DJ BRAHMS AND CO

THE MERCED BLUE NOTES

2011-10-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

NICE R&B Mod Funk Tittyshaker on on Galaxy record with Guitare, chant : Ken CRAIG Basse : Gilbert FRAIRE Batterie : Carl MAYS Jr Claviers : Bobby HUNT Saxophone : Bill “Tiger” ROBERTSON From Merced town in california,they did only one album in 1956 called "Get Your Kicks On Route 99".

THAI COVER FUNK LP

2011-10-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

Lp of 70's funk cover.a must buy.we love the cover of "let sunshine in".

Sweet honey moon erotic malay funk lp

2011-10-13T06:25:00.000-07:00

ULTRA RARE LP MALAY FUNK PRIVATE PRESS EROTIC SOUL.this record was forbiden in malaysia (muslim country) and was only available in the balck market.We found it in a flea market in kualalumpur.Enjoy

TUNDER & LIGHTNING bumpin' bus stop

2011-10-09T01:34:00.001-07:00

Rare Break Heavy Funk 45 sampled by about everyone

THAI,CHINESS FUNK MIX dj brahms

2011-10-06T03:18:00.000-07:00

This is a selection we did with all the records we get from Thailand,singapore,Hong Kong,malaysia and Philippine.We hope you will enjoy it.

THE MARTINIS hung over

2011-10-06T02:09:00.000-07:00

The writers are listed (side 1: Hung Over) as J. Keyes, C. Axton, A. Mitchell, M. Hodges & L. Hodges and (side 2: Late Late Party) as J. Keyes, C. Axton, M. Hodges & L. Hodges. We really feels like it should be the second side (the hangover follows the late party); but is a tune that hooks from the opening bars. There is a section about a third of the way through where someone appears to be expressing their pain at their hangover (or, as some people prefer to think, bringing up some of last night’s excesses). Late Late Party is just a perfect tune for the stragglers at the end of a long night (I can see the lounge lizards tapping their feet).

Whilst researching the names, I came across a suggestion from Funky16Corners that said “I believe the Martinis were actually Packy Axton and other members of the Packers (along with some studio guys, maybe members of the Hi rhythm section).” The general consensus appears to be that the Martini’s were not a working band, but more likely a number of session musicians, certainly Leroy Hodges was one of the members of the Hi Rhythm Section (Memphis house band). That a real good alcoolic song!!!

EDDY JACOBS COAT pull the coat

2011-10-06T01:30:00.000-07:00

One of THE all-time funk 45 classics. From March 1969, by The Eddy Jacobs Exchange, released on Columbia and later on the Jazzman label. — a hard-burning, James Brown-styled number that was cooking things up in the underground years before 7″ singles first started changing hands for thousands on Ebay! “Pull My Coat” is one of those tunes you’ll know from the very first note — a flurry of messy saxophone notes sliding alongside snapping drums — all in a really JBs-sounding sort of groove, and topped off by super raw vocals from Eddy.A dance floor killer!!!

LA CLAVE lp

2011-10-05T06:39:00.000-07:00

An incredible album of Latin funk – the only-ever record from this west coast combo headed by the legendary Benny Velarde! Benny's a name that you might recognize from earlier, straighter Latin dates for Fantasy – or for countless studio work during the 70s – but here, he's really got a talent for a funky 70s groove – and manages to hit a unique space that's somewhere between conventional funk, west coast Latin, and some of the hippest blacksploitation grooves of the time! The album also features some under-credited work from Lalo Schifrin – who was tied to the project somehow (Velarde claims that the record was killed by MGM upon release because of a feud with Lalo) – but never really fully credited in the notes. There's a definite link here with some of Schifrin's funkier soundtrack of the period – a great blend of jazzier elements and headier 70s funk – all served up with a tightness that has made the record one of our favorite funky treasures for years! Titles include "The Ghetto", "Latin Slide", "Who You Fooling", "Road Runner", "Soul Sauce", "Cocoa Leaf", and "Move Your Hands".

This lp only exist in promotional copy and the new pressing from 2010.Hard to find a copy in good condition. A must buy if you like fusion between Latin and Funk.We get this copy in our first trip to Japan when we played at "la Fabric" TOKYO (Diskunion shibuya) in 2004. This lp only exist in promotional copy and the new pressing from 2010.Hard to find a copy in good condition. A must buy if you fusion betwen Latin and Funk.We get this copy in our first trip to Japan when we played at "la Fabric" (Diskunion shibuya) in 2004.

