Brian's Music Musings

Sometimes you have to have a record to understand why things are the way they are. The Elgins released a record on the Los Angeles based Titan label called Extra Extra. They flipped it with "My Illness". Apparently, the title was a little rough, so they pressed the record again with Heartache,Heartbreak (My Illness). Same song, just a more friendly title. Until I actually got the record,I didn't realize that just the title had been changed. The Elgins released several records, including one as the Elements, and several of the discs can be seen on my Elgins page. They are still active, with the original members that are still with us. They do perform in Northern California on occasion and have also been know to travel to Modesto for a show or two.
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I also added a picture of another Five Stars group to my page of the same title. There are so many groups with that name, that I may never find them all. The latest addition is an early 70's gospel/funk band from Maryland. Sound files will be added soon. Check out my page and watch the video of the Five Stars group that recorded on the Blues Boy Kingdom label.
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If you are a Chipmunks fan like I am, maybe you have heard of the Doctor And The Monks. That is the title of the song on the Tip Top label, and the artist is listed as simply the Tip Top Band. It is a straight rip-off of the well know Chipmunks, and instead of Alvin, they use Elvis. It is certainly not as well produced, or too original, but is one of several records that used the then familiar high speed voices, once the Chipmunks turned out to be so popular. Although I have no sales figures to prove it, the disc is probably one of the tougher "Chipmunk imitation records" to find.
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Have a safe and happy New Years celebration, and I look forward to sharing my music musings with you in 2008.

There are a few artists that I need to collect every recording known to man, and then some, until I will be happy. OK, happier. Shown is what I think is the only South African record that is in my collection, and this happens to be the Rockin Rebels. Issued on the "His Masters Voice" label, there is no mention of RCA whatsoever. I am certainly not an expert on which American records were pressed in that country, but Bob Matthews of Mickey Hawks and the Night Riders told me that he was under the impression that Bip Bop Boom was issued on that continent. I doubt that I will get too far into collecting records from South Africa, but it seems OK to do it when trying to complete an artist's output. Now, I wonder if it was ever released in South Africa as just the Rebels?

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I understand some of the reasons that record companies issued multiple flip sides to their records, For me, I first think of the Chords with Sh Boom, and the original flip of Cross Over The Bridge. Though the story is long, the short version is that the Cat label (Atlantic) had a strong flip side - maybe too strong - and replaced it with the forgettable Little Maiden. It certainly left the DJ's with an easy choice of what side to spin on the air. With the Jubilee recordings of Little Sylvia, it seems they could not make up their mind on what to plug and have the DJ's play. Drive Daddy Drive had two flips. I Went To Your Wedding, is the most common. I Found Somebody To Love is the tougher issue, and although it appears to the second issue, except there is not enough information to prove it. Her follow-up was called A Million Tears backed with Don't Blame My Heart. Though I have not seen it yet, it was also issued with the previously mentioned I Found Somebody To Love. That side is a very strong, uptempo rocker, and could have easily competed with either "A" side. On my Mickey And Sylvia page, you can see some of the early Sylvia only sides, and I should have the I Found Somebody To Love side loaded in a couple of days.
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I am a big fan of Ray Johnson, and his earlier works from the 50's. My collection is not complete enough to create a page, but I am always on the lookout for items I don't have. I was intrigued by a record I bought that was listed as by Len Johnson and the Hi Liters on the Hollywood based "Vended" label. It is a soul sound on the plug side with "Nobody But You". The flip, Duck With The Wolfman, is an instrumental that is heavy on the horn section. Unless it is an amazing coincidence, I suspect it could be Ray's son or a relative. Rockin Records lists it as 1961, but it sure sounds later than that. There is also another release shown in that guide, of "Sweet Thing" on Ray Co from 1963.

Ebay alert: Anybody want a hippopotamus? You can buy it now for 224.75. Wait a while, and you can steal it for 199.75. The Gayla Peevy (Peevey) record in question is on a Columbia 45. Just when I thought that must be a misprint, I saw this guy selling it for 350.00 In my opinon, this record is worth about 10 bucks. I have seen them sell in the range in years past. I think this is an example of a seller or two mentioning how rare the record is, "impossible to find" and buyers believing it. It was also featured on a commercial in Canada for Internet service, and got increased airplay. It reportedly sold over 300,000 copies originally, so if you need a copy, wait for the frenzy to die down. What I would like to know is what label was it issued on locally in Oklahoma City, before Columbia picked it up?
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Tis the season, for Christmas records. And yes, I am still looking at Halloween records. Be that as it may, the latest Christmas record I purchased was the Blue Notes on Val-ue. Not a difficult record to find, but just another one on my list - now off that list. If you look through Christmas listings on Ebay, you will see thousands. I have a search string that looks for specific key words, and my list was around 4500 results returned. If nothing else, it keeps me very busy, checking out all that information. I have always insisted that besides buying records, I learn a lot about records I don't buy, whether it's on-line or in a record store.
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Run Rudolph Run, has always been a Christmas favorite of mine. Copies of the 45 are pretty easy to find, whether it's the original Blue Chess, or later pressings that were made to keep up with the seasonal demand. My favorite press is the red and yellow "Review" copy, that is one of those later issues. It seems somewhat Christmasy with it's colors and green lettering. If they had only added a few Christmas graphics like some of the RCA Christmas issues, it would have really stood out.


