Posts Tagged ‘Columbia’

SMASH / FONTANA CATALOG 1968

Monday, October 15th, 2018

Smash Fontana Catalog

Smash Fontana Catalog

Smash Fontana Catalog

Smash Fontana Catalog

I know exactly where where I got this from, being the record collector I was at eight years old. Still have a few Fontana 7″ mailers from that time period as well. I would write to my hero, Claranelle Morris, at Fontana’s main office in Chicago back then, pestering her about The Herd and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. She was a sweetheart and would send photos, bios, sometimes even a single. I guess she figured you probably couldn’t hear or buy them in the sticks of the Syracuse suburbs, so give the kid the record already. We’re going to toss them anyways. Thank you Claranelle for all that and for sending this catalog. I think of you fondly until this day. Ahh, to go back and police the Fontana dumpsters nightly. If only.

Dumpsters explanation: It was years later, when I finally got a break and Howard Thompson gave me my first A&R job at Elektra, that I discovered as soon as a record isn’t current, being worked at radio or believed in, off to the dumpster went the unused product, and many times off to the scrapheap went the act’s career. I learned to police the Elektra, then Island, WB and Columbia dumpsters with full commitment and precision, deeming myself the savior of such vinyl which till this day, fills my storage units.

But let’s not lose focus. So I found this catalog in one of the many memorabilia trunks I’ve filled to the brim over the years. It’s just like new.

Man, I wouldn’t mind a box lot of just about every title here, a box of mono and of stereo versions that is.

Of course, I loved the English groups back then, but also had a jones for Gloria Lynne. It wasn’t only because she was on Fontana. Gloria Lynne had a bunch of records on Everest prior. I had a copy of ‘Indian Love Call’ from that period, given to me in one of the Saturday morning piles of singles my uncle, a jukebox operator, would drop off instead of trashing. I loved that single. I paid attention to Gloria Lynne singles. I often heard them on the radio playing in the local barber shop where I’d get my haircut as a little boy. Must have been an AC station of the day, way before it’s then output turned into bachelor pad, lounge, hipster stuff decades later. I certainly recall hearing them play her version of ‘Watermelon Man’ at the time. All this, when I was very young, about five or six. It’s probably the reason the record collecting gene was dangerously awakened in my DNA.

Oh, and check out some of the soundtracks here too.

Larry Williams

Wednesday, May 14th, 2014

larrywilliamsshortfat, Larry Williams, Johnny Guitar Watson, London American, Northern Soul

Listen: Short Fat Fannie / Larry Williams
Short

Larry Williams is seldom respected as an original bad boy of RnR, but he should be. Legend has his underworld activities stretching back prior to these initial recordings. He eventually bit the bullet, literally, a victim of a suicide, although street legend claims otherwise. Having served time in the early 60′s for drug dealing, he hooked up with Johnny Guitar Watson upon release to sleaze out in late night Hollywood, which admittedly may be my self fulfilling fantasy, and also make some of the most authentic Northern Soul tracks known to mankind for Okeh.

I was excited when The Mooney Suzuki, who I looked after while at Columbia, recorded in the same studio on Santa Monica Boulevard that he and Johnny had. I literally thought about it constantly while there. I was pissing in the same toilet as the dynamic duo. No one else seemed to apprciate my excitement.

Prior to all that, he wrote ‘Bonie Maronie’, ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’, ‘Slow Down’ and ‘She Said Yeah’, my favorite, as recorded and performed by The Rolling Stones on HULLABALOO:

‘Short Fat Fannie’ goes back to pre Northern, pre Johnny Guitar Watson and pre jail time. It was actually one of his hits (#31 RnB / #35 Pop) in ’57 and comes courtesy of the Tony King Collection.

Original post: August 19, 2009.

Big Maybelle

Thursday, November 28th, 2013

Listen: I’m Getting ‘long Alright / Big Maybelle
BigMaybelleGettingLong.mp3

I can not lie. I get weak around any Okeh single, particularly in it’s matching stock sleeve. This certainly must have something to do with purple foil and paper wrapped chocolate bars from that first trip to Ireland when only in my single digits. We spent the summer with my aunt and grandmother in the house where my Mom grew up. Ballymoney, County Antrim. I don’t recall much, except for getting caught dipping my hand into a neighbor’s purse. The result was most unpleasant, but I needed a Cadbury marzipan bar, a flavor long since discontinued. The experience dented my brain permanently.

