Calvin Boze

CALVIN BOZE & HIS ALL-STARS - HAVIN' A BALL (1951)

1. Safronia B

2. Angel City Blues

3. Working With My Baby

4. Satisfied

5. Waiting And Drinking

6. You're Tops With Me

7. Slippin' And Slidin'

8. I Can't Stop Crying

9. I've Got News For You

10. Keep Your Nose Out Of My Business

11. Lizzy Lou (parts 1 & 2)

12. Shamrock

13. Havin' A Ball (Having A Time)

14. Looped

15. I'm Gonna Steam Off The Stamp

16. Fishtail

17. Beale Street On A Saturday Night

Calvin Boze was one of the many West Coast singers who took part in the development of the rhythm and blues scene in the late 1940s and early 1950s. His recordings are often reminiscent of Louis Jordan with their easy going swing and slyly witty lyrics.Starting in January 1950, Boze had formed his own band, the Calvin Boze Combo (soon rechristened The Calvin Boze All-Stars), which toured heavily, not only on the West Coast, but also in the North East (including an appearance at the Apollo Theatre in New York) and in the Midwest, with Dinah Washington. Several more Aladdin sessions followed, always with Maxwell Davis and his orchestra, but the sales figures of his later singles did not measure up to those of his earlier efforts. These later recordings include "Looped" (also recorded by Melvin Smith and Tommy Ridgley), "Shamrock", the instrumental "Fish Tail" and "Hey Laudie Miss Claudie" (which preceded Lloyd Price's Specialty recording of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" by five months). Calvin Boze did not record after 1952, but he continued to play at jam sessions around Los Angeles, while also developing a career as a social worker and school teacher, before his early death after prolonged ill health.