Weekend Digs

I was going to do one more installment in my St. Louis record show series. But I got a chance to get out and cruise the area a bit on Sunday, which of course included making various stops, digging for records. One of those stops proved worthwhile, as I found some good things for just a quarter per. It was in a big, old antique store that's only open some of the time. I'd been there once before without much luck. This time, they had a new pile of dusty 45's.

Now, let me preface the rest of this post by saying that the records pictured here, plus the rest of the keepers I found are not in, er, pristine condition. But for just two bits each, how can you go wrong? If nothing else, it's a great way to audition unheard discs to see if it's worth trying to track down a better copy. Anyhow, here are the most interesting and best of my Sunday finds.

McKinley Sandifer - "Get Up (If You Want To Be Somebody)" (U.S.A.) I found some pretty good soul on Sunday, including things by, The Volumes, Cicero Blake, The Knight Brothers and an early Al Greene disc. This one was the best of the lot though. I don't know the year of release but I'd guess 1968. "Get Up" is a very funky number, with heavy drums, guitar, organ, and a sax break. McKinley Sandifer handles the vocal duties and is supported with some good female backing. It's a dance number with a tip of the hat to "Tighten Up", plus a definite James Brown influence. A winner.


The Wylde Heard - "Stop It Girl" (Philips) I just love it when a 60's garage disc rears its head. It's not like these things are falling from the sky, so it's great when one pops up out of the blue. I don't know much about The Wylde Heard, except that they were supposedly from Peoria, IL and this record was originally issued on a smaller imprint before being picked up by Philips. The year of release is listed as either 1966 or '67. "Stop It Girl" is drenched in haunting organ work, with lots of stinging, fuzzed out guitar. The vocal is fairly manic, as the poor guy sounds all stressed out over his woman and her use of the word "love", just like all of her other four letter words. Yikes! Anyway, I love this as heavy garage, with just a bit of pysch thrown into the mix.


Rene Waters - "Zoomerang Jungle Fever" (Soma) Soma is one of my favorite labels. Beginning in the late 1950's, the Minneapolis imprint released all sorts of great rock and roll right on through the garage era, including lots of obscure stuff. When I spot the yellow label, I'm usually expecting to find The Castaways' "Liar Liar", by far the most common record on Soma. A few other titles turn up with regularity but today's disc certainly isn't one of them. At least I'd never seen nor even heard of it before. Odd too because "Zoomerang Jungle Fever" appears to be from 1965, though it sounds like it could have been recorded several years before. Don't know a lick about Rene Waters, including whether he released any other records. Here though, he turns in a winner, a mid-tempo rocker that starts with the sound of jungle drums and includes piano and a guitar break. Waters sings about the zoomerang jungle fever shrinking the head of the guy who was after his girl. At the end, he asks, "I've got my magic zoomerang, have you got yours?". Yep, now I do.


Shorty Bacon and His Rhythm Rascals - "Speakin of Angels" (Ozark) I assumed Ozark must be out of Missouri, though the RCS site lists it as a California label. It also has "Speakin of Angels" as a 1960 release. The song is country and western based, stylistically a bit like the recently departed Buck Owens and his band. It's taken at mid-tempo, with piano, guitar, bass and drums. Indeed the guitar and piano get an instrumental break. Shorty Bacon proves to be an excellent country crooner, delivering a very engaging vocal. This is just the type of country music that I enjoy. Too bad that it's totally lost on today's "fan".

Buck Owens and the Buckaroos: Johnny B. Goode (Capitol)

Buck Owens: 1929-2006
I know we don't usually do country on this blog, but Saturday I got the very sad news that Buck Owens passed away at age 76. Another of the good ones gone. I even remember as a child how "Hee Haw" used to be one of our Saturday night stables at our house. There he'd be pickin' his red, white and blue guitar to Roy's grinnin' and thumpin' away on the banjo. Sure, the show was corny as it could be, but it was also a lot of fun and gave some good exposure to a lot of top country stars of the period.

But "Hee Haw" shouldn't obscure Owens' real achievements: 20 #1 hits on the country chart and most of all, that Bakersfield sound that always gave his records an extra dose of snap. It should also be noted that Owens thought very highly of the Beatles and also dipped into rock 'n' roll whenever the feeling was right. Witness his thoughtful cover of The Drifters' "Save The Last Dance For Me" and maybe you'll get the feeling that Owens wasn't just your average country star.

