I happened to hear the Mar-Keys' "Last Night" earlier and am now stuck in their groove, which is a good thing. Sometimes it can be a little repetitive, part of the package, but the thing with the Mar-Keys is that the groove becomes so consistent after a few songs, you don't want to snap out of it. So I'm not. Fucking dishes can wait.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
There aren't many singers smoother than Al Green. You've heard his stuff, "Take Me To the River", "Love and Happiness" and so on. Hearing him sing covers of other people's hits is a little different. His cover of the Doors' "Light My Fire" begs the question: Is stoner soul a thing? Because that sucker sounds like someone got blazed. Not because of studio trickery or unintelligible singing. It's the pace of it. So fucking laid back it's hard to listen to without sinking into an overstuffed couch. But you know what? I dig it. Part of it is Green's delivery, but what really sells it is Willie Mitchell's production.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
I'm as guilty as anyone. When someone mentions Sun Records or the studio itself my first association is rockabilly, followed by blues and hillbilly. And it is always the male artists I think Barbara Pittman (above) would be the only female Sun artist that would immediately come to mind. But there were a lot of women recorded at Sun, enough for a six CD set. All shapes and sizes. Here's four of them.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Here's a couple from the Bo-Keys. Don't know the Bo-Keys? They were a Memphis band with a Memphis sound, for good reason. The band included session players from both Stax and Hi Records including, until his death in 2012, Charles "Skip" Pitts, who was the guitarist on Isaac Hayes's "Shaft", Rufus Thomas's "The Breakdown" and the Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing". Check "Work That Sucker". That's from 2011 and although one would think that at that late date, the wah-wah guitar was a retro thing, someone trying to give it the slinky sound from back in the day, it is not. It is Pitts, who actually was the guitar playing the slinky sound back in the day. Check "Jack and Ginger", that one's a dead ringer for Booker T and the MGs.
I've no idea how long the Bo-Keys soldiered on after Pitts's death. They seem to have dropped off the map around 2017. Their web site hasn't been updated in years. Oh well, dig these.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Big Youth's "Weeping in the Night" started it. I just had to go and see if his toasting was over Lee Perry's version of the riddim from "Jungle Lion", which is itself based on Al Green's "Love and Happiness". After digging around looking for details online, I couldn't even find what studio it was recorded at or who played on it. I did find out that Big Youth produced it, which tells me Perry wasn't likely involved. It was released in 1973, as was his (Big Youth's) cover of "Love and Happiness", also self-produced. Perry's "Jungle Lion was, I think, also released in 1973, as was Al Green's original version of "Love and Happiness".
Just when you think it can't get more crowded, make room for Leroy Smart's version, which also came out in 1973, and it was produced by Big Youth and released on his label. That's four reggae versions (of one kind or another) released the same year as Al Green's original. I couldn't find any dates other than the year, so I'm not sure of the order. My guess is that Perry's "Jungle Lion" was the earliest of the reggae versions, just because I can't imagine him doing it after Big Youth. And Youth's cover was probably after that, and then either Smart's cover, or Youth's toasting version and then Smart's cover. Or I could have the order all wrong. See, this is where the shit gets crazy, because if you know reggae, there are versions upon versions utilizing the same riddim, and a single riddim was sometimes used over and over for decades. If there were four "Love and Happiness" based records in one year (and there were probably others), how many came after those four? Look into it, would you?
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Full on research has the night off. Here's what I know about the Oblivians: They're a trio from Memphis, and they make a racket, they may or may not still play together. They're scuffed up, like a beat up pair of shoes, and I don't recall a single song by them that isn't balls to the wall crazy. That makes them perfect for a Friday night.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Booker T and the MGs' version of "Summertime" is uncharacteristically slow for them, brooding. Which does nothing to pep up the song for what it's supposed to be, a happy go lucky song from a musical. Instead it's sounding all wicked and dark. Or extremely chill. Maybe that's it, maybe they were stoned.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
I'm still in the thick of reading Peter Guralnick's Sam Phillips - The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll, and it's a whopper. So good that I've found it hard to listen to anything other than Sun related stuff for the past week. Just about every page has some factoid, story or quote worthy of a bookmark. My brand new copy is no more. It's dogeared to shit.
