CHARLIE & THE JIVES - SAD GIRL

While there are some other incredible versions of this beautiful song (Thee Midnighters and Jay Wiggins spring to mind) this recording by the great San Antonio group Charlie & The Jives (their "I Want You" was a 45 of the day a few years back) is the one that really grabs my heart. Perhaps it is the just slightly out of tune wooziness that captures the mood of the song so well, but this slice of Tex-Mex soul just wipes me out.

from 1971...

CHARLIE & THE JIVES - SAD GIRL

DELIA GARTRELL - FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE

I am a BIG fan of the sub genre of soul records in which ladies plot revenge on bad boys. STICK IT TO 'EM!!!!!

In this track, Delia Gartrell uses a very fiery performance to get the point across, with fuzz guitar and wicked drumming that deliver the message loud and clear.

Delia was a cocktail jazz singer in Atlanta where soul hero THE MIGHTY HANNIBAL caught a performane and was enchanted with her voice. She was in a relationship with his friend, who Hannibal tried to partner with to make records with Delia. That partnership never materialized, but Delia and Hannibal DID find a partnership together; both on wax and later as husband and wife.

from 1972...

DELIA GARTRELL - FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE

SHARON TANDY - HOLD ON

Beyond the sheer sonic wonderment contained in the grooves of this record, Sharon Tandy has an interesting story as well. Born in South Africa, Sharon appeared in a South African beat film while still a teen, and then relocated to the UK at the insistence of her management. Sharon met with moderate success, and was lucky enough to record at Stax studios in Memphis in 1966. For this track, she is backed by trhe UK's legendary psych/ beat group LES FLEUR DES LYS who turn in (in my opinion) the finest performance of their career, which was a career FULL of highlights.

The band whips up an imminently danceable psychedelic racket (which also contains one of my all time favorite guitar breaks) yet Sharon still remains on top of it all with a commanding, restrained and incredibly sexy vocal performance. This is the stuff dreams are made of, kids. Hold on, indeed.

from 1967...

SHARON TANDY - HOLD ON

EMORISE KELLY - THE BIGGEST FOOL b/w DISAPPOINTED IN LOVE

A great double sider from a mysterious singer. Seems as though all is known about Emorise is that he was initially a vocalist in a group I'm not familiar with called The Paramounts (not the UK Paramounts that I know of), and that he tragically died in Vietnam after being drafted c1968.

The performance on this record shows that Emorise had incredible talent; I *think* he had at least one more release that I would love to hear.

from 1963...

EMORISE KELLY - THE BIGGEST FOOL



b/w DISAPPOINTED IN LOVE

KING SPORTY - THINKING OF YOU

Jamaican artist/ songwriter/ producer King Sporty conjures up a soul sound here that easily could have come out of a New York, Philadelphia or Miami studio during this era, but the "backwards" reggae style bass and skank guitar is straight outta Jamaica. In fact, Sporty relocated to Miami in the late 70's and became a fixture of that city's electro scene.

THIS is the record that moves me; it's absolutely beautiful. Should have been a worldwide smash, as this record screams HIT in every aspect.

from 1973...

KING SPORTY - THINKING OF YOU

Great Record Stores- Toulouse, France!

Toulouse is a great city full of incredible, very old architecture...as well as some great record stores!

Absolute TOPS is Paul Emile Vinyls (5 Rue Temponieres); Paul has a jaw dropping collection of great records in all styles, neatly presented in a way that makes browsing pleasant. The store (and all of the other shops I visited) are located conveniently near the city center. The two men working behind the counter (one of which I believe was Paul) were VERY friendly and helpful. I pulled a nice cache of records, and they worked out a great price for me; I cannot say enough positive things about this store that is truly perfection for a vinyl lover.

In very close proximity to each other, there is Croc-Vinyl and Bullitt; both stores yielded some excellent finds (at great prices) as well as a very friendly vibe. These two stores are highly recommended. Also in the same area is Anthology; I can't say I can recommend this one, as there is a rough looking copy of Hawkwind- "Space Ritual" in the window priced at ONE THOUSAND EURO!!!!!! This is a 100E record AT BEST; easily attainable for far less.

Most bizarre of all was my experience in Armadillo Disques. As someone who has been lucky enough to work/ travel to many countries worldwide, I take great pleasure in the friends that I meet along the way in my travels at record stores and elsewhere. The owner (I assume) of the store was full of attitude and told me that he would not sell a particular record I had selected to an Englishman. I didn't bother telling him I'm an American, but just said, well I won't buy anything then. I cannot believe that there are pigheaded people that put bigotry over commerce. It still blows my mind that people put bigotry over common decency and just being a good person. Which reminds me of a conversation some friends and I were having yesterday- the only divisions in music are created by bigotry and to a lesser extent marketing. Music from the heart should not be divided by white, black, English, French, Asian, WHATEVER.

Overall, the world is an amazingly cool place. Just a minor bummer when an occasional ass gets in the way.

CHARLIE RICH - THAT'S MY WAY

Charlie Rich had a chameleon like career during his first decade, and luckily was given the opportunity to explore rockabilly, country, pop and, yes, some down home, dancefloor fillin' white soul as heard here.

With a voice practically as strong as Elvis, Charlie Rich could and DID sing anything. As soon as the amazing drum break kicks off this song, it's pure sonic bliss for the next 2:33. Rich himself has said that his recordings for Smash records are his personal favorites, and when one considers song such as this, "Mohair Sam" (a pretty big hit), and "Dance Of Love" (a past 45 of the day) it's quite easy to see why.

from 1966...

CHARLIE RICH - THAT'S MY WAY

THE EXPLOSIONS - HIP DROP pt1

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 :-)

from c1968...

THE EXPLOSIONS - HIP DROP pt1

WILL RETURN SHORTLY

Hello folks-

I'm in a location with archaic wi-fi that resembles the speed of a 56K modem circa 1998, so I have not been able to post.
'
It's so bad, that I probably couldn't even post a sound file of the old AOL "You've Got Mail!" voice.

Will be in a new location Monday (on the continent)that will definitely allow the posts to continue.

VERNON & JEWEL - YOU CAN HAVE MY LOVING

This was the first record that Vernon (Garrett) and Jewel (Whittaker) recorded together; the married couple released a brilliant string of duets until Jewel's tragic death from cancer in the mid 60's.

Russell Jacquet (brother of Illinois Jacquet) was a trumpeter who was calling Oakland, CA home during the recording of this record; as Vernon & Jewel were based in both L.A and Oakland, it's sa safe bet that this record was recoded in Oakland.

And this record swings HARD.

from 1961...

VERNON & JEWEL - YOU CAN HAVE MY LOVING

THE SOUNDS LIKE US - CLOCK ON THE WALL

This brilliant record out of Duluth, MN was originally cut by The Guess Who; The mysterious "Sounds Like Us" saw the record released on the local Jill Ann label where it became a pretty good sized local hit which brought in A&R from Fontana Records who put it out for national release in January of '67 where it sank like a stone.

from 1966...

THE SOUNDS LIKE US - CLOCK ON THE WALL