Archive for the ‘Atlantic’ Category
Sunday, December 20th, 2009
Listen: Funky Broadway (Part 1) / Dyke & The Blazers DykeFunkyBroadway.mp3
Unrefined, impolite and uncouth. Some of the words used to describe Dyke & The Blazers as successful catalysts in the evolution of RnB into Funk. Traveling a parallel musical path to James Brown at the time, their records always maintained a homemade sound, and in fact most of the early 7′s like ‘Funky Broadway’ were just that. Rough, unpolished in-your-face lengthy jams with a focus on feel as opposed to precision, edited into singles – many as Part 1 and Part 2′s.
Having relocated to Phoenix, Dyke and band were always marketed as local, being originally from Buffalo. Luckily, that meant ‘Funky Broadway’ was ever present during what I recall being a very cold and snowy upstate winter ’67, though not until April did it make the Billboard chart. Peaking in one market, then spreading to the next, meant it’s chart high of #65 didn’t really represent the sizable hit the single actually was.
Worth getting are both the WE GOT MORE SOUL anthology cd and accompanying double vinyl edition which includes the extended versions of their biggest breaks, both on UK’s Ace Records label.
Listen: Funky Broadway / Wilson Pickett WilsonFunkyBroadway.mp3
Why waste a hit. Given the purity of Dyke & The Blazers’ chitlin’ circuit original, it wasn’t allowed full exposure on most Top 40′s. Even in ’67, a slicker produced, Motown-like, less street sound was required for airplay. In no time, Atlantic got the wicked Pickett to bring it home chartwise, hitting #1 RnB in autumn ’67, less than a year after the original first hit the charts earlier that same year.
Tags: Ace, Atlantic, Dyke & The Blazers, James Brown, Original Sound, Wilson Pickett
Posted in Ace Records, Atlantic, Billboard, Dyke & The Blazers, James Brown, Original Sound, Wilson Pickett | No Comments »
Sunday, August 16th, 2009
Listen: Supernatural Thing (Part 1) / Ben E. King BenEKingSupernatural.mp3
Tell me this doesn’t sound fantastic the very second it starts and I’ll tell you you’re a liar. Doesn’t even matter if you don’t prefer a particular genre of music, certain songs transcend all that. Any person can hear a seminal record regardless. Clearly this is one.
Talk about reinventing yourself – here you go. A member of The Drifters, basically a Doo Wop group in ’58, he only recorded a dozen or so songs with them before wising up to money bullshit and went solo. He hit quick with ‘Spanish Harlem’ and the hits continued. Despite all that early 60′s success dying down as a result of the British Invasion, he powered back in ’75 with this.
Yeah, it reached #1 both Pop and RnB. Great, it’s the real deal. I play it often.
Tags: Atlantic, Ben E. King, Doo Wop, RnB, The Drifters
Posted in Atlantic, Ben E. King, The Drifters | No Comments »
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Listen: Sock It To ‘em JB (Part 1) / Rex Garvin & The Mighty CraversRexGarvinPt1.mp3
Listen: Sock It To ‘em JB (Part 2) / Rex Garvin & The Mighty CraversRexGarvinPt2.mp3
This single always eluded me, but lo and behold, I finally snagged it as part of Tony King’s fantastic collection, which I still thank him for profusely to this day. Thank you Tony.
I wondered initially was this Fred & The JB’s under another name? Did some research and found out otherwise. Basically go to Funky 16 Corners, have a read about the record and band (I couldn’t improve on that write up), see a picture – then come on back and have a listen (or the other way around).
Tags: Atlantic, James Bond, Rex Garvin & The Mighty Cravers, Tony King
Posted in Atlantic, James Bond, James Brown, Rex Garvin & The Mighty Cravers, Tony King | No Comments »
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
Listen: Baby I’m Yours / Barbara Lewis BabaraLewis.mp3
I just remember this slummping in with Dusty Springfield and Cilla Black, the female singers we felt were British Invasion by association. It was a bit later I found her to be authentic American, signed to Atlantic. But I mean, no negative here, all positive, not only did the English bring our own urban music back to us, but they supported many an artist like Barbara Lewis, inviting them to the UK for double bills, support etc. Doris Troy was another lucky recipient. P. P. Arnold and Madeline Bell too. ‘Baby I’m Yours’ still sounds so solid today.
