The subscriber bonus 45 is finally hitting the mail, shipped alongside the stellar new Eccentric Soul series entry, A Red Black & Green Production. This compilation assembles the underheard and in some cases unreleased production work of master engineer and producer R. Jose Williams. The pairing of these two is not accidental: the bonus 45 features an early, lo-fi production of Hosea’s. Although the title scrawled on the tape box (“If I Had A Magic Wand”) wasn’t exactly accurate, there’s no doubt the source: it’s a tune called “Nothing from Nothing”, originally recorded (we believe) in Los Angeles for Bobby Sanders’ Pick-A-Hit label. There are no clues left as to how it made the trek across the country to the District of Columbia and wound up in the capable hands of Renee Acker. It’s a gem of a song and, while it didn’t quite fit alongside other productions that Mr. Williams helmed, we want to share this heretofore unreleased material with our subscribers, dressed up with the distinctive label that acetates from Edgewood Studios bore. [CD subscribers will get it with 044 Buttons: From Champaign to Chicago in early July. Sorry to tantalize you early.]
It’s always a good day to get mentioned on NPR, and Wednesday’s rundown of our latest Eccentric Soul: A Red Black Green Production was the perfect piece to get us over the proverbial hump.
“The Sound Man Behind the Soul of the Nation’s Capital” (via NPR)
Filed under: A Red Black Green Production, Eccentric Soul, R. Jose Williams
You may have discovered some difficulty in acquiring the handful of singles issued by R. Jose William’s New Directions label, even if you happen to dwell in the District of Columbia where they were theoretically distributed. Distribution problems will hamper you no longer… East Coast Connection’s “Summer In The Parks” and Promise’s “I’m Not Ready For Love”, alongside 17 other songs emerging out of Jose Williams’ production laboratory, will be available at your local record vendor and played by any discerning disc jockey in your town.
A Red Black and Green Production is a unique presentation of soul recordings between 1971 and 1975 that emerged from the fecund Washington D.C. soul scene. They are not linked because they were distributed by the same record label or feature the same artist, or recorded at the same studio, or even pressed at the same plant. They are linked because the same magician established their sound. R. Jose Williams moved from studio to studio and label to label, but his brilliant skills were the only necessary ingredient in the extraordinary recordings he produced. 041 Eccentric Soul: A Red Black Green Production is the missing link between the greatest sessions produced in America’s capitol city.
