New Arrivals and Restocks - Winter 2009 - 2010

It’s probably pretty obvious that I’ve got a major weakness for sweet old dudes. Based upon this record, Clifford Blake, Sr. of Natchitoches, Louisiana, definitely would’ve been on my “to visit” list if only our earth stints had been properly aligned. This collection of folktales, stories, and occasional songs was recorded circa the late 1970s and is delivered with a casual skill, a glimpse of a bygone time and a different pace of life. The full title of this one: “Cornbread for Your Husband and Biscuits for Your Man: Mr. Clifford Blake Sr. Calls the Cotton Press”. Includes an informative booklet with extensive notes/articles and photos.

Despite some wobble due to warping, these played fine on my cheapo system. I’ll guarantee all purchases. Restocked once again.

Long-desired vinyl reissue of Arthur Doyle’s first record as a leader, one of the classic free jazz blowouts, recorded live at The Brook in NYC in 1977.  Originally issued on Charles Tyler’s great Ak-Ba label, this record, along appearances on Milford Graves’ “Babi Music” and Noah Howard’s “Black Ark,” established Doyle’s reputation as a saxophonist with a hard, gravelly tone who was unafraid to take the music way out there.  His band is right there with him on this date, especially Richard Williams’ wild Fender bass.  Limited edition of 500 copies, includes a story on Doyle published in The Wire several years back. 

Arthur Doyle: Tenor Voice-O-Phone, Bass Voice-O-Net, Flute
Richard Williams: Fender bass
Rashied Sinan: Drums
Bruce Moore: Drums
Charles Stephens: Trombone

Equal parts blues, early rock ‘n’ roll, and R&B, Hezekiah and the Houserockers sported a unique and enjoyable guitar / trombone / harmonica / drum set-up that dished out easygoing good-time music, with the ‘bone giving a hint of New Orleans to the proceedings. The material on this album was recorded in 1981, one side studio, one side live. The live side is hotter, especially “You Know I Love You,” which has a groove reminiscent of Slim Harpo. I find it all pretty endearing, a different shade on Hezekiah Early than the more well-known, wild later output with Elmo Williams (hear their classic “Takes One to Know One” LP, also available here).

Despite some slight wobble due to warping, these played fine on my cheapo system. I’ll guarantee all purchases. Restocked once again.

“Originally released in 1997 in Germany in a press size of 500.  These original copies were seized by the government shortly after the records release. Only 150 or so were sold before the seizing, but since copies have leaked out of whatever dank German bureaucratic basement they were relegated to. Still, a very hard record to find for years, now back in print.  Our current reissue was remastered from the original tapes & has superior sound quality to the original.

“Culled from Michael’s unreleased output between his ‘First songs’ LP from 1964 & ‘Armchair Boogie’ in 1972.  All tracks feature just Michael & guitar.  Absolutely beautiful folk music by the singular Snock - in our opinion, one of the greatest singer/songwriters of all time.” – Mississippi

Original copies of this very scarce 45, privately pressed by Rev. Charlie Jackson on his own Jackson Records imprint in the 1970s.

Regular 50 Miles readers/visitors may well have noticed that Rev. Charlie Jackson’s raw, bluesy gospel is a big favorite of mine.  Born in 1932 just outside of McComb, Mississippi, he took up the electric guitar as a young man and started out playing the blues.  Soon afterwards, he gave up the blues to serve the Lord.  He developed a highly potent style and often played on church programs with the legendary Rev. Utah Smith.  He subsequently recorded a string of incredible and legendary 45s for Booker Records out of New Orleans.

After the Booker material went out-of-print, Rev. Jackson took matters into his own hands and started his own private press label, Jackson Records, in the late ‘70s.  This 45 is Jackson 101 and it features a re-recording of “Wrapped Up and Tangled Up in Jesus,” one of his most popular numbers that had been previously released on Booker, backed by the previously unrecorded “Lord You’re So Good,” a deep and measured ballad.

