#225

(Oh dear, blog title inspiration is sadly lacking!)

In the last couple of months my visits to car boot sales have dropped off a bit. Realising just how much of an early bird you have to be to stand a chance of finding the good stuff I found that, arriving at a sale, that buzz of anticipation had deserted me - and that was half the fun. Also I have endured a few largely fruitless visits in a row.

But last Sunday I was awake early, and it was a beautiful morning, so I leapt out of bed (artistic licence – ha ha) with something approaching my old ‘boot sale fever’.

Hopes of an early attack were soon dashed though. We have been decorating our shower room and as a result had taken the handle off the door. Yes, you guessed it the door closed behind me and, unable to open the door, I got stuck in the room! Our shower room is on the ground floor, off the kitchen. My daughter was asleep one floor up and my wife was asleep two floors up. I have some of my best ideas in the shower so I initially wasn’t worried. Just have the shower and I will think of something, I surmised. But the reality was there weren’t many options. So in the end I had to resort to banging on the door (I resisted shouting “Help” at the top of my voice). Fortunately my wife is a light sleeper so after about 30 minutes she rescued me – and has got a lot of mileage out of the story since!
Did that 30 minutes make any difference to my chances of boot sale success? Probably not, as a seller told me he had had buyers looking over his stuff at some ridiculously early hour again. Nevertheless it proved to be an enjoyable trip. There were a few dealers and vinyl lovers selling and I struck up some good conversations and came away with a small haul of vinyl that ticked quite a few boxes.

On the purely musical front the Trojan single I’m featuring here is definitely my favourite of the haul. Reggae vinyl is usually difficult to find at car boot sales – it was never mainstream, and savvy buyers hoover them up. I found this one amongst a stack of run of the mill 70s/80s singles, mostly pop. It was hiding in a Phonogram sleeve marked “Crown Heights Affair – Galaxy Of Love” which is probably why it had been overlooked. This is in fact the second Ken Boothe Trojan 45 I’ve picked up in recent weeks.

After a few dormant years Trojan was briefly reactivated as a label in the late 70s. This single was released in 1979 I believe, and it’s a double header gem. “Who Get’s Your Love” was the title track of an album released around that time which did nothing, and “Is It Because I’m Black” is of course the Syl Johnson song that Ken Boothe originally recorded in 1973. The label says this is from Ken’s 1973 album “Let’s Get It On”. I have heard two versions of this song, this one has horns so I don’t know if it equates to the 1973 album track, or if it is a later take.

John Lydon (of Sex Pistols, PIL, and butter advert fame) made some guest appearances in the late 70s on BMRB and Capital Radio where he was interviewed and played some of the favourites from his record collection. Lots of Reggae featured, including a track from the above mentioned album and “Black”. Looking through his choices he undoubtedly had/has excellent taste. John described Ken Boothe as a “man of talent” – I can imagine him saying that. He is right of course.

Ken Boothe – Who Gets Your Love? 1979

Ken Boothe – Is It Because I’m Black 1973?

Both tracks can be found on this CD (if you can find it at a good price).

Parish Notices #10

Mmm, been a bit quiet here recently. So, how do I do this blog thing?

I have some excuses:

1.        1. The weather. But the Great British Summer stalled a week ago now.   

2.        2.  The World Cup. But that finished a week ago too.

3.        3.  I’m lazy. But Mrs Darce had me decorating the shower room this weekend, so that can’t be true.

I do blame the weather though. As the lack of rain turned the grass brown my thirst for vinyl dried up in equal measure. In Britain when the sun shines you have to take advantage of it.

But I am all out of excuses really. So let’s get this blog back on track.

In recent days two blogs I follow closely have featured 1. Deniece Williams and 2. Sandra Wright.

I have taken the easy way out and referred you to those blogs for more of the back story on them.(Actually it was Breath Of Life who featured Niecy, but he in turn pointed to the link I've given above).  

Here are early releases from each wonderful singer, both of which I happened to pick up earlier this year. Niecy was born Deniece Chandler and in the late Sixties had a number of releases on Chicago’s Toddlin Town label. “Goodbye Cruel World” is actually a happy song and it’s a beauty. As is Sandra Wright’s Coral 45, again from the late Sixties it’s a definite double header, the A side - “Gotta See My Baby” is more known as it’s a mover, but I’m featuring the B side which is even better in my book. Recorded in Nashville it has just about everything in the mix behind Sandra  - an organ that echoes an earlier time, trademark Nashville guitar, and horns, and strings! Too much? No, it works beautifully.

