Archive for the 'Vinyl Recordings' Category

Waiting On You
Pointer Sisters (Official Site, Wikipedia, Twitter)
Having A Party, 1977
Blue Thumb/ABC
(CD, iTunes, Amazon)

Shout to Maggie Stein for putting me onto this, probably the most consistent Pointer Sisters album, back in the day. This is proof positive (one of many many examples) that the Pointer Sisters should be remembered for more than “Jump (For My Love)”/”I’m So Excited”/”Neutron Dance” et al.

Stevie Wonder is credited with playing keyboards and synthesizers on the album (along with two other people) and has a partial songwriting credit on “Bring Your Sweet Stuff Home To Me.” I’m not sure if he had anything to do with this song. It doesn’t “sound like him” as much as ‘Sweet Stuff’ does, but you never know. I’ve heard that he’s involved in far more records than album credits would suggest.

I love the tone of this song, it almost fits into my “inappropriately happy” category but not quite; it’s more an a chosen optimism in a bad situation.

I was going to say something about it being funny to think of the television networks also being in the music industry (this album was distributed by ABC which was bought by MCA in 1979) but as I was checking to see if there ever was an “NBC Records” (i don’t think so) and when Sony bought CBS Records (1988), I read that CBS Records is actually back from the dead. Who knew?

Songs are available for two weeks.

Heather
Billy Cobham (wikipedia)
Crosswinds, 1974
Atlantic Records

iTunes | amazon mp3s | CD

I played “93 ‘Til Infinity” a couple months back and my friend Jackie Sommer (of Analog Soul) came up to me and said that phrase I love to hear: ” You know what this samples right?” I didn’t and she told me it was Billy Cobham’s “Heather” which, of course, it turned out I already owned but hadn’t gotten around to listen to yet. I immediately went home and recorded it and then while catching up on the moovmnt blog last week, I came across this track from Black Spade (who I’ve featured before) which also uses “Heather” but in a mood much closer to the original.

The Black Spade track doesn’t hold together as a complete song (in my opinion) but I heart the first 1:10, especially:

it’s the history of our misery that’s keeping me from trying to succeed again, breathe again, love again, pray again, stay again, stay a friend.

The title track “Crosswind” was also sampled for a Golden Era hip hop track.

Songs are available for two weeks.

All The Way Around
Marvin Gaye (wikipedia)
I Want You, 1976
Tamla/Motown
iTunes | amazon mp3s | CD

Wow, how did I miss the song the first time(s) through? I was revisiting this album and this song just blew me away. I was more aggressive this month and played it as the last song of the night at I Love Vinyl.

Shouts to Leon Ware and Arthur ‘T-Boy’ Ross for writing this song, although I will say, for me this song is all about the music; the lyrics could be substituted with “da dee da” and I probably wouldn’t like it any less. My attention is always pulled to the sublime background harmonies in the left channel starting at :46. The interplay between the backgrounds and lead is really well done. The tough part about following the lyrics is that they are not only happening at different times, they are also (often) different words.

I just read the lyrics because I realized I didn’t really even know what the song is about. This one is a gem:

angel though you’re promiscuous i don’t mind a bit cause you’re still the greatest lay even when you’re miles away

Songs are available for two weeks.

Creepin’ (In My Dreams)
Tamiko Jones
7″ Single, 1975
Arista Records

Another gem from the 45 vaults. This is Tamiko Jones’ sultry cover of the Stevie Wonder classic that came out the year before. I don’t know much about her, I’ve had her song “Let It Flow” (which came out a year after this record) on my shopping list for years.

Songs are available for two weeks.

(I Got) So Much Trouble In My Mind Pt. 1
(I Got) So Much Trouble In My Mind Pt. 2
Joe Quarterman & Free Soul
7″ Single, 1972
GSF Records

This is another gem from the recently borrowed trove of 45s. I knew of Joe Quarterman and this song but only had the slightly contrived “South City Allstars Vs. Joe Quarterman” reworking of it and his “The Way They Do My Life” which is similar but not quite as dynamic.

Pt. 2 is definitely going on my list of tracks for the next I Love Vinyl party. I love that the first vocals you here (:33) are in the middle of a guitar solo and distorted and that when the “real” vocals come (back) in at 1:14 it’s a verse and not the (more likely) chorus.

