Locked and loaded on some wonderfulness this week. Just in time for summer. A few slipped through but we did strike Brazilian gold none the less. These rare beauties will be the cornerstone for what is surely to come. And like the universe, this South American sonic world is limitless. Wagner Tiso is a psych jazz maestro in a category of 1, and thus competes only with his previous greatness. These guys did a stint with Mr. Milton Nasciamento, so they got that going as well. Ever since Eduardo huffed and puffed and blew my house down, we have been smitten. I can vaguely picture the smile on Madlib’s face when he fanned the dust off this gem for the first time. So smooth you can put on your toast. And you are surely to be familiar with this Marku Ribas classic monster, vai Marku vai! If this doesn’t put you on the moon then eat your Wheaties. This is nothing short of sugary splendidness. We have some additional unearthed sweetness waiting to makes it’s way north to Vinylly Found. Until then.
Quincy Jones plays nice, in paradise, where groovin is a must. Gula Matari both here and now to benefit the best of us. The set that Ramsey dreams at night has me talking in my sleep. Although the sound begins to fade. Some love is all we need.
I seem to start every year on the same note. Dm#7 with Brazil on my mind. It just came to light, that my first record buys of 2017 have all been, coincidentaly Brazilian. I have been wanting a few of these for a long long while. Mario Castros Neves brings the old school, Kiko Dinucci the new. Curumin is the grandmaster of them all. The man behind the mask. Marku has been on the radar as well so a guest appearance will most definitely due, especially on this magnitude. The New Baianos and Raulzito will be here within weeks via Dona Rosa. I received the first in the mail today and to celebrate, the jams.
Tomorrow we celebrate the life of a legend. No, we are not referring to high comandar Trump. Allen Touissant died one year ago tomorrow. He was a true musicman. Not often in the limelight, and releasing only a handful of solo albums, he wrote countless hits, was a transending producer, piano extrodinaire and the mastermind of the godfathers of funk, The Meters. Touissant co-founded Sansu records in 1965, and The Meters were the studio band on such classics such as Lee Dorsey’s Working on a Coal Mine, Betty Harris’s Theres a Break in the Road, Dr. John’s Right Place, Wrong Time as well as releasing their own solo albums which are the funk benchmark. Touissant would later develop another funky house band Chocolate Milk in the late 70s who would also go on to release their own material, often occompanied by Touissant on the piano. Touissant’s songs have been recorded by The Stones, The Who, Otis Redding, The Yardbirds, and the list goes on. So when you have the post election blues tomorrow, remember the beautiful music brought into the world by the musical genius Allen Touissant. Here are 3 tracks for your listening pleasure. A cover by Lou Donaldson, a Dr. John jam Touissant produced and played piano, and a burner off his second solo album, Life, Love and Faith. Enjoy.
Not sure if I should register my residence as industrial, I feel like a hit factory. The shred parade continues ………until Sunday. Some new pulls, the weekly highlights. If this doesn’t get your blood flowing, go surf.
The cover up is a phrase DJs coined back in the day when one would cover up the label of a record they were spinning so nobody would know the track. Some would go so far to put a different label on the record to fool the peeping Toms. The power of the DJ back then was their rich knowledge of music, before the age of the internet, shazaam, spotify and the rest of it.
We were asked to DJ an art show the past weekend and this phrase immediately came to mind. Of course, we were not covering up any records during the sesh, they were there for all to enjoy, sonically as well as visually. That was half of the appeal and we were immediately labeled DJ Vinyl. In a world of digital media, a DJ spinning physical records is a dinasaur, a display at a museum, to be seen for the small price of admission. Unless of course you are Cut Chemist, in which we would gladly pay the price of admission, and have. Needless to say, we ran with it. We did throw a track on the ol’ Ipad and for the sake of argument lets just call it our cover up. For any of you following along you can probably already guess what this was from our crazed obsessed rant from the previous post. I mean the music is so damn good, how could I not play it, even if only digitally. And the response was, what the hell is that?! Well, we finally found it on vinyl and ordered it today from a record store in Japan. The website was in mostly Japanese so not the easiest thing I have ever done. So without further ado, the short but sweet opening track from Dutch DJ Perquisite’s debut EP, Outta Nowhere, featuring Benjamin Herman on sax.