This Big Maybelle single from 1954 still glistens as a true visual artifact of color and design, and it’s a frequent choice when flipping through the wall shelves looking for something to play.

As with Bessie Smith, I became smitten by Big Maybelle soon after discovering both Janis Joplin and Tracy Nelson. Big Brother & The Holding Company were just releasing their first singles on Mainstream Records then, with Mother Earth, Tracy Nelson’s band also based out of San Fransisco, doing the same on Mercury shortly thereafter. Given they repeatedly name checked Bessie Smith and Big Maybelle as inspirational influences, my curiosity ran high.

Big Maybelle singles were easy and inexpensive finds for years. Album culture was fully prevalent during the late 60′s so singles simply became passé to most music aficionados of the day. This presented me with great joy as the pickings were euphoric. Marked down 7″ records being commonplace meant you could acquire the most amazing titles for a nickel or a dime. This single was one such find.

Her voice, great. The sound quality of these recordings, great. The subject matter, wow. So many Big Maybelle singles just reeked of sex. And comically presented. Surprisingly, Janis Joplin never nicked the idea, or more likely, conservative Columbia Records wouldn’t allow it.

I have to believe a sausage lyric version exists somewhere, with this cleaned up chicken take recorded specifically for the single, given ‘I’m Getting ‘long Alright’ was it’s A side.

Listen: My Big Mistake / Big Maybelle
My

‘My Big Mistake’, being formula bar room blues, allowed her to stomp and bully through the song in presumably very few takes. I recall hearing Fred Perry and Harry Fagenbaum play this straight into Mother Earth’s ‘Down So Low’ on their overnight college radio show, when underground album rock began overtaking the FM dial. WAER, Syracuse University’s student station gave all night shifts to nocturnal speed freak students who thankfully proceeded to pollute our ears with the wildest and most eclectic records around.

I bought Mother Earth’s LIVING WITH THE ANIMALS album the very next afternoon, a Sunday. We made our weekly trip to the SU campus, hanging around Discount Records or Record Runner on Marshall Street for hours, juggling what to buy. It became my purchase choice that weekend. Once home I discovered Mother Earth had modeled the majority of the album after Big Maybelle’s delivery style on records like ‘My Big Mistake’. maybe even that very song.

The Chambers Brothers

Friday, November 22nd, 2013

Listen: I Can’t Turn You Loose / The Chambers Brothers
I

Right at their commercial peak, when ‘Time Has Come Today’ was pretty big even at Top 40, The Chambers Brothers swung through Syracuse for a concert. I had some of their early gospel singles, was already excited to be hearing them on the radio so frequently and therefore anticipated the live show for weeks. Damn if I can remember why, but I went along with my parents to the airport earlier that afternoon to collect a relative, I’m guessing.

In the 60′s, airports were not full fledged shopping malls with restaurants and bars that would compete for one’s plans on a Saturday evening out. Instead, and especially in the case of the Hancock Airport in Syracuse, it was a lonely, empty building with uncomfortable seating on a good day. But on this particular afternoon, The Chambers Brothers flew in. From afar, I spotted a flock of floppy hippie hats and put two plus two together fast. So I barreled down toward their gate, and walked along with them back toward the outdoor pickup area, enthralled to be talking to these guys who made such raw soul records. I had a ton of questions.

Well the looks on my parent’s faces were priceless. Here their young son had in one moment dashed off toward an arrival gate, and in the next was walking back toward them surrounded by half a dozen black guys twice his height, all dressed in loud prints and colors. My Dad pretty quickly lit up though, figuring it out. He being a longtime jazz fan was forever telling me stories of seeing Billie Holiday and Miles Davis during his Air Force years, and now was familiar with bands like The Chambers Brothers from the music overflow that poured nonstop out of my bedroom. Plus, he was dropping the gang and I off at the show later that night. He held a particularly great conversation with Willie Chambers, this I remember well.

Their version of Otis Redding’s ‘I Can’t Turn You Loose’ was the highly anticipated followup to ‘Time Has Come Today’. Appropriately housed in a full color sleeve, as all confident followup singles were over at Columbia, it’s shocking to accept the single’s soft landing at #37. The vocal performance so powerful it must have scared off pop programmers. In one way, I’m surprised Columbia didn’t insist on polishing it up for airplay, thereby possibly prolonging their ascent. In hindsight though, I’m glad it was left to rip, despite still being bitter about the band’s commercial profile gradually sagging thereafter.

