Posts in Radio
Soul Station Feature: Tammy Montgomery (Tammi Terrell)
Soul Station Feature: Tammy Montgomery (Tammi Terrell)

This Time Tomorrow

Before Motown and success on her own and with Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell had recorded as Tammy Montgomery, which was her born last name. Her final 45 as Montgomery was done with Bert Berns and leased to Checker. While I like the A-side, I find the B-side more interesting, with its sly fuzz guitar and the twang break in the middle! It might not be her very best solo outing (that is quite possibly her hit remake of This Old Heart Of Mine) but this is a very solid effort from her and producer Berns.

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RadioDJ PiSoul Station Feature, Tammy Montgomery, Tammyt Terrel, Bert Berns
Soul Station Feature: Royal Guardsmen
Soul Station Feature: Royal Guardsmen

Leaving Me

I am not sure why I started to collect the records of the Royal Guardsmen since I don't really like their Snoopy hits. But it did allow me to discover that they were a pretty talented band. They could rock AND sing, as a few of their sides are almost as well sung as records by the Association. Their first 45, before any of the Snoopy records, was a version of Baby Let's Wait, which had already been out on the debut Young Rascals album. It was mildly popular in Florida, which is where the band was from. But the B-side is a solid rocker, with a rousing fuzz guitar line. It is NOT a Snoopy recording, that is for sure!

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RadioDJ PiSoul Station Feature, Royal Guardsmen, The Association, Young Rascals, Snoopy
Soul Station Feature: Joe L. Carter
Soul Station Feature: Joe L. Carter

Please Mr. Foreman

"I don't mind working, but I do mind dying!" In the late 1960s that became a slogan and a line of protest in Detroit, and in many ways it was adopted from a great blues by Joe L. Carter. Carter recorded as Joe-L (or Joe L.) and he had several 45s on small Detroit labels in the late 1960s. Please Mr. Foreman (on the Classic label run by Rudy Robinson) was one of them and if not the best, certainly the one which attracted the most local attention. In 1971 he worked with Willie Mitchell and had two more releases; one of those four sides was even a re-recording of Please Mr Foreman.

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RadioDJ PiSoul Station Feature, Rudy Robinson, Willie Mitchell, Detroit
Soul Station Feature: Billy Jack Wills
Soul Station Feature: Billy Jack Wills

Teardrops From My Eyes

Billy Jack Wills was the youngest brother of the famous fiddler and western swing band leader Bob Wills. He did not get a chance to lead his own band until brother Bob left California for a residence on Oklahoma. The much younger (20 years) Wills was quite current in his musical interests, which included jump blues, r&b and even bebop. He was able to to center his own band around two great and unique musicians: Tiny Moore on electric mandolin and Vance Terry on pedal steel guitar. While Billy Jack made a few fine records for MGM from 1954 to 1957, perhaps his best recordings were done for radio transcription services, like this killer version of Teardrops From My Eyes.

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RadioDJ PiSoul Station Feature, Billy Jack Wills, Bob Wills, Tiny Moore, ance Terry
Soul Station Feature: Washboard Sam
Soul Station Feature: Washboard Sam

Gamblin’ Man

Washboard Sam (Robert Clifford Brown) went from being one of the most popular blues artists in Chicago during the 1930s to a police officer who, when he passed in 1966, ended up in an unmarked grave. He came to Chicago in the early 1930s from Memphis and shortly there after began recording for the famous/infamous Lester Melrose. While I like some of his 30s sides, the records he made that I like the most all were done after WWII and they have a slight jazz tinge to them. This one in particular has a nice sax solo, followed by pianist Bob Call, someone who has been largely overlooked. But after that, there is a profoundly great electric guitar solo by Willie Lacey. Lacey had become known for playing with John Lee Williamson (THE Sonny Boy Williamson) before his tragic death. His fluid lines and dazzling technique are unlike any other guitarist I can think of in Chicago during the late 1940s, and his work on this record is quite great!

