Aug 7th

today i'mma get straight to it.

oh, yeah...
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thanks,
gabe



Nathaniel Mayer - Well, I've Got News

Nathaniel Mayer (also known as "Nay Dog" to his friends) is a titan of the Detroit soul scene. His biggest hit, "Village of Love", put Mayer on the map in 1962, a time when soul music was just taking shape. "Village" made the top 40, putting Mayer up against the biggest names in early soul, i.e. Sam Cooke, Ben E. King, Lee Dorsey, Ray Charles, James Brown, and fellow Mo-Town hailers The Miracles, all of whom also had top 40 hits in 1962. Mayer never again charted, but managed to put out several amazing 45s for the Fortune label, which all did well around Detroit. "Well, I've got news" toes the borders between the popular Sam Cooke style vocal of the time, the quickly-fading Doo-Wop sound from years past, and the up-and-coming grittiness that was to be the Detroit signature.



Al Browne's Band - Soul pt. 1

As far as i can tell, this is New York-based producer Al Browne, most well known for the dance-crazed single accompanied by the Tunetoppers, "The Madison." He produced and backed many early doo-wop/r&b groups throughout the '50s, including the Crests and the Heartbeats, as well as groups who recorded for his label, Aljon (i.e. The Roulettes, The Jive Chords, The Del Counts, etc. - there is a CD-comp of all the Aljon material). Browne wrote/produced throughout his life and also took up acting as well as a radio show in New Jersey in the 70's. On "Soul", Browne is backed by Ernest Kelley and Kip Anderson (each of which have notable soul/r&b careers on their own) as well as a room full of unnamed party goers.




Aretha Franklin - Hands off

Aretha needs no introduction. Her early recording career took place at Columbia Records (1960-1967) although her most well known work came later from her years at Atlantic. She said in a recent Atlantic documentary that she felt she could open up more at Atlantic, but I don't see how it can get any better than this. The young Queen of Soul, a mere 24 at the time of this '66 recording, belts out a warning to all the prospecting women out there to "Keep your hands off him!"

The Pixies Three - Gee

The Pixies Three were girl group based out of Hanover, Pennsylvania and recorded and performed from '62-'65. Their first two singles, "Birthday Party" and "442 Glenwood Ave.", both made the top 40, after which, the original lead singer, Midge Bollinger, left the group and was replaced by Debby Swisher (who later became a lead singer of another popular girl group, The Angels). This was the group's 3rd release and the first single released under the new line-up. "Gee" was originally recorded by doo-wop group, "The Crows", who made a hit of it in 1953. The Pixies Three went on to put out 1 LP and 3 more singles, the most note-worthy being the contreversial single, "The Hootch", a dance record that stopped recieving air-play when it was discovered that hootch was a slang term for booze.