Hold it....

There were only about 20 releases on Rocky Robin's, Monroe La. based, N-Joy label. Many of those releases are a little bit too 'teen-pop' for my taste, but there's def some good stuff in the catalog [specifically John Fred's version of "Boogie Children"].

The a-side of this record fits the teen-pop mold well enough that it was apparently a big hit with the kids on American Bandstand when first introduced. Too bad Dick Clark didn't decide to flip the record over. Now that really would've been something.

Basically, it's impossible to write about Duane Yates without mentioning the Boogie Kings, the band with which he became lead singer after recording two 45s with the Capris. They were a very popular band in Southern Louisiana. Yates, along with G.G. Shin and Clint West, form the 'holy trinity' of Boogie Kings vocalists.

Unfortunately, Yates died in 2009.....that's after spending most of his life writing, recording, and playing music. Truly an epitaph worthy of envy.

Hope ya'll enjoy, it's from 1965......

Give me boss action.....

An atypical cut for a group more commonly known for sweet ballads of the sort beloved by the lowrider crowd. While these guys obviously knew how to funk it up, I've never heard anything else they recorded that even comes close to this monster jam.

Yeah you rite, the funkateers love it.....thus the 45 rarely goes for cheap.

The Enchanting Enchanters originated in East Chicago, Indiana and recorded this 45 for the owners of the Steeltown label [who first recorded the Jackson 5] in Gary, Indiana. BenMoKeith is a mashup of their names: Ben Brown, Maurice Rogers, and Gordon Keith. I may be wrong, but I believe the label is a 'one-off'.

Hope ya'll enjoy........

GO2 and gibberish....

There are folks who find this record totally mystifying. And understandably so. On most levels, the lyrics make absolutely no sense at all.

But ya see, it's a 'Christian' record [whatever that means], and a damned catchy one at that. In fact, it's a bit of an ear-worm. That's why it gets plays, right?

Now, I can't say I'm privy to any special knowledge, but I do know that the title, "G O 2 And The Rest Of It", is a coded, 'Christian', way of saying 'go to hell'......which presumably helps clear up some of the mystery.....but still, there's that mandolin which after repeated plays continues to confound......

In short, this is comes from out in left field.

Myra Cormier is currently the choir director of a very large, well-known, evangelical church in Houston, Texas.

Consider yourself lucky if this tune doesn't stick in your head for at least a week.........

Things are better....

I should've posted this along with the previous record. It's the instrumental version of "Things Could Be Better".......but not simply the backing track used on the vocal version. Sounds to me like a slightly faster take and there's some very fine horn work not included on the other record.

Actually, "Things Are Better" is a monster in it's own right.

Just to be clear, this is a reissue of the 45. I believe it was offered as part of a limited edition box set [by Rhino?]. It's the copy I usually play because it sounds gorgeous and my original is like one step away from the trash can.

Clean original copies of this record are very scarce on the ground and thus usually go for more than I can justify spending. From what I can tell, even these re-issues don't turn up all that often.

Btw, I must apologize for the 'snow' in some of my recent scans. I don't know what it is, but believe me, it's not dust. Could it be that my six year old $99 printer is finally reaching the end of its usefulness?

Hope ya'll enjoy the tune.......

Always try to pull me down.....

As I mentioned when I posted the flip-side of this record, this is "one of the truly great examples of quasi-suicidal soul".

Yep, that about says it all.

Hope ya'll enjoy.......

With all of my heart....I'm not ashamed

Marguerite Wright, aka Margo White, made a scarce few records but damn they're nice.

Actually, I forget the exact count. One with Cookie & The Cupcakes on Khoury [?]......a couple more for Floyd Solieau's Jin label....a couple with Bill Parker for Goldband.....and two [or is it three?] for Huey Meaux owned labels.

After that, nothing, not a peep. She could well have died in 1970 for all anyone knows.

While I wouldn't say her version of Bobby Bland's "I'm Not Ashamed" is exactly 'revered' in Southern Louisiana.....it still comes awful close. Last time I was up by St. Landry Parish I heard a local band cover the tune and I guarantee you they'd never heard of Bobby Bland.

Anyway, I'm a huge fan of both sides of the 45. In fact, I initially meant to feature "With All Of My Heart" all by itself.....but then, I don't know that you'd get a true feeling for how good this 45 is without including "I'm Not Ashamed".

In my part of the world this is a $5 record, but ya know, I'd never give up this copy. It would simply leave too big of hole in my collection if I did.

So, big news huh?, local girl loves perennially popular local record. Hope ya'll do too.

I'm Not Ashamed

With All Of My Heart

If you really want to know.....

As you can see from the label scan, a previous owner of this 45 saw fit to mark this cut as 'bad'. And ya know, maybe the song itself isn't the greatest....might even have shown itself as weak pop in the hands of someone else....but Lord-Have-Mercy, once Armstrong tears into it, he never lets up. The result is positively shocking.

Sir Shambling's got the scoop on Jimmy Armstrong, here, along with several other cuts, including the 'good' side of this record [it's superb].

Anyway, take my advice, don't be put off by the beginning. Hold on and I swear you'll see what I mean by the time the side is over. Highly recommended to those who enjoy 'screamers'.

Hope ya'll enjoy......

She's got the kind of lovin' that's hard to beat......

As I've mentioned before, my extremely meager knowledge spreads increasingly thin the farther I travel from home. Thus I can honestly say I don't know anything at all about this record or Willie Smith.

That is, except that the 45 is usually a cheap buy and totally kicks ass [even though the mix isn't the best]......and well, that I'm pretty sure Cliff Driver [who's band provides the instrumentation] is still alive and well. He shows up on several fairly recent Daptone/Desco releases.

Hope ya'll enjoy.......

Here's a clip of Cliff Driver playing keyboards with the fabulous Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens in 2006.