Laurent Garnier

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

Listen: Crispy Bacon / Laurent Garnier
Crispy

In New York, a tropical rain soaked day during May is perfect excuse to draw the blinds, switch on the a/c and unbox some singles that need filing.

During the late 90′s, many of us in the Columbia A&R department got weekly shipments from the UK office containing all the latest releases. Unlike everyone else, my preferred configuration was vinyl. So like clockwork, as soon as a couple of twenty five count 7″ boxes were full, I’d UPS them home. Just as routinely, upon arrival, into the black hole of storage they went. On special occasions, like today, out come several and the surprises begin.

The things I find are wild. Where the hell did this or that come from usually being my reaction.

I hadn’t ever recalled getting ‘Crispy Bacon’ on a 7″ or that one existed. I’m surprised it didn’t come home day-of as most real favorites did. And man, did I love this record. Even if you only visited the UK or Europe during the single’s Fall ’97 heyday, you couldn’t miss it. Seems this was played everywhere. A record so simple and stripped back, I found it impossible to tire of. Earlier today, having not heard ‘Crispy Bacon’ for ages, we slapped it onto my trusty Dual with it’s automatic repeat function and barely noticed the song’s five minute length had passed, playing it over and over, a good twenty times.

Laurent Garnier triple billed with Ken Ishii and LTJ Bukem in Belgium at the time. Columbia sent me over to have a look, as Ken Ishii was a Sony Japan act looking for a US label. What a fantastic night that was.

The Mose Allison Trio

Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

Listen: Baby, Please Don’t Go / The Mose Allison Trio
Baby,

There are times when we don’t even realize what’s right in front of our eyes. Certainly, that’s the case with me. I must admit, more than once, well more than one hundred times, while riding the London subway system, I kind of scour the car and think, I may be standing next to one of fellows from The Action or John’s Children, or, or, or…..Seriously, this often crosses my mind.

Just prior to Christmas 2011, Lindsay Hutton was over from Scotland for a week’s vacation, and on his final night, we went to the Limerick House down the street from my office. The place shouldn’t exist. It’s a working class pub from the 70′s in the thick of the gentrified, self proclaimed wonderfulness known as Chelsea, yet still with reasonably priced beers and untouched, original down at heel decor.

Amy, a longtime friend of his from here in New York and I were talking when Lindsay inquired about her new album. The conversation turned to various details surrounding plans for it’s release, bits of setbacks during recording etc. Speaking primarily to Lindsay about these fine points, she mentions her Dad played on a track or two, how he hadn’t done much recording for a while, and that he was rather cranky about it or some such thing. Out of polite curiosity, I inquire about his history, only to discover her Dad is indeed Mose Allison.

“What! Say that again! Mose Allison? Are you serious?”

It was true, and oddly enough, in the deep dark dungeons of my mind, I was aware Lindsay knew her, Duane too, but never ever remembered to bring it up.

Out of my wallet came the blank jukebox tab, and into Amy’s it went. Shock over, conversation continued.

Guess what turned up yesterday in the mail. The completed artifact pictured below. Thank you Amy Allison.

Above: Jukebox Tab signed by Mose Allison

Janis Joplin

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

Listen: Little Girl Blue / Janis Joplin
Little

When Janis passed away, I played only this song, this very single, for a solid week straight. ‘Little Girl Blue’ always felt autobiographical. Both song and situation were as sad as I was, and thousands of other kids across the world, during that period. Intentionally self disciplined, I didn’t want to be happy. I guess I was kind of in love with her. But big deal, I was far from alone.

There have been more than a few oddly coincidental ways she impacted my life and still does. Nowadays, I realize that I actually saw a living legend perform in both her and my lifetime. Very few have come along since, who’ve been regarded in such a way during their active careers. Famous artists and regular people alike, just about everybody needs to die before being totally appreciated. But when Janis was alive, journalists, other musicians, personalities from all walks proclaimed her blinding uniqueness.

Brought up Catholic meant when a family member passed on, we were all dragged through three long days of wakes, body viewings, spontaneous melt downs and every kind of prayer ceremony you can freaking imagine. After a first such ordeal at my grandfather’s showing, on the morning of that third day, when we all schlepped back to the funeral parlor to sit through one last batch of tearjerking prayers prior to finally wrapping it up at the cemetery, my aunt taps me on the shoulder from behind, “Have you heard the news on the radio this morning?”

“No, what?”

