James Brown - 'Star Time'

My parents were in the restaurant/bar business in Brooklyn, NY.  They had an Irish bar/restaurant called 'Molly Maguire’s Pub' and an Italian restaurant called 'Mario’s Trattoria'.  Neither of my parents were Irish nor for that matter Italian.  I remember my older brother cracking wise, telling my father, "You should open a Chinese joint, and call it: Sum-Dum-Fuk" to which my father replied, "Why would I name a restaurant after you?"

In 1963, when I was sixteen, my parents opened a nightclub called Bentley’s, which attracted a mixed gay/straight African-American crowd.  Mom and Dad weren’t African-American, either.  My father was a mild-mannered WASP, originally from Kennebunk Maine, and my mother was a feisty French woman, who was born in Marseille, and grew up in Québec City, Canada.

One afternoon, I was out with my father, and we stopped by Bentley’s.  Inside there was a long horseshoe shaped bar, an area with tables and a large dance floor, it had lots of lights and speakers hanging from the ceiling.  There was a table on a raised platform at the end of the dance floor, that had audio equipment on it, and the largest speakers I had ever seen on the floor.  The waitstaff were preparing to open, and setting tables. There were noises and aromas coming out of the kitchen.  Standing behind the bar was a six-foot six African-American man, who reminded me a little of Little Richard.  This was the first time I met Blue, who smiled at me and said, "You must be Babs, would you like a coca-cola, my dear?"  I nodded my head and replied, "You must be Blue, the DJ!" At home, I heard stories about what a character Blue was, so his reputation preceded him.  My father went into the kitchen, and Blue said, "Let's play some records" he put on a record, and asked, "Do you dance?" so I started dancing.  He watched me, clapped his hands, laughed and said, "What was that girl, the damn Bunny Hop?  I’m going to call you Babs Bunny!" and did so for the rest of his life.

My father came out of the kitchen with Alton who was Bentley’s manager he was also African-American, and looked like he played middle linebacker for the New York Giants.  Blue introduced me to Alton as Babs Bunny and told me, "Alton’s my roommate".  Later that evening, I told my brother about meeting Blue and Alton. My brother said, "You know what they are, right?" and I said, "Yeah, they’re Gay, so what?" this surprised my brother, and he said, "My little sis is growing up!  They’re a pisser, right?"  My brother was a world-class wise ass, but a very cool one, especially for the time.

Around this time, my parents thought it was time for me to start learning the family business, so most afternoons after school, I went to one of the businesses.  My favorite place was Bentley’s because Blue was there.  In the kitchen I leaned to do food prep, and cook.  In the main room, Blue taught me how to mix drinks, open wine bottles, set up tables and how to use the sound system.  Every afternoon, Blue gave me a dance lesson, while R&B 45s played.  He always yelled, "Let your backbone slip, girl! Let it SLIP!".  We had a dance routine, we did to James Brown’s "Night Train".  Bentley’s was known for its music, which was very much "right now" so every few weeks Blue gave me a pile of 45s he referred to as "over" and "tired".  Blue also taught me to sip cocktails and smoke cigarettes, but that was our secret.

Throughout high school on the weekends, I was waiting tables at Molly Maguire’s Pub and Mario’s Trattoria, which were all along the same subway line, as was Bentley’s which was off limits to me at night.  So one night instead of going home, I dropped by Bentley’s to see what was going on, and to see if all the stories I heard were true.  I could hear the music from a few doors away, and when I went inside the place was going wild.  At the end of the dance floor was Blue spinning records, when he saw me, he waved me towards him.  As I walked toward him, a large hand grabbed my arm, it was Alton, who told me, "You ain't supposed to be here at this time of night, in this neighborhood, Miss Babs!"  Blue said to Alton: "Just one dance."  He picked up his microphone and said, "I’m going to dance this one with my girlfriend, Babs Bunny" which caused everyone to laugh.  Blue played "Night Train", and we did our dance routine.  Afterward, while Alton was escorting me out, to put me in a cab home, a woman said to me, "That was pretty good.....yeah, for a white girl".

When I went away to college, Blue and I wrote letters to each other, and every so often a package of 45s would arrive.  During the summers when I returned to New York, Blue and I would party, only now weed entered the mix along with cocktails, Dexamyl, and cigarettes.  One magical Sunday in the summer of 1968, we dropped acid in Central Park, and on our way to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, we did our Night Train routine by Bethesda fountain to the amusement of the hippies.

