Lloyd Trotman Discography
Introduction
Hi, I’m Trot’s daughter.
May 25, 2013-would have been my father, LLOYD TROTMAN’s 90th birthday. On that day I decided to honor his memory by finding and documenting the many records he made during his long music career. He was a session musician, playing the upright acoustic bass, for such leading independent record companies as Atlantic Records in New York City during the late 40’s, 50’s, and early 60’s.
It is now 2019 and I have found hundreds of records and made more than 30 CD’s.Lloyd Trotman is credited with working with and recording the songs of more than fifty five different artists.The following discography is a compilation of those records. There are many artists you will recognize such as Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and James Brown and Duke Ellington. There are many hit songs you will recognize as well, such as “Stand By Me” “Yakety Yak” and “I put A Spell On You”.
There are also many artists and songs listed in this discography that you may have never heard of. I did not know them either. Many singers and musicians of the fifties, like my Dad, never got the credit and recognition they deserved for their accomplishments. However, many of these artists have been rediscovered and their records have been remastered and reissued. I know, because I found most of them. You can also find them on YouTube. Their music is excellent and their talent is indisputable. Many major stars of recent years have recognized these early blues and R&B pioneers as the source and inspiration for their own musical ideas.
A lot of discography work has already been done by others in recent years. I have compiled Lloyd Trotman’s discography which you can find www.lloydtrotman.com from a variety of sources, many of which can be found on the online. I have cited sources for each record listed. I have recorded the musicians who played on each song. Below is a brief list of general resources I used. Lloyd Trotman’s website is intended for information and educational purposes only. No copyright infringements have been intended.
* Discographies of various record companies can be found online.
* Discographies and biographical information of individual artists are found online as well.
* Books that have been helpful include ATLANTIC RECORDS DISCOGRAPHY by Michel Ruppli and MERCURY RECORDS: A Discography by Michel Ruppli
*Biographies and articles about singers and musicians often include a list of the musicians playing on various recordings sessions.
*Linernotes found on various CDs and records often credit the musicians playing on each song.
Two websites provided a wealth of information:
*Lloyd Trotman |Credits | AllMusic www.allmusic.com and
*http.//members.home.nl /henk.gorter/Itc5705.html(Dik de Herr)
I used many other helpful websites as well.
Lloyd Trotman’s papers, financial records and record date books (1950-1966) have proved to be valuable and accurate as primary sources when compared with the discographies of the various record companies. One of difficulties of relying on record company discographies alone is that very often the musicians on a record date were not listed. Once again, Lloyd Trotman’s financial records have been very helpful in tracking down and in filling in some of those gaps.
I have found a written Lloyd Trotman discography among his papers. I am beholden to Dan Kochakian who did this discography work with my father during the early 1990’s. He also researched and wrote articles about the music careers of Lloyd Trotman and his brother, Ernest Trotman. While a lot of new discography information has been found since then, the Kochakian discography is very accurate. I was able not only to verify his information, but able to add from many new sources that have been developed since then.
The best source of information was Lloyd Trotman himself. He had an accurate memory and loved to tell stories about the music business, about the people he worked with, and the records he made, particularly if they were hits. I found independent documentation to back up most of his recollections. But sometimes his memory was all I had to work with. Sometimes you just have to go with what a person remembers. He was there. He knew what he did. So when he said, “I made that record”, I have to take him at his word.
I hope you find this discography to be a valuable resource. I found this project to be educational and fun. I learned about a part of my father’s life that I had never fully understood before. I welcome feedback and any additional information you may have. One day I plan to write a book. Linda Trotman (trots daughter)
