Listen: Stars Fell On Alabama / Julian Cannonball Adderley & John Coltrane
Stars Fell On Alabama / Julian Cannonball Adderley & John Coltrane

Deciding to clean every number and letter contact in my Seeburg with alcohol and a cotton swab – by hand no less – is not at all within my character, but having let a jukebox tab slip between the speakers and turntable track basically necessitated the surgery, and ultimate sense of responsibility.

You see, I’ve had this baby, a pink, aqua and chrome Seeburg 222, one of my most cherished possessions, going on thirty years. And it still works like a charm. I dread the day this machine goes dead, as I’ve no idea where or to whom I need go for a fixing.

What I didn’t realize was F2, so caked with crud, hadn’t played in God knows how long. F2 in this case was ‘Stars Fell On Alabama’, by Cannonball Adderley & John Coltrane.

Now I remember exactly where this particular single was purchased: Two Guys Department Store, just off Route 81 in Syracuse, quite close to Thruway exit 36. They always had stacks on 10 for $1 cutout 7′s in large tubs for the sickos amongst us to paw through.

Corinne was in a very 40′s Silver Screen phase and pulled out loads of Judy Garland, Julie London, Eydie Gorme and even Keely Smith titles, boning up on our camp catalog. Well done.

I bought four copies of this one, there were so few Limelight singles that the stock sleeves were worth a dime each to me even then in ’74.

When I realized it had been ages since the single played in the box, I decided to pull a clean copy from the library – and sure enough, sticker still intact to prove the above remembrance, it sounded superb. This coming from a general non-fan of brass instruments by the way.

‘Stars Fell On Alabama’ is quite frankly the perfect va-va-va-voom record, the kind of song playing in a dive bar when a cheap perfume drenched Betty Page type in tight gold pedal pushers and fuck me heels is leaning over the jukebox making three choices for the quarter her sugar daddy had just inserted into the slot, if you will.

Listen: Bucket O’ Grease / Les McCann LesMcCannGrease.mp3

I found a fun used record store close to the Majestic Theater in Detroit last week, tens of thousands of 45′s, not all in the greatest shape, but very moderately priced and very playable in the jukebox and on the suitcase players from the 60′s and 70′s – my favorites. It was a field day. I’d tell you the name of the joint, but I paid in cash and seriously do not recall. The club directed me to the shop, so ring them.

It was near closing time, or I’d have bought more. Some were no brainers, like a Les McCann on Limelight called ‘Bucket O’ Grease’ for $1.00

Walked out with about two hundred singles and I’ll be posting a bunch in the next few weeks. Great stuff.

Listen: James Brown’s Boo-Ga-Loo / James Brown
James Brown's Boo-Ga-Loo / James Brown

One day, around ’90, I decided to own every last James Brown single from the 60′s and 70′s. It was a most fun challenge, and surprisingly easy. Don’t forget, we were still in the heyday of folks dumping their vinyl for cd. Despite all the unsolvable problems that began with the onset of the cd configuration, it was absolutely a miracle for the vinyl collector. What could be better than the entire world wanting to unload their records?

James Brown’s temporary switch from the King label to Smash lasted a only year or two. Seems he signed one contract before the previous one expired, ultimately settling it all by agreeing to record only instrumentals for Smash. Some fans seem to downplay their interest in the period – not me. Besides, I’m a sucker for any releases from the Mercury Records Group: Philips, Fontana, Blue Rock, Limelight and of course Smash.

The best part of all this being the public tired of his assembly line, contract fulfilling output, so sales declined faithfully with each release. These last few before returning to King became the hardest to find. Good fun in my book.

‘James Brown’s Boo-Ga-Loo’ came and went completely unnoticed. Although the label copy suggested it’s from his NEW BREED album, it’s not. Well, sorta not. The track is actually an edited version of ‘New Breed’ retitled and easily doubles as incidental music for a B movie. No problem.

Listen: Jimmy Mack / James Brown
Jimmy Mack / James Brown

Equally enamored with muzak renditions of familiar hits meant many of his singles for the label were prime wants like ‘Let’s Go Get Stoned’ plus his own covers of ‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag’ and ‘Try Me’ for instance.

The last Smash 7″, and non-LP as well, is a lazy, slightly mundane (and therefore perfect for my tastes) version of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s ‘Jimmy Mack’. As with many of the jazz organists from that period, I bet they all rattled out these one after the other in a day long session, thereby making both recording costs and sales pressure low. Everyone needed a few for party music I guess. Another hard one to find, yet most likely competition is pretty minimal.

Listen: But Not Really / Les Mc Cann, Ltd. LesMcCannButNotReally.mp3

Listen: Jack V. Schwartz / Les Mc Cann, Ltd. LesMcCannJack.mp3

Fill a 1958 Seeburg 222 with mid 60′s jazz singles and you can literally transport yourself back in time. To a jazz affectionado, this might be sacrilegious. Most jazz fans double as audiophiles, collecting deep groove Blue Note pressings at premium prices. This is great news actually. They’ve all ignored the disposable 7″ format for that genre, thereby making the acquisition of thousands of jazz singles a very easy accomplishment, and usually never at a price above a dollar or two. Thus it has been an ongoing process for me during the past twenty years. I love ‘em all, especially the small combo, brass free ones. Actually, I hate brass, but still happily own many Miles Davis, John Coltrane, etc. etc. 7′s nonetheless.

Les Mc Cann released loads of jukebox friendly singles. I particularly love his, well any, releases on Mercury’s jazz imprint Limelight. A mid 60′s subsidiary, the label and sleeve design perfectly captured the feel and color of the era, with real verve (no pun intended).