The Collector's Guide To Rare British Birds

The Birds - The Collector's Guide To Rare British Birds
DERAM Records - 564 139-2

Tracks:
01 - You're On My Mind
02 - You Don't Love Me (You Don't Care)
03 - Leaving Here
04 - Next In Line
05 - No Good Without You Baby
06 - How Can It Be
07 - You're On My Mind (demo)
08 - You Don't Love Me (demo)
09 - Say Those Magic Words (previously unissued stereo mix)
10 - Daddy Daddy (previously unissued stereo mix)
11 - Run Run Run (previously unissued)
12 - Good Times (previously unissued)
13 - Say Those Magic Words (early backing track)
14 - Daddy Daddy (previously unissued)
15 - La Poupe Qui Fait Non (previously unissued)
16 - Run Run Run (previously unissued)
17 - Daddy Daddy (early backing track)
18 - Granny Rides Again (previously unissued)
19 - That's All I Need (from the film 'The Deadly Bees') (hidden track)

This group of West Londoners originally formed as the Thunderbirds in 1964, but had to change their name after Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds had chart success. Renamed the Birds they started developing a hard edged British R&B sound, driven by Ronnie Wood's guitar, that would later be called freakbeat. They gathered quite a following, winning talent contests and playing at their own venue 'The Nest' at Yiewsley & West Drayton community centre. In order to play gigs further afield they bought a van which they painted 'The Birds' on the sides and back and famously cut a hole in the floor so that they wouldn't have to make toilet stops between gigs.

They recorded three singles for Decca 'You're On My Mind/You Don't Love Me (You Don't Care)', 'Leaving Here/Next In Line' and 'No Good Without You Baby/How Can It Be' between 1964 and 1965. Their, and in my opinion the best, version of Eddie Holland's 'Leaving Here' got to No. 45 in the charts. Sadly this would be the only chart action they would see. During this time they issued several writs against the American band The Byrds when they came to the UK on their first tour, saying they had no right to the name. Although the Birds had been around longer the Byrds had bigger backers, so both bands kept their names.

In December 1965 they signed to Reaction Records and briefly changed their name to Birds Birds for their next, and last, single 'Say Those Magic Words/Daddy Daddy'. Despite the lack of singles they toured extensively throughout the UK and Scandinavia in 1966. They even had a cameo in a very low budget British horror flick, 'The Deadly Bees'. In the film they can be seen playing 'That's All I Need' in a TV studio. Despite their big screen début, the lack of singles and punishing tour schedule caused the band's morale to drop and in 1967 they called it a day. Ronnie Wood, by far the most famous member, went on to be in the Jeff Beck Group, the Creation, the Faces and the Rolling Stones. Bass player Kim Gardner would also go on to be in the Creation and then to Ashton, Gardner & Dyke.

This CD contains everything they recorded; all four singles, a host of unissued material and in one of those annoying 'hidden' tracks their cameo in 'The Deadly Bees'. It's a fine testament to one of the greatest British R&B bands of the 1960's. Here's the Birds' definitive version of 'Leaving Here', their last single 'Say Those Magic Words' and their cameo in 'The Deadly Bees'. Play loud.......

Stormy Weather

Various Artists - Stormy Weather
THE SOUNDTRACK COMPANY - SFCD33505

Tracks:
01 - Main Title / Stormy Weather Ballet
02 - Walkin' The Dog
03 - There's No Two Ways About Love - Lena Horne
04 - Cakewalk / Camptown Races / At A Georgia Meeting
05 - Linda Brown - The Tramp Band
06 - Moppin' And Boppin' - Fats Waller
07 - That Ain't Right - Fats Waller And Ada Brown
08 - Ain't Misbehavin' - Fats Waller
09 - Diga Diga Doo - Lena Horne
10 - I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City - Mae Johnson
11 - Nobody's Sweetheart
12 - I Can't Give You Anything But Love - Lena Horne And Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson
13 - Geechy Joe - Cab Calloway And His Orchestra
14 - Stormy Weather - Lena Horne
15 - There's No Two Ways About Love - Cab Calloway, Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson And Lena Horne
16 - My, My, Ain't That Somethin' - Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson
17 - Jumpin' Jive - Cab Calloway And His Orchestra
18 - My, My, Ain't That Somethin' - Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson, Cab Calloway And Lena Horne
19 - Good For Nothing Joe - Lena Horne (Not Used In Movie)
20 - Body And Soul - Cab Calloway And His Orchestra (Not Used In Movie)

This is the soundtrack to the 1943 movie 'Stormy Weather' that has an all African-American cast. The plot (slight though it is) is loosely based upon the life and times of it's star Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. Returning from World War I, Bill and his friend Gabe (played by Dooley Wilson of Casablanca fame) return to Harlem to rebuild Bill's showbiz career. Bill meets and falls for singer Selina Rogers (Lena Horne) and vows to come back to her when he "gets to be somebody". The story of their relationship is almost continuously interspersed with musical song and dance numbers, tracing the development of African-American music from minstrelsy to big band swing, and culminating in a big finale.

