Filed under: Dynamic, Good God!, Iasos, Lists, Medusa, Mind & Matter, Unwound
Every year we like to poll the team to see what everyone who makes this battleship float has actually enjoyed listening to. Catch up on 2012, 2011, and 2010 if you give a shit.
#10 Otis G. Johnson: Everything—God Is Love
#9 Pretty Mustache In Your Face
#8 Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label
#7 Mind & Matter: 1514 Oliver Avenue (Basement)
#6 Kathy Heideman: Move With Love
#2 Iasos: Celestial Soul Portrait
#1 Purple Snow: Forecasting The Minneapolis Sound
It’s been quiet around these parts the last week, with nearly half our staff in Texas either working on projects or solidifying our position as the greatest reissue label in the world. Rob Sevier nailed down catalogs in Houston and continued to research the follow up to Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label (with help from our San Antonio connections, Rae Cabello and Chris Varelas). That project, a triple CD/quintuple LP tentatively titled Epstein Recording Co.: San Antonio, Texas, is slated for a 2014 release, and is something of a dissertation on the “West Side Sound” that cropped up in the Alamo City in the early ’60s. Ken Shipley participated in panel on archiving for the Library of Congress at SXSW. The rest of us got wasted.
While we were gone we missed the release date for Dynamic (which you should really consider purchasing), and returned to find a mid-depth interview on our Texas holdings in the latest issue of Texas Monthly by long time Numero supporter Andy Beta.
Filed under: Dynamic, Eccentric Soul, Eccentric Soul 45s, Epstein Recording Co., The Commands | Tags: no-hitters, The Webs
Eccentric Soul? Can we continue to release records in our flagship series after going so far out into the stratosphere with the ridiculous 045 Eccentric Soul: Omnibus? It’s been a long time since we’ve even done a standard Eccentric Soul release (if there is such a thing), going back to last May’s Red, Black, & Green Productions. It’s going to take something really special to get this series back on track, and without a doubt The Dynamic Label is it. Even label proprietor Abie Epstein knew it was something special, and cordoned it off from the esoteric muddle that filled up his Cobra and Jox labels by the mid-1960s. The Commands were one of those groups that truly seemed destined for national or international greatness, and only a combination of foibles and missteps seemed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The Webs moved on to New York and quite nearly made it there with a few songs that nibbled at the charts. The usual motley crew of one-offs (half-offs, really) and no-hitters supports as usual. Check out the needledrop here for a taste of the poison:
[audio https://numerogroup.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/the-dynamic-label-featuring-commands.mp3]It doesn’t matter that this was several years in the making, that several other labels (over the decades) tried and failed to get a crack at issuing the Dynamic label’s bounty, this thing is, without hyperbole, a distillation of pure joy into musical form and the same feeling one feels the first time they hear soul music. Just as good listen after listen after listen (so say the folks who have had this stuff on repeat for years.) Buy the Dynamic label, it is on sale now (shipping to arrive close to the release date of March 14th.
Filed under: Dynamic, Eccentric Soul, The Commands, Uncategorized | Tags: Atlantic Records, Jerry Wexler
The year Jerry Wexler helped sign Led Zeppelin to Atlantic Records, he was offered a much less potentially lucrative offer: a license deal for the latest single from The Commands. After Abie Epstein’s failed agreement for The Commands’ first single with Don Robey’s Backbeat label, his correspondence shows he started looking north of the Mason-Dixon for better options. Help from above never came, and the Dynamic label continued it’s downward spiral. Much more on this in the forthcoming Eccentric Soul release The Dynamic Label, coming March 12 (available for pre-order very soon.)
Filed under: Dynamic, The Commands | Tags: Back Beat, Don Robey, Eccentric Soul, O'Jays, San Antonio, The Commands, Tops In Blue
Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label‘s release date draws closer and closer (March 12th for the uninitiated). Over the next few weeks we’ll be introducing the groups and their music in a series of posts.
