The Notations: I’m Still Here
From 7″ (Twinight, 1971)
This has been a white whale for a minute and the thing is: it’s not a rare 7″ by any means. What is hard to find? The single in mint condition. It seems damn near impossible to find one that doesn’t sound like it’s been dragged through gravel and I don’t know if it’s because the single was pressed poorly (my copy looks super-clean but doesn’t quite play that way) or simply is so well-loved, you can’t find a stock/unplayed copy.
Basically, I ended up “settling” for one that plays “pretty clean” because frankly, I got impatient. However, as my dude JP at Good Records put it: “This is one of those records where I honestly don’t want a mint copy. I have a sleeveless beater that has made many slow jam mixtape appearances and that’s just what it’s supposed to be.”
On that note: the song is gorgeous. Sounds earlier than ’71 but producer Syl Johnson pulled off some lightning-in-the-bottle with the sound of this arrangement. Those guitar strums in-between the vocals are pure magic.
Firme rola, all the way.
Surprised you’ve had such a rough time finding one that plays well. Mine’s fairly scuffed but plays great.