From:  "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Fri Mar 4, 2005  1:35 am 
Subject:  This Is My Story : Jewel King

JEWEL KING

Born Mary Jewel King, circa 1928, Texas

Texas-born R&B singer Jewel King moved to New Orleans in the
mid-forties. By 1948 she began to make a name for herself as she
worked many local clubs like the Club Rocket, the Club Desire and
the Dew Drop. In that year she had her first recording session, for
DeLuxe Records, but these tracks ("Go Now" and "Passion Blues")
were never issued. Her next visit to a recording studio (Cosimo's of
course, the only studio in New Orleans) took place on November 29,
1949. This was the first session that Dave Bartholomew produced for
Imperial. It was a split session with Tommy Ridgley, who recorded
"Shrewsbury Blues" (Imperial 5054), his very first single.

Backed by the Bartholomew band (Dave Bartholomew, Joe Harris,
Herb Hardesty, Red Tyler, Salvador Doucette, Ernest McLean, Frank
Fields, Earl Palmer), Jewel recorded four tracks : "3 x 7 = 21", "Don't
Marry Too Soon", "Low Down Feeling" and a new version of "Passion
Blues", which had been rejected by DeLuxe.

"3 x 7 = 21" (with a fine tenor solo by Red Tyler) was released in
January 1950 and climbed to # 4 on the R&B charts. Fats Domino's
"The Fat Man" also charted at this time and Imperial honcho Lew
Chudd set up a national tour for the two acts, with King headlining.
At the last minute, Jewel bailed out because her husband /bandleader
(Jack Scott) refused to let her tour without his band. Bartholomew told
her she was making a big mistake and left without her, with Tommy
Ridgley as a replacement. Imperial issued three further Jewel King
singles during 1950, but they sold poorly. Jewel's last session took
place in 1952 when she recorded "Round About Love Time", an obvious
attempt to repeat the success of "3 x 7 = 21", but it was not to be.
Jewel King remained a one-hit wonder. Dave Bartholomew concludes:
"Jewel started working with Jack Scott's band. The last I heard they'd
moved to San Antonio and were working at the Keyhole Club. This was
back in the mid-fifties and that's the last I've ever heard from her".

Discography:
Imperial 5055 3 x 7 = 21 / Don't Marry Too Soon
Imperial 5061 I'll Get It / I Broke My Mother's Rule
Imperial 5076 Passion Blues / Keep Your Big Mouth Shut
Imperial 5087 Low Down Feeling / I Love a Fellow
Imperial 5177 Round About Love Time / Lost Love

Two unissued tracks from the 1952 session, "Guide Me" and "Freight
Train" were released in France on a 10-inch Pathe-Marconi LP (1566390)
in 1986.

"3 x 7 = 21" (also recorded by the Spiders in 1954) is available on several
compilations, for instance "The Genius of Dave Bartholomew" (2 CD-set
from EMI, 1992). The 4-CD set "Gettin' Funky : The Birth of New Orleans
R&B" (Properbox 28, from 2001) includes four tracks by Jewel. Among
them is "3 x 7 = 21", but ... this is an entirely different song, though it
also includes the line "Yes, I'm three times seven". The discography that
accompanies the Proper set says that this is the recording from 1949,
but it is obvious that this was recorded in 1955 or 1956, with a very good
solo by Lee Allen. The sound of the Bartholomew band is almost the same
as on Dave Bartholomew's "Would You" (Imperial 5390, which was recorded
October 26, 1955). The singer on this version of "3 x 7 = 21" is probably
not Jewel King at all, for according to all available sources, she did not
record after 1952. A bit of a mystery. Can anyone clarify?

Dik