The most artistically rich act to emerge from Abe Epstein’s army of San Antonio labels was the Commands. The group’s earliest stages can be traced back to Billings, Montana, with Sam Peoples. A dedicated choir leader at the First Baptist Church in his Herlong, California, hometown, Peoples recalls the circumstances of his turn to secular music with little regret. “I would say necessity was the determining factor,” he said. “While attending Rocky Mountain College in Billings, the need arose for immediate finances to assist in the necessary college expenses. And since I had sang with four local vocal groups in Herlong, I figured that singing was my best bet. I starting singing for private clubs and parties and finally graduated to the Bella Vista, the number one club in Billings.” Upon graduation in 1962, Peoples enlisted in the Air Force and was assigned the role of Air Traffic Control Tower Operator in the 2015th Communications Squadron at Randolph Air Force Base near San Antonio.
Randolph AFB would serve up two more Commands. Co-founder Emanuel Grace came from a church background himself, singing in the choir through his years at South Philadelphia High before he felt R&B’s tug at the hem of his robe. Following high school, he too joined the Air Force and was uprooted to Amarillo, Texas. There, his singing career began in earnest, as talent show victories piled up under the banner of the Dream Chords. Grace’s reassignment to Randolph in October 1962 put him on his collision course with Sam Peoples.
Hailing from another Eastern American metropolis, Spanish Harlem-born Puerto Rican Isaac “Jack” Martinez, according to his 1966 biography, brought a “strong New York influence” to the Commands. But, as he’d high schooled in the Long Island suburb of Brentwood, New York, his Big Apple pedigree seems a tad overstated. Further complicating this background was KTSA DJ Rod Wagener, who spoke of Martinez’s short-lived tenure in the Brentwood-based Tymes but had confused them with the actual hit-making Tymes of Philadelphia. In any case, duty called Martinez as it had the others. While serving as an aeromedical technician at Randolph AFB, Martinez happened upon an early rehearsal of the Originals, which featured Peoples, Grace, Robert Ben, and Autry Raybon—the latter of them badly off-key and in need of a tap-out.
Compelled by the amenities afforded members of Tops In Blue—the Air Force’s performance ensemble featuring active duty officers who toured military bases rather than Southeast Asian jungles—Peoples and Grace aimed to assemble a top-notch vocal group of their own, one that might spare them the horrors of battle and, in Grace’s case, the horrors of reshelving books as the AFB’s library custodian. With Jack Martinez subbed in for Raybon, the quartet got serious, implementing a moniker fit for the military Star Search they’d play to. Pandering a bit to their captive audience, they went with the Commands, borrowing G.I. jargon for a group of air force bases.
The newly minted Commands won regional competitions for inclusion in the Tops In Blue touring company, putting them on a circuit of airbase performances. Joining them on that circuit was an oddball Christian-themed folk duo called the Newton Singers—one Singer exhibiting a mesmerizing alto. It belonged to Dan Henderson, born in Chicago and raised in Pittsburgh and Dayton. Henderson was weaned in the world of gospel, as both a trumpeter and a choir member. In high school, he sang with both the Customs and a pre-“I Really Love You” iteration of the Stereos, before enrolling in Chicago’s Roosevelt University in 1961. Three years later, he joined the Air Force as a weather observer at Chanute AFB in Rantoul, Illinois. There, he and Pat Coffey formed the Newton Singers, a moment Henderson thought of at the time as “the single most important event in my life.” After the Newtons’ and Commands’ mutual Tops In Blue tour ended, Henderson was granted transfer to Randolph. After sitting in on a few Commands rehearsals, he was officially asked to join at the end of 1964, replacing Robert Ben. They’d spend the next six months making touchdowns at various Texas bases—but with no presence in the civilian world, it seemed unlikely that the Commands might bottle their magic before the next deployment. How Abe Epstein ended up at a performance at Randolph’s Hunt & Saddle club remains a mystery, but his bond with the Commands formed that night, and a pact to record was voiced.
