don't call me madam

the life and work of ray bourbon

Discography - LPs, 45s, other

Links on particular track titles will bring up a Real Audio excerpt of a particular recording. Click on a thumbnail image of a jacket or label for a larger picture.

Please note: titles highlighted in green are still needed for this project. Please contact me if you can provide a tape, CD, or minidisc copy of a needed title listed here or another title not in this discography.

Discography Index-45's, LP's, Other

Lasses Record Co. -- 45's
UTC Recordings -- LP's
New Bourbon Records -- LP, circa 1954
Jewel Box Records (LP, mid 1960's)
Unreleased live recordings (Chicago, 1962, Roslyn records)
Unreleased private recording (New Orleans, 1965)

-----45's-----

Lasses Record Co. -- 45's

Lasses 1
label
JD Doyle collection

Lasses box set
Front cover, back cover
JD Doyle collection

Recorded in 1957 in New Orleans; numbers 1-6 issued in a set titled "Miss Rae Bourbon: That New Woman".

1 Madam
2 Native
3 Dirty Fairy
4 Hollywood Drive-in
5 Spanish
6 New Woman
7 Barbary Coast (better copy needed)
8 The Party (better copy needed)

-----LP's-----

Yes, This Is Ray Bourbon, New Bourbon Records (LP, 10", circa 1954)
Recorded circa 1954, the LP consists of two live shows by Ray Bourbon. Material is a mix of songs, jokes, and extended routines, including "Ugh!", "Vacation in Nevada", "Gigolo". This unusual pressing produced on red vinyl may have been done as a promotional or vanity item by Ray. Only one copy is known to exist.

unnumbered (V-5387-1) The First Show
unnumbered (V-5387) The Second Show

UTC Recordings -- LP's
Released throughout the 1950's and still available at least through the 60's, "UTC" was an abbreviation for "Under the Counter". The recordings were made by Ray and brought to the Variety Recording Studios in New York for mastering. The LP's were sold through mail order and to record dealers by Ray's distributor, MMO (Music Minus One) Records, which produced practice albums for music students.

UTC 1 -- An Evening in Copenhagen

UTC 1 - "unicorn" 10" version
Front cover
back cover identical to "policeman" version shown below
JD Doyle collection

UTC 1 - label, white, 10" version
also seen with gold colored UTC labels, seen below
JD Doyle collection

UTC 1 - label, gold, 12" version
JD Doyle collection

UTC 1 - "policeman" 10" version
Front cover, back cover
Randy A. Riddle collection

UTC 1 - "street" 12" version
Front cover, back cover
Jim Shulman collection

A 10" version of this album was released; most 10" copies omit "Extended Play".

The Wedding
Mr. Wong
Erma's Weekend
The Raid
Mrs. Bevington Swope
A Gentleman's Gentleman
Sisters of Charity
Extended Play

UTC 2 -- You're Stepping on My Eyelashes

UTC 2 - 10" version
Front cover, back cover
Randy A. Riddle collection

UTC 2 - 12" version
Front cover, back cover blank
Jim Shulman collection

A 10" version of this album was released, omitting "Tom Thumb" and "The Party Line". Copies seen of the 12" version of the LP suffer from turntable "rumble" that may have been a defect of the master plates used to press all or some of the albums.

Life Goes to a Party
Queen of the YMCA
Back in Drag Again
Queen of the Ballet
Tom Thumb
The Family Tree
Queen of the Navy
I Must Have a Greek
The Party Line

UTC 3 -- Don't Call Me Madam

UTC 3 - 12" version
Front cover, back cover
Jim Shulman collection

UTC 3 - 10" version
Front cover, back cover
Randy A. Riddle collection

UTC 3 - label, 12" version
JD Doyle collection

A 10" version of this album was released, omitting "Tennessee" and "Country Ham".

This LP, which is properly titled "Ray Bourbon in Selections from 'Don't Call Me Madam'" appears to have been released in connection with Ray's Carnegie Hall show "Don't Call Me Madam". All tracks, except for "Tennesse" and "Country Ham", were included in the stage show and appear to be proper content of the earlier original release of the album.

The Neighbor's Party
Tennessee
The Family (A Trilogy)
-Sunday Drive
-The Cafeteria
-Bed-Time Story
Country Ham

UTC 4 -- A Girl of the Golden West

UTC 4 - 12" version
Front cover, back cover
Jim Shulman collection

UTC 4 - "purse" version
Front cover
JD Doyle collection
(Only one report has been received confirming the existence of this version of the cover.)

A 10" version of this album was released, omitting "Pocahontis".

To Hell With the Range
The Railroad's Coming Thru
Horse Opera
Ugh!
Pocahontis
Where Does the Difference Come In

UTC 5 -- Bourbon 100-Proof

UTC 5 - "mug shots" version
Front cover, back cover
Jim Shulman collection

UTC 5 - "bottles" version
Front cover
JD Doyle collection

A 10" version of this album was released, omitting "Spots". "Strong, Solid and Sensational" is listed on the reverse of most jackets and on many LP labels themselves, but has not been seen on the LP.