We have been on such a binge to find more, new, different records that we never stop and enjoy the treasures that we have amassed. And a large treasure it is indeed. The beautiful thing about DJing last weekend is that we have been tearing through the collection to find stuff to play. We have listened to just about every record in the collex, but most haven’t had the quality ear time they deserve. So here are a couple tracks (re)discovered in the last few days that are bound to be displayed at the next event. The poet and the beat. No vinyl cover ups here.
The tour de wax on the Double Dutch bus was in full effect last month. In between the red light district and the Heinekin Experience, we made time to scour the lands high and low for some Dutch gems. First stop, Rotterdam. Highs were definitely Vinyl Spot and Plaatboef. Just hit up Nieuwe Binnenweg and you will find a plethora of shops or Coolsingel on a Tuesday afternoon for a flea market binge. If I could go back to one spot it would be Vinyl Spot. The prices were reasonable, the selection was incredible, and the gent behind the counter was pulling out records for my sampling pleasure. I wish I had hit this first, but on the way I had wandered into Plaatboef (on Nieuwe Binnenweg across from Demonfuzz). I did manage to pick up a Supersister comp from Vinly Spot which was deliteful. Plaatboef, where 90% of my funds were spent, did have an immense selection and the inhabitants were helpful. But they were vastly overpriced. Unfortunately I didn’t realize this until after I dropped a pretty penny. They did have 2 of the Hans Dulfer records that I was on the hunt for (and 1 I wasn’t). These were basically my I gotta find these records, and at my first store no less, so I can’t complain. The guy there mentioned the store has been around forever and Hans used to come in there to buy records. Was he pulling my chain, possibly. The Rotterdam low was definitely Songs for Sale. The selection was bismal, think dollar bin records on the wall, and when I asked if he had any Bintang records, he just said “Those are rare, you won’t find those”. Is this not a record store, which depending on your taste was debateable.
Having blown most of my load in Rotterdam, and most of my space for the return flight home, I had to be very selective in Amsterdam. I hit up a lot of stores but none were carrying the Perquisite record I was dying to get, which was the next in line on my list. The Amsterdam highs were Waxwell Records, Distortion Records and Homesick Records. Waxwell had a really nice selection and the old guy there was really helpful. They had a nice Terry Callier record on the wall that I have always wanted but $125 Euro was outta my range so I passed, downside is the guy didn’t even know who Perquisite was. Distortion Records had piles upon piles of records that were calling my name. Literally, stacked to the ceiling. I really wanted to browse but was with my son, so I just asked if he had Perquisite which he didn’t, and bounced. He at least knew who Perquisite was. Lastly was Homesick records. This place didn’t even come up when I searched for record stores in Amsterdam on google. I discovered this place the day before I left, and it was a block away from the apartment I was renting, so I walked right by it. Turns out I could see the store front from my window, go figure. They did not carry newer records so no Perquisite, but they did have a playable (looked beat but plays great) copy of the Bintangs first album. In your face Songs for Sale. The guy was pretty knowledgable and the prices were fair (Selling Hans Dulfer Candy Clouds for 25% less than what I paid in Rotterdam). Amsterdam low for me was definitely Indeep’n’dance Records which only carried records they pressed, as they were also a label. I missed out on Rush Hour Records which was recommended but just couldn’t make the time (although I contacted ahead of time and no Perquisite so not too bummed).
All in all a pretty good tip on the vinyl front. In total, 3 Hans Dulfer albums, Bintangs debut, Dutch Reissue of Focus first album (still 2 years before first US press), Supersister comp, and a bunch of other crap I rolled the dice on at the flea market (stick with the stores if your Dutchery is soft like mine was). No Perquisite but I will be on the lookout, gotta love the internet. Enjoy a couple of my favorite Hans Dulfer tracks with Ritmo Natural, including a scorcher featuring Jan Akkerman from Focus, think the Dutch Page. And a blues number from the Bintangs. Apparently these guys are still touring to this day. Sorry no Perquisite, soon I hope.
We attended the quarterly San Juan record bonanza and boy did we hit the mother load. We came in just under a dollar a record. Here is a sampler of the goods. The James Brown two part jam we had on 45, but not the full album. In fact we pulled in a plethera of JB funk anthems. The second track was written by an 18 year old Steve Winwood. Say What! And last but not least, another notch in the Paul Simon belt. This is a soft one for Theostyle. Moby remixed this at the FYF fest a few weeks ago and I about lost my mind. When I went to relive the glory a few days later I realized this album was missing from the repetoire, so the timing couldn’t have been better. Thank you San Juan Record Man, you always deliver.