If you happen to have read it, or are reading it, you know the name Dewey Phillips, the Memphis DJ that was pals with Phillips. The only guy Sam Phillips really let his hair down with, particularly because Dewey Phillips was such a good natured fast talking good ol' boy. Sam Phillips's girl Friday, Marion Keisker MacInnes, who was dedicated and indispensable at Sun from the start, thought Dewey Phillips was crass, common, in short a hick. You can get a good a good idea of where both impressions come from by listening to an hour his show, Red Hot and Blue as aired on WHBQ in the early fifties. An interesting thing to note is the way he talks over the records, not just as the intros but even in the middle of songs, which is exactly how the whole reggae DJ sub-genre began a decade and a half later. A hick U-Roy.
Phillips song selection on this particular show is 100% hell yeah: Amos Milburn, Rosco Gordon, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Larry Williams, Bill Dogget..you get the idea, and when this non-stop yapper opens his mouth, you can understand why he was a hot DJ. Even his improvised pitches for beer, furniture, suits and beer are entertaining. To wit, in a spot for CV beer, he recommends that when you're "playin' canasta or whatever" and you have your CV beer, "you jus' go back to the fridge there, and if the ol' lady has it crammed full of ham 'n eggs 'n all dat, you jus' pull 'em out and lay 'en down on the floor, put dat CV in there and get it cold." This guy's a trip.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
You know the song. You've probably heard it a thousand times. Even if you haven't heard the original of "What A Man" by Linda Lyndell, you've probably heard the samples in Salt-n-Pepa's "Whatta Man", or at least snippets of it in a commercial (it's been used in several). It was Lyndell's second 45 on Stax, and it was her last. Why? Because, when it became a hit on the R&B charts, she became a target, receiving threats from the Ku Klux Klan. That's right. Because she's white, and had the audacity to record for Stax, the rough tough white supremacists felt threatened. Welcome to Memphis, 1968.
After the threats, Lyndell retired from music. She became a landscaper and didn't return to music until Salt-n-Pepa's 1993 hit brought renewed attention. She would sing the song live for the first time in 2003, thirty five years after the record was released.
Here's everything she recorded. Two 45s. That's it. Imagine what could have been, had it not been for pathetic racist chickenshits.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Everything stops for this one. I didn't even know it existed, Mitch Ryder backed by Booker T and the MGs and the Memphis Horns. Hell yeah. A whole LP over at Groove Addict, The Detroit-Memphis Experiment. So, I'll be tied up. But check the one cut below, "Liberty" and see if it's your bag. Maybe a few of you will be hitting their foreheads like I am. Of course! Why hadn't I imagined this combination? Probably because it would have sounded too good to be possible. Still, having not not heard of it, I can't wait to sink my teeth into it. Added bonus? Revisiting "Sock it to Me" just slayed me. From start to finish, that sucker does not let up.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Have you checked out the air checks at Beware of the Blog? They're some cool audio time capsules. Take this one for instance, an hour of Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips on the air in the late fifties. This is good stuff. Phillips, a fast talking hillbilly nut, spins Rosco Gordon, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Larry Williams, Bill Dogget, and so on. And he talks a lot, pitches two brands of beer, furniture suits and all sorts of stuff.
