Nothing Special?

The Emotions - Runnin' Back (And Forth)

The five-year tenure of the Emotions on the Volt label (1969-74) yielded little in terms of hits - outside of their Volt debut, "So I Can Love You," which made a splash upon release, it would take an affiliation with Maurice White, who took them to the top with tunes like "Best of My Love" in the latter half of the '70s, to accomplish that - but did result in some good femme soul sides, my favorite being the funky "Blind Alley." "Runnin' Back (And Forth)" had two single releases on Volt in 1973, once as an A-side and then as the B-side to the Wattstax tie-in single of "Peace Be Still." An All Music Guide reviewer stated that "Runnin' Back," an Eddie Floyd-Mack Rice composition, "should have been cut by someone else." I think that's a bit unfair, as the group did a competent reading of the tune. It's true that it is nowhere near their best recordings, but it's a nice uptempo thing that is of some value, as Sheila Hutchinson and the group lay down some sass and their usual good harmony work.

Let Brook Fix It!

Brook Benton - Let Me Fix It



After a long and successful tenure with Mercury Records, Brook Benton's career had started to wane, but hooking up with Atlantic in 1968 gave his career a major shot in the arm. He was assigned to the Cotillion subsidiary and he struck paydirt with Tony Joe White's atmospheric "Rainy Night in Georgia," a major R&B and pop hit in 1969. Benton stayed with Cotillion through 1972 but never hit big as he did with "Rainy Night in Georgia." He did, however, record a lot of good material, including a nice soul version of the Frank Sinatra anthem "My Way" and today's selection. After he left Cotillion he moved from label to label, leaving behind records on Stax (the great "I Keep Thinking To Myself," my personal favorite) and All Platinum, among others, but he never matched the successes of his early Mercury sides and the Cotillion material.

The fun and funky "Let Me Fix It" was the b-side of "Shoes" and was part of Benton's 1970 Cotillion LP Home Style. The tune starts off with Brook casually sings the first verse over a jazzy organ rhythm before the Dixie Flyers come in and bring a swamp soul groove to the proceedings. Brook opens up then, and with his velvet baritone he sweetly but aggressively - and apparently successfully - woos a female vocalist (uncredited on the Cotillion 45, but actually Cissy Houston, whose Sweet Inspirations provided backup vocals on the LP), whose responses to his lines change from sassy to inviting over the tune's four-and-a-half minutes. Benton, who wrote the tune, is having a lot of fun here, and by the time he's running scales with the phrase "fix it" by the end, he's won the listener over also. Fix it, Brook!

The Soul Gospel Message!

Robert Banks - So Much To Thank Him For

Gospel singer, pianist and choral leader Robert Banks is best known among soul fans, and Northern Soul fans particularly, for the rocking "A Mighty Good Way" on Verve, which was featured on this blog some time ago. Banks recorded an album for Verve, The Message, which featured Banks and other soloists doing gospel tunes with touches of soul and pop such as "A Mighty Good Way" and today's selection. "So Much to Thank Him For" has a nice groove and good singing by Banks and a femme chorus.

Blues Gettin' Down!

Harmonica George - Get Some Order (About Yourself)

I don't know very much about Harmonica George, except that his "Get in the Kitchen and Burn" and "Get Some Order (About Yourself)" was a punchy 45 on Toddlin' Town from 1968 or 1969. Both sides feature a taut rhythm section and nice harmonica work from George, whose vocals have a King Coleman-esque sound. "Get in the Kitchen and Burn" appears on one of the first episodes of the podcast. "Get Some Order (About Yourself)" is featured today. The groove and George's vocals are joined by a male chorus on this one, and it's a fine record.

EDIT (6/23/07, 3:15 PM) - This in from Marc Demuynck:

(Liner Notes to Delmark LP 624-"Chicago Ain't Nothin' But A Blues Band")

Born June 12,1934 in Aberdeen,Mississippi,George W. Robinson learned harp from an older brother,Jesse.He came to Chicago in 1952 and started sitting-in in 1954.He began working with his own band a year later at The Embers,Grand & Damen,played the old Sylvio's at Oakleigh &Lake in 1956 with Elmore James,Howlin' Wolf and his own group.At the time these sides ("Sad And Blue / Sputnik Music"-for the Rev. Harrington's Atomic-H label) were recorded in the summer of 1959,he was working at the Happy Home,2200 blk. on West Madison.Other jobs have been with Elmore at the Grand Terrace Ballroom (famous for Jazz activity in the '20s and '30s) and a year later at the Playhouse Club,43d & Lake Park.After 1961 he worked as a cab-driver,though he has recorded for Toddlin' Town and Twinight since then.Perhaps Twinight will release an LP he made for them in July of 1969...(Bob Koester)

Thanks Marc!

Ride On!

