Musical Episode

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Two Versions of Charles Brown’s “Black Night”

Bobby Bland “Black Night” (Duke, 1965)

Charles Brown “Black Night” (King, 1968)

Click individual titles to download or listen.

Today’s 45 is an old favorite of mine, “Black Night” by Charles Brown.  Originally released in on Alladin in 1950 on 78 and shortly after on 45 and then re-released and redone a number of times on other labels. Today’s version is his take from 1968 issued on King.

Charles Brown had a number of popular records including “Driftin’ Blues,” “Trouble Blues” and today’s record “Black Night.”  Brown also had a couple hits with his Christmas songs “Merry Christmas Baby” and “Please Come Home for Christmas” which are probably bigger and better records than I, a grinch when it comes to holiday songs, will admit.  Black Night is typical of Brown’s style of slow and dark blues, he’s an expressive pianist who is unafraid to take his time with a song or even a phrase, not rushing to fill every space with bent notes and vocalizing.

Brown was an influential player in the early blues/R&B scene in Los Angeles in the 1950′s influencing such luminaries as Ray Charles -who admitted to just straight up copying Brown, Ruth Brown and The Dominoes.

Bobby “Blue” Bland has come across the blog before and is fairly well documented so I won’t spend too much time recounting his biography.  Bland is one of the great singers of the genre and surrounded himself with some of the wildest talent of his time which you can hear in Bland’s killer version of “Black Night.”  One of those people was arranger and trumpeter Joe Scott who handled the arrangements on this and lots of other Duke productions.

While Brown’s version is still my favorite I do like hearing these two sides in contrast with each other.  Bobby’s dramatics are on full display as he makes the song feel like grand theater, one of Bland’s talents.  Brown’s take on it is much more personal; Bland performs where Brown confesses.

Hope you enjoy these sides and I hope to be back with a bunch more soon!

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Two Upbeat Numbers by Jackie Verdell

(click title to listen / download)

Jackie Verdell “Hush” (Peacock, 1962/3) Jackie Verdell “Are You Ready For This” (Decca, 1967)

Welcome back for another go-round here at Musical Episode. Today’s post is a couple of sides by the wonderful Jackie Verdell.  While she has a limited solo discography without any major hits her voice has been heard in a lot more places. Before she struck out on her own with singles on Peacock, she was a member of the esteemed gospel group The Davis Sisters (check this amazing footage of her solo singing with Brother Joe May probably right from the time she was going solo and still an intermittent member of The Davis Sisters). 

In addition to her output on Peacock, Decca and Truth- all worth checking out- she was also working regularly as a backup singer in roles as varied as backing vocals on Van Morrison’s Moondance and Horace Silver’s amazing Nobody Knows from The United States of Mind album.

Today’s 45s are from 62/3 and 67 while she was still very active, after this period things slowed down visibly though a highlight of her career came in 1980 with a Grammy nomination for her role in Jesse Jackson’s PUSH campaign. Here’s a really neat video of her at the Grammy’s giving a little smile when her name is read. In 1981 she returned to the Davis Sisters recording the The Storm is Passing Over LP, including the amazing updated version of I Believe (not that the original isn’t amazing). Her other early 80′s output includes another gospel track on Spring and an AMAZING funky single on WEA.

She unfortunately passed in 1991 at the young age of 53 leaving behind an amazing though unfortunately limited catalog. She clearly had the talent of so many of her contemporaries but the vagaries of the market left her without chart success. I hope you take time to appreciate these two sides and dig into her other works, you won’t be disappointed!

Until next time, peace,

-George / Snack Attack

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Hard Hitting, Funky Miami Soul

(click title to listen / download)

Mona Lisa and His Orchestra “They Don’t Know - Part 1″ (Dade, 1966) Mona Lisa and His Orchestra “They Don’t Know - Part 2″ (Dade, 1966)

Welcome back to Musical Episode, today we have another couple sides of hard hitting soul from Miami.

Broken into two parts, Mona Lisa and his Orchestra deliver a sweat soaked side of upbeat southern soul with Part 1 being a more standard vocal led performance while side two stretches out the track with some great vamping, solos and still more sweat. As much as I love a good B-Side to a record it’s great to have the extended session available on the flip. Here’s where my bud DJ Cashman would yell at me for sticking to 45′s “the 12″ wouldn’t get cut off!”

