Jazz J....

I've been away all week so once again nothing wordy here.

About 25 years ago I bought a great Street Sounds compilation "Jazz Juice" (which I still have of course). A couple of weeks ago I finally picked up "Jazz Juice 2", which contains an equally fine collection of jazzy grooves. These were early examples of Gilles Peterson's curating skills.   


There were eventually at least eight of these compilations I think. At this rate of buying I may one day enjoy listening to number 3 but if, by some miracle, I buy number 4 I will probably not be able to hear it!      

Jon Hendricks - I'll Bet You Thought I'd Never Find You  1975

Oscar Brown Jr. - Dat Dere  1966

Lounging

We have friends coming around tonight.

It’s warm, we can be out in the garden.

Looks like rain, we could retire to the conservatory.

Heavy rain. Too noisy on the roof, looks like the lounge then.

Better have some lounge music, and some virtual sunshine.

Very happy to pick this one up in a local chazza today for 50p.

Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 – Laia Ladaia (Reza)  1968

Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 – Scarborough Fair  1968 

Buy "Fool On The Hill"

Still scratching

In my ever more obsessive search for lost soul gold dust I am sometimes guilty of overlooking the obvious. Tavares are a case in point. I loved their hits – e.g. “Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel”, “It Only Takes A Minute” – but that was the problem: I knew the hits, thought that was all there was, and passed them by. Then, recently, I stumbled across Mrs Darce’s old cassette of their album “Hard Core Poetry” and that woke me up. Now I’m always on the look out for Tavares records.  

Following on from my previous post that talked about scratched records that sounded OK from the same haul here is the record that looked the mintiest of the bunch but in fact sounds pretty beat up.

I won’t expose you to the pops and clicks but instead point you to Youtube for two of the four tracks on this EP. (Squeezing four tracks on a 7” is probably not a good idea and is partly why the sound quality suffered, I guess).  

Scratching my itch

Last weekend was of the Bank Holiday variety here in Blighty. That meant extra opportunity to hit the car boot sales. Yippee!  

It didn’t start well. A Saturday visit yielded precisely nothing. The field in question was as packed with sellers as I had ever seen it, but there was very little vinyl – just a load of junk (ha ha). I thought I would be pushing my luck (with Mrs Darce) to “boot it” three days running so I gave Sunday a miss. That left Monday, where I managed to fit in two fairs, this time with some success.

The first venue is one of my favourites. For starters, at the risk of sounding a snob, it seems to be frequented by a better class of seller, and browser. As a result the whole air of the proceedings seems to be more relaxed, almost tranquil. So if pickings are thin it doesn’t really matter because I can treat it as a pleasant early morning stroll in the country – and there are some great countryside views to be enjoyed.

That’s all very well but what about the vinyl?, you say. Well, I didn’t come away empty handed – first there were four singles for 20p each (including Tina Harvey’s take on “Nowhere To Run”! but sporting lots of scuffs), then four albums for 10p each from a charming old couple bought solely for the young ladies on the covers demonstrating various levels of saucery (at the top end of which was Silver Convention’s “Discotheque Vol. II”, I’ll let you google it). I was informed the records would be going to the rubbish tip imminently and I couldn’t bear the thought of that – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! (But, ahem, these purchases do mean I’m going to have to find a bigger case for my collection of “girls”). Finally I parted with a whole £2 on another very scuffy looking piece of vinyl – Otis Redding “In Person At The Whisky A Go Go”. It was the beautiful original plum and orange Atlantic label that made me buy it. Almost plum, orange and red as it happened. I was commenting on the scratched state of the records we were looking at to a fellow digger standing next to me when I noticed blood on my hand. The records are so scratched they’ve scratched me, I thought. Then I realised the fellow digger had developed a nose bleed and there was blood dripping everywhere! “I never have nose bleeds, it must have been that five pound note I just took out of my wallet*”, he said. That made me chuckle. (*he had just bought a Tygers of Pan Tang album, remember them?).

Not a bad start to the day, but I wasn’t getting carried away as the records I bought to actually listen to were all in less than pristine condition, and the needle was yet to give its verdict.

Onward I went to the next fair, which was at the same venue that I had visited on the Saturday. It couldn’t be that bad again, surely? But after a fruitless hour+ it looked like it was.The only record I found worthy of note had been James Brown “Night Train” on UK Sue, but it was sleeveless and looked pretty beat up so I passed.  

I had decided to call it a day and was heading back to the car by backtracking down a couple of rows I had already visited. It was then I spied a few boxes of records I must have missed earlier. OK, I said to myself, one last dig and delve. And I’m glad I did because I found not one but two reggae nuggets (and a copy of Adam & The Ants’ “Prince Charming” album with gatefold cover which was in such stunning condition I had to buy it too!).