Next week on KVMR, it's the annual Christmas show. If I have done my math correctly, this will be my 21st holiday radio program. I usually go back to my previous two play lists, and make sure I play some discs that were not on them, along with some of my favorites. I also have a Christmas show running right now on http://www.rockitradio.net

It seems as though there must be an unlimited number of variations of the Shytones / Hi-Tones record called Lovers Quarrel and flipped with Just For You. Without doubt, this release had the most copies pressed, yet it's hard to tell how big of a seller it was on the east coast. My latest addition to the Shytones page is another white label promotional copy. The difference this time is that the label reads "Promotion Copy" instead of "Radio Station Copy". All the other label information seems identical. Go figure. This hobby of record collecting is "difficult", especially when you need to collect all the variations know to man - and some that are unknown.




I admit to having a long road ahead with my Johnnie and Joe page but it is a journey worth taking. There were a lot of records that were issued by the duo - in a few different iterations - and the range of release dates started in 1956 and continued into the 1970's. I have found very few 78's that were pressed. Shown on my page are two on the Chess label, and one so far on J+S. I suspect there may be a couple more, but they are limited. I recently added the 45 on J+S of their first recording of "Feel Alright" backed with "I'll Be Spinning". It's not a difficult record to find, just elusive. I don't know for sure if there was a 78 of record. I suspect not, only because I think Zell Sanders had her hands full trying to fund the demand for the 45 edition, so that may be the only format she could afford before making an agreement with Chess. At Chess, they waxed up a 78, as shown on my page. I may never get all the Johnnie and Joe records, but I plan to have a really good representation by the end of 2008.
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I mentioned a great instrumental by Rusty Bryant in my last blog entry, this time I need to mention a group called the Rebs. They recorded "Bunky" flipped with my preference called "Renegade". The only reason I bought it, besides the price, is that the flip featured Jackie Kelso on sax. Kelso played sax on a bunch of recordings in the Los Angeles area, and worked with Johnny Otis as well. He has a great style and is very enjoyable on this two sided instrumental. My copy is on Capitol, and I know it was issued on Capitol for the UK. My books only list this one recording by the Rebs, so I will need to dig and find out if there are more

I just posted the second of two Barny Tall releases on my Domino records page. For some reason, I never caught that there was no "E" in Barny, and have corrected that over-site. I believe this to be the last Domino label release I need for the page. I am still missing a few inserts, but have a fairly complete representation of the label output. The plug side for the record is called "I'm Only Human". It is an old Texas country classic of sorts, and is played quite a bit by other artists, especially those playing old time country material. The flip is actually very good as well. "Fleeting Love" is a song that probably could have had airplay on most any station back in the early 1960's. After all, many of the rock and roll stations played quite the variety back then - pop, R+B, some blues, rock and roll, etc. Fleeting love is not heavy on the country twang, and I think the record should have been flipped. What is it that say about hindsight and 20/20?
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Although it seems he just had a few smokin' hot rock and roll instrumentals, Rusty Bryant is certainly too often overlooked. While shuffling through a stack of vinyl last week, I was reminded of just how good he was. Hot Fudge/Ridin With Rusty on the Dot label, makes me want to find more of his early work on Dot and a release on Carolyn (Castle Rock). There is a big gap in his recorded output after the late fifties, which took him to 1970 with a considerable amount of jazz records he recorded on the Prestige label. Not to mention all the sessions he was blowing on for other artists.
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I always find it interesting to talk to an artist about their experiences, and have them drop a name that I have never heard of. That happened when I spoke to Ruth Elliot, who was one of the voices behind Ted Newman on his recording of Plaything. She did a lot of recording with local artists, and commercials that were aired locally. One of the artists she mentioned was the late Connie Conway. Naturally, I have to go on a search to learn about him, and found he recorded at least five singles and an LP. In that same stack of records previously mentioned, one of his two 45's on Jamie showed up, and I had that "light bulb" moment of recognition. "Can It Be" backed with "Nothing Is Forever" is definitely a pop song, but pleasant to hear. Even if I don't search out the rest of his discs, it is so much fun to make the connections.