Loose Ends No.4

In my opinion, the most beautiful song Eddie Bo ever wrote. Well worth the effort to upload my own rip. The recording itself isn't that clean. This is about as nice as you'll find......

Shucks girl....

This 45 has seen better days, but then I doubt there's a single copy anywhere that sounds clear and sharp. It's just not that kind of record.

Hope ya'll enjoy....

p.s. Wanna hear the tune, click on the divshare player. Need more? Follow the dots.

Throw that left leg with pride....

"This is a excellent blog and you do a great job posting good music. That's why the stats are up!"

Thanks for making me smile, Rekkid, but unfortunately it's not true. The recent surge in traffic looks to be the product of a Blogger glitch.

On the up-side, it also looks like the low numbers I was getting the week before the surge were incorrect. As of today, traffic seems reassuringly normal. Referrals from Twilightzone! are showing once again. Even thumbnails of my label scans have reappeared on linked sites after having mysteriously disappeared awhile back.

All in all, I'm pleased. I happen to like my normal traffic numbers. Not too big, not too small....just right.

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Is this a pseudonymous Eddie Bo record? Well, Martin Lawrie over at the Soul Generation site says no, that Sonny Jones and Eddie Bo simply sound quite a bit alike. Me? I'm not so sure about that. My ears tell me it's Eddie Bo if for no other reason than the phrasing of the vocals. And to be much more direct about it, I have to say that Sonny Jones sounds very very different. Listen to the records.

Anyway, it's definitely an Eddie Bo produced jam of a high order. One of his best.

Another 45 that plays well in hot weather...

[Oh crap. Dan Phillips posted a marvelous piece on "The Sissy" several hours before I offered up this post. It includes his rip of the same Sonny Jones 45. Ya'll should def check out what Dan has to say, here, 'cause he's totally the man.]

Sissy Walk Part 1.

Sissy Walk Part 2.

You got me rockin' and reelin'....

Another of Eddie Bo's less often played tunes. Great song, with some absolutely killer guitar work [probably supplied by Edgar Blanchard] and a beautiful sax solo [by Red Tyler ?].

I forget exactly, but I think it's from 1957.

Hope ya'll enjoy....

Clap your hands....

A few nights ago a rare 45 was up for auction, one of those that's not listed in the R&B Indies, is basically unknown, in fact the only other copy I'm sure exists is in the collection of a local dealer. Anyway, I was hoping to surprise a friend with it. She cut the record when she as 16 and hasn't heard it in 50 years.

I watched that auction for days but when it came down to the wire, would you believe it, my f--king connection cut-out [thanks a bunch Cox Com]. I'd planned to offer a max bid of $120, but instead the record went to someone else for only $6.50. You should have heard the scream once I got back online. I may never forgive myself. It was important. I should have handed the auction over to someone more adept.

Ya see, a successful Ebay outing for me usually goes something like this. I see something I want. I get in touch with my friendly Ebay Guru. He bids for me. I pay up when it's over. I get the record in the mail. Nice and simple. No chance for me to screw it up, and all I have to do is keep an eye open for him locally. Believe me, our little understanding dramatically cuts down on the screaming around here.

Usually there's no problem with this set up, but we did squabble over the auction of the 45 I'm offering up today. I don't blame him, he wanted the record too and since there's no way we're gonna bid against each other, some brokering was required. Chances are he got the better part of the deal, but given that I landed one of my "white whales", I really can't complain. So maybe we both scored? How's that sound?

Anyway, all is forgiven. For some reason it mattered a lot that Ebay Guru hand-delivered the record this past weekend. Which probably only means I'm a sucker for grouchy old guys bearing "gifts". [I'm totally kidding, his visit was the highlight of my week.]

So, here ya go, the flip-side to one of the 45s I posted last Christmas. One of those records that "drive me crazy". Kinda foolish to post two Seven B's in one week, but I can't resist. Not like these things grow on trees.

As far as the other 45 is concerned, who knows, maybe another copy will surface. Experience has taught me to never say never. In the past year I stumbled on two very serious finds in a dollar bin. Probably the rarest record I own was given to me. One way and another I've gathered a very nice stack of records I never thought I'd own. This is one of them.

Hope ya'll enjoy....

I'm so tired....

While people will continue celebrating through much of the night, according to the Catholic liturgical calendar Carnival ends at sundown. Strictly speaking, it's time to trade in the beads for ashes. Most years I'm in bed very early on Fat Tuesday. In fact, can hardly think of anything else after several days of of little or no sleep.

Here's an Eddie Bo tune that like many of his non-funk cuts doesn't get heard all that often. It's also a song which possibly mimes it's subject just a little too well, but from the first note you'd have to be deaf not to know there's some seriously killer guitar work ahead.

This is the first time the name "Eddie Bo" appears on a 45.

Hope ya'll enjoy....

C'mon and give it to me...

What a beautiful day. A high in the low 60's, but bright and clear outside. Positively chilly for this part of the world.

Yesterday, there was a neighborhood party more officially known as the Mirliton Festival. Which is an intended joke. In case ya'll don't know, a mirliton is a very ordinary looking squash-like thing. They really don't taste like much unless you combine 'em with something flavorful like shrimp or tasso. My mom always has a few plants in her back yard. As kids we used set 'em out in the street for the cars to hit.

Anyway, it was a nice low-key event. Lots of food. Cold beer and wine for those allowed to drink such things. And music. We got there about the time Kermit Ruffins started playing. All that was missing was a contest to see who could throw a mirliton the farthest.