The first of the reggae finds was an album “Original Reggae Greats Vol II”. This was a budget LP on the Hallmark/Pickwick label dating to around 1974 full of tracks leased from Trojan. That and the Adam & The Ants LP set me back a whole 50p each. I also found a single by The Creations on the Amalgamated Records label. I had never heard of either of them but noticed J.A. Gibson (Joe Gibbs) and Jamaica in the credits – it must be reggae, I’ll have that, I thought! But again it looked scuffy and had a ominous looking scratch right across one side. I pointed this out and effectively got it for nothing. Now I was satisfied and happily called it a day.

So what did these scuffed up scratchy old records sound like when I dropped the needle on them? I was amazed. The Otis Redding album plays through without any noticeable surface noise, Tina Harvey is almost as good and The Creations side with the horrible scratch on it you can hear here. I think you will agree the scratch is, in fact, nowhere to be heard. All three are testament to the quality of British vinyl back in the day and also all represent serious bargains. Result! (Now I wish I had also picked up the James Brown Sue 45).  

Bob & Marcia’s “I Don’t Care” is side 2 track 1 on the Reggae compilation album. Listen to the strings (yes, strings) on this track, they are to die for.

Bob & Marcia – I Don’t Care  1972

The Creations’ 45 is probably my find of the year. Reggae vinyl rarely turns up, and when it does it is usually in pretty bad shape. Reggae is a catch-all term really, this 45 dates from 1968 and should more precisely be described as rocksteady. Just as I have backtracked into the 60s to fuel my passion for Soul music so I realise I need to be more serious about doing the same for reggae/rocksteady/ska. As I said, I was not familiar with Joe Gibbs’ Amalgamated Records, but just look at all the releases this little label made in 1968.      

        

The Creations – Holding Out  1968

“Get On Up” is on the other side this Creations 45. You can find it on “Get On Up” an excellent looking compilation of Joe Gibbs produced rocksteady from 1967-68.  

Georgia on my mind

The nest is active at the moment. Just as our son was returning home after six weeks backpacking with friends in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia so our daughter was departing, again with backpack, for five weeks+ in America. (Perhaps I should say under a backpack as she is only little!). Our son had a great time and we have hopes that our daughter will have a similarly great experience.

At the same time one can’t help but feel a little bit envious. For various reasons trawling around the world wasn’t quite so easy when I was our children’s age. I need to start hatching some plans for a sabbatical.

Any sabbatical would of course have to include some vinyl hunting. When my work actually took me to the Atlanta area, some years ago now, my vinyl habit had only just been rekindled and, although I did manage a fair amount of digging, I can’t help thinking I really didn’t take full advantage of the opportunity.     

So, whilst a live digging trip to America remains a dream, I make do with the virtual experience on eBay etc.

Sometime last year this little bit of America came to me, through our letterbox. It is yet another record I first became aware of via Sir Shambling’s great site.

This record truly feels like a little bit of America because a) it was recorded in a Georgia studio by a local singer and released on a local label, b) it looks like Gina herself has signed it(!), and c) the package it came in had a Georgia postmark. You can almost smell the pines.

Because of my numerous trips to the Atlanta area a few years ago I developed a certain affinity for the area. So to think that for the 40ish years since this record was pressed, until my purchase, it had probably never left the state of Georgia, and that Gina herself has quite probably handled it and signed the dedication on the label (I wasn’t aware of this possibility when I bought it on eBay) somehow makes it very special to me.           

I know nothing about Gina beyond what appears on Sir Shambling’s page  dedicated to the artist (which, wonderfully, includes a picture of Gina). The record itself actually got two releases. I am assuming the first was on the Jill label – or could it be gill I wonder? (Gina hILL). I had not previously heard of the Lou-Neita label either but found this August 1970 Billboard article on the label (part of a feature on the Atlanta area recording scene), so I now know more about Lou-Neita than Gina Hill. Lou-Neita was named after the wives of the two label owners. It was initially primarily a country label but by 1970 its releases were about 50-50 country and soul. As it was undoubtedly a bigger concern than the Jill label it is reasonable to assume that Lou-Neita picked up Gina’s recording and issued it to enable wider distribution. Except that now, 40 years later it seems the Jill release is the one that turns up much more often than the Lou-Neita one.

In this instance I have to disagree with Sir Shambling and say that my preferred side of this 45 is “Help Me Solve This Problem”. Enjoy.

