Track Listing 1. Hey, Pretty Baby 2. Seventh Avenue Express 3. Walking Slow Behind You 4. Mister Roberts' Roost 5. Don't You Want a Man...

Track Listing
1. Hey, Pretty Baby
2. Seventh Avenue Express
3. Walking Slow Behind You
4. Mister Roberts' Roost
5. Don't You Want a Man Like Me
6. South
7. You Call Yourself a Jungle King (I Found Out You Ain't a Doggone Thing)
8. Sophisticated Swing
9. House Rent Boogie
10. Basie's Basement
11. Brand New Wagon

Personnel includes: Count Basie (piano); Jimmy Rushing (vocals); Preston Love, Rudy Rutherford, C.Q. Price, Earl Warren (alto saxophone); Paul Gonsalves, Buddy Tate (tenor saxophone); Jack Washington (baritone saxophone); Ed Lewis, Snooky Young, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Clark Terry, Jimmy Nottingham, Gerald Wilson (trumpet); Bill Johnson, Ted Donnelly, George Matthews, Eli Robinson, George Washington (trombone); Freddie Green (guitar); Walter Page (bass); Jo Jones, Butch Ballard (drums).

Recorded between January 3 and December 12, 1947.

But for the fact that it only has 11 tracks, this mid-priced compilation (not to be confused with the identically titled Bluebird collection covering Basie's early-'30s recordings with the Bennie Moten band) could easily get the highest rating. And this could be the place to start for any rock fans wondering what Basie was about, at least some of the time. This disc shows Basie and company (especially singer Jimmy Rushing) working in an R&B mode, doing such songs as Willie Dixon's "You Call Yourself the Jungle King (I Found Out You Ain't a Doggone Thing)," "Hey, Pretty Baby," "Brand New Wagon," and "Walking Slow Behind You." Rushing and the band sound like they're pushing toward Chess Records' turf. And the astonishing thing is that they pull it off -- if these records had sold in any serious number, Basie and Rushing might have had a whole second career in R&B, right up there with Big Joe Turner. There's a minimum of annotation, and not all of the sound is quite perfect -- amazingly, the 1991 remastered "Basie's Basement" featured here has a click or two in evidence, for which there's no excuse. But the sound quality everywhere else is pretty much beyond reproach, and there's also one number here, "Mister Roberts' Roost," a laidback instrumental prominently featuring Basie's piano, that's otherwise unavailable.