My favorite part of Part 1 is the unlikely squelchy guitar chord @ 2:05.

Songs are available for two weeks.

Intimate Friends
Eddie Kendricks
7″ Single, 1977
Motown Records

We scheduled set times at the last I Love Vinyl party until 3:30 a.m. and after that it was sort of a free for all. This is the song I wanted to end the party with, but I didn’t elbow my way to the turntable in time.

Does anyone know the where this song first came out? This 45 says it’s from his “At His Best” compilation but it doesn’t seem to have come out before that. Is it one of those age-old “tack some new studio material onto a greatest hits so that the people who have every album still have to buy it” things? Well, if so, this was a great song to do it with, although, putting it out on 45 would sort of defeat the purpose.

Common (Immenslope, actually) sampled this on “A Penny For My Thoughts,” his first song on his first album in 1992, when he was Common Sense…before he tamed his flow.

Songs are available for two weeks.

Go On With Your Bad Self
Consumer Rapport
7″ Single, 1975
Wing and a Prayer Record Co.

Kid tested. Big Daddy Kane approved. We want that old pimp sh#% too!

The first time I heard this 45 was an extremely gratifying experience. It was one of those sounds that had taken up permanent residence in my brain ever since I heard it on “Big Daddy’s Theme” in 1989. But like so many sounds from my junior high years – a time when I didn’t care about the details of music, it took me a while to remember exactly where it was from.

So, my question is: who is Tone (of “Yo Tone, play me some old pimp sh#%”)? The credits say the track was produced by Kane and the other major players were Mister Cee, Scoob and Scrap (obviously), Marley Marl and Easy Mo Bee.

There doesn’t seem to be that much out there on Consumer Rapport. Discogs.com has a bunch of variations of singles that all have the A-Side of this 45, “Ease on Down the Road.” No albums. Anyone know anything about them?

Songs are available for two weeks.

Ask Me
Ecstasy, Passion & Pain
7″ Single, 1974
Roulette Records

This is another gem from the new borrowed 45 stash. I posted Danny Krivit’s edit of this song early last year but was unfamiliar with the original until just now.

I don’t know that much about what is “disco’s first super group” according to their bio on discogs.com but there are some interesting facts mentioned like that the group was a self-contained band. Barbara Gaskins, the leader singer and writer of this and most of their songs, played guitar. Also fairly uncommon at the time (and still), the group’s drummer (Althea “Cookie” Smith) was female. Blue Note recording artist Ronnie Foster (best known to the hip hop generation as the artist behind “Mystic Brew” which was sampled for “Electric Relaxation”) was also part of the group for a time.

The rinky-dinky intro (not included in Danny Krivit’s edit) is somewhat surprising considering how driven the rest of the song is.

Songs are available for two weeks.

What Do You Want Me To Do
Lou Courtney
7″ Single, 1973
Rags/Ragmar

A friend was kind enough to store his vinyl well-cared-for vinyl collection at my apartment a couple weeks ago, including the stacks and stacks of 45s in the picture below. I don’t recognize so many of them, it’s pretty exciting.

This is the first post of what may be many as I slowly work my way through them. The posts will probably be a little shorter as I’ll know absolutely nothing about a fair amount of the artists.

Case in point, Lou Courtney and Ragmar Music Corp., nice to meet ya. You’ve got a little Southside Movement meets The New Birth thing going on and I like your style. (He apparently has a bit of a catalog but it’s new to me.)

Songs are available for two weeks.

Get Ready (Lookin’ For Love)
Patti Labelle
Released, 1980
Epic Records

I found this song recently and played it in my set at the I Love Vinyl party this Saturday. I feel like Patti Labelle gets an especially bad rep with people young enough to only know the corny 80′s duets and over-the-top tv/awards show performances but she’s done some really good (and really out there) stuff.

With Labelle (the group, with Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash) she did made some really interesting mixes of funky soul and…(seemingly unrelated) space suits – see the video below. During this period they worked with New Orleans veteran Allen Toussaint a fair amount. He also produced the eternally sampled Meters who played on several of Labelle’s records. 1980 found Toussaint still working with Patti in her solo career. The Meters were not in the band at that point but David Barard’s prominent bass line really takes this song from good to great. It sounds even better at body shaking volume levels as I found Saturday.

Songs are available for two weeks.