Louisiana Red - Ride On Red, Ride On

I'll start today's post with a plug: if you haven't already, take some time and check out Rob Baker's Hot Slop podcasts at Garagepunk.com (see links section). Rob's mixture of soul, garage, and '50s and '60s R&B (and Rob sure knows how to play some serious R&B rumpshakers!) is a guaranteed good time. Rob had considered ending the podcasts, but fortunately for all of us has decided to continue. I always enjoy hearing the show and hearing Rob spin at "Rhythm & Booze," where his picks keep dancers very happy.

Rob turned me on to today's selection when he guested at "Rhythm & Booze" back in May. I refer you to bluesman Louisiana Red's official website for biographical data about Red, born Iverson Minter, and about what he's up to now. "Ride On Red, Ride On" was a 1963 Roulette release that finds Red talking about his move to the North to escape Jim Crow discrimination, finding time to mention various "citizen's committees" and Little Rock along the way. Although Red is telling it like it was, the star of the tune is the highly-danceable groove, with its catchy bassline (try getting it out of your head after listening!) and great drumming. Ride on, Red! Ride on, Rob!

I Was So Mad, I Wanted To Cuss ...

Charles Leonard - Funky Driver on a Funky Bus (Pt. 1)

Today I'm grouchy and in a funk, so I picked a nice piece of funky complainin' for today's selection. Charles Leonard's 1971 Loadstone record "Funky Driver on a Funky Bus" finds Leonard grousing about a commute gone bad while a nice guitar-led funk groove pushes along. Today I join Leonard's "I was so mad, I wanted to cuss" sentiment, but at least this funky groover puts a little smile on my face!

Fatback's 1980 Throwback

Fatback - Street Band

The Fatback Band's good-time groove graced recordings from the late '60s into the 1980s for Perception, Event and Spring (the later recordings credited only to "Fatback"), and although they never were as big as some of their contemporaries (like Kool & The Gang), the band's dancefloor slant, be it on minimalist funk records like "Wicky Wacky," disco-slanted stuff like "(Are You Ready) Do The Bus Stop" or club funk records like "Get Out On The Dance Floor" or the proto-rap "King Tim III (Personality Jock)," gave the group exceptional longevity and regular chart presence. Although I prefer the older Fatback material generally, finding the latter records to be too slick for my tastes, today's selection is a pleasant exception.

"Street Band" came from Fatback's 1980 Spring LP Hot Box, and it gained single release as the flip side to "Gotta Get My Hands On Some Money." "Street Band" features a nice shuffle groove that is more akin to records like "Doing It To Death" than to the go-go groove that was bubbling up at the time. After a very good sax solo sets the tone, the warm vocals and good-timing nature of the tune seals the deal, even down to the call-and-response scat singing at the end. Although some of the "1980 sound" sneaks in here and there (especially in the horn break late in the tune) the overall result is a pleasant throwback record. It's a funky good time!

More From The Correction Section

Gino Parks - My Sophisticated Lady

On the most recent edition of the podcast I included today's selection, but since I was trying to study for my Securities Regulation class while I was recording the show, I ended up questioning why Gino Parks' "My Sophisticated Lady" seemed to be trunctuated in the mix but then saying during the show's close that I must have been mixed up, because the tune was complete. Well, I was actually mixed up at that point, because the tune was trunctuated (it fades near the end of the last verse) - I must have accidentally hit a button or something while I was working on the show and studying simultaneously. To rectify that, I'll post the full tune today.

Gino Parks, who had recorded for Motown in the label's earliest days (his "For This I Thank You" is a great record I need to get a copy of for my collection), recorded "My Sophisticated Lady" for Golden World with Andre Williams producing. The intro features a proto-funk break beat (pretty funky for late 1965!) but then settles into a nice mid-tempo groove. Parks' (double-tracked?) vocals and the fine arrangement (dig how the strings quote "Any Day Now" in the tune's vamp and in the coda) really make this a nice one.

A Fanfare For The New Week

Darrell Banks - Open the Door to Your Heart

Darrell Banks' "Open the Door to Your Heart" is by no means a rare tune, so I won't write much about it except to say that if you don't know much about it or about Banks you can go to the Soulful Detroit site and learn plenty. The surging intro to this one is a great way to kick off a new week, so enjoy!

The Correction Section

Betty Everett - You're No Good

Generally, I write the posts for this blog at work, during a twilight period between my arrival and my bosses' arrivals. It's one of the best times of day for me to get my wits about me, scan through my MP3 folder to pick something (although occasionally I will pick some MP3s in advance), gather my thoughts and then to write. Writing on the fly sometimes results in my making typos and poor grammatical choices (I try to proofread as I go but sometimes things get by me), but what I really hate is when it results in my giving factually incorrect information or omit very important information (in either case due to faulty memory or writing too quickly; trust me, I have no need to try to intentionally deceive anyone!) Today's post attempts to rectify one such omission.