The first sessions the Commands executed for Epstein Enterprises, in the early part of 1966, were uncannily flawless. Backing was provided by the Dell-Tones, a group of younger Latino kids, who cut a slew of Spanish- and English-language rock and ranchero records for the Cobra label that same year. The plug side, “No Time For You,” was swiped from another local export: The Justifiers. Helmed by Archie Satterfield, with Melvin Porter, Roger Blackwell, and songwriter Bennie Cherry pulling up the rear, the Justifiers formed in 1962 in the hallways of St. Phillips College. Four uneventful year later, they were performing “No Time For You” at a city-wide talent show held at Central Library Auditorium. On that same bill were the Commands. Cherry’s original “No Time For You” didn’t place, but Epstein fell head over heels for the mid-tempo ballad and insisted the Commands record it. For the flip, the Henderson-penned “Hey It’s Love” was selected, and when time came to put credits on the label, both Peoples and Henderson got the nod for “No Time For You.” Days later, Epstein was making the white-label rounds to his usual cadre of on-air suspects—and response was overwhelming. The Commands’ first single blanketed San Antonio airwaves, going #1 at KTSA, KUKA, KBAT, and KONO and radiating swiftly across the rest of the Lone Star State. “No Time For You” then broke out, getting picked up in numerous other markets by distributorships as far west as San Francisco’s C&C, in the north by Chicago’s Allstate, further south by Miami’s Tone, and in the east by Newark’s Essex. Tens of thousands of records were shipped in the first 30 days of the single’s February 1966 release.
Hoping to upstream the regional—and growing national—interest in the Commands, Epstein sent singles out to major record companies. Months of rejection letters followed, and after Cleveland’s O’Jays released their take on “No Time For You” on Imperial that spring, Epstein ushered the group back into the studio and cut Henderson originals “Don’t Be Afraid To Love Me” and “Must Be Alright” and scheduled them for two sides of a June release. At the eleventh hour, Peacock’s Don Robey made an offer to reissue “No Time For You” on his Back Beat imprint, and Espstein put plans for DY-109 on hold. Issued the last week of June 1966, Back Beat 570 featured an alternate mix of both Dynamic 104 sides; according to period correspondence with Peacock A&R man Robert Sye, the Back Beat disc has a “distinct difference in resonance.” Within a week, both WAME in Miami and XEWV in Los Angeles had playlisted it and Peacock had shipped 5,000 singles. But sometime that summer, relations with Robey’s Houston concern soured. A letter dated August 25 records Don Robey’s animated chastisement of Epstein over a missed Commands opportunity, an Atlanta opening slot for Buddy Ace. Subsequent letters unfold in a series of exchanges between Epstein and Robey attorneys, in squabbles concerning an unsigned contract and unpaid royalties. By September, the Commands and Back Beat had broken rank, and Epstein was back to square one.
Listen to a mix of Commands songs below:
Filed under: Dynamic
In anticipation for our upcoming Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label CD and 2LP, over the next four weeks we’re going to be sharing a ton of ephemera that didn’t make the booklet. Abe Epstein didn’t save every scrap of paper that crossed his desk, but what he did save provides a fascinating glimpse into San Antonio’s melting pot music scene. Above are two pages from the Alamo City’s 1966 Yellow Pages. Some of our favorite nuggets are as follows:
“Our reputation for the finest dance floor, good music & well behaved customers assures you of an enjoyable evening” (A club name like Farmer’s Daughter doesn’t exactly scream well-behaved)
“Spanish Colonial atmosphere” (Architecture is important)
“Bring your own booze and dance to live music at the Spook House” (Both offensive and a terrible business model for a nightclub)
“All popular brands of cigarettes” (As opposed to carrying the brands no one smokes)
Last year, a tease for work we were doing in San Antonio, Texas, appeared in our brief obit for Alamo City real estate mogul and recording maven Abe Epstein. After beating a path down to South By South West, our own Zach Myers and Rob Sevier lay waste to the town, returning with no less than three projects in tow. With the first two well into production, we’re finally ready to unleash their full details.