UPDATE: I composed the above nearly a week ago now. I was just about to go into Blogger and post it when our Internet stopped working. It hadn’t been repaired before I had to leave for Munich for a business trip. I know, more excuses, but I’m back now, and so is this blog.     

Deniece Chandler – Goodbye Cruel World 1969

Sandra Wright – We’re Gonna Make It 1969

The beautiful game

It is perfectly feasible (accepting Spain have an off day) that this year’s World Cup semi finals will be a private party – only South Americans in attendance.

This, by Sarah Crompton in the Telegraph newspaper today, was an excellent article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/teams/argentina/7861345/World-Cup-2010-Diego-Maradonas-Argentina-inspired-by-the-tango.html

"... Alongside everything that was so depressing about England's ejection from the World Cup, the desperate ugliness of their play was perhaps the most unbearable thing...."

Fantastic, and so true. That sums it up for me. I think just about EVERY team in the finals has seemed more adept, and made the game look prettier, than Eng-ger-land.

Cedar Walton – Latin America  1980

Buy the CD "Latin Tinge" by Cedar Walton

R.I.P. Garry Shider

I’m a bit late on picking up on this: the Telegraph obituaries yesterday had a write up for Garry Shider who lost his recent battle with cancer at only 56 on June 16^th. The Daily Telegraph obits page is usually awash with brigadiers, wing-commanders, professors and the like so it was somewhat unusual to see an entry for Garry Shider. Someone at the Telegraph obviously has a good appreciation of the true talents in popular music. Vocalist and guitarist Garry was a key member of the Parliament/Funkadelic cosmic ride in the Seventies. You may not think you knew him, but if you have ever sung along to “One Nation Under A Groove” you were singing along with Garry.  

Back in 2007 I wrote a guest blog entry for Scholar at Souled On... It featured a number of tracks that have the repeatable ability to make me cry (for reasons various and unexplainable). I had this to say about a Parliament track that featured Garry Shider on vocals.             

As 1976 was coming to an end Parliament released “The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein”. It was the follow up to “Mothership Connection” and has somehow always remained under that album’s shadow. For my money though “Clones” is at least its equal. The funk is looser, the feel is more laid back, horn arrangements to die for abound, and there are some great vocal performances (for example just check Gary Shider on the track featured here). To my mind the more stripped down feel reveals a melancholic undercurrent on many of the tracks. Cut through the invented on-the-one-cosmic-science-thang world of Clinton and his cohorts and what you have is a really soulful album. The soulfulness struck me on first hearing, just after its release. Back then I wasn’t aware of the group’s history and previous incarnation as The Parliaments. Now of course it all makes sense.        

Parliament – Getten’ To Know You 1976

R.I.P. Garry Shider.

(Excuse me while I have another little cry).

Buy “The Clones Of Dr Funkenstein”

My latest addictions

Listened to Finewine's latest Downtown Soulville show earlier where he finishes with Gene Ammons "Jug Eyes".  
Now I can't stop playing it. A stellar track from a stellar line up: Ammons, George Freeman, Idris Muhammad, Ron Carter, Harold Mabern. From the 1970 album "The Black Cat".

I don't know about jug eyes but I've certainly got bug eyes as I more and more feverishly try to complete our Panini World Cup sticker collection by swapping on ebay. It is totally addictive, as is listening to "Jug Eyes".

Where was I?

For a while there I thought that was it for Feel It. A short (and very sunny – yippee!) holiday got me out of the habit very quickly and I started enjoying leaving the computer alone and doing other things. I found I had no urge to play, record, scan, research, compose, post. The weather had a lot to do with this mini hiatus – for a while there it was gorgeous. Also there was a “needs must” in the garden - the hard winter we had resulted in some casualties that needed replacement, but also has seemed to do other plants and shrubs we have a power of good and they have needed some chopping back already.

Interacting with a new (to me) computer had also dampened the blogging urge too I think. It's silly really, this computer has the same operating system, the same applications, most of the same files
(or, at least, the important ones; and the rest of them available on portable hard drive if I want them). Nevertheless I don't feel at home with it yet. I'm still restless with it, I still have the urge to
play with the start up process and various other geeky and largely worthless activities which seem to constantly deflect me from doing something useful with it.

Anyway, a whole two weeks since the last glimmer of life hereabouts, I found myself thinking once again of blog posts (whilst doing the washing up!).

So by way of easing myself back into the groove I will offer up to you one of my latest boot sale finds.

