Ukraine Rocks the World

I wanted to direct you to an intriguing and inspiring essay by music journalist and critic Wayne Robins: Ukraine Rocks the Free World.  Some fascinating historical analogies in this piece, and the main topic is something I don't think the U.S. news media has given much press to: The use of international radio to make potent protest statements that the world can tune into.  That old standby medium, radio, is more relevant than ever in Ukraine's courageous and creative struggle to thwart Putin's policy of media silence.

A great read, and there's an option to subscribe for free or for a donation.

The Ukrainian band TIK.

Lee

The Conveyors Quartet--Work for the Night Is Coming

Five members pictured in a quartet portrait?  Heck, that's nothing--try seven.

We can assume we're seeing the four singers plus three musicians.  (I've never understood why "musicians" doesn't include singers.  It should.)  This is expert Southern gospel, and I don't think we have a family group this time, though (going by another Conveyors LP), it seems the group was headed by a husband and wife team--Ardeth and Kenny Dykhoff.  I can't quite pick them out in the above photo, but here they are, from their Just a Little Talk With Jesus LP.  Seated is pianist Marilyn Gallaway:

The group is apparently from Indiana, though Mission Records is/was in Nashville TN.  This post was delayed by allergies--which is to say, I've got the pollen blues big-time today (so much so, I'm afraid to go online and verify the pollen count).  So, let me simply say that this is a very entertaining set, with a beautifully full vocal blend throughout, and some outstanding sacred titles in the mix, including the title classic, the 19th-century oldie Work for the Night Is Coming (text: 1854; tune: 1864).  Bringing in the Sheaves is slightly more contemporary, its tune a mere 140 years old.

Another Diane thrift gift--thanks, Diane!

DOWNLOAD: The Conveyors Quartet: Work for the Night Is Coming (Mission Records MR CQ 139)

I've Been Born Again

Oh, What a Love

Sheltered in His Arms

Old Camp Meeting

Pity the Man

I Don't Need to Understand

If You Believe

I Just Steal Away and Pray

Medley: I'm Bound for That City/Shoutin' on the Hills/What a Day That Will Be

Medley: Work for the Night Is Coming/Bringing in the Sheaves

The Time Is Now

Lee

Rhythm and Blues in the Night (Hollywood Records LPH 30; 1957)

 

An excellent, if discographically confusing, R&B LP on the Hollywood label, with at least five tracks from the Abbey label, whose dates appear in the playlist below.  The Both Sides Now website talks about this LP, but the most useful one-stop info is at Discogs.

A number of these tracks are rock and roll, really--I've never bought into the conventional notion that R&B and rock and roll were separate genres, at least early on.  Simply put, Blacks were recording r&r before it had an established label.  And, for a while, the two labels were used interchangeably in popular culture, anyway, as in an early Elvis Presley interview (the source of which I can't locate--I think it was in Look magazine).  At any rate, apparently the credits listed on this label are nonsense.  What we have are artist-unknown covers of Dinah Washington's 1954 I Don't Hurt Anymore, and of the Drifters' Honey Love of the same year (info courtesy of Brian McFadden), plus the Abbey label tracks Call Me Darlin' (Bobby Marshall, 1950), Don't Cry Darlin' (The Master Keys, 1950), Steady Roll (Bill Gooden, 1949?), Tell Me Pretty Baby (Ralph Willis and Spider Sam, 1949), and Featherweight Baby (Brother Blues and the Back Room Boys, 1949)--the latter a hard-rocking, super-distorted-lead-guitar number in early Howlin' Wolf mode.  Plus, a number of other so-far artist-unknown numbers.

The Inks Spots-esque Don't Cry Darlin' (The Master Keys, 1950) has a lead singer crooning in Elvis-ballad fashion, only years earlier, of course.  Meanwhile, the track Rain, Rain, Rain is your typical out-of-nowhere budget addition, an uptempo gospel song that doesn't fit very well into the playist scheme, though at least it rocks.

