I tried the Hip Drop, and I like it....

I'm thinking it's been a good long while since anyone's dropped the needle on this bomb, that is, blog-wise. Probably since Eddie Bo died in March of 2009.

This is the only one of the three Explosions 45's that mere mortals are allowed to own. I know it's hard to believe, but I have yet to reach angelic status.

Maybe someday I'll be worthy of a copy of "Garden of Four Trees", but at this point it eludes me even though I-want-it, I-need it, I-must-have-it. I swear, every night I pray for a copy.

A very nice M- copy of "Jockey Ride" was offered to me quite some time ago [a guy in Europe had a stash of them], but the price tag was $400. In other words, totally out of the question for a poverty stricken grad student. Actually, there's no way could I afford it even now. One does occasionally have to be realistic, even though reality sucks.

Anyway, enjoy ya'll....this is one jam that should always be available.

Part 1.

Part 2.

Ohhhhh baby!!!

Shirley Wahls has ultra heavy duty gospel credentials [the Ward Singers for one]. Basically, she's been singing in church her entire life. As far as I know, still is.

In the late sixties she made a handful of secular records, 6 or 7, on various labels. All of them are excellent, but for my money, this is the killer of the bunch. Doesn't matter which side gets played, they both blow me away every time.

Don't Destroy Me

Half A Man

I pray at night that you'll come back to me....

Nice to be back in New Orleans. The weather is gorgeous. I'm a happy girl.

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The original release version of "For Every Boy There's A Girl" is rarely heard. In fact, I think the only time it's been re-issued was on the Instant label LP, titled "All These Things". But isn't that a misprint? Isn't the actual song on the album the flip-side of this 45, "I've Done It Again"? Wasn't the mistake corrected on the Bandy re-issue of the comp? Or is it the other way around? I don't own either pressing, so I can't check.

Doesn't really matter. The point being that if this version of the song has been re-issued, it was 30 to 40 years ago. The only version now available is different. It's been stripped of it's gorgeous flute track.

Usually, I'm all for chucking silly overdubbed vocals and the like, but in this case the so-so backup singing was left in place and the very reason I paid attention to the 45 in the first place was taken away. It's a nice song, in fact, it's beautiful, but whoever decided to cut the flute part is an idiot. Be sure and tell 'em I said so.

This is the only Aaron Neville single released on Jack Banashak's Instant label. Given that Neville was busy recording for Parlo at the time, it makes me wonder if the song wasn't recorded earlier than it's 1967 release date would suggest. Neville recorded for Minit [owned at that time by Banashak] between 1960 and 1963 with Allen Toussaint. Perhaps Banashak was hoping to cash in on the huge success of "Tell It Like It Is" by issuing an older unreleased track?

I could be entirely wrong, but it does seem odd that a lone single by Neville showed up on a Banashak owned label, four years after the last one, with no producer/arranger credit, and a flip-side song credited to "Naomi Neville", aka Allen Toussaint.

Hope ya'll enjoy the tune....

You better go now....

Percy Mayfield was one of the greatest songwriters that ever lived. There's not much point in me saying more than that because Jim Marshall's got it all laid out here, along with a bunch of other Mayfield recordings available for your listening pleasure.

While it may look like Marshall's already posted this song, this is a different version of "You Don't Exist No More" than he's offering. To my mind, a much cooler version, recorded 9 years after the original, in 1963.

Hope ya'll enjoy....

You got to do your thing....

When I posted Robert Parker's "Funky Soul Train" a few days ago, I should have sent you to this excellent piece on Parker by Larry Grogan. Actually, I would have, except I don't remember reading it until today.

In that piece, Grogan makes "Funky Soul Train" sound much rarer than I thought. At least I think that's what he's saying. This comment concerning the record is more than a little mystifying: "Parker’s last 45 for NOLA (and apparently the last 45 on the label by anyone) was the outstanding (and incredibly rare, according to the 2002 Night Train reissue the track was “previously not known to exist”, though there are known copies of the 45) ‘Funky Soul Train’ b/w ‘Robert and WQs Train (NOLA 742)."

[Sorry, this confused me at first, but after numerous readings it finally makes a bit more sense. Seems the folks at Night Train were overstating the case by saying it was previously unknown, right?]