NUM043 Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label CD/2LP – Available March 19th 2013
Born out of the largesse created from Rene & Rene’s Hot 100 Tejano tornado “Angelito,” Dynamic Records was but one of half a dozen labels run by San Antonio music and real estate mogul Abe Epstein. His flag ship group, The Commands, took their AFB circuit-honed chops up to the middle of the charts in 1966 with “No Time For You,” paving the way for 20 other soulful singles over Dynamic’s impressive two and a half year run. Epstein’s open door policy led to a diverse cross section of the population converging inside his studio on General McMullan Drive, as whites, blacks, and Latinos were swapped in and out of groups as needed. That melting pot mentality is well represented by The Tonettes, Little Jr. Jesse & the Tear Drops, Don & the Doves, Willie Cooper & the Webs, Bobby Blackmon & his Soul Express, and Doc & Sal.
CD track list:
01. Commands – Hey Its Love
02. Little Jr. Jesse & The Tear Drops – Give Your Love To Me
03. Tonettes – I Gotta Know
04. Doc & Sal – Can’t Get You Offa My Mind
05. Commands – I’ve Got Love For My Baby
06. Willie Cooper & The Webs – You Don’t Love Nobody
07. Little Jr. Jesse & The Tear Drops – Ain’t No Big Thing
08. Commands – No Time For You
09. Webs – Little Girl Blue
10. Tonettes – My Heart Can Feel The Pain
11. Doc & Sal – Cry & Wonder Why
12. Commands – Don’t Be Afraid To Love Me
13. Willie Cooper & The Webs – I Can’t Take No More
14. Don & The Doves – Together
15. Webs – Don’t Ever Hurt Me
16. Commands – Must Be Alright
17. Bobby Blackmon & The Soul Express – She’s Gotta Have Soul
18. Doc & Sal – Laughing to Keep From Crying
19. Webs – Try Loving Me
20. Commands – Too Late To Cry
21. Doc & Sal – My Dream
2LP track list:
A01. Commands – Hey Its Love
A02. Little Jr. Jesse & The Tear Drops – Give Your Love To Me
A03. Tonettes – I Gotta Know
A04. Doc & Sal – Can’t Get You Offa My Mind
A05. Commands – I’ve Got Love For My Baby
A06. Willie Cooper & The Webs – You Don’t Love Nobody
A07. Little Jr. Jesse & The Tear Drops – Ain’t No Big Thing
B01. Commands – No Time For You
B02. Webs – Little Girl Blue
B03. Tonettes – My Heart Can Feel The Pain
B04. Doc & Sal – Cry & Wonder Why
B05. Commands – Don’t Be Afraid To Love Me
B06. Willie Cooper & The Webs – I Can’t Take No More
B07. Don & The Doves – Together
C01. Webs – Don’t Ever Hurt Me
C02. Commands – Must Be Alright
C03. Bobby Blackmon & The Soul Express – She’s Gotta Have Soul
C04. Doc & Sal – Laughing to Keep From Crying
C05. Webs – Try Loving Me
C06. Commands – Too Late To Cry
C07. Doc & Sal – My Dream
D01. Little Jr. Jesse & The Tear Drops – If You Don’t Love Me
D02. Webs – Can’t Let You Go
D03. Commands – A Way To Love Me
D04. Little Jr. Jesse & The Tear Drops – It Keeps Rainin’
D05. Don & The Doves – I Need You
D06. Bobby Blackmon & The Soul Express – You’ll Find Another
D07. Commands – Around The Go-Go
CT-102 Iron Leg: The Complete Mickey & the Soul Generation 3LP – Available May 2nd 2013
Erupting at the same time, but at a different studio, was the mixed instrumental combo Mickey & the Soul Generation. Best known for their 1969 paper hit “Iron Leg,” the group came to semi-national attention following Nipsey Russell’s performance of the Iron Leg dance on Johnny Carson. Though they shared a label with Ben E. King, they lacked access to the same promotion and marketing resources. A tour with Sam & Dave and opening slots for James Brown, Kool & the Gang, and The Supremes found them performing for thousands nightly, but still sleeping on floors. By the mid-’70s the group had fractured, with members joining the army, bottling Coke, and starting families. Their run would end in 1977 with two members turning in a passing Average White Band impression called “Southern Fired Funk” before their handful of 45s fell completely out of vogue and made their journey to thrift shops and cut-out distributors.
