Esquerita! - The Soul Sides: 1966-1968 (WTS Soul No.7)

Here's another uncompiled chapter that I lay my hands on. The same thing was hoped for with Little Richard's Brunswick stuff that was posted a few months prior to the RSD release. By the way, have I ever mentioned how much I hate RSD and its prices? The music industry can go fuck itself! It's ridiculous what's happening with vinyl prices in general nowadays. Could something else become fashionable and trendy, and quite quickly please? You need a small fortune every time you want to buy something. Capitalists and record collectors can all kiss my arse. 

Anyway, let's get back to the subject. Here's my attempt to bring together Esquerita's mid to late-60s soul recordings in one place. He wasn't calling himself Esquerita now, but Eskew Reeder, SQ Reeder or The Magnificent Malochi instead. I don't know why he did this, but it definitely didn't help his sales. The story goes like this: Following the unissued Detroit sessions on Berry Gordy's Motown, Esquerita travelled to Atlanta, Columbus and New York city. He reportedly played with both Jimi Hendrix and Maurice James at the Hawaii Kai on Broadway. He probably knew Jimi from a previous session with Little Richard, I suppose, or maybe he just knew him in general. Just like Gene Vincent did before, which resulted in his manic rock 'n' roll recordings for Capitol Records that most people are familiar with, Hendrix brought Eric Burdon to see him but nothing happened. A completely unissued session for Herb Abramson's Triumph Records, came to light thanks to Bear Family Records in 1990 as 'Sock It To Me, Baby' with great liners by Norton's Billy Miller. Esquerita performed alone with his piano. 

In November 1965, he recorded four tracks for Okeh in Nashville, Tennessee. Two singles were issued in 1966, ‘I Want to Know’ and ‘Tell the World About You’, with backing vocals from the Sweet Inspirations. In an interview with legendary Kicks magazine, Esquerita said that he had relocated to Puerto Rico in 1965 or 1966, where he worked in nightclubs, before moving to Miami Beach, Florida. Esquerita claimed that he had played on Little Richard’s Okeh sessions during this period also. 

Screaming Jay Hawkins also referred to Esquerita as having worked in New York clubs, playing the organ with just a drummer backing him, and having had his wild and famous pompadour cut down. Another session was planned, the one at the Bell Sound Studios in New York for an unknown label. An acetate featuring five tracks, surfaced in Miami and a second acetate appeared on eBay sometime in the 2011. The style is similar to the Okeh sides: up-tempo and mid-tempo soul-blues with excellent drumming, as S.J. Hawkins said. There is a seven-minute version of Nina Simone's 'Sinner Man', featuring outstanding performances by both musicians. The whole thing was released by Norton Records as 'Sinner Man: The Lost Session' in 2012, and is definitely worth tracking down. 

Esquerita's next chapter was with Brunswick Records, the same label as Little Richard once again, he had just adopted the name 'The Magnificent Malochi' and Dr. John, who was living in Los Angeles at the time, is credited on keyboards (Harold Battiste played on that meeting too!). The session ended abruptly and the single was not released until the following year due to a violent clash with his manager, Charles Greene. During his second session with Brunswick in Los Angeles, Little Richard recorded his first Esquerita song, 'Stingy Jenny', as I mentioned in my piece on Ricardito more than six months ago.

His final single, released on the Cross-Tone label (a division of Columbia) and was recorded in New York in 1968 (or 1969 according to different sources). One side was dedicated to the glorious days of the famous New Orleans club, the Dew Drop Inn. In the liner notes to 'Vintage Voola' Esquerita is quoted, "Have you ever heard "Dew Drop Inn" by me? Little Richard heard mine and tried to copy it. You see, Richard — that big-headed child — can be stubborn sometimes. I told him, 'Man, if you do the song word for word like I told you, you'll have a hit!" And so he did the King and Queen of rock'n'roll on the amazing Reprise LP 'The Rill Thing'. The A side was the one that was a little later adopted by the young lads in England and their Northern Soul scene, the 'You Better Believe Me' masterpiece! This tune of storming rhythm and soul is absolutely sizzling and should have been a huge hit but it wasn't once more.

