Mother Jones

Billy Ward and His Dominoes
The Complete King/Federal Singles
Real Gone Music

Superstars on the 1950s R&B scene, Billy Ward’s Dominoes launched the careers of two amazing singers: Clyde McPhatter, who later fronted the earliest incarnation of the Drifters on such hits as “Money Honey” and “Such a Night,” and Jackie Wilson, whose high-energy solo smashes included “Lonely Teardrops” and “Baby Workout.” While this two-disc, 58-track collection is a mixed bag thanks to the corny likes of “Three Coins in the Fountain” and “When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano,” the high points are undeniably thrilling. Among them: the outrageously sleazy “Sixty Minute Man,” showcasing single-entendre bass vocalist Bill Brown; the funereal lament ‘The Bells,” wherein McPhatter mixes hysterical sobbing and piercing shrieks in truly bizarre fashion; and Wilson’s rip-snorting “You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down.” Crank up the time machine, pop a top, and let the fun begin.

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Blast From the Past: Billy Ward and His Dominoes