DECEMBER PLAYLIST

1.  Little Nicky Soul – ‘I Wanted To Tell You’ (1964)

Handclapping, shuffling, gospel-soul dancer on the obscure and short-lived Shee Records out of New York. Little Nicky was Nichalous Faircorth and the song – with great supporting vocals – was, it’s believed, his only single. If you’re only gonna cut one record, make it a good in.

2.  Patti Labelle & the Bluebelles – ‘All Or Nothing’ (1965)

Newly signed to Atlantic Records and Patti, Cindy Birdsong, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash rewarded the label with a number 68 pop hit. By rights it should have climbed higher as not only was it their best release to date it’s everything you’d want from a sultry and dramatic girl group 45.

3.  The Sweet Three – ‘That’s The Way It Is (When A Girl’s In Love)’ (1966)

Another girl group beauty, this one written and produced by still-to-come Philadelphian legend Leon Huff. Nice flugelhorn intro and a gorgeous record from beginning to end.

4.  Pharoah Sanders – ‘The Creator Has A Master Plan’ (1969)

Judging by the squawking terror that occupies a chunk of this sprawling 33-minute epic from Karma not everything went as smoothly as the Master may have wished.

5.  Eldridge Holmes – ‘Pop, Popcorn Children’ (1969)

The fourth volume of Soul Jazz Records’ New Orleans Funk shows no sign of dwindling returns. There’s enough in the opening track to keep an old-school hip-hopper in breaks and samples for a month.

6.  Jimmy Smith – ‘Recession or Depression’ (1971)

A vocal track with sweeping strings from the Hammond maestro, sounding for all the world like he’s written the soundtrack to a Blaxploitation movie before such a thing was even in vogue: recession, depression, unemployment, inflation, rich getting richer, poor getting poorer, trying to make ends meet. An unexpected moment in Smith’s catalogue.

7.  Senseless Things – ‘Everybody’s Gone’ (1991)

Twickenham’s Pop Kids have reunited for what’s billed as a one-off show next March in Shepherd’s Bush. Saw them many times in the early 90s and revisiting their stuff now I’m reminded why. Great live band with short, fast, pogoing-punk belters with an ear for a good melody. Now all we need are for The Revs to be added to the bill.

8.  The Prime Movers – ‘Don’t Want You Now’ (1991)

Much, I’m sure, to Graham Day’s irritation his time in The Prisoners will always overshadow his other work. Listening back to the second Prime Movers album, Earth Church, it must rank alongside the best things he’s done and ‘Don’t Want You Now’ encapsulates the mean, rock and roll fuck-offness of the Mr Day we know and love.

9.  Peter Doherty – ‘She Is Far’ (2016)

It’s a pity there’s so much baggage with Doherty as it’s possible to produce some quality records out of him. New album Hamburg Demonstrations hits a high percentage of satisfying tracks. ‘Flags of The Old Regime’ is stunning and if Dexys had cut the evocative ‘She Is Far’ you’d never hear the end of it. 

10.  RW Hedges – ‘Wild Eskimo Kiss’ (2016)

They don’t make records like this anymore. Only they do. A magical, almost Orbisonesque, seasonal offering from RW Hedges ahead of a new album next year. Lovely. Listen here.

AUGUST PLAYLIST

1.  Champion Jack Dupree – “Bad Whisky and Wild Women” (1963)

Plenty bluesmen were convinced bad whisky and wild women would be the death of them. Were they bothered? Were they ‘eck as like. Dupree lived into his 80s, so there’s probably a lesson there somewhere.

2.  Dorothy Berry – “Ain’t That Love” (1964)

“You Better Watch Out” receives a few club spins but I’ve always preferred this more raucous flip which kinda sounds like a rhythm and soul take on garage punk.  

3.  Bob Dylan – “Desolation Row” (1965)

There’s Bob Dylan, then there’s everybody else. Seeing how Highway 61 Revisited was released 50 years ago today it’s only right to pick a track.

4.  Jimmy Smith – “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby” (1968)

Jimmy could never claim his vocals were his strong point and the title of his 1968 album Stay Loose… Jimmy Smith Sings Again almost reads like a warning but it’s great fun with the organ maestro growling like a playful bear having his tummy tickled.

5  Merle Haggard – “White Line Fever” (1969)

“This one’s for all the truck drivers,” says Merle in his introduction before singing “White line fever, the years keep flying by like high line poles”. The version by the Flying Burrito Brothers is fantastic too, even if Gram Parsons implied a very different type of flying.

6.  Eugene McDaniels – “Jagger The Dagger” (1971)

Gene McDaniels was a long way from “Hundred Pounds of Clay” when he cut a couple of breakbeat-heavy albums for Atlantic: Outlaw followed by Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse which contained the circling menace of “Jagger playing a heavy game/ Free from guilt and he's free from shame/ Jagger sucking the source of life/ Slashing the pig with a horny knife.”