The badly photographed front jacket model is Julie (Catwoman) Newmar, looking like she just woke up.  Surely, they could have come up with a better shot.  Anyway, a famous and "desirable" LP on a label that typically didn't offer such product, and I was pleased with my rip.  The transfers were clearly not that great to begin with, so don't expect A+ fidelity, but I think my stylus did a good job on this classic rocker.  If only I could remember which needle I used--my wide 1.12 mil LP needle or my regular sized conical stylus.  My short-term memory is failing me, as usual...

My favorite track, Featherweight Baby (original title: Feather Weight Mama) might not set a sexual-innuendo record, but it's a contender.  Love the Willie Johnson-style guitar.

I'm using a new storage site--let me know if there are any issues.  Enjoy!

UPDATE: Some of the "Unknown Artist" tracks had previously been released on the Record-O-Mail label, which advertised in Charlton mags: Hit Parader, Song Hits, etc.)

DOWNLOAD: Rhythm and Blues in the Night (Hollywood Records LPH 30; 1957)

TRACKS

Call Me Darlin'--Bobby Marshall (Abbey 3014; 1950)

I'm Gonna Live for Today--Unknown Artist (1949) (UPDATE: Buster has ID'd track as "I'm Going to Live for Today"--Bobby Marshall (Ray Parker Orch.), on Abbey 3018; 1950.

Don't Cry Darlin'--The Master Keys (Abbey 3017; 1950)

Steady Roll--Bill Gooden (Abbey 66; 1949?)

Tell Me Pretty Baby--Ralph Willis and Spider Sam (Abbey 3005; 1949)

Featherweight Baby--Brother Blues & The Back Room Boys (Abbey 3015; 1949)

Rain, Rain, Rain--Unknown Artsit

Mister Blues--Unknown Artist  The Masterkeys (as "Mr. Blues") (Abby 3017; 1950)  Thanks, Bob!

I Want to Rock Till I Drop--Unknown Artist (1949)

I Don't Hurt Anymore--Unknown Artist (Record-O-Mail RB-2204, 1954)

If You Believe--Unknown Artist (Record-O-Mail RB-2203, 1954)

Honey Love--Unknown Artist

Come to Me Darlin'--Unknown Artist (Record-O-Mail RB-2203, 1954)

When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer--Unknown Artist

Rhythm and Blues in the Night (Hollywood LPH 30; 1957)

Lee

The Singing Reynolds Family--I'll Be a Friend (Reynolds Records 80725; 1968)

 

I'm always looking for outstanding family-gospel albums, and this one (thrifted from Volunteers of America for 90 cents) looked like a likely suspect: Cool group photo, great stock front-jacket art, and a promising song listing.  And... it turns out to be terrific.  The label is Reynolds Records (wonder how the Reynolds Family came up with that?), and the group's address is given as Route No. 1, Milton WV.  Meanwhile, the back jacket tells us this was recorded in (ominous city name alert) Hurricane WV.  Luckily for us, the album was manufactured by Queen City Albums of Cincinnati OH, which makes it easy to determine the exact date: July 25, 1968.  

And things are a little weird in regard to the catalog number, since, in addition to using the matrix number (80725) as the main number, the label also says "Record No. 6801."  I don't know what to make of this, but maybe I wasn't meant to.

There's a superb balance throughout, with the numbers consistently switching between uptempo "Hallelujah!"-type numbers and slower, soulful ones.  The singing is very competent, and the instrumental blend is excellent.  Whoever engineered this wasn't gifted in the editing department, with many instances of noise (in one case, loud hum) happening seconds before the tracks begin (and, sometimes, after).  However, your friendly blogger/editor fixed these goofs so that you won't have to deal with them.  The liner notes had me slightly confused at first, since they describe both the original and the then-current group line-up, but I think I got it straight: Clyde Reynolds--bass; Louise Reynolds--alto; daughter Betty Jean--lead and piano; daughter Carolyn--organ; Bob Morris--bass guitar and occasional lead; and Earl Higginbotham--tenor.