This version of “Wrapped Up…” has not been reissued in any form.  Since Rev. Jackson sold these records exclusively at church services, they never entered the marketplace and therefore didn’t receive any other distribution.

Each side plays with relatively low but steady background crackle as well as the occasional pop which decreases in frequency a bit as the side progresses, probably reflection on the quality of the pressing.  Generally speaking, these are quite clean copies, but there may be occasional minor idiosyncrasies in label and vinyl.  Limited stock, of course. 2 copy limit per customer.

“Darius Jones is an extraordinarily gifted young alto saxophonist and composer; Man’ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing) is his remarkable debut as a leader. Jones joined the New York music community in 2005, after living and studying in Richmond, VA. In his short time here, he has amazed and inspired musicians and audiences from widely divergent backgrounds with his meticulously honed musical gifts. Soul-power is at his foundation; forward looking expression always at the fore. Some bands Jones currently works with are the Cooper-Moore Trio, Mike Pride’s From Bacteria to Boys, William Hooker’s Bliss (East), and Trevor Dunn’s Proof Readers. Jones also has a band with Travis LaPlante, Andrew Smiley, and Jason Nazary called Little Women.

“Man’ish Boy is a deeply personal work that found Jones meditating on his life growing up in the south: not an easy life, but one suffused with familial love, hard work and self-assurance. His experiences in church, particularly hearing gospel choirs – the ecstatic combination of powerful individual voices coming together to create something greater – were a deep inspiration for this project. An abiding respect for elders and the breadth of life experience they bring led Jones to ask master musicians Cooper-Moore (piano, diddley-bo) and Rakalam Bob Moses (drums) to be part of this project. Jones first met Moses at a performance while still in Virginia, and they have had a close relationship ever since. Jones joined forces with Cooper-Moore, a fellow Virginian and churchgoer as a youth, after moving to NYC. Cooper-Moore was asked specifically to also play diddley-bo here: a one-wire stringed instrument with roots in the deep south via Africa; with it, he most definitely brings the organic funk.” – AUM Fidelity

Darius Jones: alto saxophone
Cooper-Moore: piano, diddley-bo
Rakalam Bob Moses: drums

“Nearly 40 years after its creation, Weird Forest is proud to release this seminal jazz album for the first time ever on vinyl. The incendiary grooves captured in this wax defy description. It is not free, funk, fusion or fire music – it encompasses all of these sounds and then blasts far beyond them. Featuring the late great organist, Larry Young, this album is mandatory listening for fans of Miles Davis’ “Live Evil” fusion era, Young’s own “Lawrence Of Newark”, Sun Ra’s cosmic explorations and even Japanese guitar terrorists like Keiji Haino and Masayuki Takayanagi. Remastered for this first time-vinyl release by Weasel Walter. Limited to 500 copies with deluxe Stoughton tip-on style gatefold jackets.

“Love Cry Want was a legendary jazz fusion group based in Washington D.C., and led by guitarist, Nicholas. This recording took place during a series of concerts in Washington, held across from the White House in Lafayette Park, and featured the late, great jazz organist Larry Young, who had just recorded the historic “Bitches Brew” LP with Miles Davis and had left the Tony Williams Lifetime and guitarist John McLaughlin to combine forces with Nicholas and drummer, Joe Gallivan.

“This second incarnation of Love Cry Want featured the triumvirate of Nicholas, Gallivan, and Young performing some of the most important music in the history of jazz. No record company would release this music, which was ahead of its time. Nicholas, who pioneered the development of the first guitar synthesizer (in association with Electronic Music Laboratories) performs on the first prototype guitar 'synth' along with fellow musician, Joe Gallivan, who pioneered the development of the drum synthesizer with inventor, Robert Moog.“ – Weird Forest

Check it out here: http://destination-out.com/?p=870

Nicholas: prototype guitar synthesizer, ring modulator, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, water, hi-tension wires and wailing dervish
Joe Gallivan: drums, steel guitar, moog synthesizer, and percussion
Jimmy Molneiri: drums and percussion
Larry Young: Hammond organ

