Wallace Brothers: I Need Someone
Flipside of “Airborne Shuffle” (Jewel, 1969)
Alvin Robinson: Fever
Flipside of “Down Home Girl” (Red Bird, 1964)
I should really know better but I’m constantly forgetting to spend quality time with the flipsides of singles I like. Perhaps the most embarrassing example of the last year or so has been “Ball of Fire” by Marva Whitney and even then, I still am re-discovering songs that have been in my library for years.
Case in point, in response to my recent Common Core post, Greg Belson suggested “I Need Someone” which is on the B-side of the Wallace Brothers’ uptempo funky cut “Airborne Shuffle.” I’ve had that single for longer than I can remember but apparently, I just never bothered to sit with the flip. Oops. “I Need Someone” is fantastic; a perfect slice of sweet soul.
I do feel like I have a better excuse for not having recognized the awesomeness that is Alvin Robinson’s “Fever”: when I first got this 7″ (10 years ago?!), it was for “Down Home Girl” it had an off-center 7″ hole and the only way I could figure out to play that side was to physically tape it to another 7″ and then use one of these to then play the 45 properly.
The problem is that by doing so, I left “Fever” taped to the wrong side and completely forgot it was ever there. The only reason I remembered it was because someone asked me, “you like Alvin Robinson’s version of ‘Fever’?” and my response was, “whut?” So I immediately went home, undid the tape and lo and behold…
Moral of story: always listen to the B-side, especially if you’re about to tape it to another 7″.
Brilliant, if specific advice O-Dub. I genuinely always wondered why Fever had never appeared anywhere in these hallowed halls.
And now I know.
Much Love. Props