“Chop Chop Boom” by The Danderliers

To differentiate themselves from the car and bird-named groups of the era, vocalists James Campbell, Dallas Taylor, Bernard Dixon, Walter Stephenson, and Richard Thomas came up with the Danderliers, a reference to the dandelion flower. After a string of failed auditions from various Chicago recording companies, producer Sam Smith of United Records was allegedly driving through Washington Park when he heard the group singing. He then hauled them into his brother Al’s basement to rehearse. Weeks later, we got “Chop Chop Boom”.
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“Chop Chop Boom” was recorded at Universal and released in 1955 on the States record label. What stands out to me on this number is the beautiful musicianship, most likely performed by bassist Al Smith (Sam’s brother), Red Holloway (sax), Lefty Bates (guitar), and drummer Vernel Fournier (who would go on to perform with Ahmad Jamal). I especially love the interplay between the musicians during the guitar solo and how the song fades out into a reverb wash.