Its been a long long while since we brought the jams. We have had our face in the books and noses to the grindstone. But the goose is loose, so watch yo butt. We will do a top to bottom ebay, grandma’s collection sandwich to celebrate the hollowdays. To open the sesh, and to close out the Patto collection, a track from Roll ‘Em Smoke ‘Em Put Another Line Out. Not even in the mail yet, Singing the Blues on Reds is too hot to wait for tangible possession. Peace of mind will have to suffice.
Bottom dropper numero dois is a smokin gospel R&B crossover track, first gospel banger of the collection. Evelyn Freeman and her exciting voices will make you move and take you to church all in one wipe snipe. This track, featuring 14 exciting voices, is an underground hit not to be missed. This was an essential jam to have for your in car record player (we want one) cruisin down the boulevards in the early 60s.
And for the cake on top, João Donato, our Brazilian brother from another mother. We made a $30 offer for the this one only to be shut down. 2 weeks later we won this bad (Donato) boy for a cool 10 spot. Good things come to those who wait. Straight Jacket has Heise written all over it. Ah the good ole days. Luckily for us the Brazilian jazz funk master spent a good portion of his career here in the states, and is one of the easier Brazilian artists to find US pressings. Vai Joao vai!!! Disclaimer: These tracks should be enjoyed with a tall glass of mint and watermelon juice on a hot summer day like today. Enjoy!
Pressed to find the brass bag; yellow from glimmer and heavy from gold. Shining like a light above you, up in a window for hours I’m told. Dancing sounds of birds among us, stretch their wings both far and wide. Not a rock unstoned, or brick unturned, even carrots run and hide. Way, way down, past rivers and oceans. Lives an old sail’sman, with a dog I’m suppose’n. He woke up each day, to Lay Lady Lay, a classy little number, and a jam for the ages.
The trains around the christmas tree, bound for glory beneath our feet. Past santa’s skis and candy’s canes, until they come back round again. The dollhouse wrapped in red and green, to compliment a satin scene. Fits of laughter, and realized dreams, a classic record to dance and sing. A fire warms our hearts and minds, we bless our family, we toast to life.
From time to time we throw on an episode of crate diggers or some related content on youtube for a little bedtime viewing. Lets just call it R&D. I know what you are asking yourself and the answer is yes. If you are not familiar with the structure, basically a DJ or a famous collector is interviewed and he (I have yet to see a female) will talk about how they started, best finds or other stories, and they also play a few tracks from their collections. It is reaffirming that we truly are pulling in some gems when an album or track in our collection is mentioned. I say this because the music is stuff you wouldn’t hear on KIIS FM. So whether it be Cut Chemist’s first holy grail, Egon bringing the funk 45s to J Dilla’s hospital bedside, or Madlib twisting arms for rights to Quasimoto samples, we got you covered.
The hit parade seems to never stop here at vinyllyfound. Still going through the newly acquired stack of 45s this morning and was hit with a 1-2 classic soul/funk punch. Barbara Acklin’s soul classic “Am I the Same Girl” is our third Barbara Acklin single, but so far our favorite. This is a classic soul must have in any collection. After Barbara put me in a daze of music euphoria George Clinton, Bootsy and the rest of the Parliament crew knocked me out with the much sampled funk classic “Flashlight”. This track is guaranteed to bring down any house party. And just when I thought I was back on my feet I heard the haunting voice of Wild Belle’s Natalie Bergman. Wild Belle is a fairly new band formed by brother sister duo Elliot and Natalie Bergman. They released their reggae/soul/jazz debut LP Isles in 2013. They were my wife and I’s opening act at last years Outsidelands festival in San Francisco. So I was surprised when I put on a white labeled 45 with only the stamped lettering “Nomo and Shawn Lee – Upside Down” and heard the oh to distinct voice of Natalie Bergman. Turns out that Elliot was in the afrodub band Nomo. Natalie only being 16 at the time started playing the occasional tambourine and backup vocals for her brothers band. Producer Shawn Lee asked Elliot to send over a kalimba track for his new album. Shawn Lee added some drums and bass, and sent it back to Elliot. Natalie heard the track and decided to stay up all night in the garage and add some vocals. The rest is history and Wild Belle was born. We are delighted to get our hands on this pre Wild Belle limited 500 print 45 which was the seed that sprouted into the fully blossomed Wild Belle.