Are you still with me? OK, as I mentioned earlier, here's an unofficial gathering of his last ever recorded, released and uncompiled all-in one place gospel-infused soul shouters! All eight sides are as brilliant and feverish as everything else he did. I've added a bonus track at the end: the 1965 'Dew Drop Inn' demo recording of just him, his piano and a tambourine raising hell. Cheers!

The Who - Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy (Alternate White Trash Soul Version)

 

'Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy' is the first in a long line of Who compilations. It is also widely regarded as the best. One reason for its success is that it has an actual purpose. Meaty was designed as a collection of the group's singles, many of which were never released on albums and it was compiled by Pete Townshed himself.  

However, there were some negative aspects to the situation at first. Kit Lambert, The Who's manager, tried to change the track order, but failed because too many copies had already been produced. The UK release was delayed because The Who and their other manager, Bill Curbishley, failed to consult Lambert but anyway. Aside from 'Boris the Spider' and 'I'm a Boy', every track on the album had been released as a single in the UK. Furthermore, all except 'A Legal Matter', 'Magic Bus and 'The Seeker' were top ten hits. 'Happy Jack', 'I Can See for Miles', 'Magic Bus' and 'Pinball Wizard' were also Top 40 hits in the US.

As it was released before 'Who's Next', it doesn't feature any of the group's later radio friendly "rock" hits. But that's for the best, in my opinion at least. I never liked them that much, if at all, right after. The Who have always been a maximum R&B outfit of pill-poppin' mods, not a bunch of long-haired hippies.

This time, I'm offering an alternate version of 'Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy'. I love the Ox, but 'Boris the Spider' was a joke, not a proper song — let alone one worthy of such a great collection. So I threw it out, don't care for any different aspect, it's my blog after all. I replaced it with what I consider to be the most underrated early Who song: 'Circles', which I learned from the Fleur De Lys' cover version when I was younger. Then I added two more: 'Call Me Lightning' was another US-only single that made it to the Top 40. Aside from that, it remains an amazing sonic blast of proto-power pop with added doo-wop vocals — it could have been easily a song by the Action!

At the tail end of this alternate look of mine it's the monster that is 'Goin' Down'. A song by Don Nix, a veteran of the Memphis music scene, having been involved with the very first house band for Stax Records, The Mar-Keys, since the late '50s. It is likely that this version was based on Freddie King’s rendition, which appeared on his 1971 album 'Getting Ready'. Pink Fairies and the Jeff Beck Group both tried it in the studio and at concerts, but Townshend and Co. probably went there first. There is only a live recording of it from 1971, and its sole legitimate release was on the 1987 rarities kind of thing album, 'Two's Missing'. A powerful smack in the vain of  'Live at Leeds'. Of course a no single release but to yours truly a battle cry to their younger and angrier days.  

All original MBB&B songs are ripped from the 1985 US CD version by MCA. 

The reason was none other than Steve Hoffman's remastering. A well-known figure in the audiophile community, Hoffman was known for taking care to use the best available source tapes and Hoffman's mastering is praised widely for improving the sound of the early Who recordings. A key feature of his remastering was correcting the original LP's fake stereo tracks by using vintage true stereo and mono mixes. I often visit his forum to see what Steve or others have to say about recordings and pressings I'd like to put my hands on. 

For the Meaty project, he wrote this: That's what I tried to do for the original MCA MEATY CD. The big problem is that in the late 1970s, the Who's material was "divided up" and the earlier stuff (starting, I think, at PICTURES OF LILY and going back) stayed at Brunswick, UK and stuff from I'M A BOY and later) went to the Who for their new TRACK label. So in the UK there are two different sets of owners, two different master vaults and a lot of confusion and bad blood. In the USA everything stayed with Decca/MCA so it was easier for me to recompile the set from scratch (I only had an afternoon) but a lot was a tape copy from the UK but at least true mono or true stereo. I doubt that would be possible to do in the UK now except by legal wrangles.

