|
|
By O-Dub 
Kako: Shingaling Shingaling
From Live It Up (Musicor, 1968)
I was privileged enough to work on the liner notes for this album and even though Kako is no longer with us, I did get to speak to many of the folks who worked on the album, most notably Bobby Marin (for whom this album was his first time recording lead vocals), Mike Amadeo, and singer Azuquita. It’s not only one of the better boogaloo albums of the era in terms of the arrangements and production but it was also unusual for being one of the few [...]
Continue reading KAKO: LIVE IT UP
By O-Dub  
My last post, about selling off my rarest record, got me thinking about collector culture and in particular, the idea of holy grails vs. white whales.
The two are related – but not identical concepts. The Holy Grail is best known and understood: it’s like a mythical record everyone wants and searches for, but the odds of finding are next to nil. Without a doubt, in the circles I run with, the holiest of Holy Grails is the supposed 12″ version of Bob James’ “Mardi Gras” without the bells. It seems almost certain [...]
Continue reading : PT. 1
By O-Dub 
Richard’s People: Yo Yo (O-Dub’s Extended Intro Edit)
From 7″ (Tuba, 1968)
When Doc Delay came through to spin the other month, he dropped this in the middle of a funk mix and trainspotter as I am, I craned my neck over to ask: “wtf is this?” It sounded like the unruly love child of a Midwestern funkateer backed by an East Harlem band and as I dug around for more info on its background, turned out I was more or less on point.
While the 7″ came out of Detroit (rumor is, the vocalist was a [...]
Continue reading DOIN’ THE YO YO + A LITTLE TOUCH OF TEDDY
By O-Dub 
I just launched a new column for Fania’s revamped website called “Latin Con Alma.” It’s part of their regular blog (and thus doesn’t have a dedicated page) but I’ll update folks here when a new one goes up.
My first three posts are all about the history of Speed Records. I’ve been researching them for Wax Poetics and wrote these posts as a beginner’s guide of sorts to this small but popular Latin soul label. The formatting at Fania is still being worked out so I decided, for this post at least, to reprint [...]
Continue reading LATIN CON ALMA: A NEW COLUMN FOR FANIA.COM
By O-Dub  
Johnny Rivera and the Tequila Brass: Johnny on the Warpath
Boogaloo Que La Traigo
From S/T (Cotique, 1967)
Johnny Rivera and the Tequila Brass: Run, Run, Run
Light My Fire
From Up, Up and Away (Cotique, 1968)
(Editor’s Note: Super Sonido is one of my favorite new blogs to hit the interweb. Excellent, in-depth posts about kick ass Latin music most of you will never hear outside of a plane ticket down south. Me and Sonido Franko decided to swap a pair of posts. Here’s his… -O.W.)
It isn’t any wonder that in late 1990’s I [...]
Continue reading SUPER SONIDO SWAPS SOME SOUL
By O-Dub 
Joe Bataan: Subway Joe
Joe Bataan: The Bottle (snippet)
Joe Bataan: Puerto Rico Me Llama (snippet)
All from King of Latin Soul (Vampisoul, 2009)
A few months back, Joe mentioned that he was working on some new projects, including an album with the Barcelona band, Los Fulanos. The album is finally here – King of Latin Soul and like Joe’s last album, Call My Name, it’s coming out on the Spanish label, Vampisoul.
(Contrary to rumor, this new album was not recorded with the same folks who worked on Call My Name).
The album are all updated versions [...]
Continue reading JOE BATAAN: KING OF LATIN SOUL
By O-Dub 
Update (2/17): I wrote a short piece for NPR.com on Cuba’s music, including a five song playlist of some of his key recordings. Check it out here.
Update (2/17): (from Beto) “Joe Cuba will be viewed at the R&G Ortiz Funeral Home.
Wednesday & Thursday, February 18th & 19th from 2 to 10 p.m.
A funeral mass service will be held Friday morning at 11 a.m. at St. Paul’s
Church located @ 213 E. 117th Street, between Park & Lexington.”
This one really hurts; Joe Cuba is one of the main reasons I ever developed [...]
Continue reading JOE CUBA: RIP
By O-Dub 
I recorded this mix for Dublab.com back in June and is now available on their website archive. I originally created it as a promo mix for Deep Covers 2 (though the timing was off since Dublab was back-logged over the summer). Still, I put in a nice selection of different cover songs here – some you’ve heard, some you haven’t. Here’s the tracklisting: Simply Red – I Know You Got Soul – You’ve Got It – WEA
James Brown: Your Cheatin’ Heart – Soul On Top – King
Jimmy McGriff – Ain’t It Funky Now – SOul Sugar [...]
Continue reading THE SOUL SIDES’ "UNDER COVERS" MIX FOR DUBLAB.COM
|
gigs No gigs currently scheduled. I am available for private parties such as weddings, et. al. |
chatter