The Feel It Advent-ure 2020: Door 6

Here in the UK London Records were a godsend to Soul lovers in the 70s. The label was the UK home of Al Green, Ann Peebles, and any number of other Hi artists, but they also released singles from some other excellent and more obscure artists from labels such as Shout.

I can offer no information on Louise Freeman beyond the fact she had five US single releases - three in the 70s and two in the late 80s - and all were recorded in Georgia, so that is presumably her home state. (She rightfully has her place on Sir Shambling's site, but even John cannot offer any further background on the singer).

This is a beautifully arranged deepie. The intro is reminiscent of Betcha By Golly Wow, and elsewhere, fleetingly, Todd Rundgren's Hello It's Me comes to mind.

Louise Freeman – How Could You Run Away 1974

The Feel it Advent-ure 2020: Door 5

Jean Elias made only one record as far as anyone seems to know. The Duke/Peacock/Back Beat stable of labels made almost no use of Muscle Shoals recording studios, but this is where both sides of this 45 were laid down. I don't think  this 45 troubled the chart compilers though, the only Billboard references I can find to the single are listings in the "ones to watch" section in late November 1971. It is a mystery why Jean never found her way onto wax again as she is a good singer, this 45's tracks are above the average, and a Duke label stable Billboard advert as late as August 1972 was still listing Jean as being on their roster. I suspect for Jean it was a case of right place, wrong time. By 1972 the more "down home" Soul was starting to struggle to be heard in the face of the rapidly emerging Philly style and more lavishly arranged up town soul and funk.  

I thought I had posted the B side - How Can I Go On Fooling Myself - before, but it seems not. Of the two sides it certainly seems to be referenced much more frequently on the internet; it was, I am sure, the reason I bought this 45 a few years ago now and it has been the only one that has stuck in my mind. However, playing both sides again today I'm thinking the A side deserves some love too.

Jean Elias - You Made Me A Anybody's Woman  1971

  

The Feel It Advent-ure 2020: Door 4

It's Friday so we need something to dance around the kitchen table to.

There........ is what? There is. There just is!

I love the large gap in the title on this printing of the label. There were, it seems, at least four different labels for this release, this one being the most emphatic. Not only that, there were two different incarnations of Cadet 5574, The A side O-O I Love You being backed initially by There Is, and then subsequently by The Change We Go Thru (For Love). Why did that happen? Well, O-O I Love You entered the Hot 100 in November 1967 and stayed for 10 weeks, peeking at#61. However there was undoubtedly much love for its original B side (I suspect the radio DJs had flipped it) because There Is got its own release as an A side (Cadet 5590) in December of '67, and that also made the Hot 100 on January 20^th 1968, and it stayed in the charts for 11 weeks, peeking at #20. So, including life as a B side, we can easily say There Is spent a total of at least 16 weeks in the Billboard Top 100.  

So, there is no dispute, here is track worthy of another spin 53 years later.

The Dells – There Is 1967

PS: while The Dells (Cadet 5574) were sparring with the likes of The Impressions and Al Green(e) – his very first hit – in the lower reaches of the Hot 100, The Monkees, The Beatles, and Lulu were among the big hitters at the top. However, by February 1968 when There Is (Cadet 5590) peaked at #20, the Top 10 was somewhat bereft of big rock/pop names – Paul Mauriat (Love Is Blue) was at #1 having just knocked The Lemon Pipers (Green Tambourine) off the top spot, and The Temptations (I Wish It Would Rain) and Otis (Dock of The Bay) were both in the Top 10.

The Feel It Advent-ure 2020: Door 3

 

I have John Peel to thank for having this record in my collection. 

Back in the 70s John played the A side It's A Man Down There on one of his shows and it stuck in my mind, and it is probably still on one of my mixtapes which were made up of tracks he played. I bought my copy around 15 years ago now, I guess.

There is a copy of this single in John Peel's much publicised “special box” that contains 142 singles in total. Did he acquire his copy when he was living in the USA or later , I wonder? I am sure that he certainly first heard it while he was in the USA because it actually made the Hot 100 in 1965, peaking at 67.

For such a “raw” record with little or nothing in the way of production frills that seems remarkable. It's success may have been due in no small part to famed DJ, John R (Richbourg) in Nashville who pushed the record hard.

Very little is known of George L Crockett, and only one known picture of him exists. Some say his middle initial is actually T. We know for sure G stands for George. The accepted wisdom, such that it is, can be found on Wikipedia.

G L Crockett is buried at Burr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, Illinois. He died in 1967 at the tragically young age of 38, apparently from a cerebral hemorrhage brought on by hypertension, a condition he had suffered from for many years. This was possibly exacerbated by alcohol as it is documented that George had a drink problem. (However, a different, more sinister cause of death is suggested by a possible daughter on some youtube comments – although I know one should be careful when reading youtube comments).

G L Crockett left a recorded work of just four singles on the 4 Brothers label and one early outing on Chief (as G “Davy” Crockett”). G.L.'s drink problem made him difficult to work with apparently and he was dropped by the label after his fourth outing. The Daniels in the credits on this track is Jack Daniels who was the prinicpal operator of the 4 Brothers label that was run out of Barney's Record store in Chicago. (This info comes from Robert Pruter's excellent book Chicago Soul, where there is an in depth write up on 4 Brothers and the artists that appeared on the label).

