BIOGRAPHY AND DISCOGRAPHY

 

The first pure rock guitarist of note, more specifically somebody who hadn’t drifted into the field from another genre, was Jimmy “Baby Face” Lewis, all of 16 years old when he first gave notice as to his promise with two vital pre-rock cuts in the spring of 1947, hampered by the group behind him, but leaving no doubt that he was an ahead of his time visionary.

That there’s so little information that exists on Lewis only adds to his aura. His birth date is sketchy and he may have been from Canada, but how he came to be a professional musician while only in his mid-teens is part of the mystery.

What is known is that upon his appearance at clubs around Baltimore in the mid-1940’s he was dubbed “The Madman Of The Guitar” for his flamboyant playing style that didn’t adhere to any rules of decorum on an instrument that had typically remained in modest supporting roles in all forms of music to that point.

Attracting quite a bit of attention for this he was signed to cut one-off sessions for a variety of labels over the next year resulting in a handful of sides for Aladdin, Savoy and Manor before finally finding some permanence in 1949 upon signing with Atlantic where he remained until 1951. While there he joined fellow Atlantic act Joe Morris’s band on the side for a short time as well.

He then departed for RCA before returning to Atlantic in the mid-1950s, first on their Cat subsidiary and then back on the parent label cutting with Floyd Dixon’s crew after which his trail grows cold.

When we next hear of him it’s not for any guitar pyrotechnics but rather for a drug bust in 1963 after an undercover sting operation snagged him along with two hundred thousand bucks worth of dope and landed Lewis in the headlines at last.

He deserved headlines for his musical innovation long before that and of the many obscure talents in rock history, Lewis, whose often incendiary work on the guitar well before the instrument itself had been widely featured in rock ‘n’ roll, remains one of the more interesting and enduring mysteries still to be untangled.
 
 
JIMMY “BABY FACE” LEWIS DISCOGRAPHY (Reviews To Date On Spontaneous Lunacy):
 
 
GRANDMA AND GRANDPA
(Savoy 5547; March, 1948)
More anticipatory than fulfilling in terms of unleashing Lewis’s guitar full bore, and the song itself is rather choppy with a mediocre storyline, but what Baby Face DOES play is enough to get you craving more. (6)

DUSTY ROAD
(Savoy 5547; March, 1948)
Slow and sparse, the melody carried almost entirely by Lewis’s generally solid voice but not utilizing his guitar enough nor adding another instrument, like a sax, to contrast with it when he does enter the picture, this was a lost opportunity to establish him better. (4)

I’M WISE TO YOU BABY
(Manor 1164; January, 1949)
Lewis shows why he had so much potential as a singer, songwriter AND mind-blowing guitarist, yet he’s let down by Tab Smith’s outdated concept for the horn section which requires all of Baby Face’s formidable talent to overcome. (7)

EVERY SUNDAY BEFORE MONDAY
(Manor 1197; September, 1949)
A somewhat compromised record as Lewis doesn’t get an opportunity to showcase his guitar and the slow pace overall is a bit confining vocally, but the song shows some decent writing and he subtly pushes against the arrangement without upending the entire track. (4)

BULGING EYES
(Manor 1197; September, 1949)
Slightly better than the top side thanks to Lewis’s guitar and some mildly suggestive lyrics, but while his attempts at crooning aren’t awful it’s also not what we’ve come to hear and the bland outdated arrangement only compounds the problem. (4)

ALL NIGHT LOVER BLUES
(Atlantic 884; October, 1949)
Inexplicable first offering on Atlantic Records, as Lewis’s guitar is kept under wraps, the song is deathly slow and the story line concerns somebody else’s failed love life that contains no personal investment for Baby Face or for the listener. (3)

HOW LONG BABY
(Atlantic 884; October, 1949)
Though stylistically this was not the type of song that was going to define him, nor be likely to land a hit as something more explosive, Lewis pulls off the subdued lament with grace and the understated arrangement is perfect for conveying the somber mood. (7)

I’M SO GOOD TO YOU
(Atlantic 901; March, 1950)
An outdated song results in another largely wasted effort as Lewis isn’t allowed to contribute with his explosive guitar nor are the other musicians up to the task of conveying excitement so it’s left to Jimmy’s exuberant vocals to get the message across. (5)

MAILMAN BLUES
(Atlantic 901; March, 1950)
Somewhat of a mixed bag again for Lewis whose vocal exuberance and a welcome guitar solo are the obvious highlights of the track, but a poor mix done to try and tone it all down hampers its ability to really make an impression. (6)

ALL THE FUN’S ON ME
(Atlantic 913; July, 1950)
Beset by the wrong approach as this emphasizes the despondency over a trouble relationship rather than focus on Lewis’s optimistic rebuttal while the flat arrangement features no horns and can’t even give Lewis or René Hall’s guitars enough to do to keep them busy. (3)

I’M STILL IN LOVE
(Atlantic 913; July, 1950)
An atypical approach for Lewis who crafts a very tender ballad of heartbreak, but he pulls it off well because his delivery is so believable and helped by some mesmerizing guitar playing by René Hall this works in spite of it not being what Baby Face theoretically does best. (7)

SLIPPIN’ AND SLIDIN’
(Atlantic 927; January, 1951)
A low-key introspective song that Lewis delivers well vocally, but because he doesn’t get to play the guitar solo we’re stuck with a slack country-blues styled offering which doesn’t compliment the sentiments he’s singing causing this to fall short of being special. (6)

I’VE GOT A RIGHT TO LOVE
(Atlantic 927; January, 1951)
More haunting balladry, this one even more unusual in terms of structure, Lewis’s singing is the best thing about the record as the band is playing a jazzy cocktail blues meets pop arrangement that is inconsequential while Jimmy’s at least trying to be creative. (4)

MIDNIGHT GRINDER
(Atlantic 940; May, 1951)
As sideman… for Joe Morris. Educated speculation based on his presence as a vocalist on the session – plus the familiar tone – tells you this was Lewis delivering the tough grinding riff that anchors the song and makes this one of the more invigorating instrumentals of the year. (8)

LOVE FEVER BLUES
(Atlantic 940; May, 1951)
As singer and songwriter on a Joe Morris record, Lewis handles the despondent mood well enough technically but the song itself is hardly very compelling because of his subservient state of mind. (4)

LET’S GET TOGETHER AND MAKE SOME LOVE
(Atlantic 943; August, 1951)
Exactly the kind of record Lewis should’ve been making all along – a tough racy rocker with plenty of room to stretch out on guitar and if the horns are a little behind the curve, his attitude, both singing and playing, makes up for it. (7)

I’LL BE FAITHFUL TO YOU
(Atlantic 943; August, 1951)
Just what nobody wanted – Lewis as a sappy pop crooner singing insipid lyrics about love that shows absolutely zero emotion while backed by supper club piano, strings and horns, all but sinking his reputation as a rock act… if anyone had still been paying attention. (1)

CHERRY WINE
(RCA 20-4899; August, 1952)
The arrangement sounds like a tentative rock track from five years earlier while Lewis is too casually upbeat to be convincing for the edgier plot even though he sings well and gets in some good guitar licks on a record marked by conceptual passivity. (5)

DARK AND LONELY ROOM
(RCA 20-4899; August, 1952)
Though the song he wrote is halfway decent and his voice shows pleasant charm, it’s not the kind of passive crooning we want to hear from him, especially when saddled with an arrangement that is pure pop by nature without his guitar anywhere in sight. (2)