Simply Red

One of the mainstays of the legendary Cosimo Studio session regulars along with Earl Palmer, Allen Toussaint, Lee Allen, Justin Adams, James Booker, Chuck Carbo, and others, Alvin "Red" Tyler played and arranged on many a classic record session in the heyday of New Orleans rock & roll. Playing on hit recordings with Fats Domino, Little Richard, Lloyd Price, Smiley Lewis, Shirley & Lee, Joe Turner, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Ford, and Bobby Mitchell, Tyler's résumé is the recorded history of '50s New Orleans music. By 1961, he was able to record his own album (Rockin' & Rollin') for Johnny Vincent's Ace imprint, collected here along with six previously unissued alternate takes ("Peanut Vendor," "Classy Lassie," "Walk On," "Tonking," and two versions of "Hey Mama") and a 1958 single of "Snake Eyes" and "Walk On." A classic instrumental album in the Bill Doggett tradition with a distinct N.O. slant to it, other highlights also include "Stinky" (aka "Happy Sax"), "Dippy," "Long Ride," "Lonely for You," "Junk Village," and "Tonking," making this 18-track collection a fine tribute to this Crescent City sax giant, who passed away in April of 1998, just as this reissue was seeing the light of day.