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[musicalepisode]

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!

[musicalepisode]

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

[musicalepisode]

Two Upbeat Numbers by Jackie Verdell

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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

[musicalepisode]

Warren Thompson “You Can’t Hinder Me” (RCA, 1974)

(Click title to listen or download song)

One of the great joys and a major reason I love 45′s is they are, in some sense, meant to stand alone. Before the full length album became the standard bearer, the single was the way a song ventured off into the great expanse. Along with the artist and song title the record usually had the publishing information, rights holders, label name, sometimes the mailing address and year right there on the label.  These little nuggets were sent out into the world like beacons in the night signaling to listeners: here’s our music, hope you enjoy!

With the costs of production, art and recording (only need two songs!) so much lower the traditional barriers for access to market were greatly reduced and allowed for all kinds of unique, unpredictable and amazing music to make its way into communities, radio stations and regional juke boxes.  As such, when you’re out in the field digging for records you learn to identify the tell tale signs of something a little off on a 45, a record that maybe has something unique to offer.  Often these features can be subtle, scroll back at the blog and you’ll see lots of examples; a beloved producer, a crudely drawn label  logo, explicit black power messages or any number of details that catch the eye.

Other times, specifically when travelling abroad (Europe loves pictures sleeves!) as I was in the case of today’s 45 someone goes as far out of their way as possible to make you want to listen to a record.  The amazing illustration gives you 1.) SOUL EXPLOSION as a descriptor 2.) a drawing of an exquisitely dressed funkateer 3.) Identification that the record has that “Miami Sound” and to top it all off the A side is a Jimmy Hendrix cover.  

But today I want to talk about the B Side of this amazing 45.  Despite the almost goofy sounding intro the song is remarkably confident and funky with a sparse opening.  We’re treated to some great, slightly fuzzy lead guitar work Warren’s vocals.  The ultra tight bridge with the back and forth guitar work makes my head spin and has been the subject of a million rewinds.

Originally released on the Blue Candle label out of Hialeah, FL (which is basically Miami) a funky subsidiary of Henry Stone and Steve Alaimo’s TK records there isn’t much I’ve been able to find in the way of production information other than it was produced by The Albert Brothers Ron and Howard.  The Blue Candle label had a lot of intermingling of talent with lots of TK studio musicians putting out records including Betty Wright’s touring band, ‘Snoopy’ Dean who played on a lot of the Gwen and George McCrae albums and members of KC’s Sunshine band.

I don’t have much else in the way of information about where Warren ended up and his release is right in the middle of Blue Candle’s short release list with just over 10 singles released before and after his 45.  Undoubtedly a big part of the indifference paid to the funk label was the meteoric rise of disco which was TK’s bread and butter and played a big part in Blue Candles later releases.

It’s a common refrain here but the musicianship and production quality on this record deserve more love and recognition and while it may not have happened then, I hope you can enjoy it here today.

Until our next Musical Episode,

-George / Snack Attack

[musicalepisode]

Sophisticated Funk : An Hour of Groovin 45′s

(Click title to listen or download)

After a long hiatus I’m happy to present another hour long podcast of funky 45s for all of you out there.  I know the long form podcast is more popular with folks so I’m sorry for the long delay in between these type of posts. 

I just got back from a great trip to Virginia where I scooped up tons of great records which I’ve barely begun to process but definitely lit a little bit of fire.  None of the (excellent) records featured today were picked up on the trip but have been floating in a folder of digitized records I’ve been wanting to write about and I figured if they’re not going to get individual posts after this long of a wait I might as well let the live in a mix.

While I had longer posts planned for lots of these records a couple of notes on the mix will have to suffice.

The track that opens the mix is a favorite.  Steve Colt, a white dude from Boston giving it his best James Brown and definitely delivers with some ultra heavy drums.  The Johnny Guitar Watson track is later than a lot of 45s I usually feature here but I’ve always dug how funky it is and the sing-a-long solo is a favorite.  Marsha Hunt’s “Oh No! Not The Beast Day” is an absolute monster from first to last.  Jean Knight’s “Do Me” is a funky, synthed up sort of re-tread of Mr. Big Stuff but has enough punch to really stand on its own.   

Along with the synth-laden 70′s numbers I kept the mix a little closer to my standard fare with Ken Jones and his killer “Chicken Pot Pie”, the jazzy “Afro-Desia” and the slow burns or John Roberts and J. Gardner.

There’s a range of songs here, some slow, some groovy, some are in the pocket funk but they’re all great tracks I know you’ll enjoy so I’ll let it rest and let you listen!

Till next time,

-Snack Attack / George

Tracks are as follow:

Steve Colt - “Dynamite” (Big Beat, 196?) Simtec & Wylie -  “Gotta Get Over The Hump” (Mister Chand, 1971) Ron Holden - “I Need Ya” (Now, 1973) King Curtis - “8th Wonder” (ATCO, 1968) Shirley Ellis - “The Puzzle Song” (Congress, 1965) John Roberts - “Sophisticated Funk (Inst.)” (Duke, 1967) J. Gardner - “99 Plus 1″ (Blue Rock, 1965) Johnnie Taylor - “Doing My Own Thing Part II” (Stax, 1971) Jamo Thomas & His Party Brothers Orchestra - “Snake Hip Mama” (Thomas, 1966) Spencer Wiggins - “He's Too Old” (Goldwax, 1968) The South Suburban Electric Strings - “Sign of The Zodiac (Pisces)” (Nickle, 1969) Lee Dorsey - “Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky (From Now On)” (Amy, 1969)  The Soul Society - “Afro-Desia” (Dot, 1968)  Ken Jones - “Chicken Pot Pie” (Almont Records, 1963) Johnny Jones and The King Casuals - “Soul Poppin'” (Brunswick, 1968) Johnny Tolbert - “Take It Off Part 1″ (Jasman, 1970) Lyn Collins - “Take Me Just As I Am” (People, 1973) Sentimental Souls -  “It's Party Time with Getting In The Groove - Part 1″ (P&P, 1970, original issue) Johnny Guitar Watson - “It's A Damn Shame” (DJM, 1977) Marsha Hunt - “Oh No! Not The Beast Day” (Vertigo, 1973) Jean Knight - “Do Me” (Stax, 1971) ”The Headhunters - “God Made Me Funky” (Arista, 1975)