An Oriental Opera
Sailor Boy
Hamlet's Soliloquy
The Carpenter
The New Neighbor
Tennis
Spots

UTC 6 -- One on the Aisle (Claque-Claque)

UTC 6 - 12" version
Front cover, back cover
Jim Shulman collection

UTC 6 - 10" version
Front cover, back cover
JD Doyle collection

This album was released in 10" and 12" versions with identical material. "Sahara" is listed on LP jackets and labels of the 12" version, but has not been seen on an actual copy of the LP. "One on the Aisle" was the 12" version of the album; "Claque-Claque" is the 10" version.

Toga Saga (A Greek Fantasy)
Brunhilde's Emulsion-Orchids to Alice
Carmen

UTC 50 -- Best of Bourbon (Box Set)

UTC 50 - box set
Front cover
"larry-bob" collection

This box set includes gold label 10" versions of UTC 1-6. The albums are contained in wax paper sleeves and UTC-1 includes the track "Extended Play". Inside the front cover of one example is handwritten: "Sexsationally Yours - Rae Bourbon - New York City - 6/15/56". A flyer advertising the first six UTC LP's and the box set can be seen in the Documents section of these pages. Only two copies of UTC-50 are known to exist.

UTC 7 -- Let Me Tell You About My Operation

UTC 7
Front cover, back cover
Jim Shulman collection

Probably issued in connection with Ray's "sex change" hoax, the back cover of the album includes articles about the operation from "Variety" and the New York "Journal-American".

Let Me Tell You About My Operation
Oh! Doctor
I'm in the Family Way
Mrs. Wiloughby Will Definately Object
When I Said, "No" to Joe
I Don't Want to Be a Madam
Millie
The Piano Teacher
Telephone Girl at the Ritz

UTC 8 -- Around the World in 80 Ways

UTC 8
Front cover, back cover
Jim Shulman collection

UTC 8 - label, gold, 12" version
includes the track "Bourbon Goes Native"
JD Doyle collection

On some LP jackets, this album is listed as including "Bourbon Goes Native", but the track is not included on some copies. On some jackets, "Mr. Wong" is referred to as "Shanghai" or "The Shanghai Gesture" in the track listings.

Russian Refugee
Cleopatra and Her Asp
The Stipend Must Rally 'Round Here
British Ways
Bourbon Goes Native
The Fortune Teller
Spanish
Nero
Mr. Wong (aka "The Shanghai Gesture", "Shanghai")
Ponce De Leon
One for the Road

UTC 9 -- Hollywood Expose

UTC 9
Front cover, back cover
Jim Shulman collection

Bourbon Has Been to the Cleaners
Percy
The Last of the Bobby Soxers
When Yussel Gave Me Muscle in a Hustle
Dancers of Nature
My Petty-gree
Constance Isn't Constant Anymore
She's Only a Link in a Daisy Chain
When Knighthood was in Flower
Tessie, The Messy Extra

UTC 10 -- Ladies of Burlesque

UTC 10
Front cover, back cover
Jim Shulman collection

UTC 8 - back cover, alternate version
JD Doyle collection

Strip Queen
Parade Girl
Cocktail Time
Anne, Fanny, Tessie, Bessie & Flo
Old Mrs. Richbit
Three Girls at a Matinee
Forty-Five
The Awkward Age

Jewel Box Records (LP, mid 1960's)

Jewel Box, JB 3001
front cover, back cover
Randy A. Riddle collection

JB 3001 -- Rae Bourbon -- A Trick Ain't Always a Treat (Recorded Live From the World Famous Jewel Box)
recorded at the Jewel Box, Kansas City, Missouri, 1964

Album has no track listings, consists of two of Rae's shows at the Jewel Box; series of short jokes, ad libbing with the audience. Side One contains a short intro with an in-studio recording of Rae singing "I Don't Want to Be a Madam", an extended routine on Rae's brush with famous people of history, like Betsy Ross. Side two contains more of the same with an extended routine, "Three Girls at a Matinee" which can be heard on a studio recording in UTC 10, "Ladies of Burlesque".

-----Other-----

Unreleased live recordings, 1961, Chicago (Roslyn Records)
Ray was booked for ten weeks beginning in October, 1961 at "The Talk of the Town" in Chicago. The owner of the club, D.W. Summers, arranged to have several of Ray's shows recorded for release on Summer's record lable, Roslyn. T.C. Jones was also booked during this time under a similar arrangment. Shortly after making the recordings of Ray and T.C., Williams exposed the "Payola" scandals in a radio interview. He was profiled in "Time" magazine and called before Congress to testify. But, his record label went under and the live recordings of Ray and T.C. were put aside. He contacted me recently indicating that he has unearthed the recordings and is arranging for their release on compact disc in 2002.

Unreleased live recording, circa 1965, New Orleans (non-commercial private recording)
This fifteen minute recording, made at a private function where Ray performed, is being provided by Charles C. Cage of New Orleans. From a private collection, this recording has never been released and includes Ray performing an unnamed routine about a "peeping Tomî couple and "The Neighbor¹s Party".