SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET - SUGAR BEE + LES TETES BLANCHES- QUAND ON EST AMOUREUX (SHE'S ABOUT A MOVER)

When producer Huey P. Meaux wanted to create his own southern-fired Cajun answer to the Beatles, he couldn't have chosen a better frontman in Doug Sahm, himself the Sir Doug of the Sir Douglas Quintet. Sahm was a child prodigy who cut his first record at age 11, and had gone on to record a string of great country and r&b records while in his teens and early 20's.

While the group struck with a massive hit on their second shot (the incredible "She's About A Mover"), the formula was set in place for their debut 45. This is a record that I've had in my collection for quite a few years as a curio (since I love the SDQ so much) but I never felt it was daily 45 worthy until I heard it on shuffle play the other day and realized beneath its lunkheaded surface there's some amazing qualities lurking. On top of the cajun two-step/ British beat thrown-in-a-blender rhythm, there's some incredibly cool bass/organ counterpoint where each musician plays sligtly different changes; to some it may sound like a mistake, but it's repeated often enough in the song to tell me it was no accident, and it's funkier than a mosquito's tweeter! Plus Doug and the backing vocalists take a simple lunkheaded lyric and turn in an excellent, exciting performance.

from 1964...


SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET - SUGAR BEE


As a bonus, here's a killer French Canadian version of "She's About A Mover", from Les Tetes Blanches. While the organ is sorely missed in this version, the band was perhaps wise in not trying to duplicate Augie Meyer's magical Vox Continental groove; Augie is the true master of the combo organ, heard throughout the career of the SDQ and also in great effect on Bob Dylan's late period masterpiece "Time Out Of Mind".

from 1966...


LES TETES BLANCHES- QUAND ON EST AMOUREUX (SHE'S ABOUT A MOVER)

THE EMOTIONS - SO I CAN LOVE YOU

First off, let me apologize about the rough condition of my copy of this record. It's not a particularly rare one, it's just that I've never gotten around to getting an upgraded copy. I simply couldn't wait any longer to post it though, as video footage from the horn overdub session @ Stax has surfaced, thanks to Spike over at the Bedazzled! blog. This French TV documentary from 1969 is priceless stuff; in addition to seeing Isaac Hayes lead the horn section, we get to see Booker T & The MG's cut 'Time Is Tight", and also a Brook Benton session at Fame Studios. Unfortunately, we don't get to see the Emotions themselves cut this magical track, but when it comes to historical footage, we take what we can, happily!

from 1969...

THE EMOTIONS - SO I CAN LOVE YOU




Watching this also gave me the idea to document some sessions with my band that are currently happenin'

THE VELVELETTES - THERE HE GOES

We can all thank brilliant producer Bert Berns for introducing the Latin beat into American rhythm & blues music, as heard on such records as "Under The Boardwalk" (The Drifters) and "Cry To Me" (Solomon Burke). Berns spent a number of years in Cuba, where he became fascinated by the rhythms he heard, and was seduced by a cultural build around dance. By 1963, this sound was reverberating throughout the soul scene, and it's heard to great effect here, on this debut release from Detroit's Velvelettes.

Beautiful harmonies, dreamy piano, Latin rhythms and a young Stevie Wonder on harmonica are the ingredients that make up this lovely record. The Velvelettes SHOULD have been one of the biggest groups at Motown (thanks to records such as "Lonely Lonely Girl Am I" and "A Bird In The Hand (Is Worth Two In The Bush"), but sadly their records only scraped the charts between '63-'66.

from 1963...

THE VELVELETTES - THERE HE GOES

JIMMY HOLIDAY - THE NEW BREED

Jimmy Holiday (born in Mississippi) worked consistently through the 60's, book ended by a hit on his own in '63 ("How Can I Forget") and a co-writing credit on the massive "Put A Little Love In Your Heart", thanks to his partnership with Jackie DeShannon. I'm quite sure he was recording in Los Angeles, which was also the base for Kent Records.

As exciting as this record is today, I also add some historical perspective that may be lurking under the surface of the record. As the world was changing rapidly in 1965, a proclamation of being part of a new breed just might be far deeper than dancing and picking up a young lady; the new breed was also demanding equality for all...

'I've got the power to do anything", indeed.

from 1965...

JIMMY HOLIDAY - THE NEW BREED

THE EASYBEATS - GOOD TIMES

After achieving massive success in their homeland of Australia, The Easybeats eventually moved to the UK around the beginning of 1967. The group was formed at the height of the British Invasion in 1964, and quickly rose to fame in their homeland, proving to be not only one of Australia's greatest groups, but also one of the finest bands of the '60's; not only thru their massive international hit 'Friday On My Mind', but also fantastically energetic numbers such as "Sorry" and "I'll Make You Happy".

Sadly, the group's beat sound began to fall out of favor during the psychedelicizing of the world, and the hits dried up (the group broke up in 1969). This is one of their final (and finest) singles from the end of their career. The familiar voice on the choruses is none other than Small Faces ACE Steve Marriott.

A note about the French picture sleeve: notice how next to "Good Times" the former owner of the record wrote "jerk"; apparently THE JERK was a VERY popular dance in France thru the '60's as I bought many picture sleeves on my tours thru France and so many have "jerk' written next to the hot track.

from 1968...