7.  Rod Stewart – “(I Know) I’m Losing You” (1971)

It’s unfortunate one of The Faces finest tracks and highlights of their live shows didn’t feature on one of their own albums but slunk onto Rod’s Every Picture Tells A Story instead. No matter, they soak the angst of the Temptations and in brandy and come out rattlin' and rollin', turning a loss into a gloating triumph.

8.  James Brown and Lyn Collins – “What My Baby Needs Now Is A Little More Lovin’” (1972)

This always strikes me as a bit of an oddity as Mr Brown and Ms Collins engage in a surprisingly light and nimble, piano tinkling duet. Very good though.

9.  Vic Godard – “Johnny Thunders” (1992)

I’m not sure if Subway Sect ever played on the same bill as the Heartbreakers but it’s quite possible. Either way, this 45 for Rough Trade’s Single Club saw Godard pay tribute in suitable style to Thunders, who’d died the previous year. Paul Cook drums.

10.  Captain America – “Flame On” (1992)

Post-Vaselines Eugene Kelly formed Captain America and their Scottish pop-grunge-stew was all the rage for five minutes until their Flame On EP landed them in bother with Marvel Comics for their name and, from memory, clothing chain C&A for pinching their logo. Under the title Eugenius they survived longer, signing – inevitably – to Creation but this song is the one which best recalls the lank-haired, oversized t-shirt wearing, floppy indie disco pint sploshing dance of the time. Admittedly that might not sound like a great incentive to check it out.  

JIMMY SMITH - "I GOT MY MOJO WORKING" (1968)

Here’s Jimmy Smith (growls and Hammond grooves), Nathen Page (guitar) and Charlie Crosby (drums) on Danish television playing “I Got My Mojo Working”. Dig it. 

MARCH PLAYLIST

1.  Wynonie Harris – “Keep On Churnin’ (Til The Butter Comes)” (1952)

“First comes the milk/ then comes the cream/ takes good butter to make your daddy scream/

Keep on churnin’ ‘till the butter comes…” shouts Mr. Harris.

2.  Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated – “Preachin’ The Blues” (1965)

Adapted from Robert Johnson’s 1936 recording, Korner plays a bouzouki by sliding a door key along the strings and Phil Seamen adds “African-style” drumming. Mississippi blues goes Greek via Ealing. Album (above) kindly donated to the cause by Monkey Snr. 

3.  The Answer – “I’ll Be In” (1965)

The Answer were from Berkeley High School, California and the snappy garage-twang of “I’ll Be In” plus the moody blues with a hooky chorus flip “Why You Smile” made this a great double-sider for White Whale records.

4.  Jimmy Smith & Wes Montgomery – “Night Train” (1966)

All aboard! From their album The Dynamic Duo, Jimmy and Wes are joined by a swinging 16 piece big band. James Brown would’ve loved the result.

5.  The Byrds – “You’re Still On My Mind” (1968)

The recruitment of Gram Parsons turned into only a short-lived affair but only eight months after The Notorious Byrd Brothers, the Byrds displayed their massive bollocks in releasing the full-on country album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, to a 1968 market. “You’re Still On My Mind” was written and released by Luke McDaniel in 1959, and with lyrics about honky tonk jukeboxes, “an empty bottle, a broken heart, and you’re still on my mind” was surely an influence on Merle Haggard whose “Life In Prison” is also covered on the record.

6.  Steve Stills & Al Kooper – “Season Of The Witch” (1968)

The Super Session album credited to Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills is slightly misleading as not all three played together. On side one Kooper and band are joined by Bloomfield; and on side two it’s Kooper and Stills. Both are great but Stills nicks it on points thanks to making Dylan’s “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry” sound like Buffalo Springfield meets the Monkees; the phasing frenzy on “You Don’t Love Me”; and then this eleven minute epic in which Donovan invents the jam session. Especially love the bit when the (over-dubbed) horns come in.

7.  MC5 – “The American Ruse” (1970)

If ever there was an album which failed to capture the essence of a band, it’s the MC5’s Back In The USA; scorn of their thrilling sonic power as a live act it’s bafflingly thin sounding record. That said, taken on its own merits, I do still like it as a Chuck Berryesque rock and roll record and “The American Ruse” hinted at what the band were truly like.  

8.  The Last Poets – “Niggers Are Scared of Revolution” (1970)

Warning: Care should be taken when playing The Last Poets eponymous LP as the liberal use of the N-word (and F-word) could cause misunderstanding with neighbours. Three angry voices of East Harlem, symbolically formed on what would've been Malcolm X's birthday and led here by Omar Ben Hassen, taunt and call the bluff of their people.

