James Brown - Jazz

I was pleasantly surprised by this album.  It was released in 2007, just like many albums were after JB's demise.  This one however is different.

Firstly, the tracks really flow nicely together and have the cohesiveness of a proper album.  In truth it's quite a hodge podge of tunes - including a couple unreleased tracks, instrumental jams and tracks with vocals added which had none.

All that said, the second and probably main difference of this collection would be musical relevance.  All the tracks here sound like A-sides rather than throw aways.  The JB crew is the Ellis/Parker vintage, and earlier, and man these guys can swing with little effort.  Brown really shows off his chops here too, both vocally and on the organ.

I ripped this in proper FLAC and included all of the scans... enjoy!!!

Brown helms dynamic takes on contemporary jazz tunes (Cannonball Adderley's "Tengo Tango" and Joe Zawinul's "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)," among others), as well as revitalizing much-loved standards like "That's My Desire." The material ranges through the 1960s and '70s, and features a number of alternate mixes and singles edits, some of which have never seen the light of day (making the set a must for Brown collectors). James Brown fans might wonder at the title and at the fact that this posthumous collection is issued on Verve, the classic jazz label, but one listen through these 12 cuts will answer any questions. The Godfather was the king of soul and the architect of funk, but he also had a yen for jazzier flavors, as this excellent swinging set demonstrates. - CD Universe

James Brown (organ); 

Dee Felice Trio (vocals); 

Les Buie, Wallace Richardson, Jimmy Nolen, Bill Pittman, Alfonzo Kellum, Louis Shelton (guitars); 

David Parkinson, Ernie Watts, Nat Jones, Joe Romano (alto saxophone); 

Eldee Williams, Al "Brisco" Clark, Les Asch, Pete Christlieb, St. Clair Pinckney, Buddy Collette (tenor saxophone); 

Charles Carr, Maceo Parker, Jimmy Mulidore (baritone saxophone); 

Teddy Washington, Joe Dupars, Waymon Reed, Richard "Kush" Griffith, Robert Knight , Ron Harper, Al Aarons, John Audino, Chuck Finley, Tommy Porello, Mack Johnson, Ron Tooley (trumpet); 

Kenny Schroyer, Wilmer Milton, Fred Wesley, Jimmy Cleveland, Nick Dimaio, Bill Tole (trombone); 

Levi Rasbury (valve trombone); 

Frank Vincent, Alfred Ellis (piano); 

Bernard Odum, Al Lucas, Ray Brown , Sam Thomas , Lee Tucker (bass guitar); Clyde Stubblefield, Nat Kendrick, Melvin Parker, Obie Williams, John Starks, Louie Bellson, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Dee Felice (drums); 

Jack Arnold (percussion).

Little Johnny Taylor - Everybody Knows About My Good Thing

WHEW, that is one ridiculous looking shirt in any era! I'm betting there was something hideous with the cuffs too.

A really nice album though!

Here is proof positive that the requests area works, frankie mules asked and...
I'm kind of happy to finally see some interest in this guy, the earlier LJT posts did not seem to garner much attention, perhaps now.

"Everybody Knows About My Good Thing album by Little Johnny Taylor was re-released Oct 2005 on the Fuel 2000 label. Something of a 1970s comeback for the successful '60s blues and R&B singer Little Johnny Taylor, this highlight of this vintage R&B set is the hit two-part title track, a rueful song that itemizes Taylor's valiant efforts to keep his woman to himself. Everybody Knows About My Good Thing music CDs Also included are an impressive variety of choice Southern soul cuts, including the delicate "You've Got the Love I Need" the impassioned "How Can a Broke Man Survive," and the funky "Baby Get Hip to Yourself." Liner Note Author: Bill Dahl. Living Blues (p. 77) - "Throughout, Taylor's passionate mix of gospel intensity, good-natured backdoor salaciousness, and ironic humor shines through with undiminished excellence."

African-American Gospel Music

We are still digging into Rev. Cliff's tape vaults and this week's Sunday offering ties into both past and future posts.

