Rudy Dozier - Wicked

Is this the best record I've found this year? Could be, especially when you consider I snagged this at the bottom of a box of otherwise worthless dross in a junk store and not at some record show. When I first found this, I had no idea who Rudy Dozier was and still don't, really. Maybe I did a little poking around on the net looking for information but I've long since forgotten if I found out anything. Did he make any other good records? Any other records at all? Looking at the label, it might not be Rudy Dozier singing at all. Somebody named Vince Tamburo is "featured". Is he the vocalist?

"Wicked" is a great, screaming rocker that's over all too soon. Finds like this are the true joy of record collecting, completely unknown and unexpected. You never know.

Record Show Haul

Last Sunday was the latest record show in St. Louis. I found all kinds of cool stuff, mostly for two bucks or less. Away we go...

Baby Dee: Sittin' Here Wond'rin' (Amber)
Russell Evans & the Nite Hawks: Send Me Some Cornbread (Atco)
Southside Revue: Chittlins (Mellow)
The Brave New World: Cried (Epic)
Little Joe & the Thrillers: Let's Do The Slop (OKeh)
Jimmy McCracklin: Susie and Pat (Art-tone)
Roger & the Gypsies: Pass The Hatchet (Seven B)
Major Lance: Girls/It Ain't No Use (OKeh)
The Elite: One Potato/Two Potato (Charay)
Johnny Moore: A Dollar Ninety Eight (Wand)
Syl Johnson: Let Them Hang High (Twinight)
Clarence Reid: Nobody But You Babe (Alston)
Gary (U.S.) Bonds: Slow Motion (Legrand)
Lulu & the Luvers: Shout/Forget Me Baby (Parrot)
Norm West: Baby Please (M.O.C.)
The Monarchs: Take Me Home (Sound Stage 7)
The Continental 4: The Love You Gave To Me (Jay-Walking)
Jack Eely & the Courtmen: Louie, Louie '66/David's Mood (Bang)
The El Venos: Geraldine (Groove)
Tony Harris: Chicken, Baby, Chicken (Ebb)
The Olympics: What'd I Say (Arvee)
The Olympics: Good Lovin' (Loma)
The Curiosities: Walkin' The Dog/Scotty (Seeburg)
Soul Tornadoes: Go For Yourself (Burt)
Georgie Fame & the Blue Fames: Last Night (Imperial)
Joey Giam & the Noblemen: Pumpkin (Klik)
Betty Harris: Mo Jo Hannah (Jubilee)
Frank Frost: Harpin' On It (Jewel)
Shirley Wahls: Don't Destroy Me (Smash)
The Uniques: Fast Way of Living (Paula)
Professor Alex Bradford & the Bradford Specials: I Don't Care What The World May Do (Specialty)
Ramsey Lewis: Do What You Wanna (Cadet)
The Midnighters: Tore Up Over You (Federal)
The Midnighters: Is Your Love For Real (Federal)
Googie Rene: Big Time (Class)
The Leaves: Hey Joe, Where You Gonna Go? (Mira)
Priscilla Bowman: A Rockin' Good Way (Abner)
Etta James: Miss Pitiful (Cadet)
The Shondells: Watussi, One More Time (King)
Shirley Gunter & the Flairs: I Want You (Modern)
Jean & the Darlings: How Can You Mistreat The One You Love (Volt)
Prince Curtis: Mama's Little Girl (Chess)
Jiv-A-Tones: Flirty Gertie/Fire Engine Baby (Felsted)
Warren Storm: Troubles, Troubles (Nasco)
Joe Simon: Say (That Your Love Is True) (Vee-Jay)
Jimmy McGriff: Chip!! Chip!! (Jell)
The Downbeats: Downbeat/Rug Cuttin' (Dynamite)
Jean Wells: With My Love and What You've Got (Calla)
Vigor Fisher & the Fishermen: Batter Up (Angie)
Eric & the Vikings: Get Off The Streets Ya'll (Soulhawk)
Tom & Jerroo: (Papa Chew) Do The Boo-Ga-Loo (Jerry-O)
Jamo Thomas & the Party Brothers: Education Is Where It's At (Decca)
Lloyd Price: How Many Times (KRC)
Larry Hart: A Looka - A Looka (Okeh)

That's about it. I've had a lot of fun spinning these here in the house this week. I hope to have some of them converted to digital soon.

Bill Doggett "Monster Party" (King)

Happy Halloween, everybody! I hope everybody has a great ghoulish time and doesn't overload on all the candy. And I just thought I'd check in with this appropriately-themed nugget from the ever-prolific Mr. Honky Tonk himself, Bill Doggett!

I'm going to take a guess here and say that this was one of Doggett's follow-ups to his massive 1956 hit "Honky Tonk." I know for sure that Doggett was with King from 1951 to 1960 after which he recorded for a slew of labels including Warner Brothers, Columbia, Roulette, ABC-Paramount and Sue. And while Doggett was best known as an organist, this particular recording follows a norm set by "Honky Tonk" in which the lead instruments are the sax and the guitar.