Disclaimer: Listen at your own risk, these tracks will knock you out. If you are pregnant consult your physician first.
We have had our hands full over here at vinyllyfound, be it constructing mural masterpieces or human masterpieces. We did make time to grab a couple vinyl gems in the last month as always.
The first outing was a response to a craigslist ad. What drew me in was the picture featuring the black with red, green and yellow stripe Brunswick label 45. We have recently discovered Barbara Acklin who has released some solid soul 45s on the Brunswick label. Usually where there is smoke there is fire so I figured why not. I decided to respond to the ad and make the half hour trek to Fullerton on my lunch break. When I arrived I met a nice lady named Gabby who was watching a cartoon the tele, which she paused to answer the door. She was selling multiple items on Craigslist so I had to explain who I was and I was there for the records when she answered the door. I had been in touch with her earlier in the week so she knew who I was. She happily let me in and told me to take a seat on her brown pleather couch while she grabbed the records. It took her about 15 minutes to find the records which I thought was odd since she posted the ad with pictures just a few days earlier. I was getting a little anxious and continuously checking the time. My lunch break was quickly passing by. I watched her walk back in forth in front of the paused cartoon on the tele 3 times as she checked the garage, the closet, then garage again for the records. She eventually came out with a stack of LPs and 45s. We chatted a bit while I was flipping through the records. She was studying in the veterinary sciences and the records had been given to her by a DJ friend who moved out of the area last year. The LPs were fairly disappointing but I grabbed a couple in typical fashion that I thought had some promise (Polydor labels and covers with afros). There were over 100 45s, all really clean, the first of which I saw was 4 purple Sharon Jones and the Daptones singles. The Budos Band, who is some serious Afrodub are also on the Daptone label, so my spirits were up. As I continued to flip through there was some Toots and Maytalls, Parliament, and even a record by Tony Bizarro and Robson Jorge from Sao Paulo Brazil. Any of you who have followed us here at vinyllyfound know that Brazilian music is a must have. So I started setting aside anything that looked interesting. There was a plethora of reggae, soul, electro and everything in between that I have never heard of. Before I knew it I had over 50 45s set aside. When I was done I asked Gabby how much she wanted. As I closed my eyes and braced myself for the carnage comfortable seated in Gabby’s pleather couch in downtown Fullerton, she told me to just take them free of charge. The records have been taking space in her garage and that I was doing her a favor. I couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t even find them minutes earlier, how intrusive could they have been. My eyes opened and I took a deep breath. I thanked her, grabbed my newly acquired stash and rushed out, half because I took a really long lunch break, half because I didn’t want her to change her mind.
Some highlights that we have listened so far are The Detroit Sex Machines, The Mighty Dogcatchers, and the discovery of the expedition, Asha Puthli’s cover of J.J. Cale’s Right Down Here. We say this not because this is the best track we picked up, it is really really good, or that J.J. Cale wrote the song, who is a personal favorite here at vinyllyfound, but because it opens the door to a whole new genre. She reminds us of David Byrne on this track. We will let you take a listen for yourself and let us know what you think. All in all this was a huge trove of treasures to add to our 45 collection.
The second outing was last Saturday at San Juan Record man’s, or Jeff as we like to call him, biannual sale. I didn’t know if I was going to make it. My wife and I had just brought baby J from the hospital the night before and I was itching to stretch my legs. The powers that be were kind enough grant me three wishes, a shower, a few hours sleep, and a 4 hour pass to dig through records. After changing a dirty diaper and rocking baby J to sleep I made my way to Jeff’s garage. Jeff doesn’t buy individual records, but whole collections, keeps what he wants, then sells the rest at his biannual sales. I showed up at Jeff’s an hour after opening and there were already a handful of people with huge stacks of records. Jeff had about six thousand records for sale, and the prices are insane. I paid $60 for 42 jazz, psych, reggae, rock, fusion and blues pleasure bombs. One in particular that I had seen his name thrown around, I have never listened to and want to share with you is Gabor Szabo. Gabor is a Hungarian jazz guitarist that went to the Berklee school of music in Boston in the 50s. I picked up his 1966 Impulse release, Jazz Raga. On this album Gabor mixes his amplified guitar with Indian sitar to create a psychedelic jazz sound like I have never experienced. Some of these tracks could have came straight off of a Velvet Underground album. For a dollar this was a huge score. All in all I was at Jeff’s for the full 4 hours my hall pass permitted and still didn’t get through all the records.