“Janis Joplin is dead”

Sometimes I feel like I’m still frozen in that very spot, with absolutely no way to get more information. I couldn’t leave, there were no cell phones, nor could I switch on the radio in the car ride to the burial site. I remained paralyzed with shock for hours. Now, if I visit my hometown, it’s exactly what comes thundering back every flipping time I drive past the place. Nice way to get that news, right, while staring at your deceased grandfather about ten feet away. A proper crash course in death.

Like my Mom, Janis would have been celebrating her birthday today, had she lived. January 19. Yet another Janis Joplin coincidence. And there were more, being saved for possible future posts.

Below, one of the few bits of television footage that captures her at 100% capacity:

Super Furry Animals

Sunday, November 13th, 2011

Listen: (Drawing) Rings Around The World / Super Furry Animals
(Drawing)

Do not adjust your sets. ‘(Drawing) Rings Around The World’ sounds distorted and sonically noisy. Don’t fret, it was meant to. Despite that minor issue, the song is so good, and as their show opener, so memorable, it’s pretty hard not to love it.

Back during summer 2001, Rob Stringer at Sony UK asked if I’d stay in London an extra day for Super Furry Animals’ record release party. It was a small do, a bunch of regional sales reps from across Britain were brought into London, food and drink offered up. The limited access, and a Friday dinnertime event meant most of the crowd were boringly annoyed at the interruption known as the band’s set, as opposed to excited fans thrilled at the privilege. For me, it was indeed a perfect opportunity to stand front and center, like being treated to a private rehearsal. As with the record, this live show opener haphazardly found it’s footing by transforming an initial tune up like chaos into a powerful groove and swing, dare I call it an unleashing. Yes, that’s what it was. Superb stuff.

RINGS AROUND THE WORLD was the band’s first album on Sony imprint Epic UK. The previous five years, parent company Sony had distributed Super Furry Animals’ releases through a deal with Creation Records. When Creation founder Alan McGee had had enough of running the label, most of the bands moved onto the corporation’s various imprints.

Rob was logically looking for a US partner, and as much as I loved that album, Columbia was just a poisonous place populated by clueless leadership when it came to music with such culture and class. It would have ended in tears. So I passed, and I suppose Rob never forgave me.

Never mind, got what bordered on an audience with the Queen, and a limited 7″.

Joan Armatrading

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Listen: Down To Zero (Mono) / Joan Armatrading
Down

Me, I never tire of Joan Armatrading, and never will. She’s gone through a lot of musical twists and turns, by her own choice, during the last decade. Some of it, quite frankly, is tough for me to tolerate. But like all true greats, meaning seminally true greats, every album contains, minimum, a couple of jems.

During the span of her career, beginning in the early 70′s, I never missed any of her upstate appearances, where she played on a regular basis. After relocating to New York in ’84, I went to every, and I mean every one of her shows. Three nights at The Beacon Theater, I was there for them all. In fact, I’d gladly drive out to Long Island or New Jersey to catch neighboring appearances. There are no plans to end that pattern by the way.

‘Down To Zero’ still slays every female singer/songwriter in sight.

When doing A&R for Columbia in the 90′s, Jewel had her meteoric rise into mainstream ubiquity. Every label, especially Columbia, was looking for their own version of Jewel. So an endless parade of young nursing student types would schlep through the department, many times with an acoustic guitar in tow, or their parents, or worse yet, both. As soon as the sight of this entered my office, I got straight to the point.

“Are you as good as Joan Armatrading?”

To their credit, every last aspiring hopeful knew her, and would always answer, “Well…..no.”

With utmost politeness, I’d ask them not to unpack or even bother playing me their demo, because I couldn’t tell good from slightly better than good, given that greatness had just been established as outside the realm of possibility. Basically, there was no point. Out of courtesy, I’d shuffle them down the hall to others more qualified in the genre.

A few even got signed. None succeeded.

Laura Nyro

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Listen: Stoned Soul Picnic / Laura Nyro
Stoned Soul Picnic / Laura Nyro

It was hard not to notice the writer credit of Nyro in brackets below some of the most hybrid of song styles in the late 60′s and early 70′s. Always choosing to shy from the spotlight, which included endless TV appearance requests, gave Laura Nyro a mystique as attractive as her obvious grasp of everything from gospel to show tunes. Despite delivering her recordings in a brash neo-operatic vocal style, she was still full of soul.

Being the seldom mentioned, unsung performer at ’67′s infamous Monterey Festival is what really caught my attention. Why was everyone focused on all the other acts? Why was she never included in the footage? Every one of her early Verve Forecast releases and this, her debut Columbia single, became secret treasures. I badly wanted to see her the one weekend she played The Fillmore East, but it wasn’t to be.

