I hate it when I can't find information on certain obscure groups. I enter the name in "Google" and all I can find are maybe a couple of listings on someone's radio show somewhere. Such is the case with this item, which is too bad because judging from this, this group really had a unique sound and it would have been nice to know if they ever recorded an album or not.
Let's see now, how do I accurately describe this thing? It's funky, but not quite funk. It's got soul, but it's not in any straight category we collectors may know of. It's also pretty damn loud. Two vocalists, one out-of-control harmonica player, one equally wild sax, something that sounds like a farfisa, crazy drumming and heavy bass all combining to create glorious, brash soul funk noise....or something like that.
Especially don't miss the sax/harmonica duet toward the end of "Love Train," in which the sax and the harmonica get into a nasty tussle, the harmonica gets higher, the sax starts honking like a duck with laryngitis and harmonica and sax inevitably crash into each other. There's a similar workout on their cover of "Shotgun" on the flip, except this time, the sax dukes it out with a flute, but they both cut the fuse before they had a chance to light it.
However you dice 'em, these are two sweet stompers that take soul and shoot it off into orbit. If you see this floatin' around, your impulse should be to grab it on sight. You don't know what you're missing if you don't.
6 comments:
DAMN - I read your stuff quite often, and almost always end up wishing you could post MP3's of your finds!!!!!!
Describing an awsome music track to the eyes is OK...... Ever tried dancing to a description? ehh. Have you? - I'ts not easy, that I can tell you.
My copy is an priginal promo copy with SHOTGUN designated as the A side; It's a fine piece of production from John Hammond Senior, that's for sure!!
A recent score for me at the infamous Rockin' Billy's all-things-must-go furniture showroom in Indy. Yep, it's a great one.
Thanks for the only write up one could find on this song. I can add Moe is Moe Pelham, Adrian is Adrian Guillery and the Sculptors are: Bob Larimer on drums, Eric Kaz on Harmonica, S.J. Gandy on electric bass, Frank Woode on tenor sax and Jeremy Steig on flute. All hail from New York City. Also this release came with a picture sleeve.
Thanks for bringing this old gem to light. I've got a copy of the single around somewhere, and as I remember this came out around '66. Given that the sleeve had fairly elaborate cover art and a write-up, both kind of unusual for a single, it seems they had at least some record company muscle at the outset. Never heard anything more from them, so I guess that's when Jeremy Steig took off on his own.
They became Jeremy & the Satyrs. Did a really good LP.
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