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Justin and I met the lead singer for the garage psych band The Pastels from Battle Creek. We were over at his house about a year ago for a record buy when he told us about his band and gave us a few copies of the original 45s. He was a great guy - we sat around on that Saturday morning drinking coffee, listening to his stories and then digging through his massive record collection which took up a full room upstairs and then half of his basement. This copy resurfaced in another collection we bought recently. They recorded this 45 on the sought after West Michigan label Phalanx in 1966. It’s the classic Michigan garage sound of the 60s, organ and all, but The Pastels are a bit spookier than most. A really, really good 45, and a hidden gem among Michigan rock history.
Clip of .
Clip of
See the listing here.
This was recorded on the famous Detroit Hideout label, back when Ann Arbor’s Bob Seger was playing all the local bars around South East Michigan for his fellow teenagers. Another Michigan 60s garage classic.
See the listing here.
A great selection of 45s is up for bid right now: early rock n roll, rockabilly, garage, psych, plus rare Stones, Dylan, Beatles, Elvis, Zeppelin and more.
A good record collection deserves a good home. It should have easy access, look good in your home, and store the records carefully.
I’ve gone with a bunch of plastic crates on a table before - I’ve found some plastic ones that are wider than milk crates - that work really well. But once my collection at home grew, I was just running out of space. After seeing Cousin Justin go to a book shelf system, I was convinced.
For $179.00, check out Ikea’s Expedit book case. It’s what I use at home and I have been really pleased. It looks nice, it’s super sturdy, and it holds about 1500 records. The other cool feature is that it has 25 boxes instead of just long rows. I use this as natural dividers for genres - which provides better organization. The boxes are 13″ every way, so it makes for the perfect size for holding records. The overall dimensions are 72 7/8″ X 72 7/8″.
Sonny Cox was once a wailing saxophone player in Chicago in the 60s, recording this album on the Cadet label. He then apparently got into coaching high school basketball after his career was over, leading Chicago’s Martin Luther King high school to three state championships. He was recently honored was one of Illinois’s 100 Legends of the IHSA basketball tournament.
From Peoria’s PJ Star:
After a few minutes of relatively innocuous chat, former Chicago King coach Landon “Sonny” Cox warmed up when talk turned to ingredients necessary for a state champion - three of which he won (1986, ‘90 and ‘93). “I’ve always said you can’t win a state championship with midgets,” Cox said after being honored as one of the 100 Legends. “You’ve got to have athletes, too. You can’t win the Kentucky Derby with a donkey.” … Speaking of Cox, Sonny once paid bills by making sweet sounds through a saxophone. His biggest album was the 1966 release “The Wailer,’’ which fetches $12.99 even today at Cousins Vinyl in Detroit.
Sonny, pictured in upper left row with the 1986 AA Illinois state chamionship team.
Kind of a cool thing for an ex-saxophone player to do after his career is over. I bet he would be fun to hang out with and listen to stories. And I thought it was neat that we were mentioned in the Peoria PJ Star newspaper. We’ve got a promo copy for sale as mentioned by the article, actually for just $12.00.
OK, I know I talk on this blog a lot about Lee Osler’s Back To Ypsilanti song. But I have to give the people what they want. And it is a great song. And dare I say it, the B side, Tarnished Love Affair (actually the A side of the 45), is almost as good.
I played this for Gerard and Danielle at Gerard’s going away party. It seemed to fit them well, and they danced in the basement like it was middle school. Jose claimed that this was where is was at, the true song that Lee Osler wanted to put out. And my friend Van (who used to sing with Lee) kept bugging me to make him a copy, much more interested in this side. I think Lee would have won Star Search back in the day, beating out Durrell Coleman.
In any event, another piece of obscure Michigan music history, for educational purposes, here is Lee Osler’s on Mustache Records.
I’m watching the tournament and playing records too. These are some I’ve been listening to:
I took a picture of the B side of Back To Ypsilanti playing on my record player because I wanted to hype it’s arrive coming soon to hear. Van kept bugging me to make him a copy. I made him a copy of Back To Ypsilanti and he kept asking for that B side. Everyday, he’d say, “You got that other joint yet?” I’d say no man, you gotta trade me. He had this studio recording of the Temptations and Marvin Gaye and a few others all singing together, practicing. One of the Temptations sons, who he knows on the Detroit soul and R&B karaoke circuit, gave it to him. Van’s a big soul karaoke guy - he goes over to Detroit from Ypsi about 3-4 times a week to sing or host events. And he sings to his middle school students everyday (he’s a gym teacher). The nights he’s not singing he goes to watch high school basketball games. But anyway, he wouldn’t give it to me. He liked having that recording that nobody else had (or I had). So I never made him a copy of that B side, Tarnished Love Affair. But I will trade him though.
