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NEWSLETTER #128
Rhythm & Blues, Soul & Doo Wop
Dud & Paul Bascomb -> Lee "Shot"
Williams
| DUD & PAUL BASCOMB |
Classics 5061 |
The Chronological Dud & Paul Bascomb,
1945-1947 |
● CD $14.98 |
Features 11 tracks by former trumpeter with the Erskine
Hawkins Orchestra, Dud Bascomb and 7 tracks featuring his older brother
tenor-saxophonist Paul Bascomb.
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| EDDIE BO |
Night Train 7025 |
New Orleans Solo Piano |
● CD $16.98 |
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| OTIS CLAY |
P-Vine PCD 2195 |
Otis Clay |
● CD $17.98 |
Available again in limited quantities. The 49-year-old Otis
Clay was born in Waxlaw, Miss., and sharpened his chops singing in a legion
of gospel quartets, notably the Christian Travelers who recorded for Peacock
on the 50's, and the Gospel Songbirds on Nashboro with whom he shared lead
during the early 60's. In 1964 Clay signed with George Leaner's One-der-ful
label, on which he cut a handful of prime tear dripping soul ballads and
hard driving jumps, the most notable of which include Wrapped Up In Her
Love/ Cry, Cry, Cry/ A Flame In Your Heart/ I'm Satisfied/ This Love Of
Mine/ That's How It Is/ Don't Pass Me By. Nineteen pre-Hi label tunes in
all. Heavy duty soul incineration. (OLN)
OTIS CLAY: A Flame In Your Heart/ Come My Dear/ Cry Cry Cry/ Don't Pass Me
By/ Funny Life/ Got To Find A Way/ I Don'T Know What I Do/ I Must Keep On
Waiting/ I Paid The Price/ I'll Testify/ I'm Satisfied/ It's Easier Said
Than Done/ Lost Someone/ Nothing To Look Forward To/ That's How It Is/ This
Love Of Min/ Tired Of Falling In And Out Of Love/ Wrapped Up In Her Love
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| FATS DOMINO |
Classics 5060 |
The Chronological Fats Domino, 1951-1952 |
● CD $14.98 |
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| THE FIVE KEYS |
Charly 265 |
Dream On |
● CD $13.98 |
Available again in limited quantities. The 5 Keys hail from
Newport News, and first recorded for Aladdin and Capitol before signing with
Syd Nathan's King label in 1959. The group at that time were "Dickie" Threat
and Maryland Pierce, tenor leads; Ripley Ingram and Dickie Smith, tenor and
baritone; plus Bernie West, bass. The Keys are best remembered for their
soaring tenor leads and near-perfect harmonies. This set covers most of the
group's King output (24 sides) and features the hauntingly beautiful
Dream On/ Wrapped Up In A Dream/ I'll Never Stop Loving You. Session men
include Gene Redd, vibes and guitar; and the great Sonny Thompson, piano. (OLN)
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| THE HOLMES BROTHERS |
Rounder 10588 |
Righteous! The Essential Collection |
● CD $15.98 |
17 tracks, 74 min, recommended .Nothing new here, but a fine
introduction to this heavily gospel-influenced blues group with brothers
Wendell & Sherman Holmes & Popsy Dixon (who has a gorgeous falsetto).
There's tracks from all 4 of their Rounder CDs, which besides their own
gospel-blues includes interesting covers of such tunes as Fannie Mae,
Jack Greene's country weeper There Goes My Everything, even The
Beatles' And I Love Her! (GM)
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| THE ISLEY BROTHERS |
Varese 66103 |
Shake It Up, Baby |
● CD $11.98 |
16 tracks, 41 min, highly recommended. Now that Ron Isley's
Isley Bros have ANOTHER #1 as I write this, you'll find yourself wanting to
rediscover their old stuff. But you already have all the T-Neck & Motown
stuff, so now it's time to rediscover when the 3 Isleys - Ronald, Rudolph &
O'Kelly, were really tearing it up for RCA (58-60) & Wand ('61-64). You know
many of the tunes, which unfortunately were big hits for other people! The 2
RCA sides here are the immortal Shout (a hit for Joey Dee) &
Respectable (for The Outsiders) & their Wand stuff, produced & sometimes
written by legendary producer Bert Berns includes Twist & Shout (The
Beatles, of course), & Nobody But Me (The Human Beinz version is currently
used as a commercial). The only thing is, The Isleys cut all the other
versions to shreds! And the recordings here are mostly in pristine stereo!
