Tuesday, March 14, 2006

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.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Bad Boys had no further involvement with Charlie Daniels after that 45. They later became known as Flavor, and recorded for Columbia. They used to be known as Dmitri & The Bad Boys.

Todd Lucas said...

Jeff, thanks for the additional information and the clarification regarding Charlie Daniles.