Today we learned how ?uestlove begins and ends his day (with the music of Syl Johnson, naturally.) Not only is “Different Strokes” his opening song, but the day-end wind-down apparently includes the My Gift LP and some (Grammy Award nominated) liner note reading from the 032 Syl Johnson: Complete Mythology.
Filed under: Eccentric Soul Revue, Syl Johnson | Tags: Milwaukee, Pitman Theatre, Renaldo Domino, The Bo-Keys, the Notations
Hot on the trails of a smoking show in Durham, NC, last November, the Eccentric Soul Revue returns with a show in Milwaukee, WI, on Saturday March 24th at The Pitman Theatre.
Gracing the stage will be Syl Johnson, The Notations, & Renaldo Domino who will all be backed by The Bo-Keys.
We don’t do this show that often so, we hope that you can make it out for this truly special and rare event. Tickets are a mere $22 and available here online.
Filed under: Syl Johnson
On Saturday night Syl Johnson played Los Angeles for the first time in 30 years. If you were there, you saw a remarkable 90 minute show from a masterful performer. We’ve been watching this seventy-six-year old for the last three years and can’t ever remember a time when he played so long and so hard. Afterwards it looked like he might just keel over. He had to sit during “Is It Because I’m Black,” but was somehow more engaging as a result. Enjoy.
The Numero crew is headed to Los Angeles; we figure since we’ll be out there for the Grammy’s anyhow we might as well make a party out of it.
Follow them from the back streets of Chicago to the slick neon lights of the big time (our 2010 Syl Johnson Complete Mythology box set is up for historical album and liner notes.)
The Numero founders will be heading into town early to present a screening of Stony Island over at Cinefamily. Director Andrew Davis and co-star Susanna Hoffs (of the Bangles) will host a Q&A and Numero DJs will spin tracks before and after the screening. Limited tickets may still be available, but they’ll definitely go fast.
And for his part of the Grammy’s run up, Syl is playing a sold out show at the Echo, backed by the Breakestra on Saturday February 11th.
Our main man Syl Johnson is busier than ever and the press are trying to keep up. Check out this great piece on Syl in the Los Angeles Times as well as the in depth podcast about Syl and his musical legacy over at Soul Sides.
Filed under: Syl Johnson | Tags: Andy Davis, Chess Records, Gene Barge, Mayor Daley, Stony Island, Susanna Hoffs, The Bangles, The Boss
We’ve got a two-pronged attack for bringing the Chicago underground soul scene of the 1970s to Los Angeles. Saturday night, Syl Johnson plays at The Echo. This will be his first performance in Los Angeles in almost 40 years. It is not to be missed, but there are only a few tickets remaining. However, there is another event just as exciting: a presentation of Stony Island, a movie long held near and dear to the collective heart of the Numero Group. Stony Island is a cinéma vérité impression of the Chicago soul scene of the 1970s. It features giants of soul music playing characters, but really playing themselves. Rawer and truer than any other movie ever made about an R&B band… including documentaries. The movie stars Richie Davis, who is known to soul collectors and fans as the guitar player in Third Rail (and later Maxx Traxx), and Gene Barge, the Chess legend whose resume includes… well, just about everything. (Also, some amazing guerrilla footage of Boss Mayor Daley’s funeral procession!) We’re gonna be running some articles on the blog in this next week leading up to the screening to demonstrate the cultural significance of the film. We’ve confirmed that co-star Susanna Hoffs will be attending the screening and hopefully available for questions. She’s slightly better known for her work with The Bangles. Again, here’s where you can get tickets. The Silent Movie Theater is not large, this will sell out. Thanks to our good friends at Cinefamily for making this special event happen!
We never stop looking for cool bits and pieces from Syl Johnson’s storied career, and a recent find from a Woodlawn community newsletter shows Syl wasn’t always picking and choosing his gigs. Back when Is It Because I’m Black was brand new, Syl was working every angle to get his name in front of the ravenous soul music fanbase in Chicago, including picking up a discarded gig from the velvet-voiced crooner Joe Simon. With decades of hard work under his belt, Syl plays second string to no one, least of all Joe Simon, who long ago abandoned rhythm & blues for gospel. Thanks to Andrew Kahrl for unearthing this rare clip!