You may think that "Johnny B. Goode" was a strange choice for him and the Buckaroos to cover, and it certainly seemed that way to me when I found this in someone's 50-cent box last weekend. But a little research opens up the fact that this was one of Buck's 20 #1 country chart toppers. It was recorded live at the London Palladium and it shows Buck and the boys getting down to business right away with as raucous a verision as a country group can get. It sounds like they're having a good time right from the get-go and the audience gets the rousing opening song it deserves, complete with a crackerjack Don Rich solo to seal the deal. (At least that's the way it sounds here, as the record opens with "And now, let's give a warm London Palladium welcome country-style for the world's number one country artist, Buck Owens and the Buckaroos!" True words, those be.)

What else can I say? Maybe it's not the most stellar Buck Owens selection I could've picked, but it still captures the good-time essence of Owens and his Buckaroos quite nicely. But again, it's only one facet of the man's rich music career. Rather than try and fail miserably to wax poetic, let's just close with "RIP, Buck. You will be greatly missed."

Margarita "Cha Cha" Sierra: Cha Cha Twist (Warner Brothers)

Margarita "Cha Cha" Sierra
Here again we have another example of the twist mania that was pouring over the country in the early 60s. This time around, we have what appears to be a cross-breeding of the twist, and another popular dance craze, the cha cha. Or maybe it's called that because "Cha-Cha" was the name of a character this Spanish singer-dancer-actress played on a short-lived series called "Surfside 6." The label lists Miss Sierra as a star of Warner Brothers Television and a look at her credits on the Internet Movie Database reveals only "Surfside 6" and a 1957 appearance on the Jack Paar show. It also reveals that she died of heart disease at only age 27.

So, how do I describe this thing? Well, for one thing it's got a typical big production sound of the period as if they really didn't know or feel rock 'n' roll in their bones. But then, ol' Margarita comes and sauces up the works. "1-2-cha cha cha/Cha cha twist," she purrs and she keeps this Spanish-flavored purring delivery all the way through the record. She also has this habit of going "EEE-YOO" in between the verses. EX: "Let's do the cha cha twist. EEE-YOU." Then, there's a nice little guitar break in between Miss Sierra's vocalizing. We also get a standard 1960s mens' chorus starting things off with "Let's do the cha cha twist" and popping up with that ever so often. But it's Margarita's purring and panting that moves this into the memorable.

This was something I found in a 50-cent bin at a record show here in Indy over the weekend. While I didn't find anything too spectacular, I did find a number of interesting items, of which this was one. Thus, "It's Great Shakes" pays a little tribute to a long-forgotten starlet.....or more likely, someone I'd never even heard of until now. Such is life.

More Favorites

Here are still more goodies from the St. Louis record fair.

The Unrelated Segments - "Where You Gonna Go?" (Liberty) How's this for a cool find? And it cost under $2. Fans of 60's garage rock need no introduction to these Michigan boys. Not sure how tough this one is to dig up but I was surprised when I pulled it from an unsleeved pile of 45's. From 1967, "Where You Gonna Go?" has a nice, big guitar sound, snotty vocals and a great beat. It's one of those records that is so cool, you find it hard to believe that it came so cheaply. I must just be lucky. Now if only I can locate the rest of their output at a similar price.



Travis Wammack - "It's Karate Time"/"Night Train" (Atlantic) Here's the one record that I laid out $5 for at the show. I'd never heard it but knew it had to be a great one. Both sides here are instrumental, with some screams thrown in for effect on "It's Karate Time". Otherwise, that tune is taken at mid-tempo, with heavy drums and, of course, Travis Wammack's distinctive guitar sound. It turns out that I'm diggin' his version of "Night Train" on the flipside even better. It starts with a drum beat that builds in momentum, a la a train pulling out of the station. Then, Wammack's whacked out guitar takes lead on the most blistering version of the classic tune I've ever heard. Good thing it's short or derailment would have been a strong possibility.



Rex Garvin & the Mighty Cravers - "Go Little Willie"/"Emulsified" (Okeh) Ah, finally a Rex Garvin record graces my collection. Don't let the crummy scan fool ya, the record plays and sounds great. The info I have at hand indicates this was first released on Epic in 1961 and appeared two years later on Okeh. "Go Little Willie" has a big beat, wailing sax and some cool organ sounds. The vocal is strong and the words dance oriented, definitely a great, upbeat r&b tune. It also sounds like it owes a bit to calypso or something. "Emulsified" is taken a bit slower and has a tougher sound but is no less designed for shakin' your body. The organ and sax are back and the lead vocal is outstanding. This side borrows more heavily from the gospel side of things. All in all, a terrific two-sider.