At the dawn of the century, Josh Davis (AKA DJ Shadow) tracked Mickey and his Soul Generation down for the purpose of reissuing their recordings on his upstart Cali-Tex label. “Mickey and the Soul Generation are my favorite funk band,” Davis wrote in 2002. “They were strong contenders for the title from my very first listen back in ’92. ‘Iron Leg’ being the standout track on an otherwise flaccid jazz-funk compilation of the day. Already a favorite rare-groove selection in the ever-accepting UK club scene, I too found myself buoying my bedroom DJ sets with snatches of the irresistible Soul Generation Sound. It became an instant priority of mine to locate an original.” That 2003 reissue was met with critical praise, and ultimately turned a new generation of music lovers onto rare funk and soul. Numero has gone back to the scene of the crime and re-canvased for new leads, helping Davis expand on his original work, with updated liner notes, tons of newly discovered photos, and a previously unreleased track.
3LP track list:
A01. Iron Leg
A02. Football
A03. Up The Stairs And Around The Bend
A04. Give Everybody Some
A05. Joint Session
B01. The Whatzit
B02. Get Down Brother
B03. Mystery Girl
B04. Message From A Black Man
B05. Chocolate
C01. How Good Is Good
C02. We Got To Make A Change
C03. Soulful Sickness
C04. U.F.O
C05. Hey, Brother Man Carter
D01. Southern Fried Funk (1st Movement)
D02. Southern Fried Funk (2nd Movement)
D03. Hey, Brother Man (Pams Demo)
D04. U.F.O (Pams Demo)
D05. Listen (To The Cry Of The People)
E01. The Get Down (Live)
E02. Working On Your Love (Live)
E03. Help (I Need Your Love (Live)
E04. Why You Wanna Leave Me (Live)
F01. Life’s A Mystery (Live)
F02. Hey, Brother Man (Live)
These two albums represent Numero’s first forays into a seemingly bottomless well of San Antonio soul, R&B, funk, Latin, and garage. This scorched earth campaign will continue into 2014 with our Epstein Recording Company 3CD/5LP.
We broke news of our annual subscription last week. Now, you too can hear what we’ve been playing in the Numero office over the last six months as we developed these projects.
Track list:
01 .Commands “No Time For You” (From Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label CD/2LP)
02. Cave Dwellers “Run Around” (From Cave Dwellers: Run Around+3 2×7″)
03. Pretty “Mustache In Your Face” (From Pretty: Mustache In Your Face+3 2×7″)
04. Wicked Lester “Dogs Of War” (From Wicked Lester: You Are Doomed+3 2×7″)
05. Walter Lewis “I Have Love At Home” (From Purple Snow 2CD/4LP)
06. Robert Vanderbilt “Message Especially From God” (From Good God! Apocryphal Hymns CD/2LP)
07. Capitalaires “Glory, Glory” (From King Bullard Version LP)
08. Marva Whitney “Daddy Don’t Know About Sugar Bear” (From Eccentric Soul: The Forte Label CD/2LP)
09. Mickey & the Soul Generation “UFO” (From The Complete Mickey & The Soul Generation 3LP)
Filed under: Dynamic, Eccentric Soul 45s, Medusa, Newsworthy, Subscription
(Seasons) Greetings Numerophiles!
Another year in the books and we are no wiser, wealthier, or healthier. Such is the life of running “the world’s greatest reissue label” (Spin Magazine said it, but who can disagree?)—a title we aim to hold onto in 2013 by upping the ante from custom 45 boxes and gold embossed velvet to four alternate LP covers and a playable board game. 2013 marks our tenth year in business, a headboard notch we’ll scratch in elaborate fashion over the coming year. We hope you can join us on this journey.
