cratedigger

Le Beat Bespoke 3

2008-10-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

As mentioned a while back, upon my last visit to NYC, I made my customary stop at Rockit Scientist.

One of the items that I picked up was Le Beat Bespoke 3. I have seen the prior installments over the years, but this is the first volume that I have heard, (and purchased.)

The 20 song set starts out with "Abba" by The Paragons, which is a garage nugget that I have been familiar with for years. It is an awesome track, but seemed a tad out of place here. Seems most of the tracks are British or Continental in origin...

The good stuff that kicks it into action is track 3 "Love Me When I'm Down" by Soul Inc. The vibe continues with the very next song by the Neon Express with "Flashback." The guitar is fuzzy enough that friends of the Dick Taylor trashy sound will not be disappointed. The horns and stuff kind of kill it, but there you go.

The Ro-d-ys from Nederlands kick it with the track Looking for Something Better." Nederbiet with soaring harmonies. Not the Outsiders, but this is an airy track that has a break down that has smashing Moonesque drums accompanied by skronkity sax and smashing and gnashing of the the relatively clean guitar.

"Flipping" the disc over to the back side, Douuglas busts some craziness in the Francophonic "Si Je Buvais Moins." The guitar is nearly silenced by the level of distortion foisted upon it. the call and respinse of the organ and the guitar are excellente. Freak beat from Belgium? Oui.

Overall the juxtaposition on some of these tracks that contain both horns and symphonic elements matched with fuzz guitar is a bit shocking, but with repeated listens, I find it to be less jarring.

Some of the sonic quality is a bit specious here. "Is It Off Is It On" is an example of a very crunchy disc trying to make the transition to the digital realm. Seriously for US$30, I would expect perfectly sounding discs. Not suggesting for a moment to engage in "digital mastering" fuckery...

Still, I recommend that you find this one and crank it up on your hifi with a glass of Louis Jadot 2006 Beaujolais Nouveau. I know I did.

Here is a recent Morgan sighting in Northern IL, a rad British car to go with some rad moderne sounds.

NYC a week or so back

2008-10-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

Greetings from fog encased IL...

As my blogging comrade, Vincent at FuFuStew, likes to say sometimes real life gets in the way, and that is definitely the case in my situation.

Hope you had a chance to listen to DJ Colonel and his set at the dub controls that I recently posted.

I went to NYC over a week ago and had some interesting adventures, some of which I will share here. First of all off the plane, I hopped into a standard issue NYC cab. I directed the driver to take me to 110 Fifth Ave (between 16th and 17th.) I spoke very clearly and the hack said that he understood. I then got deeply invloved in both email and phone calls.

A few minutes later I realized that I was not in the MidTown Tunnel and I looked out the window to see that I was on 116th Street! Quite a distance from the desired destination of the environs of Union Square!

Of course the hack said that he thought I meant 5th Ave between 115th and 116th! I corrected him, told him to turn off the meter and get on the FDR. Luckily, I sort of know my way around, otherwise this could have been a serious cluster... Welcome to NYC.

While in Gotham on unrelated matters, I was able to get over to my fave place in the East Village Rockit Scientist. As usual, John was in a talkative mood and we chatted about business, NYC and of course music. I spent some serious coin on 2 CDs, but they were worth it. I picked up the s/t Air reissue as well as Le Beat Bespoke 3. I will spill some digital ink on more in depth reviews of both soon as I am able to bust some of my work back load.

The very next night I headed out to Botanica (the former Knitting Factory) on the south side of Houston. I was able to catch Mr. Finewine's first set and that of a laptop wrangling soul slinger as well. I was able to speak with Mr. Finewine as well and I am proud to say he has visited this humble blog.
Did I mention that Botanica has reasonably priced Duvel as well?

Sorry about the pics, they were taken on my phone.

DJ Colonel in the Cratedigger Dubzone

2008-09-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

DJ Colonel has been honing his skills way out in Bend OR. He sent me a batch of his shows, and of the ones that I have had a chance to review, his Dub Special was my fave.

Here is the tracklist:

01 Banana Walk Dub Specialist
02 Don't follow Babylon(Blood and Fire Meets Wai Wan Remix Dub Shop Stylee) Twilight Sound System and Ranking Joe
03 Rasta Dub Horace Andy
04 Dub Out Oku Onuora
05 Drive By Dub Dub trio
06 Since I Dub Aggrovators
07 Fist Of Fury Prince Jammy
08 Buck Rogers in The Black Hole Roots Radics
09 Red Shift Scientist
10 African Jumper Tommy McCook
11 Reggae Train Cornell Campbell
12 King Tubby The Dub Ruler King Tubby
13 One Armed Boxer Lee Perry
14 DJ's Choice Dennis Alcapone
15 Dub Organiser Dillinger
16 Reggae-mylitis Peter Tosh

I hope that you dig Colonel at The Controls.

Download DJ Colonel Dub Radio Spectacle HERE

The Twenty is done for now

2008-09-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

So here is the Raleigh Twenty that I rescued a while back. I removed much of the house paint but there is still a fair amount of it left on the bike-call it patina.

I removed the rack on the back and rattle canned it a black glossy coat of Krylon, it looks much better than the half assed house paint that wa on it before. I also had a trunk bag that I got from Nashbar a while back, it seems to fit nicely.

I replaced the tubes, rim tape and tires (with Schwalbes). I also replaced the seat post with an alloy one with an integrated clamp. I repurposed an old mountain bike saddle that I had in the parts bin.

I took the bike on its' first trip this past weekend to Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. I used it to venture around the paddock, and see all of the vintage race cars.

The bike did well although the clearance between the the front tire and the mudguard stay is pretty tight. I also need to replace the grips as the originals look like they could split at any point and they really don't help reduce road shock.

Pretty psyched how it turned out so far.

The Digging And The Damage Done Take 4

2008-09-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

I took a road trip to Wisconsin today as we are having record rains, 7 inches yesterday(!) There was a record show at my favorite haunt and I was able to scare up some great 45s.

Here is what I came up with after an hour or so of digging:

Moulty The Barbarians /Laurie This is the track where Moulty tells the story of losing his hand, this guy had prosthetic hands!!!

Inside and Out Dave Clark 5 /Epic DC5 must have been pschedelicized, because this mint disc is awesome- bordering on freak beat. Totally not what I would expect.

Hold Your Horses Jimmy Soul Clark /Moira I am sucker for anything on Moira, this one is growing on me.

Don't Tread On Me Kit and The Outlaws /Philips A recommendation from a dealer. This has two guitar breaks. Kit et al just beat a basic riff into submission.

Better Man Than I Terry Knight & The Pack /Lucky 11 I have read about Terry Knight and his escapades but have never seen a 45 for a reasonable price. I think this was was $3. A great version of this song, it also features a great break.

I'm Leaving Here The K-otics /Bang Another garage treasure, described as Kinks worshippers to me, I am not so sure.

Wade In the Water Willie Mitchell / Hi My first Willie Mitchell find. I have only listened to this side and it is an awesome instro.

Tell It Like It Is Aaron Neville /Par Lo This one was kind of weak, at least on one side, I need to bend my ears a bit more. Cool label from NOLA that I have not seen before up close.

I Can't Seem To Make You Mine The Seeds /GNP Sky Saxon, no more needs to be said.

Double o Soul Sonny Stitt /Wingate This sounds to me like the basic instro tracks used for the Edwin Starr track subsitituting Stitt's horn for Starr's vocal. The back singers also sound familiar. Songs runs on both sides.

You're Gonna Miss Me 13th Floor Elevators / International Artists The 'Vators are pictured above. I am embarrassed to say that I could not find this 45 in my record cave. At least I have a copy that I can find now- essential for anyone with ears. I read somewher that the guy behind IA is/was Leland Rogers, brother to Kenny "No when to fold 'em" Rogers. Odd that.

Come On Back The Wild Ones /Sears these dudes were on the Sears Roebuck label and have that distinctive Chi town cheesy garage sound. I had never seen this one before. It was $2.50.

He's Bad Bad Bad Betty Wright /Alston Come one a Betty Wright single in mint, I had to get it.

The Damage $50.

Since I picked up more garage records this time, I had to pay the piper. I think that I still made out OK. Some great tracks here.

A New Mix-- Cratedigger in The Garage

2008-09-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

Any one who knows me, knows that garage is one of my fave record genres. The records are hard to find in the wild, so getting original, at least in this neck of the woods is much more of a challenge.

All of the records in this set are original 45s that I have found in garage sales, dusty junk shops, the occasional record show, or in one particular case via a mail order trade.

The sub genres are pretty well represented as well, as punk, folk, moody, bubblegum and even some borderline mod are in the mix.

Hope you dig it.

Cratedigger in The Garage Tracklist

01 I Lie Awake New Colony Six Centaur 1202
02 Try It The Ohio Express Cameo Parkway 2001
03 Believe Me The Guess Who Scepter 12131
04 Sunny Day The Stillroven Roulette 4748
05 I Told Those Little White Lies The Painted Ship Mercury 72662
06 Leavin' Here The Rationals Cameo Parkway 481 DJ Copy
07 I Cannot Stop You The Cherry Slush USA 2032
08 A Question of Temperature The Balloon Farm Laurie 3405
09 She Left Me All Alone Tidal Waves HBR 482
10 No Correspondence The Beckett Quintet Gemcor 5003

Download here.

Some notes:

New Colony Six are one of the biggest, most well known 66 Chitown punks, but in my opinion overstayed their welcome as they continued to issue 45s they sounded weaker and weaker. This is one of my favorite NC6 sides, the flip is also a winner- At the River's Edge. I can picture people grooving to this 45 at Gulliver's Pizza or something back in the day.

Moving over to the harder, more fuzzy side of garage, studio phantoms, Ohio Express do a version of Try It that is actually quite good. This has to one of the toughest sounds from Kastenetz and Katz' Super K Productions. How could you not like that fuzztone? Bubblegum was more often their sound-- Yummy Yummy and Chewy Chewy, are the more likely 45s that a digger will find in the wild. Look for this one, though. I think I paid buck for it.

66 Garage from our northern neighbor, Winipeg Manitoba, Canada, makes an appearance with Believe Me by The Guess Who. The Randy Bachman guitar work on this side will keep you coming back for more. Dig the break followed by excessive organ abuse. Yes, it is the same band that later issued the classic rock staple, American Woman. This one cost me a but at a record show.

A little more folky sound is exemplified by The Stilroven's Sunny Day, the flip to their take on Hey Joe. There is a bit of a lilt to the sound and there is a modicum of jangle, so I will say that it is sort of folky. All the way from Minneapolis. This shouldn't be too hard to find, at least here in the mighty Midwest.

Next up, is one of my all time favorite garage tracks, I told Those Little White Lies. It also has to be on any garageiste's top put down snotty punk sinlges as well. I had to pay a bit for this one, maybe $30, but it was worth every penny. It looks like these gents might have been from Vancouver, BC. You may have heard the flip, Frustration on Pebbles 7...

What can be said about the Rationals? Underrated, underappreciated??? Certainly. When I hear their take on Leavin' Here, I hear a backing vocal style that other Michiganders would co-opt into their sound, especially the Motor City 5... Great vocal harmonies and arrangement by Jeep Holland on this Holland-Dozier-Holland number. I heard that there is a proper Rats' reissue coming out, I would recommend that all reading this missive go check out.

I Cannot Stop You by The Cherry Slush is an odd duck. A killer track that has sort of a downer feel due to the lyrics and some of the sounds and effects utilized on it. I would say that in total it is less garage, but more in a mod type zone soundwise. It has a wavy guitar break. Maybe that is why it is such a DJ hit in Norway and Sweden. A Norske DJ told me that it was "wary waluable" in his homeland when he was spinning it a few years back in prep for a mod chicago set. They were from Saginaw MI, and released this on the Chicago USA label. I got my copy from Mop Top Mike a few years back. Might cost a bit more now.

Back into the fuzz with A Question of Temperature by The Balloon Farm. This track made it into the Billboard Top 40 in 68. Apparently my 45 is the original pressing since there is a typo "Tempature" is how the track is spelled on the label. Nice sound effect usage here. Don't really know much about it other than the song rips and I got it for $.25.

She Left Me All Alone is an excellent example of a moody garage song. This one is on the Hanna Barbara label. I wrote about these guys a while back, and made some wrong assumptions, which were duly corrected by others in the blogosphere.
The Beckett Quintet round it all out with a pretty common 45. I think I spent a few bucks on this one, but it is in mint.

Hope you all enjoy these tunes as much as I do. It is great to find these gems out there, hope I expanded some ears out there.

got the new parts...

2008-09-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

The pic above, even though it gives me a headache to look at, sorry about camera phone pics in advance, shows that my shipment finally came.

I received 2 Schwalbe tires in 1.75x2, two new tubes, and an aluminium seat post with an integral seat clamp. The post should help the little bike shed a couple of pounds as the current steel post is kind of heavy as is the clamp. This post is also a little longer.

Developing...

Ugly Things #27

2008-09-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

I have been a huge fan of the Ugly Things fanzine for 15+ years. Mike Stax puts out a great publication that still feels zine like- though it is over 200 pages and the writing keeps getting better and better.

This issue is no slouch, as it includes a feature on the 68 tour of The Who and the Small Faces Down Under.

California garage band, the Spats get the complete UT treatment with a complete history, that includes many old photos and record label scans.

One of my favorite parts of UT is working through the huge selection of reissue reviews.

In fact, due to the proliferation of blogs, I would have to say that UT is the only zine that I continue to read with regularity. Order this now!

Big Apples Do Not Fit

2008-08-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

After an easy time mounting the tires and tubes onto the R20 rims, I threw the front wheel and alas, the mudguard stays will not clear the tires.