Little Beaver - "Funkadelic Sound" (Cat) This was a surprise. I've seen Little Beaver singles on several occasions but never this one. He's probably best known for "Party Down", a huge r&b hit in 1974 and a record I never seem to find in anything less than hammered condition. "Funkadelic Sound" is from the year before and actually a b-side. It's very funky, indeed owing a big debt of gratitude to James Brown. It has an extended instrumental section in the middle, with a whole lot of guitar. And the vocal is outstanding, with lots of screams right out of the J.B. school. A great and unexpected find.

That's about it for this time. I'll be back with more in a few days.

Some Favorite Record Show Finds

I'm sorry that it's taken so long to post again about my record show scores. At least now I've had time to comb through what I brought home with me. Here are some favorites from my haul, none of which I'd ever heard before last week.

The Majestics - "Oasis, Part 1"/"Part 2" (Chess) I wonder how many groups have called themselves The Majestics over the years? I have no idea whether these Majestics released any other material or not. "Oasis" was their only record on Chess but Brian has informed me that he has this on a different, smaller label. So maybe Chess only picked it up for national release. Anyway, "Oasis" is a sax and drum laden instrumental from 1961. There's also some guitar but here's the thing - you'll want to make sure to flip the record over and play part two because the guitar gets to cut loose and the sax is wilder too. Part one is good but don't get lulled into thinking that the flipside is merely a carbon copy, as is so often the case.


The Bad Boys - "Love"/"Black Olives" (Paula) "Love" has to be just about my favorite find at the record show. In fact, it's one of my favorite finds in recent memory. It's a revved up, r&b tinged, 1966 garage rocker. If you need a vague reference point, imagine a really garagey version of "Turn On Your Love Light". The lead guitar is loud, the call and response vocals on the chorus give the song a gospel feel and it clips along so quickly that the whole thing is over in under two minutes. I see a sweat soaked club, not to mention repeated spins. "Black Olives" is a mid-tempo instumental groove, with some nice guitar and an organ break. Charlie Daniels co-produced both sides. I'm not sure if he had any further invlovement with the band.


Little Junior Parker - "Barefoot Rock" (Duke) I just love blues based, rock and roll guitar. By that, I don't mean the histrionics and incessant noodling that became the norm after rock and roll "matured". No, I'm talking about exactly what's on this record. So go find a copy and see what I mean. "Barefoot Rock" is from about 1958 and sounds very much influenced by Larry Willimas' early rockers, yet another point in its favor. It's a rock and roll dance tune, with an excellent vocal, the afroementioned cool guitar, plus a wailing sax break. Yep, it has all of the necessary ingredients and whips them into a tasty treat.


The Del-Mars - "Snacky Poo, Part 1"/"Part 2" (Mercury) I'm not sure how this one eluded me for so long. Not only is it right up my alley but it's also supposed to be a fairly easy find. Yet, I don't recall even hearing of it before my latest record show foray. It just goes to show that there's never going to be an end to discovering great, new things. "Snacky Poo" is really just a rewrite of "Bertha Lou", pretty much the exact same tune with new lyrics. Of course, if you're going to rehash something, "Bertha Lou" is a pretty good bet. Plus, The Del-Mars give us a really raucous rendition, something I now consider a must have. Pretty good for a song that'd never entered my consciousness until about a week ago.

A few quickies

Joey Welz: "Hey Rattlesnake" (Leedle)

Joey Welz is best known for hitting the keys for Bill Haley's Comets, so it's no surprise that there's a lot of rollicking piano in this groover from around 1965 or so. While this isn't too spectacular, it's still a nice little mover and shaker, almost good enough to be a Freddy Cannon record from the same period. (That's who this reminds me of.) Besides, you can't go wrong with lines like these:

"Shake your head,
Shake your thigh,
Shake it baby,
till you think you'll die."

Brilliance? I think so, too. So, hey, rattlesnake, let me see you shake!

Jimmy McCracklin and his Blues Blasters: "Savoy's Jump" (Irma)

A year before "The Walk," McCracklin' cut this crackling (pun not intended) blues jump mover about a place he knows where they play the dirty blues at midnight. There's also a bartender that weighs about 200 pounds, and "if you start some jive/there can be no doubt/that big bartender's gonna throw you out!" Blazing saxes and poundin' piano abound throughout this raver that's been hitting my turntable with regularity these past few weeks.

