Diddy Wah Diddy ...Ain't a Town, Ain't a City

Liner Note Author: Martin Hawkins.
Recording information: Delta Recording Studio, Jackson, Mississippi (1957-1964).
Illustrator: Bobby Joe Swilley.
Photographer: Bobby Joe Swilley.
Jimmie Ammons was a Jackson, Mississippi machinist and tool and die maker who developed an interest in recording in the early '50s. He started out recording weddings, church choirs, and the like, and eventually built a small recording studio in his garage, branching out into doing demos for local musicians. In time he began locally releasing some of these demos on his own Delta Records imprint, which he started around 1952. He kept the studio going until 1977 and ended up working with a wide variety of Mississippi musicians, including local blues and R&B players, hillbilly bands, and -- when rock & roll first broke -- a host of rockabilly artists and nascent rockers. What his recordings lacked in clarity and precision they more than made up for with a certain loose, raw, and immediate energy. This set from Bear Family Records collects 30 of Ammons' rockabilly, R&B, and rock & roll releases recorded between 1956 and 1964, none of which ever generated more than local success, and none of which have previously been available in the digital realm. It's a fun set, full of verve and playfulness, and it's a treasure trove of rare, raucous rockabilly featuring slightly unhinged gems like Rick Richardson's "It Didn't Satisfy My Soul," the Red Counts' loose, horn-led version of "Slow Down," Warner Mack's "Ubangi Stomp," Andy Anderson's "Johnny Valentine," and an almost polished duet by Rick Richardson and Murray Kellum on "The Trouble with Me Is You." None of these sides would have changed the history of pop music any had they somehow managed to break into the national charts, but combined like this, these rare tracks show how rock & roll was building through the 1950s in scores of small, independent studios just like Ammons built in Mississippi. This set is both a history lesson and a whole lot of fun. ~ Steve Leggett