Another Record Roundup

Hello, everyone. It's been a long while since I posted anything to this blog, but now I'm ready with a few choice 45s to rap to you about. A few weeks ago, I went to the Indy record show and, while my take wasn't anything spectacular, I still managed to lasso a few interesting ones, which I will now tell you about.

Toussaint McCall: I'm Gonna Make Me A Woman (Ronn 90)

You probably know Mr. McCall for his tender ballad "Nothing Takes The Place Of You" and his organ instrumentals, but here's one that's a full soul stomper! McCall's vocals are as smooth as velvet, but he rocks to the fast beat quite nicely, as the band rocks out. There's some wicked guitar work here, as well as loud, piercing brass, heavy bass and out-of-control drumming. It all blends together to make a really rocking package, one that I highly recommend you find.

Jerry Washington: Baby Don't Leave Me (Excello EX 2336)

I've been listening to a lot of funky stuff from my collection lately, so it's no surprise that this one is as funky as they come. This 1973 piece comes equipped with Mr. Washington's shrieking vocals and screams, plus some crazy wah-wah guitar work, tasty horns and a rollicking beat that ought to make you get up and groove. I don't know much about Mr. Washington other than this is one funky as all hell piece and that matters, y'know?

The Rondels: Satan's Theme (Amy 830)

You would think with a title like "Satan's Theme" that this would be more rocking, but it's only pretty good. It's got a twangy guitar melody line and blastin' sax riffs that do satisfy, but it's not as wild as I expected it to be. This comes from 1961 and was one of five singles The Rondels released on the Amy label between '61 and '62, of which I highly recommend you find "Back Beat #1" and "110 Pounds of Drums." This one's okay, too, but not really one of my favorites. Guess the ol' devil was asleep for this one.

The Damien St. Thomas Show: Roll Over Beethoven (Harbour HB 307)

I couldn't find any information on this act at all, only listings on people's "sale" lists and even a couple of radio show playlists. I'm assuming this is from the early 70's, but I'm not 100% on that. I do know that it's a slow, funky take on the Chuck Berry classic with plenty of funky guitar, rockin' horns, shrieking girlie chorus and Wilson Pickett-style shoutin' and screamin'. Wish I knew more, but I'm still very much enjoying this one. By the way, Harbour was a subsidiary of Buddah.

Rasputin's Stash: Mr. Cool (Cotillion 44137)

From 1971, this single was taken from the first of two albums by a group formed out of Chicago session musicians. It's slow funk time again, but this time, we get some real cool vocals about a pimp. They call him Mr. Cool and he once made love to the "presidential lady," whom he used to call Sister Sadie." Don't call him no agitator because when he gets down to it, he's a smooth operator. This one's characterized by smooth vocals, electric piano and organ blending together, wicked fuzz guitar and soulful horns. One of the coolest records I found on this trip.

Boyd Bennett and His Rockets: Move (King 5115)

We take you now to 1958 and one of many 45s Mr. Bennett recorded between 1955 and 1959 for the King label. Bennett also had Top 40 hits with "Seventeen" and "My Boy Flat Top during this time. The dealer I got this from also had several other Bennett 45s, but he pointed my direction to this being the best one and I'm mighty glad he did. It's a wild piece of rockabilly with a stompin' beat, great guitar work, crazy sax and a solid vocal performance from Mr. Bennett. Probably not the craziest rockabilly out there, but a damn good one nonetheless.

Tamiko Jones: Ya Ya (A&M 956)

This one comes from 1968 and features a funky take on the Lee Dorsey classic. Ms. Jones' vocals are smooth and silky, and she's accenuated by lots of funky guitar, pumpin' piano and big, bold, jazzy brass. The jazzy brass is because this record was produced by Creed Taylor of CTI Records, who would later produce Deodato's 1973 hit version of "Also Sprach Zarathustra."

That's all for now. Hopefully, that'll hold you until I can get back to a computer that works.