9.  Leon Spencer – “Give Me Your Love” (1973)

Organist Leon Spencer’s Where I’m Coming From album for Prestige features two original compositions plus dead on the heavy funk versions of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”, Four Tops’ “Keeper of the Castle”, Marvin Gaye’s “Trouble Man” and this rumbling take on Curtis Mayfield‘s Superfly classic.

10.  New Order – “Weirdo” (1986)

New Order’s 1989 Technique is one of my very favourite albums. So much so I’ve always felt their others records noticeably inferior but after digging out Brotherhood the other day it’s not as far off as I remember. 

AUGUST PLAYLIST

1.  Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders – “Like I Did” (1965)

This was an unexpected pleasure when sent to me by a thoughtful reader the other day. The B-side of “She Needs Love”, the last single before Wayne and his ‘Benders went their separate ways, is a sumptuous track; neatly written and deftly performed with subtlety and grace. Impressive.

2.  Jimmy Smith – “Ain’t That Just Like A Woman” (1966)

The Incredible Jimmy Smith rips it up on the Hammond with such lightning dexterity a whole big band, conducted by Oliver Nelson, gets left puffing in his wake.  From Smith’s Hoochie Coochie Man LP. 

3.  Gary Walker & The Rain – “If You Don’t Come Back” (1968)

Post Walker Brothers, Gary formed Gary Walker and the Rain and they made one album, entitled Album No. 1 - curiously only released in Japan – before splitting. There’s a mixture of styles, from psych to pop to soul to folk, as if they couldn’t quite decide which direction to take but it’s no less enjoyable for it, as it mostly all works. Here they decide to give the Leiber-Stoller song made famous by the Drifters a heavy dose of acid-rock.

4.  Herbie Mann – “Hold On, I’m Coming” (1969)

Mann’s Memphis Underground, recorded for Atlantic, is a funky flute (Mann) and vibes (Roy Ayers) soul-jazz-rock sensation from start to finish. It’s brilliant. This nine minute monster goes nuts around the halfway mark with guitars sounding like they’re trying to communicate not with the underground, but outer space. 

5.  Lonnie Smith – “Move Your Hand” (1969)

Recorded live at Club Harlem, Atlantic City on August 9, 1969, the ever-dapper Lonnie Smith (check his threads on the sleeve of this LP) finds the biggest, fattest, soul-jazz groove and sits on it.  

6.  Smoke – “Dreams of Dreams” (1970)

It’s a mistake been made many times but this Smoke were not The Smoke who cut “My Friend Jack” and “Waterfall”. This young quartet of Bury St Edmunds long-hairs managed to eke out this one super rare 45 for Revolution records before disbanding. However, if York’s The Smoke had continued another couple of years they may well have sounded like “Dreams of Dreams” – sharp riffs and hazy vocals - so the confusion is understandable to my ears at least. Now reissued as a beautifully packaged two-single edition by Spoke Records, mastered from the original acetate and in crystal clear audio, it's available here. 

7.  The Soul Brothers Inc.  – “Girl In The Hot Pants” (1972)

Dead on the heavy, heavy superfunk. The Soul Brothers Inc. can hardly contain their, er, frenzied excitement at the sight of girls dancing in red, blue, pink and black hot pants.

8.  Sonic Youth – “Youth Against Fascism” (1992)

Was digging through an old half-forgotten pile of 45s the other day and gave this a spin. Been on repeat ever since. That bass!

9.  Chuck D featuring Mavis Staples – “Give We The Power” (2014)

If you want message songs - songs about empowerment and self-respect - who better than these two? It’s a pairing so blindingly obvious you wonder why it hasn’t happened before. The result is bang on everything one would wish for. Mavis gets the majority of the work and she rasps and crackles her way through the snaps and beats and Chuck’s raps. Watch the video here for footage outside Chess Studios in Chicago.     

10.  The Primitives – “Spin-O-Rama” (2014)

Here come the Prims, pirouetting out the music box like the opening scene of Camberwick Green to share the secrets of their delightful new hooks and handclapping single, “Spin-O-Rama”. Tracy Tracy takes the listener by the hand, twirls them around in her dainty finger and then, as soon as they’re settled, dumps them by the wayside leaving them wanting more. Short, sweet and very addictive. Paul Court takes the lead on the flip, a version of “Up So High”, a track originally released in France in ’66 by obscure Californian LSD munching garageheads The What’s New. That nagging buzz line could’ve been written for the Primitives. Out 1^st September on Elefant Records, limited to 500 copies on clear vinyl. Snap ‘em up.     

The Primitives: In a spin.