In the 70s, Alton and Blue moved to San Francisco, where they opened a Disco. Whenever I hear James Brown, I think of Blue.

Star Time is a 1991 71-track, 4-CD box set by James Brown.  Its contents span most of the length of his career up to the time of its release, starting in 1956 with his first hit record, "Please, Please, Please", and ending with "Unity", his 1984 collaboration with Afrika Bambaataa.  Its title comes from the question Brown's announcer would ask concert audiences, as heard on the album 'Live at the Apollo, "Are you ready for star time?"



For the freeload, tell us what was the last thing you bought that wasn't food or drink?

 

Van Morrison - 'From Dublin Up To Sandy Row'

'From Dublin Up To Sandy Row' is a 2 CD live bootleg, that was recorded at The Point Theatre, Dublin on December 17th, 1995 for an FM broadcast. 

This is one of those bootlegs where the sound and performance are absolutely outstanding.  It actually sounds better than some of Van's official releases.  In the mid-1990s, Georgie Fame was Van's "right-hand man", and is sublime on this.

'From Dublin Up To Sandy Row' is one of my favorite Van Morrison bootlegs, it's 2 hours of perfection.

Setlist
CD1

1. Ain't That Loving You Baby?
2. No Religion
3. Days Like This
4. Raincheck
5. That's Life
6. Wonderful Remark
7. Saint Dominic's Preview
8. Listen To The Lion
9. Slim Slow Slider
10. Vanlose Stairway, TransEuro Train
11. Irish Heartbeat

 CD2

1. Tupelo Honey, Why Must I Always Explain?
2. Moondance
3. Whenever God Shines His Light
4. In The Garden / You Send Me
5. Star Of The County Down
6. Satisfied
7. Melancholi
8. I'm Not Feeling It Anymore
9. Madame George
10. Brown Eyed Girl
11. Have I Told You Lately

Van Morrison on Vocals and Acoustic Guitar
Georgie Fame on Hammond Organ and Vocals
Brian Kennedy on Vocals
Robin Aspland on Piano
Alan Skidmore and Leo Green on Tenor Saxophone
Guy Barker on Trumpet
Alec Dankworth on Double Bass
Ralph Salmins on Drums

To qualify for the freeload, tell us what some of your favorite Van Morrison songs are.

Wilson Pickett - 'Hey Jude'

I've always considered Wilson Pickett the best screamer in the history of soul, R&B, and rock.  He lays into “Hey Jude” like he just accidentally chopped his foot off with a hatchet, while the horn section cooks and Duane Allman, who was just beginning his career as a session musician, tears off one of the most brilliant and in-your-face guitar solos you’ll ever hear.  It’s a terrific performance, on a classic album.  If the rest of the album was jingles for breakfast cereal and Big Pharma, Wilson and company would have still made a heartfelt album.

Fortunately, Wilson fills out the album with a bunch of other songs that, while they can’t (what could?) compare with “Hey Jude,” are excellent in their own right. His voice is a miracle, his screams make Joe Cocker sound like a pee wee leaguer, and in short he turns in a whole slew of superb performances, demonstrating his mastery of phrasing and the entire genre.

Putting Pickett, Allman, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (the so-called Swampers), and some great horn players together in the studio was a stroke of genius on Atlantic Records honcho Jerry Wexler’s part, and it paid off in a royal flush.

Fun fact: at one point during the sessions, Duane Allman dosed the water cooler with mescaline.

'Hey Jude' was recorded In October 1968 at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Wilson Pickett on vocals
Duane Allman on lead guitar
Jimmy Johnson and Albert S. Lowe Jr. on rhythm guitars
Jerry Jemmott and David Hood on bass
Barry Beckett on piano
Marvell Thomas on organ
Roger Hawkins on drums
Gene "Bowlegs" Miller and Jack Peck on trumpet
Joe Arnold and Aaron Varnell on tenor saxophone
James Mitchell on baritone saxophone
The Sweet Inspirations ("Cissy" Houston, Sylvia Shemwell, Myrna Smith and Estelle Brown) on backing vocals

For the freeload, what are some of your favorite cover versions, that to you, are better than the original hits?

