This fascinating double CD documents New Orleans R&B during its formative years. Mercury, a Chicago label, was one of several independents attracted to New Orleans after DeLuxe had success with Roy Brown, Paul Gayten and Annie Laurie in the late 1940s. However, unlike California labels that visited New Orleans like Specialty, Imperial and Aladdin, Mercury didn’t have much commercial success. Mercury’s biggest accomplishment in New Orleans was that they recorded Roy Byrd (Professor Longhair). His 13 tracks from 1950 are naturally the centerpiece of this anthology. Naturally, Byrd is firing on all cylinders, rocking and hollering with absurd abandon. Listeners will recognize several songs here from later versions. For example, the stomping “Between Midnight And Dawn,” would evolve into “In The Night.” Other Byrd anthems are here including “Her Mind Is Gone” and “Baldhead.” One unearthed gem here is “Byrd’s Blues,” which includes the riotous lyric, “I found out I ain’t me / Boys I’m someone else!”

The rest of the collection is very much a mixed bag. There’s more than a dozen Alma Monday tracks and while none are bad, they’re unspectacular. I don’t how Mercury could have thought she’d replace Dinah Washington. Poor Therard Johnson’s two tracks are best described as lugubrious George Miller and his Mid-Driffs play with energy, and it’s a treat to here saxman “Batman” Rankin on Bat Lee Swing.” Another Mercury find was Little Joe Gaines whose “Snuff Dipping Woman,” is reminiscent of what Dave Bartholomew was writing and recording at the time. There are four stunning spiritual tracks by the Silvertone Singers, a male quartet that remains a total mystery to musicologists.

This set also includes the only two tracks ever recorded by one of New Orleans most flamboyant entertainers—Patsy Vadalia (Pat Valdelar). Patsy was the colorful” female impersonator who emceed floor shows at the Dew Drop Inn. Patsy was by no one’s measure a great vocalist, but his/her two tracks pack a lot of energy. The opposite can be said for Ray Johnson who was under the West Coast spell of the understated Charles Brown. Therein lies the reason Mercury’s New Orleans experiment failed. Outside of Byrd, none of their New Orleans recordings sounded like they were recorded here; they were busy coattailing other styles. Still, this is a worthy collection and well worth obtaining, with typically first class Bear Family packaging and succinct notes from Rick Coleman.