The film is very entertaining and definitely worth watching, but it's the music that makes it great. For me the highlights of the film are Fats Waller and Cab Calloway (playing themselves) and the two dancin'est dudes that ever were or probably ever will be, the Nicholas Brothers. So here's a zoot suited Cab Calloway singing 'Geechy Joe', Fats Waller singing 'Ain't Misbehavin' and the finale that features Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers performing what Fred Astaire called the "the greatest movie musical number he had ever seen", 'Jumpin' Jive'. The Nicholas Brothers' eye-watering way of getting down stairs is probably best not tried at home........

Poetry And Jazz At The Blackhawk

Kenneth Rexroth - Poetry And Jazz At The Blackhawk
BGP Records - BGP 1019
Originally Released As FANTASY Records 7008 In 1960

Side A
Married Blues
Quietly
Nicholas
State And 32nd
The Deserted Courtesan
In The Wood
Go, Lovely Rose

Side B
The Shadows
The Orchard

Poetry set to jazz is considered a very 1950's and particularly Beat Generation phenomena, but Kenneth Rexroth had been doing it as far back as the 1920's. This album from 1960, finds him setting his own poems and his translations to some very cool west coast jazz at San Francisco's Blackhawk club. Despite his, at times, peculiar delivery I think this album works really well and I've enjoyed it for years. 

Unfortunately the original LP did not list who the band were and this reissue by ACE Records does nothing to put that right. After a bit of research I found a chap on line who has an original copy of the LP with guide notes inside by drummer Hank Uribe. These notes (you can see them here) list the group as:

John Mosher - Bass

Clair Willey - Piano

Dickie Mills - Trumpet

Brew Moore - Sax

Hank Uribe - Drums

Whether this is the group that appears on the album or performed it soon after the album's release, using the LP as a guide, is still not 100% definite. However, Brew Moore was associated with the Beat scene, recorded for Fantasy and regularly worked at the Blackhawk so there's a very good chance he's playing sax on this album. 

Kenneth Rexroth was not really a part of the Beat Generation. As an already published and recognised poet, he acted as a kind of elder statesman and mentor for many of the Beat poets, and certainly did a lot to help Alan Ginsberg and Gary Snyder gain recognition. He was master of ceremonies for the famous poetry reading at the Six Gallery, San Francisco in 1955 that first publicly introduced the Beats, was a witness for the defence at Alan Ginsberg's obscenity trial and appears in Jack Kerouac's 'Dharma Bums' as Reinhold Cacoethes. Sadly he would end up being critical of the Beat Generation and when called the 'Father of the Beats' by TIME magazine, he replied "an entomologist is not a bug" (so there!).

Whether he was a cool patron of the Beats or a grumpy old man, this album is very cool. Listen to a couple of tracks and see.....

Tell Mama

Etta James - Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions
CHESS Records - 2001
Original Release CADET Records - 1968

Tracks:
Original Album:
01 - Tell Mama
02 - I'd Rather Go Blind
03 - Watch Dog
04 - The Love Of My Man
05 - I'm Gonna Take What He's Got
06 - The Same Rope
07 - Security
08 - Steal Away
09 - My Mother In Law
10 - Don't Lose Your Good Thing
11 - It Hurts So Much
12 - Just A Little Bit
Bonus Tracks:
13 - Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
14 - You Took It
15 - I Worship The Ground You Walk On
16 - I Got You Babe
17 - You Got It
18 - I've Gone Too Far
19 - Misty
20 - Almost Persuaded
21 - Fire
22 - Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (alternate)

Despite having a string of hits for Chess between 1960 and '63, by 1967 Etta James had not had a significant seller for four years. Leonard Chess always believed in his favourite female singer, so he sent Etta to Rick Hall's Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama to see if they could work the same magic for her that they had for Aretha Franklin. In August 1967 Leonard went with a pregnant Etta, her Boyfriend and two poodles to the first of four sessions at Fame. The results were some of the finest work she ever recorded. The first release from these sessions was the hard sockin' single 'Tell Mama' backed with the sublime 'I'd Rather Go Blind'. 'Tell Mama' a reworking of Clarence Carter's 'Tell Daddy' was a top ten R&B hit and 'I'd Rather Go Blind' became a blues/soul classic. The original Queen Of Soul was back. The album was released in January 1968, went to number 21 in the R&B chart and produced another single 'Security'. Her take on the Otis Redding classic got to 11 in the R&B charts. Subsequent singles from the sessions, 'You Got It' and 'Almost Persuaded' didn't do quite so well, in fact none of her future singles ever charted so high.