When I did my first Betty Everett post back in April, I neglected to mention that Everett recorded and had an R&B hit with the original version of "You're No Good" (which Linda Ronstadt would take to the top of the pop charts a decade later). Ronstadt's version is a good record, to be sure, but the restraint of Everett's version, both in her vocal and the backing, is very appealing.

OK, now the record is straight on that matter! (6/18/07, 2:05 PM - See further corrections in the comments below; thanks for the information. So much for making corrections!)

Get on Down In NYC and/or Chicago!

I mentioned this outstanding show on the podcast the other week, but I realized that I've been amiss in not putting up this gorgeous poster. John Ciba's Rabbit Factory presents this outstanding pair of concerts that are going to be phenomenal. Between the lineup of soul greats and the serious DJ lineup it's going to be nothing but soul nirvana, and only for $15! I'm not going to be able to attend, but I encourage anyone who lives in either city (or can travel to either city) to get over to one of the shows and to get on down!

Standing In The "Blue" Shadows

Earl Gaines - Don't Take My Kindness For Weakness



Earl Gaines is one of the many Nashville figures whose star just didn't shine as brightly as it should have in the history of soul music. To be fair, Gaines fared better than many of his peers, having had one major hit at the beginning of his career, "It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)," on which he fronted Louis Brooks & His Hi-Toppers, and two other hits later in his career. The Brooks record did well on its 1955 release (#2 R&B), but Gaines' plans to build a career off of the record were frustrated right away by Brooks and the band's disinclination to tour behind their hit. Undeterred, Gaines struck out as a solo, generally working with Nashville R&B guru Ted Jarrett (author of "It's Love Baby" and countless other Nashville R&B and soul sides). Over the next two decades Gaines would record plenty of great material for several labels, with notable stints at Hollywood, DeLuxe, Seventy-Seven (where he had his biggest solo hit with his cover of the Mighty Hannibal's "Hymn No. 5") and, as discussed below, HBR. Throughout all of the lean times, Gaines kept his day job as a truck driver and, after a 1975 Ace single went nowhere, Gaines mostly left music to focus on driving full-time. In the '90s, Gaines hooked up with Fred James and returned to the studio to release what has been a satisfying string of soul-blues albums as a solo and as part of the Excello All-Stars (which included the late Roscoe Shelton). He's still at it today, with this year's Crankshaft Blues being his latest CD.

Gaines' lack of greater success probably came in part from the fact that he sounded a whole lot like Bobby Bland, who at the time was ruling the charts with his soul-bent blues, but Gaines got a serious shot to usurp Bland's crown with his 1966 HBR LP Best of Luck to You, whose title track (which had previously been recorded by Sam Baker) was an R&B hit for him. (Unfortunately, the album and singles referred to him as "Earl Gains".) "HBR" stood for Hanna-Barbera Records, a short-lived attempt by the cartoon company to branch out into recording. Although HBR did release some records tied to children's music and their cartoons, they also leased in material from other sources like the Gaines set and Scatman Crothers' "Golly Zonk." Gaines' HBR sessions were produced by WLAC's Hoss Allen, who was his manager at the time, and featured Johnny Jones and the King Casuals as the backing band. It's a solid set of Nashville soul, featuring quite a few Ted Jarrett tunes (including a remake of "It's Love Baby," which Gaines has re-recorded quite a few times) and solid performances by Gaines and the band. "Don't Take My Kindness for Weakness" also garnered single release and it's one of my favorites of the HBR sides. Gaines gives the song a very warm reading and it's one of my favorites of the HBR recordings. Had this song been a Bobby Bland release on Duke it would've been a smash, as all of the trademarks of Bland's are there, but HBR didn't put enough muscle behind the single to get Gaines that type of success.

Fortunately for us soul fans, nearly all of Gaines' classic soul records have been reissued: Black Magic's CD 24 Hours a Day includes the entire HBR album and earlier material Gaines had recorded for Ted Jarrett; WestSide Records has put out Lovin' Blues: The Starday-King Years 1967-73, which hits all of the high spots of Gaines' tenure on Hollywood and DeLuxe, including the entire DeLuxe LP of the same name; and AIM Trading Group has recently put out The Lost Soul Tapes, which covers his tenure on Seventy-Seven. Listening to all of this material shows that Gaines was much more than just a Bobby Bland imitator. (And nowadays, Gaines' voice is in much better form than Bland's - on Crankshaft Blues he covers today's selection and it sounds almost as good as the original!) Had Gaines' luck been better, he could've been sitting on Bland's throne!

(Two quick post scripts: first, today's post was inspired by hearing Gaines' "I Have Loved and I Have Lived" on Brian Phillips' excellent "Electrophonic Sound" show over the weekend - go to Rockin' Radio (see links section) and check it out; secondly, when I mentioned Eli Reed yesterday I failed to mention the great show he's going to be part of - that post will go up immediately after I finish writing this - and I also failed to point you over to his website, on which you can hear his new single, "The Satisfier" - and trust me, it's satisfying!)