We’ve discussed Dade Records on the blog a while back with a couple great James Brown covers (speaking of putting part 2, 3, 4, 11 and 12 on the B-side!) if you want a little more context on the label, check it here. 

I initially hesitated to post this record since my last Bettye Scott post was also without much biographical info but heck, it’s gonna happen, this is just too good not to post! I don’t have much about Mona Lisa and his Orchestra except Mr Mackwaters had another 45 around the same time on Dade, I Can’t Stand Myself which ALSO is a take on James Brown.

If you have any more info on Mona Lisa - I’m guessing it’s an alias or he was a club performer because he clearly has the energy, presence and chops that would move a crowd- please let me know!

Until then, enjoy this wild 45rpm romp from the Sunshine State.

See you next go-round,

-George / Snack Attack

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Bettye Scott and The Del-Vetts “Good Feeling” (Teako, 1971)

(Click title to listen or download)

Today we have a crisp, upbeat number from chicago by the unfortunately mysterious Bettye Scott and her backing group the Del-Vetts. The song is beautifully produced and engineered- punchy drums right up front, the clean chicka-chicka of the guitar providing some momentum and a horn section that provides tons of emphasis but never over powers the song. Bettye handles both the softer parts and the wailing with equal skill. Just listen to the “such a good feeling, just about to lose my mind” lines in the second verse. Wonderful stuff!

The Teako label was a small operation out of Chicago run by Ed O’Kelly who seemed to be primarily a business mind who was also affiliated with the Lock label, a subsidiary of the Toddlin Town label and also had a pretty small catalog, the most notable being The Lovelites minor hit “How Can I Tell My Mom and Dad.”

I wish I had more to share, usually Chicago records are some of the easier ones to research or put pieces together with names on the labels since there was so much interplay with all the artists, studios, engineers etc, but this one isn’t forthcoming with biographical info. I’ve also said it before but records like this are what make 45s such an exciting format; these records sometimes just popped up based on a good song, a motivated artist or A&R, a local hit or dance or any number of other cultural tides shifting. The 45 was an easy way to try and get a hit for small labels and artists so we end up with all these wonderful outliers that exist outside of the major label machinery.

As always, if anyone has more info about this record I’d love to more but for now we’ll love it for the great music and hope some day we can give Bettye and the Del-Vettes their credit.

Till next time,

-George / Snack Attack

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Closer to Heaven: An Hour of Love and Longing.

Listen on Mixcloud

Happy to say I’ve settled into a new house and though I’m still doing a lot of construction and my studio/work space with all my records isn’t even close to finished (I’ve barely started demolition!) I have been able to set up my tables and work out a way to get some podcasts up and get back to posting. I said it years ago and I’m sticking by it- I won’t apologize for gaps in my posting because this is meant to be educational, fun and to celebrate and learn about music and not a chore- but I’m happy to be able to get back to more frequent updates!

Another housekeeping note. I signed up for mixcloud at the prompting of a friend but hadn’t done anything with it but after Tumblr’s recent regressive policy changes I think it’s a good idea to have a back up space that won’t threaten to arbitrarily remove or delete my blog because an algorithm things a 45 spindle is a nipple.  So when I get all the old episodes up over there I’ll let you know, will also likely be a cleaner interface if you just want to breeze through each mix.

Anyhow, on to the music. This podcast comes from a box of records I pulled for a night I’ve been doing on and off for the last year called “Deep Down Inside” that focuses on slower music and not played for a dancefloor. Some of the songs are mid or even uptempo but usually qualify in my mind as companions to sweet soul, doo wop, deep soul and an assortment of other ballads that I love to listen to but don’t have a home at our weekly soul party.

I really love all these songs so I won’t go into too much detail but there’s a range here from slinky R&B to Pat Lundy’s deeply mellow track. Inez Johnston is the talent we know later in her career as Inez Foxx, The Inspirations are better known for the flip of this record but I like em both, Up The Ladder is an incredibly common and well known record but it’s one of my favorite supreme songs. A couple of tracks from 70 and though The Sequins record says 71, the first issuing of the song on Crajon were 69 but the mix is basically all 60s tracks. The Neville song- and what a song it is!- is a Jazzman reissue of a record that it seems was never issued back in the day so I’m sure you’ll excuse the fact it’s not an original pressing and enjoy what is arguably one of the heaviest grooves (never originally) committed to vinyl.