JOHNNY HAWKSWORTH "the jazz connection"

2011-10-05T04:22:00.000-07:00

Johnny Hawksworth , British musician and composer , busking with his Double Bass in Central London . 4 May 1955 . Born 2 February 1924.

Johnny Hawksworth (born 2 February 1924) is a British musician and composer who has lived and worked in Australia since 1984. Hawksworth initially trained as a pianist, but also played double bass for Britain's leading big band the Ted Heath Orchestra during the early 1950s and through the 1960s. During this time he became one of the most popular jazz bassists in the UK, winning many polls and was often featured as a soloist on Heath concerts and recordings. He is probably best known, however, for his short compositions for television. These include Salute to Thames (the famous identity tune for Thames Television)[2] and also the theme tunes for the 1970s series Roobarb, George and Mildred and Man About the House. He also contributed some of the incidental music used in the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon. (Although originating from the United States, Spider-Man had most of its incidental music supplied by Irish composers, such as Phil Coulter, and British including Syd Dale, Alan Hawkshaw, David Lindup, Bill Martin and Johnny Pearson.) Hawksworth has also written many pieces of stock music for the De Wolfe Music library. He also provided the hypnotic musical soundtrack to Geoffrey Jones' classic British Transport Film "Snow" (1963)

Ultra rare Canadian sound library on PARRY MUSIC label with Johnny Hawksworth part of THE MOHAWKS.If you like jazz funk (with huge breaks) you love it.

MOMBASA AFRICAN RHYTHMS AND BLUES vol 1

2011-10-05T04:16:00.000-07:00

Germany-based multi-national (mostly - Americans) band's second album is original and interesting one for the year of its release and it dated well too. Band plays mostly instrumental jazz rock based on African rhythms and Latin fusion melodics. Band founder's Lou Blackburn trumpet is main instrument soloing over rhythm section, and the whole album sounds as Santana's African version with trumpet soloing instead of his guitar. Rhythm section plays important role as well, drums-percussion in combination with rich electric bass build great groovy background for soloing reeds. Compositions are all melodic and easy accessible, so all album sounds as great and pleasant listening without being cheesy.

Really interesting recordings for fans of early world fusion, sometimes very obscure.We love the Vol1

In describing the music of Mombasa which is a mixture of rhythm, jazz, folklore, blues, spirituals and worksongs, Lou Blkackburn would prefer not to use the word jazz. 'Many people ask us' he says 'how one describes our type of music. To this I can only answer that I leave It to the audience because I don't want to give it a label for me it is simply ours, Mombasa's music.'

THAI FUNK LP onauma/saw-ae-sanroruk

2011-10-04T03:39:00.000-07:00

During the vietnam war Thai music and specialy around Bangkok been infuenced by the US funk standar,this LP a good exemple of the fusion between estern and western music.We found this LP in a Flea market in the north of Bangkok during the curfew last year.Hope you will enjoy

DAN SEEPERS song melting pot /ARMAND MIGIANI variances

2011-10-04T02:55:00.000-07:00

Dan Seepers Song Melting Pot (MIC) Third release on the sought after MIC label one of the rarest french library label. With the laid back phat groove of "Cercle Fermé" and its crazy phased breaks skits. With also the very blaxploitation sounding "Nuit Tropicana", the fast jazz action of "Veilleur De Nuit" or the killer latin jazz "Route De Joie". we found those lp's in FR3 Méditerranée studio in Marseille (local tv station from south France).In the past those records were used for short moovies and Radio show and .they were supposed to be throw away. My friend from FR3 give us around 200 sound library lps...cool a full bag of breaks and samples we use now in our own songs.

