THE CAPTAIN GOES TO OZ?

Artist: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND (feat. RY COODER);    

Title: YELLOW BICK ROAD; Label: PYE INTERNATIONAL; Format: 7"; 

Cat. No.: 7N.25443; Year: 1967; Country: UK 

Today's post is this 1967 offering from Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - featuring Ry Cooder on slide.  The A Side is the rather wonderful "Yellow Brick Road" and features that immortal intro that only Beefheart could've come up with: "The following tone is a reference tone, recorded at our operating level."  The song's the usual mutant delta blues that you'd tend to expect from the Magic Band from this period - but not yet developed into weirdness of the subsequent 'Trout Mask Replica' set  - which I've heard described as Howlin' Wolf meets Ornette Coleman.  A pretty apt description of Beefheart.

The flip side gives you "Abba Zaba" again from the parent 'Safe As Milk' LP.  Which is another great tune - and (something I'd never realized - assuming it was a typical Beefheart nonsense title) the name of a american peanut toffee bar.  And the good Captain's favourite snack treat as a kid.  Learn something new everyday doing a music blog folks!  Both sides feature the 2nd line-up of the Magic Band - which with the exception of Ry Cooder - lasted the longest before being sacked around 1973 - and then regrouping as Mallard in the mid 70's.

SOUL ON FONTANA

Artist: BETTY EVERETT; Title: GETTING MIGHTY CROWDED; Label: FONTANA; Format: 7"; Cat. No.:TF 520; Year: 1965; Country: UK

Following on from the last post on Kiki Dee, I thought I'd focus on two tracks that were first issued here in the UK on Fontana.

First up is this Northern Soul classic from Betty Everett,  the Van McCoy penned "Getting Mighty Crowded".  Originally issued on Vee Jay in the States this is a wonderful track - and one of those on that still does it for me.  I first came across it via the Elvis Costello version which he'd put out as the B Side to 'High Fidelity' in 1980 - so having heard that and the original on the radio - the hunt was on to own a copy.  Firstly on one of those budget Soul/Blues double tape compilations of the early 80's (remember them?), and then finally getting hold of a copy at one of the first Northern Soul all-nighters (appropriately enough).  Togetherness at Stoke Town Hall if memory serves.)

The flip side gives you "Chained To A Memory" is the slower tempo of the two tracks - and rather wonderful too.  And as always well worth checking out.


Artist: THE MARVELETTES (feat. Marvin Gaye); Title: PLEASE MR. POSTMAN;   
Label: FONTANA; Format: 7"; Cat. No.: H.355; Year: 1961; Country: UK

 Next up is this 1961 offering from the Marvelettes - the classic "Please Mr Postman".  It's one of only a couple of Motown tracks that appeared on Fontana - the only other I can think of is The Miracles 'What So Good About Goodbye'.  Prior to that Motown's stuff had been issued on London, and after this it was Oriole, before passing to EMI; firstly on Stateside then finally the Tamla Motown imprint in 1965.  The song's downright brilliant - and again it's one I came to via a cover version, in this case The Beatles on their 'With The Beatles' LP.  The track generally only gets credited to Brian Holland  and Robert Bateman - but was originally penned by William Garrett alongside original Marvellette  Georgia Dobbins, and was then reworked by Brian Holland, Robert Bateman and Freddie Gorman Freddie Gorman.  Later Berry Gordy added his name to the writing credits. Confused?  The drummer on the track is none other than Marvin Gaye.

The flip side gives you "So Long Baby" is more in the doo-wop style and features lead vocals by   Wanda Young (who went on to be the long serving member of the group - lasting till they finally folded in 1970).  It's certainly more in the early Motown style that you hear on the early Miracles stuff from this period - i.e. rooted in R'n'B rather what than emerging Soul sound of the A Side.