California Numerophiles-
Tuck your sunglasses into your short sleeved t-shirt’s neckline and sit a spell. By February 11th 2012, Chicago will be under a blanket of ice so thick you’d think we were living at the poles. Meanwhile, in sunny Los Angeles, Syl Johnson will disembark from a Southwest jet to play his first show in California since the late ’70s. If you were there in those halcyon and buttons-popped polyester shirt days, don’t worry, his set has changed a little bit. With two Grammy nominations on the verge of bearing fruit the following night at the Staples Center, Syl is sure to be in rare form.
The details:
Syl Johnson
Backed by the Breakestra
Saturday, February 11th 2012 The Echo
1822 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Doors: 9PM. Set: 10PM.
$15
Following Syl’s set, Numero will take to the decks with Miles from Funky Sole for a rawkus three hour dance party.
Why did we bother sending out an email for a show that’s three months away? Good question. Due to the capacity restrictions of the Echo, this show will surely sell out. The kind folks at the venue have agreed to give us a 48 hour pre-sale window to make sure Syl and Numero fans get right of first refusal. Don’t say we’ve never done anything nice for you.
Want in on the pre-sale? Click this line of text and enter the code num032. After 10AM on Friday, the remaining tickets will be released to the teaming masses.
Lastly, because we’re in such a celebratory mood we’re offering our Syl Johnson: Complete Mythology box set for $10 off on our website until 10AM on Friday. Enter the coupon code sylbox when you’re checking out to receive the discount.
See you in Los Angeles in three months. Pray that our flights aren’t snowed in.
Warmly,
The Numero Group
Most of the talent flew MDW > RDU for November 19th’s Eccentric Soul Revue at Durham’s Carolina Theatre. But Numero’s nucleus saw the 781-mile trek as an opportunity to touch base and break bread with some of the fine folks who make running our record label possible. After crawling out of our minivan and cracking open our iPhones, this is what we had.
Day 1 – Indiana: On the first day we set course for Bloomington, Indiana, where we had a date with Bellwether MFG, the company that manufactures the lion’s share of our packaging, CDs, stickers, and miscellaneous miscellany. A note to club owners: If you want folks to be excited about playing your club, BUY A MARQUEE. Seeing your name is moveable type never tires. Brass from Secretly Canadian were out in force spilling industry secrets left and right. Despite the well-trodden red carpet at the Bishop, the image we took away from this leg of the journey is of an unrelated nature:
Day 2 – Nashville: While we had plans to tour United Record Pressing, we first stopped by a handful of area retailers.
The Groove had this impressive clock (courtesy of our old distributors, ADA) that prominently features the Syl Johnson box set. Grimey’s had a couple hand-screened LPs by an area instrumental outfit called Hands Off Cuba that have been getting considerable spin at headquarters. We also stopped by Jack White’s Third Man Records, which no doubt benefits from its proximity to United Record Pressing. With over 100 titles in their catalog, they undoubtedly had to deal with George at URP to assure their projects make it into the hands of their inexhaustible customers.
(To see how records are made (spoiler alert: it’s fascinating) click here)
Day 3 – Atlanta: Driving into town, we dined at a Wendy’s, where we sampled the city’s native soda, Coca-Cola, from a touch-screen machine that could manufacture raspberry Sprite, vanilla root beer, and grape everything.
No trip to Atlanta is complete without visiting Little Five Point’s institutional Criminal Records, where we caught up with Fred White of the Decisions. Perhaps a release will come of it? On the way out of the Peach State, we visited picturesque Athens, Georgia, where Wuxtry impressed us with their Numero section.
Days 4 – Greenville, SC: Not a bad day of driving, we cruised into Greenville, SC around dusk, where Horizon Record‘s Gene Burger had arranged for us to DJ at the shop’s neighboring Bohemian Cafe. He even let us craft a custom bin card for local bandleader Charlie Spivak, which obviously harkened an influx of used Spivak titles in the weeks succeeding. The term “Steakhouse Jazz” was used freely.
