Rock me....

Another one from the amazing, Johnny Love and The Amethyst Garnets.

In this chapter of our story, the band discovers the built-in beatbox settings on 10 year old Gary Love's Hammond Fun-Machine. Eureka!

The results really are impressive given the band's limitations. I totally made-up the part about 10 year old Gary Love. Ya see, my newest theory is that two thirds of the Amethyst Garnets were children.

DIY gospel based soul at it's most amateurish. But don't let that description put you off. The cut's all the more beautiful for lack of polish.

A genuine amethyst-garnet [???] in the rough.

Hope ya'll enjoy...

I don't need your money...

As luck would have it, a friend scored this 45 on Ebay last week only to be offered another slightly nicer copy three days later. I've been far too busy to think about records lately, but when I got a text saying, "Zilla Mayes for $xx?", I was all over it.

Not cheap, but given how badly I've coveted this 45, it was a steal.

I posted the flip-side last December as part of my "records that drive me crazy" post. This side is just as good, although not quite as obscure. You may well have heard it before even if you've never heard of Zilla Mayes.

Ya see, this tune's been mistakenly included on at least two separate Betty Harris comps. Harris did indeed record a song with the same title [the worst in her entire discography], but it sounds nothing like this.

Which is a shame. Zilla Mayes didn't record all that much. This is the only 45 she made with Allen Toussaint. It may very well be the last recording she ever made. She deserves better than to have her effort buried even deeper in obscurity because of a stupid error.

Mayes was a pioneering female DJ in Atlanta. Besides this 45, I've only ever seen an album of what you might call "standards" and a couple of 78's.

Hope ya'll enjoy...

Salt and Pepper

I don't usually post records just because they're obscure, but I figure some of you might like to hear this one. I doubt you'll find it anyplace else.

I've been told Earnest Holland played in Fats Domino's band but can't find any info to confirm that.

Hope ya'll enjoy....

...to fall in love with me

This one goes out to Lady Mem'fis, aka Jackie Johnson. Took me more than a year to find a copy, in fact I wasn't even sure any copies still existed until six months ago. Hope you enjoy it hon. It's been a total pleasure.

Recorded at Cos Matassa's studio while she was still in her teens, this is the only record on which Johnson gets sole credit. If you'll check "Jackie Johnson" in the sidebar you can hear one of her sides with Bobby Powell, with whom she worked as a duo in the New Orleans area. She also wrote that song. It's fabulous.

The Tulane label is ultra-obscure. The RnB Indies only lists one 45 on the label, but that information is incomplete. There are three known releases, this 45 being one of the two that's not listed, the other being the first release by Ray Washington, aka Guitar Ray.

Hope ya'll enjoy...

I was a fool....

I have an odd relationship with Willie Tee's output. On the whole his records are not really my thing, often a little too slick, too breezy, too "jazzy" without actually being jazz.....but then there are times when the tunes seem so perfectly realized that the word "crystalline" comes to mind.

Which probably only means I have to be in the right mood to appreciate them. It may also mean that some day, when I grow up, I may well treasure his recordings.

Anyway, this 45 is the exception to the rule. I love it so much that I probably need to buy a new copy. That hint of groove wear is all my doing. Given that the vinyl was almost perfect when I got it, that translates as what?......a minimum of a hundred needle drops?

It's that amazing guitar solo, and then, towards the end, that scream. I can't really tell you why it works for me. It just does.

Hope ya'll enjoy...Earl King wrote the tune, Wardell Quezergue produced it.

[Oops, an obvious screw up, the tune was written by Willie Tee. Earl King wrote the flip-side]

Crystal Ball...

"Never enough trombone!"

This one goes out to the person who left the above comment on the last post. Thanks hon, you made me laugh. Actually, It's time to thank everyone who bothers to comment. I may not always have time to answer each and every one of your notes, but believe me, they are all appreciated.

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I'm not a huge fan of Allen Toussaint's work with his West Bank Army buddies.....but this cut is different. In a perfect world I'd be bombarded by umpteen variations on "Fortune Teller" every-single-day. Such exquisite torture. Ya know, after a couple of years I might just get tired of it.

Alon singles are impossible to scan. The record is "Crystal Ball" by the Stokes. Produced by Allen Toussaint. Mr. Toussaint is of course playing piano as well.

Hope ya'll enjoy....

[It may not seem like I took much of a break, but it was long enough to come to a rather obvious conclusion. Letting the blog slide during the weekdays, only posting on the weekends, is totally the way to go. No biggie, a lot people don't have time to blog more than once a week. I just got a little spoiled over the last couple of years. Anyway, that's how it is for the time being. If I feel inspired I'll offer up two records.]

If I should jump up and holler....

When I start getting bitchy for no real reason it means I've got too much going on.

Changes are coming fast this month. I'm about to take over some of my aunt's business obligations. I'm not actually sure I'm ready for the job, but in the long run it's definitely the smart thing to do and the position has the key advantage of being baby friendly. Actually, as baby friendly as I want it to be as long as I get the job done.

Anyway, I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed at the moment, so I'm gonna take a little vacation from the blog and concentrate on getting myself up to speed. First on the agenda is a sharp assistant who doesn't mind holding the baby once in a while. Chances are I'll be back in a week or so, although it could take longer than I imagine. We'll see how it goes.

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I forget how many records Clifton Chenier had on the Chess/Checker/Argo labels, I own two, could be there's another one I'm forgetting.

Anyway, hope ya'll enjoy...it's from 1960.