Great versions of Sweeter as the Days Go By, I Can Almost See the Lights of Home, and Ring the Bells of Heaven (by Albert Brumley and Marion Easterling, 1947--i.e., not the 19th century classic by that title), and just a generally fine program which had me in family-gospel heaven.  

As for the front jacket scan, I have no idea why it turned out like that--I gave it two tries, with the same result (the second time practically in the dark).  Maybe it's time for a new scanner.  Anyway, time to let the Singing Reynolds Family be your friends.  They will not disappoint.

DOWNLOAD: I'll Be a Friend--The Singing Reynolds Family (Reynolds Records 80725; 1968)

When Morning Sweeps the Sky

Closer to Thee

Ring the Bells of Heaven

I Can Almost See the Lights of Home

When Judgement Reaches Home

Glory, Glory, Amen

Sweeters as the Days Go By

Until You've Known

I'll Be a Friend to Jesus

Saviour Gently Take Me Home

Each Step I Take

Hallelujah

The Singing Reynolds Family--I'll Be a Friend (Reynolds Records 80725; 1968)

Lee

Come on Everybody Let's Twist!--Steven Garrick and His Party Twisters (Golden Tone 3092; 1962)

 

Come on, everybody--let's twist!  And that means everybody.  An unexpectedly excellent twist LP on the Golden Tone label--a label which resulted from the 1958 merger between Tops and Precision Radiation Instruments Inc. Evidently, PRI was a very shady outfit, though I forget the sordid details.  I just know that much of their LP output consisted of reissued Tops material, albeit in trimmed-down editions.  This 1962 release, however, is clearly not a reissue, since it's contemporary with the twist craze.  And the music is exceptionally good, owing, no doubt, to the talented conductor and arranger Steven Garrick.  The track titles are unusually imaginative and mostly amusing, though I don't quite get "Intimitwist."  "Psychoanalytwist," however, is genuinely fine wordplay.

These tracks rock the needle out of the grooves, and this may be the best-ever budget twist-ploitation effort--it certainly musically outdoes the "Original Twisters" on Mercury, as fine as that one may have been.  The fidelity is outstanding, too, though I did boost the treble a bit.  Not much I can say beyond my estimation that the music is exceptionally well done, and the fact that it's always a pleasure to encounter a recorded effort that's way better than could logically have been suspected.  A thrift find that's been sitting in my rows for a while--something I bought probably because, despite the banged-up jacket, the vinyl survived in more than acceptable condition.  For some reason, that fact conveyed, "Buy me."  I felt a kind of duty to do so.  Photoshopping did wonders for the front and back covers--the back cover, in particular.  Golden Tone used the kind of cardboard that forms brown spots over time--real bottom-of-the-barrel paper.  And what a totally nothing label design, no?  But Steven Garrick didn't let any of these factors hold him back, and we should be twistfully grateful.  In regard to twisting along, I can't instruct you one way or another.  That's your call.

Excellent fidelity, excellent music.  Some nice Tequila-style numbers tossed in, too.  "Each and every selection in this superb album will fascinate you," the liner notes promise.  The musicians are identified on the back, including Cheryl Blythe, who provided the "vocal chant."  To be regarded as a plural phrase.

Tunes written by Sanford Bellini. Wonder if he came up with the titles, too?

UPDATE: I accidentally omitted track 9 (Thou Shalt Not Untwist) in the original file.  This has been corrected.  Sorry about that!

DOWNLOAD: Come on Everybody Let's Twist -Steven Garrick and His Party Twisters (Golden Tone 4092; 1962)

Psychoanalytwist

Sister's a Twister

Intimitwist

A Twist of Lemon

Ten Cents a Twist

Astrotwist

Strictly Informal Twist

Don't Holler on Me Twist

Thou Shalt Not Untwist

Doublemint Twist

Chalah Twist

Scientwist

Tunes written by Sanford Bellini.

Lee