As always, reach out if you have any questions or clarifications and I’m very happy be back sharing all this beautiful music.

Peace, George / Snack Attack

The Girls - The Hurts Still Here (Memphis, 1970) The Charmels - Loving Material (Volt, 1967) The Van Dykes - Shaking Me Up (Mala, 1966) Brenton Wood - Great Big Bundle of Love (Double Shot, 1970) Pat Lewis - Warning (Solid Hit, 1966) Gene Chandler - After The Laughter (Checker, 1967) The Sequins - Someday You’ll Be Mine (Fantasy, 1971) The Originals - I Like Your Style (Soul, 1970) The Supremes - Up The Ladder To The Roof (Motown, 1970) The Cruisers - I Need You So (Gamble, 1967) Betty Harris - I’ll Be A Liar (Jubilee, 1963) LC - Put Me Down Easy (SAR, 1963) The Sapphires - Who Do You Love (Swan, 1964) Barbara Lynn - You’ll Lose A Good Thing (Jamie, 1962) Dimples Jackson - Love Came Tumbling Down (Gardena, 1960) Inez Johnston - Why Did Ya? (Brunswick, 1961) Pat Lundy - Does She Ever Remind You of Me (Columbia, 1968) Jackie Verdell - Why Not Give Me A Chance (Peacock, 1963) Erma Franklin - Right To Cry (Shout, 1963) The Inspirations - What Am I Gonna Do with You Hey Baby (Black Pearl, 1967) The Radiants - Voice Your Choice (Chess, 1964) Aaron Neville - Hercules (Jazzman, 1969 - reissue)

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Two version of the Phil Upchurch classic “You Can’t Sit Down”

Chris Columbo “You Can’t Sit Down” (Battle, 1962)

The Dovells “You Can’t Sit Down” (Parkway, 1963)

Click individual titles to download or listen.

You Can’t Sit Down is a nearly perfect record.  The music remains as fresh the 100th time as the first.  On the original and still my favorite Phil Upchurch’s playing is so skillful he makes it seem like he’s out there dancing and swinging around, enjoying himself as much as the audience.  When DJ’ing it’s a record the crowd always responds to- the call and response nature, the breaks and the build ups are all constructed so the audience is prepared but doesn’t know what could happen next.  All that and the playing is stellar.

So imagine my surprise (and maybe confusion) when I came across the Froogin’, Hully Gullying, Bristol Stomping white Philly vocal group The Dovells doing a version.  My surprise was quickly eclipsed by joy when I heard the record with the pounding drums mixed way out front and the urgency of Upchurch’s guitar replaced with a vocal arrangement by the full of urgency Dovells.  It’s a cool twist on the original that isn’t just a straight rip off, cash in so common then; I could easily imagine someone actually tacking on an instrumental to the B-Side with no Dovells involved.  Instead, this is something they could actually perform and probably have a lot of fun at the same time.

The second version came to me quite a bit later and makes the rounds at our weekly soul night.  While lacking the immediacy of the Upchurch original I’m a fan of piano-led instrumentals like this.  What makes this stand out from any other Ramsey Lewis knock off is Chris Columbo, the band leader is the drummer.  As such we’re treated to beefed up drums in the recording along with some nice punchy breaks.  Columbo was an industry veteran who recorded with everyone from Louis Armstrong to Ella Fitzgerald but was given a couple opportunities to shine on 45 and for that, we’re thankful.

Hope you enjoy today’s 45s and next time you need to dance I recommend cueing up any version of You Can’t Sit Down that suits you.

Till the next time,

-George / Snack Attack

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Two Sides of Deep Soul from Lots A Poppa!

Lots A Poppa “I Found A Love” (Tribe, 1964)

Lots A Poppa “That’s Where It’s At” (Tribe, 1964)

Click individual titles to download or listen.

Hailing from Atlanta, GA Lots A Poppa went by the Name Little Julius before unleashing today’s absolute scorcher of a 45 on the world. 

While listed as two sides and two songs this is really one long track cut in two with side two writing credits going to Julius so he could make some money on his records sold.

