The Beeds - "You Don't Have To"/"Run To Her" (Team)

This here item is what we, in the record collecting racket, call a two-sider. And it's quite a surprise, too. I picked it up at a flea market, expecting it to be average bubblegum, considering it's on a Buddah subsidiary, Team, and bears the marking "A Product of Kasenetz-Katz Assoc." Well, you get two different flavors here: one side of punchy bubblegum goodness, the other a folk-rock cut with a nice garage pop feel. Try 'em both.

What little information I've been able to gather comes from the blog Flowering Toilet (floweringtoilet.blogspot.com). And even they weren't able to gather much, other than that the record comes from 1968 and is one of two 45s the group released. (The other, "Love Hurts"/"You're Wrong," released on the actual Buddah imprint, is from 1971.) The writer-producer credits, Norman Mazarro and Buddah vet Jimmy Calvert (Calvert also arranged both songs) lead me to believe that this was a studio concoction, but nothing can be confirmed at this point. A reader to the blog mentioned that the group was originally called The Cat's Meow and hailed from Long Island. Other than that, The Beeds remain shrouded in mystery.

Now, on to the record itself. "You Don't Have To" is the punchy bubblegum side, not too dissimilar to anything bearing the Kasenetz-Katz seal, but with a slightly harder edge. It all but screams out "bubblegum" as it hits your ears from the opening drum roll and the repeated chorus "You don't have to if you don't want to/And you know you won't have to if you don't care." But it's pumped up with juicy rhythm guitar and pounding drums that blend in with the somewhat nasal vocalizing. You can picture some kid in 1968 jumping up and down messing up his bedroom as this comes on the AM transistor radio.

While I am not a big fan of the poppy side of garage, I have to admit that "Run To Her" is really starting to grow on me. Its sad lyrics tell of adolescent confusion and unrequited love. The singer knows that his girlfriend is leaving on a midnight plane never to return, so he's asking the girl's best friend what he should do. Should he run to her and tell her how much he loves her? He tells his tale of woe under a melancholy arrangement complemented with ringing accoustic guitars and popping organ. It's 2:15 of sheer garage pop joy. At least I think it is.

Either way, you win with this one.

Comments, please.

The Dave Clark Five - Five By Five

One of the great things about record collecting is that I never know what I'll find. Hardly a digging session goes by that I don't find something completely new to me. That would include running across an unknown record by a known band. Here's a great example of that, "Five By Five" by The Dave Clark Five.

Now, let me start by saying that I'm not the biggest DC5 fan you'll run into. In fact, I can take or leave a lot of their material and even have a bit of disdain for some of their remakes (I think their take on "I Like It Like That" is absolutely hideous). But, let's forget that for now because "Five By Five" is an absolute gem of a record.

Tucked away on the b-side of a pretty uninspiring 1970(!!) single called "Here Comes Summer" (sort of the Beach Boys meet country rock), "Five By Five" is a walloping instrumental, with pounding drums, buzzing and screeching guitars, plus a dose of organ. It's very mod sounding. Some might even call it freakbeat. I just call it pretty great.

Hello and Some Recent Finds

I'm finally back. I haven't been around around recently for various reasons. Mainly, I had a bad sinus cold a few weeks ago, that turned into an ear infection and, finally, a shattered eardrum. I'm doing great now and my hearing is almost back to normal but I felt pretty lousy there for awhile. Amazing how weak something like that can leave you.

Because of my infirmary, I had to miss the St. Louis record show earlier this month. However, I've managed to get out in the wild and do some digging. So, in lieu of a list of record show finds, I thought that I'd share some of the other records I've picked up over the past month or so. There's a little bit of everything here.

Hank Ballard & the Midnighters - Keep On Dancing/Nothing But Good (King)
The Invictas - Breakout (20th Century Fox)
Brenda Lee - Let's Jump The Broomstick (Decca)
Albert King - Dyna Flow (King)
Bobby Marchan - Hooked (Cameo)
Freddy Cannon - Cincinnati Woman (Warner Bros.)
The Dave Clark Five - Five By Five (Epic)
The Aardvarks - Subconcious Train of Thought (Arch)
Googie Rene - The Slide (Rendezvous)
The Dodgers - Upturn (Top Rank)
Johnny Preston - Leave My Kitten Alone (Mercury)
Bill Doggett - Buttered Popcorn/The Slush (King)
Link Wray & the Wraymen - Slinky (Epic)
The Vibrations - Keep On Keeping On (OKeh)
Chuck Berry - Club Nitty Gritty (Mercury)
Cliff Richard - Dynamite (ABC-Paramount)
The Del Vikings - Little Billy Boy (Dot)
The Bobbettes - Speedy/Come-a Come-a (Atlantic)
Dale Hawkins - My Babe (Checker)
Bobby Day - The Bluebird, The Buzzard & The Oriole (Class)
Bobby Lewis - Oh Baby/Mumbles Blues (Mercury)
Betty Everett - Better Tomorrow Than Today (Uni)
George Stone - My Beat (Musicor)
The Boys In the Band - Sumpin Heavy (Spring)
Chubby Checker - Back In The U.S.S.R./Windy Cream (Buddah)
The Daydreams - Been Ready For A Long Time (Dynamo)
The Voxpoppers - Come Back Little Girl (Poplar)
David Knight - Hully Gully Baby (Jamco)
Buddy Ace - Jump Up And Shout (Duke)
Jackie Cray - Maybelle/I Want You Baby (Limelight)
Slade - O.K. Yesterday Was Yesterday (Warner Bros.)
Maureen Cannon - Mama-Come Save Your Child (Jubilee)
Gloria Walker & the Chevelles - Need of You (Flaming Arrow)
Johnny Maddox Orchestra featuring Jackie Little - Hands Off (Dot)
Jackie Wilson & Linda Hopkins - Yes Indeed (Brunswick)
The Visions - Tell Her Now (Coed)
Willard Posey Reunion - Medley: Cissy Strut/American Woman (Fame)
Willie Mitchell - Ooh Baby, You Turn me On (Hi)
Dennis Coffey & the Lyman Woodard Trio - It's Your Thing (Maverick)
Mr. Lee & the Caddies - Everybody's Going To the Party (ABC-Paramount)
Marty Robbins - Pretty Mama (Columbia)
Sanford Clark - 9 lb. Hammer/Ooh Baby (Dot)
Ramsey Lewis - Money In the Pocket (Cadet)
Funkadelic - I Wanna Know If It's Good To You? (Westbound)
Syndicate of Sound - Rumors (Bell)
The Isley Brothers - Pop That Thang (T Neck)