I'm featuring the B side today. It has a real “live” feel to it. Consistent with the fact that it was probably recorded in one take. I particularly love the meandering guitar.

G.L.Crockett – Every Hour, Every Day 1965

The Feel It Advent-ure 2020: Door 2

Black Ivory is a group I had pretty much ignored for many years. Probably my blind spot had been created by a dislike for high register sweet soul in my youth. Dislike turned to appreciation quite a few years ago now though and, for example, The Delfonics then became a firm favourite of mine. However, Black Ivory somehow eluded my attention until very recently. I put that right this year and “filled my boots” with their 45s, most of which are as cheap as chips.

It is now 51 years since Black Ivory settled as a trio and, after a hiatus in the 80s and 90s, they are still performing. Quite some achievement. 

Black Ivory – Just Leave Me Some 1973

PS: I notice they actually had a single released on Buddah in 1975 called Feel It. That is one I don't have yet.

The Feel It Advent-ure 2020: Door 1

 

No posts for four months and now I'm embarking on a full on Feel It Advent-ure – yes a post a day right up to Christmas Day!

Foolhardy? Very probably. Certainly a gamble.

Here is Ray Agee making it a hat-trick of Advent-urous appearances hereabouts. He was behind Door 11 last year, where you can read a little more about him.

Ray Agee – The Gamble 1963

Precision engineering

July was a quiet month again on this blog. It coincided with a quiet month on the turntable too. This quiet period (at least in terms of playing vinyl) was initially prompted by my hi-fi set up which suddenly (again) developed a loud hum. Some sort of grounding issue with the turntable undoubtedly which was seemingly introduced when a dropped my record cleaner which just knocked against the cabinet. It was finally solved by sliding the turntable forward on its shelf by no more than one inch! Yes this could have nudged the ground wire back into the right position – but in trying to solve the problem I did grab that cable and the other connectors and gave them a good jiggle and that had made no difference. So, a mystery really. I don't dare touch the turntable's plinth now.

Soon after this I was shocked to find that Mrs Darce and our daughter had suddenly decided that our spare room was looking too much like a junk shop and had embarked on a major tidy up and a hatched plan to turn it back into a habitable room (a bedroom – which will be used as such once in a blue moon by my reckoning). This room has housed a significant part of my record collection for some years now. I was having palpitations.

I retreated into the garden to do a bit of pruning, wash the car, and contemplate the way forward.

Back in the house a couple of hours later and into the “dining room” (which is now almost exclusively now functioning as my main record room) I was confronted with this:

What you see is two 4x2 Ikea Expedits, only one of which had been in the dining room before I had beaten my retreat into the garden. Mrs Darce and our daughter had removed one of these from the spare room, and all the records, carried them downstairs and placed them on top of the other one! I was impressed. But apparently this is only a temporary measure whilst redecorating and construction takes place. Our daughter has measured up an alcove for shelves which can then be dedicated to records (and will result in more space than a 4x2 Expedit offers). The top Expedit will then either be removed , at least that is the plan as it stands. I think I have enough records around and about to fill the new shelves and most of this second Expedit. Granted, I could (should) pare down the collection so that it wouldn't be required but I'm thinking it looks OK in its new home. Or I even maybe able to get it back upstairs into the repurposed spare room as general shelving space – which I could very gradually (so that it isn't noticed) fill up with records again! :)

Following this the strange thing is, despite having more of my records immediately to hand, I have not been playing much in the last couple of weeks. Suddenly confronted with too much choice at my fingertips possibly, or maybe I am still in shock after the events I described above.

I might not have been playing many records but I have still been accumulating them. (Actually, I have been selling some too, so the net effect on my collection maybe zero).This, for example, is a stack of 45s I have bought, mostly on ebay, in the last few weeks some of which are still awaiting their first spin.

This 45 by The Precisions had its first spin on my turntable today. This is one of those records you just have to play again as soon as it has finished. The A side, Why Girl , is a good dancer, appreciated on the Northern scene I should think, but its the B side that does it for me. Why Girl was produced and arranged by Mike Terry, a giant on the scene in the Sixties, and someone has written Mike Terry on this record's sleeve to prove that point. On the other side of the sleeve they should also have written Dale Warren, because he was responsible for production and arrangement of the B Side – What I Want. If I see his name in the credits on a record I know it's that record I want - satisfaction will be guaranteed as far as I am concerned.

Dale Warren was a violinist and had classical training. Through most of the 60s and into the 70s he worked as an arranger at Motown and other Detroit labels, and then at Stax. Later in his career he returned to working as a classical violinist. This classical background can be heard in his arrangements which are often complex and dramatic, and make for a deep listen. I don't believe there is a compilation of his work as arranger and writer, but there should be.

The Precisions were one of many Detroit male vocal groups around at the time. The Drew label was created especially for them and remained true to that premise with no other artists receiving a release on the imprint. They went through a few personnel changes and I'm not sure but I think Billy Prince was the lead on the track here. They got their “big” hit with the follow up to this Drew release – If This Is Love – which is still a big favourite in Northern circles.

I would go far as to say What I Want reaches all round perfection. Perfect arrangement, perfect length, perfect vocals; and its tempo - mid tempo verging on slow, and its melancholic, dark feel are perfect too.

Precision engineering! Featuring chief engineer Dale Warren!

The Precisions - What I Want 1967

PS: I understand there is a better mix of this track on (I think) a styrene issue of this 45 that has a different label design. But this one is good enough for me right now.