Born Julius High Jr. in Atlanta GA in 1935, baptized by Martin Luther King Jr, and sang in the Ebeneezer Baptist Church choir from the time he was 5 until his mid-20s.  One second of listening to today’s 45 and nobody is going to have to tell you Julius had a background in gospel.

Though his discography of 45′s is a little short Julius was a very active musician both in his home state of Georgia and on the road.  

Sang in Bobby “Blue” Bland’s band

It was touring with Dinah Washington and Sam Cooke in 1963 that Julius was given the nick name Lotsa Poppa

Mainstay at the Royal Peacock Lounge in Atlanta opening for James Brown, Ink Spots and Jimmy Reed

Hope you enjoy this monster of a record.

Until next time,

-George / Snack Attack

[musicalepisode]

Shirley Vaughn “Stop and Listen” (Fairmount, 1967)

(Click title to listen or download)

Here’s a prime example of the ups and downs of loving the 45 format. 

Now, I never pretend to be an expert, I’m just a fan of the music, but why on earth is Shirley Vaughn relegated to a few scarce singles all of which are phenomenal?  How did she work on a respectable label with national distribution and impressive in-house talent only to release a couple singles, no album and from all I can tell vanish?  It makes sense why there’s only a release or two of the house band from some bar in South East Ohio or a couple singles by an unnamed singer passing through a song mill but Vaughn’s output really shines.  Yet, the reality remains we’re only left with a few singles in her discography.

Granted, I’m probably missing lots of info but what books I do have on Philadelphia soul mention very little biographical information and the internet has not been particularly helpful. Even though we can assume there’s more to the story, it’s hidden even to those who are looking which is a shame. That’s the “down side.”

Of course, the “up side” is that we have the music.  These few singles were made and for that unfortunately brief time Shirley Vaughn did have a studio and label behind her.  Today’s side is actually a cover of the wonderful Patti Drew song released the same year.  Shirley’s version is a little more upbeat and adds some depth to the arrangement.  While I’m partial to the Vaughn version I could see on any given day depending on my mood choose Patti Drew’s original.  This side was produced and arranged by Richie Adams, a fixture in Philadelphia, previously doing time as a member of the doo wop group The Fireflies.

If you see any of Vaughn’s records in the wild grab em, they’re all good!  Hope you enjoyed today’s record and manage to find some love and happiness in our difficult world.

-George / Snack Attack

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All-Star 70′s Florida Funk!

Johnny K “I Got Bills To Pay” (Buddha, 1974)

(Click title to listen or download)

Greetings friends!  Glad to have you back here on the blog for another go round.  I hope everyone is safe after the terrible weather from Hurricane Irma.

Today’s 45 is another addition to our growing collection of Miami / Florida records.   Now that I’m writing that down, it seems like a good theme for a full hour long podcast. I’ve DJ’ed this record a few times at the weekly night my pal Dan and I have been running for almost 9 years and every time he jokes “I always want to hit the club to dance to songs about not being able to pay my bills.”  He’s not wrong- it’s a downer of a tune but musically it’s so dang funky I just can’t help myself.

Johnny K hails from the coastal city of Tampa, FL where he put together his first group Johnny K Killens & The Dynamites who released a great 45 on the Deep City label in the mid 60′s where he undoubtedly met Willie Clarke.  The same time period he put out the slower, less fun and funky,  “Don’t You Believe” on Phono which you can read a little about and hear over on Sir Shambling’s great blog.  It’s a good listen, especially being a bit out of character for Johnny. Henry Stone said: “he was a natural for singing the funny songs written by Clarence Reid and Willie Clark, with a naturally comic-sounding style. His moves in the studio and onstage made him a big hit from his hometown of Tampa and everywhere he appeared with his band. If you need to laugh, listen to Johnny K, he will brighten your day.”

“I’ve Got Bills” was released in 1973 b/w “I’m Afraid of The Dark” on the smaller Florida label Drive.  As I said, the song credits read like a who’s who of Miami funk.  “I’ve Got Bills” was co-written by none other than Clarence Reid, produced by Willie Clarke and was a TK Productions which was Henry Stone’s concern.  All heavy weights who touched the vast majority of funky music coming from the sunshine state.  The record proved to be popular enough that Buddha picked it up for national distribution and replaced “I’m Afraid of The Dark” with “Mama Don’t Allow No Bumpin’ In Here.”

