Smith – I Just Wanna Make Love To You
Smith – Let’s Get Together
Smith – Tell Him No

Since last week I finally brought out my Soundtrack in Search of a Quentin Tarantino Film mix, I thought this was a fitting post for this week’s Dig Deep. I first heard Smith through Tarantino’s excellent soundtrack to Death Proof, which included their lone hit, “Baby It’s You.” One night at La Cita I was playing that song and Soul Marcosa remarked how I should check for the record since it actually had a couple of really good songs. Within a week I found this copy at Amoeba for $2 or $3.

There are several things to really like about this group. They have a sound that’s a little rougher than the usual bubblegum fare of the late 60s. It’s not quite soul, not quite rock, not quite a lot of things, but it has a really great sound on the best tracks.  Predictably, my favorite aspect of the group is the sound of the drums from Robert Evans, he keeps it very minimal, but very very tight.  The other thing to really like about Smith was lead singer Gayle McCormick.

In fact, if there is a place this group went wrong it was in thinking that anyone other than Gayle should have been singing their vocals.    McCormick reminds me very much of Lydia Pense of Cold Blood, both petite blonde girls with big time vocals, probably often compared to Janis Joplin, even though they don’t sound remotely like her.  The best tracks on this record, including the hit and similar tracks like “Tell Him No” and “Let’s Get Together,” are the ones where she sings solo. Elsewhere the male vocalists can’t hold a candle to her and the energy suffers for it. It’s in those moments that the absence of original material really hurt this group. But when Gayle is singing lead and the band is cooking, you can forgive the lack of originality.

For instance, “I Just Wanna Make Love To You” is almost a carbon copy of the version that Muddy Waters put down for his Electric Mud record, but it sounds just a little bit better with Gayle on vocals and the separated sound (fuzzy guitar on left channel, drums and organ on the right) beneath her from the group. It’s in tracks like that (and on “Let’s Get Together,” their almost unrecognizable version of the Youngbloods “Get Together”) that showed that Smith held a lot of promise, they just never seemed to be able to fully realize it. Their second record Minus-Plus doesn’t show much progression (at least to my ears) and eventually McCormick realized she was the best thing in the group and set out on her own, though with mixed results. But in 1969, Smith had a dynamite single and a really solid sound, this record is a testament to what could have been.

Cheers,

Michael

…and just because it’s such a fabulous song, here’s video of the group playing “Baby It’s You.” What is notable about this performance, in addition to that crazy Sheena warrior princess headband, is that Gayle is clearly singing for real, but the band is not playing for real, which means it’s a backing track and there’s an instrumental version of the song and, likely, the whole record. The mind boggles at how many instrumental versions there are in record label vaults from this period of time…

Albert Ayler – New Generation
Albert Ayler – Sun Watcher
Albert Ayler – Free At Last

In a career that is filled with challenging, searing, provoking work, this album, released in 1968, was probably the most radical and avant-garde thing that saxophonist Albert Ayler ever produced. When it was released, it seems a lot of his core fans felt he was “selling out” by employing R&B and Funk rhythms. Much like Miles Davis’ On The Corner, another record that faced the same accusations, this couldn’t be farther from what the music actually represents. The songs on New Grass were an attempt at a real fusion of styles and while that may have been to court new audiences, this fusion was entirely on the artist’s terms. I’m not sure why anyone would have thought this music would be “sell-out” music. Yes, it has a funky rhythm, there are some soulful back-up singers, but listeners still have to contend with the otherworldly saxophone of Ayler.

“New Generation” is a perfect example, the beat is seriously driving, with Bernard Purdie doing his usually solid thang on the skins, the theme of the song is certainly very peace, love and hippie-fied, but still that saxophone cuts through and (especially towards the end) goes places few other jazz players could and definitely where no soul or funk horn player would consider going. This is especially the case with the best song on the album, the instrumental “Sun Watcher” which begins as if it might be a “standard” Ayler spiritual before shifting into a madly funky beat with Ayler’s soulful then completely out-there workout on the sax riding on top. “Free At Last” shows Albert’s socially conscious side along with his best vocal performance on the album, while other tracks such as “New Ghosts” reinterpret Ayler’s prior work into this new “dimension” of sound.

But I’ve always felt like what this album represented wasn’t some true change of direction. Instead, what Ayler does on New Grass is meld the multiple worlds his music always existed within, Jazz, Gospel, Marching Bands, Rhythm & Blues, Soul, all together into a single soulful mix. In comparison with his prior work it was an abrupt change of pace, but “sell-out” it never could have been. This sound would never have been commercially viable, probably for the best, because it’s too sincerely conceived (particularly in the “Message From Albert” where Ayler implores us to “Praise to the Lord, Repent! Pray again and Repent!”) and it’s too unconventionally conventional in comparison to his prior work. Those reasons however are exactly why it remains one of my favorite records from Ayler.

Incidentally, if you haven’t seen it, I really highly recommend the documentary My Name Is Albert Ayler which sheds significant light on Ayler’s life and its connection to his music.

