Category Archive

The Ypsi hits just keep coming. It’s like “ask and ye shall recieve”: in the quest for songs about Ypsi or labels from Ypsi, they just sort of find me. I’ve got quite the collection going, and this latest one is a strong addition: John and Wynn playing live at the old local Ypsi watering hole Casa Nova, 11 W. Michigan Avenue.

It’s funny, because the term “Ypsitucky” recently stirred up controversy as Zingerman’s restaurant advertised a dinner special as an “Ypsitucky Supper”. The Ann Arbor News picked up the story (link no longer working), but here is a clip:

An upcoming dinner at Zingerman’s Roadhouse dubbed by an organizer as an “Ypsitucky Supper’’ has raised some eyebrows over the use of a moniker some people view as derogatory.

Ypsilanti City Councilwoman Lois Richardson said Ypsitucky is a term that has been around for a long time. “It was a poke at the people from Kentucky that moved up here,’’ Richardson said. ” … It’s really a derogatory term. It’s not one that I would use…”

Ypsi blogger Mark Maynard ran with the story, and his post led to a huge response in the comments section over whether or not it should be considered offensive or not.

So when Justin called to tell me that this record was in a collection I recently aquired (I didn’t notice it at first), I was super excited. It confirmed that the term “Ypsitucky” has been around for a while, as this record was probably put out around 1970. More than that, it’s yet another song about Ypsilanti, to go along with Lee Osler’s “Back to Ypsilanti” and Nancy Adams’ “Ypsilanti”, not to mention the Pathway label stuff or Ty and Tom’s On The Road.

As for the actual music, it didn’t exactly change my life forever as Lee Osler’s jam did. “Ypsitucky” is more of a novelty song than a mix-tape mind-blower, but it’s fun nonetheless. Which is all you can hope for out of any obscure, private press local joint. Besides this lead-off song, other strong tracks are a dead-on Elvis impersonation of “I Can’t Help Falling In Love” and every country-rock bar band’s staple, “Country Roads”. Over all, it’s a strong album - a drinkin’ record - and an excellent find (I’m keeping it, not selling it). Wynn and John’s “Live at The Casa Nova” is important to preserve as a part of Ypsilanti’s music history.

From the back cover:

Hi! Come on in! Welcome to the “very live” CASA NOVA. If you’re with us tonight-or any night-you’re in for a good time. And when you listen to this album we hope you can feel a bit of the warm laughter and crazy times we share with the CASA NOVA crowd. If you’re a “regular” you might even hear your own laughter! The songs on the album are not necessarily our greatest, (listen to us breaking up in the middle of some songs) but they do represent a cross section of requested songs to remind you of a fun night with us at the CASA NOVA. Ypsitucky is an original tune from the pen of Rudy Janci, paying homage to our colorful background here in Ypsilanti.

Here then is a copy of a smile, a “tapping toe” and a “tune on your mind”.

With love,

Wynn and John

So I guess the key part of all of this is that Rudy Janci wrote “Ypsitucky” as a way to pay tribute to Ypsilanti’s Kentucky imports, who came up to work at the Bomber Plant or the nearby Ford plant. But is it one of those terms that only us Ypsi folks can say, but nobody else better?

Listen to the song and judge for yourself:

by Cousin Geoff

I’m rolling out a new feature here on Cousins Vinyl.  It’s called “Guess That Sample”.

It’s really a shame that sampling is pretty much outlawed now in hip-hop; it’s killing the genre.  Sampling is what the art is based on - not only is it a tribute to the funk and jazz that came before it, but it’s how it was born in the first place.  It’s probably why I gravitate towards the old school stuff, yeah - I grew up on it - but I really have no interest in listening to most of today’s rap: some bullshit negative lyrics backed by a generic, synthetic beat made by the same two or three guys that sell ‘em to all the top rappers.  It’s garbage - give me the old stuff with heavy samples any day.

A lot of times I’ll be listening to a 70s funk or jazz album and I’ll have one of those - ”hey! that’s the sample off the so and so record!” - moments.  Justin and I just drafted a bunch of 70s jazz/funk records off a collection we bought recently.  I was listening to this Rasta Afro-funk group called Cymande tonight, their self-titled debut album, and I heard a sample I recognized right away.  It’s from their song, Dove.

Listen to it and see if you can guess who sampled it.  Then click “read the rest…” below to get the answer and hear the track that it’s featured on.