At the same time as today’s 45s, he released another couple of great sides on Drive, “Screwdriver” b/w “Home Boy” under the name Johnny K and The Home Boys.

His discography after this record is a little spotty.  He remade “Screwdriver” on the Pip label, and though undated it seems to land in 1979. The first release on Pip, catalog 1001 is dated 1979 and Johnny’s record is Pip 1002 and when you listen, I think you’ll hear that it sounds like it was birthed from the impulses of the late 70s.

Finally worth noting that the always wonderful Numero label has done a wonderful reissue of the Deep City label and another of their affiliates which has a couple Johnny K & The Dynamites tracks on them if you’re looking for a solid overview and a nice collection.

That’s all for today, hope you enjoy the record it’s a favorite of mine!

-George / Snack Attack

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Lunar Funk “Slip The Drummer One” (Bell, 1972)

Lunar Funk “Mr. Penguin Pt. 1″ (Bell, 1972)

(Click title to listen or download)

Formed in 1968 the Fabulous Counts were a hard hitting, funky Detroit ensemble.  Their first records were on the Ollie McLaughlin label Moira including their hit “Get Down People” with the compellingly named b-side, “Lunar Funk.”  After one full length that was released on Cotillion (which distributed a lot of McLaughlin’s labels), The Fabulous Counts, in 1970, left for the supposed greener pastures of one of Detroit’s many other labels, Westbound.

While at Westbound the newly abbreviated Counts released one LP Rhythm Changes in 1971.  Feeling left out of the spotlight which was shining brightly on label mates Ohio Players and Funkadelic, the Counts put out today’s 45′s under the name “Lunar Funk” a call-back to their hit single “Get Down People.”  Mr. Penguin and Slip The Drummer one (along with the B-side’s of both records) are killer groove heavy funk.  While you don’t get much funkier and flashier thank Ohio Players and Funkadelic, I can appreciate the frustration of feeling over-looked.  These guys could play but also knew how to keep it simple and heavy.  

After their brief dalliance with Bell on these singles - no LP was ever released- most of the group relocated to Atlanta and Aware Records where they continued to release music including the sick 45 “Funk Pump” which along with the melody for “Miss You” by the Rolling Stones, is almost always playing in my head.

Hope you enjoyed today’s sides and dig into more of the Counts music!

Till the next go-round,

-George / Snack Attack

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Tom Merriman’s Funky Dallas Jingles

“Cool Blue Flame” (Private Press, 1965)

“Dance The Slurp” (Private Press, 1967)

(Click titles to listen or download)

Today’s two records are a lot of fun and have a pretty interesting history and connection I only made when I began to dig into the details of the lesser known one - Cool Blue Flame- on its own. Our other record “Dance The Slurp” will be familiar to many people from the cover art and feature on the Brainfreeze Breaks comp by Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow.  If you’re not aware and enjoy breaks, you’re welcome. While “Dance The Slurp” is a great record that has been given a deserved platform in the break world, I wouldn’t be featuring it here were it not for our companion record both produced by the same man Tom Merriman.

When I got Cool Blue Flame I didn’t know what to expect, it was a nondescript 7″ (plays at 33 with a small hole) but having an instrumental and vocal side was intriguing, the label art appeared to be older and the price was right.  When I got it home and listening my curiosity was rewarded with what was indeed a “cool” record.

Tom Merriman who worked primarily in Dallas, headed up a number of production companies that would produce a variety of jingles, demos, station IDs and other commercial ventures. Like the previous post featuring “Brass Monkey” and “Annie Green Springs” these 45s were cut to promote products, one a Slurpee from 7-11, the other natural gas.  It just so happens they’re both great sides but in the larger picture of the work Commercial Recording Company- Merriman’s company at the time- was doing they were one of many projects that adapted current trends as pictured in the ads I found in the radio trade Broadcasting: The Business Weekly of Radio & Television.

Dance The Slurp is a wild and fun dance record with some killer open breaks accompanied by -the only time in history I’m aware- some on beat slurps!  Cool Blue Flame has more of a funky swinging go-go thing to it that could easily come off as corny but likely in Merriman’s restraint keeps the record from going over the top and stays fun.