Sam Cooke - 'The Man Who Invented Soul'

This is an essential 4CD set for fans of Sam Cooke.  That said, I wish it had his gospel recordings for Specialty Records or any of the work from the final year of his career (owned by ABKCO Records).  

Scattered every few minutes across this four-disc collection are reminders of just how far ahead of all existing musical forms Cooke was, creating sounds that stretched the definitions of song genres as they were understood and created completely new categories.  Indeed, he was so successful that it's easy to underestimate the impact and importance of many of his early triumphs. "You Send Me," which opens this set, may seem today like the safest, tamest pop music, but in 1957 it was a genre-bending single, a new kind of R&B/pop music hybrid and one that quietly shook the foundations of the music business when it hit number one.

CD1 offers a fresh appreciation of the best of the early Keen Records sides, drawing on the best of nearly two years of singles and the strongest of Cooke's LP tracks in the best account to date of his early career in popular music.  CD2 two begins Cooke's RCA years, and the quality of his singles, which clearly and easily bridge the gap between genres, races, and generations, improves dramatically.  CD3 highlights development of Sam's writing and singing and his growing confidence and range, culminate with disc four, which encompasses the Night Beat album and Cooke's live performance from the Harlem Square Club. 

The audio is superb throughout, it's expansive, richly-textured, and vividly detailed.

To qualify for 'The Man Who Invented Soul', tell us who's your favorite Soul artist, or group.

Nina Simone Sings The Blues

 "I'll tell you what freedom is to me: no fear. I mean really, no fear!" - Nina

Nina Simone was a singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist, no popular singer was more closely associated with the Civil Rights Movement than Nina.

Nina was nicknamed “The High Priestess of Soul” and usually was billed as a jazz vocalist, but she often rejected those labels, viewing it as a reflection of her race more than her musical style and training.  She self-identified as a folk singer, with a style that also incorporated blues, gospel, and pop, among others. She was able to cross genres as both a singer and pianist, and her classical background remained an important part of her music.   Her voice was gravelly and smooth, grating and gorgeous, and most of all unique.  She was also one of those few performers who, when she did a cover version of a song, it sounded like she wrote it.

'Nina Simone Sings The Blues' was her second of three albums in 1967, and her first for the RCA label; one wonders if that had a lot to do with the rather drastic left-turn on this record.  The song selection is more varied than many of the blues records of the era, so it's more of a jazz musician's take on the blues, even if this isn't really jazz at all.  That said, Nina gets down and dirty with 11 cuts of pure blues and a lot of soul.  Every cut is excellently performed with an incredibly tight backing band and Simone's soaring, powerful voice and piano stylings.  From creative song reinventions to some intimate original pieces, this is an excellent album from start to finish.

Nina is backed by a relatively small band that gives this album an intimate feel, with guitarists Eric Gale and Rudy Stevenson, bassist Bob Bushnell, drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, organist Ernie Hayes, and harmonica player Buddy Lucas, who doubles on tenor saxophone.

For the freeload, tell us about the first car you owned.

Robert Palmer - 'Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley'

 

"Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" was Robert Palmer's debut solo album, released in 1974. 

Before Robert's cocaine frosted 1980s urbane image, with his Giorgio Armani suits, slickly produced albums, and MTV videos with a "backing band" featuring supermodels, he was a soul singer deeply rooted in Soul, R'n'B and funk, and "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" has all those influences in spades.

Backing Robert is a who’s who of the funky and the famous, including three members of Little Feat including Lowell George whose slide guitar gives it that “George Effect”; three members of the Meters; everyone from the group Stuff, which was led by Cornell Dupree and Bernard Purdie; and strings by Gene Page.  The music has a laid-back groove, whether Palmer's covering New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint or singing originals. While the music is tight and solid, it is Robert Palmer's voice that steals the show; he sounds supremely confident among these talented musicians, and they seem to feed off his vocal intensity. 

 

"Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" was recorded in New Orleans, New York City and Compass Point Studios in Nassau. Robert arrived in the studio with some rough sketches, but most of ‘Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley’ was developed on the spot, and wisely took advantage of the collective knowledge in the room.

Track listing

1. "Sailing Shoes"
2. "Hey Julia"
3. "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley"
4. "Get Outside"
5. "Blackmail"
6. "How Much Fun"
7. "From a Whisper to a Scream"
8. "Through It All There's You"

For the freeload, tell us what was the sneakiest thing you did as a teenager.