Jello-Jim?

Finney - Mo
Shake That Thing

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Here's a great one from '63 on the tiny Fort Worth, Texas label Jello-Jim. I heard this song on the Fool's Paradise radio show on WFMU and about a week later I found this copy. It's a got a little edge warp, but still plays fine. Check out that phone number on the label!

In the Pad

Fritz & Jerry
Pad<

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Here's a pretty cool guitar instrumental from '59 by Fritz & Jerry. As far as I know this was their only release.

Esquerita!

Esquerita
Laid Off

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Here's a great DJ promo from Esquerita on Capitol. You think this one got much airplay?

King Kong's Monkey

Gary (U.S.) Bonds
King Kong's Monkey

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This is one of my favorite 45s. Exactly what we're all about here at Jukeboxmafia. A great beat and solid musicianship, mixed with a large dose of humor. King Kong escapes from the zoo and travels to New York where he dances the monkey on top of the Empire State Building!

The Great Duane

Ritchie Hart
The Great Duane

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This is a fun rockabilly tune from '59. A song about the dangers of exposing your girlfriend to Duane Eddy. Ritchie gets right to the point on the this one with a 1:50 running time...

Drugstore Cowgirl

Debbie Brimer
I Turned To the Bottle

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This one's pretty funny. I first picked it up thinking it was going to be one of those classic drinking songs, like Merle Haggard's "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" but it turns out it's really a song about a woman who likes to dye her hair instead of popping pills or smoking grass! Debbie Brimer is listed as both writer and performer and after hearing her sing it's not surprising that a google search turns up practically nothing...

Mystery 4 Stomper (pt. 2)

Two Crows & the Diggers

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Here's the flip...

Mystery 4 Stomper (pt. 1)

Willie Snow & the Diggers
You Upset Me Baby
dig (this record) 779

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This one is really a mystery. I haven't been able to find any info on the artists or the label. This appears to be one those those cheap budget labels like Hit or Prom records, where they threw some anonymous studio musiscians together to cover whatever songs were popular at the moment, hoping that you wouldn't notice or care that it wasn't the original artists. Anyway, anonymous or not, these guys (whoever they may be) are pretty blistering! Listen to that guitar... Again, if you know anything about this one, please comment below...

That's the way the mop flops...

Eddie and the Rays
That's the Way it Is Out Here
Titan - 6601

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Here is another one I don't really know anything about. The label lists Billy J. Thomas as the vocalist. A song about life on the road...

Andre Williams

Andre Williams
It's Gonna Be Fine In '69
Checker - 1214

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Here's a fun one from Andre Williams singing about the year of my birth...

Walkin' Willie

If You Just Woulda Said Goodbye
Walkin' Willie
RSVP - 113

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Here is one I know almost nothing about. Who is Walkin' Willie? I have no idea. What we do have is a nice mixture of New Orleans-y sounds. A Chris Kenner-y or maybe Jessie Hill-y vocal, Toussaint-y piano and female chorus, all overlaid with an Earl King-y guitar riff. If you know anything about this one, please let me know...

...and... we're back...

a violent storm last thursday fried my modem, leaving me without an internet connection until just a few hours ago. Let's get right back to it. I have a lot of lost time to make up for...

Soul Je T'aime

Sylvia & Ralfi Pagan
Soul Je T'aime
Vibration - 525

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Ooh, boy. this one's a doozy. I initially picked this one up because it was cheap and because I was intrigued with the wrting credit, which lists co-composers Sylvia Robinson and Serge Gainsbourg. That alone is a pretty weird combination and worth checking out, I figured. Anyway, I got it home and filed it away without even listening to it and kind of forgot about it, until I got into a conversation with a friend at work about Serge Gainsbourg. Well, yesterday I pulled it out and gave it a spin and oh, brother! This one got moved up to the top of the stack quick. I'm not sure what exactly is going on here, but it seems like whatever they were attempting didn't really work out. I think this was supposed to be sexy, but to me it just sounds ridiculous, like some bad porno soundtrack gone horribly wrong... A brilliant disaster.
**written on 4/09/08

Deep Feeling

Chuck Berry
Deep Feeling
Chess 1653 - 1957

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"Deep Feeling" is the flip of "School Day" and is a pretty radical departure from Chuck's usual sound. As we were speaking before of theme intros, I heard this song once a week for years when I was living in New Orleans as the start of "the Governor's mansion" show on WWOZ. Not once did I have a clue that it was a Chuck Berry song. That slow, languid tempo and that slide technique? Who woulda thought? Quite a revelation when I put this one on the player and thought: "Aha!, of course..."

p.s. a quick check of the 'OZ website reveals that the Governor is still doing his thing every Monday night from 10:00 to Midnight.