Merriman was himself a trained musician graduating from Juilliard, composing music for greats such as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington.  Along with pioneering the jingle on radio, TV and as we see here the 45 he was a committed educator and remained connected to Texas college and prep school bands, many who came on to work for him.  

These records are clearly a cut above a “jingle” and were the product a talented musician who knew how to read and understand trends from the newest dance craze to the British Invasion and could turn those cultural winds into a catchy tune.  While none of us will be singing the station ID for Texas radio stations or Dallas morning news shows, we can be thankful Merriman made these two great little 45s.

Hope you enjoy these sides and we’ll see you again soon!

-George / Snack Attack

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Billy Blackwood “Gospel Drums” (Private Press, 1967?)

(Click title to listen or download)

Happy to be back with another 45 after a much too long and unanticipated break from the blog.  To make up for it I’m dropping a favorite 45 on you all and hope to have a few more posts up in short time.

Today’s side is an absolute scorcher of interesting provenance.  When one does and inventory of a “standard” Gospel tune and breaks it down into parts then ranks those parks the drums would probably not be in the top three.  Often times a killer gospel 45 won’t even have percussion outside of some hand clapping. So when you drop this Billy Blackwood 45 on your turntable and side one reveals itself to be an unremarkable acoustic number the prospects for a riveting side of gospel drums is diminished even further.

Well, boy oh, boy does this record deliver!

Tons of open drums, awesome little organ lead in the middle of a drum solo, simple driving bass/guitar.  A cold stop into a kinda flimsy and surfy guitar lead.  They even kinda sneak a piano flourish.  It’s a really really fun record that feels without inhibition and oozes youthful joy.  AND IT’S FULL OF AWESOME DRUM BREAKS!

There’s no definite date I can pin on this 45 but it seems safe in terms of Billy’s bio and the sound of the record to put it at 1967 or 68.  Billy Blackwood comes from the gospel royalty of the Blackwood Brothers gospel quartet at the time of this record, hailing from Memphis, TN.  During the early sixties he sang with the Blackwood “Little” Brothers, leaving in 67 to drum with JD Sumner (who sang bass for the Blackwood Brothers until 1965) and The Stamps.  It’s just speculation but feels right that this 45 sits in that pocket.  He’s moved from early teenage singing to a touring drummer though he hasn’t left gospel music for secular sounds yet so even the instrumental break filled freakout is labelled “Gospel Drums.”  In 1969 he joins his father in the Blackwood Brothers proper as a drummer which makes me think- again, along with the sound, instrumentation and general vibe- the record falls before 1969.  

There’s also a mild connection here to Elvis Presley that is worth mentioning. Elvis was a big fan of the Blackwood Brothers and had auditioned for what was essentially their farm team The Songfellows.  His inability to harmonize and later when he improved, his newly signed deal with Sun records got in the way of him joining that group.  Elvis did have the Blackwoods back him up on recordings and their relationship continued including in 1973 when the group Voice with the Gospel Drummer himself Billy Blackwood on the kit.  For those who are so inclined he seems to have at least one LP from the period between this 45 and the mid 70′s that features some of the ‘out’ tendencies of the period.

Billy’s foray into secular music didn’t last long and started his own mission in the early 80′s where he continues to practice- with music at the forefront- today.

I hope you enjoyed today’s record and always remember to flip the dang 45 over, you never know what the other side has in store!

Till the next rotation.

-George / Snack Attack

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Funky Weekend: One Hour of Funky 45s w/ DJ Cashman

(Click title to listen or download)

Hey!  Very excited to bring this podcast to you all.  This is a first in a couple of ways for this site.  It’s our first guest appearance with none other than my long time Dj’ing pal DJ Cashman AND it marks the introduction of talking on the podcast.  

Today’s podcast is a jump into the 70′s with a heavy focus on some funky 45s something I don’t focus on too much here so I hope it’s a pleasant change.

Tracklist follows.  Hope you enjoy and we’ll see you next time!