In the 1950s, Jerry “Boogie” McCain cut a batch of great singles for Excello and Trumpet that established his reputation as a great singer and harmonica player as well as an exceptionally hip, clever songwriter. This series of five 45s on Norton spotlights the 1955 demos he recorded prior to going to Excello and they’re pretty hard to beat for raw, raucous party music. An in-depth look at Mr. McCain is here: http://www.bluesworld.com/JerryMcCain.html

Geronimo!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcZK8otg9LY

Serious business from one of the all-time greats of north Mississippi blues, recorded in 1964-65. “His is an art of almost hypnotic intensity, his involvement with his material is total.” – Pete Welding. Reissue of Arhoolie F-1027.

“’I call what I play Free Music because I want to be free to render my work in any way I feel necessary to express my feelings and ideas. Today on Earth is quartet music that emphasizes the groove; some folk-like melodies mixed in with some other things. My colleagues here, Jim Hobbs, Timo Shanko and Luther Gray are as strong and expressive as any players ever when it comes to dealing with this kind of material. I’m lucky to be able to work with them. The title of this recording suggests the idea that is at the core of my artistic goals; a reminder to have a simple instant of realization, a second of reflection about our lives standing on this planet floating in the universe.’ – Joe Morris

“Simultaneous to having achieved a strong measure of well-deserved acclaim for his ascendant work on upright bass (most recently on the release of Wildlife (AUM Fidelity), Joe Morris has kept his incomparable and singular voice on the guitar in highly notable flex mode in on both a 4xCD set of improvised duos with Anthony Braxton and on the David S. Ware release, Shakti (AUM Fidelity). Here Morris brings the guitar again full fore with his blessed Quartet on a brand new set of indelibly melodic tunes that are rendered with deep swing and profound essence of joy. Joining him in doing so are alto saxophonist Jim Hobbs and bassist Timo Shanko (both of The Fully Celebrated) as well as further long-time associate, drummer Luther Gray.” – AUM Fidelity

Joe Morris: guitar
Jim Hobbs: alto saxophone
Timo Shanko: bass
Luther Gray: drums

Really loving these Pyramids reissues. Fans of Don Cherry, Sun Ra, Philip Cohran, and/or Afro-centric jazz that has a tendency to take the music out there, take note!

“A psychedelic Afrojazz stunner that capped off a feverish diaspora from the Midwest to the Bay Area by way of Africa. Cut in 1975, Birth/Speed/Merging was the bands highest end production to date and their final recorded act. The mood was celebratory, carnivalesque and wholly in the groove. Features the burning classic Black Man & Woman Of The Nile. Remastered from the original source tapes. 180 gram virgin vinyl pressing.”

Kimathi Asante: Hagstrom bass guitar, talking drum, Ugandan harp, bamboo flutes, percussions, vocals
Margo Ackamoor: flute, piccolo, percussions, vocals
Idris Ackamoor AKA Bruce Baker: alto sax, bongos, Ku Cheng, bamboo flutes, talking drum, percussions, vocals
Heshima AKA Mark Anthony Williams: acoustic bass, vocals
Augusta Lee Collins: drums, talking drum, percussions
Kenneth Nash: congas, bongos, rosenbow, percussions

Really loving these Pyramids reissues. Fans of Don Cherry, Sun Ra, Philip Cohran, and/or Afro-centric jazz that has a tendency to take the music out there, take note!

