Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Get on Down With Ironing Board Sam!

Ironing Board Sam - Non Support (That's What the Judge Say)

I first heard of Ironing Board Sam (born Sam Moore - no relation to the Stax soul legend) via a videotape of the obscure Nashville R&B TV show "Night Train." On the two episodes Sam performs a rocking blues called "Song of Joy" and covers Ray Charles' "Sticks and Stones." He's a singular presence on the show, with his lantern jaw, dark shades and greasy pompadour, playing his electric piano with its ironing board legs, but he oozes soul and both are great performances. This Blues Access article tells his story and I'll defer to it for details about this very unique artist.

Ironing Board Sam's 45s are pretty darn hard to find, and only a few tunes have been comped at present, mainly the funky "Man of the Street" and "Original Funky Bell Bottoms." Today's selection was originally released on the tiny Lamga label in Los Angeles but was picked up for national release by Atlantic. "Non Support" is a great piece of funky blues featuring a muscular rhythm and good singing by Sam.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for putting up some Ironing Board Sam. His "Man of the Streets" has been a favorite of mine ever since I picked up the "Grits & Grooves" comp many years ago.

Anonymous said...

Stepfather, I hope you can help me. Any idea at all what year this fine, fine song was recorded?
Thanks in advance from up here in Chattanooga.

The Stepfather of Soul said...

Dan, first of all, I need to make one correction to the post. The subtitle of the song should read "(That's What the Judge Said)." As for the year of the song, I have read that it was from 1969. (I have also learned that the record also was also released on Styletone (was Lamga an affiliated label?) at the time the record was picked up by Atlantic.)

Anonymous said...

Thanks, stepfather!