(GM)
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| BETTY LAVETTE |
Art & Soul 851012 |
Souvenirs |
● CD $16.98 |
18 tracks, 57 min, essential. Yes, this would be essential if
all it had was the 2 singles cut at the beginning of her career ('62) for
Atlantic, including the fine My Man-He's A Lovin' Man, & her 2
singles done mid-career ('72) for Atlantic including a surprising cover of
Neil Young's Heart Of Gold. Yeah, they're all here & wonderful, but
what makes this release noteworthy is the 1st release of one of the few "Legndary
Lost Albums" in soul music, her "Child Of The 70s", recorded in Muscle
Shoals 11/72. Fine fine 70s soul - no writers credits, but includes covers
of Ron Davies' It Ain't Easy & Free's The Stealer! Booklet
includes some great color snapshots from '64 from Betty's personal archives.
(GM)
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| BETTYE LAVETTE |
Blues Express 10004 |
A Woman Like Me |
● CD $14.98 |
12 tracks, 58 min, highly recommended. Incredible comeback,
her 1st US release in over 20 years. Yes, Betty, now with an "e", gives a
world class performance on this set & puts her in the big leagues. Seems
that many comeback sets have the artist with minimal electronic backing (I
remember reviewing a disc that had more people listed as programmers than
musicians) & sub-class material. This set is mostly written & produced by
Dennis Walker, who was responsible for most of Robert Cray's good material
as well as some recent BB King. The band has 3 guitars, keys, rhythm & horns
(the "Van Nys (sic) Horns" from The Tonight show!), including Alan Mirkatani
(AKA BB Chung King) on lead, long-time Etta James guitarist Bobby Murray on
rhythm & some of the final work on keys by Bettye's long-time musical
director Rudy Robinson on keys (he died soon after this). Titles include
Serves Him Right/ It Ain't Worth It After Awhile/ Salt On My Wounds.
(GM)
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| LITTLE MISS CORNSHUCKS |
Classics 5059 |
The Chronological Little Miss Cornshucks,
1947-1951 |
● CD $14.98 |
Although she recorded little, Little Miss Cornshucks
(Mildred Cummings) is considered to have been an influence on singers like
Billy Wright, Ruth Brown, Johnny Ray, Wynona Carr and LaVerne Baker. This
collection of 21 tracs features all her recordings with the exception of a
1961 Chess LP. The 21 tracks here feature her with various groups and
includes sides like Gonna Leave Here Walkin'/ For Old Time's Sake/ Keep
Your Hands On your Heart/ In The Rain/ Waiting In Vain/ Papa Tree Top Blues/
Try A Little Tenderness, etc.
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| BIG JAY MCNEELY |
Classics 5058 |
The Chronological Big Jay McNeely, 1951-1952 |
● CD $14.98 |
The second volume of Big Jay's recordings features all his
Imperial recordings from 1951 and '52 and the first of his Federal
recordings. Includes some vocals by Three Dots & A Dash with Jesse Belvin
and Marvin Phillips. Includes Insect Ball/ All That Wine Is Gone/ Let's
Do It/ Love From The Heart/ The Deacon Blows For Ray/ Deacon Rides Again/
Jay Walk/ Jet Fury/ The Goof, etc.
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| JOE MORRIS |
Classics 5057 |
The Chronological Joe Morris, 1946-1949 |
● CD $14.98 |
The complete 40s recordings of the fine band led by
trumpeter Joe Morris who got his start with Lionel Hampton's band. 26 tracks
of mostly instrumental R&B with occasional jazz touches featuring the
honking tenor of Johnny Griffin and baritone sax of Bill McLemore.
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| BOBBY PATTERSON |
Sundazed 11105 |
Soul Is My Music |
● CD $17.98 |
40 tracks, 105 min, highly recommended. Booby was & is a
longtime Texas soul man, with his best known song probably the great "How Do
You Spell Love? (M-o-n-e-y)". This set has his complete recordings for
Jetstar 1965-71. His 1st single was on the small Abnak label(they had The
Five Americans and Jon & Robin. Jon was the owner's son & a college buddy of
Bobby). The label's owner liked Bobby so much he started the Jetstar Label
for him, where he spent the next six years. Bobby's specialty was novelty
answer songs, so there's such greats as I'm Leroy/ I'll Take Her/
Broadway Ain't Funky No More/ My Thing Is Your Thing, as well as the
previously unreleased Mama's Got A New Bag Too. Most tracks written
by Patterson & featuring his band The Mustangs, who had a rare instrumental
45 that's also included here. Also includes the hits TCB Or TYA/ The
Knock Out Power Of Love/ Let Them Talk, etc. (GM)
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| WILSON PICKETT |
Atlantic (Germany) 80796 |
The Sound Of Wilson Pickett |
● CD $13.98 |
Unavailable in the USA. Reissue of classic 1967 album
(Atlantic 8145) featuring 11 great tracks - Soul Dance Number Three/ I
Need A Lot Of Loving Every Day/ I Found A Love, Parts 1 & 2 (a superb
1967 remake of a song he first recorded in 1962 as member of the Detroit
soul group The Falcons)/ Mojo Mamma/ Something Within Me/ Love Is A
Beautiful Thing, etc. In digipack with original cover and notes.
