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By Cousin Justin
One of the most exciting things about selling records has been selling obscure music to the people originally involved. Recently we sold this 45 to original The Novelty drummer Chip Pace. When he brought this fact up to me I asked if he could tell me what he remembers from the sessions and he gave me this info:
We recorded the record at Trod Nossel Studios; here is the link. Good link for you to get information on many obscure 60’s\70’s east coast bands. Follow the website and links into some interesting information.
We recorded the 45 RPM with legendary Doc Cavaliere at Trod Nossel Studios in Wallingford CT. Doc mentored us over 2 days of rehearsal on how to get the tracks perfect. It took over 25 takes to get the lead vocal tracks to sound gritty enough to please him. Doc made the lead singer (Ron) drink to get him a little drunk so he would loosen up and deliver the performance he was looking for.
Doc took a particular liking to the drum tracks (Chip), so much that he was adament about doing too many retakes because he did not want to lose that driving feel. He felt the drum tracks were hot!
The keyboard tracks (Larry, on a Hammond B3) were solid as were the rhythm guitar track (Dave) with the exception of producer Bill Durso over dubbing some extra guitar tracks (most notable in the opening of “Handwriting On The Wall”) to give it a more funky-bluesy feel. The horn players (Ray & Dan) were hitting some pretty high notes during that session and pretty much shredded their lips, another reason to limit retakes.
All in all it was a memorable experience and we all walked away feeling great about the session. The record did quite well on the East Coast and opened the doors for promotional concerts and a video, opening for acts like The Young Rascals.
Thanks,
Chip
Novelty-Handwriting On The Wall
Novelty-Long Time Waiting
by Cousin Geoff
I picked up the latest issue of Waxpoetics today, came home and read it pretty much cover to cover, so I was in a different sort of frame of mind tonight. Reading that makes you want to reach a little further. Suddenly, the common stuff doesn’t sound appealing at all. Not really even James Brown, which seems to always satisfy something. You read about a boogie-funk DJ from California and get a glimpse of his collection and the mind behind assembling a collection like that, and you realize how far you can take record collecting.
The problem for me and Justin is we have to make money. That’s why the majority of stuff that we come across that is super rare tends to end up being sold, landing in collections that I read about and envy. But, you know, every now and then we take a few good ones home for our own personal collections. But like Max alluded to in a previous post, there’s just so much music that most records I take home I give a quick one-sided listen to and file away.
So tonight, after reading WP, I really wanted to dig deep. I went through my rows and crates and pulled out about a dozen or so fairly obscure records that I hadn’t listened to in a while and lined them up next to the turntable, laptop ready to record. I had such a strong craving for exactly the sound I wanted that most of them didn’t get very far. I came close to writing about Tower of Power’s first record on the tiny San Francisco record label, but the one record that beat them all was The Spirit of Atlanta’s LP “The Burning of Atlanta”, released in 1973 on the Buddah label.
Produced by legendary composer/producer/arranger Thomas Stewart and backed by a ton of Atlanta session players, “Burning” is just an all-out assualt of the funk senses. It’s a grand orchestra of high energy soul.
listen to Freddie’s Alive and Well:
By Max Conroy
The other day I sent a letter to Jandek. Well, I sent it to Corwood Industries; to the same post office box that’s been used by Corwood Industries/Jandek for the last thirty years. I felt kind of lame for doing this because I thought of how many geeks like me have done it over the years. I was also thinking about stories that I’ve heard and read about where Jandek will send radio stations and journalists interested in his music crates of records for years on end, and if at all possible I want crates of Jandek records. I’m not sure if a shit-ton of Jandek records could possibly be healthy in any way, but I’d certainly listen to them and be obliged to review them. Naturally, we focus on vinyl here and Corwood only makes CDs now, so I also wanted to find out if Corwood has any records lying around the apartment. I had also seen in Jandek on Corwood that Corwood Industries would send letters in response to people searching for information about Jandek, presumably from Jandek, that have polite and firmly cryptic refusals to provide any information beyond the records:
The story must be crafted from what you have and know from the music. We cannot provide interviews or other exchanges of information outside of the releases at present. It’s probable that your crafted story would be more interesting than any other. Intrigue goes a long way sometimes.
