Go tell your Aunt Mary and Uncle John the ultimate party album has come along. Lee Allen, the wailing sax man, is back with a brand new live LP. I had to run for the border and call my friend Little Richard in Hollywood, right from the OffBeat offices. This is what Richard Wayne Penniman had to say when I asked him for a few words about Lee, his former sax player: “Lee Allen was the man in MY day, and it’s STILL my day today! He was on ALL my smash hits, which are STILL smash hits today!” [EDITOR’S NOTE: The quote is accurate…everyone in the office heard it, and Ready Teddy wasn’t using a speaker phone. Little Richard didn’t need a microphone in his day, and it’s still his day today.]

Lee Allen was the man who played sax on Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis, Huey Smith, Lloyd Price, Bobby Mitchell, Shirley and Lee, and of course, Little Richard, as well as playing with the Blasters and early Pink Floyd. He had a million-seller with “Walking with Mr. Lee” on Ember Records, and a regional hit with “Tick Tock.” If you ever heard “Blueberry Hill,” “Don’t Blame It on Me,” “Ain’t That a Shame” and “Hello Josephine”—plus “Good Golly Miss Molly,” “Tutti Frutti,” “Long Tall Sally” and others from the Architect of Rock ‘N’ Roll—then you grew up on the Lee Allen sound. He is multi-talented, one of the main figures who put sax in rock ‘n’ roll.

Recorded live at the 100 Club in London, the musicians on this new Lee Allen LP play their hearts out. It’s like gumbo: good to the last drop. Invite some folks over for red beans and rice, mix in Lee Allen on the stereo, and the hot sauce is already included. Just second line to the New Orleans beat. If you don’t, I know your sister will. Hot tracks: “Sin Alley,” “Baby Jane” and “Walking with Mr. Lee (live remake).”