Mambo Pa'Chango

Even in the context of 1940s and early 1950s Afro Cuban music history, Alberto Iznaga seems virtually forgotten. He led what he called "Su Orquesta Siboney" in NYC for many years, and he made many records for major American labels as well as for much smaller labels specializing in latin music and mambo. This side for Decca from 1950 is one hot mambo and it notes Chango/Shango an Orisha! It was written by Obdulio Morales, who researched Afro Cuban traditions, and was as well a pianist and composer. Too bad there does not seem to be any Iznaga collections, because much of his output was very jazz, quite sophisticated, and very strong!

Soul Station Feature: Orquesta De Jose Curbelo

Llorá

Chano Pozo's Llora was initially recorded by the famous Orquesta Casino de la Playa, in 1946, with Cascarita singing and Perez Prado leading the band. Before the 1940s ended, and perhaps while Pozo was still alive (he died 12/03/48) it was recorded by Jose Curbelo in the US with Tito Rodriguez singing. Curbelo had come to the US in 1939 and he bounced around from the better paying, latin hotel bands (including Xavier Cugat's band) until he formed his own. Many future latin stars worked in his band, including Tito Puente and of course, the singer and band leader Tito Rodriguez!

Soul Station Feature: Paul Revere and The Raiders

RINKY DINK

The late 1950s and early 1960s rock scene in the Pacific Northwest was in some ways extraordinary. Most of the bands were influenced by great r&b and r&b tinged jazz, and many of them were very influenced by the Bill Doggett sound and approach, which always included organ and tenor sax. This goes for Paul Revere and the Raiders. Though some of their earliest music shows surf aspects (Orbit, their cover of Moon Dawg) The Raiders also covered the organ and sax thing, doing Allnight Long (Joe Houston, Rusty Bryant), Night Train, and this cover of a Baby Cortez big hit. It might not have the slinky qualities of the original, but whoever the sax player is, he had a strong go at sounding like early King Curtis, especially after the two minute mark. And seriously, it could BE Mark Lindsay! Cut in 1963 for the Sande label, for which the band recorded Louie Louie before it was picked up by Columbia.

Soul Station Feature: Myrta Silva

Echale Tierra Y Tápala

Myrta Silva began her singing career before she was a teen. She wrote a song that Daniel Santos had a hit with when she was 15. By 1947 she was recording with the orchestra of Julio Gutierrez and soon she was known as 'the queen of the guaracha'. And so we have a very lively guaracha on tap, with some mambo touches-flourishes and a great piano solo either from Gutierrez himself or perhaps his favorite other pianist, Peruchin!

Soul Station Feature: The Flock

Take Me Back (Destination 635)

Chicago rock group The Flock, when they were on Columbia in 1969, were very much a jazzy fusion of rock and minor classical strains via violinist Jerry Goodman. Goodman did not join and record with the band until their 45 on U.S.A. in mid 1968. The earlier 45s reveal a band capable of some exacting, uptown soul, and sometimes they sounded like a cross of The Spiral Staircase and the more updated aspects of The Four Seasons. This side is a good example. It is really tight pop-rock-soul, with excellent horns, and no violin at all!

Soul Station Feature: Don Byas Re-Boppers

Dynamo A

While in Paris Don Byas continued to play and record with Peanuts Holland and Billy Taylor, and in January of 1947, he waxed this bebop gem. Everyone plays and makes this slice of bebop quite juicy! It should be pointed out that this tune is, by any other name Dizzy Atmosphere, and was actually first done by Dizzy Gillespie as Dynamo A and the original Byas 78 gave Gillespie credit.

Soul Station Feature: Smokestack Lightin'

Look What You've Done

For a time, the band Smokestack Lightnin' was popular at the Whiskey A Go Go in L.A. Taking the group name from a Howlin' Wolf song, they did feature blues, blues rock and some gnarly psyche. Their earlierst 45s were done in 1967 before they got signed to Bell. From the end of 1968 to the start of 1970 the band cut four 45s and an album. Much of their material is very good, in part because of producer Bones Howe and also because singer Ronnie Darling's raspy voice handles the material very well. This track is from their second 45 and once the organ enters, it gives off an early scent of The Doors. The guitar solo is also quite sharp and edgy. Perhaps their most commercial release was their last, a version of the Delaney Bramlett gem, Hello, L.A., Bye-Bye Birmingham, but it came out at the same time as the one by Blue Cheer.

