I thought we had a love so doggone strong....

Nice to be back home....

Waiting for me was a package of goodies from my friend C. Just some things he thought I'd be interested in. And he was totally right. A fairly beat up, but incredibly cheap [$2!!!] copy of Al Reed's "99 44/100 Pure Love", a copy of Ray Barretto's "El Watusi" [a song I've been nuts about since I was a kid], and the 45 I'm posting today [apparently scored off ebay, I ran across the listing while looking for info].

In my previous post on Lee Bates, I forgot, and thus didn't mention, that several years ago Red Kelly and the folks at Soul Detective did a lot of research on Lee Bates. You can find it here. They also posted a number of cuts by Bates, including "Mean Mistreater" [the flip of "I Do Things Naturally"] and "Wishing, Waiting, and Hoping" [which saves me the trouble of posting them myself].

This 45 is one they didn't post, probably because it doesn't turn up that often. In fact, I doubt many folks have ever heard it. As far as I know, the cut has never been comped and I can find no evidence that it's ever been posted on the soul blogs. I only know the song because C. has owned a copy of the 45 for some time.

And now, so do I....woo hoo! Thanks C, you made my day! Keep an eye on your own mail.

Anyone know anything about Flemings Broglin Jr.? He's listed as song writer and producer.

Before I forget, the title of the song is "Girl, Listen To Me", it's from 1972.

Hope ya'll enjoy.

I do the things I think is good...

It's records like this that got me interested in collecting 45's in the first place. Yeah, I'm sure you can find it on a comp somewhere, but to actually be able to hold such an out-there record in your hands puts the listening experience on a totally different plane altogether. At least it does for me.

While I'm on the subject, let me say that if this blog was only about the music, I'd be posting selections from my digital library, regardless of where they come from. To me, the search for vinyl copies is a good 30% of the story I'm trying to tell [such as it is].

Lee Bates is a fairly obscure artist outside of New Orleans. All told, he had over 20 singles and an album issued on him. Few, if any of which, "traveled". It's still hard for me to understand that his version of "Wishing, Waiting, Hoping" wasn't a big national hit. There was a copy at my grandmothers house which used to get played regularly.

To this day, playing "Wishing, Waiting, Hoping" is a sure-fire way to get my mom and dad to dance real close. If you think I didn't pay close attention to that action as a kid then you're foolin' yourself. I made doubly sure it got played at my own wedding reception.

There are three very different versions of "I Do Things Naturally"...the first is on the flip-side of a Pitter Pats' record.....the second is this version....the third is the more loosely related title cut on Jessie Hill's "Naturally" album.

Hope ya'll enjoy the wildest of the three....