No vinyl at the boot sale today so going back to this cassette that a fellow blogger asked for. This on was on the Special Delivery label from 1988 and compiled by BBC DJ Andy Kershaw from rarities and session tracks he palyed on his show. Other artistes on the tape include Ted Hawkins & Billy Bragg, Orchestra Baobab, Kathryn Tickell and Dwight Yoakam. Here's what Andy says about each of the tracks I have selected, on the copious sleeve notes-
Barrence Whitfield & The Savages-
"Taken from Barrence's first LP, self released on Mamou Records in the States but never issued in Britain. It was this LP and particularly this track, loosely based on Donnie Jacob's Louisiana classic "If You Want Good Lovin' " that made me fly to Boston Mass. for the weekend to see The Savages live. One of the most thrillin' gigs I'll ever see."
S.E.Rogie-
"Rogie( formerly Rogers ) was a Sierra Leone pop star in the 60's - from where this floor filler was recorded. he was shrewd enough to open his own studio by having a tape recorder shipped from England and cut this tune with one microphone."
Makgona Ysohle Band-
"Tough-as-a-two-bit-steak sax jive from South Africa's popular intrumentalists."
Barrence Whitfield & The Savages - Walkin' With Barrence
S.E.Rogie - Twist With The Morningstars"
Makgona Tsohle Band - Duba Duba"
These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.
The mention of Ted Hawkins brings back some memories. I can remember hearing Andy Kershaw's discovery of him and what a discovery it was. I bought all of the albums and despite Ted being resident in the UK for a large part of his post-discovery career I never managed to see him play live. I did, however, have one memorable, if slightly pathetic encounter with the man. I was in Scarborough for a long weekend and on the Sunday morning, after a particularly heavy Saturday night, decided to tackle my hangover head on with an early morning walk. As I turned a corner I walked straight into a very large black guy with a feather in his hat and an American accent. It was none other than Ted Hawkins and, as I learned later, he was living there at the time. In my hungover state I could do little more than say hello and move quickly on to save myself the embarrassment of looking a fool (which I am, by the way). Soon afterwards he was deported for not having a work permit and a couple of years later tragically died - still largely unrecognised in him homeland. To this day I regret not having said something more significant.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that anecdote spice. I'm sure we've all had encounters like that when we feel we didnt quite say what we meant to say. I find it hard to talk at the best of times so confronted with one's heroes makes the task even harder! I imagine having a hangover doesn't help much! Nice that you met him though - if only briefly.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these tracks. I put a link on mine to yours. Hope that was OK.
ReplyDeleteTed Hawkins ended up in Venice Beach, Ca. In the early 70s, his 1st lp came out and looked as if he was just going to break-out, when he died.
Thanks again!
Thanks for the link muse. That's fine by me. Glad you are enjoying hearing these again.
ReplyDeleteCertainly Ted had more success in England than he did in the States. Sad that he was deported and died without success in his homeland.
I can't find the cassette now casper having put it down somewhere and it's got buried under some junk no doubt! Orchestra Baobab are one of my favourite african bands of that era and I probably first heard them on Andy or Charlie Gillett's radio shows at the time.
I owned this album many years ago, and boy, do I miss it - I had to leave it behind during a move to the US, and I really wish I could get hold of it on CD (no vinyl player over here, you see). Does anyone know if it was ever released on the silver thingys?
ReplyDeleteThis is what Andy Kershaw is best at - eclectic mixes. I can only hope that "More Great Moments in Vinyl History" is as good.