All music presented on this site is shared under the premise of "fair use"; this site is solely intended for the purpose of education and critique. If you are a rights holder to any of the music presented and wish for it to be removed, simply contact me directly and it will be taken down.
Typically "jam sessions" are fun for the musicians doing their thing, but most wouldn't want to listen as the often directionless playing can be tedious. This 45 side distills what is, in my opinion, the absolute greatest example of the brief flash of inspiration that can result in such a thing.
Veteran session/ touring keyboard player Howard Wales (The Four Tops, James Brown, The Box Tops, etc) made his home in San Francisco in the late 60's, and began playing in the clubs such as The Matrix that hosted a jam night where the heavy hitter of the SF scene held court. Howard and Jerry Garcia clicked, and they cut an LP that was released in 1971 (of which this single is extracted). The duo (joined by an excellent rhythm section), perfectly match a SLAMMING organ driven funk jam with Garcia's spacy guitar being channeled in from another dimension.
Since
I haven't been able to post in a few days due to non-agreeable, archaic
wi-fi (isn't it a funny irony that I use modern technology to present
low tech music from a low tech medium? A medium which also ALWAYS works,
by the way), it's only fair that I throw down an all-out, ass shaking
classic, right?
Here's Eddie Bo at his finest. 'Nuff
said. If you don't know Bo you're new around here. He's one of the most
incredible artists to come out of the incredible city of New Orleans
(see, in order to saty within the legality of "fair use" I need to
present some sort of critique or history in my post)
Feel
free to correct me about the year. I'm running on very little sleep and
this afternoon is a blur filled with two planes, a wild ride from the
airport and a mad dash to hit 4 record stores in Toulouse before closing
time, so trying to figure out the exact year of release is low on my
list of priorities :-)
Born Richenda de Winterstein Gillespie in the affluent county of Surrey (outside London), the persona of Dana Gillespie was born when, at age 13, she attended The American Folk Blues Festival in 1962. Dana began frequenting the Marquee club as a young teen (and was offered a contract by The Yardbirds manager which she declined), this precocious young singer and actress fell into a friendship with Donovan (Leitch). Donovan assisted her from the beginning (her recording debut was in 1965), and in 1968 wrote this song exclusively for Dana that was poised to be a smash hit. Not only was the single (and subsequent LP) amazing, but Dana was a gorgeous young woman. For whatever reason, the record sis not become a hit but it has taken on a life of its own as one of the ultimate examples of (late period) British psych-beat.
Listening to the seasoned voice on this record, it's hard to believe that Dana was only SEVENTEEN years old when she cut it.
This 45 has been a holy grail for me for years; I've had the LP for ages (the superb Foolish Seasons) but this was another record that I've consistently been outbid on whenever it came up for sale. Now to snag the equally excellent (and impossibly scarce) American cover by Karen Verros and my mind will be all set.
Dana's career found her continuing on through the present day as a singer (blues) and actress (she starred as Mary Magdalane in the original London cast of Jesus Christ Superstar).
First off, today's post is dedicated to today's Supreme Court ruling and the prevailing power of equality. Hats off!
Chicago's unbelievably great vocal group is best known for their superlative sweet soul ballads of the early '70's, but they made several out and out BURNERS, of which this is one of the finest.
from 1970...
THE CHI-LITES - I LIKE YOUR LOVIN' (DO YOU LIKE MINE)
Happy birthday to the GREAT Eddie Floyd; what better opportunity to re-post one of the earliest daily 45's I ever posted, the mighty "Big Bird"!
"Big Bird" was also one of the final blue label Stax singles (before they broke from Atlantic and went independent again), and also represents an end of sorts to the vibe of the blue label records. "Big Bird" is one of the hardest hitting soul 45's of the '60's (Steve Cropper's guitar riff is SO RAW), and its no surprise that this record was especially popular in the UK (witness my English copy with that gorgeous label). The darker side to the record is that, legend has it, Eddie Floyd wrote the lyrics at Heathrow Airport, waiting to fly home for the funeral of Otis Redding. Undoubtedly soul music itself was changing, but the death of Otis Redding also changed the mood at Stax considerably. Of course they recorded and released dozens upon dozens of great records post-'68, but there is a considerable magic on the blue label 45's.
By 1968, Eddie Floyd was a music business veteran of 13 years, having co-founded The Falcons in 1955. eddie was signed to Stax in 1965 and the label used his considerable talents as both a performer AND songwriter to full capacity. Eddie has written some of the most powerful soul classics in the history of the music; whether recorded originally by himself ("Knock On Wood"), or by others ("Ninety-Nine And A Half Won't Do"), these songs are the amazing legacy of a legend.
