Green Eyes

Chick Bullock was a very popular singer in the 1930s, however due to a disfiguring eye ailment he limited his performances to the studio. As he was "the" studio singer for the American Record Corporation, he was called on to record with just about everyone. Don Azpiazu brought his Cuban band to Broadway in 1930 and commenced the the Cuban rumba craze in the US. His original "Peanut Vendor" is well-known, as is the tune "Green Eyes" which is the lone Chick Bullock vocal in this collection.

Over the span of his career Bullock recorded over 700 sides, so in order to avoid glutting the market with his name, labels marketed him under a wide variety of names. I'll go into more of them in a future post, but for me the funniest is the one he used with Don Azpiazu's band - Chiquito Bullo. How that was supposed to fool people, I'll never know. I'm not completely sure how people would be adverse to buying a song with a Chick Bullock vocal listing, but still willing to pick up a copy that used a pseudonym. After all, the recordings are identical and only the label had been changed. Prices varied from label to labe, but it was still the same exact recording.

Anyway, there is some really good music to be had here and I recommend that you pick up a copy before it goes out of print. You can still find it at Worlds Records Music. I've bought a lot of great jazz music from this company over the years, and never had a problem. In the meantime .... +

Tracks

1. El Manisero (The Peanut Vendor)
2. A Penny For Your Thoughts
3. Wanna Lot Of Love
4. Marianna
5. African Lament
6. Me Odias
7. La Guajira
8. El Panquelero
9. The Voodoo
10. Green Eyes
11. Lament To Borinqueno
12. Amor Sincero
13. La Cachimba De San Juan
14. Be Careful With Those Eyes
15. With My Guitar And You
16. La Mulata Rumbera
17. Adela -El Manisero
18. Siboney
19. El Manisero - Me Odias
20. The Voodoo
21. La Runidera
22. El Ritmo De La Rumba