Monday, September 28, 2020

Rip It Up



Little Linda Lou

Rip It Up
1964




Linda Lou Andrews (circa 1959)
Photo credit : Jacksonville State College

Born in Alabama, Linda Lou Andrews, after graduating from Jacksonville High School, Alabama,  entered Jacksonville State College, where she again became a favorite of her classmates. She started singing at the age of 10 with a number of bands while in college, among them the C-Notes, a well known local group.(above ad from 1962).   Little Linda Lou  joined the Frankie Brent Revue in the early part of 1963 and, with Frankie Brent, recorded just one single for Epic Records. The flip of Rip It Up is Summertime sung with Frankie.

Next, she worked in revues on the east coast and toured the country as a single for three years before joining forces with Lyle Thurman, an organ major from the University of Oklahoma and they began performing as a duo - mostly in night clubs in and around Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1971 they expanded their sound with Rick Cope, a drummer and a few short months later with Kenny Mills, a guitarist. In 1972, there was an album recorded at the Derrick Recording Studios. Linda Lou died shortly afterwards.

Linda Lou and The Three For All (1972)



Mrs. Linda Lou Andrews Kotzin, 31, of Tulsa, Okla., in Biloxi, Miss., after a short illness. At the time of her death, Mrs. Kotzin was manager and entertainer at the Tradewinds Motel in Biloxi.


Saturday, September 26, 2020

Roque and Roule Around The World

 


From The Rest Of The World

"A collection of wonderful songs by the overseas masters... Excellent", according to the Portland Oregonian.

Tracklist:
Angèle Durand - Hula Hop                                 
Benoni Rocket - I'm Gonna Rock                           
Bijele Strijele - Svi Trce Oko Sue                       
Burt Blanca - Le Locomotion                              
César et ses Romains - Splish splash                     
Chiemi Eri - Rock Around The Clock                       
Die Optimisten  - Rund um die Uhr                        
Eilert Pilarm - Jailhouse Rock                           
Eilert Pilarm - Johnnie B Goode                          
El Toro Et Les Cyclones - Comme Un Tigre                 
El Toro Et Les Cyclones - Vingtième Etage                
Freddy Fender  - Chantilly Lace                          
Grace Lee & The Stylers - Be Bop A Lula                  
Hannelore Cremer  - Kuba Rock                            
Hector & Les Médiators - Whole Lotta Shaking Going On!   
Hedika - Hey Pony                                        
Los Llopis - Estremécete                                 
Los Psicodelicos Xochimilcas - Susie Q                   
Los Supersecos - El rock de la carcel                    
Mara & The Trailers - Love Potion Number Nine            
Mara Silva - O Roque errou                               
Mimi Cai & The Five Petals  - Be-Bop-A-Lula              
Mina Mazzini - Be Bop A Lula                             
Misora Hibari - unknown title                         
Nancy Sit - Love Potion No. 9                            
Nelly Wijsbek - Crying in the Chapel                     
Neneng Yetti Saripah  - Susy Q                           
Nick Savoia - I Go Ape                                   
Sodsai Chaengkij  - Shake Baby Shake                     
Sylvie Vartan - Stupid Cupid                             
Tony Campello - Boogie Do Bebê                           
Victor Wood - Be Bop A Lula                              
Wanda - Rock A Hula Baby                                 

One on my favorite is by the amazing Sodsai Chaengkij, but Mimi Cai & The Five Petals covering Be-Bop-A-Lula is not bad at all.            

 

 

 

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Jingle Bells

 




Jingle Bells

Found this unsurpassed stupidity on YouTube. It's from the CD "People Meowing Christmas Classics" (all tracks available on YT for free, or if you prefer disburse some money, the album is also available at Amazon as well as is, from the same producers, a CD of one hour of people meowing.
 
Upsetting.


 
 


Saturday, September 19, 2020

To The Beat

 


Chuck & Gasper

To The Beat

Cosimo Recording Studios
acetate







Cosimo Recording Studios in 1973

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Cryin' Eyes

King Alex And The Turnpikes

Cryin' Eyes

Weightless


Central 45-314004
1963?