Whoever coined the nickname "the Sinatra of the blues" for Bobby Bland couldn't have been more correct; during his golden years of the 50's and '60's, there were no better blues vocalists than Mr. Bland. Sadly, his voice had deteriorated quite a bit in his later years, but Bobby Bland still managed to deliver the goods on stage up until the end.
Bobby's discography is just as large as the influence that he cast through blues, soul (and beyond)- it wasn't easy picking only four records to share here. In addition to his oodles of 45's (and 78's), his LP's Two Steps From The Blues and Here's The Man are two of the greatest blues LP's ever cut to wax.
Bobby grew up in Memphis, and like so many other musicians who call that city home, Bobby's music combined elements of so many different styles that limiting his work to the label "blues" is both unfair and misleading. While his recording career began in the early '50's, he was drafted in to the army which took him out of circulation for several years. When he returned to civilian life, not only did his records (and his vocal style) hit their stride, but he also worked as a chauffeur to make ends meet. By the time "Farther Up The Road" was released in 1957, Bobby was a musician full time, and his records and live appearances were becoming very popular.
"Lead Me On" (1960) is one of the most haunting records I've ever heard; in addition to the gorgeous, aching vocal performance, the addition of strings was a brilliant and innovative move that adding an air of sophistication to the music that took it to a completely new level.
"Turn On Your Love Light" (1961) is one of Bobby's most loved records, and it also became one of his most famous, thanks to the (fantastic) cover by the Grateful Dead. "Love Light" is one of those records that was a blueprint for the upcoming soul sounds that were just a few years ahead.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Bobby was able to gracefully adapt to the soul style that all but swept blues aside in the mid-60's, and records such as "Shoes" (1966- a past 45 of the day) and "Gotta Get To Know You" (1969) combine Bobby's incredible vocals with a hard edged soul sound making for sublime results. Sadly, at the time "Gotta Get To Know You" was released, Bobby's band had disintegrated, and he was deep in a battle with the bottle. Fortunately, the man was able to clean up in '71 and his LP's from the '70's and touring brought him great success. My mom took me to see him and BB King together when I was 4 years old, and that concert cut a lasting impression on my young psyche. Thank you for the music, Bobby- you were pure class.
Brothers Of Soul were Fred Bridges (the leader, who had been performing
music since his early adolescence), Ben Knight and Robert Eaton. Shortly
before the release of this disc they were known as The Creations ("A
Dream") but the name change was inspired by graffiti from the Detroit
riots; black business owners would have signs saying "soul brother" on
their store fronts as a way to prevent their businesses from being
vandalized. While these Brothers Of Soul performed music that was not
political, their name was a powerful statement nonetheless.
Eaton and Knight's
harmonies are absolutely other worldly, and Bridges' lead is gritty but
in absolute control. The trio went on releasing a few more records under
this name, but also shared their songwriting talents with other
artists, and worked steadily as backing vocalists (mainly for
Holland-Dozier-Holland's post-Motown productions).
Phew, Gail Anderson absolutely WAILS on this track! This is an example of a side where the song itself isn't that great, and in lesser hands would have been a relatively boring record. However, the vocal just pushes this song into a whole other status.
Early Bird was an offshoot of Fantasy Records (Berkeley) so it's relatively certain that this is a bay area track. Not much is known about Gail Anderson, other than that she was probably from SF/Oakland. One thing that's certain is that she made far too few records!
While Sharon Tandy's version is definitive, this (male) take is pretty damn swell, as well.
Turns out that Rupert's People had a very strong connection to the Sharon Tandy record, as they were the same backing group, and they were one and the same as the legendary UK freakbeat group The Fleur De Lys. For very strange reasons, Fleur De Lys recorded a few sides as Rupert's People (one can read the whole saga here).
Here, the band lowers the key a bit, changes the middle eight of the song, and increases the HEAVY aspect, but keep it groovin' and groovy amid the sludge.
A very important record for a number of reasons (not to mention that both sides are simply sterling soul shots!)
After
a gap of around five years, George Clinton decided to revive the name
Parliaments; the music scene had changed significantly during this
relatively short time which is reflected here (previous Parliaments
releases were doo wop, this record is, to my ears, the epitome of
Detroit soul).
With his fingers in production, writing
and performing pies, Clinton was one of the major players on the
outside-of-Motown talent pool throughout the mid to late sixties (many
of which have been featured as past 45's of the day, and many are on my
want list as well, waiting for their future slots).