(Horizon Records owner Gene Burger with a few plates of Spivak)
As an after thought, we dropped in on Cabin Floor Records, which contained a trove of private press experiments and area oddities, each sitting attentively on neatly organized shelves. One such Greenville sitar thing bore liner notes that began thusly: SIX WAYS TO AVOID THE EVIL EYE. Owner Joe Shirley III didn’t have a business card, but he gave us this found photo, in its self a score:
(“Nancy and Speedy, Indianapolis, Ind.”)
Day 5 – North Carolina: The Tarheel State was our trip’s bull’s eye. Coursing through tobacco country, record retailers in Asheville, Winston-Salem, Chapel Hill and Carrboro were restocked in quick succession. After some kind of talking thing in front of learning enthusiasts in Durham, we bolted to collegiate frequency WXDU, where things got as blurry as this photo indicates.
(From left to right: Crazy people. Download the show here. Playlist, here.)
Day 6 – Showtime: Father-and-son team Greg and Jon Kirby stop at Allen and Son’s BBQ, an institution that Oprah sidekick Gayle King hardly even rated on her televised quest for the country’s best sandwich.
(From left to right: Cole Slaw, Brunswick Stew, Pulled Pork BBQ)
Much of the day was spent on stage, getting all of the entertainers calibrated. Our backing unit, the Sweet Divines & Divine Soul Rhythm Band had but a few hours to get on the same page as local horn section D-Town Brass, who then had to collectively coordinate with each of the night’s featured front men, Renaldo Domino, the Notations, and Syl Johnson.
(Bandleader J.B. Flatt putting it together and keeping it together)
The show, in short, a success. Yes! Weekly’s Ryan Snyder wrote the only traditional review of the concert, which is a pretty accurate portrayal of the evening’s events.
Afterwards, Carolina Soul aficionado Jason Perlmutter lugged his disc jockeying equipment to the tiny-but-mighty Whiskey, where we rode the night until the wheels fell off. If pictures exist, we’d love to see them. It was full, but not too full, and there was much rejoicing in the wake of a great concert, and a successful week instigating new friendships and shoring up old ones. With about 8 hours of sleep combined, we climbed back into the van, embarking on a pleasantly uneventful voyage home.
Filed under: Eccentric Soul Revue, Numero Press, Subscription, Syl Johnson, Uncategorized | Tags: Boddie, durham, horizon, NPR, press, revue, WFMU
As the Numero van traverses east into the Carolinas today before stopping for an eventful night at Horizon Records in Greenville S.C., we have been holding down the fort over here shipping out the last of the 2011 Vinyl Subscriptions and pre-orders. 2012 Subscriptions are now available at our web store and will remain up for the next few months while the 2011.5 Part 2 Vinyl Subscription will be up until the end of the day tomorrow. In preparation of Numero’s march into Durham there has been a tidal-wave of pro-numero propaganda that has swept through the Triangle, check it out below.
Independent Weekly Cover Feature
Duke Performances Syl Interview
Also if you’re not convinced to buy the Boddie box set make sure to check out today’s NPR Morning Edition with Tony Cox at 1:30 EST today with Louise Boddie and Numero Archivist Dante Carfagna, who are going be chatting about the history and music of the Boddie Recording Company. Don’t Sleep.
Speaking about public radio, check out this clip from two nights ago on WFMU’s The Best Show with Tom Scharpling where he gets an unexpected caller. Note – this is not some kid with a Syl Johnson Soundboard, it’s the man himself. Listen below.
For North Carolina residents and visitors hoping to get a little more night mileage out of our approaching Eccentric Soul Revue (November 19th, Carolina Theatre), you are in luck. We have just allied with The Whiskey, downtown Durham’s grown folks outpost of preference, to give concert goers an opportunity to wind down or wind back up. Following the Revue, Rob Sevier, Ken Shipley, Carolina-Numero turncoat Jon Kirby, and Carolina Soul aficionado Jason Perlmutter will trek one block south to the Whiskey, and proceed to play 45s until someone tells us to stop. The Whiskey is nearly as finicky as the Numero Group; individuals must be at least 23 to attend (sorry undergrads) and a respectable dress code is enforced. There is no cover but space is limited, so beelines are recommended if this is your kind of party.
