Stars of the Apollo

Someone at Dusted shared his copy of the excellent Stars of the Apollo, a compilation of big band jazz, blues and early R&B recorded at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. It's a pretty amazing list of performers -- Billie HOliday, Sarah Vaughan, Cab Calloway, Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington and, as they say, many more. The songs are relentlessly entertaining and, in at least a couple of cases, surprisingly frank about sex, drug use and alcohol.

Here's Bessie Smith's contribution


And the very suggestive "I Want a Hot Dog for My Roll" by Butterbeans & Susie