In a previous post about Mable John, I said something about how her records are cheap. Well, that's not always true, and even her 45's on Stax [which are what I was referring to at the time] seem to be going for a little bit more than they used to.
This record can sell for a lot of cash, that's why I own a beat up copy. Cost me all of $4, it did. And ya know, it will probably do me just fine until I find another cheap copy in better shape. As much as I love Mable John, I'm simply not going to pay $50-$100 a pop for nice copies of her output on Tamla.
If you'd like a better copy than what I'm offering, I suggest you check out "My Name Is Mable: The Complete Collection". It only covers the Tamla recordings but includes a wealth of fantastic unreleased tracks. Highly recommended.
For the Stax recordings, the comp to buy is "Stay Out Of The Kitchen". It too has loads of unreleased tracks, but for some reason does not include any of the a-sides of her released singles. Bummer, but it's still, in my opinion, a must-have collection. The world is truly a better place because it exists.
[Update: now that I think about it, these comps are likely the only albums of her recordings ever released]
Anyway, hope ya'll like this one.....
Do you know if she ever collaborated with her brother Little Willie John? I wonder how that would have sound! What a family....Great selection. Thanks.
ReplyDeletePerrata...Please don't quote me on any of this...but as far as I remember, it was a very large family [10 or 12 children]...Mable is like 7 or 8 years older.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely she was born in Louisiana, he was born in Arkansas. I think that at times it's been presumed that he helped her write "Able Mable"....but that's not correct, the co-writing credit is actually for her mother.
As far as I know they never did any substantial work together.
Another family member, Keith John, has been a backup singer for Stevie Wonder for many years - he is often seen at Stevie's side when Stevie is bunny-hopping onto the stage.
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