The state of this little nation

The state of this little backwater of the Internet can be summed up by this record. 

I bagged it at a car boot earlier this year and was very happy to do so. It is a great double sider and is in remarkably good condition considering it was sleeveless, and, more to the point, is a year older than me (actually, a few people say I am in remarkably good condition for my age. but I couldn’t possibly comment!). The circumstances of its discovery were satisfying too. I don’t frequent boot sales nearly as much as I used to, but it became obvious that the seller was something of a recent fixture as I became surrounded by a few scavengers that were obviously regulars. I was riffling through a couple of boxes of reggae singles, promising in itself but they were mostly trashed. A couple of people at least had already been through the box and a few singles had been pulled out already. I also pulled out a couple of reggae things, and this one. I knew it wasn’t reggae and in the back of my mind I had heard of the artists and guessed (right) that it was early R&B. The asking price for the reggae singles were typically £4 and north – because it was reggae, no doubt, you don’t come across it often in the wild, and the seller was clearly a fan – but I bagged this single for a couple of quid, maybe because he knew it wasn’t reggae. I got it home, cleaned it up, put it on the turntable, dropped the arm... and punched the air in delight. I then proceeded to play it at least three times in a row. And it was miles better than the two ‘blind’ reggae singles I bought.

There was a time at this here “publication” when you would have been aware of this fact within days, if not hours, of the event. But here’s the thing – this all happened months ago.

I did, however, publicise this event fairly quickly on a, now largely tumbleweed, record forum I still frequent; and I also put the single in a box of random 45s that was taken, at the next opportunity, to a local hostelry that puts on a monthly(ish) BYO vinyl session, and got it played. But I didn’t post it here until now, which is something of a puzzle. For that, I apologise. I know, I must try harder. *

I intend to explore further (i.e. bore you) in a subsequent post why it is I am not posting here more frequently nowadays – because I certainly have no shortage of records to share – but, for now, I will leave you with both sides of this rather excellent 45.

Gene Forrest and Eunice Russ Levy hailed from Texas and between 1954 (before the dawn of the Rock ‘n’ Roll era) and 1960 enjoyed a string of charting single successes, and were very popular in the US and the Caribbean. Popular in the UK too, enough for them to have eight UK releases, of which this was the first in November 1956. The copy of the single I found has long since lost its original tri-centre (possibly removed by someone who wanted to put it in their jukebox, but more likely by a DJ who was trying to intimate it was a US release), nevertheless the grooves still maintain their magic.

Gene And Eunice –I Gotta Go Home 1956

Gene And Eunice –Have You Changed Your Mind? 1956

* I have just discovered I uploaded the mp3s of this 45 back in June! So the intention to share, at least, was there.

(A belated) R.I.P. Red Kelly

Earlier this year I paid belated respects to someone I didn’t know but felt like I did.

Today I need to do the same.

On this day in 2022 Robert Keller died suddenly at the age of 67. It’s no age to die really. To me and thousands of soul music lovers like me Robert Keller was better known as Red Kelly. His “The B Side” blog was one of the many focussed on classic soul music I avidly followed back in the Noughties, in the heyday of the format. Red went on to launch other blogs and websites dedicated to soul music, particularly Southern soul, and helped to bring some long forgotten and underappreciated singers and musicians out of the shadows and in some cases effectively bring them back to the stage. His research and dedication to the cause was prodigious and is sorely missed. A friend of his – John Broven – wrote an obituary for him which described his work in more detail, you can read it here (you will need to scroll down a bit). Most, if not all, of his blogs and writings are still available on the internet, as seems to be the case generally with such things in the digital world nowadays.

Red had emailed me just a few weeks before his death (we had conversed a bit over the years via email but by no means regularly). Back in 2008 he had taken up my cause to try and find out more information on Joni Wilson, who recorded just one very obscure single on the Volt label. He emailed me to say that at the Stax Museum’s wall of singles (an attempt to display a copy of every Stax And Volt single released) there were only eight missing, and Joni Wilson’s was one of them. As I was the only person he knew that owned a copy he wondered if I might consider donating my copy. As of last year, when I visited the Stax Museum, I can confirm there is still a space where the Joni Wilson 45 could sit. I am not ready to part with my copy yet, but it is something I might do one day, and it would be partly in memory of Red. Recently I have hatched another theory as to who Joni Wilson might have been and it would have been great to have passed it by Red. I’m sure he would have been interested, and with the contacts he had built up doing his research projects he may have been able to run with it.

