For those unaware, Ernie Freeman was an R&B pianist, organist, bandleader, composer and arranger, born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1922, and who started playing swing music during the ’30s before leading the first all-black US Navy Band in WWII.

In the late ’40s he started playing R&B with Ernie Fields and Earl Bostic, and in the early ’50s formed his own band, making his first records in 1955, and was in the vanguard of the vogue for grooving organ and sax-based instrumentals in the rock ’n’ roll era.

This brand new 60-track 2-CD collection comprises most of his A and B sides on the Middle-Tone, Cash and Imperial labels from this era, plus selected titles from his Imperial albums Jivin’ Around, Dreaming With Ernie Freeman, The Dark At The Top Of The Stairs and Soulful Sounds Of Country.

It features his R&B No. 1 Raunchy and No. 5 Jivin’ Around, plus his other pop and R&B hits Dumplin’s, Indian Love Call, Rockin’ Red Wing, Theme From Dark At The Top Of The Stairs and The Twist. He was at the heart of a particular strand of instrumental pop during a key era of the market’s evolution, and this is a substantial and entertaining showcase for his distinctive style of R&B.

One of so many interesting behind-the-scenes figures of early rock & roll, pianist and arranger Ernie played on numerous early rock and R&B sessions in the ’50s. He worked on dates for the L.A. indies Specialty, Modern, and Aladdin, as well as white artists such as Duane Eddy, Johnny Burnette, the Crickets, Bobby Vee, and Buddy Knox.

Indeed, his most memorable session appearance was probably on the Platters’ The Great Pretender, to which he contributed the stuttering piano riffs. Freeman also put out many instrumental records of his own, mostly for Imperial, and usually in a generic rocked-up jump R&B sort of style.

Jivin’ Around and Lost Dreams were R&B hits for him in 1956, but he got his sole crossover pop smash with a cover of Bill Justis’ Raunchy in 1957, which made number four.

It was a strange situation: Justis’ original hit number two, and a pop-oriented cover by Billy Vaughan also made number ten, leading to an incredible happenstance in December 1957 whereby three versions of Raunchy were in the Top Ten at the same time. Freeman’s cover copied Justis’ fairly closely and thus, I am sorry to say, wasn’t quite as good; it’s almost always Justis’ original that is played on oldies radio today.

Freeman was unable to make the Top 40 again, although he had minor hits with Indian Love Call, Theme from The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, and a cover of Chubby Checker’s The Twist and he also recorded in the easy-listening style under the pseudonym Sir Chauncey, sneaking into the bottom of the Top 100 with Beautiful Obsession.

His own career petered out by the mid-’60s, but he worked with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. at Reprise, and as late as 1970 was doing some string arrangements on Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water album.

Disc 1:
1. No No Baby; 2. Two Things I Love; 3. Hey Now; 4. My Love Grows Stronger; 5. Jivin’ Around Pts. 1 & 2; 6. Rockin’ Around; 7. Lost Dreams; 8. Funny Face; 9. Rainy Day; 10. Spring Fever; 11. Walking The Beat; 12. A Touch Of The Blues; 13. Return To Me; 14. The River Boat; 15. Swing It (The Runaway); 16. Beautiful Weekend; 17. Dumplin’s; 18. Raunchy; 19. Puddin’; 20. The Tuttle; 21. Leaps And Bounds; 22. Theme From Igor; 23. Shape Up; 24. Indian Love Call; 25. Summer Serenade; 26. After Sunset; 27. Jamboree; 28. Junior Jive; 29. School Room Rock

Disc 2:
1. Blues After Hours; 2. Live It Up; 3. Marshmallows, Popcorn And Soda Pop; 4. The Honeydripper; 5. A Summer Love; 6. Always With You; 7. Big River; 8. Night Sounds (Backstage Hop); 9. Rockin’ Red Wing; 10. Dark Eyes; 11. Theme From The Dark At The Top Of The Stairs; 12. Come On Home; 13. Swamp Meeting; 14. That’s All; 15. Conquest; 16. Swingin’ Preacher; 17. The Twist; 18. What Am I Living For; 19. I Didn’t Want To Do It; 20. The Stripper; 21. Half As Much; 22. Flyin’ High; 23. Bluesy Me; 24. Save The Last Dance For Me; 25. Night Theme; 26. Volare 27; 27. Diane; 28. I’m Movin’ On; 29. I Don’t Hurt Anymore; 30. I Walk The Line

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