Bull Moose Jackson
Allegedly, Benjamin Jackson resembled a bull moose. At least, that's what a few wags in Lucky Millinder's band thought -- and the colorful moniker stuck. Up until then, he was Benjamin Jackson, but it was as Bull Moose that he lit up the R&B charts repeatedly during the late '40s and early '50s. Jackson had a split musical personality -- he sang "I Love You, Yes I Do" and "All My Love Belongs to You" like a pop crooner, then switched gears to belt out the double-entendre naughties "I Want a Bowlegged Woman" and "Big Ten Inch Woman" with total abandon. Record buyers loved both sides of the Moose.
Jackson was a childhood violinist prior to taking up the sax. He proved accomplished on the latter, blowing jazz in a variety of situations before latching on with Millinder's outfit in 1944 as both singer and saxist. His first 78 under his own name for Syd Nathan's fledgling Queen logo was "I Know Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well," an answer to a popular Millinder tune from the year before that became a smash in its own right. Jackson dubbed his combo the Buffalo Bearcats due to his frequent gigs at a Buffalo nitery.
Moose hit big for Nathan's King label in 1947 with "I Love You, Yes I Do"; in 1948 with "Sneaky Pete," "All My Love Belongs to You," "I Want a Bowlegged Woman," "I Can't Go on Without You," and two more; and in 1949 with "Little Girl, Don't Cry" and "Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me" (the latter a cover of Wayne Raney's hillbilly hit, a popular cross-fertilizing practice at King). He also made an appearance in the 1948 film Boarding House Blues with Millinder's band.
Some of Jackson's hilariously risqué stuff -- "Big Ten Inch Record" and the astonishingly raunchy "Nosey Joe" (penned by the young but obviously streetwise Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller), both from 1952 -- were probably too suggestive to merit airplay, but they're stellar examples of jump blues at its craziest.
Jackson stayed at King into 1955. Six years later, he briefly reentered the charts by remaking "I Love You, Yes I Do" for 7 Arts, but it was an isolated occurrence (catering kept the bills paid during the lean years in Washington, D.C.). There was a belated outbreak of Moosemania! in 1985 when his LP of that name emerged in conjunction with a Pittsburgh band called the Flashcats, but Moose's heartwarming comeback was short -- lung cancer felled him in 1989.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
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The Bull Moose Jackson Collection 1945-55
R&B - Released by ACROBAT on 16 Sep 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Golden Selection (Remastered)
Blues - Released by Master Tape Records on 22 May 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ultimate Collection
Blues - Released by Union Music Sales on 25 Sep 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tomorrow May Never Come (Blues Shouter - Recordings of 1955)
Bull Moose Jackson, Doc Pomus, Big Joe Turner
Blues - Released by Blues Classics on 17 Dec 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Groovin' in the Gritty Dirty Blues - Bull Moose Jackson Raw and Real
Blues - Released by Groovy Train on 8 Sep 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
More of the Same / I Found My Love
Blues - Released by Warwick Records on 6 May 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bull Moose Jackson - Music History
Blues - Released by Vintage Jukebox on 27 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Want a Bowlegged Woman (The Greatest Hits 1945-1955)
Blues - Released by Jasmine Records on 17 May 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Badman Jackson That's Me
Jazz - Released by Black Sheep Music on 2 Dec 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best Of
Blues - Released by Master Classics Records on 1 Apr 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
1945-1947
Blues - Released by Classics Blues & Rhythm Series on 4 Aug 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classics: 1947-1950
Blues - Released by Classics Blues & Rhythm Series on 10 Jun 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Little Girl Don't Cry
Blues - Released by BOW WOW on 30 Jan 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Essential Masters
Blues - Released by Nifty Music, Inc. on 1 Oct 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Can't Go on Without You
Blues - Released by Redwood Records on 21 Mar 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
1950-1953
Blues - Released by Classics Blues & Rhythm Series on 4 Aug 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Why Don't You Haul off and Love Me
Blues - Released by Redwood Records on 17 Mar 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Little Girl Don't Cry
Blues - Released by THUNDERBIRD on 30 Jan 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Love You Yes I Do
Blues - Released by Redwood Records on 25 Mar 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Moose on the Loose - Introducing Bull Moose Jackson
Soul - Released by Music Today Records on 17 Jul 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo