The Stars, The Ocapello’s (1966 & 1972)A rare recording – a 45rpm in mint condition might fetch you $100. Little can be found about the group with the stray apostrophe except that they came from East Orange, New Jersey, and evolved from two other local groups (The Crowns and The Cameos), and that the lead singer may or may not have been Bobby Kline who may or may not have been black.
Meanwhile, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real (aka PTOR) had just about enough of the drama and decided to walk. Nelson & PTOR got off to a good start in 2008, opening for his dad, Willie, and now they back up Neil Young. They sound a bit like The Band to me, and that’s a good thing.
There’s a big storm coming, and I’m not talking about weather. Get your stuff in order and be back here tomorrow for no reason at all.
Kay Kyser (& his Kollege of Musical Knowledge) performed one of the strangest compositions I’ve heard recently. Invented in 1939, the Sonovox (or Talk Box) was featured in many advertisements, and used for the voice of the talking train in Disney’s Dumbo. [Found here via here.]
Possibly the best lip sync of Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs ever. (That’s John and Adrian according to the YouTube post notes.) Whoop, la-di-dah.
The Wheelgrinders are three hep cats from Vancouver B.C. cranking some entirely bitchin’ roots rockabilly. [h/t Gord S.]
Glad this week is over. The wind is picking up, so keep an eye on the weather forecasts. Have a great weekend – be back here tomorrow just for the helluvit.
Stop Overlooking Me, The Cairos (1966)Founded in 1964, folded in 1967, Shrine Records is considered the rarest of the soul labels. “Miss Ray, Barry Gordy‘s second wife, started Shrine Records with her new hubby after both bounced from Motown. Shrine (located in D.C.) issued the peppy “Stop Overlooking Me” b/w “Don’t Fight It” in 1966; it flopped just like the other 18 singles bearing the Shrine logo.”
The Last Meal, Hurricane Harry (1956)A singer, pianist and songwriter, Hurricane Harry (aka Earl Burrows, Early S. Burrows, George Stone ,T.T. Tyler, and stage name Jack Hammer) was born Earl Solomon Burroughs (1925-2016). He co-wrote Great Balls of Fire.
In The Morning, The Mighty Marvelows (1968)
Formed in Chicago in the 1950s as Little Satan & The Demons, later as The Mystics, the group landed a recording deal with ABC-Paramount in 1964 and became The Marvelows. They had little initial success (Billboard suspended its R&B listings in 1963) but scored with I Do in 1965. In 1968, to avoid being confused with The Marvellos, they became The Mighty Marvelows but disbanded the following year.
Marie, The Four Tunes (1953)The Four Tunes originated from The Brown Dots, a quartet started in New York City by Ivory “Deek” Watson after he split from the Ink Spots in late 1944. Marie was written by Irving Berlin and first recorded by Nat Shilkret & the RCA Victor Orchestra (as The Troubadors) in 1928.
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings did a great cover of Gregg Allman’s Midnight Rider (even though it’s a commercial). Sharon Jones succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 2016 at the age of 60.
I Love You Darling, 11 Year Old Faith Taylor & the Sweet Teens (1959)According to Luky 1966:
“Faith Taylor was born in Dumas, Arkansas, in 1948. She began performing at the age of four and won her first amateur contest in Little Rock. She came to Chicago with her family in 1957 and continued her music career by singing at small club affairs. She also worked in a few combos, including that of Muddy Waters. In June 1957 she entered and won the ‘Morris B. Sachs Amateur Hour‘ on WGN-TV. The following year a friend of Taylor, Charles Jones, was assembling a vocal group and brought her in as the lead. Other members of this group were alto Yvonne Waddell (17), tenor Saundra Long (16), soprano Mary Collins (17), and bass Curtis Burrell (17). Most of the group came from two South Side high schools, DuSable and Dunbar. Faith Taylor and the Sweet Teens were unlike most ‘teen tenor lead’ groups in being mostly comprised of females. From that start, the group was not going to be a ‘girl group’ but one patterned after Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers.”
There’s a rumor that Sun Ra backed the Sweet Teens for some performances.
From Wiki: The Pathé Brothers of France went into the photographic business in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world’s largest film equipment and production company, as well as a major producer of phonograph records. In 1908, Pathé invented the newsreel that was shown in cinemas before a feature film.
[The future of the past found here.]
Leon Redbone could scat-sing better than almost anyone, and there’s proof with his cover of Tommy McClennan’s Bottle Up And Go (aka Step It Up And Go recorded by Blind Boy Fuller and many others). If someone in the audience pulled out a camera to take his photo, when the flash went off, he’d stop the song, jump for his camera and take a shot of them. He’d wait as the Polaroid image developed, (“Hmmm. Not a bad likeness”) and pick up the song right where he left it. He kept those photos, too.
Tacky Raccoons 