HOWLIN' WOLF - HOWLIN' WOLF ALBUM

2011-10-04T01:31:00.000-07:00

Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. With a booming voice and looming physical presence, Burnett is commonly ranked among the leading performers in electric blues; musician and critic Cub Koda declared, "no one could match Howlin' Wolf for the singular ability to rock the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its patrons out of its wits."[1] A number of songs written or popularized by Burnett—such as "Smokestack Lightnin'", "Back Door Man", "Killing Floor" and "Spoonful"—have become blues and blues rock standards. At 6 feet, 6 inches (198 cm) and close to 300 pounds (136 kg), he was an imposing presence with one of the loudest and most memorable voices of all the "classic" 1950s Chicago blues singers. This rough-edged, slightly fearsome musical style is often contrasted with the less crude but still powerful presentation of his contemporary and professional rival, Muddy Waters. Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller), Little Walter Jacobs, and Muddy Waters are usually regarded in retrospect as the greatest blues artists who recorded for Chess in Chicago. Sam Phillips once remarked, "When I heard Howlin' Wolf, I said, 'This is for me. This is where the soul of man never dies.'" In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #51 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time

Born in White Station, Mississippi, near West Point, he was named after Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President of the United States, and was nicknamed Big Foot Chester and Bull Cow in his early years because of his massive size. He explained the origin of the name Howlin' Wolf thus: "I got that from my grandfather [John Jones]." His Grandfather would often tell him stories about the wolves in that part of the country and warn him that if he misbehaved, the howling wolves would "get him". According to the documentary film The Howlin' Wolf Story, Howlin' Wolf's parents broke up when he was young. His very religious mother Gertrude threw him out of the house while he was still a child for refusing to work around the farm; he then moved in with his uncle, Will Young, who treated him badly. When he was 13, he ran away and claimed to have walked 85 miles (137 km) barefoot to join his father, where he finally found a happy home within his father's large family. During the peak of his success, he returned from Chicago to his home town to see his mother again, but was driven to tears when she rebuffed him and refused to take any money he offered her, saying it was from his playing the "Devil's music".

It s not often that an album disavowed by its own author at the time of release goes on to become considered a modern classic. Yet that s exactly what happened with Chicago blues legend Howlin Wolf s 1969 LP The Howlin Wolf Album, a release that has since attained mythical status due to the controversy behind it. Released on Cadet Records, a subsidiary of legendary imprint Chess Records, The Howlin Wolf Album was a radical experiment for a wellestablished artist: attempt to integrate electric instruments and psychedelic arrangements into his revered signature blues sound. The result was an album that Wolf himself initially disregarded on the nowinfamous cover, but one that has won a special place amongst dedicated music aficionados thanks to its unique mix of traditional blues and electric rock elements. object height="36" width="470">

ANANDA SHANKAR Sa Re-Ga Machan

2011-10-04T00:47:00.000-07:00

Born in Almora in Uttar Pradesh, India, Shankar was the son of Amala and Uday Shankar, popular dancers, and also the nephew of renowned sitarist Ravi Shankar.[1] Ananda did not learn sitar from his uncle but studied instead with Lalmani Misra at Banaras Hindu University.

In the late 1960s Shankar travelled to Los Angeles, where he played with many contemporary musicians including Jimi Hendrix. There he was signed to Reprise Records and released his first self-titled album in 1970, featuring original Indian classical material alongside sitar-based cover versions of popular hits such as The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "The Doors' "Light My Fire". Returning to India in the early 1970s Shankar continued to experiment musically and in 1975 released his most critically acclaimed album, Ananda Shankar And His Music, a jazz-funk mix of Eastern sitar, Western rock guitar, tabla and mridangam, drums and Moog synthesizers.

After working in India during the late 1970s and 1980s, Shankar's profile in the West began to rise again in the mid-1990s as his music found its way into club DJ sets, particularly in London. His music was brought to a wider audience with the release of Blue Note Records' popular 1996 rare groove compilation album, Blue Juice Vol. 1., featuring the two standout tracks from Ananda Shankar And His Music, "Dancing Drums" and "Streets Of Calcutta"

Highly sought after for years, 'Sa-Re-Ga Machan' was originally released in 1981 on vinyl only and showcased Shankar's unmistakable sound which fused Western and Eastern music perfectly. Shankar had a desire to incorporate both the traditional instrumentation of Indian classical music and modern Western instruments such as the synthesizer and on 'Sa-Re-Ga Machan' the two distinct sounds are infused absolutely. The album opens with possibly the most stunning piece, a ten-minute title track which sums up the musician's intent perfectly, sounding like a cross between the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Ry Coder and Ravi Shankar, Ananda's famous uncle. What shocks me most however is how contemporary so much of this sounds, you can imagine it popping up on television or on films, it just has the right 'sound', and like so many forgotten records from the same era it's a breaks goldmine. Just listen to 'Charging Tiger' and think what Madlib might do with it? It doesn't even bear thinking about. Also included here as bonus tracks accompanying the original album are the four tracks from Shankar's rarest release 'India Remembers Elvis', which sees the Sitar player take on the King himself. Boogie wonderland... There is to sleeve of this LP the second pressing (1990) is the rarest .Cosmic and psychedelic we love that!!!