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RadioDJ PiWashboard Sam, Robert Clifford Brown, Lester Melrose, Willie Lacey, John Lee Williamson, Sonny Boy Williamson, Soul Station Feature
Soul Station Feature: Al Dexter
Soul Station Feature: Al Dexter

Pistol Packin’ Mama

OK, two days ahead of Mother's Day here is a great and important song. Al Dexter began recording in 1937 and his approach draws on western swing, among other things, and his music from 1938 into the early 1940s is considered one part of the foundation of honky tonk music. It is also, in some ways, western swing, though with some limitations much of that music does not have. Whatever. This is classic and about a special kind of "mama"!

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RadioDJ PiAl Dexter, Soul Station Feature
Soul Station Feature: Jonah Jones
Soul Station Feature: Jonah Jones

Jonah's Wall

Though he played and recorded with many different bands, trumpeter Jonah Jones is probably best known for his work in the 1930s with the superb violinist Stuff Smith and his time during the 1940s with Cab Calloway. This track comes from one really hot session and it features (in order) Dave Rivera on piano, Rudy Powell on clarinet, Milt Hinton on bass, Tyree Glenn on trombone, Ike Quebec on tenor sax and finally Jones, whose hot touch is enlivened by the drum bombs of Kansas Fields. While all the solos are quite fine, note the hard blown squall from Quebec and the bristling, wicked tone Jones has! In many ways, this is swinging jazz during the 1940s at its best, embracing elements that were around in the 1920s, and some that just emerged at the end of the 1930s. It moves, its is hot and it shows a little anger! From September of 1946

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RadioDJ PiJonah Jones, Snuff Smith, Cab Calloway, Dave Rivera, Rudy Powel, Milt Hinton, Tyree Glenn, Ike Quebec, Kansas Fields, Soul Station Feature
Soul Station Feature: Johnny Dodds
Soul Station Feature: Johnny Dodds

Gravier Street Blues

In the era of 78s, an album was an oversized book containing several, often it was at least six, 78s. Sometimes the packages were devoted to a single artist, and sometimes to a set of related artists, or to related music. In 1940 the Decca label released such an album consisting of older musicians associated with the thriving jazz scene of New Orleans during the 1920s. One of the discs was credited to Johnny Dodds, often considered the most important clarinet player of the 1920s. He, sometimes with his drummer brother Warren 'Baby' Dodds, recorded with Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton and many, many others. The side posted has a beautiful solo by guitarist Lonnie Johnson, who was from New Orleans, though many blues fans probably do not associate him with NOLA. It is during his solo that the piano, played by Richard M Jones (his name is attached to Trouble In Mind!) can be heard. Jones and Johnson sound great together, though everyone plays beautifully!

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RadioDJ PiSoul Station Feature, Johnny Dodds
Soul Station Feature: Strawberry Alarm Clock
Soul Station Feature: Strawberry Alarm Clock

Small Package

I really liked the early records by the Strawberry Alarm Clock, though I suffered for it as their image (and some of their music) was quite ridiculed back them. To me they had many great talents on record: incisive lead guitar, cool organ and very good vocals and vocal arrangements. Eventually the vocal side sort of too over, and I didn't really like their later, middling pop hits, such as Barefoot In Baltimore. But even as late as 1969 they were capable of some groovy psyche, with hot lead guitar and very well done vocals. This track is a great example, and it has a very surprise ending, too!

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RadioDJ PiSoul Station Feature, Strawberry Alarm Clock
Soul Station Feature: Boyce & Hart
Soul Station Feature: Boyce & Hart

Out & About

When I was in junior high and the beginning of high school, despite their recording success, in many circles Boyce and Hart were not cool. This was in part because of all their work for the Monkees, and many kinds and young adults thought the band was, well, fake, in a way. That Boyce and Hart appeared on an episode of the Singing Nun didn't help their image. I liked their 45s and when I got their three albums, I found that there was some pretty sophisticated and wonderful rock on them, and they certainly had a great band. Of their three top 40 national hits, I think I like Out And About the best. It just did crack the national top 40, reaching #39 on August 12, 1967. On a different note, my experience interviewing Dolenz, Jones, Boyce, and Hart was pretty much a disaster. The only bright note was how friendly Micky Dolenzwas before he ran off after somebody or something! And there I was with Boyce and Hart and all they wanted to do was complain about being in STL on New Year's Eve! Jeez guys, I didn't want to have been there either!