“There were spirits in that recording studio! I remember a feeling of spiritual strength while we were recording! Images and sounds reverberating off the walls! - Idris Ackamoor. Though only a year had passed in the time between the fierce abandon of Lalibela and 1974’s King Of Kings, it signaled a monumental shift for the band. By 1974, the core Pyramids continued their musical odyssey with their Lalibela collaborators – percussionists Hekaptah, Marcel Lytle and saxophonist Masai – while welcoming drummer-in-exile Donald Robinson back to the Pyramids Midwestern American family. Inspired, the group set to shape a set of compositions that most fully realized – in form, feel & reflection – their African passage. On a spring day in 1974, the Pyramids went into a remote 16-track studio called Appalachia Sound Recording hours from Antioch in Chillicothe, Ohio – the site of ancient native Indian burial mounds – and, with no less intensity than before, cut a warm and infectious spiritual jazz masterpiece – King of Kings – in a day and headed back to Antioch that night. Exact repro of the ultra-rare private issue LP on the bands Pyramid Records label. Remastered from the original source tapes. 180 gram virgin vinyl pressing.”

Kwame Kimathi Asante AKA Thomas Williams: Hagstrom bass, Ugandan harp, percussion
Margo Ackamoor: flute, percussion
Idris Ackamoor AKA Bruce Baker: alto sax, talking drum, bailophone, one-stringed goge, Ethiopian drum, calypso box
Hekaptah AKA Bradie Speller: conga drums, percussion
Donald Robinson: drums, bongos, percussion
Guest artists:
Jerome Saunders: piano, percussion
Chris Chafe: cello

Really loving these Pyramids reissues. Fans of Don Cherry, Sun Ra, Philip Cohran, and/or Afro-centric jazz that has a tendency to take the music out there, take note!

“We were playing music to burst out of our bodies. Extremely free! Extremely intense! -- Idrissa Ackamoor. The Pyramids came together in the feverish expat climate of Paris & Amsterdam in 1971 where the three Antioch classmates – Idrissa Ackamoor, Margo Ackamoor and Kimathi Asante – hooked up with drummer Donald Robinson and began to flesh out their own brand of musical freedom, but it was the subsequent pilgrimage back to Africa that proved to be the young musicians creative awakening & truly set their brand of spiritual jazz apart from the pack. Cut just months after their return to Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1973 with kindred players jumping in on the session, Lalibela is an urgent, beautiful & massive two track suite of propulsive Afrodelic cosmic earth groove. Exact repro of the ultra-rare private issue LP on the bands Pyramid Records label. Remastered from the original source tapes. 180 gram virgin vinyl pressing.”

Idrissa Ackamoor: alto & soprano saxophones, bailofone, masenqo, talking drum, Moroccan clay drum
Margo Ackamoor: flute, piccolo, percussion
Kwame Kimathi Asante: Hagstrom bass, Ugandan Harp, Ethiopian drum, bamboo flute
Masai: soprano sax, bamboo flute, percussion
Marcel Lytle: drums, percussion
Hekaptah: conga drums, osi drum, percussion

“Norton recently took a rocket ride into the vaults of El Saturn Research and arrived back on Earth with a motherlode of unissued early R&B, doo wop, soul and general weirdness featuring Sun Ra and his Arkestra backing a variety of artists. This series consists of two albums of Doo Wop from Saturn and Beyond entitled Interplanetary Melodies and The Second Stop Is Jupiter plus a set of totally twisted sides called Rocket Ship Rock featuring Yochanan ‘The Outer Space Vocalist’ (with his demented Saturn 45 Muck Muck/Hot Skillet Momma) and his way out friends backed by Sun Ra and his Arkestra! Atomic outer space genius from yet another Norton turban headed star!” – Norton

Track listing:
Cosmic Rays – Daddy’s Gonna Tell You No Lie
Cosmic Rays – Dreaming
Cosmic Rays – Bye Bye
Cosmic Rays – Somebody’s in Love
Cosmic Rays – Summertime
Crystals – Honey in the Bee Box
Nu Sounds – Spaceship Lullaby
Nu Sounds – I’m Through with You
Nu Sounds – Africa
Nu Sounds – Dabba Dabba Dabba Du Bay
Qualities – It’s Christmas Time
Qualities – If Only I Hadn’t Sinned
Juanita Rogers – Love Letters Full of Promises
Juanita Rogers and Lynn Hollings – Teenager’s Letter of Promises
Sun Ra – Tony’s Wife