JOHNNY SABLAN hafa adai todo maulick

2011-10-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

Johnny Sablan, a pioneer Chamorro recording artist, received the “Island Icon Award for 2011” in a vote among fellow musicians and islandwide audiences at the Island Music Awards. This is the latest of a litany of accolades for Sablan who has promoted the island’s indigenous language and culture through a music career spanning more than five decades. The award is not surprising, considering Sablan’s 1968 release of “Dalai Nene,” the first commercially recorded album in Chamorro, marked the beginning of the Chamorro music industry.

Although an accomplished singer, musician, composer, producer, and entrepreneur, Sablan humbly defines himself as more of a “contributor” to the preservation, perpetuation, and promotion of the Chamorro language and culture. His recording career actually started at the age of thirteen after winning a talent contest in Los Angeles on a popular TV show. After that performance, he landed a contract with a Hollywood studio. However, a decade later, Sablan reached a turning point his life–he discovered his cultural identity and decided to act on his passion to share and teach his Chamorro heritage through music. In 1958 at the age of 10, Sablan’s inadvertent music “debut” occurred because of his desire to watch a movie. Upon hearing that singers were being recruited from Hagat to perform for the hospital patients at the old Guam Memorial Hospital in Tamuning, Sablan and his favorite uncle and best friend, Vicente “Tarzan” Sablan, auditioned by singing and dancing to Elvis Presley songs from a coin-operated jukebox at the door steps of the Agat Store. The audition, however, was really a means to get the two boys a ride to a movie theater also located in Tamuning. His parents did not even hear about his singing debut until later.

Nevertheless, singing was a way of life in Guam’s southern villages in those days, especially in Hagat where Sablan grew up and learned to sing. He was surrounded with talented musicians and singers, both young and old. To this day, Sablan continues to give credit to his friends of Hagat village for his musical success. He remembers hearing groups of singers around the village creating beautiful harmonies every evening, their voices blending songs of the past with present-day tunes.

Before long Sablan himself was performing at fiestas, parties (also known as the “pala-pala circuit”) and other community gatherings. He continued to sing for the manamko and the hospital patients. He entered singing and instrumental contests, perfoming on the Alan Sekt Talent Show and Crown Motors Talent Show on KUAM, Guam’s only television station at the time. Sablan also took music lessons at the Guam Academy of Music and Arts in Hagåtña to further develop his musical ability. It was at this time that he began singing “Agat Town” as part of his repertoire. The song was a popular village tune and the most requested song during his “pala-pala circuit” shows.

We found this Lp in a little shop in Singapore.This lp inspired by his mission during the Viet nam war.you have even a song called "christmas odyssey in viet nam".for us the main song and the Funkiest is TAOTAOMONA (the first man) 8 mn of pleasure!!!

MADELAINE who is she LP

2011-10-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

Another dope version of this Bill Whiters classic"who is he and what is he to you"."who is she" might be a femal answer ,we don't have much info about the singer. If you like this song you will love The CREATIVE SOURCE verssion.

ERNESTINE ANDERSON live from concord london

2011-10-03T03:47:00.000-07:00

Anderson was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of a construction worker. At age three, she could sing along with the raw tunes of the legendary Bessie Smith; she soon moved on to the more refined environs of her local church, singing solos in its gospel choir. Anderson tells of her early life in the book, The Jazz Scene (1998):

"My parents used to play blues records all the time," Ernestine Anderson told me. "John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, all the blues greats. In Houston, where I grew up, you turned on the radio and what you got was country and western and gospel. I don't even remember what my first experience with music was. I sort of grew into it. My father sang in a gospel quartet and I used to follow him around, and both my grandparents sang in the Baptist church choir. And they had big bands coming through Houston like Jimmie Lunceford, Billy Eckstine, Erskine Hawkins, and Count Basie." Ernestine's godmother entered her in a local talent contest when she was twelve years old. "I only knew two songs," she admitted, "On the Sunny Side of the Street" and "So Long". The piano player asked me what key did I do these songs in and I just said "C" for some reason and it was the wrong key. In order to save face I sang around the melody, improvised among the melody, and when I finished one of the musicians told me I was a jazz singer."