The examples that I’ve seen of these response letters are typically written in slightly sloppy block lettering and are signed by ‘Corwood’ or ‘Your friends at Corwood’. I wrote the letter and asked for recommended records, since there are 53 of them, any promotional material to review, and asked if they had any vinyl left. In the letter I addressed Corwood as to whom I was writing, referring to Jandek only in the third person. I didn’t really expect any response beyond an order form for CDs, but would love records or even a letter written in the same format that I’d seen.
This was two weeks ago approximately that I sent the letter. I went to my mailbox today, opened it, and there was a single letter in the narrow box. It was a letter from Corwood Industries, the address stamped in the top left corner of the envelope. It seemed eerily appropriate that the letter seemed lonely in my mailbox, as it’s a rare day that it doesn’t get filled with a bunch of bullshit, wasted paper. I took care in opening it, not wanting to destroy the envelope or the letter and noticed that it was written in slightly sloppy, mostly block lettering, the paper looked like it had a rough time of it at Corwood or on the way from Houston:
We literally have no vinyl to offer. We sold all vinyl and moved to CD. Vinyl is in production at:
Jackpot Records, 203 SW 9th Ave, Portland, OR 97205
We suggest you inquire therein.
(No Signature)
I checked out Jackpot Records online and they only offer Jandek CDs. Perhaps I will see if they are going to manufacture Jandek vinyl. The letter seems typical, but there was no salutation or signature. If you’re out there, Jandek, Cousins would love to review some records or hear from you.
Click below to view the actual letter and to hear a jam off one of Jandek’s most recent platters The Myth of Blue Icicles.
By Cousin Justin
I started the day yesterday by putting on one of my favorite shirts, an original Wu-Wear T-shirt that I got in High School. You see I am a huge Wu-Tang mark since 36 chambers dropped. Good albums have been few and far between over the last few years. That was until Ghostface dropped Fishscale. I dug that album more than any Wu joint in a long time. Normally a rap skit is a good oppurtunity to skip to the next track, but the Bad Mouth Kid Skit on Fish Scale starts by Ghost saying “that’s soul right there, don’t touch that radio” in the background a dope ass song is playing that the foul mouthed kid insists on changing, much to the chagrin of ghost. As soon as I heard the song in the background I used my little Google fingers to try and find out what the fuck it was. I was unsuccessful and this has been one of those musical obsessions for the last 2 years. So when I started the day I had no idea my wardrobe decision would have any affect on the cosmos. Max was comming over later in the evening to hang out and to take a trip to the Record Collector in Ferndale. I went through the Soul section and picked out a few Soul, Funk, and Disco albums. One that stood out was the Brother To Brother album. I took it to the listening station and dropped it on the second track, something I never do, and there it was, the song I have looked for for 2 years. Needless to say I was pumped. To keep the karma going, Max and I ended the night with a screening of the underrated Ghost Dog.
Brother To Brother-Vibrations
Cousin Justin
It is easy to forget, with the Pistons and Wings marching towards the title and the Tigers giving the rest of league some hope, that the Bobby Layne curse is over this year for our beloved Detroit Lions. So to remind everyone the ovens will be super hot this year I present a new Cornbread Song:
P.S
This comes from the upcoming Christian Xian Auction that should be posted tomorrow!
Syl Johson moved to Chicago at an early age and wound up as Magic Sam’s next door neighbor, as Syl’s brother was Sam’s bass player. Syl learned to pick the guitar hanging around the west-side Chicago legends and also played a mean harmonica, even briefly touring with Howlin Wolf. Syl cut a few sides for Federal and later Twinight/Twilight, but after recording with The Hodges Brothers from the Hi rhythm section in Memphis in 1970, he signed on with Hi.