Anyway, I happen to think this 45 is rare too, although I can't find a quote from anyone saying as much. Certainly, I had a hard time finding an original copy. Ya see, this record has been re-pressed twice in limited quantities just so DJ's have something to play.

And I too have been playing a re-press for some time, that is until this genuine, well-stored, un-played, old stock copy came my way. A perfect copy from God himself.

This rip sounds better than anything I've got on CD. I made it the second time I played the 45, all I did was wipe it down. As is standard on this blog, no de-clicker was used. I probably should've left the needle drop in the edit.

Hope ya'll enjoy....

[I'm almost certain Allen Toussaint produced this, and if that isn't some version of the Meters playing then I must be losing my hearing. I have no idea why the label gives Bob Robin production credit.]

[As was pointed out in the comments, the other half of the Robert Parker story has been provided by Dan Philips....here]

Give me the strength to carry on....

I'm on my way to Portland. So far, the trip's been just fine. It was nice to see an old friend in Boston and I even got to spend a couple of hours shopping in Cambridge. Caught the Nicholas Nixon show at the Museum of Fine Arts as well.

Chicago was quite a bit more hectic. There was a presentation to give and seemingly hundreds of people to talk to. A beautiful room with a view of the lake made up for a lot. In fact, I don't think I've ever slept so well in a hotel before. But then, I'm totally exhausted. My afternoon nap on Thursday lasted eight hours. I woke up at midnight.

Since I'm finally telling everyone the news, I should just go ahead and spit it out......I'm 14 weeks pregnant. Anyone who says you get a spurt of energy during the second trimester is lying through their teeth.

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This is a local D.C. pressing of a 45 more commonly seen on the GSF label where it's credited to Joe Quarterman & Free Soul. Surprisingly, I was able to pick it up for less than I paid for my copy of the nationally distributed GSF pressing. I guess some folks don't know it's the same record.

I don't have much to say about Quarterman & crew except that their self-titled album [which has been re-issued on vinyl] is a big favorite of mine. Well worth the $15 it'll set you back.

This single is the heart of that album. Personally, I prefer the straight ahead approach of Part 1, but fans of heavy psych funk should definitely check out Part 2 for the requisite screaming guitar solo.

Sorry about the missing scan for Part 2, I don't seem to have it with me.

I Got So Much Trouble In My Mind Pt1.

I Got So Much Trouble In My Mind Pt2.

Que paso!, que paso!

Nice to have an excuse to clear out some of my backlog. Believe it or not, I don't actually carry 45's with me everywhere I go.

This record's supposed to be hard to find, but I wouldn't know anything about that. I stumbled on my copy without specifically looking for it.

The Prime Mates weren't a real band. It's Allen Toussaint with some studio musicians, probably a few members of The Stokes, the band he put together while in the army.

I'm posting Part 2 because I like it better than Part 1. The two sides are just different mixes of the same jam. On Part 1, the guitar is fuzzed out, but it's mixed so far in the background that the song suffers as a consequence. Part 2 is better, even without the fuzz.

Hope ya'll enjoy.....

You mean all the world to me...

A quick one, while I have a few minutes to spare.

When I first started picking up Frisco label 45's they were dirt cheap and consequently I bought all I could find. The vast majority fall into the category of "little" records. Ya know, records which never really had a chance at becoming hits, but are still at least somewhat interesting and even occasionally amazing. In short, the kind of records collectors covet. Which explains why the prices on some Frisco 45's have increased a good bit since I bought my copies.

This single was produced by David Porter and Issac Hayes, certainly one of the greatest production teams ever. In fact, they penned the tune as well. But that doesn't mean Frisco owners Hal Atkins and Connie LaRocca had the money to pay Porter and Hayes for top-notch work. As with other releases on Frisco, the production isn't exactly sparkling. Nor, for that matter, is the song itself.

Danny White gets all the credit for pulling this one off. The man had a way of hitting the top end of his [very limited] register so hard it makes you wonder if he didn't sprain himself. Not exactly subtle, but totally effective.

Anyway, it took me awhile to cozy up to this record. Now it grabs me every time.

Hope ya'll enjoy.....

New York City, Detroit and Philly....

I'm traveling all this week. First Boston, then on to a conference in Chicago. After that, I could fly to New Orleans to catch the last night of the Ponderosa Stomp, but since I'm supposed to be in Portland the following Monday morning, the extra flight really doesn't make sense. I literally wouldn't even have time to unpack my bag, a delayed flight could make it all for naught, and it's expensive to boot.