RIP Robert Keller “Red Kelly” who passed away on July 14^th 2022, age only 67.

A nice break

We all know where Steve Davis is this week – well, snooker fans do, at least). The World Snooker Championship is in play in Sheffield and that’s where Steve will be, commentating and providing analysis. I know where Steve was on the first Saturday of this month - at my local record fair, and I went to it quietly confident he would be because he seems to be making a concerted effort to trim down his record collection and is frequenting the fairs quite a bit lately. That chimes well with me because he is continuing to offload a lot of soul 45s (the background to this I expanded upon a bit in my February post).

So I went a bit mad again and bought another 32 singles! Most of them came from the cheap (£2.50) boxes, but I indulged in a few higher priced gems too. I tell myself I am not likely to find this many of my go to type of record – i.e. 60s/70s soul with a big hole in the middle – in one place in the wild(ish) anywhere else in the UK so I better take the opportunity and “fill me boots”!

I did apply some quality control this time as the stack I originally pulled was probably twice as high as the one you see in the picture, but I religiously gave each one I didn’t know a needle drop on my Soundburger look-alike. This contraption got a few appreciative comments this time, strangely the first time I can remember that happening when I have been using it at a fair.

So, to use a snooker analogy, a think I amassed a nice break – plenty of reds (the cheap ones) but a few colours too (the relatively expensive ones).

A red: 

Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound in 1978, the studio is know known as Cypress Moon and where, almost exactly a year ago, Mrs Darce and I were taking a stroll along the river . 

Muscle Shoals was very much moving with the 1970s times with this one which has a distinctively funky feel.    

The Dealers - We Want To Get Through To You  1978

A colour: 

A classic Memphis sound, Barbara Brown either billed alone or with The Browns never made a bad record.   

Barbara & The Browns - If I Can't Run To You I'll Crawl  1971

Really feeling like we need to get back to the Deep South soon.

The key ingredient of Hot Sauce

I enjoyed watching the Stax Soulsville USA documentary series shown recently Sky Arts. It followed up nicely my visit to the Stax Museum last year, and coincided with my re-reading of Peter Guralnick’s excellent book Sweet Soul Music where I just happened to be in the middle of the chapters dedicated to Stax Records when I watched the documentary. 

Two of the earliest soul singles I bought, back in the early 70s, were Isaac Hayes’ Theme From Shaft and The Staple Singers’ I’ll Take You There. The documentary spent, quite rightly, a deal of time on Isaac Hayes, and Theme From Shaft, including footage of it being worked through in the studio. Back in the early 70s, when I was a young teenager, I was simply loving the music without any idea of the backdrop to its making. My concerted dive into all things Stax over the last few months has finally brought home to me the tumultuous times, both culturally in the USA, and in the business runnings of Stax Records, in which these records were being made. I have to say I got quite emotional watching the final episode of the documentary marrying up memories of my young innocent self listening to those singles at home with the footage of the actual artists and backroom staff who were involved in their making and distribution, and what they meant for black Americans at that time.

Today’s record is one that recently dropped on my doormat.

Volt was one of Stax Records labels. Hot Sauce were… who? Well, “they” (as I had always thought) had a run of six 45s on Volt, this being the first in the late summer of 1971, and she (as it turns out) had the unfortunate pleasure of having the final 45 released on the label in early1975 just before Stax finally had to shut it doors for good. There was even a Hot Sauce album (in truth predominantly a collection of tracks form the six already released 45s – but Stax were struggling by then) slated for release and given a catalog number (and name checked on that final 45), but it was never to be. Ace Records finally did the honours, in a way, in 2012 by releasing the album as it would have been on CD. The CD was credited to Rhonda Washington because she was, essentially, Hot Sauce.