But look Van, don’t you wish you just finished listening like I did? It was good too - I can still hear it - (AND HERE’S A TEASER) so long, so long, so looooooooong…..
This next one is good for relaxing. Like that end of the week relax when you first get home. Jimmy Smith, with Grant Green. A Blue Note classic. And one of the best covers ever made.
Just a walkin’ the dog, if you don’t know how to do it, I’ll show you how to walk the dog. 1963 Stax. Rufus Thomas. I wonder if my wife will let us name our son Rufus? I’m guessing no. As you can see from the cover, ol’ Rufus sure did know how to make white people dance! It must have been easy.
I love bluegrass. And I love local music. That’s why this is one of my favorite records in my collection. The RFD Boys first record on Jessup. I’d compare them to The Seldom Scene. Which is another of my favorites. They do a great version of Country Road. And some good originals. Overall just so good…I’m going to go see them on the 25th - maybe you should too?
After seeing the Holmes Brothers at the Ark a few weeks ago, I dug back into my gospel section. Detroiters The Rance Allen Group is similar to The Holmes Brothers in their ability to blend gospel with uptempo soul and rhythm and blues. This is their second album, on Gospel Truth, a Stax label. They do a song called Just My Salvation that’s set to the music of the Temptations Just My Imagination.
So that’s what I’m on so far tonight. I’m thinking about making a mix CD from my vinyl collection, but I can’t decide if I want to pick a genre or do a multi genre. My genre options I’m considering are: all Michigan bands, bluesgrass, funk, 50s to early 60s R&B, Blues, Funk, Reggae, or even something crazy like Gospel, Bluegrass Gospel, Zydeco/New Orleans, or old school Rap. Of course, my laziness always takes over and I end up just playing them and thinking about making a mix some other day.
In other news, Max Conroy is visiting Cousin Justin this weekend. Max is part of the 586 Gunson Street band from East Lansing that I’ve heard so much about. Apparently there’s a long lost recording still floating around somewhere. I’ll see the both of ‘em tomorrow so I’ll see what I can dig up.
Those of you from the Ypsi - Ann Arbor area, study it hard.
Do you know who that is, dancing in the header banner?
Have you seen him before?
Do you know where alley that is? (it’s not in Detroit)
A hint: he was dancing to Michael Jackson, like he always does, in that same alley.
We all know that Cousin Geoff’s hometown of Ypsilanti has produced the famous song hyped many times on this site, Back To Ypsilanti by Lee Osler (not to mention being the birthplace of Iggy Pop). But Cousin Justin’s hometown of Livonia? Well, believe it or not, it produced a fairly decent garage band before garage bands from Detroit were cool again in The Hysteric Narcotics.
I could review this album but nestorindetroit does it much better here. I actually don’t really like it - it’s not my cup of genre. It reminds me of one of those songs off an 80s MTV video that played at like 3 in the morning. But then again, I’m more of a blues-jazz-soul-roots kind of guy. We just have the LP for sale, so you could actually own it if you determine it’s something you would like!
Or just give it a ! (still courtesy of nestorindetroit).
When I’m out looking for records, I often buy it if it has a cool cover, which is the case with The Pathway Quartet’s religious bluegrass LP, Soul Man. I was at an Ypsilanti church yard sale, thumbing through a box under the table when I found it. At first glance, I thought the bluegrass band from Sandusky, Ohio was going to do a cover of Sam and Dave’s famous Memphis Stax song. When I got home, I discovered the soul man they were singing about wasn’t themselves, but Jesus!
But I say: Sam, Dave, Jesus and The Pathway Quartet were all soul men (and women).
and see if you agree!
We had this Crocket (of Traverse City, Michigan) LP for a while in the store and nobody bought it. One day I put it on and got a big kick out of one of the songs, the upbeat-bluegrass track Roaches In The Ashtray. Ol’ Crocket tried the Navy, tried law school, tried listenin’ to the man, but all he ever wanted was to be a guitar pickin’ man.
