Raleigh Grand Prix update

Well, there has been some progress on the Grand Prix that I picked up a week ago.

First of all, I decided to go with some Bluemels/ SKS aluminum and composite fenders. The Bike Guy had used pair that are going on as I type. There is an old taillight alread on there, that I am planning to replace. It looks good as it stands, though.

I put my trusty Brooks B17 saddle on the bike. under the saddle I placed the extremely cool Velo Orange Croissant bag. The build quality n this bag is out of control- Solid brass (not plated) buckles, really nice leather straps and cool retro treated duck cloth. I also removed the brittle 70s reflectors.

I decided to go with some old used cruiser bars. The Bike Guy and I thought that if about 5 inches were clipped from each side, the bars would be perfect. I am going to go with natural cork grips. (I am thinking that a nice layer of Barge cement might be just the ticket for protection.) Salsa brake levers will be a modern, rad touch. To do the conversion, I am going to require new brake cables and cable housings. I chose black for the housings. To finish off the bars, I am going with a Velo Orange water bottle cage attachment as well as VO Moderniste cage.

I will post pics when the bike is back in the stable.

A new project...

I added the Raleigh Grand Prix pictured above to the stable. I have been getting more into the vintage touring and randoneuring thing lately. I even considered doing the whole 650b thing to my 84 Paramount. Alas, it seemed to be too much work to force the issue with that bike.

I decided to look for a 70s Raleigh and this one came up on craigslist, so here it is. The current idea is to strip all the bs off this bike and then add some velo-orange fenders. I plan to put a bottle cage on the bars as there is not a braze on for that purpose on the frame itself. I am currently undecided on the bars, but I will need to replace those and get some new brake levers as well. I will add the Brooks saddle to this one as well.

This one has the full Simplex kit and also has some Dia-Compe centerpulls. The frame is a piece of built-in Nottingham beauty with gold paint accented lugs. I am dating this one to the mid 70's but that is just a guess at this point.

Should be fun.

A Guest Mix--Vincent from Fufu Stew Stops By

One of my all time favorite blogs is Fufu Stew. Vincent The Soul Chef hails from Baltimore and knows how to throw the soul and funk down. His crates are DEEP. Vincent has been an inspiration as well as a constant well wisher and supportive of all of my efforts here at Cratedigger.

I am honored to have him back for a visit in the form of a guest mix. I look forward to meeting up in person at some point to spin the wheels of steel here in the Chicago area or in Baltimore. But until then, let the music play...

Hello, kiddies.

Once again it's an extreme pleasure to hang out here at Cratedigger Labs, although it's only in the virtual sense for now. One of these days I'll make it up to Chicago and get to see the place with my own eyes...
This time I come armed with another mixed bag of 45s for your dining and dancing pleasure. While the working title of the mix is More Of Fufu Stew's Warmed Over Leftovers, only a few of the records here have been previously featured in earlier mixes. In most cases, I've flipped records over or pulled out stuff that I haven't heard in quite some time... Grab a plateful and eat up y'all!

01 Uhhh-Dyke & The Blazers (Original Sound). Even with the extreme vinyl burn, I couldn't resist opening up the set with this killer march...
02 Go For What You Know-Archie Bell & The Drells (Atlantic). Here's a nice Gamble-Huff porduction that's not too hard to come by.
03 Try Me-Syl Johnson (Twilight). This is by far one of the great unsung heroes of the Soul genre. One day I'll have to do a handmade entree featuring this great voice, but now you can enjoy one of his earliest singles.
04 Get It (Come On And Get It)-Jay Dee Bryant (Enjoy). I featured this one when I spun up in New Jersey back in November and on an old mix that I may have to rescue from the recycle bin...
05 Cloud Nine-Edwin Starr (Gordy). Seems like everyone covers this Whitfield / Strong standard. I picked this one up in the field a few months back. I especially dig the acoustic guitar intro.
06 Do What You Wanna-Ramsey Lewis (Cadet). Here's a 45 that I've been rocking since I was a child. I will forever thank my dear mother for letting me have her old records...
07 You Ain't Ready-Lou Courtney (Riverside). Lou Courtney is my hero...
08 Different Strokes For Different Folks-Alvin Cash (Mar V Lus) ...so is Alvin Cash!
09 My Wife My Dog My Cat-Maskman & The Agents (Dynamo). This is one funny (and funky) 45, donated by my good friend Rob. You've gotta dig the story being told in between head nods.
10 More Sweet Soul Music-Arthur Conley (Capricorn). Here's the sequel to Mr. Conley's masterpiece, circa 1972
11 Six To Go-Willie Mitchell (Hi). Any time I find Poppa Willie in the field, I always plunk down my coin. This one is a nice mellow selection from