Her re-emergence in the mid-1970s (at which time Ray Brown was her manager) came as a result of a sensational appearance at the 1976 Concord Jazz Festival, a string of albums for Concord Records followed. Anderson has continued her career revival into the 1990s, working with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, amongst others.

My favorite song of this LP.

BYRON PETERSON ORCHESTRA jazz rock usa

2011-10-03T03:13:00.000-07:00

Once America’s #1 organizer of dance workshops and competitions, Hoctor Dance Enterprises was established in 1959 by Danny and Betty Hoctor, a famous dance team who later founded a record company to produce material for dance instruction. From the early 1960s they produced wide range of music intended for dancing. Most of the albums produced are non-interesting traditional stuff, but there’s several pearls to be found from their catalogue too. Not much info is available of this record’s artist, Byron Peterson, except a short bio that’s written on the back cover. The title Jazz rock U.S.A. is a little misleading one. the record doesn not contain any jazz-rock at all, it’s a mixture of mellow jazz grooves and jazzfunk. In their own way all the tracks are good or at least decent. There’s a lot of percussion, catchy horns and no electric guitar at all. Despite the occasional cheesy feeling, Jazz rock U.S.A. is one of the best ones as a whole in the Hoctor catalogue. Album starts with a groovy midtempo track “Sunday satisfaction” that has a kind of a break in the beginning and nice mellow groove throughout the song. Next up is a smooth cover of Bill Withers‘ classic “Ain’t no sunshine” that starts as a mellow downtempo groover and suddenly fastens the pace with a percussion break before getting back to mellowness again. Much covered Isaac Hayes‘ “Theme from Shaft” follows. It’s a pretty funky take with more jazziness than the original. The covers of Carole King’s “I feel the earth move” and Arthur Conley’s “Funky street” are also good ones. Rest of the songs are groovy jazz numbers such as “Blues down” and “Moogie mood”. Now that Hoctor Records has bankcrupted there’s no possibility to get exact info when this was released but around 1972 should be quite close.

We found this Lp during a trip to Miami,enjoy!!!

LUTHER INGRAM do you love somebody LP

2011-10-03T02:54:00.000-07:00

Born Luther Thomas Ingram in Jackson, Tennessee, his early interest in music led to him making his first record in 1965 at the age of 28. His first three recordings failed to chart but that changed when he signed for KoKo Records in the late 1960s. Many of his songs appeared in the pop and R&B charts, even though Koko was only a small label, owned by his manager and record producer, Johnny Baylor. Koko and Baylor were closely associated with the Memphis based Stax Records label during the height of its commercial success. Ingram is best known for the hit, "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", written by Homer Banks, Carl Hampton and Raymond Jackson. The song reached number one on Billboard 's R&B chart, and peaked at number three on that publication's Hot 100 chart in 1972. The track stayed in the Hot 100 for 18 weeks, ultimately selling a reported four million copies.[1] The song was later successfully covered by Millie Jackson and Barbara Mandrell; it has also been recorded by Bobby "Blue" Bland and Isaac Hayes.

Other popular tracks for Ingram included "Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One)", "Let's Steal Away To The Hideaway" and "I'll Be Your Shelter." He also co-authored "Respect Yourself", a million seller for the Staples Singers in 1971.[1] The acetate demo version of Ingram's, "Exus Trek", became a sought after Northern soul track.[2] With the Stax connections, Ingram recorded at the Memphis label's studios, as well as other southern-based studios such as Muscle Shoals. He was opening act for Isaac Hayes for some years, and often used Hayes' Movement band and female backing group for his 1970s recordings. He recorded into the 1980s, and whilst only managing lower R&B chart hits, he remained a popular stage draw. Ingram died on March 19, 2007, at a Belleville, Illinois, hospital of heart failure. According to his wife Jacqui Ingram, he had suffered for years from diabetes, kidney disease and partial blindness.