This one too was a Library of Congress recommendation that does not appear anywhere else other than on this cassette.

More of the Faithful Harmonizers, also The Badgett Sisters and The Fairfield Four who are new as is The Mount Zion Youth Choir (who are the bomb when turned up loud!).

Sweet Soul Music 1966

1966 On the mainstream pop side of things the airwaves belonged to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Monkees, The Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, The Mamas and the Papas, The Righteous Brothers... Frank Sinatra was singing 'Strangers in the Night' and his daughter was walkin' in them boots. 'Cherish', 'Winchester Cathedral', 'Wild Thing', 'Hanky Panky', 'Sunshine Superman', and 'Summer In The City' were all huge multi-week number ones. Was R&B and Soul withering on the vine? Unh, no, actually, a look at this list of tracks makes it clear that Soul music was absolutely SMOKIN'!

Mowtown is in full flight but Southern Soul is pumping out many of it's greatest hits too. Joe Tex, Lee Dorsey, Wilson Pickett, James Carr, Sam & Dave, Percy Sledge, Jimmy Hughes, Carla Thomas, Robert Parker, Aaron Neville, Howard Tate, James and Bobby Purify....whew!

Dis'here one is ALL KILLER!

The Menhaden Chanteymen - Won't You Help Me To Raise 'em

Exploring Blues, Gospel, and Southern Soul are certainly not a unique focus to this blog, others out there have done and are still doing fine work. I doubt, however, that many places have explored the Work Songs, an oft mentioned, yet seldom heard musical tradition that is another key building block in the development of Black music in America.

Unky Cliff's Library of Congress tape stash includes a couple of jaw dropping field recordings you simply have to hear, even if it isn't necessarily something you need to keep.

Recorded in 1989 at St. Paul Episcopal Church in Beaufort, the dozen songs on this cassette are traditional work songs of a coastal Carolina menhaden fishery. The Menhaden Chanteymen are recipients of the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award.

I'm Gonna Roll Here; Help Me to Raise 'em; My Way Seems So Hard; Mule on the Mountain; Going Back to Weldon;Sweet Rosie Anna; Lazarus; Swing Low, Sweet Chariot; Drinking of the Wine; I Wish I Was Single Again; Mama Liza Jane; Remember Me.


The Menhaden Chanteymen are a group of retired African American fishermen who previously worked off the coast near Beaufort. The group, during their working years, used singing to synchronize the pulling of their nets of menhaden, or shad. A leader sang out the first line of the song alone, to be answered with another line sung in harmony by the rest of the crew. The songs derived from many sources, including hymns and gospel songs, blues, and barbershop quartet songs, and they were often improvised.

In 1988 folklorists Michael and Deborah Luster, hired by the North Carolina Arts Council to survey the folk culture of Carteret County, arranged a gathering of about a dozen retired coastal fishermen. Beaufort blues singer and guitarist Richard "Big Boy" Henry, who worked for a time as a menhaden fisherman, helped the Lusters organize the event. Although they had not sung together in more than 30 years, the men recollected their songs almost effortlessly when they began to pantomime the action of working the net.

That year the ex-fishermen performed at a public event sponsored by the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort. Since then the group, officially named the Menhaden Chanteymen, has performed for the North Carolina General Assembly and the National Council on the Arts. They have also appeared at New York City's Carnegie Hall and on national television and radio. In 1990 the Menhaden Chanteymen recorded a collection of maritime work songs, Won't You Help Me to Raise 'Em: Authentic Net Hauling Songs from an African-American Fishery, for Global Village Music.

The Fieldstones - Memphis Blues Today

Greasy funky modern blues from Memphis! This is not the most polished band you've ever heard by any stretch of the imagination but you can tell they were houserockers! 