We’re very aware that the last two titles of 2012 Vinyl Subscriptions have yet to ship. If we had it our way, both Medusa: First Step Beyond LP and Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label 3LP would be in our warehouse and awaiting placement in a custom mailer. But alas, delays at the manufacturer have made these impossible to ship before the 10th of January. Oddly enough, however, the first three subscription items for 2013 are already in house and will be on your doorstep before the menorah is stowed for 2014. Part One is a mixed bag of soul, garage, hard rock, funk, and gospel, split across ten LPs and six 45s. As always we’ll be offering a bonus 45 and a 15% discount on our entire catalog. On deck:
NUM701 Pretty: Mustache In Your Face+3 2×7″
Recorded in an actual cave in western Missouri, the quartet formerly known as the Fabulous Four emerged from the depths in 1969 with an album’s worth of wasted psychedelia. Helmed by the Electric Prunes’ Michael Quint, the session produced one promo-only 45, bearing the truly un-pretty Squeakie label—a madman’s face in red-on-white, howling out of the spindle hole. The songs blend backwards guitar lines, Flamenco runs, triple tracked vocals, heavy distortion, handclaps, key vamps, a Stones rip, and extremely absurd lyrical content. “Mustache In Your Face” and its flip have been paired with two other magical numbers, their five business card story, and stuffed into a cherry gatefold sleeve.
NUM702 Wicked Lester: You Are Doomed+3 2×7″
No, not the first incarnation of Kiss, just three wasted kids from Cleveland, Ohio, infatuated with the new wave of british heavy metal. Kick-started in Cleveland in 1979, girls, drugs, sports, and jock rivalry fueled Wicked Lester’s aggressive “fuck the draft” sound. Minted at Boddie in 1981, Wicked Lester’s lone single paired “Here Comes My Girlfriend” with the lovesick, late-Pink Floyd moves of “Say Your Prayers,” recorded on the same ominous day that John Hinckley Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan. We’ve added two unreleased tracks, thrown all four sides into a beautiful gatefold 7” sleeve, and added a couple thousand words about their near-meaningless existence.
NUM703 Cave Dwellers: Run Around+3 2×7″
Recorded in 1967 at Chicago’s Universal Studios and laboriously laden with Buckinghams-style horns and strings, the Cave Dwellers thought they’d locked their first hit down. Given just a few minutes to produce a b-side, the quintet unleashed their primitive and theretofore-unheard power. “Run Around” ended up a punk precursor that took contemporary rock to its tough, angry, and logical conclusions, scorching past anything the radio ran in its day. Intending only to tear off something fast and easy, the Dwellers had achieved one of Chicago garage rock’s most ferocious moments. That original Jim-Ko single has been reproduced alongside two previously unissued rockers and housed in a glorious gatefold sleeve with copious notes and quotes from a confused newsman about the “longhair” invasion.
NUM043 Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label 2LP
Born out of the largesse created from Rene & Rene’s Hot 100 Tejano tornado “Angelito,” Dynamic Records was but one of half a dozen labels run by San Antonio music and real estate mogul Abe Epstein. His flag ship group, the Commands, took their AFB circuit-honed chops up to the middle of the charts in 1966 with “No Time For You,” paving the way for 20 other soulful singles over Dynamic’s impressive two and a half year run. Epstein’s open door policy led to a diverse cross section of the population converging inside his studio on General McMullan Drive, as whites, blacks, and Latinos were swapped in and out of groups as needed. That melting pot mentality is well represented by the Tonettes, Little Jr. Jesse & the Tear Drops, Don & the Doves, Willie Cooper & the Webs, Bobby Blackmon & his Soul Express, and Doc & Sal. Compiled here are 28 of Dynamic’s most intriguing sides, representing the first layer of a treasure trove of San Antonio soul we’ll be unleashing over the coming year.<p>
CT-102 Mickey & the Soul Generation: Complete Recordings 3LP
For the tenth anniversary of DJ Shadow’s Cali-Tex records’ reissue of Mickey & the Soul Generation’s complete works, Numero has gone back to the scene of the crime and re-canvased for new leads. Expanded liner notes, a previously unissued ballad, and the first ever vinyl issue of the second CD’s contents are included here, alongside half a dozen previously unpublished photographs of this multi-ethnic funk combo from San Antonio, Texas.