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RadioDJ PiBoyce & Hart, Soul Station Feature
Soul Station Feature: Charlie Ventura Sextet
Soul Station Feature: Charlie Ventura Sextet

C.V. Jump

The beginnings of bebop were from early 1944 forward. By the start of 1945, Dizzy Gillespie was making his own records. Soon Charlie Parker would as well. In many ways bop gathered creative energies that had been emerging in NYC, at jams, and at a club called Minton's. The cats out in LA, however, were not clueless. This great side from March of 1945 was under the name of Charlie Ventura (note that it is misspelled on the label) who had been in Gene Krupa's big band. He teamed (and would continue to do so in the future) with Howard McGhee, who had been with the bands of Andy Kirk and Charlie Barnet. They cut this very bopish track which also features fine piano from Arnold Ross and a very strong solo by Dave Barbour, who is best known, perhaps, for his relationship with Peggy Lee. So while Hollywood was hardly the incubator of bebop, it was there and in early 1945!


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RadioDJ PiSoul Station Feature
Soul Station π: Greg Hatza & Lonnie Smith
Soul Station π: Greg Hatza & Lonnie Smith

My new show tonight at the Soul Station is all about the B3. I feature tracks from two records by Greg Hatza that he made at the end of his teens! His fellow players are Eric Gale and Grady Tate. The debut, The Wizardry of Greg Hatza tracks are mono and sound amazing! He has some moves that you will not hear on other organ jazz records from the 1960s, especially on Charlene. In between the two Greg Hatza sets, I spin tracks from Lonnie Smith's debut, also in mono. These feature King Curtis, Blue Mitchell and George Benson! Also in MONO! This is one very sizzling show. So tune in, 7pm tonight. You know where!

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RadioDJ PiDJ π - Soul Station π, Greg Hatza, Lonnie Smith, Hammond B3, King Curtis, Blue Mitchell, George Benson, Mono
Soul Station Feature: Rock-A-Teens
Soul Station Feature: Rock-A-Teens

Doggone It Baby

From Richmond, Virginia, the Rock-A-Teens hit with an instrumental in 1959 and their label allowed them to make a whole album, and though it featured several other instrumentals, much of it was stone-ground rockabilly, like this track which was also the A-side of the band's second 45. Written by lead singer Vic Mizelle, it has an irresistible quality, in part because of Mizelle's vocal. The great guitar work also helps!

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RadioDJ PiSoul Station Feature, Rock-A-Teens, Vic Mizzelle
Soul Station Feature: John Kirby & His Orchestra
Soul Station Feature: John Kirby & His Orchestra

Temptation

Bassist John Kirby led a successful sextet for nearly 8 years. It had great original material, much of it furnished by trumpeter Charlie Shavers. The group also had a very original way of playing and breaking down pop hits that had already been successful by other artists, usually outside the jazz field. Such is the case with the band's marvelous arrangement of Temptation. It was originaly from the 1933 film Going Hollywood and was very popularized by Bing Crosby in the same year. The Kirby version adds a blue mood to the song that really wasn't there before. Some of this comes from a five note bass line Kirby plays (it starts at 0:16); Though a very simple line, it has resonance with another song, a hit, from that day, the piano blues After Hours. So the arrangement goes forward with a bit of piano (it was prominent in the Crosby hit) and clarinet, while the tension increases just a bit and that bass line becomes more clearly audible before the end. It really is beautifully constructed and the blues element, while it is not directly dveloped quite adds to the performance.

