THAT DAY THE ART DIRECTOR WAS HIGH

Here's a grab bag of covers. A couple surprises of note: The cover of "In the Ghetto" by Gene West is actually a young Barry White. And the lounge-y latin jazz cover of "Psychotic Reaction" that I thought might be some sort of corny retro outfit is actually Señor Soul who would later become War. That's them above, from an album cover. Pulling zero stops. They look like they're trying to cover all the bases, the guy on the far right dropping his mask going "Fuck this shit. This is ridiculous."

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Listen:
Señor Soul - Psychotic Reaction mp3 at Internet Archive Count Five cover
Gene West - In the Ghetto mp3 at Internet Archive Elvis cover
Lulu - Feelin' Alright mp3 at Internet Archive Joe Cocker cover
Aloe Blacc - Femme Fatale mp3 at Internet Archive Velvet Underground cover
Sugarman 3 - What the World Needs Now mp3 at Internet Archive Burt Bacharach cover

DIDN'T GET THE POCKETS MEMO

Daptone just released their 100th single. I'd forgotten about the early days of the label, so I started near or at the beginning. The Sugarman 3. I got as far as them and that's as far as I'm going tonight. A couple hours of looking back and I got no further than one band, but I know a lot more than I did. I ran into a great profile of Neal Sugarman, the band's leader, sax player and co-founder of Daptone. In the middle of that profile, a link to a video of Sugarman's high school band, Boys Life. Oh, man, did he he ever bloom late. The early thing is interesting in its simplicity. They're earnest, I'll give them that much. Mindblowing though that Sugarman would go on to play behind Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, Steve Cropper and Al Green, not to mention half of the acts on Daptone (Lee Fields, Sharon Jones, etc.).

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Listen:
Sugarman 3 - Chicken Half mp3 at Rubber City Review
Sugarman 3 with Naomi Davis - Promised Land mp3 at Solid Goldstein
Sugarman 3 with Lee Fields - Stand Up mp3 at Le Mellotron
Sugarman 3 - Rudy's Intervention mp3 at Magnet
Sugarman 3 - Soul Donkey mp3 at The Frump
Video:
Boys Life (Boston Good Day Show) w/Sugarman on sax at YouTube 1981
Visit:
Daptone’s Neal Sugarman On The Sweet Return Of The Sugarman 3 at Village Voice 2012

BLAME THIS

I spent the last two days at the beach. Rather than rattle my brain for some band or song to write about, here's what I'm playing after day two, pretty much spent. It fits my mood. Plus it's been a while since I listened to either Sugarman 3 or the Daktaris. Pop a beer or stuff a bowl, I don't care. I just talked my way out of another one.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen: 
Sugarman Three - Rudy's Intervention mp3 at Magnet
Sugarman Three - Soul Donkey mp3 at The Frump
Lee Fields and Sugarman & Co. - Stand Up .mp3 at Lemellotron.com
The Daktaris - Musicai Silt mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
The Daktaris - Super Afro Beat mp3 at ATumblr (?)

THE BIG BOUNCE

Earlier tonight, I felt like reading something random so I just grabbed a back issue of Waxpoetics, an issue from 2005, with an interview with Sharon Jones. While talking about Daptone Records in the interview she mentions the Daktaris, another band on the label. It's been at least a couple years since I last listened to them. After revisiting their LP, I was still jonesing for more early Daptone, so I did what I always do every two years after listening to the Daktaris, I listened to the Sugarman 3. Both bands just knock me out, funky and exotic, and after not hearing either for a long time, it was a movin' and a-groovin night over here. Outta my way Shit Week.

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Listen:
The Daktaris - Super Afro Beat mp3 at ATumblr (?)
The Daltaris - Musicawi Silt mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
Sugarman 3 - Funky So-and-So mp3 at DK Presents
Visit:
Daptone Records

GOT A LIST? GOOD. ADD THESE.

The two songs below are from early releases on Daptone Records, around 2002 or so, and they're pretty indicative of what I like about the label. If you were to listen to these without knowing anything about them, you'd have a hard time guessing when they were recorded. You might not even be able to peg exactly what era they're emulating, or if it's even intentional. You know what else is cool? Music like this has no expiration date. You can go buy it now, or put it off until you're sixty. But, remember this, when you're at a weak moment and you;re tempted to take a chance on something current based on some jackoff blogger's raves, take it from this jackoff. Both of these LPs should take precedent. Says me. The jackoff.