No big deal, right?

Except, my favorite tire source Bike Tires Direct had a massive fire and is out of commission for a while.

Apparently, the 20 x 1.75 size is a bit more difficult to find, so after much searching, I think I found some Schwalbe Marathons at Universal Cycle. Should be ordering up today.

Projects are always more involved than you think...

More Raleigh 20 info, original instruction sheet

2008-08-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

Here is the original R2o instruction sheet.

http://www.bikexprt.com/bicycle/twntyinst/index.htm#pictopEach of the sections of the booklet enlarge if you click on them.)

Raleigh 20 Update

2008-08-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

As yet another project continues to wend its' way though my life, here is the latest little bit of progress on the Raleigh 20 that I picked up a little while back.

I have been working on removing the ugly green brush paint from the frame, but it is tedious and the turpentine fumes do get to be a bit much after a while.

As such, my first sidetrack was to remove the front wheel. I took off the original 1.75X20 dry rotted tire and tube and tossed them into the trash. After some inspection, it appears that the front tire had never been removed. I ditched the factory rim strip which also looked quite virginal. I got ahold of my preferred rim tape, the cloth Velox style and stuck it on the rim, the tape looked to be made for 700c rim, so I used my trusty Swiss Army knife to make the cut.

Now here is the rub, I have some nearly new Schwalbe Big Apple Tires and tubes that I had in the cupboard from a Dahon that I upgraded. These tires are 20X2". Will they fit? I am pretty sure that they will fit the rims but as the mudguards are connected directly to the axle and not to an eyelet on the fork, I am worried that there won't be clearance between the fatter Big Apples and the mudguard stays. I will mount them up and see how it goes.

Andy Votel's Brazilika comp

2008-08-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

The last time that I was in Gotham, I stopped at Rockit Scientist as is my habit and came up with the following, Andy Votel's Brazilika compilation.

The sourcing for the records on this comp come from the Som Livre and LGE labels. The liners say that the genre of post Tropicalia. It is hard to tap your foot to tracks such as these. There are psych interludes (like 2.40 into track 3) that in an earlier part of my life would have been more "heavy" but now are just weird. I don't mean that in a bad way. This set is oddly engaging, but I cannot imagine throwing it on as background.

Since it is from Brazil, there is the language barrier but I doubt that should scare anyone off.

A head swirler it is. Layers of fuzz populate the sound scape (3 min into track 5 for perhaps the most killer fuzztone. Nearly garage in primitive tone-- I am sold!) Abrupt changes in tempo and interludes provided a collage effect. Since all of this music is new to me, I am not sure how it sounded before it got the treatment from DJ Andy Votel. I think that I need to spend some more time with this set.

I feel that the best listening experience for this record s either through an old amp and speaker set up or via the headphones. I listened to the record in my econobox and it was not the same.

Here is a link to Far Out Recordings, who released this one.

A Weird Sighting

2008-08-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

I was walking down Wabash around 1 PM today and I saw the vehicle above and below and just had to take a snap with the camera phone. It was a three wheeled vehicle about the size of a Smart Car, but was much lower. It had a fairly large trailer attached to it that was lined with solar panels. Very odd. It was starting to draw a small crowd.
Doing a search, it looks like, the company, q-cells.com is doing a world tour starting in Lucerne Switzerland. The name of the car is Smart Taxi. They have a cool photo gallery of Chicago.

Photovoltaics are definitely their specialty. Take that Prius drivers!

A New Addition to the Stable

2008-08-13T18:21:00.001-07:00

As you can see, I succumbed to the temptation to purchase yet another old bike. This time around it is a 1972 Raleigh 20 folder. An acquaintance mentioned that he still had it available when I stepped into the LBS (local bike shop) where he works. He first mentioned it maybe 2 + years ago. I initially balked at picking it up as some tool at some point in the past had brush painted the frame. Over the ensuing couple of years I realized how hard it is to find an original complete 20.

When I went to check out the bike over the past weekend, I noticed that the paint looked like a latex paint that one may use to paint an old outdoor chair or something. I figured that I could get the paint off somehow, with some elbow grease and at the same time keep the original finish.

The bike rode and shifted well, so the deal was done and the bike came home in the Honda Fit. It is amazing how much stiffer this little bike is in comparison to the Dahons that I own. It is even more stiff than a Bike Friday that I once rode.

I have a couple of tubes and Schwalbe Big Apple tires that I plan to install at some point. At the same time, I need to replace the hardened brake pads, and I will replace the rim tape with the cloth type. I already replaced the heavy vinyl dual rail saddle with a single rail seat clamp and a lighter mountain bike saddle that I had in the stable.

After experimenting over the past couple of evenings, I think that I found the solution for removing the old paint. I tried Goo Gone, engine cleaner, but when I tried turpentine, the paint just fell off. (I am using one of those old kitchen sponges that has the green abrasive side to apply the turpentine and then using an old t shirt to remove the residual paint scrapings as well as the extra turpentine.)

See the detail pic below. You can see the chain guard and the seat stay where I have started to remove the paint.
Sometimes these things take time. Stoked to get this one back on the road!

RIP Isaac Hayes 1942-2008

2008-08-11T10:15:00.001-07:00

You left us WAY too soon! You will be missed.

The Digging and The Damage Done Take 3

2008-08-09T07:55:00.000-07:00

I went out to some garage sales locally and came up with the following after some HARD haggling, with a pretty mean Eastern European woman, with whom I have had some run ins in the past. I almost had to break out my broken Russian skills.

She had a nice box of records, which of course were not marked, so you know what that means.

"How much for the LPs?"

"$5!"

"No way, they go for $.25 to $1.00 at the sales around here."

So I came up with these:

The Digging

Beastie Boys "Fight For the Right..." Def Jam 45
Curtis Mayfield "Superfly" Curtom 45 Pic sleeve
Electric Prunes "Mass in F Minor LP
Jerry Garcia "S/T" Warners

The 45s were sort of beat, but I think that I can clean them up. The LPs were mint, though they are missing the paper sleeves.

The Damage

$3.00

Like I said, this lady was brutal, but I have never seen the Garcia record in the wild, pretty sure it went out of print immediately. But in the end a few bucks from me was better than nothing.

New Mix--The Waite

2008-08-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

This mix was a ton of fun to mix live powered by Iced Tea as the humidity lays its sloppiness over the area.

The title is a reference to a family name, but it could also refer to the weight of the hunidity here as well. The cover model is my faithful pet, known as Chooch.

I tried to keep it pretty funky in general, even when the soul is in the house, I still leaned to the funky side. Many of the 45s in this baker's dozen set are DJ items with both stereo and mono mixes, in which case the mono mix was consistently selected over the stereo. Many of the discs have been on the mental want list for quite some time, so it was most excellent to finally score some of these and get to spin them for y'all.

As per usual all of these original 45s were mixed live in cratedigger labs on the 1200s.

Please leave a comment, and let me know your thoughts!

Some random notes:

Rasputin's Stash is a great Chi band, glad to finally get a copy of one of their 45s.

I am a sucker for Andre Williams, and the '69 track shows him in fine Chitown funky finery.

The Charles Wright was found in a dirty pile of records recently and I was able to clean it up so that it sounds pretty good. Freaking love that quiet intro!

Funky Meters- really swinging track there.

Try it Again is Byrd in the funkiest. The mono mix is LOUD here. Love the horn charts over the guitar. RIP Bobby!

Spill The Wine was a request from Heavy Soul Brutha Dave. It is a rather surreal version of said track. Lalo was the man. Killer use of Moog noodling in there.

The Waite Tracklist

01 Your Love Is Certified Rasputin's Stash (Cotillion) Mono
02 My Part Make It Funky Pt. 4 James Brown (Polydor)
03 It's Gonna Be Fine in '69 Andre Williams (Checker)
04 What Can You Bring Me Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd St Band (Warners)
05 King Kong Pt.1 Jimmy Castor Bunch (Atlantic) Mono
06 Get Ready Rare Earth (Rare Earth)
07 Good Old Funky Music The Meters (Josie) Mono
08 Cold Blooded The Bar-Kays (Volt)
09 Mighty Mighty Children Pt.1 Baby Huey & The Babysitters (Curtom)
10 Here Comes The Judge Pigmeat Markham (Chess)
11 (I Got) So Much Trouble In My Mind Joe Quarterman & Free Soul (GSF)
12 Try It Again Bobby Byrd (Kwanza) Mono
13 Spill The Wine Lalo Schifrin (MGM)

Download here

A new edition to Cratedigger Labs

2008-08-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

At long last, Cratedigger Labs, now has a Marantz. A.Toots and I were out at garage sales over the past weekend, and she saw an old stereo cabinet next to some opera records. I was hoping to find some good vinyl in the stacks, but came up empty handed.

A.Toots opened the cabinet and inside was this Marantz 2230 receiver from 72/73. Nice! I turned it on and the 30 watts and strong tuner put out a clean sound. I was able to pick it up cheap (with an old Garrard turntable with all the attachments).

I cleaned up the unit a bit and installed it in the Cratedigger office, as this is not a part of the reference system. I hooked up the 2230 with my Rega 3 turntable and my Paradigm speakers.

It sounds awesome, and it looks great too as all of the lights work, which is a rarity for old Marantz units.

New Eno and Byrne Project

2008-08-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

Just came across this site this morning.

Always been a huge fan of the Eno / Talking Heads phase, so this will be worth checking out. They are also touring!

Never thought that this would happen.

Fuel for Cratedigger Labs-Visions of a "Modern Moonshiner"

2008-08-04T07:17:00.000-07:00

I hate to admit it, but sometimes I drive north of the border to get beer. I am a fan of Point beer as long as it is in the returnable, refillable bottles. The car was pretty loaded down.

Visions of a "Modern Moonshiner"

I hope to have an update on some new Hifi equipment that I scored over the weekend as well.

Raleigh Grand Prix Update

2008-08-03T05:40:00.001-07:00

Well, The Grand Prix project that I started on earlier this year has had some upgrades. I ordered a black Brooks B17 saddle, so that went on the bike. On Friday I put some nice Schwalbe white wall tires (along with new tubes and cloth rim tape) on the bike.

Both of these items had a major positive effect on riding this bike. The position is perfect and the seating is improved as well. The white walls also set off the black and white on the frame.

The pic above was taken (with a Blackjack2 smart phone) at the beach.

All is not perfect, as I noticed a weird feeling in the top of the pedal stroke on the left pedal. I removed the pedal and put a Campy one on for a AB test and the feeling was still there, I know nothing about bottom brackets, but I have a feeling that my issue is due to something down there. Bummer.

The Digging and the Damage Done Take 2

2008-08-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

The weather is warm, the sun is high, and the humidity is rising. So it must be time to welcome the great unwashed back to the windy city for Lollapolooza.

My antidote is to go digging.

The Digging

Luther Ingram You Were Made For Me (Koko)
Luther Ingram Aint Good For Nothing (Koko)
Ernie K-Doe Mother In Law (Minit)
Jimmy Soul Don't Release Me (SPQR)
Blackbyrds Soft and Easy (Fantasy)
Blackbyrds All I Ask (Fantasy)

And the Damage:

$2.29+ The Highest Sales Tax in the US.

Not sure of the quality here, but at these prices, it hard to complain.

2008-07-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

OK, so everyone has heard the break from the Incredible Bongo Band's version of "Apache." Well, I decided to do a little of the google version of research.

Some local research turned up a used copy of said reissue CD, that I rescued over my lunch hour.

The Mighty (mighty?) NYTimes ran an article a couple of years back when a legit reissue came out of the album, that seemed to be right on the money. (I also borrowed the graphics above from the article.)

I have read that the music was developed for use in the Thing With Two Heads movie, which of course starred Rosie Grier and Ray Milland. I haven't seen the film for many years, but I remember it being quite psychotronic. The 2 tracks that appeared in the film were Bongo Rock and Bongolia

Michael Viner was the man behind the music here and assembled a cast of studio musicians that would make music history and form the basis for many sample based songs in the future.

According to the NY Times article, DJ Kool Herc became aware of the Incredible Bongo Band and their version of Apache in 1972(!)

“I used that record to start what I called the Merry-Go-Round,” he explained in a telephone interview, retelling an oft-told story. “It was the segment where I played all the records I had with beats in them, one by one. I’d use it at the hypest part of the night, between 2:30 and 3 a.m. Everybody loved that part of my format.”

Once Herc collected multiple copies of records, it allowed him to extend the breaks ad infinitum, Apache contained the killer break for this exercise. He started a movement and invented an art form.

The Digging and The Damage Done

2008-07-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

Above: The Charles Wright & Watts 103rd St Rythym Band, borrowed from Soul-Sides.

It is an unbelievably nice day here in the Windy City, so I had a earth shattering idea to head out for lunch and I happened upon a relatively new record store. They had the usual hipster nonsense on offer—autographed (by Thurston!) copy of Bad Moon Rising, etc.

I did notice that they had a Cheap Section, which of course drew me in.

After about 20 minutes, I came up with the following:

The Digging…

Bar-Kays Cold Blooded Volt
James Brown Make it Funky Pts 2&3 King
James Brown Super Bad Pts 1,2&3 King
Dennis Coffey Taurus Sussex
Major Lance I’m So Lost Okeh
Lalo Schiffrin Theme From Medical Center/Spill The Wine MGM
Charles Wright Your Love (Means Everything To Me)Warners

And the Damage done…

$2.72 including tax (Chicago tax highest in USA!!!)

Needless to say, maybe there is a copy of Apache in there somewhere, I will be back. I did notice a couple of Buddy Miles LPs, too.

Wrongness involving both Sepultura and The Incredible Bongo Band

2008-07-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

Back in the desert days, I used to actually hang out with Sepultura from time to time, or rather they would end up at the house where I used to live.