For the Extras I used rips from: 

1. CIRCLES, The Who '66 (2001 CD - Polyboy Records, duophonic)
2. CALL ME LIGHTNING, Magic Bus - The Who On Tour (2007 CD, Decca Records Japanese, Stereo)
3. GOIN' DOWN, Who's Missing & Two's Missing (2011, Polydor Records, SHM-CD Japanese, Stereo)

I also created the front sleeve featuring the then WHO logo, which I attached to the bottom right corner using scans of the original pamphlet that came with the American edition of 'Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy' in 1971.

Various Artists - De Nederlandse Punk R&B Geluiden, 60's Nederbiet (White Trash Soul 60s Punk No.3)

As in the US of A, it all started with a television appearance by the Beatles in the Netherlands too. Nothing was the same the next day. Hormone-driven teenagers looking for an outlet began growing their hair long, buying or borrowing cheap music instruments, and forming bands.

As was the case in the USA (again), a movement emerged in Holland that tried to emulate the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Them and the Pretty Things. However, due to a lack of 'talent', a different sound emerged that was rougher, rawer and more anarchic and which always had the inherent characteristics of the countries in which the bands originated. The American sound is now known as '60s punk or garage punk. The Dutch have the 'Nederbeat' (or 'Nederbiet') moniker.

By now, most people are aware of the existence and importance of bands such as The Outsiders, Q65 and Golden Earrings or Shocking Blue. However, there were many other brilliant Dutch groups that have remained undiscovered, except perhaps to the most dedicated fans of the 'genre'. 

The purpose of my newer post is to highlighting these Nuggets for those who are still in the dark. I'm pretty sure that if you love the original 'Nuggets' compilations, you'll love this also. If you're sitting on some 'Pebbles' volumes, chances are some of them little jewels have been heard by you already. A full-on blast of 60s punk-R&B that's all about that mod-influenced, fuzzadelic, skull-crushingly reverbed-out sounds!

Various Artists - Lyres Under Influence

The truly great bands involved in or pioneering the garage revival scene of the '80s played the important role of archaeologist. They were the ones who, with their expertise, brought to light things we didn't know existed. As a natural continuation of DMZ, (the) Lyres carried on this tradition. They were the first to revive 60s punk, before everyone else saw the trend and claimed to be part of it. 

Jeff Conolly was/is quite a character! He completed this task even before Tim Warren, Greg Shaw and Billy Miller (perhaps) did. Compiling some of the songs that the Lyres have covered, instantly creates one of the best garage punk and freakbeat playlists around and that's what I have to offer this time. All I had to do was to decide which tracks to select and arrange them in a way that would make them flow nicely for all of you people. Either way, I had already done my job many moons back. Cheers!

1. The Witch - The Sonics
2. Take A Look At Me - Mr. Lucky & the Gamblers
3. Since You Been Gone - The Kingsmen
4. Little Sally Tease - Don & The Goodtimes
5. What A Girl Can't Do - Hangmen
6. How Can I Make Her Mine - Bobby Roberts & The Ravons
7. Gotta Find A New Love - The Yo-Yo's
8. Busy Body - Jolly Green Giants
9. Don't Tell Me Lies - Tommy Tucker & The Esquires
10. No Reason To Complain - The Alarm Clocks
11. Jezebel - Teddy Boys
12. Lily - Drusalee & The Dead
13. Stacey - The Hangmen Of Fairfield County
14. Baby (I Still Want Your Lovin') - It's Them
15. Soapy - Mickey & The Clean Cuts
16. I Don't Wanna Cry - The Buckinghams
17. We Sell Soul - The Spades
18. I Confess - The New Colony Six
19. What's Wrong With You - The Outsiders
20. Love Me Till the Sun Shines - The Kinks
21. Shake It Some More- Jay-Jays
22. She's Got Eyes That Tell Lies - Him & the Others
23. Go-Go Girl - John's Children
24. The Way I Feel About You - The Pete Best Combo
25. Grounded - The Syn
26. You'll Never Do It Baby - The Cops 'n' Robbers
27. Now I've Got A Witness - The Rolling Stones
28. Let's Talk About Girls - The Grodes
29. Don't Tread On Me - Kit & The Outlaws
30. Stormy - Jesters Of Newport
31. Hang Up - The Wailers
32. Let's Have A Party - The Rivieras