NUM040 Good God! Apocryphal Hymns 2LP
The third entry into our Good God! series abandons funk altogether, instead focusing on the esoteric moments found buried deep on private-issue LPs from the the Me Decade. Featuring four unique album covers pulled straight from the pages of the Century stock jacket catalog, Apocryphal Hymns examines a world buried deep on side 2, those lost moments of experimental praise and devotion recorded as an after thought for a listener who needed no turntable.
N44004 King Bullard Version LP
The fourth release in our trad LP-only Numerophon line gathers highlights from James Bullard’s BOS label. BOS got its start inside Lester Johnson and Bill Branch’s Way Out concern, running the gospel wing of Cleveland’s largest black-owned record company, and picking up a ton of Way Out’s soulful flavor in the process. This single LP features 14 songs, with liner notes by noted gospel historian John Glassburner.
NUM047 Eccentric Soul: The Forte Label 2LP
A king’s ransom of soul and funk from the City of Fountains (Kansas City for the uninformed), all produced under the watchful eye of TV producer Ellis Taylor. Though the label’s star was James Brown Revue castaway Marva Whitney, Taylor’s 15-year yield included singles by the likes of the Fantastiks, Gene Williams, Lee Harris, the Rayons, the Four Darlings, Everyday People, Sharon Revoal, Louis Chachere, Tony Ashley, the Fabulous Rhythm Makers, and Marva’s brother James Whitney.
The compact disc edition of our 2013 subscription surfs the above edges, but is a bit… well… more compact, and cheaper. Our plan is to issue only six titles in our main line next year, though to be fair, one of them is an elaborate double disc. We’re not quite sure what the final disc of 2013 is going to be, but it will be either an entry into our Buttons or Local Customs series. Of course all six will meet or exceed our standard for packaging, notes, research, and over all quality, plus you get the 15% discount and the bonus 45.
NUM043 Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label CD
NUM040 Good God! Apocryphal Hymns CD
NUM047 Eccentric Soul: The Forte Label CD
NUM048 Title TBA CD
Hair, Hobbits, and Hard Rock. Let these 15 hard rock blasterpieces from the private ’70s soundtrack to your next D&D or Magic the Gathering night. Dungeon map and 20 sided die included.<p>
NUM050 Title TBA 2CD+Book
In the late 1970s, a peculiar sound was bubbling up from the land of 10,000 lakes. Not known for its abundance of soul nor a sizable African American population, Minneapolis still harbored a tight-knit community of musicians who, between 1976 and 1984, manipulated the dance music of their coastal contemporaries into a brightly lit, multicolored, energetic fusion, taking R&B’s innate danceability and giving it a glam-rock sheen. The most shakeable moments have been compiled onto two discs, with a hardback book packed with photos and stories from this vibrant scene. Lesser royalty? Perhaps. But the blood here runs purple.
Finally, we’re officially launching our 45 subscription. The Eccentric Soul 45 subscription guarantees two 45s every other month, delivered directly to your door. Content will be a mix of previously unissued material and straight-up rare-as-all-get-out 45s from the soul diaspora. All singles are housed in a glorious duotone sleeve and slide perfectly into the Numero 45 box for easy storage. We’re even tossing in the subscriber-only bonus 45 from the CD and LP subscriptions. The first three singles are as follows:
ES-030 Signs Of The Time “Hurts So Bad” b/w “I Think Of You”
ES-031 Notations “That Girl” b/w “I’m For Real”
ES-032 James Dockery “My Faith In You Is All Gone” b/w “Giving You The Love You Need”
Let’s recap:
2013 Vinyl Subscription (Part 1): $150
2013 CD Subscription: $120
2013 Eccentric Soul 45 Subscription: $75
International subscriptions will ship in blocks of two to keep prices low.
Your patronage, as always, is appreciated. We couldn’t do this without you.
We’ll sometimes go through boxes and files a hundred times, scouring for every scrap of information. Sometimes you don’t notice something until that hundredth go-round. Today we noticed that The Commands, the top vocal group on our forthcoming 043 Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label (and one of the best groups we’ve ever researched) once shared a bill with comedienne Patty Reese, a trained toy poodle act, and a “promenade of contestants in bathing suits.” The things people did for entertainment before the advent of cable and quality hallucinogens.