In later years, Laura Nyro dedicated much of her time and money to the animal rights movement. Don DeVito at Columbia was very close to her, and spoke often of her kind and tender heart.

Moby Grape

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

Listen: Bitter Wind / Moby Grape
Bitter Wind / Moby Grape

Somewhere during the making of their second album, Moby Grape recorded a previously unreleased, very noisy rock version of ‘Bitter Wind’. That, along with said album and this single version, were included on the short lived double cd VINTAGE: THE VERY BEST OF MOBY GRAPE Columbia released about ten years back. Litigation or some such problem required it be withdrawn. Not sure exactly why, but seems this band is forever haunted by their questionable early business dealings.

Boy am I happy this original album track made it to the 7″ instead of that alternate version. It’s by far my preferred choice.

When they released that second album, WOW, the one with the free second studio jam disc, their sound and the recordings seemed to thin out compared to the first album’s messy collision of guitars. There was more space, and the stark emptiness, I guess you could say, really appealed to me. ‘Bitter Wind’ was the standout, I’d listen to Side One, from which it came, repeatedly.

Couldn’t have been more pleased to find it on the B side of ‘Can’t Be So Bad’, and in the originally released version. Despite the vocals pushing my tolerance ever so slightly, ‘Bitter Wind’ exemplifies the remnants of San Francisco’s summer of love exactly as I recall it.

Propellerheads / Les Rythmes Digitales

Monday, April 25th, 2011

Listen: Take California / Propellerheads
Take California / Propellerheads

In ’96, Wall Of Sound released Propellerheads ‘Take California’. The label had been set up by Mark Jones and Marc Lessner not long before, and had quickly become dependable.

‘Take California’ was one of many singles Gary Crowley played me at his Maida Vale apartment on that London trip. His place was a favorite stop as he gave the best crash course when it came to anything new and worthwhile.

Located literally across the street from the studios used by the BBC to record their live sessions ever since the 50′s, I’d stand in his front bay windows and in my head flip through the almost endless list of acts that walked through those very doorways ahead, as he’d spin his favorite recent releases, always a bit mesmerized by both.

Mind you, it was a pretty good time for dance and electronic music 1996. Much like punk in it’s heyday, there were loads of fun singles coming out weekly. On that visit, Gary played me ‘Take California’ really loud, and it was a jolt. Bless him, I hardly finished asking, before he promptly rang and set me up. Seriously, about an hour later, I was in a cab making my way toward South London to meet Mark Jones at Wall Of Sound’s Farm Lane office. The next night, Gary and I were at Ministry Of Sound to meet Marc Lessner, and see the Propellerheads live. It all happened that fast.

Jonesy, as he likes to be called and we all like to call him, hoisted a stack of records my way, talked for a good two hours and made plans to try working Wall Of Sound into a deal through Columbia for America. I couldn’t wait to take “Take California’ back home and play it for everyone, including Donnie Ienner, our chairman.

His response: “There’s no vocal.”

“Well, that’s the point.” But in fairness, Donnie wanted to explore the idea of representing the label in the US, and we proceeded to try.

Never did succeed, and Jonesy never did find a US partner.

Listen: Kontakte / Les Rythmes Digitales
Kontakte / Les Rythmes Digitales

One of those early Wall Of Sound acts were Les Rythmes Digitales. In essence, it was one guy, Stuart Price. Nice kid, great writer, great producer, great head of spiked out bright red dyed hair. Known professionally at the time as Jacques Lu Cont, as with Les Rythmes Digitales, both names were initially an attempt at attaching to the then current vogue for French house. Stuart went on to great success.

‘Kontakte’ traded on the darker side of dance, similar to Dr. Octagon, and the track would have probably suited 4hero’s ‘Mr. Kirk’s Nightmare’ better as it’s musical bed.

A very nicely packaged, and scarce, 7″ this.

Big Brother & The Holding Company / Janis Joplin

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

Down On Me / Big Brother & The Holding Company

Listen: Down On Me / Big Brother & The Holding Company
Down On Me / Big Brother & The Holding Company

There are two things about Janis Joplin that annoy me. Neither are her fault.

Firstly, there is so little footage that really captures her power and that the media uses. The clips on a short lived US pop music show, MUSIC SCENE, are the best ones. That was with her Kozmic Blues Band lineup. Then to be fair, the Ed Sullivan and Dick Cavett shows were great as well. But the media always use that shit footage from the Monterey Pop Festival, when she hadn’t yet exploded vocally or visually. By the time she left the Bay area and was playing nationally, her voice was rasp and tortured; and she was visually a ball of color and fire. So heads up: seek out some of the aforementioned performances.