Soul Station Feature: Stan Kenton and His Orchestra

Bongo Riff

On the same day that Dizzy Gillespie and his orchestra were recording Manteca, a milestone in Afro Cuban jazz and bop, Stan Kenton was recording Pete Rugolo's Bongo Riff. This was December 22, 1947. Other latin influenced tracks were cut by Kenton's orchestra the day before and a few earlier in the year. Bongo Riff is certainly brisk, aggressive jazz and shows some knowledge of guaracha--though I cannot think of one Cuban band that played anything this fast in the 1940s--and the mambo, too. It has some affinities with Manteca, though not that many, and it's themes are not as thoroughly developed. It is, however, a steamer and a step in an interesting direction for the coming together of two musical traditions.

Soul Station Feature: Gene Chandler

I Fooled You This Time

After his huge Duke of Earl hit, Gene Chandler remained a consistent hit maker into the 1970s, and he was also an important figure in the Chicago soul scene. This record made #3 on the Billboard r&b chart in 1966. it is great, well sung, and beautifully arranged by Gerald Sims.

Zine, RadioDJ PiOctober 24, 2019WholesomeStudio-b3Soul Station Feature, Duke of Earl, Gene Chandler

Soul Station Feature: Dwight Twilley

I'm On Fire

Phil Seymour and Dwight Twilley knew each other in Tulsa, but decided they wanted to make music and be discovered in Memphis. They eventually contacted Ray Harris, a former Sun artist, and Harris introduced the them to rockabilly. Back in Tulsa they met and recorded with U.K. producer Denny Cordell; he had started Shelter Records with Leon Russell. Their initial 45 was recorded in 1974 and released in 1975. Hitting #16, it would prove to be the biggest hit for the Dwight Twilley Band. A second 45 and an album followed in 1976 and still with Shetler, they also had an album through Arista in 1977. Seymour would depart in 1978, and quite sadly, pass away in 1993. The Twilley Band made great rockabilly (in part because of guitarist Bill Pitcock IV) and fantastic pop. Their vocals might suggest the Everlys and Lou Christie, but their arrangements and delivery is indeed unique and special. I was lucky to have seen this band three times and they were killer!

Soul Station Feature: The Clique

Splash 1

The Clique are best known for their bright, sunny pop hits, especially their cover of Tommy James and the Shondells' Sugar On Sunday. The band was from Texas and their first 45 was also a cover, but a cover of a song on the initial 13th Floor Elevators album. Though neither recording is of the more energetic and visceral music the Elevators made, The Clique manage a wonderful balance between the edgy and forlorn folk rock style of the Elevators and their own passion for layered, pop vocal arrangements. After a local release on Cinema, the national label Scepter picked it up, and it reached #113 on the Bubbling Under Billboard listing in October of 1967.

Soul Station Feature: Cannibal & The Headhunters

Get It On Up (Get Up The Courage)

East L.A. was a hot bed of hybrid rock, soul and boogaloo in the 1960s. Mexican American bands like Sunny and the Sunliners and Thee Midnighters were wildly popular and had hits, too. Thee Midniters caught on with a cover of Chris Kenner's Land of 1000 Dances at the end of 1964 and Cannibal and the Headhunters followed in a month. The Frankie Garcia (he was Cannibal) version did a little better and has certainly been remembered much more so than the one by Thee Midniters. Kind of a shame as Thee Midniters were an incredible band and they outlasted Cannibal and his group, too. Garcia and company were done by the beginning of 1969 when they had their farewell, a hot dance number that owes a lot to older dance grooves by the Isley Brothers and the Righteous Brothers.

Soul Station Feature: Wynonie Harris

Oh Babe!

Wynonie Harris was a great and important singer for jazz, jump blues, r&b, and rock'n'roll. He had many huge hits from the mid 1940s into the early 1950s. Oh Babe! was one of his last, from 1950. It also reunited him with the Lucky Millinder Orchestra, the band that had backed him on his first successful releases. Oh Babe! did not come to him from blues or r&b writers and artists, as it was written by Louis Prima, a jazzy trumpeter and band leader from New Orleans. Prima had been performing since the late 1920s and began recording in 1934. During the mid 1940s his big band records had the energy and verve of nascent r&b and he made many fine records in this vein. Oh Babe! was released on his own Robin Hood label, and cut with Keely Smith, whom he would marry in 1953. Prima's record was popular but not as much as the Harris disc. But it is just as good, featuring tart, flag waving trumpet (and two trumpets toward the rousing end) a very solid beat and fine vocals from Prima and Smith. This is the original 78 version; there are several others out there, some shorter and all slightly different. I do not know what their sources are. But please, enjoy this great original!