Tags: Atlantic, Barbara Lewis, Cilla Black, Doris Troy, Dusty Springfield, Madeline Bell, P. P. Arnold
Posted in Atlantic, Barbara Lewis, Cilla Black, Doris Troy, Dusty Springfield, Madeline Bell, P. P. Arnold | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
Listen: Home Is Where The Hatred Is / Esther Phillips EstherHatred.mp3
It would be foolish to discount Gil Scott-Heron’s own version of ‘Home Is Where The Hatred Is’, being a signature track on his REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED album, for any other. But if ever there was as vital a rendition to compliment the original, Esther Phillips’ has to be considered an absolute prize winner. Creed Taylor’s immaculate production, no doubt made all the more powerful via Pee Wee Ellis’ fantastic arrangements, embodies the image of heroin ridden Harlem projects or Watts tenements.
Esther Phillips deservedly had more than one career comeback starting in the 50′s, but her 70′s CTI period might just be proof that you never, ever know what can happen if you continue to make great records.
Tags: Atlantic, Creed Taylor, CTI, Esther Phillips, Gil Scott-Heron, Pee Wee Ellis
Posted in Atlantic, Creed Taylor, CTI, Esther Phillips, Gil Scott-Heron, Pee Wee Ellis | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
Listen: I’m Blue / The IkettesIkettesBlue.mp3
All the behind the scenes drama, politics, tension and sleeze associated with Ike & Tina Turner is an endless source of stimulation for this voyeur. Get hold of every last cd booklet accompanying their reissues, and especially the box sets (the Time/Life one is hugely advised) and study. The countless sessions and musical chairs will never really be figured out, but when this bunch was on – they were truly on. Whether as an after thought, or a genius parallel business model, The Ikettes were the bomb. ‘I’m Blue’ premiered them to vinyl and was probably an unexpected hit. The first of many sizzling, gutteral vocal performances – you could always depend on an Ikettes single.
Listen: Peaches & Cream / The Ikettes IkettesPeaches.mp3
‘Peaches & Cream’ sounded fantastic on AM radio in ’65, and I was well excited to see that summer’s Dick Clark Caravan Of Stars make a Syracuse stop. The Ikettes took the stage in silk fringed orange mini dresses and gyrated though four numbers including this one. Being afforded the benefit of headliner Tom Jones’ full brass back up band transformed it into a crazy wild Soul revue. Not surprisingly, these weren’t The Ikettes at all, at least not the ones on record. Still through Ike’s revolving door it seems everyone was an Ikette for a minute, so who’s complaining. Considering they followed Them on stage after ‘Here Comes The Night’, ‘Call My Name’ and a rousing ‘Gloria’, and upped the stakes is proof of their power.
Listen: I’m So Thankful / The Ikettes IkettesThankful.mp3
Like The Flirtations’ ‘Nothing But A Heartache, ‘I’m So Thankful’ is one of the great Motown records that was never on Motown. You’d swear it was recorded right there on Grand Blvd.
Tags: Atco, Atlantic, Caravan Of Stars, Dick Clark, Ike & Tina Turner, Motown, Polydor, Stateside, The Flirtations, The Ikettes, Them, Tom Jones
Posted in Atco, Atlantic, Dick Clark, Ike & Tina Turner, Motown, Polydor, Stateside, The Flirtations, The Ikettes, Them, Tom Jones | No Comments »
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Listen: I’m Movin’ On / Ray Charles & His Orchestra RayCharlesMovin.mp3
Listen: I Believe To My Soul / Ray Charles & His Orchestra RayCharlesBelieve.mp3
1959, the year this double sider mid-charted, also marked the end of his time with Atlantic. A few raw R&B singles spilled into his later ABC Records output, like ‘Busted’, but as it turned out, this was the end of a real deal era, not unlike Elvis pre-draft or The Rolling Stones with Brian Jones. Unfortunately there are many examples.