-George / Snack Attack

Soul Train 75, backing music Fuzzy Haskins: Not Yet (Westbound) New Birth: Got To Get A Knutt (RCA) Sylistics : Funky Weekend (AVCO) Jiva: Something's goin on in LA (Dark Horse) Simtec & Wiley: Do It Like Mama (Chicago) Moments & Whatanauts : Girls Part 1 (Stang) Curley Moore : Shelly's Rubber Band (Silver Fox) Margie Hendryx : Jim Dandy (Sound Stage 7) Roy Ayers: Evolution (Polydor) Incredible Bongo Band : Ohkey Dokey (United Artists) Sylvia Robinson : Pillow Talk (Vibration) Lyn Collins : Take Me Just As I Am (People) Dexter Wansell: Solutions (Philadelphia International) Whatanauts : Message From The Black Man (A&I International) Kool & The Gang: Who's Gonna Carry The Weight (De-lite) Flame & The Sons of Darkness: Solid Funk (P & P) Quincy Jones: Money Runner (RCA)

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Stompin’ Organ Driven R&B from The Beatles Bullpen Drummer

Jimmy Nicol and The Shubdubs “Night Train” (Mar-Mar, 1964)

(Click title to listen or download)

My interest in today’s 45 is multi-tiered. Night Train is a killer song that is around in many different versions with James Brown’s probably being the best known at least to me (If you’re not familiar, listen to his version here and then watch this amazing super fast version of it performed live on the TAMI show here).  If you’ve visited the blog before you know how much I love versions of a song so I was excited to dig in to this one.

Reading into the background of Night Train is actually pretty interesting.  First released in 1951 by Jimmy Forrest the origins of the song actually date back a bit further.  Before Forrest released the gritty R&B composition he was playing saxophone for Duke Ellington’s band.  Ellington’s Deep South Suite contained the composition “Happy Go Lucky Local” which featured the riff that later morphed into Night Train.  Forrest took the bones of the melody, rubbed some dirt and sweat on it and called it his own.

So who is Jimmy Nicol the musician in question on today’s version?  For deep Beatles fans (which I definitely do not qualify) his story is well known, for others- myself included- it’s quite a wild tale.  In 1964 at the height of Beatlemania and on the eve of an enormous Australian tour Ringo was sidelined with health issues.  Rather than cancel the tour, disappointing millions of screaming fans, George Martin suggested replacing Ringo for the dates and he knew just the guy.  Enter Mr. Nicol.

Jimmy Nicol along with working in his own groups had been a session musician on multiple budget/knock off records of popular hits including a pile of Beatles sides so he was competent and already knew the material.  48 hours after getting a phone call and an offer Jimmy was on his way to Australia to play for millions of adoring fans as a full fledged member of The Beatles.  

Today’s 45 has Jimmy’s name as the lead despite being the drummer of the Shubdubs playing on a cover song because, though brief, he was truly a sensation for a moment. When Nicol’s name began appearing in newspapers and he was performing sold out shows his stock rose. Mar-Mar was a subsidiary of Chess who bought the American rights to the record from Pye in the UK to try and leverage his new found notoriety.

All the interesting history aside, when I first heard the record I was like “cool, nice version of Night Train” and was only intrigued by the name and label info. Despite it feeling like this is a cash-in opportunity the song stands on its own as a rockin piece of R&B and in my humble opinion Nicol does right  by Forrest.  I think when you listen you’ll agree!

Hope you enjoy the record and have a great new year.

Peace and love,

-Snack Attack / George

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 Wild and Funky Moog / Synth 45s from 1969!

Richard Hayman “Hare Krishna” (Command/ABC, 1969)

The Plastic Cow Goes MOOOOOOg “One Man, One Volt” (Dot, 1969)

(Click the titles to listen or download)

I just want to clear the air here real quick.  I’m not a synth fanatic.  I have a lot of friends who are very much interested in the synthesizer and I’m not here to pretend to be one them.  These are two 45′s I’ve come across that I thought were funky and interesting enough to put here on the blog.  So please, correct me if I’ve gotten something egregiously wrong, but if you’re looking to begin your path into French minimal electronics, you’re in the wrong place.

Why then should I bother to give these 45′s space?  Well, first off, because I like them!  But secondly and more importantly, these records come at a time when the Moog was moving into the public consciousness and starting to make appearances on popular recordings such as The Byrds, The Supremes, The Beatles and more.  Previously the Moog had remained primarily in the sphere of special effects and gimmicks with exceptions being Wendy Carlos and Perry and Kingsley.  So it’s the late 60′s and The Moog is emerging.