“Norton recently took a rocket ride into the vaults of El Saturn Research and arrived back on Earth with a motherlode of unissued early R&B, doo wop, soul and general weirdness featuring Sun Ra and his Arkestra backing a variety of artists. This series consists of two albums of Doo Wop from Saturn and Beyond entitled Interplanetary Melodies and The Second Stop Is Jupiter plus a set of totally twisted sides called Rocket Ship Rock featuring Yochanan ‘The Outer Space Vocalist’ (with his demented Saturn 45 Muck Muck/Hot Skillet Momma) and his way out friends backed by Sun Ra and his Arkestra! Atomic outer space genius from yet another Norton turban headed star!” – Norton

Track listing:
Cosmic Rays – Somebody’s in Love
Cosmic Rays – Daddy’s Gonna Tell You No Lie
Cosmic Rays – Dreaming
Cosmic Rays – There’s a Small Hotel
Cosmic Rays – The Second Stop is Jupiter
Nu Sounds – Spaceship Ullaby
Nu Sounds – Honeysuckle Rose
Nu Sounds – Baby Won’t You Please Be Mine
Nu Sounds – Black Sky and Blue Moon
Nu Sounds – Dreams Come True
Qualities – Happy New Year to You!
Qualities – She’s My Moonglow
Crystals – Little Sally Walker
Juanita Rogers – I’m So Glad You Love Me
Juanita Rogers – I’m So Glad You Love Me
Sun Ra – Stuff Like That There

I do believe the late great Nathaniel Mayer might’ve referred to the rough-and-tumble R&B numbers on this record as “raggely”. It’s largely comprised of late ‘50s recordings of Sun Ra collaborating with another eccentric visionary – Yochanan, the Space Age Vocalist. Miriam Linna describes the Muck Muck as “a wailing opus that makes Screamin’ Jay Hawkins sound like a milquetoast Mantovani.” Indeed, the muck muck muck will cook your duck! Not to be outdone, a singer known as Ebah howls through an epic “I Am Gonna Unmask the Batman” at what sounds like the tail end of one of Sunny’s 36-hour rehearsals.

Track listing:
Yochanan – Muck Muck
Yochanan – Hot Skillet Momma
Yochanan – Rocket Ship Rock
Yochanan – Is That Me?
Yochanan – Hot Skillet Momma
Yochanan – Muck Muck
Yochanan – The Sun Man Speaks
Yochanan – Message to Earthman #1
Yochanan – Message to Earthman #2
Little Mack – Tell Her to Come on Home
Lacy Gibson – I am Gonna Unmask the Batman
Ebah – I am Gonna Unmask the Batman
Don (Dino) Dean – Space Stroll

“By 1962, American pianist Cecil Taylor had been at the fringes of the jazz establishment for several years. His angular, percussive attack and unconventional harmonic sense bred controversy among players and listeners alike and proved at odds with most rhythm sections. While embraced by progressive critics--even voted ‘new star’ by Down Beat--Taylor passed most of that year with few gigs and many hours of work as a dishwasher to show for it. At least, he has said, he knew why he was washing dishes: a personal decision following the death of his father in 1961 to be faithful to his own artistic vision at all costs. This commitment, combined with an intensely creative gestation period during which Taylor's Unit firmly meshed, led to his decisive break through the last barrier hindering his musical voice: the barline.

Cecil Taylor: piano
Jimmy Lyons: alto saxophone
Sunny Murray: drums

“The story of gospel music in the 1960s and ’70s is strewn with small record labels. Most produced only a few discs, usually of one or two local artists and selling only a few hundred copies around their home areas. But a few were run on a larger scale. One was Designer, from Memphis, Tennessee, which between 1968 and 1978 produced between 400 and 500 singles and a few albums. Yet less than 30 years after the last issue, Designer has faded into the mist, and little is known of its story. The printed labels tells us it was run from at least two addresses in Park Avenue, Memphis – No 3373, then later No 3109 – by Style Wooten and Charles Bowen. Designer was, in effect, two labels in one. The main one was the “vanity” or “custom” label – available to anyone who could pay the cost of a recording session and having anything between 100 and 1000 45rpm singles pressed. But as well, Wooten and Bowen signed promising artists to contracts, carrying the costs, marketing the discs – and reaping the profits.