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By Max Conroy

Four years ago, I had the chance to see Bo Diddley play a concert at Fitzgeralds, a small bar on the outskirts of Chicago where they filmed some of the Color of Money, for his 75th birthday.  All I had to do was hop in my car or catch a train and go, but I got lazy and probably spent the night doing something very unmemorable.  Living in a thriving metropolis like Chicago numbs one to culture because you can do something great every night, all year round.  You have to pick and choose and I chose poorly here.  I was definitely into Bo Diddley at the time, and I think must have got a lot more heavily into his records shortly thereafter.  I didn’t read any reviews of the show and have no idea if he was good or not, but that would have been beside the point…it’s fucking Bo Diddley, man.  This ranks up there at the very top of my rock and roll regrets list, along with missing out on seeing Johnny Cash, pre-revival, in Kalamazoo and hearing about the last Pavement show in Michigan days after it had happened. I knew that I would never have another chance to see him live.

Bo Diddley died in Florida today of heart failure.  He’d had a stroke, followed by a heart attack a year ago and had been in poor health since.  He was 79 years old and one of the people that created rock and roll. 

When I realized, after years of seeing the name E. McDaniel listed as the writer of songs that were such blues and rock and roll standards that I thought that they must have been traditional arrangements and the name a ruse like Allan Smithee in the film industry, that it was in fact Bo Diddley, I gave him some serious listening attention.  A lot of people dismiss Bo Diddley as a one-trick-pony, and those people are missing out in a big way.  Sure, he did ride the wave of rhythm that he created on the track Bo Diddley for a long time, but the power and influence of that rhythm cannot be overstated.  EVERY garage band has used it, from Buddy Holly on.  But there was so much more to his sound than that rhythm.  He wrote some fantastic straight blues numbers and countless chugging rockers; take a handful of your favorite rock and roll records recorded in the 60s, flip them over and see how many times you see the name McDaniel.

Bo Diddley, sadly, doesn’t get the respect he deserves, but I’m confident that his importance to rock and roll will be realized as long as people continue to look back and question what is rock and roll and where it came from.  Here are four examples that made me a huge fan of his.  I don’t think I’ll ever be able to listen to his music without thinking about that show at Fitzgeralds…

Bo’s Bounce:

Keep Your Big Mouth Shut:

I Can Tell:

Road Runner, from Beach Party: one of the best live records of the early 60s:

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 Cousin Geoff 

I wrote about this album about two years ago, but I didn’t include a picture or audio.  I forgot I wrote about it when I was thinking about what to post tonight, but I took the picture and recorded a sample of Gone With Yesterday.  Rather than write about it again, you can just read what I wrote before and listen to the cut.

By Cousin Geoff 

David Holt’s Rock and Reel album on Flying Fish has been a family favorite lately with little Ella, who will turn 6 months shortly.  I won’t bore you with details, but check out 15 seconds of David playin’ the old slap legs: 

by Cousin Geoff 

I’ve had this record for a while now and it’s easily one of my favorite dub albums.  If you’re just learning about dub, you could start with King Tubby or Lee Perry, or just prepare for a totally different listening experience - the deconstruction of reggae music. 

Jamaican born Jah Bunny was the drummer for Dennis Bovell, perhaps the UK’s most influencial reggae artist of the 70s and 80s as a band leader for his group Matumbi, as well as a producer and solo artist.  Although Mutumbi was at it’s core a roots band, Dennis Bovell was also very involved in the dub art form, and no doubt his influence rubbed off on Jah Bunny. 

This 1980 private label LP is an adventurous but laid back dub effort, and one I’d highly recommend as a hidden gem for reggae/dub collectors.  It flows pleasantly and coherently through guitar and bass manipulations to compliment Jah Bunny’s rhythmic creations, with no worries and no hurry.  If you want to listen to modern dub that you can just put on, walk away, and fully relax, then look for this one or something similar.  It’s as good a Sunday afternoon listen as it is a late Saturday night one.   

Jah Bunny currently plays drums and percussion, and sings backup vocals for the UK ska/punk band Freetown, a band I would definitely go see if they played in Ypsilanti!