Give it a .
The soul 45 auction ends Monday around 4:30. So far, there’s been a huge interest in the Sam Nesbit, Chase Those Clouds Away on Amos.
You can listen to the audio here, the guitar hook in the background is just amazing. This song is featured on the Ace comp, Masterpieces of Modern Soul.
In case you missed it, you can also sample four other 45s from this auction, thanks to Justin’s helpful post.
We’ll have another 45 auction coming up this week with more rarities, so stay posted.
March 17th is the day to celebrate St. Patrick by drinking green beer and singing good ol’ Irish songs. St. Patrick was actually born in England to a wealthy family at the end of the 4th century. He was kidnapped and taken as a prisoner by a group of Irish raiders to Ireland and worked as a shepard in captivity for six years. Inspired by visions and messages from God, he escaped back to England, but then returned and converted the Irish to Christianity. It was also said that he rid all the snakes out of Ireland. He must have been a pretty sweet dude, and right up there with my favorite, the dragon slaying St. George.
March 17th is the anniversary of St. Patrick’s death and falls during Lent, so this was the day where people would go to church in the morning and then play music, dance, drink, and eat bacan and cabbage the rest of the day and night (the meat ban was lifted). Sounds good, huh?
As for music, the Irish Rovers and the Pogues are my favorites. That Bing Crosby 10″ above is from my collection. Is Bing really Irish or was this one of those “throw Bing’s name on anything and it’ll sell” type of deals? It’s kinda cool, but it’s not very Irish sounding. But I love the cover.
Here are a few Irish (and Irish sounding) LP selections we have for sale in our store:
Ann Arbor saw a resurgence of the blues in the 70s. In 1972, the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz festival featured top Chicago blues acts along with a few local artists, and was recorded live by Atlantic. The Ann Arbor blues scene grew, with The Blind Pig record label on 208 S. First Street playing an important role. Along with local bands like The Silvertones, their impressive line up included legendary bluesmen Walter Horton, Roosevelt Sykes, and Boogie Woogie Red.
The Silvertones recorded their only LP, One Chance With You, on Blind Pig in 1976. Longtime Ann Arborite George Bedard, now of George Bedard and The Kingpins, fronted this band with some help from Steve Nardella, who went on to launch a solo career a few years later (I’ll do a post on his first album sometime). The Silvertones were incredibly popular locally, blending the blues with rockabilly at area bars that made for some swinging nights out on the town.
Listen to the title track .
is yet another song about Ypsilanti that I found.
This is quite the opposite of the Lee Osler song “Back To Ypsilanti”. First of all, Nancy Adam’s 1967 side, titled ”Ypsilanti”, is a dreamy pop-psych number, not exactly upbeat 80’s dance-funk. And it seems like Nancy Adams and her two male back-up singers just may or may not have actually been to Ypsilanti.
The song is about a postcard she gets from Ypsilanti: Got the purdiest, picture postcard, all the way from Ypsilanti. She romanticises about how fun it must be to live in Ypsilanti, and how there must be lots of greenery and scenery. The song also speeds up to a rockabilly sound toward the end as it talks about Detroit, the Motor City, where there’s showtime and people driving Cadillacs around.
It has to be one of the strangest songs I’ve ever heard. And it sort of grows on me the more I listen to it. I can’t seem to get it out of my head, but I’m not sure if I want it in my head. Nevertheless, it is another song about Ypsilanti. Could there be more out there?
Mark Maynard wrote a post about the “Back To Ypsilanti” going head to head with the infamous Ypsi underground booty anthem, made famous by the Found Magazine guys. The winning song would be declared the official Ypsilanti anthem.
I don’t see “The Booty Don’t Stop” being the official song of Ypsi, since it doesn’t actually mention Ypsilanti in the song, but I can see it as the official slogan of Ypsi.
Possiblities:
Ypsilanti: Where The Booty Don’t Stop
Ypsilanti: Home Of The Non-Stopping Booties
Ypsilanti: The Booty Don’t Stop In Ypsi
Ypsilanti: Damn, The Booty Don’t Stop!
Or, combine the two:
Ypsilanti: Going Back To Where The Booty Don’t Stop!
