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The Darling Dears: And I Love You
From 7″ (Flower City/Culture of Sound, 1972/2012)
I first heard about the Darling Dears 7″ on Soulstrut in 2010 and Matthew Africa recently did a nice write-up on his blog where he describes the sound of the group as “airy female harmonies set against a wall of sludgy funk and heavy drums,” which just about sums it up. A really awesome single and expensively obscure out the wazoo.
By sheer coincidence, two different labels have reissued it, basically at the same time, both of which followed perfectly legit [...]
Continue reading GIVEAWAY: DARLING DEARS 7″
David Byrd is the artist and graphic designer behind this very cool 45 logo poster that I directed people to a few weeks ago; I’ve rare seen such positive response before for anything and I thought I’d talk to the Byrd to see where the idea came from and how he put it together.
The Sidebar #25: David Byrd
Music used in the podcast: People Under the Stair’s “43 Labels I Like”
As a bonus, here’s a few of Byrd’s favorite labels and songs released on them:
The Wallace [...]
Continue reading THE SIDEBAR #25: DAVID BYRD AND HIS 45 LOGO POSTER
Alfredo Linares y su Salsa Star: Baila Montuno
From 7″ (Caliente, 1973)
This appears on Linares’s 1973 Sensacionales! album but I didn’t catch wind of it until I picked it up on 7″ first. I’m a huge fan of Linares’s work and so I was pleased and a bit stunned to realize that, unless I’m totally off-base, this is a cover of Bobby Matos’s “Nadie Baila Como Yo” (from his seminal My Latin Soul album of the mid/late ’60s). Matos isn’t credited (not an unusual happenstance) but certainly, there’s more than enough musical [...]
Continue reading ALFREDO LINARES: BAILA BAILA!
So…this meme was making the rounds (again) on Facebook in recent weeks and I went back to check what the #1 song was during my birth week in 1972 and it was Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again, Naturally.”
By sheer coincidence, I had just picked up a Spanish-language version of the song from Amoeba the other week (and believe me when I say: I very rarely find much by way of good used records from Amoeba). It’s on a 7″ EP of four songs, from a band that I think is Guatemalan in origin:
[...]
Continue reading OPUS 3: 72 TO 12
Sarah Vaughn: Bye Bye
From 7″ (Mercury, 1964)
James Royal: House of Jack
From 7″ (CBS Germany, 1969)
Mark Martin: In the Good Old Topless Time
From 7″ (TWR, 1968)
I previously wrote about “instrumentals-made-into-vocal” covers in 2010, and now have three more to add into the mix.
Sarah Vaughn’s “Bye Bye” obviously riffs on Mancini’s hugely famous “Peter Gunn Theme”. I’m on the fence with this one…you don’t really need to throw vocals on one of the best frickin’ t.v. themes of all time but then again: [...]
Continue reading VOCALIZED COVERS
Raymond Winnfield: Things Could Be Better
From 7″ (Fordom, 196?). Also on Funky Funky New Orleans 5.
I picked this up on my last trip to the Groove Merchant, in November. The track itself would have been enough to draw my attention…like Funky16Corners described it: “downtempo Crescent City funk.” Indeed, the instrumental version of this appears as the flipside to Ernie and the Top Notes’ funk classic, “Dap Walk” but to me, Winnfield’s vocal version is considerably superior (maybe I just have a bias against the overuse of sax-as-vocal-replacement). Indeed, [...]
Continue reading RAYMOND WINNFIELD: WHEN LOVE GOES SOUTH
Jimmie Raye: Look At Me, Girl
From 7″ (Tuff, 1964)
This 7″ came from Nydia Ines Davila (who works at Daptone Records) and though she warned me that the sound quality was a bit “muffled” I thought this sounds great. Of course, I am a total sucker for a good soul track built around an opening piano. I fell for this single just from the first four bars with the piano, guitar and drums already crafting something wonderful before you even hear Raye crooning “look at me, girl…cryiiiiiiiiiiiing” with some glorious [...]
Continue reading JIMMIE RAYE: TEARS DON’T STOP
Funky16Corners reports that Howard Tate has passed away.
In honor of the late Mr. Tate, here’s one of my favorite A/B-sides from him:
Howard Tate: Stop b/w Shoot ‘Em All Down
From 7″ (Verve, 1967)
I’m too brain-dead tonight to properly articulate what makes this single so damn good but even though I typically hate saying, “the music speaks for itself,” in this case, I think the sides do the job better than I can right now.
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