CLEA BRADFORD her point of view LP

2011-10-03T02:25:00.000-07:00

I went looking for a 45 by Clea Bradford and found her record instead one day on a short road trip. the little known jazz singer . Clea Bradford, a statuesque beauty of Choctaw and Ethiopian origin, began her career in St. Louis, Mo, where she often worked with the Quartette Très Bien. Exuberant jazz and blues vocalist who had series of good albums released in the 1960′s, she enjoyed some success with Cadet in late 1960′s, though these were more soul-oriented records arranged by Richard Evans. She had more straight jazz sessions with Clark Terry, Oliver Nelson and others on the Prestige, Mainstream, Tru-Sound and Hi-Q labels. That’s the opening cut on the album. It’s a fine piece, but the album reveals that Ms. Bradford was a Jazz singer first and foremost. The rest of her album is Jazz standards such as Summertime and other MOR pieces.

As a vocalist, she was noted for her articulation, impeccable sense of timing, idiosyncratic phrasing, and heartfelt, emotional renderings of her material. A stickler for details, she demanded perfection from both herself and her supporting cast. “She was an enormous talent and darling of critics. Although Clea Bradford was best recognized and greatly esteemed as a songstress in this improvisational realm of music, she was also equally adept at tackling a wide range of genres, including blues (a big fan of Jimmy Reed), pop, and soul. And this eclecticism and versatility was mirrored in her real life, as she was a Renaissance woman of sorts—a world class chef (her culinary skills were documented in the Washington Star), a formidable painter, social activist, and composer, even penning blues numbers like “One Sided Love Affair” and “I’ve Found My Peace of Mind” for famed guitarist Pee Wee Crayton.

Onstage she was an indelible, conspicuous figure--tall (at 5ft11in.), willowy, elegant, and gorgeous, with high cheekbones and straight black hair, the latter two traits directly attributable to both her mother (of Choctaw, Ethiopian, and Creole descent) and father (of Cherokee ancestry). In fact, throughout her life, her Native American roots were always a source of pride and she relished any opportunity to display her sundry authentic Indian garb. In fact, when her father died in 1967, she sang at his funeral dressed in full regalia. Recently, she formally changed her last name to Bradford-Silverlight out of deference to her forebears.

Clea Bradford, passed away August 19 2008 at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, succumbing to complications from breast cancer. She had been in ill health of late suffering as well a series of strokes. She was 75.

ESTHER PHILLIPS from a whisper to a scream LP

2011-10-03T02:03:00.000-07:00

Esther Phillips (who went by "Little Esther" early in her career) recorded seven albums for Kudu/CTI. This was the first, and it's outstanding! The album was nominated for a Grammy, but Esther lost out to Aretha Franklin. Aretha presented the award to Esther telling her she should have won instead. The standout track, "Home Is Where The Hatred Is," gave an account of drug use and addiction. Penned by Gil Scott-Heron, the song was especially personal to Esther as she herself had battled with drug addiction years earlier. This one is a "must-buy,one of favorite LP ever" Early life Born Esther Mae Jones in Galveston, Texas. When she was an adolescent, her parents divorced, and she was forced to divide her time between her father in Houston and her mother in the Watts area of Los Angeles. Because she was brought up singing in church, she was hesitant to enter a talent contest at a local blues club, but her sister insisted and she complied. A mature singer at age fourteen, she won the amateur talent contest in 1949 at the Barrelhouse Club owned by Johnny Otis. Otis was so impressed that he recorded her for Modern Records and added her to his traveling revue, the California Rhythm and Blues Caravan, billed as 'Little Esther Phillips' (she reportedly took the surname from a gas station sign).[2] Early career Her first hit record was "Double Crossing Blues", recorded in 1950 for Savoy Records. After several hit records with Savoy, including her duet with Mel Walker on "Mistrusting Blues", which went to number one that year, as did "Cupid Boogie". Other Phillips records that made it onto the U.S. Billboard R&B chart in 1950 include "Misery" (number 9), "Deceivin' Blues" (number 4), "Wedding Boogie" (number 6), and "Faraway Blues" (number 6). Few female artists, R&B or otherwise, had ever enjoyed such success in their debut year.[3] Phillips left Otis and the Savoy label at the end of 1950 and signed with Federal Records. But just as quickly as the hits had started, they stopped. Although she recorded more than thirty sides for Federal, only one, "Ring-a-Ding-Doo", charted; the song made it to number 8 in 1952. Not working with Otis was part of her problem; the other part was her drug usage. By the middle of the decade Phillips was chronically addicted to drugs.[4] In 1954, she returned to Houston to live with her father to recuperate. Short on money, she worked in small nightclubs around the South, punctuated by periodic hospital stays in Lexington, Kentucky, stemming from her addiction. In 1962, Kenny Rogers re-discovered her while singing at a Houston club and got her signed to his brother Lelan’s Lenox label.