Too bad. Last year, I made the 10 hour drive down from Austin, but was so tired and distracted by the time I got to New Orleans that I might as well not have bothered. Ya see, the previous Stomp schedule, centered in and around Jazzfest, directly conflicted with final exams and reviews. This year was supposed to be easy. I particularly wanted to see Wallace Johnson.

Maybe next year.

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The odd thing about Robert Parker's work with Wardell Querzergue is that so many of the tunes sound like hits. I mean, seriously big hits. In fact, If you'd have asked me three years ago, I'd have said most of them were huge. But they weren't. Not outside of New Orleans. "Barefootin" and to a lesser degree, "Hip Huggin", were the only two to make waves nationally.

This is a tough 45 to find. My friend C. has been watching Ebay closely for years, and he says he's only seen two, maybe three, copies offered at auction. The guy I bought my copy from said it's the only one he's ever run across.

That doesn't mean you haven't heard the song before, it's relatively easy to find on various collections and comps, not the least of which is "Robert Parker: The Wardell Querzergue Sessions". Which makes me wonder if the easy availability of collections and re-issues doesn't tend to skew history in the minds of present day listeners. In this case, you have a record that didn't sell at all, but is now quite easy to find as a digital copy, and it sounds like it must have been a hit in the day. Even with good liner notes explaining the situation, I think it's all too easy to forget how obscure some of these records were/are.

This was the last record issued on the Nola label.....which probably means it was issued in 1967. Nola was one of the labels that collapsed when Cosimo Matassa went bankrupt trying to keep up with the demand for Aaron Neville's, "Tell It Like It Is".

Hope ya'll enjoy.

Love me or leave me, it's anybody's guess....

I remember feeling this way after the last time I posted "Moanin' and Screamin'". What can you possibly play after that record that doesn't end up sounding like a forced attempt at cheerfulness?

Best just to draw a line................................................

Here's something completely different. Time to put on a stupid hat, fire up a fatty, and dance around with your dog. Don't be surprised if the neighbors show up with a half eaten bag of pretzels and a bottle of Pernod. The party's just starting.

A friend tells me this 45 is hard to find. I'm like, really?

From 1965....

[addendum: This pressing is really noisy. Just so ya'll know it has nothing to do with my rip]

All I could do was cry.....

"Moanin' and Screamin'" was one of the first songs I posted on this blog. That file is no longer active, so it seems like a good time to make the song available again.

This is not a re-post in the usual sense because this copy of the 45 is much nicer than the one I ripped previously. I still own my old scratched-up copy, in fact it's the one I continue to play most often, but there's no denying that this is the superior recording.

Here's Diamond Joe Maryland's absolute monster of a debut from 1961....

Moanin' and Screamin' Pt1

Moanin' and Screamin' Pt2

Time is getting shorter....

Larry Grogan is reporting that Diamond Joe Maryland is dead. How very sad. And perhaps even sadder is that many huge fans [myself included] had no idea he was still alive. Horrible really. There was never a lot known about him in the first place, would that someone had hooked up with him before now. As Larry says in his piece, "Until I saw the picture posted with his obit (seen above) I had no idea what he looked like."

Anyway, Larry wrote a very moving piece for Diamond Joe and ya'll should go check it out here if you haven't already.

Now, I own the same Diamond Joe records Larry does [unless he's sitting on a copy of the mythical "Too Many Pots"]. So I thought I'd post a few of the tunes Larry neglected [and that I haven't already posted and was meaning to].

My heartfelt condolences to Diamond Joe's family....

Help Yourself

Hurry Back To Me

Wait A Minute Baby

Not too fast, not too slow....

Off the only other 45 by Lil Willie & The Rockin' Imperials.

Careful ya'll, this is a very big dog...has sharp teeth and is known to hump legs.

No use pretending...

As I'm sure I said in a previous post, most if not all Joe Haywood sides issued on New Orleans labels were recorded in NYC.

The arranger/producer on this cut, Larry Lucie, is considered by some to have been one of the great jazz guitar players and was for many years a well known bandleader/teacher in NYC. Lucie was with both Louis Armstrong's and Duke Ellington's bands during important periods for each. When he died last year at age 101, we lost the last of the musicians to have played with Jelly Roll Morton.

