Tried to get you off my mind...

[Turns out I do have the scan on my laptop, it was just labeled stupidly.]

Before I forget....it's Allen Toussaint's birthday.

Another one I've been meaning to post forever. One of the first 45s I ever bought and a very important record. Released in 1961, Alon 9000 "New Kind Of Love/But I Couldn't", was very much ahead of it time, especially in terms of the way records were being made in New Orleans. As one musician put it, "he even wrote out the bass lines".

Mr. Toussaint was 23 years old. The 45 literally signaled the coming of a new sound.

Sorry, I don't have the scan with me...I'll add it to the post when I get back home on Monday.

Hope ya'll enjoy......

Turn the record over...Part 2

I didn't really plan it this way, but here are the flip-sides of three already posted 45s....all arranged by Wardell Quezerque.

1. "I Don't Need You Anymore" by Willie Harper. While I understand that not everyone loves ballads the way I do, this one is just too gorgeous to pass up. That line, "tired of your cheating, your lies....misusing me", gets to me every single time I hear it. The flip is Harper's stunning, slowed down, version of "A Certain Girl".

2. "Bottom Of My Soul" by Alvin Robinson. The flip is a cover of Earl King's "Come On [Let The Good Times Roll]" that's so good I'm never sure I don't think it's better than either version by King himself. "Bottom Of My Soul" is to my mind one of those absolutely perfect tunes. Certainly one of Robinson's best.

3. "Robert & W.Q's Train" by Robert Parker. This is the instrumental track to "Funky Soul Train".....which might just be the rarest record I own [although probably not worth all that much]. I'm not usually a fan of slapping backing tracks on b-sides, but this one is worthy of exception. And it seems like Mr. Q must have agreed as I don't think any of his instrumental tracks show up on any other 45s.

Hope ya'll enjoy.....

Ball of lightning....

A record that's getting to be very tough to find and usually costs a good bit when it does turn up. Certainly I paid for this copy.

In my opinion the goofy-ass lyrics could only be a by-product of whiskey consumption. Luckily, those lyrics still sounded pretty good the next morning, in fact turned out to be so catchy that Mr. Toussaint seemingly found it impossible to come up with anything else. Anyway, that's my explanation for this 45. Take it or leave it.

And yeah, it's catchy. I don't even have to play this record for the song to get stuck in my head. My Boy thinks it's so funny that I sing along to this 45 that he shot a little video clip of me at seven months pregnant, bouncing around, mouthing the words [NO, I'm not going to post it].

Hope ya'll enjoy the tune as much as I do.

[oops, I forgot to mention that the Rubaiyats are Allen Toussaint and Willie Harper]

You, and a bottle of soda pop....

This is my favorite Willie Harper 45. It's so I good I can't choose one side over the other.

Take two very simple songs, add incredibly complex but in no way over-powering arrangements, then spice it all up with a slight touch of fuzzed out guitar.

I consider these two "sleepers". Took me a few listens before they caught my attention in a major way. After maybe five plays, I was hooked solid.

Soda Pop

You, You

What's her name?

Willie Harper isn't that well known even though he actually recorded quite a bit. That's him singing back-up on numerous Allen Toussaint productions. He was also the lead singer for the Del-Royals, recorded a series of duets with Toussaint under the names, The Man & Willie Harper, The Rubaiyats, and Willie & Allen.....and had 5 or 6 singles issued under his own name.

I'd say about half of these records are pretty hard to find...in fact, I've never even heard three of them.

Anyway, here's one you don't hear that often. If you check the label credits you'll see that it's not a Toussaint production....Big Q is Wardell Quezerque.

Hope ya enjoy...it's from 1968.