For me the songs Etta recorded at Fame Studios captured her at her best. From the upbeat, hard driving, gutsy dance tunes of 'Tell Mama', 'Watchdog' and 'Fire' to the heart wrenching soul of 'I'd Rather Go Blind', 'The Love Of My Man' and 'Steal Away' and all points in between she was rarely better.

Enjoy both sides of the single 'Tell Mama'/'I'd Rather Go Blind' and the downright funky 'Fire'.....

Red Hot On Impulse!

Various Artists - Red Hot On Impulse! - 1994
GRP Records - GRP 11512

Tracks:
01 - Journey Into Satchindananda - Alice Coltrane
02 - The Creator Has A Master Plan (Edit) - Pharoah Sanders
03 - A Love Supreme (Part 1: Acknowledgement) - John Coltrane
04 - A Love Supreme - Alice Coltrane
05 - Astral Traveling - Pharoah Sanders
06 - Stolen Moments - Oliver Nelson
07 - Garvey's Ghost (Edit) - Max Roach
08 - Hora Decubitus - Charles Mingus
09 - Upper Egypt And Lower Egypt (Edit) - Pharoah Sanders
10 - Le Matin Des Noire - Archie Shepp
11 - Blue Nile - Alice Coltrane

Apart from John Coltrane's 'Love Supreme', which I already owned, this album was my first real exposure to Impulse! Records. When I bought it back in 1995 I had never heard of Alice Coltrane or Pharoah Sanders or indeed any spiritual jazz outside of 'Love Supreme'. I was completely blown away, particularly by Alice Coltrane and I began investigating more of this fantastic music. At the time I had gone back to university and money was tight so I didn't buy many more albums for a while. I did listen to this one though, a lot, and so did anyone who happened to be around me at the time. I spent a lot of time trying to convince my fellow students, most of whom had never listened to jazz before, that they really needed to listen to this amazing music. Unsurprisingly it mostly fell on deaf ears, didn't stop me trying though.

This album was released in conjunction with the charity the Red Hot Organisation to raise awareness and money to fight the spread of AIDS. Initially the project was a reworking of the Impulse! classics by contemporary and original artists and was released as an album 'Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool' with a related TV show. Despite the amount of hip hop (not my bag at all) the album worked well and I may do a post about it at a later date. This album was released to highlight the original versions, and saw the start of a long over due re issue campaign for Impulse! In fact some of the tracks on this CD had never been re issued since their original release.

Anyway, there's this really amazing music you have to listen to........

Voodoo Session

Tubby Hayes - Voodoo Session - TRUNK Records TTT005

Side A
Voodoo

Side B
Give Me Love (Kenny Lynch vocals)
Bailey's Blues

This is something special, Tubby Hayes' previously unreleased music to low budget British horror flick, Dr Terror's House Of Horror. Released by Trunk Records, only 666 of theses EPs were pressed, this is 219. The music as you would expect is superb, and there are comprehensive notes by Tubby expert Simon Spillett (who's no slouch on the sax himself). The music was recorded at Shepperton Studios in 1964 and features Shake Keane on trumpet, not Roy Castle as the film would have you believe.

I came to own this record by complete coincidence. I watched the film for the first time and was very excited to see the Tubby Hayes Quintet, the Radio Times hadn't mentioned it so it was an unexpected treat. I set about seeing if this music had been released, I didn't have the internet then so all I could find out was that the Rare Record Price Guide listed one very expensive single credited to Roy Castle. The following Saturday I went to my local record shop and while paying for that week's selection of albums, I saw this EP in the back room behind the counter. I asked to see it and was amazed to find that it was the music to the film I'd watched a couple of days earlier! Obviously my next question was "can I buy it?". The girl who worked there on Saturdays had ordered it for herself but said she would order another but I couldn't have it yet as it wasn't released until that Monday. They put it by for me, and I shot down there on a slightly extended lunch break that Monday to pick it up. I spent the rest of the day counting the minutes until I could go home and play it.

As I mentioned earlier the music is superb although my, now sadly departed, cat would disagree. Over the years he heard a lot of music, probably more than most cats, and he never really expressed an opinion either way about any of it. That is until he heard Tubby's 'Voodoo'. When Tubby makes his flute 'roar' it would cause his ears to flatten back and he would run from the room as fast as his legs would carry him!

Here is 'Voodoo' (cats may wish to leave the room) and a clip from the film featuring Kenny Lynch singing 'Give Me Love', enjoy.......

