics (title above) of "I Didn't Like It The First Time (The Spinach Song)" which as you can imagine isn't really about a vitamin supplement. There's also lot of jazz blues on here too - but towards the end of her career - the 'naughty' angle had played itself out - and too many of the songs feel like they're looking for a hit rather than actually being one.
Still - listening to theses disc has been a joy for me and a real discovery. I've even sequenced the 12-track version of her fabulous "Party Time" album and play it often. Niggles - despite a 2-year search, the 2nd 45 from the Foremost label (Foremost 105) with "Trouble In Mind" and "Saturday Night" was never found - so its not here. And being a luxury box set, it's not cheap as an import...
Julia Lee died in December 1958 aged 56 and right up until the end of her life had been working bars in her beloved Kansas City. Her brother George Ewing who gave Julia her first 78" way back in 1927 died the following year. White boys Dave Dexter of Capitol who championed her and saxophonist Big Dave Cavanaugh who was one of her "Boy Friends" (she and her band were almost always credited as Julia Lee and Her Boy Friends) are long gone too. Thankfully this fabulous box set is here to remember them all in grace and style.
The mighty Bear Family folks - another peach from them and recommended like a life-enhancing tin of Spinach.
PS: I've also reviewed the following Bear Family box sets (with discographies) that may be of interest - Louis Jordan, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Roy Orbison, Freddie King, Ella Mae Morse and Nellie Lutcher
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