"One of the few remnants of the homegrown Memphis blues scene since its virtual cessation at the end of the 1950s, the Fieldstones made some rough and ready electric blues with soul and rock influences from the mid-1970s through the early 1990s. Their sound was characterized by a two-guitar front line and a raw, chunky groove not too far removed from the sort of Mississippi juke joint blues that Fat Possum recorded in the 1990s. The Fieldstones did some recording in the 1980s for David Evans' Highwater label, but never established much of a following outside of Memphis, and disbanded in the early '90s." AMG .

"The Fieldstones were playing the bars and jook joints of Memphis from the 1970s until the early 1990s. I caught them several times at their home base of Green's Lounge, and can say without reservation that The Fieldstones are one of the best blues bands I've ever seen. They seemed to have absorbed every style of blues and soul that's made Memphis famous, and turned it into their own rhythmic, hypnotic and sometimes funky brand of music.

The opening cut, simply called "The Fieldstones," is a funky introduction to the band and their music. With it's rhythmic beat, this song has continually run through my head since first hearing it 15 years ago. Unlike the Brady Bunch theme, which I also can't wipe from my memory, this song evokes pleasant memories every time I hear it.
The raw, soulful vocals of guitarist Willie Roy Sanders highlights cut number two, "Dirt Road." Even better is his incredible pleading vocals on the Little Milton song, "Little Bluebird."

The Fieldstones had to provide music for the dancers at Green's Lounge, and "The Thing" is a funky number which I'm sure always packed the dance floor. The same goes for the instrumental "The Squeeze." Both of these songs have the same rhythmic sound of "The Fieldstones," and really define what this band was all about.

These recordings were made at three separate sessions in 1981 and 1982. In the liner notes there's mention of an upcoming album which will contain previously-unreleased tracks from the band's later years, when the excellent singer Little Applewhite was fronting the band. I can't wait for that one!

Memphis Blues Today! is truly an unknown gem, and belongs in any serious blues fan's collection."

--- Bill Mitchell

Little Willie John - Heaven Can Wait and 1966

A REPOST BY REQUEST

It was my initial intention to continue to spread the Little Willie John posts out a little bit but 2 things happened: 1-the first two posts seemed to be well received and 2-more importantly in listening to the material prior to writing I had something of a epiphany. I ended up listening to all four discs in a row and something became clear; starting from track 9 of disc two (The King Sessions) you have the material from 1959 thru 1960, what should be the 'sweet spot'. Consider that by the end of 1958 LWJ is one of the hottest singers around, but at the height of his popularity someone  (the biography does not discuss this), gets very conservative and one dimensional in the choice of material and arrangements and turns him into a one-trick pony at the very moment when a large number of new singers are coming of age. In these 2 years of poor decisions they manage to completely lose the Public Ear. It is clear from the start of this disc that someone has realized the error and made an attempt at giving him varied vehicles and is laying off the vocal gymnastics. The material is far more interesting and his voice continues to mature. This is really good stuff. Sadly, once lost, the Public Ear is difficult to recapture and meanwhile John's demons get the upper hand until he is jailed and convicted of murder in Washington (state) in 1964.

In most situations that would be the end of this story, but there is one last semi-triumphant chapter. During his time in prison awaiting Appeal, John had struck up a correspondence with producer David Axelrod. In February of 1966 Willie was released pending his Appeal trial and went straight into the studio with Axelrod for 3 sessions with the cream of L.A. studio players that combine to make his final album. John loses the Appeal, is sent back to prison and dies 2 years later under mysterious circumstances at 30 years old. The small miracle here is that Axelrod puts him into updated songs and arrangements and he responds magnificently. No doubt that under different circumstances he could have revived his career and been a major star again with proper handling. The sessions, however, are tied into silly legal disputes for 30 years before they are finally released.

So it seems to me that to illustrate my point I need to go ahead and offer the rest of LWJ now so YOU can decide if I may have gleaned something from careful listening or if you think I'm just full of crap.

There are 2 links in this post.

