No more distinguished on his other Trumpet release, Sherman Johnson coupled a Korean War novelty song with the paint-by-numbers ''Pretty Baby Blues''. Newborn Sr's band swung professionally, and Richard Sanders rocked out on baritone sax, but they can't compensate for the ordinariness of Johnson's voice and song. Even with a strong local following as an rhythm and blues jock in Meridian, Johnson gave Lillian McMurry no incentive to schedule another session; if anything, he gave her incentive to sue him. In 1853, he pitched ''Saving My Love For You'' to Johnny Ace. Problems was that in October 1951, McMurry had recorded Johnson singing that song and she'd copyrighted it. In November 1953, Ace's producer, Don Robey, wrote to McMurry to inform her that he had acquired all rights to the song, and that the earlier copyright was invalid. McMurry chose not to fight Robey or sue Johnson. (CE)

During the very brief period when Sam Phillips was doing custom work for Lillian McMurry's Trumpet Records, he was handed Sherman Johnson, an undistinguished shouter who took his band's name from Andy Kirk's ''Clouds Of Joy'' and his style from Wynomie Harris. As was the case with Tiny Kennedy, McMurry tried to record him elsewhere before paying Phillips to handle the session. Was ''Hot Fish'' a double entendre blues? Almost certainly. It was based quite closely on a saucy old vaudeville number best known as ''Get 'Em From The Peanut Man'' and sung by Lil Johnson and Georgia White back in 1936. As Sherman Johnson was a disc jockey on WTOK in Meridian, Mississippi, McMurry might have thought she could move sufficient copies in south Mississippi to pay for the session. She might have been wrong. Johnson was clearly discouraged when he wrote to McMurry soon after the record was released, but she admonished him, saying, ''You are about the nicest guy and we do appreciate your attitude, but I feel like spanking you because you seem to have given up''. (CE)