What we have here is a rollicking novelty instrumental with a Halloween theme. I believe this might have also been released as "That's Enough, Lock 'Em Up," which is how this record ends with all the monsters being rounded up and presumably taken to the pokey. In the interim, you get such wordplay as "Who's there? Your man, Rodan!" and "Frankenstein! Where's the wine!" So don't think too much about it and just join the party where you're likely to have as good a time as any.

Gene Summers - "Green Eyed Monster" (Charay/Mercury)

Here's a little pre-Halloween nugget for you, one I hope you will enjoy. It comes from a man who Gene Vincent once said "was gonna be a big star." Unfortunately, like so many other hopefuls, it didn't happen. But he did leave some tasty, raucous 45s for us to savor, of which this was one. The person in question is named Gene Summers.

Summers is better known to fans of rockabilly due to his recordings on the Dallas record Jan ("School of Rock & Roll, "Nervous, "Gotta Lotta That" (a personal fave)) and Capri ("Alabama Shake," another fave). In his early days, he performed with a virtual catalog of stars including Ronnie Hawkins and a whole host of others. This particular recording was made in 1966, originally for Major Bill Smith's Charay label. It was picked up for wider distribution by Mercury, which is the 45 on display here.

The song itself is a frantic piece with lots of organ, pounding bass, chirping guitar and frenetic drums. It's all about the monster of the title who comes around to make young lovers believe in lies. "But if you trust the one you love," and all your love is true, then the monster will hang his head in shame "and slink away from you." Doesn't sound too scary to me, but at least it's still a cool song. I hope you think so, too.

The Thunderbirds - Thunderbird Twist

Ah, reruns. Yup, that's what we have for you today at It's Great Shakes, a repeat of the very first record I blogged here. The good news is that we weren't wired for sound back in June of 2005, so this is the first time "Thunderbird Twist" will be heard here.

Four plus years later, this disc is still a favorite and I still know next to nothing about its origins. Here's what I originally wrote:

"Oh, how I love this record! Discs like this are exactly why I wanted to start a blog. As far as I can tell, there's absolutely nothing about this platter posted anywhere on the net.

"Thunderbird Twist" is a wild, upbeat, r&b styled pounder that sounds like it owes a debt of gratitude to "What'd I Say". Indeed, it's the kind of thing that may have been dreamed up on the spot, maybe to fill the backside of a 45. Or perhaps these guys played this live to fill the dance floor. Even would'a worked on me, Mr. Two Left Feet himself!

The tune begins with the singer shouting "Hey Hey Hey" and then horns and a big drumbeat follow. The lyrics are pure dance floor stuff, for instance "Hold it, knock on wood, ahh you're lookin' good". Pure genius in my book.

I don't know exactly when this record was released, though given the title, I'd guess 1961 or '62. It's not a twist record really, just one of a million or so that used the popular dance craze in its title, twist or not. There have been loads of combos using the Thunderbirds moniker through the years. I have no idea whether this bunch of Thunderbirds made any other records or not. The only real clue about possible band members is that Wild Bill Robinson is credited with writing both "Thunderbird Twist" and its flipside, "Lady's Choice" a so-so r&b instrumental. The RCS website has listings for seven different Delta labels but not this New York based one. Given all I don't know about this record, obviously any additional information would be greatly appreciated."

Since I wrote that, the song has been posted at another blog or three and I've learned of at least one other version of the song, namely "The T-Bird" by Rocker Roberts, which now resides in my collection. But "Thunderbird Twist" and the band that recorded it are still otherwise a mystery. Great record though, scratches and all. I hope that you enjoy it.

Indy Show Finds - September Edition

Hello all. As I promised, I now give you yet another report on my findings at the September Indy record show on Sunday, September 13. It wasn't all that spectacular. Pickings were a bit on the slim side as there were fewer dealers than before. Plus, I only had $50 so I couldn't get too much. However, I didn't walk away empty handed. I managed to scrape a few goodies, most of them out of the dollar bins.

This time, since I didn't get a whole lot, I thought I'd do this a bit different. Rather than just list the records as I normally would do, I'm going to try to tell you a bit about each record I picked up. So, without further adieu, here we go:

Huey Smith and the Clowns: Scald-Dog/Pop-Eye (Ace)

It's always worth it to pick up a Huey Smith record, but this one doesn't quite reach the heights of "Well I'll Be John Brown" or "Don't You Just Know It." But as it is, both sides ramble along nicely, which is just what you'd expect. From 1962.

Joe Hinton: Love Sick Blues/You Know It Ain't Right (Back Beat)

I've heard a lot about this guy but I can't say I'm too impressed with this. It's not the raw, gutbucket soul I expected it to be, but a bit more polished. Maybe after a few more listens....

Mickey and Sylvia: There Oughta Be A Law (Vik)

This strikes me as kind of a follow-up to their big hit "Love Is Strange" since it sounds similar to it. Not the greatest thing, but pleasant enough. And the guitar work is pretty cool. From 1957.

Duane Eddy and the Rebels: Shazam (Jamie)

Pretty much what you'd expect from Mr. Eddy. I don't know, is it just me or are there too few good Duane Eddy records out there? His instrumentals don't have much punch to them. This one's not too bad, though. From the movie "Because They're Young" (1960).