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RadioDJ PiSoul Station Feature, John Kirby & His Orchestra, Charlie Shavers, Bing Crosby, Going Hollywood
Soul Station Feature: Coleman Hawkins & Django Reinhardt
Soul Station Feature: Coleman Hawkins & Django Reinhardt

Stardust

Coleman Hawkins, one of the greatest and most important jazz sax players, very much wanted to tour Europe in the 1930s, and after several planned trips fell through, he still found a way. He toured there for five years and did not return to the US until 1939. He made recordings in the UK as well as France and indeed, one of the most memorable on those discs is his version of Stardust. Stardust had been famous since the early 1930s and made very memorable by Louis Armstrong. The Hawkins version is a spare, beautiful affair, with Stephane Grappellion piano and Django Reinhardt on guitar. In my estimation, it is just as unforgettable as the one by Armstrong. 

DJ Pi/Paul Yamada

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RadioDJ PiSoul Station Feature
Soul Station Feature: The Who
Soul Station Feature: The Who

We’re Not Gonna Take It

Tommy by the Who is 50 years old this month. Yes, it was released in late May of 1969. It certainly was a milestone and a crossroads for the Who. Starting in 1970, they were becoming their own version of a hard rock band, while Tommy was, in many ways piano and acoustic guitar driven. I remember seeing an all Tommy show in late 1969 and then seeing the Who again in early 1970 and the Tommy material was much different, much harder, more rock and very like what is on the extended Live At Leeds. I don't know how popular Tommy is anymore, though I still like it and like comparing the original to the live tracks on Live At Leeds.

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RadioDJ PiThe Who, Tommy, Soul Station Feature
Soul Station Feature: Simtec & Wylie
Soul Station Feature: Simtec & Wylie

Do It Like Mama

The Chicago soul-funk duo Simtec (Walter Simmons) And Wylie (Wylie Dixon) had a bunch of 45s (and one album) from the late 1960s into the 1970s. They excelled at a hard edged, funky kind of soul that vocally relied on Sam And Dave. The band on several of their records was more or less led by guitarist Bobby Pointer, and he and a few others moved on from the duo to become the Southside Movement. Although the two singers had more success with their second 45 on Shama, this is the one that hits me, and when they keep singing mommy my eyes roll as much as my feet move!

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RadioDJ PiWholesomeRadioVideo, YouTube, Simtec & Wylie, Sam and Dave, Bobby Pointer, Shama, Soul Station Feature
Soul Station π: Standells & Count Five
Soul Station π: Standells & Count Five

My new show at the Soul Station features the Standells and the Count Five. Their music makes a very interesting comparison and contrast. Some the hits are there, but so are many other records that are not as well known and deserve attention, like the Count Five doing You Must Believe Me (Impressions) as well as a Standells original, Poor Shell Of A Man and their version of Wicked Pickett's Ninety-Nine And A Half. I also feature the original of Soul Drippin’ by the Standells, which, when covered by Chicago's The Mauds, became the closest record that band had that was a national hit! So do tune in. a rockin' must tonight at 7pm!

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RadioDJ PiDJ π - Soul Station π, Standells, Count Five
Soul Station Feature: Bohannon
Soul Station Feature: Bohannon

Truck Stop

Hamilton Bohannon grew up in GA and went to college there all the while working as a drummer. He was recruited to join the touring band of Stevie Wonder and thus he moved to Detroit in 1967. Eventually he led a band that backed other artists as was billed as Bohannon & The Motown Sound. He did not move to California when Motown essentially fled Detroit. He started his own band and went after a unique guitar based, dance-funk style. Initially he had Ray Parker, Jr and Dennis Coffey playing on his records. In 1974 he had his first hit, but only in the UK. Into the early 1980s, his music was consistently in the r&b charts, though he had only one big hit, Let's Start The Dance, in 1978. I love his insistent beat and all those guitars, many of them very fly and wah-wah. Sometimes the dancers have other instrumentation, as on this 1974 number, which has harmonica. It was a B-side to a track from his first album released the previous year. Be prepared to move.

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RadioDJ PiHamilton Bohannon, Detroit