“Designer appears to have been purely a gospel label. Most of its artists were African American quartets and small groups from Memphis and the Mid-South, although half a dozen choirs appear in the lists and artists from as far away as New Jersey, New York and Illinois had records issued. Some white artists were also recorded; at least two groups – The Gospel Melodies and The Happy Time Singers – had Designer issues. The dual nature of the label means its artists are of widely varying quality, ranging from semi-professional acts such as the Shaws, the Jubilee Hummingbirds, the Memphis Harmonizers and the Gospel Songbirds to family groups whose budgets and ambitions perhaps exceeded their musical abilities. Designer’s last issue appeared in 1978. The reason for the label’s closure is as obscure as the rest of its life-story, although rumour has it that Wooten and Bowen were pressured out by rival local labels and recording studios which didn’t like the competition. But the Designer legacy survives – a wonderful wide-angle snapshot of grassroots gospel through a fascinating decade of change.” – Alan Young, author of the great Woke Me Up this Morning.

This is a straight reissue of a Designer LP, with three tracks each are the Jubilee Humming Birds, Union Gospel Singers, Madam Andres and the Heavenly Echoes, and the Mosby Family Singers, all of whom deliver rocking uplift. Some notes would’ve been nice, but what can you do. Limited edition, 180-gram vinyl pressing.

“M for Mississippi” is a wonderful new DVD that provides brief, evocative portraits of some of the current blues singers in Mississippi. The overall impression is of musicians who do this for love (especially since, as a number of the artists point out, if you’re doing it in the hopes of making money, you won’t bother doing it for too long). Cadillac John, his hands quivering, implores his baby to give it all to him. RL Boyce in his element, holds court at a house party. Pat Thomas goes from his extremely energetic descriptions of his visual art to a mellow delivery of his blues. Jimmy “Duck” Holmes at the juke that’s been in his family for decades. The biggest news to me is 80-ish year-old LC Ulmer, who has a lovely, light delivery and comes across as quite the sweetheart.

“This timely road movie will explore the thriving underbelly of a dying American art form in the land where it began – Mississippi. Planned as a weeklong journey through the birthplace of the blues, M for Mississippi seeks to capture the proverbial ‘real deal’ in its home where it is most comfortable and authentic – the jukes, the front yards, the cotton fields. More than just a collection of concert performances, the film will collect the sounds, the images and the feel of both the performers and their native landscape – an environment essential to their livelihoods and inseparable from their art.”

Soundtrack to the DVD, this features 50 Miles friend RL Boyce getting about as free as free can be, the sweet touch of LC Ulmer, Robert “Bilbo” Walker’s heartfelt take on “Bring It On Home,” T-Model Ford and his grandson Stud kicking it out, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes advising us to slow down (I’m trying, Duck!), and plenty more. Some come very obviously out of a particular tradition (Wesley Jefferson reworking “Smokestack Lightning,” Terry “Harmonica” Bean’s slightly more frantic take on a John Lee Hooker / Doctor Ross boogie, etc.) while others are more idiosyncratic.

Track listing:
Big George Brock and the Houserockers – M for Mississippi
The Wesley Jefferson Blues Band – The Wolves are Howling
RL Boyce and Lightnin’ Malcolm – Ain’t It Alright
Terry “Harmonica” Bean – I’m a Bluesman
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes – Slow Down, Slow Down
The Mississippi Marvel and Lightnin’ Malcolm – Black Mattie’s Face
T-Model Ford and Stud – Hip Shakin’ Woman
Cadillac John Nolden and Bill Abel – Give It All to Me, Baby
Pat Thomas – The Woman I Love
The Robert “Bilbo” Walker Band – Bring It On Home
LC Ulmer – Rosalee