This one goes out to My Boy.....

Drop the bomb...

My my my my....

Periodically, ya run into records that sound like they were made to be played on club systems. I have no idea what sets them apart from other records.....it's just something ya know when ya hear it. The crowds know it too.

This is one of those records.

Larry Grogan's got the whole story on Jerry-O here.

Hope ya enjoy....

I had to learn the hard way....

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been forced to move my base of operations to Austin Texas. It's entirely work related and not something I'm pleased about. In fact, anyone who looks at me cross-eyed had better duck. Fast.

Hopefully, I'll be back in New Orleans, full time, by the end of the month. If not, I'll probably put this particular career on hold and take up dancing for pocket change in the Quarter.

Anyway, fair warning ya'll. I am not a happy girl. So, rather than just disappearing for awhile, I figure I'll do some posting with minimal blah blah blah on my part. This post, notwithstanding.

Shut up and spin the disc DJ.........

[I should mention that there's a Priscilla Price CD available called, "I'm Not For Sale". It was released awhile back. Maybe you should check it out.]

Go, Go, Go...

Mediafire is down again.

Oh well, here's a clip of Da Sha Ra doing the earliest bounce track I remember. According to the date, I was all of 9 years old at the time. There's no "triggerman beat" but believe me, this is very close to the bone. Do yourself a favor and cut it off at about 2:40, that is, unless you're a fan of incredibly boring and stupid interviews.

She don't have to be good lookin'.....

This 45 is so good that after several months of playing the hell out of a-side I finally flipped the stupid thing over and found....another song I'd been seriously looking for. I never dreamed the one backed the other.

Unfortunately, I don't know much about McKinley Sandifer. One of these days I need to do some reading about the Chicago scene. That's undoubtedly where this was recorded. Sorry if that sounds lame, but as I've said before, the further away from New Orleans I get, the less I know.

Kind of hard to say, but I think there are 5 or 6 singles by Sandifer on almost as many fairly obscure labels [Sand and Sand Ltd are two different labels?]. Three of them are nice funk outings, one is not at all to my taste and goes for a healthy chunk of change....and another is a version of "There's Something In a Man"???....so maybe that means there are only five instead of six?

I think Sandifer is still alive. He could be the same person who now plays sax with Christian bands.

Btw, through no fault of my own I'm having to use my portable player for the time being. I think the rip sounds fine, but let me know if you disagree and I'll see what I can do about it.

Hope ya enjoy the tune...it's the b-side.

Miss Sticks.....

I do my best not to post songs I know have been recently offered by others. You might be surprised how often I have to move a 45 to the back of the stack for that reason.

Anyway, I think it's been at least 18 months since this was posted over at Jukeboxmafia, which seems plenty long to wait. Actually took me awhile to get myself a copy, not because it's especially hard to find, but because to my way of thinking it's a $5 record [more or less a generic term] and everyone seemed to want too much money.....even if it was just a couple of dollars more than I thought it should be. I get stubborn like that sometimes.

I'm a huge fan of Raymond Lewis records. They're like the flip-side of Lee Dorsey's output. Allen Toussaint's touch is literally all over them, with lots of tasty piano work by Mr. T and usually at least one songwriting credit for Naomi Neville, his nom de wax. I can't imagine they didn't do well in New Orleans.

As far as I know there are only four singles by Raymond Lewis. Here's his first one, from 1961.

Hope y'all enjoy...it's one of my faves.

You betrayed me.....

A sublime two-sider by one of the greatest vocalist of the '50's and '60's. I think that about says it all.

Hope ya'll enjoy....

I've Been Faithful

We've Been Wrong

No, he don't...

Another of the little treasures to be found on the Golden label out of Baton Rouge.

I've been doing my best to dig up info on Lil Willie, but with minimal success. The thing is, there's a small tantalizing clue which points to him being an artist known under another name, but it's little more than a theory at this point. In short, I have no proof, only what my ears tell me is a possibility.

If anyone wants to play amateur detective on this one, please, be my guest. I'd be thrilled if someone came to the same conclusion as I. Basically, all anyone has to work with is the info on the record label. Even amongst those who may have heard the recording before, I would think far fewer have ever seen the actual record.

Hope ya'll enjoy.......the date on this is probably 1971