Beach ready

We're off to Portugal for a week in less then 24 hours. So I'll have to be brief.

The car boots have been almost completely devoid of vinyl so far this year. Each year the pickings get slimmer. The charity shops proved a bit better earlier in the year but they haven't produced much lately either. Something good to come out of this state of affairs is it has allowed me to concentrate on actually playing more of the records I have accumulated over recent times (instead of times I could easily have said years!). A novel approach eh? Sitting down and listening to records rather than just simply piling them up in a corner. Many albums I buy out of curiosity and in the full expectation of maybe only finding one track of real worth. So it is I have been playing quite a few of my recent acquisitions properly for the first time, picking out the cherries and recording them for further listening on, say, a beach.

One of the albums I played on Sunday was a Timi Yuro compilation (75p from a Sally Army charity shop if memory serves). About six tracks made it into wav/mp3 format. One of those tracks is a storming version of Fever. I had not heard it before but I know I will be hearing it a lot more from now on. 

Timi Yuro – Fever 1962

Hallmarked

I've said it before and I'm saying it again, the allure of a piece of plastic seven inches in diameter otherwise known as a single, a 45, or simply “ a little one” goes far beyond just what's in the grooves. The sleeve, be it picture or sporting a record company design, the label, and the dead wax, all have their attractions and the little details they hold can cause me to happily lose endless hours diving down some research rabbit hole.

Focussing on the label for now, just some of the information it will offer in addition to the artist and title, usually, are composer, arranger, and producer credits. I am a digger so I happily trawl, physically and virtually, through lots and lots of records that are unknown to me and I have learnt to pay close attention to the credits beyond the artist because they can hold clues. The artist maybe unknown, so now is it Soul, or Country, or Psych? The label name itself can help but not always, but a look at the detail credits can often pinpoint a genre. I've been a Soul nut for a fair few years now so I'm pretty good at spotting a Soul record, but will it be any good? I've learnt that certain names are almost a guarantee of quality.

There are many such names that will spark my interest, here are just five by way of example: Dees, Terry, Wansel, Armstead, Warren.

Familiar to Soul buffs I'm sure, here is just a line or two on each of them anyway.

Sam Dees writes, sings and produces. He has written so many great soul songs and released one of the greatest Soul albums – The Show Must Go On.

Mike Terry was initially a session bari' sax player at Motown, he has featured on so many of Soul's well known records; he then went on to become a prolific arranger in Detroit, Chicago, Philly, New York and elsewhere.

Dexter Wansel is a keyboardist and producer/arranger responsible for so many sublime Philly records throughout the 70s.

“Joshie” Jo Armstead is a singer but is more well known as a songwriter. She also worked with Ashford & Simpson (ah, two more names on the “hallmark” list).

Dale Warren was an accomplished conservatory-trained violinist who became an arranger initially at Motown and later with Stax.

So to today's 45. I am familiar with Back Beat and Little Carl Carlton so there is no doubting there will be Soul in the grooves. But let's take a closer inspection on those credits – not one, but two names make an appearance from my list – producer Mike Terry, songwriter J. Armstead. This record is most definitely hallmarked!

Little Carl Carlton - Two Timer  1970

There, see?!

PS: The latest hiatus here was partially caused by the collapse in faith in my stylus. It wasn't that old but everything I was playing no longer sounded right. So I just stopped playing things, and so the mojo disappeared again, and writer's block followed (something other bloggers around this neck of the 'net also seemed to be suffering from lately). New stylus arrived in the post a few days ago and is now duly installed. So, let's see.

PPS: Rustiness caused me to put the wrong link up (thanks for pointing it out John). Link corrected above and as a bonus here is the B side correctly named: 

Little Carl Carlton - Drop By My Place  1970

The boxes keep delivering

Yes, I went to the “little” fair again last weekend and, yes, I found some more records worth bringing home.

Most of the records I picked up this time I have probably flicked through many times before, there is no new stock in evidence, but each time I go I collect a stack that catch my attention and listen to them on the portable and I'm gradually working through them all that way. The prices get cheaper every time too as the one particular dealer whose boxes I frequent must be winding down his stock with a view to retirement in the not too distant future.

There was another dealer with a Soul box there as well this time. So, after this latest visit, my mind's made up to a next time for this little fair. But that next time will probably be next year as I will be on holiday the next time it's in town and they don't think there will be a pre Christmas one this year.

The pick of the bunch this time round is by The Vareeations, released on the Dionn label in 1968. I can find no info on The Vareeations beyond the fact they had two singles released on Dionn. Was their group name a mis-spelling? Or maybe the lead singer's name is Varee? I believe that is a name, the Ohio Players certainly wrote a song that referenced  a Varee - Varee Is Love that can be found on their album Pain. 

Dionn was part of the Jamie/Guyden group of labels and hailed from Philly. “Tom” Bell, in what must be an early example, is credited as arranger on Foolish One which was the plug side on this DJ copy. I love the “This Side Hot” (“Thanks – A. Lott”) sticker on the label, and the fact it has survived for almost 50 years now. What is interesting is that on 45cat and Discogs the scans of DJ copies show the other side - It's The Loving Season - with the PLUG designation. So was my copy a mistake? It's possible the record company plugged both sides at the same time, maybe to different radio stations, or different cities. So which could be considered to be the A side on the issue copy? I guess we will never know, although the matrix identifier might suggest Foolish One which is certainly a play on repeat side for me at the moment.