Today’s first 45′s “Hare Krishna” by The Plastic Cow Goes Moooooog is the work of studio musician Mike Melvoin who was a prolific pianist and related instruments.  He contributed to work by The Jackson 5, Frank Sinatra and worked on The Beach Boys “Pet Sounds.”  

Our second 45 is not the more well known synth man Dick Hyman, but is Richard Hayman who worked as an arranger and worked in films before recording some exotica albums, which is probably the nearest today’s work comes to the rest of his oeuvre.  He spent the bulk of his career as an arranger for symphonies, most notably in my hometown with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

I hope you enjoy today’s 45′s!

-George / Snack Attack

[musicalepisode]

Two Sides From The Mysterious Jonn-El

Jonn-El “You Took Me Off And It Was Boss” (Scorpion, 1972)

Jonn-El “The Feelings Gone” (Scorpion, 1971?)

(Click Titles to listen or download)

I usually like to try and wrap up some details before posting but have come up dry in my searches for something more on the mysterious Jonn-El.  Finding yourself empty handed when looking around for information on 45s is nothing new and is frankly part of the excitement of the format- who knows what’s out there and what connections you can make.  I’m sure I’ve already mentioned this in one way or another and the only reason it’s unique is that we’re looking at two records today; “The Feelings Gone” and “You Took Me Off...” one of which is lacking lots of information and is sort of standard fare while the other has lots of information- even a phone number!- and an amazing photo of Jonn-El.

Still, here we are and I have very little to tell you about these records.  Both records are from early 70′s New York.  Well, at least the label is from the city... 

“The Feelings Gone” is a rough but wild ride, opening with some powerful drums, Jonn-El’s backing band feels like they’re running a hundred miles an hour to keep up the beat, except maybe the horns. 

“You Took Me Off...” is the flip to “Miss Sweet Stuff” which is a great answer record to “Mr. Big Stuff,” is a super funky side with lots of open drums and Jonn-El bringing a lot of energy on the mic and demonstrates a much higher production quality than “The Feelings Gone” while still maintaining some of the hard hitting energy.

Hope you enjoy today’s sides and I’ll update if I come across any more biographical information and as always, be in touch if you have any info!

-George / Snack Attack

[musicalepisode]

Singles Mixer Vol. 5

(Click title to listen or download)

This is our fifth installment of “Singles Mixer” which collects the last batch of 45s posted on the site into one hour (or so) long mix.  As such the flow of these mixes might be unusual and in instances where I have posted multiple versions of a song you may hear the same song in different versions.  In this mixer I actually eliminated the Linda Jones version of I’ll Be Sweeter because the record was a little crackly for my tastes.  Otherwise, a great batch of 45′s and the posts all remain so if you’re interested in the history of the records you can always read up later on!

Thanks for listening, I hope these records bring some peace into your world.

-George / Snack Attack

Roddie Joy “Come Back Baby” (Red Bird, 1965) The O'Jays “I’ll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (Than I Was Today) ” (Bell, 1967) The Dapps “I’ll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (Than I Was Yesterday)” (King, 1968) Freddie Gorman: In A Bad Way (Ric-Tic, 1964) Freddie Gorman: Take Me Back (Ric-Tic, 1965) The Crescents “That’s All She Left Me” (Watch, 1965) The Crescents & McMillan Sisters “Here You Come Again” (Watch, 1965) Butterball “Butterballs (Part 1)” (Fast Eddie, 1967) Butterball “Butterballs (Part 2)” (Fast Eddie, 1967) Bessie Banks “Go Now” (Tiger, 1964) Bessie Banks “It Sounds Like My Baby” (Tiger, 1964) Fats Drums Daddy “I Need Your Loving (Part 1)” (Josie, 1971) The Trells “Bad Weather” (Port City, ?) James Ray “I’ve Got My Mind Set On You” (Dynamic, 1962) Mickey Gilley “Lonely Wine” (Astro, 1965) Elijah & The Ebonites “Pure Soul” (Loren, 1970) Lonnie Mack “Chicken’ Picken’“ (Fraternity, 1965) Pretty Purdie “Caravan” (Date, 1967) The Meters “Hand Clapping Song” (Josie, 1970) Gatemouth Brown “Slop Time” (Peacock, 1960)