I’ve long been fascinated by RA Records ever since I stumbled onto Peter Rice’s web page on the label a few years back. RA were housed in Paignton (near Torquay) in Devon and even though it’s less than 100 miles from where I’m sat I rarely see anything RA shaped in my travels. So finally landing something in a local record shop which is actually a great record and not that dreadful Sid Gately record I keep finding (well, twice) is a joy.
Sharon Whitbread (who’s possibly responsible for one other record released in 1976 on Pye – will investigate) provides the albums vocals whilst ‘Fred’ (who’s real name is apparently Tony Heart) provides guitar. Sharon who was just 15/16 years old when she recorded this LP with ‘Fred’ (then aged 17) was clearly a big Buffy Sainte-Marie fan as she borrow Buffy’s wobbly vocal inflections and also covers Sainte-Marie’s ‘Must I Go Bound’.
The two standout tracks for me are ‘Lazeras’, a traditional American work song (usually know as ‘Po Lazarus’) that was also covered by Buffy Sainte-Marie. This is a similar take to Buffy’s with an added laidback funky bass guitar and backing vocals from RA’s Faraway Folk. The second is a version of British folk singer (and father to Kirsty) Ewan MacColl’s ‘Gypsy Song’ which adds bass, drums and a horn section into the mix and like ‘Lazeras’ it wanders into what I shall lazily label as ‘folk funk territory’.
The Sound Burger has long been sought after by the vinyl afflicted largely due to it’s size. It’s very bag friendly whereas the Handytrax, GP3, etc are not. Problem is Audio Technica stopped making these things decades ago so they’re tough to find, usually pricey and have issues playing records at the right speed.
The good news is that manufacturers of faux vintage audio equipment Crosley are bringing out a Sound Burger clone this summer called the ‘Revolution’ (see what they did there?). It includes a headphone jack, USB and possibly a speaker?? (if Crosley ever get back to me I’ll update this post). Regardless it should be a very useful tool for all future digs.
Much of the music I upload onto my blog I also add to my YouTube account and indeed a lot of music I don’t blog ends up there too. In many ways it’s a little simpler and less time consuming uploading music to YouTube and the feedback is better too. So subscribe to my YouTube channel or just keep visiting (the link is always up there on the top right) for a busier experience.
If you’re familiar with Syl Johnson’s ‘Is It Because I’m Black?‘ (you really should be) then you should be familiar with this too. ‘Soul Heaven’ by E Rodney Jones & Friends was a spoken word tribute to deceased greats Sam Cooke, Nat King Cole, Roy Hamilton, Billy Stewart, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong, which reused the Syl Johnson backing track. Whilst the a-side is interspersed with snippets of all the aforementioned artists music the b-side is an untouched ‘Is It Because I’m Black?’ instrumental.
Fairly tough to find on vinyl but available to all on Superfunk Volume 4 where you can find a considerably less battered version than mine.
Gilles Peterson has been over in Cuba to shine some light on the music scene recording a series of documentary shows for Radio 1 and putting together an LP of new music. Bonus-beats-wise you get footage of an excited Gilles digging in an unamed store in Havana. Memorise that store front.
Spine TV seems to come and go but when it’s there it’s definitely worth checking out. Lots of gems to be viewed in the current incarnation plus live streaming video of DJ MK, Harry Love and guests many evenings (UK time zone). Here’s a brief guided tour of some of New York’s record shops from a mixtape king and DJ Amir Abdullah.
In New York again this time focusing on A-1 Records and their overstocked basement.
Some fella digging in Mumbai. Bollywood scores aplenty.
Fascinating one this. The backing track is a reworking of Jack Hammer’s ‘Swim‘ (also produced by Miki Dallon). No idea if these were recorded around the same time as each other, ‘Swim’ was issued in 1971 and ‘Dial My Number’ in 1976, although it does sound earlier. I suspect this was an unreleased track they decided to issue as a b-side (anyone with any additional information feel free to share). Either way it’s a storming slice of funky rock that demands 11 on your volume control.
I first heard this earlier in the year via a mix over at VG+ (cheers Al). Funky big band jazz is something I need to explore a lot more of, there’s something about those punchy horns and that big funk groove that rarely fails to satisfy and this track definitely delivers on both fronts. Featuring a sixteen man horn section (including a Alan Skidmore tenor solo), two drummers, two keyboard players, two bassists; what more could you need?
Oh and if you need tips for similar (I know I do) then here would be a good place to start. Enjoy.
As I mentioned before there have been a fair few vinyl related videos cropping up online of late but few (if any) are as fascinating and inspiring as Belgian vinyl maven Jean Roger who details several decades of digging. Superbly put together by the Laid Back crew (I hope there’s more like this coming); be sure to check out their superb radio player and check out JR playing records and being interviewed (in Belgian) on Laid Back radio.
Heavy psych rock cover of a track originally by Manfred Mann Chapter Three (it opens their debut album). As good as the original is the Rainbow Family really knock it out of the park delivering a huge version of the track. No idea who they were though (anyone?).