The second is Clive Davis. Why people line up to credit him with her success sickens me. Yes, he signed Big Brother & The Holding Company. And yes, he’s done a lot of things. His resume looks way better than mine. For instance, he let Ray Davies make two awesome Kinks albums, SLEEPWALKER and MISFITS, when most felt he and the band were washed up, signed The Patti Smith Group and let her make two great ones initially as well, plus gave both Lou Reed and Iggy Pop shots on Arista.

But masterminding the break up of Big Brother & The Holding Company with Albert Grossman is not a creative stroke of genius and is definitely unforgivable. How fucking dumb can you be? Their CHEAP THRILLS album soared to #1 in the Billboard charts being a blisteringly perfect document of her and the band’s magnetism.

Big Brother & The Holding Company were the ultimate acid rock group, probably of all time. They were raw and ragged but had swing, a lethally positive combination. Listen to James Gurley’s solo on the version of ‘Down On Me’ I’ve posted. By the time this was released, after her death, Columbia didn’t even have the courtesy to credit the band on the label. I assume the plan was to polish her for mainstream acceptance. Please. The whole point was her wild abandon.

Big Brother & The Holding Company live were an experience I’ll never forget. Friday October 11, 1968. Syracuse University presented the band at The War Memorial, but you had to be a student to get in. I wasn’t an SU student, in fact I was a little boy; no way could I even pass for a college kid. My friend Denny and I begged a security guy to let us in, bless him cause he did! Changed my life.

Big Brother & The Holding Company / Syracuse War Memorial / October 11, 1968

Above and below: Big Brother & The Holding Company / Syracuse War Memorial / October 11, 1968

Janis, October 11, 1968

These two pictures are from that night, snapped with my crap camera. I wish I had the negatives as the prints are fading. Check out how little equipment is up on stage. Still it was loud and out of control. Fantastic. Luckily, Janis played my area many times. I got to see all her line ups through the years. She was amazing. It’s not because I was young and impressionable. Janis Joplin was truly a living legend. And the lasting effect she has over everyone, not just me, proves it.

Journey

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

Listen: Just The Same Way / Journey
Just The Same Way / Journey

Yesterday’s post about historic, often unsung producer Owen Bradley had me locked into a historic, often unsung producer funk. Somewhere in my Top 5, Roy Thomas Baker sits.

Well I suppose he’s had various moments in the sun, but not lately. If the great minds decide to ponder the character responsible for inventing corporate rock, then by all means, RTB should get the crown. Seriously, who can touch a production like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’?

Weened at the Decca Studios in London as an engineer (check your record sleeves from the 60′s) meant learning how to mic and record accurately was his required foundation. So for RTB to build a skyscraper – piece of cake.

When he ran the west coast office of Elektra in ’85, he’d welcome us junior New York A&R guys every time we made our way to Los Angeles. And the action never, not ever, slowed. Honestly, there was no stopping and certainly no sleeping. It was that simple.

When I pull out Journey singles, there are four or five that eat up the next half hour or so of my life, each getting a couple of spins minimum. Tonight, ‘Just The Same Way’ won hands down. Is there anything that isn’t absolutely perfect about this single?

Steve Perry’s call and answer bits push the bar, one classic inflection after the other. Then there’s the guitar solo, and the tones. It’s an AOR radio masterpiece.

Yellowman

Saturday, January 1st, 2011

Listen: Strong Me Strong / Yellowman
Strong Me Strong / Yellowman

By the 80′s, reggae seemed to race forward technologically a little too fast, like Jamaica suddenly discovered electricity or something. The deep analog records from the mid 70′s got very syndrum and synth heavy by the end of the decade. Just about every followup to classic albums by Max Romeo, Justin Hines, Aswad or anything involving Sly & Robbie reeked with a shimmer that now is horribly dated.

‘Strong Me Strong’ was indeed so strong, those occasional sonic trappings couldn’t begin to destroy it’s greatness. A pretty brave record for 1984, given that slamming reggae wasn’t exactly in the pocket, or maybe it’s just what was needed. Good signing Howard.

Yellowman’s one off with CBS/Columbia meant white, alternative kids could take notice and rub shoulders with roots music all over again, like in ’77. Yellowman toured the US, playing the exact same venues as the college radio hot indie bands. Not a jaw was left shut once he finished mopping those stages.