We would like to thank Gabby, Jeff, and the genie in the bottle for the epic August record scores. Shoutout to Johnny B, aka Baldulus, aka Jetty at Speysyde.com for his bday last week. Parabens!! We got a couple records for you my man. If you are a Southern California native and are interested in Jeff’s biannual record blowout reach out to us and we will get you on the VIP list. Enjoy the Indian themed cuts courtesy of vinyllyfound, where our mission is to bring good music to the people.
The drought has hit us hard here in Southern California. The lawns are festering with barren wastelands of reverse oasis. Even records are feeling the blues. A little relief this weekend with a dose of Brazilian ambiance. I have been hearing the echoes of Hermeto Pascoal for far too long now. I saw his bug eyed reflection in a small corner of Pepperland music Saturday afternoon and had to pick him up. I played a couple songs Sunday morning, which is how I like me tea, but didn’t get the complete immersion. It was though, enough to tip his hat of his brilliance. It was to my delight to see an earlier album at the vintage market late Sunday morning. The price was right, and you can’t leave chips on the table. I made it through side 2 and it is incredible. I am grateful, astonished and frankly a little confused. I am glad to share this experience with the world. As an added bonus, an Egberto Gismonti solo masterpiece for just pents. I discovered Egberto a few months, I call it the glory days. Egberto is a master pianist and self taught guitar phenom from the state of Rio De Janeiro. He has moments of perfection in every album I have, which can be jazz fusion to profound reflection. It is playing as I type, which has brought me to reconsider my candor. This music is incredible, clear, unpredictable, aspiring. I will leave you to decide. Of course I couldn’t forget the man behind the curtain, the true wizard of perception, Mr. Theostyle. I traded some of our hard earned treasures, for a jazzy rock extravaganza a few weeks ago. Patto, fellow Englishmen, hail from the sleepy hallows of London. They come at you with a plethora of scorching hot, melt your face rock and roll. A perfect soundtrack to Theostyles summer bliss visual tour soon to a town near you. Your eyes and ears can thank us later.
I am getting ready to trade some of our vinylly found classic rock vinyl for some soul funk and jazz vinyl this weekend. A balance of power if you will. So I went digging through the boxes we have that I haven’t looked through since our kick off shindig in March. As I was flipping through the boxes for classic rock I came across an early 70’s Joe Tex record. What in the world was this monster doing in here. I can’t believe we had this for sale, in the $3 bin no less. I must say, nothing beats digging through your own records and finding some gems you didn’t even realize were in there because from the time you purchased the record, to the time you found it again, your perspective on the music has changed. This, to me anyways, is evidence that we are inhabiters of our own perception of time and space. We were so focused on curating some vinyl to showcase and sell that this record was completely passed on and boxed up.
I digress, I remember I made a pretty good find of about 25 records a couple days before the vintage market back in March. I posted about the epic Meters first pressing that I found which is just a classic album I couldn’t believe that I had found for a wallet busting $2. The excursion also produced this Joe Tex record. It has a few minor scratches and the cover is a bit tattered which is most likely why we put this in the $3 bin but it plays great. I am thankful that no one had the Joe Tex fever that day, because they would probably be rocking this joint as we speak and writing their own blog about how they found this record for $3 at a vintage market. I hope this is a bug that I can pass along and that everyone gets infected.
Joe Tex played on the King label back in the early 60s with James Brown, and wrote some songs for Brown. This particular album came out at the same time that Tex converted to Islam so it oozes with angst. There are a couple really funky tracks mixed with some soul ballads. It is an all around solid album. I have included the title track which was one of Tex’s biggest hits of his career.