RadioDJ PiOctober 22, 2019Lucky Millinder Orchestra, Wynonie Harris, Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Soul Station Feature

Soul Station Feature: Wayne Kramer

Dead Movie Stars

Guitarist Wayne Kramer has made a lot of music since the MC5 and being imprisoned. His first solo effort was a 45 for Jake Riveria's Radar label in 1979, and for that he worked with producer Martin Rushent. His solo albums show a range of musical interests and abilities. When he played in my Tower, this was certainly one of his most power numbers, as it captures his flair for jazz, performance narratives and much more. It was a joy to present him and if you have not been listening to his work over the past 30 years or so, start now!

RadioDJ PiOctober 15, 2019WholesomeRadioWayne Kramer, Jake Riveria, Martin Rushent, Soul Station Feature, News

Soul Station Feature: The Everly Brothers

The Price of Love

After 1962 the Everly Brothers pretty much stopped having big hits in the US. They remained more popular in the UK and in 1965 they reached #2 over there with, to me, one of their greatest records, The Price Of Love. In the UK it has had many interesting covers, as the Status Quo did it in the late 1960s and in the mid 1970s Brian Ferry made a very good version. The song does not seem as popular here, though not that long ago Buddy Miller did it and did it very well. The Everly's version, the big UK hit really must be heard!

Soul Station Feature: Mickie Most

The Feminine Look

Mickie Most is mostly known as a producer, and sometimes as a producer who really hacked off his own artists, like Donovan and Terry Reid and the Yardbirds. Still, he was very successful over more than two decades. Early on, though, Most was a singer. He wad a good deal of success in S Africa during the beginning of the 1960s, returning to London in 1962. Most was one of the first producers to use Jimmy Page and Big Jim Sullivan regularly, and this 1963 example, though the lyrics are a bit stereotyped, has much wonderful Page!

Soul Station Feature: Moby Grape

Sitting By The Window

The weather here in Chicago has alternated between beautiful and then cold and damp. It has been raining again for hours and promises to rain off and on ALL day. In that spirit, let's hear this Moby Grape which includes the rain among its mise-en-scène to an emotional lament. It really is a moving and beautifully sung record!

RadioDJ PiOctober 12, 2019WholesomeRadioSoul Station Feature, Moby Grape, Chicago, News

Soul Station Feature: Johnny King and The Fatback Band

Put It In

Drummer and producer Bill Curtis oversaw the rise of The Fatback Band and he has been involved in many aspects of r&b, funk, latin and rap for decades. This is one of his earlier productions featuring guitarist and singer Johnny King. It borrows from River Deep Mountain High to develop a strong and memorable groove. It seems to have been released in 1968.

RadioDJ PiOctober 11, 2019WholesomRadioBill Curtis, Johnny King, The Fatback Band, Soul Station Feature

Soul Station Feature: Little Esther Phillips

Better Beware

I just love the music Esther Phillips made. Though she had a tumultuous life and battled drug use, she made her singing mark on blues, r&b, jazz and soul, just to cite the most obvious. She was an accomplished singer at age 15, and had big hits on her own or with Mel Walker. Most of her early records were overseen by the great Johnny Otis, and she benefited from his big band. Better Beware opens with staccato lead guitar from Pete Lewis leading to and a stirring arrangement. After Phillips has her pointed say, Ben Webster enters on sax, relaxed at first and then he gets going. Lewis follows him. It is truly amazing how much music and emotion fit into less that two minutes and forty seconds!

RadioDJ PiOctober 11, 2019WholesomeRadioEsther Phillips, Mel Walker, Johnny Otis, Pete Lewis, Soul Station Feature

Soul Station Feature: The Village Callers

Evil Ways

Because of Santana, the Willie Bobo tune, Evil Ways, has become well known. It was written by Bobo's guitarist, Clarence Henry and appeared on album in 1967. A rock group from East L.A., The Village Callers, recorded their version in the late spring of 1969 for the L.A. label Rampart, and it did well enough in California markets that it was picked up by the Bell label in September. It's popularity was noticed by employees of CBS in San Francisco, and they started a campaign to have it released as a 45, since Santana's Jingo had died. They were successful and at the very end of December, Evil Ways became the second Santana 45, and hence a big hit. It isn't just that the Village Callers deserve some note; their record is also really great and deserves to be heard. If it is really true that the accomplished pianist Hector Rivera had something to do with their management, that would also give the Callers a direct tie to the N.Y.C. latin soul and boogaloo scene. But I have no idea if that is actually true.

An Irreverent Fanzine.
Est. 1984

NEWS

An Irreverent Fanzine.Est. 1984

NEWS

An Irreverent Fanzine.
Est. 1984