THE EASYBEATS - GOOD TIMES

RODGER COLLINS - FOXY GIRLS IN OAKLAND b/w ALL TO'E DOWN

A few years after Rodger Collins struck a hit in '67 with the excellent "She's Looking Good" (written by Collins and also covered by Wilson Pickett), he released this bay area funk masterpiece. While the record never became a hit, it did garner a mention in the generally rock-centric Rolling Stone magazine who wrote up the record as being extraordinary (and rightfully so).

"Foxy" gets the bulk of attention, and it's easy to understand why; the song is one of those funk bombs that drops and turns the room shades of pulsating green. However, the b-side is pretty damn cool as well, and shows some of Rodger's country western influence.

After many years of working as a TV repairman in Oakland, Rodger has been doing some recording and performing in the past few years.

from 1970...

RODGER COLLINS - FOXY GIRLS IN OAKLAND

b/w ALL TO'E DOWN

In tribute to Belita Woods; 1948-2012

It truly pains me to write another epitaph. Especially since, in this day and age, passing away at 63 is just too damn young.

Although Belita Woods only released three solo singles, they are three records that I deeply cherish. In the later 70's Belita went on to sing with disco band Brainstorm, and in the early '90's she joined the P-Funk mob (which is where I first saw/ heard this amazing little woman with the big voice.) Belita looked foxy as can be on stage with P-Funk, often clad in a black leather mini, and she sang with absolute power and drama; her spots were always a highlight of the P Funk shows for me.

Her first release (1967) was the incredible double sider "Magic Corner b/w Grounded"; this record is easily my favorite Detroit double sider, period.Belita's vocals are so incredibly powerful on both sides that they practically collapse the capsule of the microphone that she sang into.
Magic Corner:

Grounded:


This record was followed up (also in '67) by the simply divine "That's When I'll Stop Loving You".

It was nearly six years later that Belita released another gorgeous ballad; "I Just Love You".

While Belita was never a household name, her talent sustained a career that spread across six decades. She will be missed.

SHERYL SWOPE - RUN TO ME

First off, I just wanna say how sad it is to hear of the passing of STAX bass man Donald "Duck" Dunn. As the house bass player for STAX, Dunn's down home bass lines combined with drummer Al Jackson made up what was perhaps the greatest rhythm section to ever make us either shake it or drive a ballad into deep into our hearts. Here's a repost of one of my favorite, yet lesser known, Dunn bass lines right here.

Hot on the heels of last week's Sheryl Swope post,  here's another track from her, and one that shows off her crystal clear voice in the most gorgeous light. I know I say this often, but one of the joys I get when I'm writing these posts is that I typically listen to the track a few times in a row while writing and scanning the sleeve. This one just gets better upon each repeated listening. In a world that's full of too much negativity, a record like this just brings it all home and erases all of the ill wills of the world for 2;19, and luckily for us we can enter that world as often as we like.

In my perfect fantasy world, a record like this could melt the hearts of all the bigots, homophobes, greedy one percenters and all of the other people whose lack of civic mindedness and general no-goodness can foul up our day to day lives.

from 1969...

SHERYL SWOPE - RUN TO ME

JOHNSON, HAWKINS, TATUM & DURR - YOU CAN'T BLAME ME

Capsoul Records out of Columbus, Ohio released a staggeringly high percentage of excellent singles within the dozen or so releases from the label in their four year run. The label was founded by DJ Bill Moss, who left the music business shortly after Capsoul folded in '75 and became a school board member for nearly 20 years.

Perhaps the long group name was a success deterrent, and Moss, as a former radio DJ, surprisingly didn't encourage the group to have a name that rolled off the tongue a bit quicker. It certainly wasn't a lack of talent, as the quartet simply STUNS with their incredible performance on this record.

from 1971...

JOHNSON, HAWKINS, TATUM & DURR - YOU CAN'T BLAME ME

Fillmore Set 5/11/12

I ain't gonna lie; it was an incredible thrill to hear some of my favorite records blasting thru the Fillmore PA, and an incredible honor to play records before one of my all time favorite bands (The Brian Jonestown Massacre).

Here's the set that I played before Jonestown took the stage. I'll post the track list as a comment within the next few days, and maybe even post up my first set of the night (from when the doors open until Blue Angel Lounge played their opening set).


Fillmore Set

setlist: Date with The Rain- Eddie Kendricks/ Trying To Get Next To You- Arnold Blair/ My White Bicycle- Tomorrow/ I'm Not Your Regular Woman- Lucille Mathis/ Your Body Not Your Soul- Cuby & The Blizzards/ In The Basemant- Etta James & Sugarpie DeSanto/ Baby's A Dealer- Lilys/ Magic Potion- The Open Mind/ This Must Be The Place- The Tropics/ Red Hot Mama- Funkadelic/ Hide & Seek- Lillian Dupree/ Stand Up Straight & Tall- Jackie Shane/ I Must Be Mad- The Craig

BRIAN AUGER & THE TRINITY - BLACK CAT

While the records cut as Brian Auger & The Trinity with (the great) Julie Driscoll on vocals are the most well known from this collective, this particular 45 finds the fellas alone and absolutely SCORCHING.

Auger is an organist of legend, and his rocking Hammond B3 playing drives this track into the stratos-mod-o-phere for an unrelenting 3:18, including an organ solo that's one of the finest ever played on the instrument. It may be a bit corny, but I love the faux-party sounds happening on the intro and the choruses. Put aside any convictions of authenticity and they just add to the fun. And I DARE you to sit still while this jam plays.

from 1968...

BRIAN AUGER & THE TRINITY - BLACK CAT