This video of The Incredible Bongo Band has been "remixed" to Convicted in Life by Sepultura. Spending a few minutes on You Tube brings up all sort of nonsense related to Apache...

Amen Brother

2008-07-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

Amen Brother by the Winstons from 1969 is the most sampled 6 seconds in music history according to stuff that I found posted on the internets. A little trolling of the youtube came up with the stuff.

The breakbeat comes in at 1:27 on the file above. It should be familiar to anyone with ears even if you can't place where you last heard it.

A friend from the Bay Area (JZ-the rollercoaster was awesome on Saturday night!) shared this clip with me that tells the story behind Amen Brother.

The presentation above is delivered in a Speak and Spell type mode. So there is entertainment value in that alone.

First the break was used in a straight forward manner like in Straight Out of Compton. Then it was used in the Jungle and Rythm and Bass musical genres used as the complete basis of their sound. They even share a clip of Perry Farrell (yes, him) doing a cover of Whole Lotta Love in a Jungle mode using Amen as the basis of the song.

The example of commercials using the break are pretty funny, especially as they are potentially sourced via bootleg cds. Eventually the presentation makes the point that more stringent copyrights are a bad thing.

How were the Winstons compensated? It appears that they were never paid. Mainly because they never persued a legal battle.

This is one of the reasons to blog...

2008-07-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

I wrote a little bit about a Tidal Waves 45 that I found at a record show about 26 months ago (!), and somebody (Anonymous) just commented to fix my wrong info.

Here is my original post:

The Tidal Waves "She Left Me All Alone" HBR 482Here is a moody downbeat number that I have heard on various comp cdrs. I came across it at The Loyola Record Swap. I believe that they later became The Unrelated Segments.The flip is actually a pretty rockin' take on "Farmer John," not one of my favorite compositions.To counter a recent conversation on garagepunk.com, the Garage Punk Forum CDs did nothing for me other than make me want the original vinyl discs even more than I did before. Reissues generally suck sound wise, esp. if they are on CD. The forum CDs have better sound as they are "mastered" from original discs.But to hear a garage punker in its glory requires the original disc in either good or scratchy shape-- hence more digging for discs!

And the new comment:

Nope! The Tidalwaves actually didnt turn into the Unrelated Segments although they were friends.They were made up of brothers Tom and Jon Wearing,Robert Slap,Mark Karpinski,and Vic Witkowski all went to school together in a Detroit suburb.Most stayed in the business and had reasonable success.

The internet does rule for information exchange. Thanks for the correction, Anonymous!

Grandmaster Flash on Fox via THAT REAL SCHITT

2008-07-12T08:15:00.001-07:00

I came across this clip from Fox and Friends (of all places-- WTF?) on the most excellent blog, THAT REAL SCHITT. Phill just celebrated his first anniversary, also.

Seriously though, this clip shows Grandmaster Flash tearing it up using records. No Serrato here. "Let's Dance," "White Lines" et al getting the treatment.

It is cool how he has a dude acting as his vinyl caddy, taking discs from him and giving him fresh ones.

An instruction in great vinyl manipulation.

Street Hoops with the DJ in NYC

2008-07-11T14:26:00.000-07:00

After spending the past couple of days in Gotham, I found myself reading the hard copy of the NY Times a bit more, actually I only read the hard copy when I am physically there.

This article is pretty cool. DJ JU works Best Buy during the day and in the evenings he spends hip hop cds at the street basketball games.

“On a dance floor, if you’re losing the crowd, you have time to change things up,” he said. “But with players on a court, I have to make split-second decisions. You can definitely change the outcome of a game depending on what you decide to play, because the players feed off the music and the crowd. If the music’s not hitting, everyone loses interest and the game might as well be over.”

cool.

Bullitt Chase Scene with GPS

2008-07-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

A friend hipped me to this. Totally cool. The chase scene with a side by side GPS map of where the chase ocurred. Great SF period piece, and of course there is the cars...

http://www.seero.com/video/Steve_McQueen_3

New Mix- Hot Summer Weekend

2008-06-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

Here is a mix to get you through the weekend, I put this one together specifically with a summer weekend in mind. This was mixed live in Cratedigger Labs with care. Please enjoy.

There is a fair amount of variety here. Starting with the obvious, who doesn't love a quick intro from none other than Redd Foxx? Ending with an upbeat groover from Jimmy McGriff is also a great thing.

I think my favorite track is Singing Funky Music Turns Me On. Let me know your favorite in a comment.

Hot Summer Weekend Tracklist:

01 Intro Redd Foxx (King)
02 Black Berries Pt 1 Isley Brothers (T Neck)
03 Little Ol Man Bill Cosby (Warners)
04 Singing Funky Music Turns Me On Jackie Moore (Kayette)
05 CC Rider Wayne Cochran (King)
06 Ball of Confusion Temptations (Gordy)
07 Skate Now Lou Courtney (Riverside)
08 Gettin A Little Hipper James Brown (King)
09 Rock Steady Aretha Franklin (Atlantic)
10 Here Come Da Judge Buena Vistas (Marquee)
11 Finders Keepers (vocal) Chairman of The Board (Invicta)
12 Jumpin at The Woodside Jimmy McGriff (Sue)

Please download Hot Summer Weekend here

going to this tonite, by hook or crook

2008-06-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

Sonotheque proudly presents an evening of funky 45's, sensational soul and inner city struttin' rhythms. Featuring 3 of Chi-town's premier crate diggin', soul searchin' groove purveyors:
Supreme Court (Danny's Tavern)Sean Qualls (Danny's Tavern)Joe Mama aka Joe Bryl (Sonotheque)Featuring rare blaxplotation films and trailers!
9pm - 2am$5 cover$5 drink specials
Funky link:
http://funky16corners.tripod.com/intro.htmhttp://www.funk45.com/http://www.blaxploitation.com/http://www.funk.ch/http://www.dustygroove.com/http://www.djsoulsister.com/http://www.tuffcity.com/http://superdeluxe.typepad.com/http://www.homeofthegroove.blogspot.com/
Get down on your groove thang and shake your money maker on this night of funky 45 madness. That's right, our 3 wax poets will be spinning the freshest and funkiest 45's and albums of the 70's. Yes, no cds, no downloaded files - just the grittiest grooves and down-right danceable dusties for a night of super sweet struttin'. So we're calling all the dapper dudes, mack daddies and marvelous mamas out tonight for this soul-sensational soiree.
- Funk is a many splendored thing. Funk is a nasty vibe, and a sweet sexy feeling. Funk is funkiness, a natural release of the essence within. Funk is a high, but it is also down at the bottom, the low-down earthy essence, the bass elements. Funk is at the extremes of everything. Funk is hot, but funk can be cool. Funk is primitive, yet funk can be sophisticated. Funk is a way out, and a way in. Funk is all over the place. Funk is a means of release that cannot be denied. Village Voice writer Barry Walters explained The Funk as well as anyone could: “Trying to put that thang called funk into words is like trying to write down your orgasm. Both thrive in that gap in time when words fall away, leaving nothing but sensation.What Is Funk – Ricky Vincent
In 1964, Justice Potter Stewart tried to explain "hard-core" pornography, or what is obscene, by saying, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced . . . but I know it when I see it .” An individual is confronted by the same difficulty in explaining what Funk may be whether one is a common layman or a well-versed academic. Funk’s essence, like its musical predecessor Soul, is based on its spiritual/emotional features. It casts its web by tugging on one’s raw primordial feelings, but unlike gossamer its netting is substantial and inherently human. Its musical heat is at times direct and comes on in rush while it can also slowly simmer and build in a measured unhurried pace.
Evolving from both R&B and Soul, Funk’s primary rhythm was driven by an intensive groove using a mixture of a strong interplay between guitar, bass, drums and horns. Its primary accents on the 1 and 3 count (of 4) moved the rhythm to become more prominent and complex with its extensive use of syncopation.
James Brown, the undisputed “Godfather of Funk” began pushing the sound in the late Sixties with his musical innovations that combined frenzied grunts and punctuated movements resembling African polyrhythms. In a 1990 interview, Brown commented on his simple yet altering musical innovation: “ I changed from the upbeat to the downbeat.”
These changes were quickly picked up by other musicians and a style all of its own began to grow. Artists as diverse as Dyke & The Blazers, Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Black Heat, Funkadelic, The Fatback Band, Kool & The Gang, The Meters , War, The Bar-kays and too many others to list began feeling the heat and developed their own individual take on Funk.
The gospel of Funk was spreading the world and influencing other artists. Its affects became visible with its incorporation with jazz-based musicians and crossed the globe from Africa to Brazil and back. Whether the music came from such luminaries as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock (with his Headhunters band), Grover Washington Jr. Les McCann and Eddie Harris or was exported to Africa melding itself to finally becoming Afrobeat in the hands of Fela Kuti; Funk moved constantly forward as a powerful voice in popular music. And although the golden era of Funk is long gone, its continual influence is felt in the Washington Go-Go scene and its use of sampling in Rap and Hip-Hop.
Giving tribute to the amazing influence and history of Funk, Sonotheque proudly showcases “Superfunk”. So as George Clinton would shout “Get up on the down-stoke – everybody get up” and “Tear the roof off the mother-fucker” we welcome all super-freaks to shake their booty, leave their inhibitions at the door and get down tonight!
Supreme Court & Qualls - 'The Supreme Court Hearings':
Playing deeply soulful music from around the world
‘Supreme Court Hearings’ features a wide range of soulful/funky tracks, many of which are rare 45’s from the personal collections of the featured djs. Musical styles include soul, funk, r&b, jazz, Latin, African & Brazilian. Previously, ‘SCH’ featured the talents of Phil Cohran & The Hypnotic Ensemble and The Molemen. Currently, with Dante Carfanga they host a monthly residency at Danny's Tavern on the 1st Wednesday of each month.
Joe Mama (aka Joe Bryl):
DJ Joe Bryl was once named by the Chicago Tribune as Chicago's "Most Interesting DJ.” He has been working in the club and entertainment industry for the last 20 years and was an original partner in the creation of HotHouse. A true pioneer continuing to push the international sounds as a DJ, he is also the artistic director for the club Sonotheque where he presents internationally renowned DJs.

http://www.sonotheque.net/archives/000601.php

Locost Auto

2008-06-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

After watching the Prisoner a few years back, I once again became aware of the Lotus marque. In particular, I have always been fond of the Lotus 7's odd looks- cycle type fenders, eyeball looking headlamps, etc.

Apparently there is a movement afoot, to build replicas of these cars on the cheap and then to refer to them as Locost sports cars. Above is a pic that I found online of a Lotus run in Perth.

What is most interesting is the power to weight ratio on on of these, 1200-1500 lbs. Put a little four banger in there and go. Also the handling appears to be tremendous as well.

Here is a vid of some road race action.

Locost racing

Playing the Building David Byrne

2008-06-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

This looks really intriguing. Of course it reminds me of Einstruzende Neubauten and their stuff from the 80s in concept.

Been listening to Fear of Music and Remain In Light in the hooptie lately. Maybe I can hit it sometime this summer.

CREATIVE TIME PRESENTSPlaying the Building: An Installation by David ByrneThe Battery Maritime Building10 South Street, New York, NY (Map)31 May – 24 August 2008 Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday: Noon – 6PM (Free)

Creative Time presents Playing the building, a sound installation in which the infrastructure, the physical plant of the building, is converted into a giant musical instrument. Devices are attached to the building structure — to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes — and are used to make these things produce sound. The activations are of three types: wind, vibration, striking. The devices do not produce sound themselves, but they cause the building elements to vibrate, resonate and oscillate so that the building itself becomes a very large musical instrument.

Playing the Building

Battery Maritime BuildingNYC, 2008

Lost and Found-- United Travel Service

2008-06-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

United Travel Service: Dale Sweetland, John Reeves, Ben Hoff, Steve Bennet

People that know me, realize that one of my preferred musical genres is 60s Garage. So, you can imagine my surprise when I posted a track from United Travel Service a little over a year ago and I received an email from the drummer a few days ago. He saw my post and reached out.

While United Travel Service is not Back From the Grave rare or anything, I was very honored to have the chance to help tell their story. Dale Sweetland agreed to answer some questions via email and here are the results.

Cratedigger:Could you share a brief rundown of the band roster and your releases with record catalog numbers?

Dale:Primary Core: Ben Hoff, John Reeves, Dale Sweetland
Part-time: Ray Doern, Jim Roberts (only on 1 recording)
Steve Bennet (alternate bass player)
Wind and Stone UK4M-1179 BMI Record No R-5120 Rust Records,NY
Drummer of Your Mind UK4M-1180 BMI Record No R-5120 Rust Records,NY
Gypsy Eyes N/A
Echo of You N/A

Cratedigger:How did you meet the other members?

Dale:I was going to school in Corvallis, OR and met John Reeves, who put an ad in a local paper for "Drummer wanted for band, call ....", so I called. He said, "Well, there's really no band, but if you're not busy why don't we get together", so that was the beginning. John was from the SF area and heavily influenced by SF rock, and that was my introduction to it. Ben had a group
in Portland with a drummer who couldn't keep time, so that was a shoe-in for me, then we just used whatever bass player was available, I don't remember Dave Mathew, sorry Dave, you will have to refresh my memory.

Cratedigger:What got you into music?

Dale:I started tap dancing at age 4, accordion at 7, but didn't like the sound or having to drag it out and play a tune for anyone coming over to visit, once I began playing drums, (13 or so), that ended.

Cratedigger:How supportive were your families of Rock and Roll?

Dale:My dad was a very good musician from another time so he wasn't fond of the type of music I was playing but it kept me out of trouble for the most part.