1970.
12 Soul Affection-The Interpretations (Bell). Thanks to the mighty Larry Grogan for selling me this rarity. I used the flip side on my Talkin' Loud And Saying Nothing mix back in December.
13 Mighty Mighty Children Unite Yourself This Hour Pt. 2-Baby Huey & The Baby Sitters (Curtom). Dig the light banter between Huey and the audience on this rework of Curtis Mayfield's classic tune.
14 Flower Power-The Sandpebbles (Calla). Another donation from my friend Rob...
15 Girdle Up (Instrumental)-Andre Williams (Checker)
16 Universal Prisoner-Teddy Washington & Sweet Happenings (Tee). Here's the other side of the 45 that I donated to HeavySoulBrutha's World Soul Spectacular several weeks back.
17 Viva La Raza-El Chicano (Kapp). These guys certainly give Santana a run for their money on this one. I first featured this one at Fufu Snax.
18 Baby Rice-Paul Humphrey & His Cool Aid Chemists (Lizard). It occured to me after this mix was finished that I used it in the first volume of Warmed Over Leftovers. All I can say is that the tune is so nice, I had to play it twice. Besides, I just love the twin guitar assault from David T. Walker...
19 Every Brother Ain't A Brother-Gary Byrd (Real Thing). This soapbox moment comes courtesy of DJ Bluewater during one of my journeys to Jersey. I really hope I can get up there again for another funk filled installment of the Asbury Park 45 Sessions soon...
20 Don't Scratch Where It Don't Itch-100 Proof Aged In Soul (Hot Wax). I pulled this one from the back of the crates... There's lots of 45s that I should be playing more often, and this is certainly one of them.
21 Sunshine Lady-Willie Hutch (Motown). Here's another one of those back of the crates 45s. I really love the lush production on this one,

and that harp just makes the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up!
22 40 Acres And A Mule-Sound Experience (Philly Soulville). Here's one of Devil Dick's picks, and quite frankly a monster dose of horn driven funk. Big ups to my hometown for producing this wonderful band...
23 Jan Jan-The Fabulous Counts (Moira). I'll send this one out to a friend of mine who I've been trading emails with recently. She told me that his one brings back memories as it is one of the first 45s she ever bought back in the day.
24 I've Got So Much Trouble In My Mind Pt. 2-Joe Quarterman & Free Soul (GSF). Here's another contribution form Rob...
25 It's All Over Now-Bobby Womack & Bill Withers (United Artists) ...and so is this one.
26 Magic Mountain-Eric Burdon & War (MGM). I dug this one up from the depths again. It was first featured on "Knock'd Da Fukkout" last year, another mix that is currently residing in the recycle bin.
27 Elanor Rigby-The Crusaders (Pacific Jazz). I close with this recent score from the mighty Guru. I really love this record... especially the chord progression throughout.

Please download and enjoy More Of Fufu Stew's Warmed Over Leftovers, 70 MB.
Here's the link to the mp3 file download link
Here's the link to the zip file download link

As always, thanks for having me over Rich! The day will come when the walls of cyberspace get torn down and we can hook up to spin some 45s and rev up some engines...

Sunday digs in the Land of Cheddar

I went up to the northern neighbor of our fair state yesterday in quest of some new 45s. By this I mean, I went to Wisconsin and in more specific terms, I went to Milwaukee to a small record show that I go to a few times a year. It takes place in a small bowling alley, that seems to be afraid of turning on the heat. No matter, I found a few sides to heat up the Cratedigger reference system.