The label gave writer's credits to Frankie George, owner of the Black Orchid.. According to King Alex,  "He was just a club owner. He didn't write no songs and he didn't play no music. He helped me produce the record, but I wrote it."


Alex Littlejohn (1934-2008)


"King-Alex" (Alex Littlejohn) was born July 29, 1934 and passed away March 15, 2008. He performed at local venues, regional and national blues and jazz festivals. He performed with the late Tommy Soul, Lester "Wizard" King, Albert Collins, B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Lawrence Wright and the Outlets, Leon Estelle, "Little-Joe" Robinson and Claude "Fiddler" Williams - just to name a few. Williams and formal training at UMKC's Conservatory of Music helped Alex refine his ability to play the bass. He was the first African-American bassist to play an electric bass in Kansas City through the Conservatory. Provine "Little" Hatch, George Jackson and many others performed with King-Alex at area venues to include Club Paradox, Mack's Tavern, Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival, and the Epicurean. He has several recordings to his credit to include Hot as a Coffee Pot, Huchia-Cuthia Lovin' Man, Sweet Banana Pie, Little Girl from New Orleans, and Grinding Stone.

Littlejohn was inducted into the Elder Statesmen of Kansas City Jazz in 2002 along with former employer and life-long friend Richard "Dick" Berkley.

Central Records was a subsidiary of Shelter Music, which was a subsidiary of Midwestern Recorders. All three owned by Gene Smith, who was also manager of the World War II Memorial building;



Sunday, September 13, 2020

I Will Forgive You (But I Can't Forget)


Diane Marie Mohr 

I Will Forgive You (But I Can't Forget)

Avonelle Productions AU-101
1978
Produced and composed by Donnie Sanders,
song published by Magic Trolley Pub. Co. BMI


Vero Beach, Florida drummer Diane Marie Mohr,  31-year old in 1978, has been drumming and singing the previous year at Rick's Dugout Lounge with the Glenn Shell Trio.. She started playing drums at age 14. Three years later, she was, providing the.beat for such name acts as Bobby Vinton, Anita Bryant and the Tokens. "1 was In a band in Louisville and we played at a benefit concert with some big singers," Miss Mohr said., "The Tokens even, asked me to join' them because it would have been pretty unusual, for a chick to be in the band. But Mom and,. Dad said no way. l wasn't even out of high school, yet," Instead, she continued taking drum lessons throughout high school.

The record was financed by Avonelle Call, who acted as her sponsor. "We have an agreement that if I ever hit it big, she'll get 10 per cent. Actually, she's just a close friend. who doesn't know anything about music. She thinks I just deserve a shot..."


Friday, September 11, 2020

Broken Down Ugly Thing

 



Ball Records 510
1961



Ball Records label launched by John Dolphin in 1957.  John Dolphin was killed at his record company in 1958 by a disgruntled songwriter. His wife, Ruth Dolphin, took over Dolphin's of Hollywood after his death.

Billy Hines has recorded for Tin Pan Alley, Ball and his own Wa-Tusi label. I'm unable to find much details on him (euphemism), he came possibly from Jamaica to New York in the fifties before finding his way to California.



Sunday, September 6, 2020

Je voudrais être un noir


Nino Ferrer : Je voudrais être un noir
(also known as "Je veux être un noir" or "Je voudrais être noir")