The track featured here is a beautiful ballad, the B side of the wonderfully titled I’ll Kill A Brick (About My Man). (“Kill A Brick” meaning a demonstration of extreme anger. The phrase was in use in the black population – at least in Harlem and at least as far back as the early 60s – as documented in a New York Times article published in 1964). For this first single Hot Sauce were, apparently, a trio – Rhonda on lead vocals with two male backing singers. But after that Hot Sauce was Rhonda Washington alone.

It is believed that Rhonda hailed from St. Louis and was Chuck Berry’s niece. Her first known appearance on wax was as the lead singer of the (Mighty) Mustangs who had two singles released in 1964/5 on the Sure-Shot label. All four sides of these singles were written by Gladys Battle, Rhonda’s mum. I would say Rhonda sounds young on these outings, probably in her teens. The second of the two singles is very rare. There followed, probably in early 1967, the only 45 released under her own name, again on the Sure-Shot label. This 45 appears to be insanely rare; it’s on Discogs but with no copies for sale and nobody claiming to own it, it’s not listed on 45cat, and there are no recorded sales on Popsike. It’s possible it was never actually released. Between 1967 and her appearance as Hot Sauce in 1971 she does not seem to have had any recording credits.

All the Volt Hot Sauce sides were credited to Irene Productions, Irene being Irene Perkins, wife of Al Perkins DJ, singer, songwriter and producer (latterly of Al Hudson & The Soul Partners / One Way), who was based in Detroit after being a DJ in Memphis. Velma Perkins appears in some credits (as songwriter Vee Allen) and was Al Perkins sister. However, despite being on Volt but also bearing strong Detroit links most of the Hot Sauce sides were actually probably recorded at Willie Mitchell’s Royal Studio just down the road from Stax’s studios.

Rhonda Washington had a great voice and, who knows, if Stax had had more money for promotion and hadn’t had to close its doors when it did she might well be much more of a household name. As far as is known though, as the doors at Stax closed for good they did also on Rhonda’s recording career. It is rumoured she went back to St. Louis and, possibly, gospel music. Certainly nothing seems to be known now of her whereabouts, if indeed she is still alive.

Hot Sauce – I Can’t Win For Losing 1971

One of those

You know the feeling when you hear a song and it quickly gets inside your head and you just can't stop replaying it to yourself, sometimes to the point you wish it would go away? "That's an earworm", I hear you say, and you are absolutely right. So why didn't I just say the word? Well, there is no doubt it perfectly describes the experience, but for reasons I can't explain I just don't like the word.

Anyway, this obscure song by Don Austin has recently become one of those for me. I heard it on Doug Schulkind's excellent WFMU Give The Drummer Some radio show. He usually plays a set of soul - often deep soul - 45s at the end of his program and this was one he played on a show from a few weeks ago. On hearing it immediately went onto the Internet to see if I could find a copy. Discogs had two for sale in the UK and I bought one of them. By the time it dropped through the letterbox the song The Thrill Of Yesterday (a B side) was already installed in my head, so maybe I hadn't needed to buy it all.    

First of all I should say this track is not deep soul, and it's questionable you could really call it soul at all actually. Don Austin was born Donald Austin and usually recorded as Donel Austin. His first two 45s were released in 1959 on the Mida label and could be categorised as rock-a-billy. In the 70s and 80s he had, after quite a hiatus, a steady trickle of 45s released, all of which I think fall into the country bag. He did, however, have a couple of 45s released on the ALON label in 1962. This was a New Orleans label (it of course spells NOLA backwards), and the writing credit on both sides of this 45 is N.Neville i.e. Naomi Neville, in fact the one and only Allan Toussaint. How Don(el) ended up on a New Orleans label (his first label - Mida - was based in Miami) I have no idea about, nor why he appeared subsequently to have no records released between 1963 and 1974.

The song races along at quite a clip, the jaunty horn fills are wonderful; the female backing singers brief refrains are placed just about right in the mix; you have to think it is Allan Toussaint himself on piano;  and, although Don's vocals are undeniably rooted in country and rock-a-billy, the whole thing does have an early New Orleans feel I think.      

Prepare for that thing to happen!

Don Austin - The Thrill Of Yesterday  1962                    

Another Feel It birthday.. and more big names lost.

