JOHN WHITE John White 1972 256+ VBR LAME mp3 Vinyl rip & scans from MRL 330
Number 3
City
John White who? That's one of the biggest mysteries of Mainstream and his almost comically generic moniker makes it nigh impossible to root out whatever meagre morsel of info might be floating around in the cloud. Making matters worse, this has to be the most poorly documented recording in the entire MRL collection, which in itself is a pretty impressive feat. This time the only crumbs dropped are a roster and a photog credit. No liner notes, no bio, no other credits, no nothin'. To this day it seems no reliable reference can say who produced the affair, who engineered it or even what studio hosted the session on what date(s).
It was obviously a Bay Area endeavour which one can suss not only from the scenery but also from the presence of locals Hadley Caliman, occasional grateful Deadhead Merl Saunders and Terry Hansley of prescient 'frisco freak-out unit Fifty Foot Hose. Phil Wilson could have been anywhere at the time since he was in between gigs with The Butterfield Blues Band and Julius Hemphill's St. Louis cadre while the lack of photo for New Yorker Sonny Red is a tip-off he probably did overdubs back East when the tapes came in to the office, perhaps unsolicited. Merely speculation, of course.
The rest of the crew is a textbook study in nobodies. Go ahead, google 'em. More than likely they were either fellow buskers or jamming partners since none of them forged a musical career of any note. Heck, maybe they coulda just been neighbourhood drug buddies. Which brings us to the obvious hook up for JW's (alleged) only recorded outing, one Hadley Caliman. Since he had previously recorded for Shad and wrote the only track on the disc not composed by White ("Granite & Concrete," covered by Blue Mitchell on Blue's Blues) it's clear Hadley had a strong hand in developing the project.
The music itself is obviously inflected with that spoonful and the playing so loose it stumbles along with an ungainly grace like the musical equivalent of a Drunken Master Style disciple. The firm blues base, earthy electric bass lines and pro touch brought by Wilson and Saunders tether the funky cacophony of the off-kilter horns, offsetting the amateurish aspects of what was obviously a lets-just-get-in-the-studio-and-jam-then-see-what-happens approach. There are a few strong melodies and some genuine moments of inspiration scattered throughout and if it was tightened up in some places and stretched out in others, it might actually be a burner. Had it been released four years earlier it might even have made some impact as is.
Although it's really neither a rock record nor a funk record, White himself is pretty damn funky and riffs as well as proficient both in soloing and in a support role. His appeal lay in the fact he relies less on pyrotechnics than on wringing the right feel from his instrument to convey the emotional aspect of his material like a classic bluesman. However, adept as he is, no Hendrix he and White would likely be well into the triple-digits in a ranking of music's great electric guitarists. It's an enjoyable listen though, and it's grown on me the last few weeks since it arrived in the post. Definitely worth a listen for those who like horn-laden electric R&B with heavy jazz overtones.
John White - Guitar Merl Saunders - Electric Piano & Organ Phil Wilson - Drums Hadley Caliman - Tenor Sax Sonny Red - Alto Sax John Wilmath - Trumpet Jock Williams - Trombone Dale Smith - Bass Terry Hansley - Bass J. Burr - Conga Robert Williams - Vocal
1 Right Off 2 Number 3 3 Granite And Concrete 4 City 5 Help Us Out 6 Tried To Touch
BeeQ dropped the P-Vine reissue a couple weeks back but I had already ripped the first play of a still-sealed original vinyl copy by then so it's also available through SoundologicalHERE or HERE.
BERTHA BELLE BROWNE Bertha Belle Browne 1972 256+ VBR LAME mp3 Vinyl rip & scans from Mainstream MRL 383 I Cannot Say Goodbye
I'm Jus' An Orphan
In honour of hump day, here's the hump. Regardless of matters of taste in genres, this one is widely acknowledged as the worst album on the label and it's a helluva head-scratcher as to how it could come to pass in the first place. Upon much speculation ranging from the casting couch to a gambling debt, the closest I can come to explaining this pea-under-the-mattress is somehow Shad thought (or had been sold on) the idea that BBB could be his next Janis Joplin (whom he had "discovered" and signed first).