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"No one is quite sure who Roy Ward was, [Eddie] Bo says that he doesn't recall, but personally I think its safe to assume that Roy Ward was simply Bo in the studio with the Bobby Williams Group laying down yet another raw funk instrumental heavy on the rhythm section."

So sayeth Martin Lawrie over at the Soul Generation site. And I think he's probably correct, but I did run into something recently where Roy Ward was mentioned in passing as if he was a real person. Which makes me wonder, because the source being quoted was a guy who used to play with Earl Stanley and the Stereo's [who were, of course, renamed Roger and the Gypsies on their own outing with Bo].

There's one other thing that nags at me about this record. I'm not sure I think that's Eddie Bo doing the vocal bit, even though the scream at the beginning sounds familiar. But if it's not Bo, then who is it?

I'm only posting Part 1 because Part 2 is the exact same track without the added vocal. While I can't brag that my rip is necessarily the best, this is taken from a near mint copy of the 45. The smudges on the label are "offsets" from when the labels were stacked after printing.

Hope ya'll enjoy....

Don't ya be no square....

I got this record for free from a slightly off-his-nut shop owner. Ya see, I asked to play the 45, and he got furious because the grading he'd written on the sleeve [VG+] didn't exactly match up with what came out of the speakers. More than that, he clearly thought I was questioning his grading by even asking to play it in the first place.

Shoot, I didn't even notice there was anything written on the sleeve [as if that matters anyway], but suddenly it was all-my-fault, and so I was told to take the record and leave the store, now. I tried to pay, but no, I was to take the record and leave. Needless to say, I've never been back.

Too bad, it was a nice little place with reasonable prices. And since then, this record's had a little cloud hanging over it. Which I hate. Chances are I'll give it away when I find a nicer copy.

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So, is Edgar Blanchard playing guitar on this cut? I'm probably just missing an obvious reference somewhere, but I've been trying to find out who's playing guitar on the early Bo records for some time. I know it's Blanchard on "Oh Oh", but is that him on the Ace sides as well? Anyone have info to share?

Hope ya'll enjoy....

Shoop...

Ya know, when I start using the phrase "pretentious idiot" in comments on the blog, even when it's not directed at anyone in particular, even when it's meant as a joke of sorts....then it's time for me to step back and take a look at myself. In this case, I think the best answer is to pull out a pin, and burst my own little bubble of pretension. What's fair is fair.

What can I say? I'm very opinionated. I've got a major league mouth on me. I try to be good. It's unfortunate that I don't always succeed.

Anyway, this the most pretentious record I own. There's no reason to own it other than it's a trophy of sorts. Ya see, I could sell it and buy two copies of the more common Capitol pressing.

That said, it's great record, I love owning it...but do I really need an original pressing? Nope.

Hope ya enjoy...it's a nice copy.

Whose rubber band?

According to Eddie Bo, Curley Moore had little or nothing to do with this 45.

So, if this isn't a Curley Moore record, then what is it? Well, it's the cheapest and easiest to find of all Eddie Bo related funk jams.

Oh yeah, it's also a blatant attempt to pay-off [or pay back] Shelley Pope, a local New Orleans DJ. Notice the BS production and writing credits, not to mention the title of the cut.

Hope ya enjoy..

Stone Graveyard Business

I can't say that my rip gives this record the respect it deserves. Chances are, I could have done better. But, I will say this....you'll never see a cleaner copy of this record.

It's so clean that I traded it away a few weeks ago. A girl like me definitely does not need to have a record she's afraid to touch, much less play.

I got a very nice stack of goodies in exchange, so it's all cool. But, I didn't get what I really wanted out of the trade, which was a slightly less nice copy of the same record.

Too bad, as it means I'll have to keep searching....cause ya see, a girl like me definitely needs to own this record.

Enjoy...

[yeah I know, the pic looks weird....but did ya really expect me to lay this record on the scanner unprotected?]

Love can make you feel this way...

I'd like to thank those folks who've bothered to send me such nice emails recently. It's a been a real pleasure hearing from each and every one of you.

A favorite quote from one of those emails: "I now have a Playlist on my Ipod called Singing Bones!"

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Been far too long since I posted any Eddie Bo.

This is off of one of my favorite two-siders. Bo is just starting to get his funk on.....it's early 1966.

Talk about my love for you..

Time for another semi-obscure Eddie Bo 45.

This side was released under Bo's own Blue Jay imprint...one of five known releases on that label.

I'm pretty sure it's from 1964.

Enjoy

Bless your pea pickin' soul...

Time for more Eddie Bo....

The man did produce an awful lot of very fine recordings, and I'm thinking I'll get swamped with choices if I don't keep up a steady flow of offerings.

This one's off an original pressing on the Arrow label. Most of the copies ya see and hear were issued on Chess, who distributed the record nationally.

Enjoy

Hey Eddie, you're so fine...

I've been planning to slip some Eddie Bo into the mix since I started the blog, but trying to choose what to post always seems to get very complicated.

I really hate pulling out the 'big dogs' for first samples, preferring to find something I think is under-heard....the last thing I want to do is turn this playlist into some kind of glib greatest hits collection.

Not that I have anything against 'hits', I've already posted a few...

Ya know, some songs are just sooooo good that it's always an honor to spin the disc one-more-time.

All of which is to say that this song is a little obscure....not especially rare...just not played as often as it should be. [imho]

Hope ya enjoy