This blog is 19 years old today. That is the bare fact, although it's a bit of a stretch to say it has been been trucking along for the entirety of those 19 years due to recent periods of dormancy. 

This blog, as you know, tends to celebrate soul and funk (and jazz and reggae) music of an increasingly bygone age. Soul and funk music in particular was arguably really at its height in the 60s and 70s. And there's the rub - it should be no surprise that the icons of that time will be very much in the twilight of their life. So it is proving as this year is building up to be another particularly bad one for long time lovers of soul and funk music as we have lost some big names on the scene already this year, and in the last few weeks in particular it has been difficult to keep up with the sad news flow.

Sam Moore, Jerry Butler, Gwen McCrae, Roberta Flack, Chris Jasper of the Isley Brothers, Muscle Shoals session man Albert 'Junior Lowe', Angie Stone, and Roy Ayers - all artists close to my heart over the years - have passed this year already. All have featured strongly in the soundtrack of my life since the early 70s. 

All I can say to all of those mentioned above is Rest In Peace and thank you for the music.    

    

Gwen McCrae - Keep The Fire Burning  1982

Roy Ayers Ubiquity - The Memory  1976 

PS: As it's this blog's birthday today, it also means, of course, that Candi Staton will be celebrating hers - Happy Birthday Candi! (I shall not tempt fate by saying anything more).  
     

Pot Black

Steve Davis was at the record fair a few days ago. He of snooker fame.

This is the fourth time I’ve come across him at my local record fair. On all four occasions I have come away with a very satisfying haul of soul 45s.

Steve was a big fan of soul music back in the 80s and 90s at least. He also partnered with a well known DJ and dealer on the Northern scene back then - Rod Dearlove. They imported tens of thousands of records, and Steve also helped with funding for Rod's magazine Voices From The Shadows that ran for about 25 issues.

At previous fairs he had boxes and boxes of 45s for £1 each. I was like a pig in sh*t! He had a lot more albums this time but my focus as usual was 45s. Inflation has kicked in though. Sadly the £1 boxes are no more. This time there were about 6 boxes of priced soul, blues, and R&B and 5 or 6 rows of £2.50 45s on the floor. And a small box of expensive ones in the inner sanctum. In fairness nearly all the priced stuff was of higher quality/rarer than previously present in his £1 boxes, but I reckon a lot of the £2.50 stuff was £1 last year.

The prices evidently didn’t put me off though as I bought another 25 45s off him! I did get a bit carried away though as seeing so many records that float my boat in the flesh in one place is a rarity in the UK. In reality there are only a few of these that I really wanted, and maybe part of my brain was still operating as if they were only £1 each. The provenance had something to do with it as well I think – imagining they had been imported by Steve and Rod as deadstock decades ago and have since been sat around in storage somewhere is something that, strangely, piques my interest. The records are generally in great condition too.

At the fair I didn’t have time to check if I had any in this latest stack already. When I got home it turned out I did have one – The Soul Ambassadors - which cost me £4. I discovered I had bought, an albeit more beat up, copy on my first plundering of Steve’s £1 boxes back in 2023!

I have found that a fair few of these 45s are featured on Sir Shambling’s great (and now sadly no longer updated?) site. So perhaps some of these records were from Steve’s own personal collection as, like me, I believe he has/had a penchant for deep and/or Southern soul.

Here are two deepies from my stack with a similar feel -  melancholic, simple production, nice guitar and horns, and a good vocal to the fore.  

Nat Hall hailed from the Washington DC area and had several singles released in a roughly 10 year period starting in 1966. He doesn't feature on Sir Shambling, but this track would be a worthy entry. I love the way this one just sort of stops at the end.    

Nat Hall with The Mellow 3 – A Broken Hearted Clown 1970

Ricky Lewis has four documented releases, this, from 1968, being his final release. Ricky does have his page at Sir Shambling, but it seems little is known of him beyond the fact his recording career started in New Jersey.     

Ricky Lewis and the Afro Band –Welcome Home 1968

UPDATE: Although I believe both these Ricky Lewis tracks probably date to 1968 it seems this 45 was not actually released until 1972.