Well, lemme tell you, he was sorely mistaken if that's the case. The best word I can come up with for her singing style is "caterwauling." Look it up. To be fair, she's OK in the middle range but she jumps around waaaay too much and pulls more gimmicks than Mariah Carey at a diva convention, losing it completely in the upper registers. She's got less chops than a kosher vegan restaurant.
She's not helped any by the musical material, all her own compositions. It's your run-of-the-mill tepid white-kid funky country blues with requisite hackneyed lyrics coming off like entries from a sophomore community college humanities major's journal. Obviously earnest but this girl is about 5 years away from a demo tape, so what the hell is she doing being backed by Ernie Wilkins and his orchestra? He produced this affair so the arrangements are awesome and throughout the set there's some great grooves underneath the "singing." Rumour has it he used the same personnel as the gorgeous and majestic Alice Clarke LP but for what seems like obvious reasons, they probably didn't want their name on this turd.
Apparently BBB became a born-again Christian at a later date and has given interviews on the subject but I don't know if she's recorded any other material. Nor am I eager to find out. File this one under "curiosities" and consider it recommended for weirdos, tone-deaf trustafarian hippie chicks from the old south who discovered Woodstock this summer and completists only. In my estimation, this album marks the beginning of the end for the label as it's the first point where Shad lost the plot.
1 I Cannot Say Goodbye 2 Gotta Take My Stand 3 Don't Feel Bad 4 Country Borders 5 Have You Seen The Mirror 6 I'm Jus' An Orphan 7 I Felt Myself Fall 8 Lily Lady 9 Come Innocent
CHARLES KYNARD You Mama Don't Dance 1973 256+ VBR LAME mp3 Vinyl rip & scans from MRL 389
Zambezi
Does the blogosphere really need another rip of this B3 bomber? Well, you be the judge. If nothing else the full scans may be a welcome addition to your library. Not to brag but from all the versions I have so far (those listed at the shad shack), I have to say this one is so far the best quality since the vinyl was in much better condition than I remembered and little more than minimal ClickRepair was needed. It's also mastered much louder than most of the MRLs I've ripped so filtering levels was unnecessary. If you hadn't already picked it up at Sounds from the Funky Goat in AAC or the crackly FLAC at Freakywax and you missed your chance at funkydisposition and My Favourite Sound, which have both gone private, then you oughtta jump on this funky monster stat.
Funky organ and plenty of vamping -- a really tight little set from the mighty Charles Kynard -- who's working here with a really wide-ranging command of the keyboard! As with some of the other Mainstream Records sessions of the time, the backings here are somewhat full -- arranged and conducted by Richard Fritz with a style that's almost soundtrack funk at points, but which still has a more jazzy feel overall -- thanks to the space given to Kynard's organ solos, and to backings from players who include George Bohannon on trombone, Arthur Adams on guitar, and Paul Humphrey on drums. The set features a surprising cover of Joe Quarterman's classic "I Got So Much Trouble On My Mind" -- one that's almost as funky as the vocal original -- plus "The World Is A Ghetto", "Superstition", "Zambezi", "Summer Breeze", "Momma Jive", and "You've Got It Bad Girl".
Charles Kynard - Hammond B3 Organ Chuck Rainey - Bass Paul Humphrey - Drums Ray Pounds - Drums Arthur Adams - Guitar David Roberts - Trombone, Bass Trombone George Bohanon - Trombone, Bass Trombone James Kartchner - Trumpet, Flugelhorn Jerry Rusch - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
1 Superstition 2 The World Is A Ghetto 3 Momma Jive 4 I Got So Much Trouble 5 Your Mama Don't Dance 6 Zambezi 7 Summer Breeze 8 You've Got It Bad Girl
Just tryin' to put back into the music blogosphere by fillin' in any blanks I can with out-of-print vinyl as well as the occasional mix, remix, re-edit, art or rant. But mostly vinyl. Mostly.
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