Listen to the lead off track off the Dubs International album, although unless you can turn this way up or put on headphones for the bass, you might not fully appreciate it: 

Fullfreight banjo benefit concert!  This Saturday from 5-10!  At the Corner Brewery!  The lineup is here.  I’ve already told you about this, so this is a friendly reminder that it’s coming up.  I’ll be there if Ella is down. 

by Cousin Geoff, featuring guest writer Ameritape John:

508 Maus Street in Ypsilanti, former home of Pathway label

I got an email the other day from a guy named John who said that he had read one of my previous posts about the Ypsilanti gospelgrass label Pathway.  I’ve written about The Smith Family Sings Your Gospel Favorites LP, and Carl and Evert’s I Have Found The Way 45.  John may be one of a handful of Pathway followers out there, excited as I was when I stumbled onto one of their records and became strangely obsessed with the 1960s lo-fi off-tune religious music from Ypsilanti, Michigan.  John may be one of the few people in the world who is actually more into Pathway than I am.  He gave me permission to publish this piece he wrote for a UK record collecting mag, where he attempts to explain the sacred/weird localistic significance and also provides additional info on other Pathway LPs. 

Another concept to consider here is the idea of collecting and searching for “deep” gospelgrass, as opposed to the much more popular digging for rare funk, soul, garage, hip-hop, ect.  This “Xian” genre that John refers to is something I’ve also taken an interest in, like my post on The Pathway Quartet out of Sandusky, Ohio.  There’s something about this primitive religious music that takes on some sort of an intriguing local, cultural, and almost psychedelic aspect.  The thing is, I’m not sure if I even want to publish this.  I like being able to find an seemingly endless supply of these records at garage sales and local salvation armys, passed over and passed over, as few people are actually into it like me and John.  Like he says, most people don’t even want to talk about it, much less search for it (although I can see some UK folks, some of our best customers and really the heavyweights of record collecting, start getting into it).  Nevertheless, it’s a great concept to explore.  As Max pointed out in a conversation today and John alludes to, Pathway seems to be very much the essence of what punk rock is, but instead of drugs or booze or fuck the man it’s about Jesus and getting into heaven.  And all this coming from the homemade basement recording studio of 508 Maus Street in Ypsilanti. 

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Country Roads, Happy Easter, and Sally Lives On

by Cousin Geoff:

I hope you all had a nice holiday weekend.  I spent mine in northern Michigan, all day out in the woods on snowshoes, shot some guns, found the best walking stick ever off a downed oak branch, and spent time with family.  I also gave away one of my dogs.  Sally the hound, gone, too much for me and my wife now with baby Ella.  Despite her bad behavior (constant nervous energy, getting up on the couch, in the garbage, that old coon-hound howl at all the wrong times) I was sad to see ol’ Sally go.  We’ve had a lot of good times in the past four years, but she’s just an up north dog, and not an Ypsilanti dog, and that’s just the truth.  My other dog Zoe we’re keeping, but she’s feeling down and out because Sally was her constant companion.  A sad story, but they are afterall, just dogs. 

Driving home today, I heard Toots and The Maytals sing Country Road on XM, and I realized that a good song is a good song, and a good friend is a good friend, even if it ain’t nothing but a hound dog.  Ann Arbor’s The RFD Boys (been meaning to write about these guys for a long time, and I will eventually) do a great version of this, more true to John Denver’s original, and very different than Toots and The Maytals, but still the same song. 

The RFD Boys version:

Toots version:

It’s Easter and I missed church today but I haven’t been in forever anyway.  So I’ll make up for it by including a few Jesus songs in this sermon.  More proof that a good song is a good song - Jesus is a Soul Man.  One of the Cousins’ favorites is the version by the Pathway Quartet - I compared it to the Otis Williams version in a previous post. 

As for Sally, I think she’ll be happy up north.  For some reason the Harry McClintock, Hallelujah I’m a Bum song pops in my head.   Hallelujah, I’m a bum.  Hallelujah, bum again.  HalleluJAH, give us a handout, to revive us again.  Well, as Bunny Wailer says, Time Will Tell.  Good luck Sally, may Jesus and St. Patrick lead you down a good Country Road to help you be Reborn.  Maybe there’s hope for you afterall.  Then again, maybe Elvis was right. 

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?

**Update: My wife, who is part Irish, just informed me that in Ireland, they actually don’t drink green beer.  She also thinks that in Chicago, they dye the river green.  Can anyone in Ireland or Chicago confirm this?

As for music, the Irish Rovers and the Pogues are a few of 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.

Maybe I’ll post some audio up tonight, cause I actually have to get ready to go to work.  My days of hitting the bar at 9:00 AM on this fine holiday are as long gone as all those snakes in Ireland that St. Patrick chased away.

More Island Music To Get Me Through The Michigan Winter!

I know, it’s another post about reggae/calypso music.  But my broke-ass can’t afford to go on vacation anywhere warm, so I’m stuck in my basement in Ypsilanti.  Digging through my reggae records is the next best thing!