Cheers,

Michael

Toni Tornado – Me Libertei
Toni Tornado – O Reporte Informou
Toni Tornado – Uma Vida

There are funky records and then there are records that are so funky, “funky” just doesn’t even seem to capture just how incredibly funky the record truly is. Toni Tornado’s B.R.3 is one of those records. A record so insanely funky that I hesitate to even post on it for fear someone will seriously injure themselves listening to these tracks.

I first heard “Me Libertei” from this record as an unlisted track on a myspace page. The DJ who ran the page was being purposely mysterious in not supplying the track info, but being the stubborn kinda fella that I am, I spent the next two or three months trying to figure out what the track was and who performed it. I had a feeling it might be Toni Tornado, just based on my knowledge of Brazilian soul singers. The style of the vocals was a bit too rough to be Tim Maia and too deep to be anyone other than Tornado or maybe Gerson King Combo. Eventually, as is often the case since he has a copy of every record in creation, Matthew Africa was able to identify that it was indeed Toni Tornado and that it came from this record, released originally in 1971.

As far as I know B.R.3 was Tornado’s debut. I believe that prior to this record he had worked primarily as an actor, which I think is probably what he’s more famous for in Brazil. Tornado strikes me as sorta like a Brazilian Joe Tex (though his use of grunts is all JB), a larger than life character who straddles the border between sincerely gritty and slightly campy over the top performance. This record, along with the follow up from 1973 that includes “Podes Crer, Amizade,” are the exemplars by which all Brazilian funk records should be judged. I’d actually stack this record up against most every American funk record (emphasis on record, not 45s) from this period of time… it is seriously just that good.

“Me Libertei” was the track that hooked me and unsuprisingly it’s the best track on the album. A heavy mix of Brazilian funk, so clearly influenced by sounds from the US but sounding completely unique and novel. The way all the elements come together in that first minute before Tornado’s vocals come in, with those monster drums, that high pitched guitar, punchy organ notes, earthquaking bass lines and the layered horns, is one of the most thrilling experiences I’ve ever had, it seems impossible that a song could be this good for the full run of it’s 3 and 1/2 minutes, but it is. Arguably the deepest and funkiest song I’ve ever heard…EVER.

“O Reporte Informou” has almost a proto-rap feeling to it, in the way Tornado just spits out the lyrics at the beginning. It’s almost as if it was ’81 instead of ’71 and Tornado has become a Brazilian Melle Mel. “Uma Vida” has this epic quality at the start before it gets just plain old funky about mid-way in. It’s just sooo so good, it’s silly. Really though, aside from “Me Libertei,” which is a number #1 stunner, I could have chosen any of the other 11 tracks and had just as many superlatives to throw around. There are few records that I’ve heard that can match this one for sheer funkocity. B.R.3 is 32+ minutes of pure Brazilian Soul Power and I am very thankful to be able to bring you a slice.

Cheers,

Michael

Horace Andy – Musical Episode
Horace Andy – Eating Mess
Horace Andy – Live In The City (aka Spying Glass)

With the release of the first Massive Attack album in 7 years, the unique and sublime vocals of Horace Andy are once again on a lot of our minds. Though there are many other Jamaican vocalists who seem to be more beloved (Gregory Isaacs and Toots Hibbert for example), Andy has been one of the few to remain relevant throughout the changing times, primarily because of his work with Bristol’s Finest (both Massive Attack and Alpha). In listening to Andy’s output over the last 30+ years though, he’s basically been doing the exact same thing he’s always done, sing with great emotion and in a style that is instantly recognizable. It’s also a style that’s damn near impossible to imitate, not just because of his falsetto but because of that warble in his phrasing that sounds like a natural echo effect.

Exclusively comes from a set of very productive sessions with Bullwackie in the early 1980s. The record Dance Hall Style, which many consider Andy’s best work, also comes from these sessions. Having heard both (reissues in both cases, never seen originals of either), I feel like Exclusively is the better collection. There is some overlap (“Let’s Live In Love,” “Stop the Fuss,” “Lonely Woman,” and “Spying Glass” here called “Live In the City”) between both records, but aside from “Money, Money” the sides are superior on this set, including “Bob Lives On,” the heartfelt tribute to Bob Marley, only recently departed at the time of recording.

“Musical Episode” is one of a couple tracks that really stand out here. I first heard this through a 12″ on Cool Chris’ Dis-joint label in 2003. I still find it hard to believe this was recorded in 1982. The groove at the start is so heavy it sounds like it’s from at least 5 or 6 years earlier. A lot of times with Jamaican tracks, there might be a solid intro but then the rhythm gets conventional real fast. This one stays in the pocket all the way throughout, so very tight. “Eating Mess” is another funky reggae number, with great guitar and organ lines in the right channel. It’s also a spot on examination of the problems with food and water faced within the poorest countries.

“Living In the City” is of course “Spying Glass” which Andy also sang on Massive Attack’s classic Protection LP in the 1990s. Back then I don’t think my ears were prepared for Andy’s style (it really took his rehash of “You Are My Angel” on Mezzanine for my love affair with Andy to begin), but now I appreciate this take on urban isolation and intolerance for the Rasta. I’m thankful to have tracked this one down and more than grateful that we still get to marvel at the unique vocal style of Horace Andy’s through his continued work.

Cheers,

Michael