I have been finding some pretty ridiculous records at garage sales week in and week out, this weekend being no different. I don’t even remember the last time I came home empty handed. Most of the time I am bringing home classic rock, and while I do enjoy Pink Floyd, I don’t need 4 copies of The Wall (which I have). Nowadays I get really excited when I see some jazz or soul or funk records which my collection is seriously lacking. Even better when I find some soul jazz, jazzy funk, or as I like to say, so fuzz. I showed up around 7:30 at a garage sale that started at 8 in Capo Beach. I should have arrived around 7:15 but sort of lost my way daydreaming of the Eugene McDaniels records I was going to find. When I pulled up there were already a few people digging through boxes and the owner said the garage sale started a while ago. My heart raced, oh no, its all gone. But to my delight there they were, 4 boxes of records glimmering in the morning sun. As I started to flip through the records, a cool ocean breeze ran through my hair. How much are the records I asked, $3 the owner replied, it was on. I was taking my sweet time and found a couple blue note labels, which is a really sought after jazz label, including Herbie Hancock who is one of my favorites. Just then I saw Barney come walking up the driveway. I met Barney a few months back, he has a booth at the OC fairgrounds and sells all kinds of stuff including records. He is local to the area and I have seen him at a few garage sales. So I started to go through the records faster but he is just too fast. I found this Solar Plexus record (that I posted below) that the cover immediately drew me in. I asked the owner what it was and she explained it had some Brazilian rhythms and this and that. Honestly she had me at Brazilian so I grabbed that one and continued my search.
Not sure if its a habit, jealousy or what but I always watch what records other people are flipping through next to me. I saw Barney pull out Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly, my head sank, I have wanted that record for a while and I can just imagine all the good ones are now gone. I politely let Barney finish going through the other boxes so I could move on to the remaining 3 boxes. To my delight, there was a goldmine of jazz that he didn’t grab. Oh Barney. I made out like a bandit and seriously uped my jazz collection, 10 records in all. A few blue note labels and some other stuff I have never heard of. Turns out the stuff I never heard was actually pretty rare, which I guess is why I never heard of it. Including a Walter Bishop Album, who played with Charlie Parker back in the 50s. It was a white label promo on the Black Jazz label, which is a pretty obscure label, so I couldn’t pass it up. He does a nice version of summertime which has been covered by artists from Billie Holiday to Sublime. It is definitely so fuzz.
The best part about the whole experience last weekend is when Barney said, so I’ll give you $12 for all of this and the owner was like, $3 a record plus this belt, that will be $60. Even the Andy Williams records, yes especially those. Hahaha, what a hoot. Barney proceeded to put back the ABBA records he was holding. I then went up to the owner, who we had a nice conversation about a few of the records, and counted my records for her, 10 total. I said, so $30 then, and she replied $25 will do, because……, well just because. Deal! Moral of the story, don’t be such a Barney, Barney.
To all the mothers! If you haven’t heard of the band, Rare Earth, please check them out. I can’t describe how awesome they are. My wife and I have a second hand store we frequent for records. This one day we didn’t see anything we recognized so we each bought a record solely on the cover art. My wife chose a green and black cover of stylized face with glasses on and I chose an album of a black line drawing of a naked fat woman riding a small rocking horse. After we had purchased them and were sitting in our car we discovered they were the same band! Rare Earth.
This album is dedicated to Ma. This post is dedicated to Ma, and this day is dedicated to Ma. Mom, I love you!
This is a follow up to the last vinyl post so I will keep it sweet. The vinyls I ordered from Brazil came yesterday, much faster than expected and I couldn’t wait to rush home from work to throw them on. The Jards Macale self titled is just incredible. Let’s Play That gave me goose bumps when it came on. I love the way he screams out lapiz (which is pencil in portguese), then sings the chorus (Let’s Play That in english), it progressively becomes more incomprehensible as the chorus evolves and just becomes noise basically. Then bam!, the song breaks into this unbelievable jam. I was walking around my house like a chicken looking for feed.
I also threw on the Jorge Ben album. My mother in law was rocking out in the kitchen and kept say valeu Jay! When Xica Da Silva came on she told me how she has been to the house where Xica Da Silva lived. Xica Da Silva was a Brazilian slave born in the 18th century that became rich and powerful. She is legendary in Brazil. So besides being a ridiculous jam, the song has song some inspirational significance, which is appropriate for the Africa Brasil title.
These are my two favorite Brazilian albums. Enjoy!