Herb Hardesty

Herb Hardesty
Beatin' and Blowin'
Federal 12410 - 1961

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Herb Hardesty was the sax player on most of Fats Domino's recordings and worked as a session man on more great New Orleans records than I can count. However, he only put out 4 releases (that I know of) under his own name. This one on the Federal label from 1961 is pretty great. Not sure of the personnel on this one, but listen to those drums... I've always thought that this song would make a great intro theme for a fifties R&B radio show. You know, like the kind they have over at www.wwoz.org

Jimmy Callaway - Club My-O-My

Jimmy Callaway On Stage

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A few years back I used to collect 50s memoribilia from New Orleans nightclubs. That's where the above postcard came from. I don't really collect that stuff anymore (records have taken over), but when I found this 45 recently, I couldn't resist. Club My-O-My was a drag club near New Orleans in the 50's and 60's that catered to some of the more adventurous tourists. This 45 was a souvenir from My-O-My performer Jimmy Callaway. I estimate the date to be about 1961? With a few off color jokes and some questionable singing, this recording is a snap-shot of a type of club routine that doesn't really exist anymore. It's not terribly funny, but it does have a certain, fascinating "Broadway Danny Rose" kind of appeal. Just listen to that audience response...
Click Here for More Info

RIP MLK 40 years today

George Perkins & the Silver Stars
Cryin' in the Streets (pts 1&2)
Silver Fox 18 - 1969

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This one is a two parter, but I've spliced them together into one mp3. I first heard this song on a compilation cassette that was released as a companion tape for my favorite book of all time: "Sweet Soul Music" by Peter Guralnik. This is the second copy of this 45 to come through my hands, as the first was lost? stolen? traded/sold? The song was recorded in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and is one of the most beautiful and moving songs I've ever heard. The thing that really gets me though is the uplifting message of hope at the end of part 2. You can learn a little more about it (as I just did) by clicking the link Below:
Learn More Here

Bobby Powell

Bobby Powell
I'm Gonna Leave You
Whit 717 - Late Sixties

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Don't know much about Baton Rouge Soul singer Bobby Powell or the tiny Whit label, but damn, this sure sounds good! The Condition made this one cheap, but you definitely get the idea. Not sure of the date either... late sixties I presume. Jackie Johnson shares the vocals and gets a writing credit, along with producer/label owner Lionel Whitfield.

Margaret's Pick

Archie Bleyer
The Rockin' Ghost
Cadence 1293 - 1956

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Okay, now that the lawn is mowed, I have time to get to this. My fiancee Margaret requested this one, as it has been stuck in her head Lately. Archie Bleyer is best remembered as the founder of Cadence records and as the Everly Brothers' producer. He also put out some records of his own, most of which are bland, easy listening stuff. This little gem from 1956 however (from the pen of Steve Allen) is pretty damn great. I'd love to find a clean copy of this as this one is obviously very rough. A preview from this year's 2nd annual Jukeboxmafia Halloween CD.

Tweaking...

With some much appreciated technical advice from the gracious Red Kelly over at The "B" Side (check the links list) I've made some big improvements in the sound quality of the music files that will be posted here from now on. I don't intend to change the posts that I've already done, but if there is something you really like, you can probably talk me into it. Expect a new post later this afternoon, but right now I have to go mow the lawn before it rains...

Another New Orleans Before and After...

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This time we give the before and after treatment to Shirley Goodman. Shirley is most famous as half of the New Orleans R&B duo Shirley and Lee. Shirley's voice is high and squeaky and she is frequently off (way off) key. "I Feel Good" is a bouncy tune (circa 1956) in a similar bag as their big hit from the previous year: "Feel So Good." Disc two on the Vibration label, brings Shirley into the disco era ('74) under the tutelage of Sylvia Robinson (of Mickey and Sylvia fame, later founder of Sugar Hill Records.)