Cratedigger:What types of shows did UTS play?

Dale:We did a lot of college dances, not too many small venues.

Cratedigger:How long were the sets and what was the ratio between original and cover material?

Dale:There wasn't much planning in this area, that is a little un-clear, but we did about 30-70 ratio original to cover, the trouble for us was most of the people at the dance came to socialize, not necessarily to see us and wanted to hear the current material on the radio.

Cratedigger:What was it like playing in a garage band in Oregon in the 60s?

Dale:We were mostly a basement band, we got together to learn tunes and prepare for the next gig, we were not harassed too much by the neighbors or the police, we weren't late nighters', but it certainly wasn't as much fun as gig'n, that was our main focus.

Cratedigger:Were there other bands that you hung out with and played with?

Dale:I played with "Madrid and the Counts"(national releases on Rust as well), "Sunday Morning" very popular Portland band at the "Stone Balloon", "The Classmen", "Aesop and the Fables", ...

Cratedigger:What was your favorite recorded track?

Dale:I really like "Gypsy Eyes", I would like to do a re-do of that, or at least get to re-mix it.

United Travel Service in the studio: Dale, John, Ben

Cratedigger:I read about the Dentist Recording sessions, do you have any other cool 60s recording sessions stories? If not perhaps you could provide a recap.

Dale:I don't know where Dave got his info, but the 1st studio we recorded in was Ken ?'s basement, he was an engineer of some kind in Portland, and Rick Keefer operated Ridon productions in the basement, as far as I know or Ben for that matter, there was no doctor's basement. It was quite a small space in the middle of a residential neighborhood in a Portland suburb, which occasionally flooded from lack of drainage and too much rain. We would have
to stand on boxes to keep from being shocked. After the basement studio, Rick moved to Vancouver and Ripcord productions where we recorded "Echo of You" and "Gypsy Eyes", and I think "Snow" and "Slightest Possibility", which were never released. I also need to say none us of us made a single penny off these recordings, nothing, I'm not complaining just so you'll know, but don't expect a bundle from your studio work, it won't happen, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Our recording ended when Rick wanted to start charging us to record, that was it, end of band.

Cratedigger:If you could change anything about the band, what would it be?

Dale:I would buy the guys an electric tuner. We started one gig totally out of tune, as the people came pouring in. Being a guitar band, we didn't have a keyboard reference to tune to, so it was sometimes an argument over who to tune to.

Cratedigger:How did Viet Nam or other political factors affect the band?

Dale:Personally, I hated our involvement in Vietnam, it really tore up our generation, you had to peace/love side, and the "fight for our country" side, I will fight and die but for something I believe in, not some stupid political war on the other side of the world, I couldn't serve anyway, I was 4F, couldn't pass a physical because of a heart murmur.

Cratedigger:UTS opened for the Doors. Do you have any stories that you can share about that?

Dale:The most memorable thing about that was what most garage bands will only experience their 1st time out on a really big stage. Your band mates are so far away, the sound is totally different than it is in the basement/garage, everyone is so far from each other, it's like playing by yourself, very weird, and not much fun, I felt like telling them to come back over and crowd around me like in the basement/garage, you can't wait for it to be over, the monitor mix was something you didn't even discuss or think about, I really couldn't hear anyone else except myself, and was just hoping I was at the right part in the song at the right time! We did our portion, and I just remember "The Doors", coming out from the side, no words exchanged,
just looks, like let's get this over, they weren't very friendly and I think kind of tired of the road at that point.

Cratedigger:How did the whole Flower Power thing affect you and the rest of the band?

Dale:We never really talked about it, we were mainly concerned with the next gig or recording. It was a great time to be around, there's nothing like it now or never will be, it was a pretty friendly time. Ray was in the service, so he didn't have many choices, John was from the SF area and HIGHLY influenced by FPower, he was also in the ROTC program at college, Ben has always been a free thinker not really hindered by what other people think he should do,
pretty shy to say the least, but a great guy. The FPower thing for me was my first introduction into total involvement with the music, putting on some tunes, headphones, laying on the floor and totally grooving out, there's nothing like it, let yourself go, thanks to John.

Cratedigger:What is it like to get contacted 40 years after the fact by fans of your music.

Dale:This is the weirdest part of the whole thing, when we recorded there were no computers or internet, no cell phones, and if you didn't have money (none of us did) you could barely make a long distance call. It's a thrill to be contacted after all this time by people you didn't even know you touched with your music, let me repeat, A THRILL!!

Thanks to Dale for reaching out to Cratedigger, now I need to get a copy of this 45. Here is their track Gypsy Eyes:

Link

Chicago Blues Fest Opening Day 25th Anniversary

2008-06-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

I was able to sneak out from work for a long lunch on Thursday, which also was the opening day of the 25th running of the Chicago Blues Festival. It was started the year after Muddy Waters passing.

The Blues Fest is the largest free Blues Festival in the world. Based on Thursday' mid day crowd, the world comes to Chicago for this event. I was one of the youngest attendees, but obviously middle aged Germans are big blues fans.

I saw Jimmy Burns lead the Chicago Blues Roundtable on a stage called The Mississippi Juke Joint. There was an assembly of bluesmen whom I did not recognize but when they did their intros, a couple said that they played with Muddy for 10-18 years each. The gentleman that used to play harp for Muddy was resplendent in a mint green suit and Cuban heeled boots, Man could he play.

I was not able to catch any pics but, The Chicago Tribune has a user uploaded photo gallery. If you look at image 13, you will see a picture of Jimmy Burns on the left, and a former guitarist for Muddy Waters on the left.

Chicago Blues Fest photos

RIP Bo Diddley

2008-06-02T10:29:00.001-07:00

We will miss you, Bo.

I only saw him once many years ago at a Village Concert in Northbrook IL.

You left us much too young.

New Orleans Funk V, 2

2008-05-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

This compilation is a prime example of why dropping some coin on a reissue is warranted. The folks at Soul Jazz records include a nice slipcase, and a thorough booklet with real liner notes that make listening to this release a joy and educational at the same time.

I purchased this item at Rockit Scientist the last time that I was in Manhattan a couple of weeks back. Robert suggested that it was a must have CD.

For me, the back stories really make it. I am sure that many in the audience know these bits of trivia, but they are new to me. An example of this is the date, May 17, 1970. This is the date when Wardell Quezegue, the producer and arranger extraordinaire took King Floyd, Jean Knight and Bonnie and Sheila to the Malaco recording studio in Jackson Miss. to record. These three sessions on the same da brought up the following results; King Floyd hit with "Groove Me"(Chimneyville), and Jean Knight hit with "Mr. Big Stuff "(Stax). Pretty amazing hit rate, even though Bonnie & Sheila failed to hit on King with "You Keep Me Hanging On.

Another nugget, "Fortune Teller" was written by Naomi Neville-- a pen name for Allen Toussaint. Is it laziness, or what, not sure, but I was never aware that was the origin of the much covered song. Benny Spellman was the first artist credited with this song in '62 on Minit Records.

The music seems to really follow the muse of New Orleans, as it features, R&B, funk, and a wide variety of other influences -- jazz blues, African rhythms. A great overview, I will have to keep my eye out for V. 1.

It has been a while since there has been enough reading material included with a CD that I have purchased to keep me occupied for the entire listening experience. This release is a keeper and gets the nod from Cratedigger Labs.

Combustion Mix

2008-05-23T05:20:00.000-07:00

Hello again, finally back in the mix with another set straight from the 1200s chez Cratedigger Labs. I have put together some thoughts to go along with the jams. Hope you dig this mix. Happy Spring into Summer!

This set is dedicated to both the pending Summer season as well as to my favorite power plant, the Ford 289, pictured above. Turn up the system and crack a cold one...

Starting everything off is a track from the Master, Richard Groove Holmes. The Hammond is in effect and should put you in the mood for more grooving to come.

Mixing it up, Archie Bell and The Drells bring it home with the track, "There's Gonna Be A Showdown." This version is certainly better than the NY Dolls, although I profess a weakness for that version as well.

"Testify" is one of my fave 45s, when done by Mr. Clinton and the rest of the Parliaments, but Johnnie Taylor's version still is able to make me attempt to sing along with the chorus. A shaker, undoubtedly.

The next track by The Presidents is a bit sappy, but still a strong track. I am sure it will sound familiar to many of you out there.

The Profiles 45 on Duo was a recent record show find. There to pick up the mood a bit.

And to get a bit weird, take the Funkadelic path where Mssrs. Clinton, Worrell, Collins and Hazel are here to bake your brains. I dig that fuzzy guitar buried in the mix.

Back to the land of Hammond and Jimmy McGriff with "The Worm."

More into the Northern Sound with Nella Dodd. This one makes me move, you?

"Soul Sister" is strong groove instrumental.

Betty Wright is a strong vocalist and the vocal on "Let Me Be Your Lovemaker" is not exception. I love the bassline here.

The instro "Cissy Strut" should be familiar to all, however everytime I spin the record, I am amazed at the ability of the Nevilles to pull it all together at all times. Tight.

Combustion Tracklist

01 Groove's Groove Groove Holmes (Prestige)
02 There's Gonna Be A Showdown Archie Bell & The Drells (Atlantic)
03 Testify (I Wonna) Johnnie Taylor (Stax)
04 5-10-15-20 (25-30 Years of Love) The Presidents (Sussex)
05 Got To Be Your Lover The Profiles (Duo)
06 I'll Bet You Funkadelic (Westbound)
07 The Worm Jimmy McGriff (Solid State)
08 Come See About Me Nella Dodds (Wand)
09 Soul Sister Four Gents (HBR)
10 Let Me Be Your Love Maker Betty Wright (Alston)
11 Cissy Strut The Meters (Josie)

Please download Combustion here

Back from Gotham

2008-05-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

I just spent the past few days in Gotham, and it was actually pretty good.

I am starting to find my way around record finding places there. Some of the locals are saying that there are parking garage/lot flea markets on the weekends. Granted these are not local cratediggers, but they say that records are there.

Academy Records on 18th, west of 5th Ave, is always good for a couple of jazz CDs, this time I came away with Sonny Stitt with Jack McGriff on Prestige. The prices are good there as well as I think I paid $8 for it.

I made another stop at Rockit Scientist on St. Marks, but on the walk over there from Union Square, I stumbled upon a guy that had some crates out on the street. I came away with a sealed copy of the Baby Huey LP on Curtom and a King Sunny Ade Hot Banana LP. That was pretty cool. Once in Rockit Scientist, Robert recommended the New Orleans Funk V. 2 on Soul Jazz, I have not listened to the whole thing yet, but it looks solid.

Robert recommended that I head over to Botanica on Houston Street to check our Mr Finewine. It sounded like a plan to me.

After that I hiked over to Madras on 2nd Ave between 4th and 5th for some vegetarian Indian cuisine. The samosas went over very well with the Taj Mahal beer. The entree of cauliflower and green peppers was excellent and very fresh tasting. A litte bit of spicy burn was present, but not enough to break a sweat or anything. The service was a bit grumpy but they warmed up after my constant use of "Thank you."

The night got the better of me and I did not make it out to see Finewine. I hear that he has a residency at Botanica on Wednesdays so I will have to take a rain check.

Friday Funk Mix

2008-04-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest baker's dozen from Cratedigger Labs, and so sorry for the delay in getting some hip grooves out to you all. Sometimes life gets in the way.

Once again this here mixed was mixed live on the 1200s, this time on a recent Friday night, with a couple of beers in hand. It's all vinyl all the time here at Cratedigger.

I truly hope you dig it.

Friday Funk Track list
01 Jan Jan The Fabulous Counts/ Moira
02 C'Mon And Swim Bobby Freeman/ Autumn
03 The Funky Judge Bull & The Matadors/Toddlin' Town
04 We've Got To Have Love Wilson Pickett/ Atlantic
05 (For God's Sake) Give More Power To The People Chi-Lites/ Brunswick
06 Watermelon Man Herbie Mann/ Atlantic
07 Want' A Do Somethin' Freaky To You Leon Haywood/ 20th Century
08 I Likes To Do It The People's Choice/ Phil-La of Soul
09 How Do Yeaw View You? Funkadelic/ Westbound
10 Anything You Do Is Alright The Radiants/ Chess
11 Clean Up Woman Betty Wright/ Alston
12 Get It (Instrumental) Wilmer & The Dukes/ Aphrodisiac
13 You've Got To Crawl The 8th Day/ InvictusDownload here

Black Merda Video

2008-04-16T07:36:00.001-07:00

Hey

I received an update from my earlier post.
Vincent from Fufu Stew shared a youtube video that shows Black Merda can still rock the house!

Black Merda CD

2008-04-15T06:03:00.001-07:00

After a night of sake, udon noodles, and Asian snack shopping in Gotham, I turned the corner and ventured down St. Marks. I went down the street and visited Robert and Rockit Scientist Records. I had my co worker with me, so I did not spend too mush time in digger mode.

I had to buy something, so I picked up the last CD copy of Black Merda. This is a Russian version of the Chess Records release. Could this have originally been released in 1967? Below are my thoughts based on a listening session in my Union Square hotel room.

Black Merda takes a place in the post Hendrix rock pantheon. The 1st track, "Prophet" with the refrain, "Set Me Free," sets the tone in a fuzzy manner. The next track "Think of Me" is a more lightweight number.

The next track, "Cynthy Ruth" familiar to listeners of the "Black Chains and Exhaust" boot from a few years back. Jimi-styled husky vocs on top of a fuzzy guitar riff and a funky wah-wah rythm guitar.