Listen: Dub Me Strong / Yellowman
Dub Me Strong / Yellowman

This dub version B side is lightweight but fun, a difficult one to find anywhere but on the original vinyl (I think). Bill Laswell and Material do many things well, but obviously not dubbing. Worth having as a period snapshot though, and still pretty great loud.

Dr. Feelgood

Monday, November 15th, 2010

Listen: Another Man / Dr. Feelgood DrFeelgoodAnotherMan.mp3

There’s a load of theories about where punk started. I suppose you can slice and dice it back to anywhere you want, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins or The Pretty Things, or endless garage bands from the mid 60′s. Most self appointed, gatekeeping journalists will flatter each other with either The Stooges or The New York Dolls. My vote goes to Suicide in the US and the Canvey Island bands in the UK, of which Dr. Feelgood were the first superstars.

Their live show stoked Eddie & The Hot Rods and together they lit up London fast and raw. It was indeed the speed of sound and the sound of speed all at once. New bands that clutched to the past and stood in their way were mowed down flat. Hustler and Nutz for example. It was a fun time for house cleaning. Labels like Chrysalis had their rosters fossilized overnight. Seemed like the world turned from black and white to color. Every single released was a new high.

Dr. Feelgood: Lee Brilleaux had a vocal style and stage presense not unlike Roger Chapman, and Wilko Johnson religiously perfected Mick Green’s jagged guitar style into his own. Their second album, MALPRACTICE, is a clean, articulate blueprint of the band’s attack and technique. But when Dr. Feelggod unleashed live, it was unstoppable.

Seeing them between late ’75 through mid ’77 really was life changing. If you did, you’ll know how hearing their records now will still sound different to us, as opposed to those who weren’t as lucky. Over three decades later, that hasn’t changed.

Not one for European pressings, I tell you honestly, my collection has less than a hundred. I make exception for singles like this, when not one but two 7″ worthy songs are issued on a 45. Both ‘Going Back Home’ and ‘Another Man’ (like ‘I Can Tell’, all from MALPRACTICE) were never released as singles in the UK or US. This Dutch pressing being the only exception to my knowledge. In fact, ‘I Can Tell’ has never come out on 7″ anywhere. How did the otherwise faultless Andrew Lauder mess this one up?

Wait. Come to think of it, there were a few numbers from Brinsley Schwarz NERVOUS ON THE ROAD that deserved single status. Andrew Lauder you have some answering to do.

Being an archivist and collector can also mean you’re a pack-rat, depending upon whom you listen to. Ask Corinne for instance and she’ll pick door number three.

Fine, I’m all of them and glad of it, having saved pretty much everything I’ve ever owned, starting with a rock that flew into my hand off my tricycle’s front wheel at about five years old. That’s how extreme, and far back, I can claim the obsession. Good thing, because the records began at age seven. Damn, if only I started at birth.

In the case of this flyer, saving every last item allowed me to pinpoint the exact date and hour when a whole new musical world was revealed behind that invisible curtain. There had been a few jolting revelations before and several after, but that moment when rock as it had been known and loved immediately became the past occured on February 29, 1976. Dr. Feelgood were a blistering no holds barred introduction to pub and punk. Gone was the polish and self indulgence, the bloat and tired outfits. What the music world changed into we all know.

It was a fantastic time to be young and insatiable. And here’s the flyer to stake that very date in my life. Corinne and I, with our dearest friend Karen Kasiner, braved a winter storm to see Dr. Feelgood. I wouldn’t trade that night for anything.

John Hammond

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010

Listen: Mellow Down Easy / John Hammond JohnHammondMellow.mp3

Never got to hear or see John Hammond in his introductory years, despite a few chances at The Fillmore. The sleeve of his Atlantic album, I CAN TELL, made me way curious. He looked like a cross between Mick Jagger and Arthur Lee. But it wasn’t until this single, a few years later, that I finally got the chance.

One of John Hammond’s consistently strong points was his ace ability to interpret classic blues tracks, using what turned into a signature style: minimal unprocessed guitar and harmonica.

His version of ‘Mellow Down Easy’ not only gave the song possibly it’s best white rendition ever, but spilled into Dr. John’s space. Like electric blues in the late 60′s, New Orleans music was brand new. Seems there were so many singles that introduced me to yet more genres and styles in a short period, and I became insatiable for them all.