Phillips was the first DJ to play Elvis, and the two were friends for years. They did have some sort of falling out at some point, and then made up (read it here.) Regardless, he was there, he played a role, he had taste, and he was a hillbilly nut. Did I mention the part about hillbilly nut? Hell yeah, good enough for me.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Once you get past Stax and Sun, and start looking into other Memphis labels, the next one that's likely to pop up is Hi Records, home to Al Green, O.V. Wright, Syl Johnson, and Ann Peebles. Willie Mitchell ran the show during the salad days, functioning as producer, arranger, songwriter, and musician. He also put out his own solo stuff, and he was no slouch. Check "Bum Daddy". That's Memphis right there, like some weird cross between Booker T and the MGs and "Soul Finger", with a dash of Packy Axton between benders.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
You've heard it a thousand times but, man, does it get ever get old? From the horns introducing the mighty crack of the drums, "Soul Finger" is a just a full on two and a half minute party. I love how the drummer is just pounding the living shit out of his kit. Released the same year, 1967, "Knucklehead" is entirely different. It starts out sounding like the intro of Stevie Wonder's "Uptight", and then out of nowhere this blues harp comes in. It's already getting fucked up. Pretty soon you're just chooglin' through guitar parts, drum breaks and assorted instrumental weirdness. If it seems odd hearing those two compared to the later decidedly funky stuff it's because four of the original Bar Kays died in the same plane crash that killed Otis Redding, in December 1967 (including kit basher of the day Carl Cunningham). After that, it was essentially a new group. That version of the band was completely different, wah-wah happy, but still righteously funky, backing a number of artists on Stax, including Isaac Hayes on his Hot Buttered Soul.
If you dig the Bar Kays, or just cool band photos in general, check the giant high resolution version of the above photo here.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
I can't say anything about Impala that reads better than their bio over at Electrophonic. They rule (or did). I first heard them in the soundtrack of Teenage Tupelo, the film by Mike McCarthy (badass that). Nothing, though, could have prepared me for one of their long players, one song after another. Surf, strip tease, Morricone, Stax, noir, it's all there, in varying degrees. A real crafty instrumental salad bowl. You need to shell out for an album. That's how to listen to Impala. Really, open your fly catcher, a strong buy as they say. And do read the bio, it's a real hoot.
Scott Bomar, wherever you you are: I'm linking to your uploads. Wait, hear me out. I am honestly, sincerely encouraging people to buy your music. I'm linking to the songs below, because I assume you want them heard. If you'd rather I find some streaming versions, or not post them at all, say the word. Hope this finds you well. Your music kicks ass.
Bomar was the bassist in Impala, is now a member of the Bo-keys, and the brains behind Electraphonic Recording.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Jerry Lee Lewis. One of the most openly flawed and incendiary figures in this all consuming mess that has altered the lives and priorities of just about every one of us. Think about it, his role in early rock 'n' roll. Sure, Elvis had the ants in his pants that prevented him from being shown from the waist down. Jerry Lee was Elvis from the waist down. You'd be hard pressed to find someone in early rock 'n' roll that exhibited more publicly an I-don't-give-a-shit attitude. As influential and talented as his peers were, Jerry Lee Lewis brought the unashamed swagger.
When worlds collide.
He's the featured artist over at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban this month. If you're not familiar with the site, let's just say that the contributors are like a who's who of East Coast rock 'n' roll types. Debbie D from WFMU, the Hound, "Snidely Whiplash" from Probe Is Turning-On the People, and Kogar the Swinging Ape. Those are just the ones I could think of off the top of my head. There's good people over there, true believers, and a month of the Killer. (I apologize for overusing this phrase, but this time I really mean it) Fuck, yeah.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Willie Mitchell is one big reason why I troll. When he died a few years ago, some of my favorite haunts did tribute posts, and if they hadn't it probably would have been a while before I would have been properly introduced to his work. As I now know, he was an indispensable part of the Memphis soul sound, with his solo work and as a producer, notably most of Al Green's better known stuff.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Charles "Skip" Pitts died earlier this week. Don't know Pitts? Oh, yes you do. That badass wah-wah on "Shaft"? Pitts at age 23. The killer riff in the Isley's "It's Your Thing"? Pitts at 22. Rufus Thomas's "The Breakdown": Pitts. He was one of those guys, all over tons of stuff you've heard. Stax sessions, Wattstax, Al Green, Albert King, as bandleader for Hayes, soundtracks, and more recently as a member of the Bo-Keys. His guitar is probably why sampling was invented, he's that omnipresent. In all the hubbub over Adam Yauch's death yesterday, I felt like I had to mention Pitts, because his is a name you should know.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