KIKI DOES NORTHERN

Artist: KIKI DEE; Title: WHY DON'T I RUN AWAY FROM YOU?; Label: FONTANA; Format: 7";
Cat No.: TF 669; Year: 1966; Country: UK

Today's single under the spotlight is the great bit of British Northern Soul from Kiki Dee - dating from the so called golden year for Northern Soul - 1966. And a decade before her breakthrough duet with Elton John. 

The A Side is Kiki's superb version of this Bert Berns penned tune "Why Don't I Run Away You?". Originally done by Tami Lynn on Atlantic - this is one of those songs from the period when the UK labels flew to the States to see what the US (labels more as often Atlantic) to see what they had that was about to be released, then getting the tracks back over here and getting ta UK cover version out before the original version was issued.  (And hopefully having a hit in the process!) The Tami Lynn version was actually a hit when in was reissued on Mojo in the early 70's - and one I remember hearing on the radio at the time.  The version here doesn't disappoint - and Kiki really gives in her all. Which shouldn't really comes a surprise considering her work with fellow soul fan Dusty Springfield. Plus Dusty's on backing vocals too!

The B Side's good too!  I'm more than happy to consider "Small Town" as Brit Northern Soul too, as it has the same feel - allbeit at a slower tempo.  Written by Les Reed it's an excellent showcase for Kiki's voice, and in a couple of places the arrangements put me in of the 'Barbarella' soundtrack.  As to whether Bob Crewe was a fan or aware of it I don't really know.  And like the A Side well worth a listen.

SMOKEY SLOW BURNING SOUL

Artist: ANNA KING; Title: IF SOMEBODY TOLD YOU; Label: SMASH; Format: 7"; 
Cat. No.: S-1858; Year: 1963; Country: US.

Starting off 2014 with this 1963 release from Anna King - who was at the time part of the James Brown band/revue - coming as she did as a replacement for  Tammy Montgomery (aka Tammi Terrell).  The A Side "If Somebody Told You" is a great slow smoking soul number, written and produced by JB, and credited as 'Jim Jam' on the label. (Possibly due to copyright - as he also recorded only instrumentals for Smash within about a year of the release of this material when he was in dispute with his normal label King.)

The flip side is cover of the Holland-Dozier-Holland/Martha & the Vandellas tune "Come Get These Memories" which like the A Side is well worth a listen.  Both side and the subsequent duet with Bobby Byrd appear on the parent 'Back To Soul' LP.

What other info I've managed to find on her comes mainly from AllMusic's site - so many thanks to them for the following info.  After leaving James Brown she then recorded some stuff for End in 1965, then worked with Duke Ellington's band before joining the Brockington Choral Ensemble

WHEN MAJOR TOM MET THE WILD-EYED BOY AND MR WALKER

ARTIST: David Bowie; TITLE: Space Oddity; LABEL: PHILIPS; FORMAT: 7"; Cat. No.: BF 1801; YEAR: 1969; COUNTRY: UK

Welcome back from the Vinyl Consultancy now relocated down in here sometime sunny South Devon.

Today I'm focusing on Bowie's 1969 breakthrough - yep "Space Oddity".  As I'm sure everybody's well aware it was inspired by the moon landing of that year and another Bowie's songs about alienation, a subject first tackled on "The Gospel According To Tony Day" which cropped up on the flip side to the Laughing Gnome".  This is the 2nd version Bowie recorded - the first being for the soundtrack of "Love Me Till Tuesday", although the video for that version was then married with one when the song got to the number 1 slot in 1975.  The third and probably the starkest version is the 1980 version which premiered on British TV on New Year's Eve 1979/1980 and as precursor to "Ashes to Ashes" - making you wonder if the journey Major Tom was even into space at all!  The arrangements come courtesy of cellist Paul Buckmaster - and on the fadeout there seems to a nod in the direction of Ferde Grofé's "Grand Canyon Suite".