Dangerous Doo-Wop

Various Artists - Dangerous Doo-Wop - DDW 801

Side A
King Odom 4 - All Of Me - LISTEN
Flairs - My Hearts Crying - LISTEN
Crowns - Hey Pretty Baby - LISTEN
Chords - Sh-boom - LISTEN
Robins - White Cliffs Of Dover - LISTEN
Larks - Lucy Brown - LISTEN
Eldoradoes - Go Little Susie - LISTEN
Artie Wilkins - Darling Patricia - LISTEN
Velvet Angels - I'm In Love - LISTEN

Side B
Bachelors - Baby - LISTEN
El Tones - Lovin' With A Beat - LISTEN
Flairs - Love Me Girl - LISTEN
Hearts - Girl Around The Corner - LISTEN
Poets - Vowels Of Love - LISTEN
Blisters - Shortnin' Bread - LISTEN
Del Chords - Say That You Love Me - LISTEN
Monograms - My Baby Dearest Darling - LISTEN
Flamingos - Let's Make Up - LISTEN

This is volume one of this amazing series (4 LPs) that feature some of the best doo-wop to be found. No filler in this album, every track is great and to prove it there's a link to a YouTube clip next to each track listed above. Being a bootleg however, there is no information on any of the tracks and in fact not all of the artists or tracks are listed correctly. I've done some research and compiled a very brief history of the groups and tracks listed.

The King Odom Quartet from New York formed in 1947 and recorded under a variety of variations of their name until 1953. 'All Of Me' was recorded for the Derby label in 1950 as the King Odom Four.

The Flairs were the in-house vocal group for the Bihari brothers' Flair label of Los Angeles. They recorded under many names and had within their ranks Richard 'Louie Louie' Berry and Young Jessie. Both tracks included here were released in 1954, 'My Heart's Crying' was released as the Chimes and 'Love Me Girl' as the Flairs.

Arthur Lee Maye had a dual career, not only was he a singer he was also a professional baseball player. 'Hey Little Girl' was recorded in 1957 with the Crowns for the Bihari brothers' RPM label.

'Sh-boom' is probably the most famous song on this compilation. Recorded by the Chords in 1954 for Atlantic subsidiary Cat, the record was quickly covered by the clean-cut white vocal group the Crew Cuts who had a big pop hit with it. This is the best version.

The prolific Robins hailed from Los Angeles, their best known recordings were made for Savoy and Spark Records. This fantastic, upbeat version of 'White Cliffs Of Dover' was recorded in 1961 for Lavender Records and was one of their last releases.

Recorded for The Apollo label of New York in 1951, 'Miss Lucy Brown' was originally recorded as 'Suntan Brown Baby' by the Norfolk Jazz Quartet in 1938. The Larks got national exposure for the song, singing it on the Perry Como TV show.

The Eldoradoes are the El Dorados of  'At My Front Door' fame but with a different lead singer. 'Go Little Susie' was recorded by Those Four Eldoradoes for the Academy label in 1958.

Artie Wilkins and the Palms from Chicago released only three singles. The excellent 'Darling Patricia' was their first, released on the States label in 1956.

'I'm In Love' by the Velvet Angels is the only acappella song on this album. The Velvet Angels were the Diablos of Detroit moonlighting from Fortune Records. 'I'm In Love' was released in 1963 on the Medieval label.

Dean Barlow and the Bachelors recorded only two singles for the New York label Earl in 1956. 'Baby' was their second and last release.

The El Tones are the possibly only white vocal group on this album. Formed in Brooklyn, 'Lovin' With A Beat' was the B side of their only single 'Like Mattie', released on the Cub label in 1958. A little bit more about the El Tones can be found here.

Lee Andrews and the Hearts are probably best remembered for 'Long Lonely Nights' on Chess from 1957. 'Girl Around The Corner' is the B side to their follow up single 'Tear Drops' and features Thomas 'Butch' Curry on lead.

The Poets were from L.A. and featured, future jazz vibraphonist, Roy Ayers in their line up. Released in 1958 on the Flash label, 'Vowels Of Love' is the B side to their only single, the Halloween themed 'Dead'.

'Shortnin' Bread' released in 1963 on Liberty may be the only release by the Blisters, no other info can be found.

The Del Chords' 'Say That You Love Me' is the B side to 'Help Me' which was issued by Louisiana label Jin in 1960. I can't find anything out about the group.

The Monograms from Indianapolis only released one single under that name, and one as the Turbans. 'My Baby Dearest Darling' was the B side of 'Please Baby Please' released on the Saga label in 1957.

The Flamingos are easily the most famous and prolific group on this album and surely need no introduction, even if doo-wop is not your bag you will know 'I Only Have Eyes For You'. 'Let's Make Up' is the B side of 'The Ladder Of Love' released by Decca in 1957.