The Vareeations – Foolish One 1968

The Vareeations – It's The Loving Season 1968

Maybe tomorrow

I sometimes feature records hear that I have picked up at a little local record fair that hits town about four times a year. That fair is in town again tomorrow. Each time I have been in the last year or so I have wondered whether it would be my last visit. It's mainly R&R and the few dealers with Soul boxes have dwindled to basically just one on my last visit. And that dealer is not getting any new stock in; he's not getting any younger and has stopped his visits to the States as much as anything because of the dive in the exchange rate. At the last visit he was telling me how he used to hit the big fairs and warehouses and ship hundreds, thousands of 45s back at "book rate" which was dirt cheap then. Granted this is going back a good few years now. Alas, now I finally have the inclination to do the same, those days are long gone I feel.

Anyway, at my last visit to the fair (late last year, that long ago already!) I still managed to pick up a handful of 45s I was pleased with. I thought I would dig them out and give them another spin to encourage me to go to the fair again tomorrow for yet another "one last time".

I will share of couple of them with you now.

This Sheila Ellis 45 on SAN is pretty obscure. I really love the B side If This Is Love. Described as Swamp Pop on Discogs it is certainly swampy, and I think it has a fair dash of soul too.

Sheila Ellis - If This Is Love  1963 

The Radiants were another great male vocal harmony group form the Sixties that were equally at home with dancers and the slower numbers. This one is another B side.         

The Radiants - Tomorrow   1965   

Fridays on my mind

I am surrounded by people I know who are either recently retired, talking about retiring, or reducing their working hours. It's my age – and theirs - of course. So, for a few months now, this topic has been in the forefront of my mind, and it had made me a bit restless. Retire as soon as you can and enjoy life while you are still able is something I often hear – but what would I do to fill the time? I feel like I need at least some sort of plan - don't worry about that, just do it and you will soon find things to fill your days. Hmmm. I don't feel ready to retire just yet, but at the same time working five days a week holds no attraction anymore (and we are in the fortunate position that I don't really need to work full time from a monetary perspective). So I made the decision recently to reduce my working hours, something my employers were amenable to. Today, therefore, was my last working Friday. Four days (also slightly shorter) working and three days play seems a good work-life balance for the time being. That gives me a bit more space to think about what shape retirement should actually take. I guess I'm on retirement's nursery slopes.

The car boots have shown some promise this year in the early weeks of the season proper. Let's hope this continues after a fairly dismal 2015 and 2016. I was chuffed to pick up a copy of Kool & The Gang's Wild And Peaceful album for 50p last weekend. Kool & The Gang, at least in their early Seventies incarnation, have always been a favourite band of mine but I had never owned this particular album before. Singles such as Funky Stuff – which is on this album – and Jungle Boogie* were some of my earliest clubbing memories, and on the back of such singles they became known a s a funk band. But they were always so much more than that, and there was always a large dash of jazz to be found in the grooves of their albums of the time, as you will here on the title track.

Kool & The Gang – Life Is What You Make It 1973

Kool & The Gang – Wild And Peaceful 1973

[* EDIT: I must be going blind in my old age; Funky Stuff and Jungle Boogie are both on this album, as is Hollywood Swinging. I was probably as guilty as the rest of us at the time for thinking these would be the highlights of the album and the other tracks would probably be just funk heavy soundalike tracks.] 

And then there were none

We had to have our one remaining cat – Jazz – put to sleep last weekend.

Our house has been home for 30 years now. This is the first time in all those years we have not shared it with at least one cat.

Not too long ago we had four cats roaming around the place. Two that were ours and two more that had moved in and become ours. Jazz was one of them. As far as I remember the children called her Jazz. She had been known in the area for some time although nobody seemed to know to whom she belonged, and all the children in the area called her Jazz. Of course it could have been Jas, short for Jasmine. But for us, once she became a fixture, it was always Jazz.

Jazz was a lady, a little aloof, never hurried. She never really made a sound. That was until she became the only cat in our house, and in the last couple of years she had become increasingly vocal. An easy purrer, she had also perfected a howl that sounded like a baby crying. She had become almost deaf in her final years we think and would howl if she thought she was on her own and wanted some attention.

During the last few months she had developed a tumour in her left ear which wasn’t very pleasant for her and we decided over the weekend that it was just no fun for her anymore.

When she moved in on us all those years ago we took her to the vet to see if she was chipped (she wasn’t). At the time the vet estimated her to be between 5 and 6 years old; based on that she had reached the ripe old age of 21, so she had a good life.

As we were driving to the vet last weekend Lonnie Liston Smith’s Expansions was playing on the radio. Not something you usually here on the radio and I can’t remember the last time I had heard it across the airwaves. So it seems appropriate to play it here. We like to think Jazz will be expanding her mind in cat heaven now.

RIP Jazz.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary?

As promised, some reggae from my good start to the car boot season. As I picked out these 45s, and a couple of UK releases, from the little stack in a box on the ground the lady they belonged to noticed they were all reggae. “I love reggae”, she said. “So do I”, I replied. The lady was probably in her sixties, well spoken and as English as me. In fact on first impression I might have thought she would be more likely a fan of opera. But then why should I be surprised of her love of reggae? As someone of a certain age she would have probably been in her teens or early twenties when these records were released – the early 70s – and it was a genre of music that was beginning to enjoy its golden age.

Mary (she has her name written on most of the records I bought from her) told me she bought these particular 45s when she was in Jamaica. Apparently her brother was living there at the time and she used to visit for holidays. So, provenance! It is always great to have a back story to the records I pick up, and when I have one I always cherish the records a little bit more. With her name written on the labels I will now always think of Mary and also know these records are not more recent UK pressings but did start life in Jamaica, where Mary probably danced to them all those years ago.

The Maytals – Johnny Cool Man 1971

Winston Scotland – Buttercup 1972

(“Buttercup” like you have probably never heard it pronounced before! Winston was reputedly U Roy's brother-in-law and was toasting before it really came fully into vogue).