Hey hey hey, Monsieur Wilson Picket
Hey hey hey, toi Monsieur James Brown
S'il vous plaît dites-moi comment vous faites
Monsieur Charles, Monsieur King, Monsieur Brown
Moi je fais de mon mieux pour chanter comme vous
Mais je ne peux pas grand-chose, je ne peux rien du tout
Je crois que c'est la couleur, la couleur de ma peau
Qui n'va pas
Et c'est pourquoi je voudrais
Je voudrais être noir
Je voudrais être noir
Hey hey hey, dis-moi Monsieur Faubus
Hey hey hey, dis-moi comment les blancs
Font pour vendre les nègres à l'Argus
Et pour en brûler de temps en temps
Et moi je fais de mon mieux pour ne pas y penser
Et je me sens très souvent très, très embarrassé
Par la couleur de ma peau qui me démoralise
Un p'tit peu
Et c'est pourquoi je voudrais
Je voudrais être noir
Je voudrais être noir
Hey hey hey, vous les Saints, les Élus
Hey hey hey, vous les simples d'esprit
Vous qui chantez tout de blanc vêtus
Dans les verts pâturages près de Lui
Dites-moi s'il vaut mieux pour entrer dans ce royaume
Avoir plutôt la peau noire ou plutôt la peau jaune
Et si le blanc n'est pas une couleur déconseillée
Parmi vous
Quoi qu'il en soit je voudrais
Je voudrais être noir
Je voudrais être noir
Je voudrais être noir
Je voudrais être noir
Je voudrais être noir
Noir, noir, noir, oui, tout noir
Avec une belle couleur d'ébène et des cheveux crépus
Et puis je voudrais habiter là-bas
Pour pouvoir chanter tous les soirs
À la Nouvelle Orléans
Voir le Mississipi couler, pouvoir souffler dans une trompette
Pouvoir taper sur un tambour entouré de mes amis noirs
Et faire la nouba tous les soirs et je pourrais crier:
Yeah, yeah! Yeah!
Yeah, yeah! Yeah!

Translation

Hey hey hey, Mr. Wilson Picket
Hey hey hey you Mr. James Brown
Please tell me how you do
Mr. Charles, Mr. King, Mr. Brown
I do my best to sing like you
But I can't do much, I can't do much
I think it's the color, the color of my skin
Who does not go
And that's why I would like
I would like to be black
I would like to be black
Hey hey hey tell me Monsieur Faubus
Hey hey hey tell me how the whites
Font to sell the niggers to Argus
And to burn it from time to time
And I do my best not to think about it
And very often I feel very, very embarrassed
By the color of my skin that demoralizes me
A little bit
And that's why I would like
I would like to be black
I would like to be black
Hey hey hey you Saints, The Elects
Hey hey hey you simple minds
You who sing all dressed in white
In the green pastures near Him
Tell me if it's better to enter this realm
Rather have black skin or rather yellow skin
And if white is not a bad color
Among you
Anyway I would like
I would like to be black
I would like to be black
I would like to be black
I would like to be black
I would like to be black
Black, black, black, yes, all black
With a beautiful ebony color and frizzy hair
And then I would like to live there
To be able to sing every night
In New Orleans
See the Mississippi flow, be able to blow a trumpet
Being able to bang a drum surrounded by my black friends
And do the shinging every night and I could shout:
Yeah yeah! Yeah!
Yeah yeah! Yeah!

Every day brings its share of amazing news.  Nino Ferrer only wished to be black (surely not any kind of black) in his song, but Jessica Krug has taken an extra step : 
 
Jessica Krug, a Professor at George Washington University, has written extensively about Africa, Latin America, the diaspora and identity, all while claiming her own Black and Latina heritage. But Krug has now revealed the truth: She is White.

"My grandparents, who gave me the best parts of themselves, music and movement and storytelling, the inclination to ask and the soul to listen. My ancestors, unknown, unnamed, who bled life into a future they had no reason to believe could or should exist. My brother, the fastest, the smartest, the most charming of us all. Those whose names I cannot say for their own safety, whether in my barrio, in Angola, or in Brazil," she wrote in the introduction to her 2018 book, "Fugitive Modernities: Politics and Identity Outside the State in Kisama, Angola, and the Americas, c. 1594-Present" -- which traces the histories of communities in Angola -- begins with references to those who came before her, her grandparents and her ancestors. It's now being held up as one way Krug lied about her identity.

"To an escalating degree over my adult life, I have eschewed my lived experience as a white Jewish child in suburban Kansas City under various assumed identities within a Blackness that I had no right to claim: first North African Blackness, then US rooted Blackness, then Caribbean rooted Bronx Blackness," she wrote.

Krug acknowledged that she had no right to claim these identities, saying that "doing so is the very epitome of violence, of thievery and appropriation, of the myriad ways in which non-Black people continue to use and abuse Black identities and cultures." She apologized for what she calls her "continued appropriation of a Black Caribbean identity," saying she was wrong, unethical, immoral, anti-Black and colonial.