I’ll share a couple of interesting ones.  First off is Soul Sam doing The Doors’ Light My Fire off my Swing Easy Studio One rocksteady comp.  I don’t know anything about Soul Sam, he isn’t even in my Rough Guide To Reggae reference book, which has all kinds of obscure, semi-important Jamaican artists.  Soul Sam was probably like many of the Jamaican musicians, including the young Bob Marley and The Wailing Wailers, who tuned their radios to the far off sounds of Florida stations playing American Rhythm and Blues and Rock and Roll music.  The traditional Jamaican calypso sound was already there, and ska began as their interpretation to these American sounds, with the unique emphasis on the upbeat.  Ska evoloved into rocksteady around 1966 or 1967 (see my post on Phyllis Dillon for a good example of this genre), which preceded reggae.

Soul Sam was apparently into The Doors, and he does like a Jamaican rocksteady garage version of Light My Fire and it ends up sounding pretty cool.  Of all the great songs on this compilation, this was one of the stand out tracks, and definitely the most intriguing.

Listen to Soul Sam’s Light My Fire:

The next song I’ve got for you is sort of a follow up to the last post I did when I paid tribute to Caribbean bands and talked about the The Igniters doing No Woman No Cry.  As I was digging around in my reggae section at home I came across my Gemini Brass Band album titled The Time Is Right, and I remembered how much I liked it.  I hadn’t listened to it for a long time, but I put it on and my 4 month old daughter started making noise and smiling and bouncing around so I figured it was worth putting on the site. 

The Gemini Brass Band is total high energy.  They pack a full lineup: guitar, conga, bass, organ, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, drums, timbale, and a vocalist.  They are from Trinidad and Tobago.  Andy Seebaran assures us on the back cover that “there are many good bands in the Caribbean, but with it’s unique renditions and tempos, GEMINI BRASS can outplay them all.”  He also adds “We are all one people”.  The band was formed in 1965, and this is their first album.  I love it: it’s crazy and fast and funky.  One of my favorite tracks off the album is their version of Jackie Wilson’s Higher and Higher.  Go organ go!

Listen:

A Great Version of No Woman No Cry With No Guitar

I really get a kick out of Caribbean steel bands.  Cuz Justin does too, and has a little collection of them.  They usually show up at Salvation Armys or garage sales when digging or buried in the back of a collection that has nothing else similar.  The majority of the albums found around Michigan can be probably explained by when a couple is on a cruise or tropical vacation, and the steel band comes out and plays, and someone, after 7 or 8 margaritas feels inspired to buy the album.  And a lot of them are signed, as my copy of The Igniters Steel Band, “Jump Up” LP is, by all six members execpt for the lead tenor Stanley Warner.  One of them writes, “To Karen and Dan, Thank You. Please Come Back Soon.”

These albums are always hit or miss.  They seem to be all over the place.  The reason is that they’re mostly trying to sell records to a white American tourist crowd.  So you get a lot of weird covers, steel band style, for example for whatever reason Neil Diamond songs are done a lot.  On this record, they play some pop ballads and even some Beethoven.  Their lineup: single lead tenor, double lead tenor (leader), bass, drums, cello, and rhythm pan.

Justin and I have looked at the cover of many of these albums and the photos of these musicians in wondered in awe how good the album would be if they could just play whatever they wanted, played the real music they play for themselves.  Half the time these records are a bit of a dissapointment.  There are a few diamonds in the rough though, if you search long enough, and sometimes, in this case, the entire album makes up for itself with one good song. 

In this case, it’s The Igniters doing a version of Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry, one of the more unique versions I have heard.  The LP was recorded in 1976, during the peak years of the Island label for the Wailers, around the time that the Live! album came out.  This song has been covered by a number of like-minded artists.  Off the top of my head, a couple of my favorite versions are Bunny Wailer off his Tribute album (which I definitely recommend picking up), and Wyclef off the Fugees Score album. 

What makes The Igniters take on it unique is that there is no guitar (the rhythm pan takes it’s place)!  Bob Marley’s two most well known recordings of this song are off The Natty Dread album, and then the one everyone knows, which was first found on the Live! album and then later on the Legend greatest hits album.  Both songs feature a distinct guitar solo near the end - I can basically replay the whole thing note for note in my head.  One of my favorite songs by one of the greatest song writers of all time.  I remember No Woman No Cry just blowing me away when I first heard it around my freshman year in high school, it was the song that introduced me to Bob Marley, and I listened to it over and and over.  But the Igniters do it right, even without the guitar, or even a drawn out solo with any instrument - it’s soulful, it’s meaningful to them, it’s the one spiritual song they do on the album.  If I had to guess, if they could have done an album exactly they way they wanted to, there would have been more songs like this.

listen to No Woman No Cry:

My wife doesn’t like this record because she thinks it’s too weird, so I’m taking that as a good sign that this family gospel album recorded in Ypsilanti, MI at 508 Maus Street on the Pathway label is quite a find.