The Wylde Mammoths - Singles, EPs, Flexi 1986 - 1994 (White Trash Soul R&B Series No.19)

Here's an updated and expanded version of the post I did back in 2010. I've added everything I was missing back then. In fact I'm still missing the 'Before It's Too Late' two sider, but don't worry — it's here from another man's rip at a very good bitrate (thanks to Soulseek and its P2P digital heart). I asked Tim Warren about the possibility of an expanded/remastered reissue of their two LPs on Crypt when I met him about three years ago here in Athens, but he seemed annoyed, so I didn't pursue the matter. Geniuses like him and Peter Maniette have their own way of thinking, don't they? And I suppose, after Peter's sad loss, this will remain a 'should have been' kind of thing for all Mammoth fans. Of all the amazing bands that emerged after the brutal, savage and voracious monster that was The Crimson Shadows (The Stomachmouths, The Highspeed V and The Maggots, to name a few), The Wylde Mammoths were the most unique, thanks to Peter's rare songwriting brilliance. If you're looking for some percectly executed garage beat in a 60s tradition, lo-fi  recorded and as straightforward and exciting as The Kinks in their early days, with an added 'Back From The Grave' fixation, here's another chance.

The Chesterfield Kings - The Chesterfield Kinks (White Trash Soul Real R'n'R No.8)

Having been here for such a long time, you obviously don't need a recap or a history lesson on Rochester's finest Frankensteins, the Chesterfield Kings, do you? I guess you're also familiar with their long-standing fixation on the Beatles/Stones dipole. Well, here's the thing: Greg, Andy and Co. have always had a soft spot for The Kinks as well — the most British of the British Invasion bands — and they've covered them no less than five times throughout their career. As the title betrays, the idea this time was to bring together all the covers they did for the Kinks in one place. The only thing missing is a performance of 'Party Line' from a 1985–86 video, which I have been unable to acquire all these years. Brief but satisfying... 

Lyres by Miriam Linna (Breakthrough No. 1, Todd Abramson, 1984)

 

(Right click and select 'open link in new tab' for full scans resolution)

Various Artists - Sock It To Me! Another White Trash Soul Compilation of 26 Soul and R&B Dance Blasters

 

OK, here's another compilation that I've made for my own use and pleasure. This one was actually tested on the dance floor the other day when a friend of mine who owns a small pub asked me to lend him my iPod (he does that quite often) and play the whole thing while I was drinking my beer. Well, it seemed like everyone liked it to my surprise. I can't remember if I've used any of these songs in other compilations that have been uploaded by me in the past, but it's very likely since some of them are among my favourites. Anyway, here's the tracklist:

1. Teen Age Jump - T.D. Valentine
2. The Hawg [Part 1] - Eddie Kirkland 
3. Who Do You Love - Jimmy Toliver
4. Pretty Mama Blues - Arthur Griswold
5. Whole Lot Of Soul - Jan Bradley
6. Baby You Goofed - Rudi Stewart
7. Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogaloo Flu - Bobby Marchan
8. A Rockin' Good Way - Jo Ann Garrett & Andre Williams
9. Go Go Girl - Richard Berry & The Soul Searchers
10. Watch Yourself - Al Gardner
11. The Love Knot - Chuck Wells
12. Searching For My Baby - James Lynn Marsh
13. Save Your Love - Buddy Lamp
14. Crazy - Wess & The Airedales
15. Chuck Roast - Chuck Edwards
16. The Wig - Lorenzo Holden
17. Do The Ape - Reg Powell
18. I Don't Know - Albert Collins
19. Shake Shout And Soul - Lil' Ray & The Premiers
20. Philly Barracuda [Part 1] - Holly Maxwell
21. Keep A Calling - Paul Perryman
22. Talking 'Bout Soul - Little Richard
23. Soul - Squatty & The Bottys
24. (Shing-A-Loo-Boog-A-Ling) Big Mama - The Experts
25. I Can't Help Myself - The Emperors
26. (Beggin) Baby Don't Leave Me - The Bronzettes