Comeback Phillips ultimately got well enough to launch a comeback in 1962. Now billed as Esther Phillips instead of Little Esther, she recorded a country tune, "Release Me," with producer Bob Gans. This went to number 1 R&B and number 8 on the pop listings. After several other minor R&B hits on Lenox, she was signed by Atlantic Records. Her cover of The Beatles' song "And I Love Him" nearly made the R&B Top Ten in 1965 and the Beatles flew her to the UK for her first overseas performances.[5] She had other hits in the 1960s on the label like the critically acclaimed Jimmy Radcliffe song "Try Me" that featured the saxophone work of King Curtis and is often mistakenly credited as the James Brown song of the same title, but no more chart toppers, and she waged a battle with heroin dependency. With her addiction worsening, Phillips checked into a rehab facility where she met fellow vocalist Sam Fletcher. While undergoing treatment, she cut some sides for Roulette in 1969, mostly produced by Leland Rogers. On her release, she moved back to Los Angeles and re-signed with the Atlantic label.Her friendship with Sam Fletcher resulted in a late 1969 gig at Freddie Jett's Pied Piper club produced the album Burnin'. She performed with the Johnny Otis Show at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1970.

The 1970s One of her biggest post-1950s triumphs was in 1972 with her first album for Kudu Records. The song penned by Gil Scott-Heron, "Home Is Where the Hatred Is," - an account of drug use — was lead track on From a Whisper to a Scream which went on to be nominated for a Grammy Award. When Phillips lost to Aretha Franklin, the latter presented the trophy to Phillips, saying she should have won it instead.[6] Taylor continued to cut albums with her until in 1975, she scored her biggest hit single since "Release Me" with a disco-style update of Dinah Washington's "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes". It reached a high of a Top 20 chart appearance in the U.S., and Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.[7] On November 8, 1975 she performed the song on an episode of NBC's Saturday Night hosted by Candice Bergen. The accompanying album of the same name became her biggest seller yet, with arranger Joe Beck on guitar, Michael Brecker on tenor sax, David Sanborn on alto sax, and Randy Brecker on trumpet to Steve Khan on guitar and Don Grolnick on keyboards. She continued to record and perform throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, completing a total of seven albums on Kudu and four with Mercury Records, for whom she signed in 1977. In 1983, she charted for the final time on a tiny independent label, Winning with "Turn Me Out," which reached #85 R&B. She completed recording her final album a few months before her death, but it was not until 1986 that the label (Muse) released the record.

Death Phillips died at UCLA Medical Center in Carson, California in 1984, at the age of 48 from liver and kidney failure due to drug use.[8] Her funeral services were conducted by Johnny Otis,[9] and was buried in the Morning Light section, at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. The bronze marker recognizes her career achievements, as well as quoting a Bible passage, "In My Father's House Are Many Mansions" -St. John 14:2

CHEYENNE come back to me

2011-10-03T00:58:00.000-07:00

rare 1976 jazzy soul album featuring Native American singer Cheyenne Fowler.

GEORGE CAMPBELL party people

2011-10-03T00:26:00.000-07:00

Obscure release from this North Carolina artist with several funk and soul cuts to his name.

JOEY GILMORE Somebody Done Took My Baby And Gone

2011-10-03T00:15:00.000-07:00

Joey Gilmore is a Florida based blues guitarist who is still active. Here is a link to his myspace page: Joey Gilmore Blues Band. I hope he doesn't mind me posting this because the people need to hear this song! The flip to this record is pretty exceptional too.

VERA HAMILTON but ain't no more

2011-10-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a rather magical piece of soul from Johnny Otis' Hawk Sounds label. This was originally released in 1972 but was repressed as a split single with Vera Hamilton's But I Ain't No More on the flip to promote the Watts Funky compilation of stuff by Johnny Otis, son Shuggie and associates