Gina Hill – Help Me Solve This Problem  1970?     

Fresh out of the boot

Literally.

"I've got some more in the boot", he said. "Saves the knees".

Unfortunately it kills the back!

But not the pocket. 20p each which you can't argue with.

The JBs- Hot Pants Road 1972

Ray Charles - Busted 1963

and, warning: crackle alert!

Kiki Dee - We've Got Everything Going For Us 1967

Mabry my baby

So there I was a couple of nights ago plonking around on the Interweb (as you do) researching some single or other (I think it was one from Jackie Ross) when I stumbled upon a gargantuan list of records for sale (which, by the by, are probably mostly sold now as it turned out to be a few months old). Anyway, in that list of records I saw the name Betty Mabry. This caused me to take an immediate Interweb left turn and I ended up spending the rest of the night playing Betty Davis tracks on YouTube and seeing if I could find out more than I already knew about her.

For those unfamiliar with the names, Betty Mabry and Betty Davis are one and the same person. After moving to New York in the early 60s Betty Mabry recorded a little and, new news to me, had a couple of 45s released (the first in 1964 on the small NY DCP label a copy of which I found noted in the sales list mentioned above). She was also modelling, and writing songs. In 1968 she became Betty Davis when she married Miles Davis. The marriage lasted little more than a year. She appeared on the cover of Filles de Kilimanjaro and Miles wrote at least one piece dedicated to her – Mademoiselle Mabry – and it was Betty who apparently turned Miles onto the likes of Hendrix and Sly Stone and prompted Miles’ fusion era.

To those that know, and she remains relatively unknown, her other claims to fame are three incredible albums she released in the mid 70s: “Betty Davis”, “They Say I’m Different” and “Nasty Gal”. FONK is the operative word and, like her erstwhile husband’s finest output, they should be recognised as all time classic albums.      

Her first album “Betty Davis”, released on the wonderfully named Just Sunshine record label in 1973, has long been a jewel in my collection.  All the songs were written and arranged by Betty. On it she is backed by some stellar names - including Larry Graham, The Pointer Sisters, and the Tower Of Power horn section. The music is hard funk and rock, in just about equal measure, and it’s bluesy as hell – as well!  

In the early days of writing this blog I had fully intended to feature her and this album but it seemed whenever I was about to compose a post some other blog had beaten me to it. That was probably because at that time her entire catalogue, including some previously unreleased tracks from the late 70s, were re-released and a whole new fanbase had emerged.

 

I haven’t seen Betty featured on the blogs recently so my impromptu “Betty night” reminded me to finally do the right thing and feature her here on Feel It.

While I was casting around for more details of Betty’s career I found this interview, given in 2007 and apparently her first in thirty years. It follows her life and is full of interesting information, including some more background on some of the tracks on her debut album. For instance Betty states that “Stepping In Her I Miller Shoes” was written about Devon Wilson. Once in the orbit of Jimi Hendrix, Devon was something of a “super groupie” and after being consumed by the scene tragically lost her life too early, falling eight stories from a New York hotel. Two other tracks on the album - “Walking up The Road” and “Game Is My Middle Name” - were originally written by Betty for The Commodores who needed material for an upcoming deal with Motown. Nothing could be worked out for The Commodores to use those songs but they certainly wouldn’t have sounded out of place on The Commodores’ Machine Gun album which was chock full of hard and slippery funk.

Because she retreated from what little limelight she had in the 70s people like me who didn’t know her personally but were simply captivated by her music (and her looks!)  will, I guess, not have been aware of her growing older. It came as something of a shock hearing her speak in the interview where she does, reasonably enough, sound - how shall I say it – a mature woman. In fact a couple of weeks ago Betty celebrated her 65^th birthday! It shouldn’t be a surprise if you do the count back but, nevertheless, I can’t believe that. My image of her will always be as a young woman, and furthermore, to borrow the title of her third album, a “Nasty Gal” (in a good way). Again, having listened to the interview it seems that we should modify that image of her too – she described her younger, recording era, self as being quiet, and didn’t like her music being described as funky as that had a dirty connotation.

Sweet.  (But now I’m studying her shots again on the front of her first album they do have an almost little girl charm to them in stark contrast to the covers of her later albums where there was some serious image making at work it seems).    

Now hold that thought.

If Betty Davis happens to be a new name to you then listen up, then get yourself over to YouTube and then go and buy all her CDs.

If you know of her already then I am sure you will have one of her records on the turntable already.

Betty Davis – Steppin’ In Her I. Miller Shoes 1973

Betty Davis – Your Man My Man 1973