Rather than review it, I’ll just have you listen to the songs I selected and read what’s on the back cover:

I, Crit Smith, was born September 8, 1933, in Whitley County, Kentucky, near Williansburg, and there I met and married Beulah Brown, the daughter of Reverend Andy and Sarah Brown, in 1950.

I worked in a mill until 1952, then came to Detroit, Michigan, and worked in a factory until 1955.  I then went into carpenter work, which I do at the present time.  We are very proud of our family, all of which are saved and working for Jesus.  We have three daughters: Loretta, sixteen; Barbara, fifteen; Linda, thirteen; and two sons: Eugene, eight; and Mark, two months.  Mark is too young to do any singing yet, but we are trusting in the Lord that he will take part when he is older.

We want to thank everyone that has taken a part and helped us in any way in making this album, especially our pastor, Reverend Luther Gibson, of the Church of God, in Woodhaven, Michigan.  We have had so many requests for records, that we felt God was inspiring us to make this album.

We enjoyed working with “THE CROSSMEN”: Roy, Evert, and Blaine; and praise God for them and their ministry.

          THE SMITH FAMILY

listen, I Want To Be Robed And Ready:

listen, How Are You Raising Your Children:

I woke up this morning with a great idea.

Everyone knows about Paris Hilton’s album, right?  Has anyone actually heard the entire thing?  Of course not, because nobody takes it seriously.  I did hear her first single, Stars Are Blind, and I was pleasantly suprised that it was a reggae track.  Of course, if you watch the video of it, you’ll see it is not a rasta themed track, filled with images of the material fruits of Babylon.  Well, I have an idea for America’s Biggest Obsession, the Queen of Babylon.  

Gerard gave me a CD of Sinead O’Connor’s roots reggae rastafari album, Throw Down Your Arms.  O’Connor truly captures the spirit of both roots reggae and Jamaican Rastafarianism.  She recorded the album in Jamaica with some of Jamaica’s finest musicians.  The album opens with an acoustic chant and singing, “Jah no dead, Jah no dead, Jah no dead, Jah no dead…”  She sings about Marcus Garvey’s words coming to life, warns the oppressed of the powers of Babylon, and does an incredible version of Bob Marley’s War.  O’Connor’s beautiful, powerful, and haunting voice works in perfect harmony with the steady upbeat of the roots reggae band behind her.  In other words, it is quite the opposite of Hilton’s Gwen Stafani inspired track.

But let’s not judge Paris so quickly.  Sinead O’Connor obviously has been exposed to the reggae and Rasta culture.  She’s probably sat down with trusted Jamaican elders and learned about true oppression, and the joy of living a life in dedication of Jah.  Sinead feels it, so she knows it.  And she took that knowledge and channeled it into her Throw Down Your Arms album.  It’s very refreshing listening to a roots reggae album from the voice of a white female.  It shows the universal impact of the both the music and the message of the music.

So here’s my idea.  Like I mentioned on a previous post, the original Wailers are still touring and playing regularly.  What better band than the Wailers to record an entire roots reggae Rastafari album with Paris Hilton?  Paris could go down in seclusion to Jamaica, and spend several months under tight security living and learning about the Jamaican culture.  Yes, kind of like the Simple Life, but with no cameras, no press, and no American friends.  She’d just be on her own.  Or better yet - Sinead could be with her and show her around and help collaborate with the arrangements.

The result would be huge - everyone in the world would listen to that album.  And with that kind of influence, imagine what Paris could do.

She could donate the entire proceeds of the album to a charity in Jamaica, or help establish am organization that bring awareness to the poverty of the Jamaican people.  Or maybe she could build a huge public schooling building for the youth, and fill it with technology centers and big, packed to the brim libraries.  Or anything.  But most importantly, she could make an impact on the world - teach others about her experience and share her wealth with those in need. 

C’mon, Paris, what do you say?  I’ll contact the Wailers and see if they would do it.  I’m sure they would jump at the chance to spread their message through the voice of the Queen of Babylon.