"Over and Over" takes an instro electrical blooz and makes it psychedelic at the same time. Mucho distortion on the constantly riffing lead guitar. Since this record originally came out on Chess Records, the sound here makes sense as "Electric Mud" and the psychedelic Howlin' Wolf LP were in the near future.

"Ashamed" takes a Northern Soul style sound and dirties it up a bit and makes the vibe quite a bit more angry.

Flip the cd over and side 2 starts with "Reality" which again shows evidence of a grittier Chitown sound. No stretch could compare this with the Chilites-although Black Merda definitely listened to them.

"Windsong" shows evidence of experimentation as the guitar sounds more acoustic and less distorted. Some sound effects are underneath-wind blowing-and there is a bit of organ buried in the mix. Instro and pretty much throw away, or perhaps a break in the set to roll another? Mellow...

"Good Luck" kicks the distortion throb up to "Cynthy Ruth" levels. They just beat the riff into submission, but the lazy tempo makes the listener think that it could fall apart at any point- it doesn't. Odd fade out and end to the track, though.

"That's The Way It Goes" has a good bassline that drives the track. Kind of a fragment of a song.

"I Don't Want To Die" has a lyrical content that may be related to drugs, the Viet Nam War, or perhaps Race Relations, all topics for 1967 lyrical discourse.

"Set Me Free" ends the set as a 43 second fragement acsoustic in nature that actually works well as a coda.

I'm with Dante on this one. "Cynthy Ruth" is the killer track here and the highpoint of the record. Chess had a winner in Black Merda. I am sure that no one noticed at the time. An interesting time capsule. I am glad that I picked it up.

CHIRP Record Fair This Weekend

2008-04-11T07:08:00.001-07:00

The Chicago Independent Radio Project is having their record fair this weekend.

This was formerly the Benefit Record Fair for WLUW, the Loyola University Chicago Radio Station. I am not totally sure of the genesis, but the Record Fair now goes by the CHIRP moniker.

I have gone the past couple of years. I will be there tomorrow.

Hope to see you there!

Raleigh Grand Prix Suburban Assault Machine

2008-04-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is as it sits.

I removed the rear spoke protector as well as the brittle 70s spoke reflectors.

I added a Velo-Orange croissant bag. I put my broken in Brooks B17 honey saddle to good use. I repurposed the ugly chrome bottle cage. I shined it up with Turtle Wax chrome polish and used a Velo-Orange bar mount to mount it to the bars. I am using the cage to carry the stainless steel tea thermos that I also scored from VO.

I then conferred with The Bike Guy, for alternatives to the horrible 70s drop bars and brake levers. he started out by setting me up with some used Bluemels/SKS chromo plastic fenders. We then decided that some old cruiser bars would work, as long as they had a few inches lopped off of each end. I said that I wanted to go with the Tektro inverse brake levers. We looked in some catalogs, but all of the ones that we found had externally routed cables. That was not going to work with the cork grips and the shortened cruiser bars.

The Bike Guy found some internally routed Tektros a few days later in another catalog. He then drilled some holes on either side of the stem to route the brake cables. I have to say, that they make the bike. They are kind of hard to see in the picture above. They look cool, and work very effectively to pull the Dia-Compe centerpulls to achieve maximum braking force.

Today, I swapped out the orginal looking Raleigh racing pedals for some Shimano Deore XT pedals from the 80s. They are lighter, and seem to work great. The bearings seem to have a lot more life in them than the other pedals.

The seating position on this rig is pretty straight up, and the bars allow for a comfortable upright stance as well. I think that I could put 100s of miles on this machine. I am really looking forward to it.

Raleigh Grand Prix update

2008-03-31T16:53:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-03-23T17:03:00.001-07:00

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

2008-03-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-09T14:56:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-06T19:18:00.000-08:00

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

2008-03-03T08:26:00.001-08:00

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

2008-03-03T07:44:00.001-08:00

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.

Yusef Lateef Live at Pep's

2008-02-17T10:06:00.000-08:00

From a recent digging trip, I came up with a stereo copy of Yusef Lateef's Live at Pep's LP. The cover is in great shape, and you know how those Impulse! LPs from the 60s look-- nice glossy covers with sharp color photos. The disc itself was in VG + shape. I was sold.

Since it is an unbelievably dreary Sunday afternoon, it seems like a great time to share some jazz.

The personnel on this set include:
Yusef Lateef tenor sax, oboe, argo, and shannas
Richard Williams trumpet
Mike Nock piano
Ernie Farrow bass
James Black drums.

Recorded June 29, 1964

Also of note, Rudy Van Gelder engineered this disc. Having been a more passive consumer of jazz, I am looking to make it a more active endeavor, and to that point, Mr. Van Gelder seems to show up on a lot of sets that I find pleasing.

Mr. Lateef draws from a wide range of influences and uses the oboe to great effect on this set. Some of the more out there instruments argo and shannas are put to use and end giving a distinct feel to his musical selections.

To that end, here is a track called The Magnolia Triangle from side two of Live at Pep's. That odd tone at the beginning and at the end of the track is produced by the aforementioned argol. Apparently this is a "twin piped reed instrument from Syria." It reminds me of some of the Pipes of Pan type noises that are all over the Master Musicians of JaJouka...

I especially dig on the drum break and the ensuing section, where the trumpets hooks up into the groove.

I thoroughly enjoy this LP, go out and find a copy for yourself!

Download Magnolia Triangle here

Back From The Depths-- Cratedigger Knocking Shop Mix

2008-02-15T05:13:00.000-08:00

Hey All.

Sorry I have been MIA. I have been traveling to pay the bills. but trying to get some digging in wherever my travels have taken me.

I also experienced the loss of my trusty mac book, so that has been a bit of a setback.

In celebration, I have gone deep into the cratedigger vault to assemble a mix of art rock that I call the knockingshop.

I am sure that I will catch some grief for this, but I don't really care. As long as the music is weird, the guitars(sometimes) are loud, and the end result doesn't verge too close to prog, I am pretty comfortable with the genre.

For me, art rock seems to spin around the central hub of Brian Eno. He (or his direct influence) touches many of the tracks on knockingshop. He performs, directs and sometimes produces various items on this sonic menu.

Adrian Belew is another character that has his sonic fingerprints all over the mix. His wailing guitar stylings are a hallmark of artrock as well, methinks.

All of the tracks were gathered from original LPs that I had collected in various crates around the homestead. I had a lot of fun taking a trip down memory lane putting this one together. Hope you dig it.

Here is the tracklist:

cratedigger knockingshop

01 DJ David Bowie
02 Lone Rhino Adrian Belew
03 Third Uncle Eno
04 Man Machine Kraftwerk
05 Worlds in Collision Jerry Harrison
06 Cars Gary Numan
07 Miss Shapiro Phil Manzanera / 801
08 Cross Eyed & Painless Talking Heads
09 Trash Roxy Music
10 Neil & Jack & Me King Crimson

Download here

DJ Colonel Radio Joint

2008-01-31T08:06:00.000-08:00

Old friend, DJ Colonel sent me some of his radio shows. As you might remember from a few months back, I posted a few DJ Colonel mixes. The show below is from his Bend OR radio program.

I don't think that he is podcasting yet, but in DJ Colonel's own words, "Come on daddyo, give dem people what you know they need. peace, colonel."

Here tis:

01 Caution Bob Marley & The Wailers
02 Dub The Line Gregory Isaacs
03 Watermelon Man Baba Brooks Band
04 No Time ft. Military Man Capelton
05 Reggae Fever Steel Pulse
06 Picture on The Wall Lion Inn Jungle
07 Gone Down Dezarie
08 The Killer Jah Stich
09 Ganja Plant Rider 10 ft Ganja Plant
10 Pass De Kahn Abja
11 Effortless Dub Greenstars
12 Free Man The Ethiopians
13 El Pussycat Roland Alphonso
14 World a Reggae Ini Kamoze
15 Hustler Ky-mani Marley

Download here

A New Cratedigger Mix -- Down and Dirty

2008-01-24T16:51:00.000-08:00

This time around in cratedigger labs, I mixed it up a bit and there is a mixture of soul, funk and more jazz grooves than I have thrown down in the past.

I have been working on the new gear to get the best sound, so I hope that I was successful. I think I made all the fades...

I call it "Down and Dirty," Dig It!

Here is the track list:
01 Intro Christopher Recordings
02 Here Come The Judge Shorty Long Soul
03 Sho Nuff Jimmy McGriff Sunset
04 A Funky Space Reincarnation Part II Marvin Gaye Tamla
05 Cloud Nine Temptations Gordy
06 Huracan Cal Tjader Crystal Clear
07 Hey Big Brother Rare Earth Rare Earth
08 Party Freaks Pt 2 Miami Drive
09 Hey Mr. DJ Bobby Moore Checker
10 Kufanya Mapenzi (Makin Love) Ramsey Lewis Columbia
11 Got Pleasure Ohio Players Westbound
12 Stop Her On Sight (SOS) Edwin Starr Ric-Tic

This mix was compiled from all original vinyl sources, most of them being the 7 inch 45 variety. The records themselves were found in the bottom of dusty crates in and around Chicago and the northern IL area.

Support your local vinyl destination. F the 'Bay!

Download here

Also, please leave a comment, literally 100s of folks are downloading my mixes, but I am getting hardly any feedback.

follow up to cratedigger labs with shure whitelabel action

2008-01-19T17:04:00.000-08:00

Based on the post below, this is a follow up in getting my 1200s set up for success in the sonic realm.

I got a replacement Shure Whitelabel cartridge and stylus in the mail. This package contained some instructions, which helped me set up the turntables correctly, finally.

I put the new cartridge on the right 1200 which had the quieter cartridge as judged by listening the the loud Ramsey Lewis 45 as described below.

The directions instructed me to take the tonearm off the rest, and then crank the counterweight all the way back so that they tonearm is sticking up in the air, kind of like a seesaw with a fat kid on one side. Then, I turned the counterweight so that it was "floating" just above the Material record that I had on the platter. I then set the dial on the tonearm to the zero setting. Next I moved the counterweight so there was 2 grams of force on the tonearm. I then spun the Material LP and it tracked perfectly. It's sonic output was also boosted, so my replacement is deemed a success.

I then set up the left 1200 with the counterweight set up as described above. I tracked a Tangerine Dream LP from 75 and it tracked perfectly as well.

A successful day in the lab, after a 60 mile road trip in the funkwagon in search of more vinyl.

Shure White Label Cartridge deep in cratedigger labs

2008-01-14T13:35:00.000-08:00

I have been using Shure White Label cartridges that came with the 1200s that I bought a few months back, and I thought that they sounded pretty good. I even spent the money to get some new styli so that I wouldn't be killing my vinyl with worn needles...

I recently upgraded the mixer and over the weekend, I set out to make a mix of some of my recent finds. I hooked up my macbook to my amp, fired up garage band and started mixing.

Listening, and watching the meters in GB showed that one of my tables was much quieter than the other. At first, I chalked this up to the fact of the variety of mastering levels, mono v. stereo etc. So I finished up the mix with the 45 of Makin' Love by Ramsey Lewis. This is a pretty loud and full sounding groove on any day, but on this day it was darn near deafening.

Something was up. I took the record and put it on the right table, and it was definitely quieter. Next I switched the whitelabels from one table to the other. Now the right table was louder, and the left was the quiet one. I then switched the styli from one to the other. That did not have an effect on the Ramsey Lewis 45. The same right 1200 was louder than the left. So I don't think that the styli are the culprits.

One of my whitelabels is more quiet that the other. I verified by listening to the mix that I made, and there was only so much EQ, that I could throw into the mix after the fact.

Early this morning, I ordered another whitelabel. Once I get it, I will match the new with the better of the two cartridges that I currently have.

From the Crates...

2008-01-12T07:07:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share some thoughts about some recent LPs and tracks that I have come across.
The Chambers Brothers Greatest Hits. The title is a misnomer, of course. I am not a Billboard Hot 100 scholar, but really come on "Time Has Come Today" is the only hit I know of. The set opener "Funky" has a nice short break at the beginning. The LP version of "Time Has Come Today" has a much longer freak out / jam/ break than the 45 version that I have had for years. Look for this break to appear on a cratedigger labs release in the near future, sound pilgrims.

Side 2 contains a track that has much backwards weirdness and sound effects ala "Time Has Come Today" and was a nice treat that I had not heard before.

The name checking the Eric Burdon does on the track Monterey has not aged very well. The music is light as well. Not any of the Gratefully Dead unreleased single swagger is evident. Searh that track out as it has Burdon's growl, backwards guitars like Hendrix, and has that heavy acid sound that Chas Chandler (early Animals bassist, Jimi manager) became known for.

My ears perked up a bit when the stereo effects of "Closer To The Truth" where a blues dirge and and out of tune guitar line and twisted in a most peculiar way.

The hippie acid and horns concoction that M. Burdon brews up on this release is nothing to get charged up about. His acid soaked lyrics suggest a sophomoric obsession with Louis Carroll type topics. I won't be spending much time with this one.

New Years Shouts!

2008-01-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

I have been checking out some stuff lately, and to paraphrase good buddy Iowahawk,

"The House Recommends" the following:

Kid Dyno and crew has a great new podcast called Breaks for Days Radio. Check it out. Admittedly, I am not much of a hip hop head, but Kid Dyno put together a cool mix with which I enjoyed expanding my listening palette.

Vincent @ Fufu Stew has a New Year's Mix called Fufu Funk Mix #4 1/2. How deep are his crates? I can't believe the volume and quantity of the mixes that he shares with us all...

DJ Blueprint is continuing his guest mix series at This is Tomorrow. There is always something new there- either a new mix, a dusty 45, or something else cool, such as the list he shares dedicated to all of the music people who left us in 2007. Definitely check this one on the regular.