Johnson’s first record on Hi was this one, 1973’s Back For a Taste of Your Love. You can definitely hear the classic Memphis Hi sound, as this was put out right around the time when Al Green was the Hi superstar. Johnson had a slightly edgier, harder sound than Al Green, though still very much in the same genre. The track Feelin’ Frisky is a good example.
by Cousin Geoff
Wendy Miller & Mike Lilly recorded this album, Country Old Country New on Brighton, Michigan’s Old Homestead record label in 1975. A really strong album throughout, it features a great original spiritual roots song, My God’s Not Dead. The song was written by Mike and his mother, Betty Lilly.
I’m drawn to this type of music because of it’s honesty. I’ve been increasingly into bluegrass music the past few years, and it’s roots music at it’s finest. My dad and I drove up north this past weekend and we listened to XM’s bluegrass junction station the entire way. So in my quest to dig deeper into the genre, I’ve naturally found some wonderful local records, as this overlaps with my love of long-lost Michigan recordings.
I’ve always found a similar connection to bluegrass and reggae. Both are music of the people with similar themes thoughout, including their own sources of spiritual strength: Jesus with bluegrass and Jah with reggae. My God’s Not Dead reminded me of the Bob Marley song Jah Live, written in response to the negativity towards Rastas after the death of their profit, Etheopean Emporer Haile Salassie I. Bob put out this song a day or two after his death, with an incredible response by Jamaican Rastafarians.
Fellow Wailer and devout Rastafarian Peter Tosh’s first solo album (although he was backed in the studio by many members of the Wailers-but not Marley) was the epic Legalize It. The track Igziabher (Let Jah Be Praised) remains a Rastafarian classic, and displays Tosh’s amazing songwriting abilities.
By Max Conroy
On Saturday, May 17th Jandek played a free concert at the University of Michigan’s Lydia Mendelssohn Theater. The show was sponsored by WCBN-FM (88.3 on your FM dial), the student-run station of the University, booked by Brendt Rioux, and featured James Cornish on trumpet, Christian Matjias on harpsichord, and Biba Bell on vocals and improv dance. Apparently this was the first Jandek performance to feature live improv dancing. Jandek played hollow body bass and sang. This is what’s known.
This is what’s unknown: the identity of Jandek, the aim of his endeavors, and virtually everything about the production and meaning behind his music. Jandek has put out fifty-three albums in thirty years. The records range from atonal bluesy folk to thirty minute vocal-only tracks and some feature other musicians most likely (even though he does overdub tracks). The lyrical content of his songs are most definitely poetic in nature, possibly autobiographical, and definitely surreal, causing people to speculate as to whether or not this is a sort of diary of a person suffering from mental illness or records to be enjoyed as such, art for art’s sake.
There are only a handful of people who have ever spoken to or communicated with Jandek; and in these instances, the person is known only as a “representative of Corwood Industries.” Corwood Industries is Jandek’s record label and in his only recorded interview, by John Trubee for Spin in 1985, featured on YouTube and as an extra on the Jandek on Corwood DVD, he discloses that he is the “sole proprietor” of Corwood, which has maintained the same PO Box in Houston since 1978. All of his records and DVDs are purchased directly from Corwood/Jandek, cheaply, and none are sold to record stores or libraries. Jandek also mentions in that interview that at the time he was working as a machinist and living in Houston, Texas. The name on the copyright information for Jandek’s records in the Library of Congress is Sterling Richard Smith, born in Rhode Island in 1945 (he mentions Rhode Island in several songs). He originally recorded one record under the name The Units and sent his record to radio stations and record stores, and was forced to change the name when a guy whom he sent the record to in San Francisco threatened to sue him as that was the name of his band. As a result he wanted to find a name that no one could possibly have, so he ended up speaking to a fellow named Dekker in January and came up with Jandek.