Last week I wrote that I picked up Dr. John’s single “Right Place Wrong Time” on 45. So it breaks my heart to say that while I was cleaning this record, I discovered that it is cracked. I tried to play it anyways in hopeless desperation to no avail. After sulking around the house for about 10 minutes, I took the gift card good ole grandpops gave me for my birthday that I have been saving for just an occasion, and made the trek to the record store. There are two stores that I frequent often, one is run by an old jazz artist and he carries almost exclusively used vinyl, including a large selection of Brazilian MPB and Bossanova. I go there if I want a music lesson. I can spit out just about any vibe I am going for………. blues with a some horns and a funky drum beat and bammm, Joe will play something that will just blow my mind, and tell me who plays what, and he played with that guy and this guy and he is a beast, etc. I love this place but I will be there for hours and not what I was looking for in my glass case of emotion. The other has a great selection of new sealed vinyl and I heard one of Dr. Johns newer albums lately and was intrigued. So I decided to go to the latter and low and behold there were multiple copes of the record I was looking for. Thanks grandpa! Turns out this album “Locked Down” was produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. It came out in 2012 and won a Grammy for blues album of the year. This album is a monster. I like to think I am fairly up to date on newer music, at least I was in 2012, especially if it was Black Keys related which I was a huge fan back then (still am). I can’t believe I missed this one. Lets just say my tears dried up pretty quickly once I rocked this album in my car on the way home (vinyl came with a CD). Dr. John was and still is a giant. My only regret is that I didn’t discover this sooner and will never be able to see this set live.
After the Dr. John purchase there was still a small hole in my vinyllyfound heart, which I just filled minutes ago. There are a couple Brazilian albums that are top of the list ridiculously incredible ear candy. I don’t usually buy reissues but these are older albums and the chances of my finding these Brazilian albums at a garage/estate sale are slim. Even Joe can’t find these. I have been watching on ebay but I don’t want to spending the $70+ price tag these are going for. So I broke down and bought the reissues which are exclusively from Brazil. I haven’t seen these, even the reissues, for this cheap so I had to pull the trigger. They are on shipment from Brazil so I will not see these for a month or so. The first, Jorge Ben’s Africa Brasil has been on my list of top albums for years. He is my favorite most versatile Brazilian artist and I am overjoyed I will finally have this on vinyl, even if it is a reissue. The album contains a track, that if you are ever at a Brazilian party, which I usually am, and you play this track, everyone in the party will just about lose their mind. This is an anthem for sure. Theostyle had the pleasure of seeing him live in Rio De Janiero a few years back, so ask him if you have any doubts to the greatness. The second, Jards Macale, I just discovered a few months ago. I would never find this record here, it is rare even in Brazil. I need to become more acquainted with his catalog but this particular album was my most recent mind blow. It sounds like a three piece jam sesh. This is the recipe for simple but profound. I am digging the trifecta song posts. Enjoy!
So as you all probably know by now, we pick up records over here at vinylly found quite often. We usually buy LPs but recently we started dabbling in 45s. As came our fascination with soul/funk, the next obvious step was 45s as a lot of the great tracks were only pressed on 45s. Our 45 collection primary focus is on soul/funk. I saw a post on craigslist earlier this week with 250 singles for sale. I don’t want to give specifics but lets just say they were attractively priced. Now usually I would ignore a post like this but there was a picture of the Dr. John single, “Right Place Wrong Time”. Now for you people out there not familiar with Dr. John, his music is unique indeed. It is a mixture of New Orleans soul/funk/jazz. Dr. John, probably more than anyone, is the artist that I discovered when I started collecting vinyl, that if I had only a handful of albums and I was stranded on a desert island, that I would want with me. I have a few Dr. John albums that I deem essential in my collection, but this particular album containing this single has eluded me. Which is very surprising considering this is probably the biggest single of his career. It features the Meters as the back up band. I posted a couple months ago about our Meters first LP find. These guys are considered one of the originators of funk music. I have another Dr. John album, Destively Bonnaroo that is just epic, which also features the Meters. Also, in the collection is The Sun, Moon & Herbs featuring Eric Clapton on slide guitar and Mick Jagger on back up vocals. I can’t tell you how amazing this album is.