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| THE PRIME MINISTERS |
Night Train 7148 |
Read 'Em And Weep |
● CD $16.98 |
13 tracks recorded live in 1965 by white soul-jazz group
from New Orleans and previously unreleased. The band featured Jerry
Jumonville on tenor and alto sax, Eddie Zip on bass and trumpet, Ronnie
Barron on piano and vocals, Wayne Devilliere on organ and Freddy Staehle on
drums. Includes Hot Cha/ Sac-O-Woe/ Time/ Watermelon Man/ The Peeper/
What A Difference A Day Makes and others.
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| THE RAVENS |
Proper Pairs 126 |
Birds Of A Feather |
● CD $12.98 |
Two CD set featuring 50 tracks recorded by this popular and
influential vocal group who were one of the links between the older vocal
group styles of the Mills Brothers and The Ink Spots and the later more
rhythm & blues oriented doo-wop group.
THE RAVENS: Always/ Be I Bumble Bee Or Not/ Begin The Beguine/ Bye Bye Baby
Blues/ Calypso Song/ Careless Love/ Chloe-e/ Deep Purple/ Don't Look Now/
Everything But You/ Fool That I Am/ Gotta Find My Baby/ Honey/ Honey I Don't
Want You/ I Don't Know Why I Love You Like I Do/ I Get All My Lovin' On A
Saturday Night/ I'm Gonna Take To The Road/ I'm So Crazy For Love/ It's Too
Soon To Know/ Leave My Gal Alone/ Looking For My Baby/ Lullaby/ Mahzel/
Mam'selle/ Marie/ Midnight Blues/ My Baby's Gone/ My Sugar Is So Refined/ Oh
Babe/ Ol' Man River/ Out Of A Dream/ Rickey's Blues/ Rock Me All Night Long/
Searching For Love/ September Song/ Someday/ Summertime/ That Old Gang Of
Mine/ The Whiffenpoof Song/ There's No Use Pretending/ Time Takes Care Of
Everything/ Together/ Until The Real Thing Comes Along/ Wagon Wheels/
Walkin' With The Blues/ White Christmas/ Write Me One Sweet Letter/ You
Don't Have To Drop A Heart To Break It/ You Foolish Thing/ You're Always In
My Dreams
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| MINNIE RIPPERTON |
Varese 66311 |
Come TO My Garden |
● CD $13.98 |
10 tracks, 37 min, recommended. Reissue of GRT 50001 from
'70. Whie still a member of that bizarre psychedelic chamber soul group
Rotary Connection, Minnie stepped to the forefront on this her 1st solo
album. With songs & arrangements by the Connections's Charles Stepney &
orchestration over a core group of guitarist Phil Upchurch & The Ramsey
Lewis Trio (Lewis - keys, Cleveland Eaton - b, Maurice White - d, White &
Stepney would soon be working together in Earth Wind & Fire). Beautiful
songs, great performance, far from her overly melodramatic 70s material.
Includes Les Fleur/ Whenever Wherever/ Rainy Day In Centerville,
title track. (GM)
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| PERCY SLEDGE |
Atlantic (Germany) 80800 |
Take Time To Know Her |
● CD $13.98 |
Not available in the USA. Reissue of Atlantic 8180 from 1968
featuring 12 songs by this fine and distinctive soul singer including the
title song which was a #6 hit in 1968 plus the beautiful Out Of Left
Field and Sudden Stop/ Spooky/ Cover Me/ It's All Wrong But It's
Alright/ Beatween These Arms and others.
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| THE UPSETTERS |
La Cienega 702 |
The Upsetters |
● CD $16.98 |
27 tracks, 64 mins, highly recommended. Fabulous collection
of R&B featuring Little Richard's hot backup band the Upsetters recorded
between 1954 and 1961. Richard plays piano on several cuts and takes the
vocal lead on two great Fats Domino covers Every Night About This Time
& I'm In Love Again. The band also backs such fine artists as Lee
Diamond (actually band member Wilbur Smith), Pretty Boy (actually Don
Covay), Christine Kittrell, Lester Robinson, Dee Clark (doing his best to
sound like Little Richard), Chico Booth, Leonardo Carbo and Larry Birdsong.
There are also eight smoking instrumental tracks featuring hot sax and
guitar. Not to be confused with the great reggae band The Upsetters. (FS)
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| LEE "SHOT"
WILLIAMS |
Famous Groove 972063 |
Chicago Blues & Deep Soul Legend |
● CD $18.98 |
Fine and varied collection of blues and soul from this fine
performer recorded in the 60s and 70s starting with his wonderful first
single from 1962 I'm Trying/ Hello, Baby where he is accompanied by
Little Mac, Freddy Robinson, Detroit Jr. and others. The rest of tracks were
recorded over the next 15 years for a dozen different labels and find Lee
with different bands and with different arrangers but always sounding good.
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