Dale Wright and the Wright Guys: Please Don't Do It/Goody Goody Good-Bye (Fraternity)

This was the follow-up to "She's Neat" and it charted, too (#77 in 1958). This is one of those cases where the back-up vocals ruin everything by making it sound too corny. Wright's best record remains the non-charting "That's Show Biz," which we documented in this blog earlier.

The Undisputed Truth: What It Is (Gordy)

This was one of the follow-ups to their big (only) hit "Smiling Faces Sometimes" and it only made it up to #77 in 1972 (#38 on the soul chart). This one's a hip-shaker and that's all that really matters.

Gene Chandler: Kissin' in the Kitchen (Vee Jay)

This is the flip side of Chandler's 1962 No. 1 smash "Duke of Earl." Who would have thought that a gem of snappy R&B awaits you when you turn the record over? I heard this side was really good and I'm not disappointed.

Leon Ashley: Mental Journey (Ashley)

I thought this looked like a soul record, but it turned out to be country and not very good country at that.

Nappy Brown: Skiddy Woe (Savoy)

Todd has featured this on the "R&B Dance Party" blogcast so I don't have to tell you how cool it is.

Rufus Thomas: The Funky Bird (Stax)

It's usually a no-brainer to pick up a Rufus Thomas record and this one, from 1973-74, is no exception. While I don't think it's his best record, it's certainly got a tight butt-shakin' groove that makes it worth spinning a time or two.

Chuck Bridges and the L.A. Happening: Bad Sam/Keep Your Faith Baby (Vault)

I don't know anything about Mr. Bridges or this record, but I will tell you that both sides are funky as all hell with shrieking vocals at various intervals. Investigate it.

So, that's about it. Next time, I hope to have a bit more loot to work with and there'd better be better dealers. That and I'll have to make sure the batteries in my Numark record player are up and running. Next record show here in Indy is in November, so we'll see how we do and maybe my luck will be a little better. Maybe.

St. Louis Record Show Recap

Nothing like a good record show to get me out of hibernation. Sorry to take three months between posts. Last Sunday was the latest show in St. Louis, with lots of goodies to be had. Here's what I got.

Pacific Gas & Electric: Wade In The Water (Power)
The Jackasses: Shake It Up/Sugaree (Bray)
Bobby Comstock: Right Hand Man (Ascot)
The LaSalles: La La La La La (V.I.P.)
Sugar Pie Desanto: Soulful Dress (Checker)
Leon Haywood: It's The Last Time (Decca)
The Delights Orchestra: King of The Horse/Do Your Thing (Atco)
Donald Height: Bona Fide Lover (Shout)
Z.Z. Hill: Gimme Gimme (Kent)
Brenda & the Tabulations: Hey Boy (Dionn)
Wayne Cochran: My Little Girl/The Coo (Scottie)
Detroit Jr.: The Way I Feel (U.S.A.)
Wilbert Harrison: Let's Stick Together/Kansas City Twist (Fury)
Andy Wilson: Little Mama (Athens)
James Brown & the Famous Flames: Mashed Potatoes U.S.A./You Don't Have To Go (King)
Bobby Marchan: I Just Want What Belongs To Me (Dial)
Rudy "Tutti" Grayzell: Duck Tail/You're Gone (Starday)
Jackie Wilson: The Who Who Song/Since You Showed Me How To Be Happy (Brunswick)
Homer Banks: A Lot of Love (Minit)
The Four Blazers: Peanut Butter (Buddy)
Ural Thomas: Can You Dig It? (Uni)
Bob and Earl: The Sissy (Chene)
Ruth Brown: 5-10-15 Hours (Atlantic)
Ruth Brown: Papa Daddy (Atlantic)
Ray Charles: Heartbreaker (Atlantic)
Felice Taylor: It May Be Winter Outside (Mustang)
The Delegates: Pigmy (Aura)
Butch Davis and the Capris: Turn On Your Love Light (A-Bet)
Erma Franklin: Don't Wait Too Long (Epic)
The Da-Kars: Shot In The Dark (Josie)
The Snow Men: Ski Storm (Challenge)
Gene Summers: Green Eyed Monster (Mercury)
Freddie Fender: I Can't Remember When I Didn't Love You (Imperial)
Albert King: Night Stomp (Stax)
Joe Hinton: True Love (Back Beat)
Bill Doggett: Monster Party (King)
Tony Fox: I've Got To (Do It To It) (Calla)
Al Green: Hot Wire (Bell)
Ted Ford: Pretty Girls Everywhere (Sound Stage 7)
Cash McCall: You Can't Take Love (Thomas)
Arthur Prysock: Good Rockin' Tonight (Old Town)
The Shadows of Knight: Potato Chip (no label - cardboard record)
Red Prysock: Teen-Age Rock (Mercury)
Ollie & the Nightingales: Girl, You Have My Heart Singing (Stax)
Jackie Moore: Here I Am (Shout)

That's it. I'll try and be back soon.