Back to the topic at hand. Lets just say I had to go check out these 45s. It was an odd and pleasant experience. I pulled up to the house and the record owner’s son was outside and started questioning why I parked in front of his house and if I lived in the area as soon as I stepped out of my car. I responded with a prompt no and asked what the address was in which he gave me a totally false address. I checked the number on the curb and said “Um I think this is the address I am looking for”. I explained I was there for the records and he immediately became very pleasant and walked me into the house where I meant an extremely nice man. He helped me go through the 45s and pulled out ones he thought I would want after I explained what I was looking for. For the most part the records were pretty beat up. Some were caked in mud, others all scratched up. I thought this is where I would find something epic. I never came across any holy grails but I did walk out with a few gems and I rolled the dice on many of these. With no covers and some with no years on the vinyl lable, it is hard to tell what you are looking at. I picked up Dr. John, James Brown, The J.B.’s, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin among others. Here are few of the tracks I picked up for your listening pleasure.
I was at a $1 record store blowout sale with my cousin about a month ago. He was on a mission to find anything and everything Joe Pass. I had never heard of Joe Pass, but my cousin being the guitar wiz always has is eye, or ear in this case, on guitar virtuosos. He picked up a couple that day with my help of course (you’re welcome for that Ella featuring Joe Pass cousin). Fast forward to this past weekend. I was out digging through records at an estate sale warehouse when I came across this Joe Pass record. I personally had still never heard any of Joe’s music but for $2 I couldn’t pass up the chance. Plus it was in pretty good condition. When I got home it was the first record I threw on (I bought about 15 records for a whopping $25). The record blew me away, and now I know why my cousin is on the hunt for Joe Pass. Turns out it is a fairly rare set/record. It has even been sampled. Thanks Cousin! Side A is mostly Joe Pass penned instrumentals with a couple covers. Side B is all new tracks penned by Irwin Rosman. The sound is pretty much all over the place. Here is a cover off of side A that really caught my attention. Enjoy!
So today is my birthday and surprise surprise I got some new records. I don’t have too many newer vinyl so it is always a treat. I received a couple Thievery Corporation and Bonobo records. If you haven’t heard of them you need to educate yoself. I have seen Thievery Corporation at Coachella, Outsidelands in San Francisco and Governors Ball in New York City. I highly recommend their live shows. They usually have a DJ, live band, and guest singers. Their guest singers have included the likes of Seu Jorge and David Byrne. I have seen Bonobo only once at the El Rey in Los Angeles which is one of my favorite venues. He had a full band and absolutely killed it. Lets just say the Brazilian crew we rolled with loved it. The music is little more uptempo but definitely still has the chill factor. He has graced the soundtrack of Sprout which is one of our favorite surf films over here at Theostyley. In honor of this once a year event I will give you a double dose of musically therapy. I want to dedicate these tracks to my lovely wife who gave me these albums on vinyl, Joelby who was with me at both of the California Thievery shows, and the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Theo himself who most definitely loves Sprout and the twin findangle sequence that always gets played over and over and over…………
Wow, I can’t believe it is mid March already. The good news it is time again for the track of the week. I wanted to get this out before Friday the 13th in case something bad happens that will prevent us from bringing the weekly dose of music to the people. This particular track has been stuck in my head for weeks and I just couldn’t place what it was. Yesterday it just clicked and I recalled what it was. I immediately threw this on my turntable when I got home from work. I picked up this album a few months ago and I haven’t had too much time to really give it a good listen. Cymande, a London based group, was a short lived band from the early 70s that mixed reggae, rock, funk, afro beat and soul. They toured with the likes of Al Green and Mandrill here in the States but never obtained superstar status. This particular track, I believe was their highest charting single which was off of their first release, self titled Cymande. They embarked on a reunion tour in Europe last year and I recommend if they pass through your town to check them out. Without further ado, here is Cymande with “The Message”.
What an absurdly beautiful day today at the Saddleback vintage market. We would like to give thanks to everyone for coming out and all the love given to Theostyle’s art and Vinylly Found. Especially Jeff, Eric, Doc, Denise, Chris and fam, Mat and his lady, even the European guy that was haggling over a dollar record. The records were torn through upside down and inside out but hopefully they received great homes.
Next on the schedule is the Yucaipa arts festival, the weekend of May 2nd. Details to be posted in the near future. We are going to need a few months to rebuild the collection back up. Until the meantime I would like to dedicate this track to Jeff from San Clemente for suggesting I play this album today, Claudia from Rancho who bought the album (and many others), and the gentlemen who straight up thanked me for playing this song, “real music”, at our booth. This was by far the the track/album of the day. Enjoy!
the O style 
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