#722 (Week of 8/27/11 - 9/2/11) [Complete Upgrade on 2/10/18]

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"Good Man" by Todd Rhodes Orchestra Vocal by Kitty Stevenson and The Band on King 4486-AA released in 1951

Above: Todd Rhodes, who was a pianist, composer, arranger and orchestra leader.

Above: Columns from the (L) 9/27/47 and (R) 10/25/47 issues of The Billboard magazine.

Above: Clipping from the 1/29/49 issue of The Billboard magazine.

Above: Columns from the 1/29/49 issue of The Billboard magazine. The referenced Four Shades Of Rhythm had releases on both Vitacoustic and Old Swingmaster.

Above: Column from the 8/20/49 issue of The Billboard magazine.

Above: (Left) Label for Sensation 32 and (Right) Review from the 5/13/50 issue of The Billboard magazine.

EXTRA AUDIO (Windows Media Player):
(Courtesy of Dave Saviet)

Listen to "Rocket 69" - Todd Rhodes Orchestra (Vocal by Connie Allen and the Band) - King 4528 - 1952.

Above Right photo, from the early 1950s.... Todd Rhodes and his Orchestra. Connie Allen had worked previously with Paul Williams' band. Other females that sang with Todd's orchestra were Olive Brown, Kitty Stevenson, LaVern Baker (Little Miss Sharecropper) and Sadie Madison.

Above Left: Label image of King 4486-AA released in November 1951. Bio DeeJay label: "For a long time Todd Rhodes was a fixture in the Detroit area. He played in and around the Motor City for years, but lately he has been on the road constantly. Todd has the knack of making his small band sound very big. He arranges in such fashion that his combo of alto, tenor, baritone, trumpet, piano, bass and drums sounds much bigger."

Above Right: Label image of King 4240-B, "Blues For The Red Boy," an instrumental released in 1948. The label shows the musicians as T. Rhodes - Piano; J. Williams - Bass; H. Tally - Drums; H. Thompson - Trumpet; H. Dismukes - Alto Sax; L. Barnett - Tenor Sax; G. Favors - Baritone Sax. This was Alan Freed's theme song for his WJW radio broadcasts in Cleveland (Audio of this provided below).

Listen to this week's selections by Todd Rhodes Orchestra: [Audio restoration by Dave Saviet.]

A. Stream RealAudio (DO NOT USE...LISTEN USING DOWNLOAD REALAUDIO)...           1. I May Hate Myself In The Morning           2. I Won't Tell A Soul I Love You           3. My Heart Belongs To Only You             ALL THREE played in sequence      [To download audio files, right-click on link      and then click "Save link (target) as..."]      C. Stream/Download Media Player...             1. Good Man           2. Blues For The Red Boy           3. Alan Freed WJW Intro

The Billboard Review 6/25/49

     [To download audio files, right-click on link and then select "Save (Link) Target As..."]