Little Sonny Jones- New Orleans R&B Gems

Little Sonny Jones (April 15, 1931 – December 17, 1989) was an American New Orleans blues singer and songwriter. He was born Johnny Jones in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, and started singing professionally in the late 1940s. He befriended Fats Domino and, whilst working together, was given his nickname by Domino. In 1953 he released his debut single, "Do You Really Love Me" / "Is Everything Allright?", on Specialty. Jones recorded a further four songs for Imperial in 1954, which were produced by Dave Bartholomew, but all releases failed to find a commercial market. His connection with Domino endured and, up to 1961, Jones remained as Domino's opening act. Jones tracks included the blues standard, "Farther Up the Road".

Jones was employed as the vocalist by a New Orleans based band led by the brothers, David and Melvin Lastie, until the late 1960s. Jones also had regular employment at a sugar factory. He returned to the recording studio in 1975, and issued his album, New Orleans R&B Gems, initially on the Netherlands based Black Magic label. With contributions from veteran musicians including Dave "Fat Man" Williams, the record faithfully copied the R&B style and sound of the 1950s. It was re-issued in 1995 by Black Top.

Jones was a regular performer at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
In December 1989, Jones died of heart failure in New Orleans, at the age of 58.

Hank Ballard And The Midnighters - Dancin' And Twistin'

Hank Ballard (November 18, 1927 – March 2, 2003), born John Henry Kendricks, was a rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, the lead vocalist of Hank Ballard and The Midnighters and one of the first rock 'n' roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s. He played an integral part in the development of the genre, releasing the hit singles "Work With Me, Annie" and answer songs "Annie Had a Baby" and "Annie's Aunt Fannie" with his Midnighters. He later wrote and recorded "The Twist" and invented the dance, which was notably covered by Chubby Checker. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

In 1953, Ballard joined doo-wop group The Royals, which had previously been discovered by Johnny Otis and signed to Federal Records, (a division of King Records), in Cincinnati. Ballard joined Henry Booth, Charles Sutton, Sonny Woods and Alonzo Tucker in the group, replacing previous singer Lawson Smith.
The Royals released "Get It" (1953), an R&B song with possibly sexually oriented lyrics, which some radio stations refused to play, although it still made it to number 6 on the Billboard R&B chart.

The group then changed its name to The Midnighters to avoid confusion with The "5" Royales. In 1954, Ballard wrote a song called "Work with Me, Annie" that was drawn from "Get It".  It became The Midnighters' first major R&B hit, spending seven weeks at number 1 on the R&B charts and also selling well in mainstream markets, along with the answer songs "Annie Had a Baby" and "Annie's Aunt Fannie"; all were banned by the FCC from radio air play.  Their third major hit was "Sexy Ways", a song that cemented the band's reputation as one of the most risqué groups of the time.

They had four other R&B chart hits in 1954–55, but no others until 1959, by which time the group was billed as "Hank Ballard and The Midnighters" with their label changed from Federal to King, the parent label. Between 1959 and 1961 they had several more both on the R&B and Pop charts, starting with "Teardrops on Your Letter", a number 4 R&B hit in 1959 that had as its B-side the Ballard-written song "The Twist". A year later, Chubby Checker's cover version of the song went to number 1 on the pop charts. It would return to the top of the charts again in 1962–the only song in the rock'n'roll era to reach number 1 in two different years.

Ballard & the Midnighters had several other hit singles through 1961, including the Grammy-nominated "Finger Poppin' Time" and "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go" which hit number 7 and number 6, respectively, on the Billboard pop charts. They did not reach the charts again after 1962 and dissolved in 1965.