Scholar at Souled On, has a feature called "Cover My Ass" on offer. Here he shares the history behind a track and then serves up a cover version. The quality of writing here, truly allows Scholar to live up to his moniker. Learn something...

Heavy Soul Brutha Dave has a new mix up called Four Quads per Channel Mix. Dave is pushing a tribute to the 70s with this mix of LP tracks. Check it out.

Support your fellow bloggers!

New Spot for Diggin'

2008-01-09T07:54:00.000-08:00

Hey All,

I was very excited to find a new digging spot out in the hinterlands of northern IL, roughly the area that was hit by tornado action earlier this week due to the extremely warm and unseasonable weather here in the scenic Midwest.

For a 35 mile (one way) trip, I think I may have a new place to hit again and again. This place has tons of LPS and upon leaving, I discovered that they also have a lot of 45s that need to be sorted as well. I shall return with the Vestax portable, hopefully on Saturday.

From a quick visit, I came up with the following:

Beau Brummels Laugh Laugh Autumn
Budgie S/t MCA import
Eric Burdon and The Animals The Twain Shall Meet MGM
Chambers Bros. Greatest Hits Columbia
Bill Cosby Why Is There Air? Warners Honestly, I love Cos' 60's comedy. I am hoping to score some of his funk 45s... Hey Hey hey.
Temptations Cloud 9 Gordy

There is a ton of stuff that needs to be in me crates, there, I can feel it.

A belated holiday gift...

2008-01-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

I felt that the cratedigger reference system needed an upgrade, especially since I was never a fan of the old mixer, anyway.

I picked the above Vestax online (with free shipping and no sales tax, to boot). I hooked it up the other night, but last night gave its' first real workout.

There is quite a big sonic upgrade over the last mixer. The actual sliders and the fader seem to be of higher quality as well. We will see.

I am considering getting some powered monitors in the upcoming months. This unit has xlr outputs, which should allow for more brick rattling sound.

December 24th Mix

2007-12-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all cratedigger visitors and regulars.

I think that this blog and my knowledge of music has come a long way over the past year. Thanks for stopping and for all of your input (and comments.)

In thanks, please find the latest mix from cratedigger labs, imaginatively titled dec 24 mix.

I have culled these sides from a variety of real world sources, junk stores, record shops and garage sales, mostly from the Northern IL area, but there are a number of tracks that were rediscovered on a recent trip to SF.

The odd pic above is from a house party during last summer.

Hope you dig. Best in 2008!!!

dec 24 mix tracklist

01 Intro-Shure Brothers
02 Detroit Emeralds I Bet You Get The One (Who Loves You) Westbound
03 Intruders Turn The Hands Of Time Gamble
04 Stereo’s Stereo Freeze Pt. 1 Cadet
05 Meters Sophisticated Cissy Josie
06 Dynatones The Fife Piper HBR
07 Solomon Burke I’m Leaving on That Late Late Train Chess
08 Kool & The Gang North, East, South, West De-Lite
09 Simtec & Wylie Nine Times Out Of Ten Mercury
10 Chi-Lites Being In Love Brunswick
11 Lonette McKee Save It (Don’t Give it Away) Sussex
12 Rufus Thomas The Funky Penguin Pt. 1 Stax
13 Swamp Dogg Do You Believe Elektra
14 King Curtis 8th Wonder Atco

Download here

RIP Ike Turner

2007-12-13T11:50:00.000-08:00

I vividly remember the first time that I saw Ike and Tina perform, when I was but a wee lad. It was a Saturday morning in the very early 70s. I was at the Sears store with my pops and he was buying some tools or something, but as usual, I got distracted in the electronics department.

Soul Train, or some similar show was on all 40 black and white and "living" color tv sets. The main thing that I noticed was that the volume was cranked on all the sets, when usually the volume was muted.

There was this incredibly hot woman in the shortest of skirts and the tallest of boots (silver, perhaps?) that was singing he lungs out in front of a tight band that was bordered by a series of HUGE Orange speaker cabinets. I was staring at the biggest set and one of the sales dudes, said, "Hey Lil' Man, you're watchin' Tina Turner!!!" I think the song was Proud Mary.

At the time, I had no idea what role Ike Turner played in any of this, but as a little kid in Chicago, I thought this was up there with James Brown, Stevie Wonder and The Jackson Five.

I was traveling today, so more out of the pocket than normal, when I saw in the NYTimes that Ike Turner had passed away in San Diego at the age of 76. He was known as both Izear Luster Turner Jr and Ike Wister Turner and was born in the Delta town of Clarkdale Mississippi.

It boggles the mind to consider that Ike wrote the song Rocket 88 (at least the intro and 1st verse) all the way back in 1951! That was 20 years and more before I was grooving to Ike & Tina in the early 70s. I learned about the Jackie Brenston and the Nightcats much later in my life, but I still enjoy hearing it even now. I can't imagine what an effect a song like that may have had way back then. The Times said Ike was paid $20 for the record that went on to sell 500,000 copies on Chess Records.

In 1958, he was working the St. Louis scene and met Anna Mae Bullock, whom he later named Tina Turner. I will spare all the detail of their ups and downs as they are well documented elsewhere.

As always, music always speaks better than words anyway. The music lives forever.

In remembrance, here is an Ike and Tina funky track that I included on a mix earlier this year, Funkier Than A Mosquitos' Tweeter.

Link

Some Digs in SF

2007-12-10T16:40:00.000-08:00

I got back from a few days in the SF Bay Area recently. In my spare time, I hit some of the vinyl emporiums around town. I visited a total of 5 stores. I felt that 2 were worthy of a return visit.

I love that city. I can only imagine what shows up at house sales. It also seems that Serrato/Skratch has taken over all DJ booths. Vinyl has fallen from favor. I bet if you look it is all over the place...

I came up from the depths with the following:

LP

An Audio Obstacle Course- Shure Trackability Test Record for Stereo Cartridges

45s

Byrds Feel A Whole Better Columbia
King Curtis 8th Wonder Atco
Swamp Dogg Do You Believe Elektra
Lonette McKee Do It To Me Sussex
Simtec & Wylie Nine Times Out of Ten Mercury
Soul Survivors Turn Out The Fire Atco
Rufus Thomas Do the Funky Penguin Stax

I have no doubt that with more time, many more 45s would have made it home in my luggage.

Jah Shaka "remix"

2007-12-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

A couple of months back, while digging at a house sale, I came upon an odd selection of LPs. Amongst the Nat King Cole Christmas records and the odd Bing Crosby joint, I found some interesting wax.

One of them was a Jah Shaka Far I Ship Dub LP that contained 2 sides of dubs. The LP is from the UK in the early 90s on the Jah Shaka Music label. I enjoyed the rumbling that the LP gave my house.

This got me to thinking that maybe I would try to mix one of the hotter tracks. I attempted to give the cratedigger treatment to Far I Ship Dub. I have a long way to go with developing my skills in this area, but you have to start somewhere.

Here is my attempt at a "remix" of this track:

Here is a link:

cratedigger fari ship dub remix

check out this holiday gift

2007-12-07T15:25:00.001-08:00

I got a set of these slip mats from A. Toots as an early gift. They look really sweet on the 1200 mk 3s...

In Dangerous Rhythm 1500th post mix

2007-12-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone in the audience...

Sorry about the extended absences, but travel and life in general have gotten in the way of posting...

Colin over at In Dangerous Rhythm has done a new mix in celebration of his 1500th post.

Check it out here.

IDR 1500 Mix

Some digs this weekend

2007-11-25T14:16:00.000-08:00

I had some extra time this long weekend, and I had the chance to hit one of my favorite record spots.

The digging was pretty uneventful, other than I had to keep a couple of bored 4 year olds away from my portable and I also had to keep a dog away from my keeper pile. I felt that I had a pretty good afternoon. I spent some time today cleaning these up, but I have not given all of the records a spin yet.

I spent roughly 2 hours and came up with the following:

45s
Hank Ballard "Finger Poppin' Time" King
Bobby Blue Bland "Blue Moon" Duke
James Brown "Stoned To The Bone" Polydor
James Brown "Make It funky" Polydor
Solomon Burke "I'm Leaving On The Late Late Train" Chess
Chairmen of The Board "Finders Keepers" Invictus
Chi-Lites "Troubles A Comin" Brunswick
Chi-Lites "Being In Love" Brunswick
George Clinton "Atomc Dog" Capitol
General Crook "Gimme Some" Down To Earth (this seems to be more common than I thought)
Crown Heights Affair "Foxy Lady" De-Lite
King Curtis "This is Soul" Atco
King Curtis "Soul Seranade" Capitol
Detroit Emeralds "You're Getting' A Little Too Smart" Westbound
Detroit Emeralds "I Bet You Get The One (Who Loves You) Westbound
Dramatics "Thankful For Your Love" Volt
Dramatics "(Gimme Some) Good Soul Music" Volt
Dynatones The Fife Piper HBR
Esquires "Listen To Me" Bunky
Five Flights Up "Black Cat" TA
Franklin, Aretha "Don't Play That Song" Atlantic

LP

King Tubby "Dub Mix Up" Jamaican Recordings

I came across another lead for digging in the area, so I hope to make it out over the next few weeks.

Hip-Pocket Recordings

2007-11-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

I received an interesting package in the post the other night. In the package there was roughly 20 colored envelopes that enclosed many choice sounds from the 67-68 time frame Bobby & James Purify, The Seeds, The Syndicate of Sound, etc.

The envelopes contained Hip-Pocket Records that were a product from Philco-Ford, that had a place in the market from 1967-68. Above is an image of the Hip-Pocket packaging that I borrowed from WFMU.

Here is a discography for the Hip-Pocket catalog:

Number	Artist	Title

HP-1	Tommy James & the Shondells	Mirage / I Think We're Alone Now
HP-2	Tommy James & the Shondells	Hanky Panky / Gettin' Together
HP-3	Sam The Sham	Ju Ju Hand / Wooly Bully
HP-4	Mitch Ryder	Jenny Take a Ride / Sock It To Me Baby
HP-5	Neil Diamond	Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon / Cherry Cherry
HP-6	McCoys	Fever / Hang on Sloopy
HP-7	Happenings	Go Away Little Girl / See You in September
HP-8	Sonny & Cher	I Got You Babe / The Beat Goes On
HP-9	Doors	Light My Fire / Break on Through
HP-10	Five Americans	Western Union / Sounds of Love
HP-11	Wilson Pickett	Land of 1000 Dances / Midnight Hour
HP-12	Percy Sledge	When A Man Loves A Woman / Baby Help Me
HP-13	Otis Redding	Shake / Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa
HP-14	Buckinghams	Kind of a Drag / Lawdy Miss Clawdy
HP-15	Arthur Conley	Sweet Soul Music / You Don't Have To See me
HP-16	Van Morrison	Brown-Eyed Girl / Midnight Special
HP-17	Neil Diamond	You Got To Me / Solitary Man
HP-18	Young Rascals	A Girl Like You / I've Been Lonely Too Long
HP-19	Spanky And Our Gang	Making Every Minute Count / Bird Avenue
HP-20	Keith	98.6 / Ain't Gonna Lie
HP-21	Lesley Gore	You Don't Own Me / That's the Way the Boys Are
HP-22	Jay and The Techniques	Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie / Loving For Money
HP-23	The Fallen Angels	Room At The Top / Most Children Do
HP-24	Aretha Franklin	Respect / Soul Serenade
HP-25	John Fred and his Playboy Band	Judy in Disguise / No Letter Today
HP-26	The Seeds	Pushin' Too Hard / Can't Seem To Make You Mine
HP-27	Box Tops	The Letter / Happy Times
HP-28	James and Bobby Purify	I'm Your Puppet / Goodness Gracious
HP-29	Syndicate of Sound	Little Girl / Rumors
HP-30	Shirelles	Soldier Boy / My Heart Belongs To You
HP-31	Etta James	Tell Mama / Security
HP-32	The Dells	There Is / Show Me
HP-33	Bo Diddley	I'm A Man / Song of Bo Diddley
HP-34	Chuck Berry	Maybelline / Roll Over Beetoven
HP-35	Country Joe and The Fish	Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine / Masked Marauder
HP-36	Joan Baez	There But For Fortune / Pack Up Your Sorrows
HP-37	Rooftop Singers	Walk Right In / Tom Cat
HP-38	Brenton Wood	Gimme Little Sign / Oogum Boogum
HP-39	Fantastic Johnny "C"	Boogaloo Down Broadway / Got What You Need
HP-40	Brenda and the Tabulations	Dry Your Eyes / When You're Gone
HP-41	Isley Brothers	Twist And Shout

The majority of my Hip-pockets are unopened, but there are a couple that have the seals broken. I plan to give these a spin on the 1200s tonight.

The discs themselves look like mini records, but are made of a flexible, bendable material, not unlike some of the sound sheets that would appear in magazines in the 60s or 70s. They spin at 45 RPM, but they are so small in diameter that it requires the use of a non returning tone arm to play them. Above is a picture of the mini turntable that was available to play these little records.

Apparently, these records were only on offer at your local Ford Dealer or a Woolworth's outlet. The suggested retail price was $.69.

Here is the marketing speak that appears on many of the envelopes:

Buy the hits you missed

25 to 50 hip pocket records can be carried in pocket or purse

Hip pocket records can be mailed with greeting cards as a gift

They will outlast a regular 45

Drop them or sit on them...they are almost indestructible

Take them to parties or to the beach or picnic...they are the most portable form of music

Don't let the small size fool you...the sound is amazingly big

Start your collection of hip pocket records today.

I wonder if FOMOCO ever offered the player as a dealer installed option. My 66 Mustang with an under dash record playing unit would be way cool.

