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Selected MP3s of guitar instrumentals, jazz, big band, and classic easy listening from the original vinyl.

Welcome to Guitars & All That Jazz

Welcome to Guitars & All That Jazz

Guitars & All That Jazz was a radio station that webcast via Live365 for 11 years, ending in June 2011. The playlist consisted of guitar instrumentals, jazz, big band, early rock 'n' roll, lounge music and classic easy listening.

I hope to share some of this music with you via this blog. Most of it will be taken from the original vinyl (LPs and 45s) , cassettes and the occasional commercially unavailable CD.

Here's hoping you'll find something to enjoy. Please note files are available only for a limited time.

I urge you to purchase the digital version of the albums featured, either on CD or via download, wherever possible.

Listen to the Music
There are now two music streams. Click the appropriate player to the right.
1. Guitars & All That Jazz: Five hours of the best in jazz, guitars and other instrumental gems. New songs are added weekly.
2. Tiki Shores: Music to sweep you away to a tropical isle, a South American dance floor or a bossa nova on the beach at Rio. About 4.5 hours of classic exotica music, Latin rhythms and bossa nova.
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Saturday, February 01, 2014

Billy Ward and the Dominoes (Decca LP)


Billy Ward and the Dominoes were one of the most successful R&B groups of the early 1950s, but by the time this LP came out in '57 they were starting on their way down.

Many people assumed at the time that Ward was the lead singer, but that wasn't the case. Although Ward was the group's musical director (and by all accounts a strict disciplinarian) and played piano, the Dominoes' success was based largely on the styles of lead tenors Clyde McPhatter (1950-53) and Jackie Wilson (1953-57). When McPhatter departed to form The Drifters, Wilson was his replacement.

The group's success was largely confined to the R&B chart and the Dominoes had not had a pop hit since Sixty-Minute Man in 1951. That changed in 1956, a year after Ward signed the group with Decca, when St. Therese of the Roses was a surprise chart entry. It was included on the Billy Ward and the Dominoes album, which also included a version of To Each His Own, a 1946 composition by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. Eddy Howard, Freddy Martin and His Orchestra, the Ink Spots and several others recorded hit versions at the time. On the Dominoes' recording Jackie Wilson is the lead singer.

The MP3 is from the original vinyl LP.

To Each His Own



Some of the Dominoes Decca recordings, including St. Therese of the Roses and To Each His Own, are available almost everywhere on various download compilations, many of them of dubious origin. The quality varies widely.

The best overview of the group's career on CD, although it only includes a couple of Decca cuts, is Sixty-Minute Men: The Best of Billy Ward & His Dominoes, a 1993 compilation from Rhino.


No need to pay the $35 demanded by Amazon for this out-of-print item. Used copies are available at a fraction of the price.

Here's the one and only Decca hit by Billy Ward and the Dominoes.


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