Love Sculpture covered ‘I Believe To My Soul’ on BLUES HELPING. It’s where I first heard it. I played the record a few years back, this after a long, long patch of collecting all the originals, and God did it sound white. Ouch. Still the recording is nicely time period, meaning plenty of crystal clear separation with lots of space exposing all the good and bad. Despite the sugary rockabilly of Dave Edmunds’ later stuff, he was obviously a pretty flash guitarist at the start. Ray Charles’ version is everything I could have wished for – brings me right to some fantasy juke joint backwoods honky tonk, whatever those places were described as. I like to think this is what it sounded like.
In similar fashion, The Rolling Stones OUT OF OUR HEADS included Hank Snow’s ‘I’m Movin’ On’. I was nuts about the track and convinced some friends to come see him at The State Fair. He was playing straight C&W by then though (’69), and did not rock out in the slightest. I bet it was probably way better than I could appreciate at the time.
Tags: ABC Records, Atlantic, Brian Jones, Dave Edmunds, Elvis Presley, Hank Snow, Love Sculpture, Ray Charles, The Rolling Stones
Posted in ABC Records, Atlantic, Brian Jones, Dave Edmunds, Elvis Presley, Hank Snow, Love Sculpture, Ray Charles, The Rolling Stones | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
Listen: Soul Makossa / Manu Dibango ManuSoulMakossa.mp3
Listen: Reggae Makossa / Manu Dibango ManuReggae.mp3
There was some song, a current hit, I caught this morning when taking the kids to school. They either torture me with Z100 – or I torture them with the Bloomberg channel. Today was my turn to suffer. Said hit was a total lift of ‘Soul Makossa’. I wonder if anyone else noticed.
Ah for a time when this could actually get radio play. Interestingly, there’s hardly a hip hop track nowadays that doesn’t pummel rock music when it comes to pushing the envelope musically. So maybe this could work in the year 2009. It certainly didn’t in 1980 when the so-so reggae version was issued.
Posted in Atlantic, Island, Manu Dibango | No Comments »
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
Listen: That Is Why You’re Overweight / Eddie Harris EddieHarrisOverweight.mp3
Back in ’74, I became quite friendly with the Buffalo WEA salesman, Jack Rhelie. At the time, the labels he repped were the absolute holy grail. He’d bring me massive boxes of promo singles – instead of tossing them. Glad I mentioned my 45 fetish to him – and he was glad to give them a decent home. I was an ardent jazz hater up to this point. Always joked jazz should be a controlled substance (the arrogance of youth). Many of the traditional jazz guys were incorporating funk into their newer material, and when edited, they’d occasionally make for potential single releases. So I started appreciating them more, essentially not sounding like jazz at all, they weren’t much different from Bobby Byrd or Fred Wesley tracks actually. And I loved that stuff. Eddie Harris caught my ear first with his ’74 track ‘Is It In’, getting a juvenile kick out of the title and lyric. Always a sucker for songs with food twists, I totally fell for ‘That Is Why You’re Overweight’. A nice period piece too. Another jukebox staple.
Posted in Atlantic, Bobby Byrd, Eddie Harris, Fred Wesley | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
Listen: Everybody Needs Somebody / King Floyd 01 Everybody Needs Somebody.mp3
King Floyd is pretty famous for ‘Groove Me’, a song hard to top, and coincidentally a B-side when originally released in ’70. I still hear it occasionally these days. In ’72 he had a decent sized hit in the US with ‘Woman Don’t Go Astray’. I probably would never have listened to it’s B-side ‘Everybody Needs Somebody’ except that became the A side in Britain. Good move, it’s a better track.
Posted in Atlantic, King Floyd | No Comments »