Fufu Stew Thanksgiving post

2007-11-20T05:26:00.000-08:00

Please jet over to FuFu Stew for Vincent's A Fufu Stew Thanksgiving Mix,
I contributed a few tracks to the mix as did many other soul and funk aficionados.

There are three parts to the mix, to coincide with Vincent's typical Thanksgiving meal. There is literally a ton of tasty treats on offer of both the soul and funk variety so please stop by, pull up a chair and don't be shy about asking for a care package (doggie bag) before you leave.

Have a great Thanksgiving everybody!

New Mix--Street Tax

2007-11-17T04:36:00.000-08:00

Hey all you soul and funk fans. Sorry that I have been out of pocket so much lately, but working for the man, sure has a way of taking up your time.

I have been able to do some digging a couple of times a month and have been able to find loads of dirty, affordable 45s. These lost treasures form the basis for the latest mix, which I am calling Street Tax.

The lovely picture above was contributed by a longtime cohort, The Colonel. I believe that the picture was taken somewhere in Oregon. He has this to say, "(I) can't decide if he is a cowboy airforce vet or a civil war figurine?"

The selected tracks are a bit all over the place with some more common songs butting up against more deep tracks. Toots was very helpful in assistance with digging and found some of the discs that make up this mix.

Once again, the 1200s provided the means with which I recorded the discs to my macbook. All cuts were taken from original 45s, excepting the Ike & Tina cut which was pulled from the original Come Together LP.

I hope that you dig it.

Here is the tracklist:

street tax- a cratedigger compilation

01 The Impressions (Baby) Turn On To Me Curtom
02 Luther Ingram I Can’t Stop Koko
03 Isley Brothers Pop That Thang T Neck
04 Fantastic Johnny C Hitch It To The Horse Phil LA
05 Willie Henderson Funky Chicken Pt 1
06 Fabulous Counts Get Down People Moira
07 Lou Courtney What Do You Want Me To Do Epic
08 Lee Dorsey Workin’ In The Coal Mine Amy
09 Ike & Tina Turner I Want To Take You Higher Liberty (LP Cut)
10 Willie Hutch Brother’s Gonna Work It Out Motown
11 Ray Charles Booty Butt Tangerine
12 James Brown Soul Power Pt 1 King
13 Bobby Blue Bland Bobby’s Blues Duke
14 Dobie Gray The In Crowd Charger

Download link

Iowahawk's latest video

2007-11-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

Iowahawk took a trip to Mexico and you can imagine that it wasn't just a trip to Cancun for some fun in the sun.

Iowahawk was able to find Bid Daddy Roth's Orbitron "lost" car in the depths of Mexico. I actually spoke with Iowahawk via cell phone while he was in the midst of this auto archaeological expedition. I have to say, Mexico appeared to be a physically daunting mission even for the mighty Iowahawk.

Check this out:

Jimmy Smith Organ Grinder Swing

2007-10-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

I am in Gotham for a few hours over the next day or so, and I finally made a point to go to Academy Records on 18th between 5th and 6th Ave.

While I was unhappy with their vinyl selection-- it was classical mainly, and I saw some of those boxes that you see in the midwest house sales with multiple LPs of Glen Miller or whatnot... I did find some stuff in their jazz CD section. I got out of there with only 2 CDs which seems sort of lame, in retrospect. I should try to sneak out tomorrow for "coffee" during work.

One of the gems that I picked up was Jimmy Smith Organ Grinder Swing on Verve. I have been digging on the Hammond b-3 stylings of Jimmy Smith for a while, and it is time to dig into his discog a bit more.

The title track leads it off, and it is a swinging number that runs a brief 2.12. The guitar follows the lead provided by the organ, in the left channel, a minute or so in the guitar takes a lead. During the lead Jimmy stabs the organ to punctuate the track. Some groaning moaning "vocals"can be heard in the background. I can't wait to listen to this track on the CD Reference System as opposed to a couple of wimpy laptop speaks...

According to Wikipedia, after record a stack of records for Blue Note, Jimmy Smith moved over to the Verve label in 63. This particular LP was tracked in June 1965 at Van Gelder Recording Studio in Englewood Cliffs New Jersey.

Listening to this record, you certainly get the feel that Smith could make enough noise and run enough leads and bass lines on his B-3 and Leslie speaker cabinet that the guitar by Kenny Burrell and drums (Grady Tate) are nice extras, in the left and right channels, respectively. You have to love that early stereo.

The fourth track is an unbelievable shredding of Greensleeves.

I would recommend that you go find a copy of this one immediately.

Soul Brutha Dave's new mix

2007-10-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

Dave has done it again with a new mix for your downloading pleasure.

It is all Souls Sisters. Take a trip over there and give it a listen.

Lemont's Choice

2007-10-09T19:14:00.000-07:00

In honor of my favorite TV show of all time, I would like to dedicate my most recent concoction to Demond Wilson, TV's Lemont on Sanford and Son.

This is the first mix, where I did all live on my 1200s. Up to this point, I was recording each 45 and then mixing digitally. The 1200s make this so much more fun! My skills are pretty minimal so cut me some slack if the cuts seem forced.

Lemont's Choice was brewed with only original 45s in varying states of decay. I have been enjoying some good digging lately.

Here is the tracklist:

01 Express Yourself Charles Wright & The Watts 103 St Rhythm Band/ Warners (Promo)
02 Funky Me Timmy Thomas/ Glades
03 I Wanna Testify Parliaments/ Revilot
04 Maryjane Bobby Rush/ Galaxy
05 Taurus Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band/ Sussex
06 Mighty Mighty Jesse Anderson/ Thomas
07 Gimme Some (Part 1) General Crook/ Down To Earth
08 Cadillac Jack Andre Williams/ Checker
09 I Wanna Know Mongo Santamaria/ Columbia
10 Love Is A Four Letter Word Jimmy Witherspoon/ Capitol
11 Everybody’s Got A Little Devil In Their Soul Tommie Young/ Soul Power
12 Hot Thang Eddy Senay/ Sussex
13 Come See About Me Junior Walker & The All Stars/ Soul

Here is a download link

Some digging this past weekend

2007-10-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

I have found a place that seems to have some pretty good booty when it comes to cratedigging here in the Chicago area.

I dont want to share my haunt, but I will share some of the many discs that I picked up over the weekend. The turntables were certainly happy with their new styli and plenty of old wax to dig through.

Yardbirds Shapes of Things Epic
JBs Same Beat People (2 copies)
Timmy Thomas Funky Me Glades
Bobby Rush Mary Jane Galaxy (2 copies)
Jimmy Ruffin Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me Soul
The Who Pinball Wizard Decca
War Lowrider UA (promo)
Parliaments I Wanna Testify Revillot
Wilson Pickett Don't Knock My Love Atlantic
Wilson Pickett Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You Atlantic
Martha & The Vandellas My Baby Loves Me Gordy
Cliff Nobles The Horse (Instrumental) Gold Soul
ZZ Hill Hold Back Mankind
Santana Oye Como Va Columbia
Sam & Dave Hold On I'm A Comin Stax
Muddy Waters Tiger in Your Tank Chess
Mongo Santamaria Bossa Negra Columbia
Tommie Young Do You Still Feel The Same Way Soul Power
Wilson Pickett We've Got To Have Love Atlantic
Clarence Reed I'm Working While Its Day Jewel
Andre Williams Cadillac Jack Checker
Jimmy Witherspoon Love is A Four Letter Word Capitol
The Radiants Anything You Do Is Alright Chess
Charles Wright Express Yourself Warner Promo
Jr Walker Sweet Soul Soul
Bill Withers Ain't No Sunshine Sussex
Eddy Senay Ain't No Sunshine Sussex
Willie Hutch Party Down Motown
Herbie Mann Watermelon Man Atlantic

I don't have any interesting record people sightings, except for maybe the guy that was trying to sing garage tunes, while looking at Sundazed reissues, that was sort of surreal.

I need to get together another mix...

Cratedigger goes to the movies--Poor Pretty Eddie

2007-09-25T17:09:00.001-07:00

This is a disturbing trash film that a college friend sent over. I would consider it to be a Hicksploitation film, if I had to use a genre title.

Poor Pretty Eddie stars Leslie Uggams, Shelley Winters and Slim Pickens. The real star for me is Ted Cassidy who portrays the loyal Keno character. Yes, it is Ted "Lurch" Cassidy.

Uggams portrays a popular singer that decides to take a solo road trip in her early 60s white Bentley. Not a good choice to go into the county that has Bertha, and her cast of stars that include the title character, Eddie, who fancies himself an Elvis impersonator.

Of course the Bentley overheats in Bertha's front yard. She meets Eddie in a bar, where he rents her a Batesesque cabin and plots ways to keep Uggams there at the compound so that he can violate her.

Shelley Winters is a drunken has been that surrounds herself with losers like Eddie and Keno, that give her ego a boost with their presence. Immediately she is jealous of Uggams, but does nothing when she asks for her help after being attacked by Eddie.

I like trash, but I really found nothing entertaining about this film, I mean Shanty Tramp seemd like fine cinema compared to this. It was cool to see Cassidy late in his career, but it is hard to make the stretch that he is acting. Shelley Winters seems to be playing herslf here, I wonder if she was drinking for real onset... I know I almost needed a cold beer after viewing this mess.

Good Guys Show Joliet IL 092207 part un

2007-09-23T14:25:00.001-07:00

Iowahawk called me up yesterday am to see if I was interested in checking out the Good Guys Show at the Route 66 Raceway in Joilet. I was to drive the support vehicle (modern daily driver) behind the 2 hotrods in the 90 mile caravan to Joliet. A cohort named Wingnutz joined us in his big block powered 31 roadster done 60s drag style. That is one fast 1780 lb machine!

Iowahawk took the Coupe of Justice out for the day. The Alexander Bros. would have been proud.

Some shots above of Pete & Jakes' former 29 shop truck, done in a cool 70s style.
Above are two cool A roadsters, the one on the left is a flathead-powered 29 done in a 48 style and the one on the left is pure 60s survivor with a choice Buick Nailhead for motivation.
Shot here includes Wingnuts 60s style drag machine (11 sec time slip, claimed 135 top speed so far!!!)
This shot includes the Coupe of Justice on the left. What a day, time to go count my pennies...

Good Guys Show Joliet IL 092207 part deux

2007-09-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

This was a tremendous 32 5 window coupe. It looked pretty much untouched by the hands of time. It had a 59 Pontiac motor in it, and basically everything else that Henry put in it in 1932. The owner scored it this summer in Nebraska. Iowahawk and I thought it was the best car at the show.

This was a cool 63 Rivi. The fade away paint was pretty trick. My crappy camera does not do it justice.

The Revolution Will Not Be Motorized

2007-09-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

This mix explores two of my favorite things, soul / funk music and bikes. It is not all about cars and guitars…

Dear reader, from my vantage point, it is also about gears (3 speed Raleigh!), beers (Red Stripe, yo), and funky tunes played loudly.

One of the best moments of this past summer was trekking with a 1000 other cyclists through the Southwest Side of our fair city aka tha hood, and listening to Curtis Mayfield’s live double album on a 800 watt bicycle trailer-drawn sound system.

This set of tracks was thoughtfully crafted for your listening pleasure with that thought and vibe in mind.

Special thanks to cover model, a. toots for assistance in digging a couple of the sides out of the bottom of some musty crates.

Hope you dig it.

The revolution will not be motorized- a cratedigger mix

01 Gil Scott Heron Intro / The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
02 Soul Searchers Blow Your Whistle Sussex
03 Curley Moore Shelleys’ Rubber Band House of The Fox
04 Gunga Din Crabcakes Crypt Comp
05 Lavell Hardy Women of The World Rojac
06 Mandrill Fencewalk (LP Version) Polydor
07 Ripple See The Light GRC
08 James Brown Just Enough Room Polydor (LP cut)
09 Eddie Floyd Woodman Stax
10 Wylie & Simtec Do It Like Mommy Shama
11 100 Proof I’d Rather Fight Than Switch Hot Wax
12 Rufus Thomas The Push and Pull Pt 1 Stax
13 Bloodstone Peter’s Jones London
14 Johnnie Nash Stir It Up Epic

Download here :

Something new at Cratedigger Labs

2007-09-11T05:18:00.000-07:00

I have been looking on and off for a while to obtain a pair of the mighty 1200s. As usual, I had a budget number and a condition level in mind as I looked for a pair of Technics 1200s.

At the end of yesterday afternoon, I saw a promising ad on craigslist and came up with the decks above. I had to borrow a truck and head into the West Loop, Greektown area to pick them up.

I am stoked. Oh, and DJ QBert signed these...

Live from cratedigger labs...

2007-09-02T18:05:00.001-07:00

As you can see in the pic above, sound has been undergoing some testing chez cd. A while back, I hit a garage sale and picked up the 1990 Cerwin Vega 2 way speakers that you see in the foreground on the floor. They are extremely clean, but the surround foam on both cabinets was toast. From my preliminary tests, the tweets seemed perfect. They were $10.00.

I found some dudes that said they could hook me up with new foam. I called them and the conversation convinced me that they were worthy of the job.

I received the rebuilt woofers yesterday via UPS, and hooked up the 8 inch woofers in the ported cabinets. The positive side is clearly marked on the clips, and obviously the wires are color coded accordingly.

Tonight, I commenced testing.

I installed the speaker lines on the Speaker B selection on the Pioneer receiver that I have been using, leaving the ARs hooked up to Speaker A.

It should be noted that these speakers are sitting on my padded carpeting and are not my preferred 12-18 inches from the wall. Still, the bass is thumping...

I first listened to some Godfather and then moved over to Return of The DJ v. 2. So far so good, now moving over to the AIF version of The Colonels' Little Unique Mix.

