El Pito

Here's a latin scorcher that I bought for the flipside, a cover of Jr. Walker's "Shotgun", last year, and recently flipped over. Boy was I wrong about the side to listen to on this one. Anyway, "El Pito" is a cover (originally done by Joe Cuba) taken from an LP entitled "King of the Boogaloo" by Pete Terrace.

Opening with a a whistling interlude, this tune gets right down to it, and is fueled by hand-clapping over the groove. The handclapping never stops, no matter what the instruments do, and there are plenty of tempo changes throughout. And every time the tune begins to build again, there's that catchy piano line, and then the drums come in, and then vocals come in, and we're off.

This is probably one of those tunes that shouldn't be written about. This tune's purpose is very direct: get up off your butt and dance.

Tell It Like It Is

Tonight's 45 is a record by S.O.U.L. (Sounds of Unity and Love) outta Cleveland, Ohio. S.O.U.L. released 10 45s and 2 LPs on the Musicor label in the early 70s, and their LPs are particularly sought after, as well as at least one of their 45s (who's got a copy of 'Burning Spear' for me?). I wish I could say that I'm always buying their 45s when I come across them, but unfortunately, it's not very often that I see them at shops or shows.

This tune is a solid groover that has plenty of changes throughout. The vocals are sung by a number of the members of the group, which gives the tune a "show band" sound to me. The vocals and thewah-wah of the guitar are up in the mix, bass and organ in a support role underneath. There's a couple breakdowns where everything falls away except the drums, bongos andwah-wah of guitar behind the vocals, the second breakdown features a separating of the voices before going into a piano-led outro. I dig that falsetto. Would have liked to heard more of that, but nothing to complain about here.

I Can't Believe You Love Me

I've been meaning to feature this great 45 by the Ambassadors that I bought last year, somehow misfiled, and only recently had the opportunity to really sit down and listen to. Like the Helene Smith 45 featured a while back, this was another record I pulled from a box ofunsleeved 45s at my local flea market (looking at unsleeved 45s being a practice I only really took to last year). Anyway, enough talk of my collecting habits, and, instead, let's talk about this fantastic slice of soul by The Ambassadors released on Arctic in 1969.

Opening with a steady beat, a lovely bit of jangly guitar, and ace harmonies, the song settles into it's groove and then when the lead vocalist comes in, the song really takes off. His vocals are spectacularly soulful. He consistently brings his vocals up out of the tune, and in the choruses, he works with, or juxtaposes against the backing vocals, sometimes finishing their lines to very nice effect. Lines like "When I speak your name in the sweetest tone, It's just as though I'm all alone" just knock me out. The production is quality, a rich sound of horns, piano, bass and drums grounding the vocals (especially like the bass sound of the horns as the vocals soar).

The more I hear on this label, the more I am impressed. Quality stuff.

Too Hot To Hold

Let me start off by saying that this is my favorite 45 right now. Pulled from a $2 box at the WFMU record show last November, it wasn't until after the new year that I had a chance to clean it and give it a proper listen. And since then, I've got it burned to a CD and it's on constant rotation on the way to and home from work (generally the only time I have to actually listen to music). Anyway, it's a stormer - as Tina sings in the very tune - it "sets my little soul on fire".

Tina's voice is at the top of it's register from the very start, propelled by steady drumming and a bass that's well up in the mix. Then there's that scratchy bit of guitar that wonderfully contrasts with the bass, and the organ that bubbles underneath. For the choruses, the horns come in, build, and then the band crashes down on them. And let's not forget the backing vocals, which are as strong as Tina's.

The second verse is my favorite, where Tina pulls it back just slightly and sings:
I thought I knew everything a girl's supposed to know
About how to keep cool when the heat is on
You taught something I never learned
You made me hot enough baby, hot enough to burn

And then the group takes it right back up. And they sound damn good throughout. This is one smoking slice of soul right here.

I believe this is the 3rd 45 titles "Too Hot To Hold" I've featured. Anyone recommend any others?

Forget Him

I thought I'd stay with the Carnival label and feature this wonderful 45 by Barbara Brown, "Forget Him", which was released in 1965. I bought this at a flea market last year, and the seller had placed a small pink post-it note on the 45 label that read "worth a lot". So when I handed him the four 45s I was interested in, I expected the worst, but was pleased when he asked for $5 for the lot. I believe another 45 had a note that read "hard to find". Funnily enough, I have kept these post-it notes, and they now reside on the paper sleeves that house the 45s.

Barbara Brown's "Forget Him" is built on a solid drum beat, a percussive piano, guitar and bass. There's a slick little guitar line that opens the tune, and re-appears throughout, often working in concert with the drums to almost reset the tune. Horns work in the background, primarily via a mournful trumpet that helps the maintain the mood of the tune. Barbara's delivery is sometimes down, advising the other lady to forget the guy in question, to sometimes soaring, when reminiscing about him. Likewise, the tempo moves between a slower pace to mid-tempo. Start to finish, though, everything is spot on: another quality production by Carnival.

This tune can also be heard on Soulclub. Check it out.

Also, if you're in the Asbury Park area, there is a record show this Sunday, February 24th at the Asbury Lanes. I will be there selling some LPs and 45s, so stop by if you can. More info here.

I Love You More

Well, I was hoping to have a new 45 on the blog last week, but with the arrival of my daughter's first molars, it was a night-waking, sleep-deprived, caffeine-fueled week. I was so tired that, even though I bought the Valentines cards before the actual day, I didn't remember to sign them until Thursday morning. Anyway, here's a belated love song, Lee Williams & The Cymbals' "I Love You More" on Carnival Records.

"I Love You More" is a slowie, opening with some plaintive guitar, the bass, and a crisp drum beat. Other than this, there's some very low horns (tuba?) and the vocals of the group. And those vocals are simply outstanding. There's not much variation in the musical theme of the tune, just some slighly scratchy guitar, plenty of bass and tuba to give it plenty of bottom, and those spot on drums. The tune is direct, yet with plenty of depth. Singing "I love you more than anybody's ever loved anyone" could backfire on you, but it never does here. Simply brilliant. You can check it out on SoulClub.

I believe I have mentioned this in a prior post, but I highly recommend the "A Carnival of Soul" CDs (on Kent) that feature sides from this label. Quality soul music through and through.

Keep Your Chin Up

Here's a fantastic soul side by Jackie Ross on the Brunswick label, "Keep Your Chin Up". Jackie had a number of 45s released on the Chess label in the mid-60s before she moved to Brunswick for 2 45s, this one from '67, and one more in '68. This tune has had some plays on the northern soul scene, and really got under my skin when I participated in a CD swap last year. I knew I had to find this record, and my opportunity came last week when a copy was sitting in the cheap bins of a local shop.

Right off the bat, "Keep Your Chin Up" gets me with the interplay of Jackie's high voice and the falsetto of the backing male vocals. From the opening guitar lines, the production really seems to do what is the song is all about, uplifting the spirits of someone who is helplessly in love. The drums, bass, bongos, even a vibraphone are there to propel the tune (there's a real lightness to the song when it's just these 4 instruments, never overpowering Jackie's vocals) to the chorus, where the strings and horns take the tune to a crescendo. And then guitar comes back in, everyone resets and we're off again. Brilliant stuff.

You can hear this tune over at Soul Club.