I'll be back soon with another post, complete with sound file.

Taj Mahal - "Everybody's Got To Change Sometime" (Columbia)

Hello again, everyone. I hope you're ready for a smokin' piece of funky blues this round. This is another record that Todd turned me onto. When I heard it, I knew I had to find me a copy and pronto! Luckily, I found one pretty cheap and, of course, it's been getting a lot of spins on the old turntable. It's today's selection by the one and only Taj Mahal.

Mahal has had a lengthy and legendary career as one of America's most prominent blues musicians. However, his music has also included many influences including gospel, reggae, Cajun and African traditions. Today's cut, though, is straight-ahead blues and it is hot! It was recorded in 1967 and released in 1968 as part of Taj Mahal's first released, self-titled album. On it, Mahal recorded songs by many well-known blues artists, including Robert Johnson and, with this cut, Sleepy John Estes, whom Mahal references briefly as the record fades out.

Mahal's band here includes Ry Cooder and Jesse Ed Davis on guitars, James Thomas on Bass and Sanford Konikoff on drums. (Note: I got this information from Wikipedia, who are not always known for their accuracy, so if any corrections need to be made, please feel free to tell me.) They start off the song with slammin' drums and scorching guitars as Mahal growls out the vocals. When it's time for a guitar solo, Mahal goes "SMOKE THAT GUITAR, BOY, SMOKE THAT GUITAR!" and the guitarist does exactly what he's told. In fact, the whole band is smokin' throughout the barely three-minute running time.

And that's that. If I were the creator of this world, this burnin' number would be on the top of the charts everywhere. But the album was acclaimed when it first came out and it started Mahal off on his amazing career, which continues on to this very day. You can check out his latest doings on his website, http://www.tajblues.com/. In the meantime, let's enjoy a 45 where the bluesman and his band are laying out some heavy grooves. And remember: "SMOKE THAT GUITAR, BOY, SMOKE THAT GUITAR!!"

Indy Show Finds - May Edition

Hello all. Sorry for the long gaps in postings, but Todd's been sick and I haven't been feeling so well lately myself. Oh, okay, I've been lazy. So, to tide you over to the next posting (which for me will be sometime this week, I hope), here's a little report on a digging excursion I went on. Last Sunday was one of our bi-monthly record shows here in Indy. I don't quite have the digging stories that Fleamarket Funk has, but I somehow manage to find some cool stuff. Here's how it all went down:

The Fame Gang: Grits and Gravy (Fame)
Ronnie Self: Ain't I'm A Dog (Columbia)
Ace Cannon: Drunk (Hi)
The Jolly Jax: Pony Shuffle (Airmaster)
The Zeet Band: Moogie Boogie (Chess)
Eddie and Ernie: You Give Me Love To Go On (Revue)
Lowell Fulsom: The Thing (Kent)
The Choir: It's Cold Outside (Canadian American)
The Thundertones: Hot Ice (Dot)
The Olympics: Good Lovin' (Loma)
Tommy James and the Shondells: Gotta Get Back To You (Roulette)
Johnny Otis Orchestra: Wa Wa (Parts 1 and 2) (Dig)
Jackie Lee: Your P-E-R-S-O-N-A-L-I-T-Y (Mirwood)
Aaron Neville: Space Man (Par Lo)
Charles Hodges: Slip Around (Calla)
Jimmy McGriff: The Bird (Capitol)
Jimmy McGriff: Chip!! Chip!! (Jell)
The Stereos: I Feel Soul A-Coming (Cadet)
Buzzie: Stone Soul Booster (Gordy)
The Radiants: Hold On (Chess)
Shirley Ellis: The Nitty Gritty (Congress)
John Barry: Zulu Stamp (United Artists)
Wilson Pickett: I Can't Stop (Double L)
The Moody Blues: This Is My House (But Nobody Calls)(London)
Jumpin' Gene Simmons: Keep That Meat in the Pan (Hi)
Ohio Express: Hot Dog (Super K)
Rufus Thomas: 6-3-8/Love Trap (Stax)
Buster Benton: Good to the Last Drop (Jewel)

And that's about it. A good chunk o'soul with a few touches of bubblegum and rockabilly with a garage classic. Not bad for a morning's haul. If you see a record or two on this list that you have a curiosity about, please feel free to leave comments. C'mon, we don't bite.

Back a little later with a smokin' hot record by Taj Mahal.