Well it's that time of year again, Christmas! I will keep this post short. Here is a nice one from the one and only Merle Haggard. It features five penned songs by Haggard himself on the A side and the B Side contains 5 Christmas classics.
Dropping a nice slice of psychedelic jazz / funk from flautist (flutist) Jeremy Steig. Awesome mind blowing grooves on this one with an all star line up on Capitol Records 1970. Line includes Jan Hammer-Keys, Gene Perla-Bass, Eddie Gomez-Bass, and Don Alias-Drums/Percussion. Produced by Sonny Lester and engineered by Eddie Kramer. Recorded at Electric Lady Studios.
I've been meaning to post this one up but haven't done so because I couldnt find the LP to scan the cover so today while looking for another album I spotted it and decided to go forth upon my mission. I couldnt find much information about Shirl Milete but I do know that the LP was recorded in Nashville and was released in 1969 on Poppy Records. Shirl is very similar to the man in black Johnny Cash and I would describe this album as a crossover of country and soul for the most part. Shirl did write half of the songs on the album and several songs are composed by Townes Van Zandt along with a Dylan and Elvis cover, Definitely worth a listen if you are a fan of Johnny Cash and I also gathered that one of the songs was featured on a Country Soul compilation at some point.
I've always loved truck driving songs and any albums related to the big rigs or the C.B. culture. Red Sovine was one of the best story tellers and one of the greats when it comes to trucker songs. You will always find one of his songs on practically any trucker song compilation. I'm not a huge country music fan but love the narrative style country songs wether it be about driving across country, bad relationships, or getting drunk at the bar and this compilation has them all! I'm posting this as I thought it represents my move back east from the Nashville area and is a nice farewell to Music City. Red was born in West Virginia but died here in Nashville when he suffered a heart attack behind the wheel of his van. This is just classic country story telling at its best especially the track "Does Steppin' Out Mean Daddy Took A Walk" when he says and I quote "Does being a ladies man mean Daddy's a sissy?" That could be one of the greatest lines ever written as far as I'm concerned haha! Enjoy!
This is the first of many old school 12" singles I will be sharing in the future. An all time classic "Genius Rap features the well know Tom Tom Club sample that I'm sure is familiar to most and I believe this may be the first Hip-Hop track to use it. Here is the Wiki on Dr. Jeck and Mr. H-Y-D-E. Alonzo Brown joined Profile Records in 1981 under the name "Lonnie Love," and recorded the song "Young Ladies."
That same year, Brown teamed with Andre Harrell to make "Genius Rap," a well-received record which was one of the first hip hop records to used the famous Tom Tom Club sample, "Genius of Love."
The pair ended their professional relationship in 1987, but Mr. Hyde continued recording with Profile Records, recording the solo 12", "The Witch" b/w "Hyde's Beat".[2]
After the group's demise, Andre Harrell became the founder and CEO of Uptown Records. He later went on to head Motown Records.
Alonzo Brown went on to become a producer and screenwriter, serving as executive producer for the Judge Mathis show."
Enjoy!