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Listen:
Sugarman 3 - Funky So-and-So mp3 at DK Presents
The Daktaris - Super Afro Beat mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Visit:
Daptone Records

SIX BY THREE

Maybe the Sugarman 3 can help you concentrate while you vote. Actually, they just happened to be handy, and funky, and I'm lazy. But they hit the spot for me tonight. Give one a shot.

 

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Listen:
Sugarman 3 - Rudy's Intervention mp3 at Magnet
Sugarman 3 - Funky So-and-So mp3 at DK Presents
Sugarman 3 - Pure Cane mp3 at Ear It Now
Sugarman 3 - Down To It mp3 at Ear It Now
Sugarman 3 - Soul Donkey mp3 at If There Is Hell Below
Sugarman 3 with Lee Fields - Stand Up mp3 at One Track Mind
Visit:
Daptone Records
Sugarman 3 at Wikipedia

NEED ANYTHING FROM THE STORE?

It was kind of an oversight, and part lack of urgency.  Today was Record Store Day, and while I've reminded folks before, this year I started thinking a little more about it.  I'm still for it, don't get me wrong.  It's just that every day is Record Store Day, for those who got to record stores on a regular basis.  Not the one day a year Record Store Day that gets people back in the stores with limited event-only releases.  (Why not call it Record Collector Day?)  Because, for those who go to record stores, the reasons for going are constant.  Some people need the fix that shooting the shit about music delivers.  And there's no better place for that than a record store, preferably with a friend.  Even better if you know the person behind the counter.  Damn, I love that environment.  Especially because, for me, it's on the walk back from the beach, and summer's coming.  Cow Records, with wet trunks and sandy feet.  (Can you think of a better way to end a day on the beach?)

Several years ago, I ordered a Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings album through Cow.  They weren't familiar with her.  Then, a while later, the same thing occurred when I ordered a Budos Band band album.  Both bands were on Daptone Records.  That was a while back, and here we are,  Daptone just celebrated it's tenth anniversary, and Cow is still in business.  It is testament to the strength of the Daptone Records sound, brand, and roster, that I no longer have to ask about a Daptone release to the human equivalent of a dog's tilted head.  It's a label and a sound, as legit as Stax or Motown.  You could order some of their shit blind folded, any random artist on their roster, and end up with some quality stuff.  Here's one of their acts, the Sugarman Three.  These are funky grooves.  The first one is new, and the rest are from earlier records.  The Lee Fields thing is just another good one I stumbled upon.  Really, in the overall scheme of things, this shit is better than some oddball limited edition EP.  It exists every day.  And you can order it through a record store any time you need a fix. 

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Listen: 
Sugarman Three - Rudy's Intervention mp3 at Rolling Stone  
Sugarman Three - Soul Donkey mp3 at The Frump 
Sugarman Three - Down to It mp3 at Ear It Now 
Sugarman Three - Pure Cane mp3 at Ear It Now 
Lee Fields and Sugarman & Co. - Stand Up .mp3 at Lemellotron.com
Visit:
Daptone Records
Sugarman Three at Wikipedia

YES, I CAN HEAR YOU KNOCKING

Let me start by saying that the version of "Wild Horses" below, by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings is one of the best interpretations of a Stones song that I've ever heard, in any genre or era. A bold statement, I know, but listen to the whole thing. Not just a few bars, the whole thing. It builds and builds. It's epic. Really. It smokes.

As many of you probably know, the UK music magazine Mojo comes with a themed CD every month, with varying results I think you'd agree. But this month they did a bang up job of rounding up current soul acts to do covers of songs from the Stones' Sticky Fingers. The concept CD, titled Sticky Soul Fingers, is good enough that it's worth the price of the magazine (about ten bucks in the U.S.). While it's all current acts, with one of two exceptions they're all in the traditional soul vein, and it serves as an excellent overview of todays old school soul torch bearers. Believe me, if I was able to find more selections floating around, every cut on the compilation would be down there. (You can get snippets and a complete list of artists at Mojo's Sound Cloud here.) This sucker is in the running for the best album I've heard all year. That good.

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Listen:
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - Wild Horses mp3 at The Mad Makerel
Joe Black Lewis & the Honeybears - Sway mp3 at The Mad Makerel

Sticky Soul Fingers - Snippets of cuts at Mojo's Sound Cloud From Alice Russell, The Bamboos, Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens, the Sugarman 3, Aloe Blacc and Joel Van Dijk, Ren Harvieu, Anthony Joseph & the Spasm Band, Lee Fields and, of course, Sharon Jones and Black Joe Lewis.