The more that I research Jandek, the more his history or what he’s illuminated for us seems to be the creation of a highly intelligent, very sane person, very similar to the way a novelist comes up with material culled from his past, subconscious, and ability to tell a convincing story. Before his days as Jandek, he allegedly wrote seven novels, which he burned after being rejected by publishers. He tells Trubee that, “I put out a product, and that’s it. I don’t want to get too involved.” This smells like bullshit to me, but very good bullshit.
This one was left out of the Soul auction along with a couple others so I put it up today. Bob Kee is one of the credited songwriters of “Ferris Wheel”. 1608 Argyle st, which is really close to the corner of Hollywood & Vine, is now home to Outlaw Sound. The tune itself is pretty fun
Ferris Wheel
A very Large group of over 200 rare promo 45s, again from 1970. This is a continuation of the collection of radio promo 45s that end today. Some of the highlights of this auction are another copy of Jupiters’ Children, Gracious!, Maypole, Avatar, Iota, Mike Wallace, The Flame, Broken Arrow, Rod Evans, Novelty, Freada Wallace, Loose, Danny & The Mexicans, Pastor Brothers, Jimmy Chapel, Sean McLeod, and Kiss Inc. There are also a couple more soul 45s missed last week including Chic Walker. This batch has some real rare stuff that is on the side of unknown, so as always please ask to hear some sound clips ad I will get them up.
by Cousin Geoff
Hamilton Bohannon moved to Detroit in the 60s after Stevie Wonder hired him to be his drummer. After splitting from Stevie, he capitalized on his bandleading abilites and signed onto Dakar. Bohannon then put out some incredibly funky dance records in the early to mid 70s, among them this LP titled “Insides Out”.
This was one of the leftovers that I snatched up after it didn’t sell at auction, mainly because it’s on a crazy Korean bootleg label, like the rest of them were (I also took home a Korean pressing of Maggot Brain, so ghetto that it was listed as Funk Adelic on the typewritten label, and filled with misspellings and botched song titles). But I’ll take this copy of Insides Out until I can upgrade, because it’s a fun, funky, groovy record. I put it on for the first time while hanging out with my 6 month old daughter, and she bounced and squealed in her Johnny Jump-Up as I played the djembe while the record blasted. My wife was out so we jammed on and on. And that is what Bohannon does on this record, he picks up a groove, lays it down and just keeps it going.
He’s joined by fellow Detroiters LeRoy Emmanuel and Mose Davis of The Counts. The first side is like one big all-nighter, while the b-side is much more mellow, mostly love songs. It’s worth it to seek out this album for the a-side though, and you’ll see easily see the inspiration for modern electronic music. When you’ve got the funk and you’re holding it down, why let go?
Check out Foot-Stompin’ Music (about half of the 7:00 min. + track):
Darrow Fletcher came from the local city of Inkster, a suburb outside of the City of Detroit. The most famous residents to have come out of Inkster was the Marvelettes, as a side note, this fact is advertised when you drive into the city. Inkster is one of the few suburbs of the city that has a mostly African American population, and was at one time the home of Malcolm X. Both tunes are strong so I offer both up to your enjoyment.
When Love Calls
Changing By The Minute
This is another great Northern Soul 45 listed in the “Halloween” group. When Holland Dozier Holland left Motown to create Invictus they thought they would defeat Berry “L.A.” Gordy at his own game. Arguably the music was better, but the business skills were not. They eventually could not compete on the long term. Trapped in a love is one of the 45s that did not get the airplay here, and still dosen’t. Thakfully our UK brothers keep this and other great songs alive.
At first take your reaction to this 45 may be the same as mine, Little Drummer Boy?, fuck that christmas shit. Once you listen to it though you will want to break out the eggnog and put up a tree. This is one long slow burn that really gets you ready to trim the tree or tree some trim. Buy this 45 and play it at your next super cool Xmas party
