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...
I don't need diamonds and I don't need gold, but more Zilla Mayes is definitely needed. Excellent tune. I love it. I've listened to it twice already. A great, very short guitar riff, perfectly placed in the opening seconds of the song succinctly sets the stage and draws you in. Wonderful. Thank you!
ReplyDelete