The flip side gives you the stripped down version of "The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud" which I prefer to full orchestrated version of the parent LP.  Here you just have Bowie on 12 string acoustic and Paul Buckmaster on cello.  Which has the advantage of being able to hearing the lyrics a lot more clearer which being swamped by orchestration (not producer Tony Visconti's fave tune perhaps?), and when you do it's clear to hear the influence that Scott Walker has having on Bowie's writing at time.  Interestingly this one of those songs the survived into the Ziggy era - as it's part of the farewell set recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon.  It's also from Bowie's Tibetan phase - part of the cycle that began with "Silly Boy Blue" on the 1st album, and completes with "Karma Man" which saw the light of day on Decca's "world Of David Bowie"set released just after the "Space Oddity" or David Bowie "2" if you will. And which apparently originated in Bowie's mine piece which he'd toured around the UK with Lyndsey Kemp in 1968.  The song was also one on Marc Bolan's favourites as well.

That's it for 2013 - here at the Vinyl Consultancy.  See you back again sometime early 2014!  Wishing you all the best for the festive season!

 

R.I.P. RAY MANZAREK - A QUICK TRIBUTE

Artist: THE DOORS; Title: LIGHT MY FIRE (Short Mono Version); Label: ELEKTRA; Format:7"; Cat. No.: EKSN 45014; Year: 1967; Country:UK.

Seeing as the man responsible to a large of extent of what made this seminal track from The Doors so distinctive died yesterday.  Here's a quick appreciation of what for many is their most recognizable track - namely "Light My Fire" released in 1967 and carried by the distinctive Vox organ sound of Ray Manzarek - which was borrowed from a certain Johann Sebastian Bach.  I'm discusssing the UK issued version of the 7" - which is the short version which doesn't have the showcase solos of Robby Krieger's flamenco inspired stylings (which was supposed to be feature of the track) or Ray Manzarek's  extended solo.  However unlike the US short version and subsequent UK reissues of the early and mid 70's there's no audible edit and it sounds like the groups playing the shorter cut all the way through - plus there's a bit of different in sound and playing - so I'm thinking towards this being the mono single mix.  The flip side is the sublime "The Crystal Ship" - which shows that Jim Morrison could do subtle after all!  

SOME PSYCHEDELIC FUNK/SOUL - CHESS CURIO CORNER

Artist: FUJI; Title: REVELATIONS (Pts. 1&2); Label: CADET; Format: 7"; Cat. No.: 5665; Year: 1969; Country: US.

Today's post - 1st in a while as I'm in the process of selling my house and moving down the West Country - is this curio released on Cadet in 1969 by "Revelations" by Fuji.  Which can be best described Pyschedelic Funk - and a bloody good example it is of it too.

Fuji - real name Ellington Jordan - released this gem in '69 backed by one of the 1st black rock band Black Merda - from Hendrix's hometown Seattle and songwise pretty much reflects the state of things in the States in the late 60's in cities like Detroit, which weren't great - especially so if you happened to be black.  It was planned to be part of an album but - as with a lot of these type of projects the album with the great title of 'Mary Don't Take Me On No Bad Trip' was shelved and finally saw the light of day as recently as 2005! Whether this was down to Chess' worries about alienating their traditional fan-base after the realease of Muddy Waters 'Electric Mud' I'm not sure - but it wouldn't surprise me. 

Music-wise does sound a lot like Hendrix then the fact that Fuji was friends with him certainly played a part and showed how much an influence he was having on black music in the late 60's - even influencing the likes of The Temptations and Chess label-mates Rotary Connection.

One other bit of info I did find on Fuji was that he co-wrote Etta James' anthem "I'd Rather Go Blind" - which you'd like to hope is a nice pension plan for him.

Bought this for £8 about 7 years ago - and seen it selling on Discogs for £22, and a DJ Promo copy on Popsike that went for $64.  And having played it again for the first time ages I can see why people'd want to pay that much for it - and it's a great example of that type cross-genre type of music which I'm a bit of a fan of. And as an example of Pyschedelic Funk - then look no further!

Quick thanks to whoever posted the biog info on Fuji on Discogs and Allhiphop.com - as it's always to have an idea of who these poeple are.