Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Messin' Around with Pauline & Bobby!


Pauline & Bobby - No Messin' Around

Today's selection is a pleasant slab of Chicago soul from the Expo (later Opex) label, one of the many smaller players in that city's soul record scene. "No Messin' Around" pairs Expo's two biggest "stars," Pauline Chivers and Bobby Jones (not to be mistaken for the gospel music TV legend). Chivers had actually had a big hit some years earlier on Vee Jay with her husband, Sidney, with the song "Spring," billed to "Birdlegs and Pauline." Jones, despite having a fine voice, never had significant success on wax, although he was a fixture on the Chicago club scene for many years (I saw him in 1999 at a Syl Johnson show). On "No Messin' Around" the duo trade lines in a Brook Benton - Dinah Washington style while the conga-driven groove keeps things interesting on the dancefloor side.

2 comments:

Ominous Red said...

Just wanted to take a second to say thanks for taking the time to post rare audio. I rely on old records for breaks for beats and remixes. Of course royalties go to sample owners but without cool blogs like this one, I wouldn't be able to find this kind of great music.

afreshmusic said...

I always thought it was the same Pauline but I wasn't for sure. Thank you so much for this information. I can't tell you how much this means to me. The late Pauline Shivers is my aunt. By the time I was born she was singing and directing the church choir.

I understand she also had a minor charter with Pauline and Bobby Jones "God Bless Our Home", I am told it was released around Christmas.