Give Me One More Chance Wilmer and The Dukes (aprhodisiac)
The Funky Judge Bull & The Matadors (Toddlin' Town)
I Likes To Do It The People's Choice (Phil LA of Soul)
Clean Up Woman Betty Wright (Alston) A. Toot's hot hand found this one.
C'Mon & Swim Bobby Freeman (Autumn)
Back Street Edwin Starr (Ric-Tic)

A great way to spend yet another cold grey day.

Dig Out! A New Cratedigger Mix Posted at Fufu Stew

Tracklist:

01 Good Old Music-Parliaments (Revilot)
02 You’re Getting A Little Too Smart-Detroit Emeralds (Westbound)
03 The Whip-Pal & The Prophets (Phil La of Soul)
04 Do The Dirt-The Meters (Reprise)
05 Hooray For The Salvation Army Band-Bill Cosby (Warner Bros.)
06 Jungle Strut-Ramsey Lewis (Columbia)
07 Boo Ga Loo Baby-Tommy & Cleve (Checker)
08 Groove Me-King Floyd (Chimneyville)
09 Since The Days of Pigtails and Fairy Tails-Chairmen of The Board (Invictus)
10 The Baby-Blackbyrds (Fantasy)
11 You Say It-Al Green (Hi)
12 Escape-ism Pt 2&3-James Brown (People)

I would like to give a HUGE shout out to Vincent The Soul Chef for letting me into the kitchen with my Technics and my records. It is a true honor to be among the soul blogging cognoscenti. Many more years of successful digging and blogging to you, my friend.

Also Special thanks to The Colonel for the Bend OR snow action shots.

Head on over to Fufu Stew post haste and check out the latest:

Dig Out!

Herbie Mann Memphis Underground

Ever since I found a cop of Push Push at a yard sale a year or more back, I have been getting into Herbie Mann. Meaning, I pick up his stuff whenever I can.

I found the LP Memphis Underground in a budget section of a record shop a couple of weeks back. It was $.99. How could I pass it up?

Herbie just wails, starting on the first track, which is the title track. Roy Ayers provides a nice accompaniment with his tasteful use of the vibes. At times the guitar provided by (I am guessing) Sonny Sharrock provides an excellent counterpoint. Some nice sustain and distortion rages there.

The cover version of Hold On I'm Coming is interesting as well. Mann takes the vocal lead with his soulful flute. The band behind him builds a strut base from which he riffs. There is a killer drum break with Herbie just going crazy over it. Solid. Towards the end, Mr. Sharrock lifts off into a dissonant orbit. I was not really expecting the track to come unhinged like that. Tons of skronkity, string bending and stretching is in effect.

Chain of Fools starts the second side. More of a swamp feel. When the fuzzed out guitars start to ring of Mr. Ayres vibes, there is a decidedly acid rock feel going on. This LP is from 69, so I guess that makes sense.

The set ender, The Battle Hymn of The Republic, loses me a bit, though. Over all, this is a solid set, and if you have been reading this far, I am sure that you need to get a copy of your very own. I have uploaded a track to give you a taste for what you are in for. Enjoy!

Hold On I'm Comin' Herbie Mann

Expedit Record Rack

Above, is a shot of my new Ikea Expedit Record Shelf. Thanks to A. Toots, I now have a wall unit that will (hopefully) hold my LPs. A side benefit is that I will now be able to have all of my 12 inchers in one room. I am psyched!

Putting the large Expedit together is a definite job for 2 strong people. It is pretty heavy and very unwieldy to hoist up on the wall. I also put some bolts into the wall on both the upper left and upper right to hold the unit once it starts getting loaded up with vinyl. The unit itself seems to be very sturdy and judging by all of the shots that I have seen on the internets with Expedits holding other collections, I think that I should be fine.

By the standards of most, I don't have all that many records, but it is always a challenge to keep everything in order.

Also notice my Robt. Williams litho and the Coffy poster on the other wall.