If I could be with you....

I own two copies of this record. The first was a cheapie I picked up without really knowing what it was. I bought the second a couple of years ago thinking I'd use it in trade. Problem was, it turned out to be virtually mint. Thus I kept it.

Sometimes, having a nice clean copy is a beautiful thing. Ya know, in this case, I'm not sure it's possible to get the full effect otherwise.

Bless those horns.

Hope ya'll enjoy....

Do it like crazy.....

I'm surprised to see I haven't posted this before.

A great cut that combines dancing with a piss-take on the Book of Ecclesiastes. What could be better?

Hope ya'll enjoy....

New Orleans, where I was born...

It's my birthday, I'm 27 years old today.

I've about had my fill of celebrations for the year, but my mother insisted we "do something", so we're going out to dinner later with a small group. Which is to say, My Boy and I are back in N.O. for a couple of days.

Here's a 45 I've been meaning to post for some time. It's an absolute monster which surprisingly got little or no play when issued. To my eyes, most copies of this record look to have spent at least some portion of the last 38 years in the same box they were originally packed in.

This cut was, I believe, recorded in Atlanta during the time when Toussaint and Sehorn were forced to use out-of-town studios after the collapse of Cos Matassa's operation left them with no local option.

Some version of the Meters play on the record, possibly even all of them. I can't imagine it's anyone but Ziggaboo Modeliste playing those drums.

My advice is to hold on to something substantial when the "psychotic" horn break kicks in or risk injury to yourself and others.

Hope ya enjoy...

There's a right way...and a wrong way...

This is a genuine monster of a record.

Although it's likely that some version of the Meters are layin' down the track [Leo Nocentelli gets song writing credit and that's clearly him playing guitar] ....it does also seem just as unlikely that Ziggaboo Modeliste is providing the beat. If it is Modeliste, then it's the most restrained drumming he ever waxed.

But ya know, this ain't no ordinary Meters type funk record....in fact, I wouldn't say it's funk at all, as the groove is all about hip-swinging. My sisters will know what I mean.

In particular, listen to that bass line [whew]....I'm thinking it's George Porter Jr. making up for the lack of [more usual] percussive pyrotechnics.

Enjoy

[As a side note, the label name, Deesu, is part of an extended joke revolving around an early nickname for Allen Toussaint [two cents]. Deesu is a play on the French wording, dix sous [think of it as ten cents]. There was a time when French currency coming out of New Orleans was the major source of cold hard cash for the fledgling United States. The word, 'Dixie', comes from dix sous.]

[Addendum: a couple of folks have pointed out that the bass work on this record is not atypical of George Porter...they are, of course, completely correct. Truth is, I haven't been listening as closely as I should. The man's playing is astounding.]

Since you've been gone...

Drop dead gorgeous.

I find it disturbing that almost nobody seems to care that a pile of NOS copies of Deesu 320 have appeared on ebay....

The initial asking price was $10+shipping [cheap enough]...last I looked, it had dropped to $6+shipping [pathetic].

Yep.....I just checked, you can still buy one...so, don't be an idiot, go snag yourself a nice cheap copy while you can.

I'll be very disappointed if you don't.

I like what ya do, but a litte dab goes a long way..

I tempted to say these are the flip sides to two of my favorite singles, but that's not quite right. Ya see, they wouldn't be favorite singles without these two songs on the flip. Perhaps ya get my meaning?

I'm not sure whether the basic track common to both songs was recorded before Allen Toussaint went into the army, and was thus pulled out of the vaults for re-cycling in his absence, or Toussaint himself knowingly re-used the track later.

Either way, it's hard to imagine not liking any song with such a sweet groove and ultra cool sax part...

Funny thing is that I bought both these records on the same day with no idea at all that the b-sides were related.

Enjoy

[The Dorsey side has a tiny skip. Scratches are one thing, skips another...]

There's no substitute...

Eldridge Holmes is one of my favorite artists. I hope someday to own everything he ever recorded. Actually it's more than a hope, it's a mission from God. ........................................................................................................................................................................ One of the problems with trying to start up a vaguely New Orleans-centric soul music blog is that between Larry Grogan at 'Funky Sixteen Corners', Dan Phillips at 'Home of The Groove', and Red Kelly at 'The B-Side', the bases are pretty much covered. By and large the rest of us are left to express the 'gee whiz, ain't this a cool song' aspect to record collecting and then provide a link to a post by one of the three mentioned above. This is not a complaint, I'm a HUGE fan of all three blogs, I have learned a great deal from reading them...imho, the world is genuinely a better place because these blogs exist....no shit.

My point being that there's really no point to providing info on the recordings when all anyone has to do is google the artist/record to get the straight stuff. Case in point: google Eldridge Holmes, check out the links to Home of the Groove, and Funky 16 Corners. See what I mean? These guys are so good that by default everyone else comes off as an amateur. And maybe I am. .............................................................................................................................................................

Ok, i can live with that. More than anything, this silly girl likes to dance. It would be dreamy if someone would dance along. Nuff said.