This weekend just gone was the first time I had ventured into the junk strewn fields of England for a few weeks. Sunday proved a largely fruitless search for vinyl as I hit no less than three car boot sales. I had to keep going until I found something worth buying. Even so, it was a meagre haul – three 45s, what proved to be an uninspiring reggae 12” and, just to cheer me up a bit, a German cheese-fest easy listening LP with a scantily clad lady on the front (and back) cover - “Tattoos Aktuell” no less. During my increasingly desperate scavenge around the first two venues I had wondered whether the dealers had been particularly active and bought up every piece of vinyl in sight and a conversation with one seller reinforced this thought. By the time I visited his pitch he had about 30 LPs on show but he told me that he had arrived with about four times as many. The sale was advertised as starting at 8am for buyers, he had arrived before 6am (!) and had been immediately surrounded by dealers who bought just about everything he had (!!). I kinda knew this was the form at car boot sales, but I wasn't really sure that record dealers were that active. But now I know - 6am!! the early bird catches the worm, and I'm useless in the mornings.

Of course it was a long weekend in the UK, and what do Bank Holiday Mondays bring? Among other things more car boot sales! Yes, I snuck out again on Monday for another one, this time with some success. This particular venue doesn't start so early and I managed to get there before many of the sellers had set up. So it was I found myself rubbing shoulders with some of the dealers – a vulture myself. God! You've got to be quick and have a sixth sense for which boots may contain vinyl – or I suppose just be brazen and ask and poke your nose in people's cars even before they've got their seat belt off! Something I'm not comfortable doing. Anyway, I turned round and there was this pile of albums (they hadn't been there a minute earlier I'm sure) – a bag and two boxes full. Already there was a guy in amongst them – like a pig in a trough! He was riffling through the records in the bag at an astonishing rate with one hand whilst his other hand was resting on some of the records in one of the boxes so as nobody else could look at them. Fortunately he only had two arms (and evidently wasn't double jointed so couldn't bring his feet and toes into play!) so there were some albums still free of his clutches. For a fraction of a second I thought of asking if I could look at them (you can tell I'm new at this game!) but I was also aware of a couple of other people moving in behind me, so I dived in and grabbed a handful of albums. In this first grab I found 1st press copies of The Beatles “Abbey Road” and “Sergeant Pepper”. Diving back in I managed to pull out an early Dusty Springfield album (turns out it maybe not so early and I have it already in its original guise), The Monkees “Headquarters”, “Lightnin' Sonny & Brownie” (no need for surnames surely) and - drum roll - my favourite of the bunch:

an early Coxsone compilation album from 1968 - “Blue Beat Special”. (Look at that label! A great shade of blue and in spanking condition - not bad for a 42 year old record).

I handed over £6 for the lot and walked away very happy. The guy who got in first also walked away with about half a dozen albums I think. I heard a guy behind me say “looks like all the good stuff has gone”. The whole episode was over in about three minutes.

The weekend's digging was a bit of an education. It seems the records are there, but can I be hardnosed enough to mix it with the dealers? and can I get up early enough?!

Like the “Blues & Soul” compilation album featured recently, despite a bit of scratchiness every track on “Blue Beat Special” is – er – special, making it difficult to choose what to play. Here are two to give you a flavour.

Alton Ellis - Let Him Try 1968

Soul Vendors - The Whip 1968

Parish Notices #10

I’m still here, but with one thing and another…

Writing this on a new (to me) computer. My old one decided to throw strange vertical lines and general weirdness on the screen - a sure sign the video card is on the way out I think. So I finally decided to bite the bullet and transfer all my stuff  to another computer. Said computer is my son’s old desktop. He has long since moved onto a laptop and his old desktop has been lying idle for a while now. I’m not proud. Anyway, it’s a better spec than my old one and, as you have probably gathered, I like retro. No fancy laptops or ipads for me.

This painful, and necessary, computer transition process happened  to coincide with all the admin that surrounded my first selling experience on ebay - perfect timing! I think I’ve got the hang of it, but the admin shouldn’t be under-estimated.

Prior to all that I had a bit of a crisis of confidence with the hi-fi. The vinyl seemed to be sounding much quieter out of one speaker than the other, but CDs sounded ok. I did a bit of wire jiggling and juggling but came to no real conclusion. But put back together again and it sounds much better. The initial problem remains a mystery.    

Then there was the annual golf day and night out with wags. (I find the less I play golf the better I am at it - a bit of a paradox really. Recently I’ve settled for playing once a year!)        

As you can see I’ve been a bit preoccupied and the blog had to take a back seat.

And it will again as Mrs Darce and I are off to Cornwall for a few days.

So, by way of some music, here’s the first thing that came to hand and the first track to have been recorded on the new computer. (The same software recorded it but it’s a different sound card and the levels are totally different so I hope it sounds ok.)

The James Taylor Quartet - Jungle Strut 1988

From Wait A Minute

Back in the groove later next week.