Listen: As The Years Go Passing By / John Hammond JohnHammondYears.mp3

‘As The Years Go Passing By’ slotted right in with then current versions from Chicken Shack and Savoy Brown, pretty much equaling if not topping them. With no small contribution being a fantastic voice.

Both tracks on this double sider ignited a John Hammond 7″ catalog completion process on my part that took years. Basically I wanted his every single and the two on Atlantic preceding this were oddly not easy finds. All great records as it turns out and worth the effort. Don’t pass any of them up.

Paul Young & The Family

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Listen: Love Of The Common People / Paul Young & The Family PaulYoungCommon.mp3

Howard posted this off with a batch of new releases back in ’82. He worked at Columbia then, having transferred from CBS London to New York. Old habits die hard: he still looked after the UK roster Stateside. I think this was one of the British acts he picked up via an inter-company option, thereby releasing Paul Young & The Family in the US.

As in their homeland, this first version of ‘Love Of The Common People’ didn’t make much noise, and remained a non-chart single. It was of some interest due to Rico finding a seemingly new home as the group’s trombonist. Anything Rico touches just works perfectly. His first solo album, ’76′s MAN FROM WAREIKA is a must have.

Questionable pictures can be harmful. Despite the contemporary ska image of the band, Paul Young’s shirt on the single sleeve really put me off. He looked like a bad stylist’s mistake. I did like the record, but felt a little unhip admitting so.

Listen: Love Of The Common People / Paul Young PaulYoungCommonRemix.mp3

Bottom line is a great voice and equally great song are hard to keep down, despite all the sonic tricks of the moment being applied. That’s how I’d describe the remix, which revived the original single and thankfully kicked it into the charts. Well deserved.

Sounding a bit too glossy in hindsight, it’s down to The Belle Stars African background vocal style and ever dependable Rico saving the day. And of course, Paul Young’s (now sans The Family in typical major label Columbia Records ruthless style) voice.

Johnny Winter And

Monday, November 1st, 2010

Listen: Jumpin’ Jack Flash (Mono) / Johnny Winter And JohnnyWinterAndFlash.mp3

Please remember, this came out at a time when blistering acid blues guitar solos were still pretty new and defiant. Mix that up with a skinny, skinny, skinny albino, silky straight white hair, a bloodless complexion, blue velvet jacket and voila: recipe.

Having made a few tame, more traditional blues recordings for labels like Imperial, Johnny Winter signed to Columbia during their great late 60′s renaissance. A time period that saw Big Brother & The Holding Company, The Chambers Brothers, Moby Grape, Al Kooper and Pacific Gas & Electric added to it’s roster.

The first two Columbia albums were pretty much in that trad blues vein, a touch more electrified. The touring to support them included making the rounds of Fillmore type venues in the US.

By album three, Johnny Winter, the artist, became Johnny Winter And. By infusing more Little Richard style wildness and covering a handful of RnR standards, they band and idea blew up.

They were so powerful live, that for a short time, I’m not sure anyone could top them at their game. Despite being consistently out of tune on stage (a result of the mania specific to this live show), no one cared. It was a tornado of sound and action. You couldn’t take your eyes off them nor sit still.

JOHNNY WINTER AND LIVE became the time tested true documentation of that period. Definitely one of the most exciting live recordings in my collection. The mono 7″ excerpt of ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ edits out the second solo, a real shame. Definitely check the full length for that. Meanwhile, a single, like the live show from which it came, has rarely been hotter.

The Future Sound Of London

Saturday, October 16th, 2010

Listen: We Have Explosive (7″ Edit) / The Future Sound Of London FSOLExplosive.mp3

May ’97 in London had a few really rainy, cold days. You’d have sworn it was February. Perfect, just as England should be.

I know, I was there. I think it was a trip to hear the new Primal Scream album, maybe meet with them about releasing it through Columbia via Creation Records’ deal with us. And just by coincidence, The Cramps were playing two nights at The Astoria….just by coincidence. Working at major labels, where the entire senior staff were asleep at the wheel musically, did have it’s benefits.

‘We Have Explosive’ had peaked at #12 a few weeks earlier, and was still all over Radio 1. Can vividly remember shivering in Gary Crowley’s car, as he unsuccesfully atempted to coax heat out of the dashboad, on our way to Jakes from the Sony Building, via Marble Arch on a nasty day in nasty traffic, and this one lifting the mood 1000%.

Not only one of the best artist names ever, turns out FSOL were also tops at documenting a precise musical snapshot of that very moment in time.