___________________________________________________________

Since Ballard & the Midnighters remain most known for their mid-'50s R&B/early rock & roll hits, it has sometimes been overlooked that they actually reached their crossover pop peak in the early '60s. In 1960 and 1961, they had seven Top 40 hits in the pop charts, and two Top Ten hits with "Finger Poppin' Time" and "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go." All of those hits are on this 24-song anthology, which is devoted almost exclusively to Ballard's 1960s output. Ballard's original version of "The Twist," recorded in 1958 (and a Top Thirty hit in 1960, although Chubby Checker's cover went to #1), is here, and its success laid the foundation for an endless series of dance records over the next few years. "The Coffee Grind," "The Continental Walk," "The Switch-A-Roo," "It's Twistin' Time," "Good Twistin' Tonight," "Do You Know How to Twist?," even "The Float": all are on board. (And how could one resist calling "The Float" a dance bound to be dead on the water, even if it did make #10 R&B?) Ballard may have been more earthy, more funky, and more authentic in every way than Chubby Checker, but in this era he was really pursuing a similar formula: twist and dance records, the themes recycled ad infinitum. And it must be conceded that the formula, in Ballard's hands, wears out its welcome when the singles are heard bang right after each other. It's competent dance rock bridging 1950s R&B and early soul, without nearly enough variation or innovation to sustain interest. Really, "Finger Poppin' Time," "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go," and "The Twist" are all you need to hear from this era, and you can probably find them on various-artists anthologies without breaking too heavy a sweat. - Richie Unterberger/AMG

Charles Brimmer - New Orleans Soulman

This guy is all Cliff's discovery; at about the same time I was putting together the Eldridge Holmes post, Cliff came up with this guy but we held him back pending more material. I've turned up some tracks from the first album in 45's but the main body of the downloads contains the entire second album plus one track and that all comes from Cliff.

Charles Brimmer was born October 10,1948 in New Orleans and grew up in the lower ninth ward. He sang some gospel music as a youngster, but soon changed his focus. Impressed by the sharp dressing R&B performers he saw at the Municipal Auditorium shows, Charles decided that he wanted to pursue a career as a singer. 



He joined his first group, The Ravens, while going to St Augustine high school. At 19 he would record for Camille Indacon's ABS (Always Better Sound) label, which was distributed by Cosimo Matassa. His two ABS records, 'Now She's Gone, Gone' and 'The Glide,' (Produced by Wardell Quezergue) sold three thousand each in New Orleans; he wanted to record 'Barefootin,' but Robert Parker cut it. 


After high school, Charles sang with David Battiste and The Gladiators to pay his way through college and earn an accounting degree from Southern University. 


His next records came out on Dave Bartholomew's Broadmoor label. "The Feeling Is In My Heart" got a lot of airplay and led to more gigs. Broadmoor and ABS had a joint production deal on Charles, which was not fulfilled. Brimmer became disenchanted with Broadmoor and ABS due to what he considered to be broken promises from Bartholomew. He was upset because he wasn't allowed to record a full-length record. Somewhere during this time he made the mistake of passing on "Groove Me" when King Floyd offered it to him. 


After meeting Senator Jones on a gig, he cut a cover of O.V. Wright's "Afflicted" for Senator Jones Hep'Me label. The B side of the record "Your So Called Friends" was a big local hit and it attracted the attention of Hi Records Willie Mitchell. With the contract to ABS-Broadmoor not yet expired, Hi Records was not allowed to record Charles on their terms and passed.


When Hi Records refused to issue the single "God Bless Our Love" off the 'Al Green Explores Your Mind' album, Senator Jones had Charles cut a version at Deep South Studios in Baton Rouge. After a dub version was played on WXEL in Slidell, all south distributors had orders for 10,000 copies. Senator Jones then leased the record to Chelsea records. It went on to sell 300,000 records. A long-playing record, 'Expression of Soul,' with the song on it sold 100,000 copies. Cutting a few more singles and another album for Chelsea, 'Soulman', Charles never repeated his initial success with the label even though the second album was likely the stronger of the two. Differences with the label and producer led Charles to move to California. While he worked as an accountant by day, he and his brother Ivory self produced a few titles but had no success in landing a new recording contract. Brimmer eventually moved back to New Orleans to raise his family. He quit singing to focus on his business career; although he was coaxed into an appearance at Ponderosa Stomp in recent years.
 
Cliff has recently met Brimmer's sister so a followup to this post with an interview and additional tracks is a possibility.