Les Grys-Grys - R&B Maximale: Les Singles (White Trash Soul R&B Series No.18)

 

Les Grys-Grys were my favourite "new" band. I've only felt this excited about a modern outfit twice before: the first time was back in the '90s with the misanthropic early Hellacopters punk rock 'n' roll blasts (before they turned arena rock '70s, up until the "Soulseller"era), and the second one with The Jim Jones Revue records, which had this fenerish Little Richard cum Jerry Lee backed by The Sonics and spreading chaos sound. 

Hailing from Montpellier, France, Les Grys-Grys proudly displayed their sixties influences in their invigorating reverberation. Starting out by playing covers, they absorbed the best elements of the bands and sounds that influenced them — most notably The Pretty Things and The Downliners Sect (one of them actually wore a headcoat once or a 'deerstalker', for those who are unfamiliar with the term), as well as American garage punk bands such as Count V — infusing them into their own furious style. These Frenchies were the real deal and a reminder of how you felt as a teenager.

Had the Grys-Grys lived in the '60s, the Marquee would never have let them play because of the mayhem they would have caused. They set out to romp classic white R&B with filthy fuzztones, sharp bursts of frenzied drumming, punchy bass lines, manic maraca-shaking and wild harmonica blowing. Their two LPs flirt more with the freakbeat sound of Down Under, but the three long-out-of-print singles I've gathered for you are pure, untamed and unhinged maximum R&B! 

I was devastated when they called it a day because I never got the chance to see them live. I hope for a future release of live recordings. In fact, I'm hoping for a release containing all the material these loonies have left unreleased. Until then, I'll stick to their brother band, Les Lullies, with their more '77 approach.

The Untold Fables - The Untold Fables (White Trash Soul R&B Series No.17)

The Untold Fables were one of the few garage punk bands of the '80s who lived up to their name. Forget rock star mannerisms à la Fuzztones or wimpy jump wagoners. To me, they and The Primates remain the most underrated bands of the American scene back then. 

The Untold Fables consisted of Jon Niederbrach on guitar, Robert Butler (later of The Miracle Workers) on bass, Paul Sakry on drums, and Paul Carey on vocals. They grew out of a club called The Rave Up and later moved to Greg Shaw's Cavern Club. Their music was strongly influenced by '70s punk and '50s R&B. In spring 1985, they recorded their debut LP, "Every Mother's Nightmare", for Lee Joseph's Dionysus Records at West Beach Studios in LA. In summer 1986 and spring 1987, they held two more recording sessions at South Coast Studios in Santa Ana, this time with David Carey producing. The eleven songs from these sessions were later compiled for their second LP, "Aesop's Apocalypse", which was released in early 1989, around a year after the band split up. 

The Pretty Things' early work, along with the freakbeat of Ealing's The Eyes and some Nederbeat perhaps, were their main influences. Snottiness a plenty. Here are their two LPs combined. This isn't my rip; I found them on Soulseek at some point, so thanks anyway to the original uploader. I tried to normalise them a little and remove some noise because the transfers are obviously from vinyl, but in the end I decided to leave them as they were because I'm no pro at this, and besides, who cares — we're here for some punk sounds! The cover I designed was heavily influenced by the Mystery Scene EP and their demo. Dig the fuzz!