Chuck Jackson: "Hound Dog" (Wand)

Here's where Elvis gets the soul treatment. Jackson takes a couple of Presley standards (the other being "Love Me Tender") and embellishs them with a deep soul treatment that's tasty on the ears. We're concentrating on his take on "Hound Dog" for this review because it's the side of this 45 that I happen to like better. The all-out raucousness of the Elvis version is not present here. Instead the beat is slowed down to a funky crawl worthy of Stax's Al Jackson, while Chuck's delivery suggests Wilson Pickett at his down and dirtiest. Jackson also cut another worthy soul mover 'n' shaker called "Candy," but he's better known for his ballads, like his biggest hit "Any Day Now." Since it's the movers 'n' shakers we dig the most in these parts, we can say that Chuck could deliver 'em about as stompin' as anyone and here's a little bit of evidence for you.

Back From St. Louis

I'm back from Sunday's record fair in St. Louis where I had a great time. I spent a good portion of the day up to my elbows in records. And, once again, I made out like a bandit, scoring all sorts of good things. Didn't pay over $5 for anything and most everything I got was two bucks or less. It'll take me quite some time to comb through it all.

Today, I thought that I'd post a few discs that I haven't heard before and know virtually nothing about. I grabbed 'em because they were cheap and otherwise looked promising. They might be great or could be stinkers. Let's find out.

Eddy "G" Giles and The Jive 5 - "Eddy's Go-Go Train" (Murco) Without checking, I have no idea whether this Jive 5 is related to the "My True Story" guys or not. Anyway, this is a really good, up-tempo soul dance number with shouted vocals and a cool organ break. Too bad it's over so quickly, clocking in at a shade under two minutes. Definitely worth springing for, if you spot a copy.


Johnny Bridgeforth - "Moon Flight" (Champion) I did a quick web search on this one that turned up virtually nothing. It's mostly Johnny at the organ, with some bass accompaniment. It's nothing funky or overly compelling but swings a bit and isn't too bad. Interestingly, this and "Blue Organ" on the flipside are both co-credited to James Brown. Okay but not one to go out of the way for.


The Meditations - "Transcendental Meditation" (World Pacific) This one looks to be from the mid to late 60's and sounds like it too. Really slow, dreary pop and not too good at that. About the only interesting thing happening is a bit of sitar and it's mostly in the background. There's even a cornball spoken part in the middle. Maybe good, if you're having trouble getting to sleep at night but otherwise pretty worthless.


Vince Edwards - "Squeelin Parrot (Twist)" (Russ-Fi) Ah, this is more like it, an upbeat sax rocker, with some cool guitar. A bit of a novelty, with someone chiming in like a parrot throughout but don't let that scare you off. The "regular" vocal is excellent and the record is just too fun to and rocking to pass up. Highly recommended.


Lord Rockingham's XI - "Fried Onions"/"The Squelch" (London) I can tell you that these guys were British and this record is from about 1958. Apparently, they really had eleven members too. "Fried Onions" isn't bad, with horns, sax, a few backing vocals and some sound effects thrown in. "The Squelch" is similar but more upbeat and swinging. Both sides are pretty good but with that many players I'd hoped for someone to play a guitar. Oh well, still worth a buck or so.


The Renaissance - "Mary Jane (Get Off The Devil's Merry-Go-Round)" (Parkway) Given the Parkway label design, this must be from somewhere around 1967 or '68. "Mary Jane" is a mid-tempo number, that sound-wise is caught somewhere between garage psych and The Partridge Family. Interesting, since the song has strong drug overtones. There is some pretty good guitar that pops up a couple of times. The flipside is "Daytime Lovers" and actually pretty catchy pop rock. Yep, the lead vocalist indeed sounds a bit like David Cassidy but that's not an automatic deduction around these parts. Interesting and worth hanging on to.

Just a quick note

No big record review today. Just wanted to post that I'm off to St. Louis tomorrow morning for the record fair. Living in a rural area, I only get to a couple of shows per year, if I'm lucky. Even St. Louis is a 100 mile drive and by far the closest major city. Given those facts, I'm giddy like a kid at Christmas when it comes to being close to so many records at the same time. Last year, I made it to one show in Indy and one in St. Louis, pretty much cleaning up on the cheapies at each. I'll start posting my haul on Tuesday or so, as I sort through everything. If I do as well as I did last year, I'll have a lot to write about. Stay tuned for a full report.