Just another reason to find a bigger and better amp.

Cratedigger Record Cleaner

2007-09-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

I had a very successful digging expedition yesterday. I found a couple of new veins of funky and soulful 45s to mine. Since these spots were what I would consider "real" digging, some of the very cost effective discs were pretty dirty.

I figured that if there weren't warped, too scratched or cracked, I could clean them at home. Well, that seemed like a good idea at the time...

One of the 45s, a cover of Mighty Mighty, looked like a listener had spilled milk (White Russian?!?) all over it before it was laid to rest in the basement of a bar, or someplace that is equally damp.

In the past, I have been using a damp piece of flannel to wipe some of the more dirty records down, and that has worked pretty well up to this point. But this method wasn't doing it for Mighty Mighty.

I did some quick research, in the dark recesses of my mind as well as on the internet, and I came up with the idea of using some alcohol and some water to clean the record.

I found an old Tilex bottle, and rinsed it out a few times to get out any remaining product. Then I grabbed a shot glass and filled it with some isopropyl alcohol (70%) and dumped it into the Tilex bottle.

Then, I started some water to boil in my kettle. My thought was that distilled water should be cleaner than tap water on the dirty records, no need to add more minerals and gunk to an already soiled record.

Once the water boiled, I added three shots of my distilled water to the Tilex bottle.

I tried out the spray on the Mighty Mighty side, and then wiped with a clean piece of flannel from an old pair of pajamas. The grunge lifted right off the grooves and resulted in a noticeably more listenable 45.

So here it is, take one part isopropyl alcohol, three parts distilled water and wipe with a clean piece of flannel.

This is my no buck (0$) response to the old DiscWasher from back in the 80s.

Guest Post Vincent from Fufu Stew- C is for Cratedigger

2007-08-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

Any reader of this little blog will be familiar with both Vincent and his blog fufu stew. Vincent has put together a two part Holiday weekend mix where one part is posted on cratedigger and the other is posted on his blog.

Here is a link to the part of the mix on Fufu Stew:

Warmed over leftovers

I am very honored to have the chance to share the fruits of Vincent's cratedigging efforts. I will let Vincent take over from here.

Stay cool with the soul and funky sounds of DJ SOUL Chef!!!

Hello, kiddies.

Here I am in in your backyard, armed with a massive stack of 45 rpm goodness. I've never been to Chicago, but if I do get the chance, I know where to go first. Thank you Rich for having me aboard. If you Cratedigger fans had a chance to pick up on what I put down over at Souled On Music, then you know where my head is right now. This is the second in a series of mixes where I will attempt to use all six keys of the scale on a standard keyboard. For reasons that should be rather apparent, this one focuses on the key of "C". It's a gentle blend of sweet Northern and Southern soul, plus plenty of funky heat. After having blasted it on my iPod for the past couple of days, I decided that it was done just right and ready to serve, so without further ado, here we go...

01 Here Comes The Judge-Shorty Long (Soul)
02 Hunk Of Funk-Gene Dozier & The Brotherhood (Minit)
03 (I Wanna) Testify-The Parliaments (Revilot)
04 Bingo-G.T.+4 (The Groovy Label)
05 Do It To It-Bird Rollins Featuring The New Jersey Burners (Calla)
06 Cool Broadway-The Fantastic Johnny C (Phil L.A. Of Soul)
07 Hogwash-Earnest Jackson (Stone)
08 Hot Butter N All-Lou Courtney (Hurdy Gurdy)
09 Damph F'aint-The Herb Johnson Settlement (Toxsan)
10 I Can't Get Next To You-Mongo Santamaria (Atlantic)
11 If I Had A Hammer-Ace Cannon (Hi)
12 I Likes To Do It-The Peoples Choice (Phil L.A. Of Soul)
13 Leroy Is In The Army-Jimmy Castor (Smash)
14 Nothing You Can Do-Wilson Pickett (Atlantic)
15 Saturday Night Fish Fry-The Coasters (Atco)
16 Tip Toe-Robert Parker (NOLA)
17 Everyting's Hunky Dory-Billy Harner (V-Tone)
18 You Ain't Too Cool-Cash McCall (Thomas)
19 Gettin' Away-Cliff Nobles & Co. (Phil L.A. Of Soul)
20 Here Comes The Meter Man-The Meters (Josie)
21 Serve 'Em-Madhouse (Today)
22 Get Down People-The Fabulous Counts (Moira)
23 Crazy Legs-Donald Austin (Eastbound)
24 Swim Pts. 1&2-Bobby Freeman (Autumn)
25 Wild Little Tiger-The Isley Brothers (Atlantic)
26 One Eye Open-Maskman & The Agents (Dynamo)
27 Alvin's Bag-Alvin Cash (Toddlin' Town)
28 Let's Go Get Stoned-James Brown (Smash)

I can't stress enough how much of a pleasure it is to be able to join in with all of these great blogs and share my love for the timely sport of crate digging. I have learned so much in such a short amount of time, not to mention the practice I've been getting in making these mixes with the mighty Cakewalk Pyro software. I'll be back at it again real soon. I hope you will all join me for the ride. Have a great weekend, have fun and as always, be safe.

Peace and blessings.

Please download and enjoy "C Is For Cratedigger", an .mp3 file, 69 MB.

Party in Pilsen 82507

2007-08-28T18:10:00.000-07:00

My buddy Sloth, invited me to go to a party with him in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. I have enjoyed what limited exposure that I have had with that neighborhood. so I agreed.

This was a house party with a professional PA, 1200s, the works. Also it was a late night, as the shindig was due to start at 11PM. There were a number of DJs scheduled to perform, including Alexander, Slow Children and Ed DMX from the UK was to headline.

The house had a killer pro PA system, it was loud as hell and very clear. There were also a couple of projectors illuminating the space with various video and images mixed on a macbook. Note the figure shadowed above, bathed in cool blue hues... Here is Ed DMX a banging away on his Roland and other contraptions.

In the background you can see the video/image mixer at the macbook projection deck...

All in all a cool evening. The music itself was pretty far from funky. I couldn't venture to say what sort of stuff they were spinning.

I did enjoy a gent named Chris who was very proficient on the decks, and used some old school rap to do fast cuts from whatever other music was spinning on the other platter.

I think that I would like to spin a set next time and get the kids moving to some music that is more my flavor.

Thanks for the good times.

Another Guest mix: DJ Blueprint from this is tomorrow

2007-08-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

If you are down with the soul and funk blogosphere, then surely you are aware of this is tomorrow, which happens to be one of my faves.

DJ Blueprint, the proprietor of this is tomorrow put together a tight 30 minute funk work out set for cratedigger.

I am pleased to present:

30 min funk workout 4
tracklist:
1. incomparable seven - funky grand paw part 1 (top hit)
2. landlord & tennants - sagittarius part 1 (coach)
3. soul patrol - don't knock the cop (zuma)
4. communicators & black experience band - is it funky enough?
(duplex)
5. the marlboro men - (ride on) iron horse (nite beat)
6. sammy gordon & the hiphuggers - upstairs on boston road part 1
(archives)
7. house guests - my mind set me free part 1 (house guests)
8. tommy bass - (i can't help it baby) this is my thing (soulful)
9. city council ltd. - when you git through wit it put it back (gt
graytom)
10. mary davis - danger! (playboy at work) (conclave)
11. con-funk-shun - clique (fretone)

Please download 30 min workout 4.

Enjoy.

SOULMAN 2001 SPACED ODDITIES PT. 2

2007-08-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

Phill over at thatrealschitt has posted the second half of his 2001 Spaced Oddities.

I dug the first half and my trip out of NYC yesterday was put to a most excellent groove to the recently posted second half.

Go check it out.

Link

RB is a guest selecter at this is tomorrow

2007-08-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

this is tomorrow blog is celebrating its' first birthday by inviting guest selectors to post mixes.

I am in awe of the company that I share in this honor. Larry from funky16corners and Vincent from Fufu Stew have already posted their mixes. I visited the Colonel's well of dub treats for the final time for the mix I made for this is tomorrow. The final installment of the Colonel dub mixes is called, The Colonel's Dubquarters (edit.)

Dig & enjoy, and congrats on one year DJ Blueprint!

Biking in Gotham

2007-08-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to take my first bike ride in Manhattan this morning. How awesome!

My hotel had a Puma folding bike, pictured above, that was available for riding purposes. The bike itself was pretty cool. It is a single speed, kind of a cross between a large bmx and a mountain bike. Despite the lack of a downtube, the frame felt pretty stiff under my girth. I have never ridden a bike that has been equipped with disc brakes. The brakes were perfect for the Union Square streets.

I set off from 17th St and Union Square at about 5:55 this morning and headed west towards the Hudson and the bike path that follows it. The ride along 17th was OK, I only tried to catch onto one vehicle.

Towards the end of this western jaunt, I hit a very old stretch of street that was actually cobbles, and here the wide tires were a blessing. Up off the saddle and the disc brakes killed it.

Heading south towards the Battery, I saw the site that used to have the Twin Towers on it. That was a trip. Even the path was a bit out of sorts at this point. Eieree site, never forget and all that.

Continuing on south, I hit the Battery and looked off to the south and got a good sight line on both Ellis Island and The Statue. The path sort of petered out there and I headed east along Broad Street for a few blocks. Around the bottom of the island, I caught up again with the path/ boardwalk. Heading north now, I was between the FDR and The East River. A bit further, I passed Pier 16, where I caught the Devotchka show a few weeks back at the SchniederTent Theatre, a venue that I recommend highly.

I continued in a northerly direction, passing the Houston bridge, 10th St bridge, etc. At 17th (?) and Ave C, I was able to go under the FDR. I ended up in a project looking group of brown high rises, that looked like a perfect backdrop for a breakin' throw down back in the day, but are seeing more yuppified times now.

After spinning through there a bit, I caught 12th St and headed west until I hit 1st Ave where I headed north. Once at 17th, I headed west back to my start at 17th and Union Square.

It was one of the best rides of the summer so far. 55 minutes of prime rolling in Gotham.

Rockit Scientist Records-NYC

2007-08-14T06:05:00.000-07:00

I had a long day at the office in Gotham, and my dinner plans changed.
So what to do? I decided to take a little hike a bit south and a bit east over to the new Disney Land that is The East Village.

As I ventured a bit, I came upon St Mark’s Place. In the back of my mind, I remembered that there was a record store that has been advertising in Ugly Things for 12 years or so. I could picture the ad, but could not remember the store.

On the south side of the street, I saw Kim’s Video, which is the most absolute sickest video store that I have ever seen. It has at least 2 levels, and to be honest, since I can only focus on one collecting addiction at a time, I just bypassed looking at all the video and DVDs, and went up straight to the back of the second floor to the vinyl section. I found a couple of things, but when I looked at the condition, missing the paper insert, general wear, etc, I could not pull the trigger on a few $6.99 records.

As I left Kim’s, the name of the record store came to mind—Rockit Scientist.

I went about another half block or so, and I saw Rockit on the north side of the street. It is a couple of steps down off the sidewalk. When, I walked in, I was taken aback. This is a place of musical nirvana. On the right side of the store there are racks from floor to ceiling, filled with cds that range from soul to funk to 60s garage, psych and cool music of all stripes. Along the left side of the store is the traditional record store raised counter of yore, featuring various record related ephemera and an older Technics turntable. Moving towards the back, past the basement stairs, there is a rack of LPs on the left and LPs on the right. Going up the walls and continuing onto the ceiling there are other records- mainly mid value 45s. The record explorer needs to be careful to not stub your toes on the budget LP crates that sit in front of the other racks.

I found a box of LPs titled, James Brown. Bingo. I looked through the box a bit and came up with a sealed copy of Sho is Funky Down Here priced at $9.99. The record is marked as all instrumental. “James Brown plays and directs the James Brown Band.” Done.

Frankly, I was a bit overwhelmed at the depth and breadth of the music on offer in this tiny store. I struck up a conversation with Robert (?) the proprietor. We discussed all manner of music and musicology. This guy knows his stuff and knew many of the old garage folks from whom I have purchased records, reissues, reviewed their releases, or even interviewed- Crypt Records, Norton Records, Mop Top Mike, etc. over the years.

I remembered something that I was interested in getting a copy of and asked for a recommendation of some Gil Scott Heron. I picked up an LP compilation of Gil Scott Heron called The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. I can’t wait to hear this one either.

I will definitely be back to visit.

Colonel's Back Again- Murray's Choice Mix

2007-07-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, cratedigger's favorite guest, Colonel, is back with a vengeance with both an aggressive and trance inducing mix called Murray's Choice, fueled by the CDs full of dub and reggae that he sent me.

From his generous gift, I am still reaping the kind mix for you, dear reader.

This mix around, there is some reggae mixed in with the dub. Thematically as well as sonically, Murray's Choice spans many eras. Definitely pack the headphones, G.

Hopefully the sound will rattle your ipod/car doors/house/apartment, like it did the CDHQ.

Download The Colonel's Murray's Choice Mix

Murray's Choice Tracklist:

01 Dangerous Match One Scientist
02 Lamb's Bread Collie Jacob Miller
03 Natty Rebel Uroy
04 Universal Dub J-Boogie
05 Natural Roots Mad Professor
06 King Tubby Meets The Rockers Augustus Pablo
07 Soundclash Dub Syndicate
08 Cool Rockers Lee Scratch Perry
09 Extra Time Five Scientist
10 Dub Organiser Dillinger
11 It Dread Inna The Earth
12 Ecological Dub

Iowahawk's June 2007 video

2007-07-28T10:55:00.001-07:00

My buddy Iowahawk has built quite a cool tradition of featuring monthly movies on his blog. The latest installment features hotrods of the friends of Iowahawk.

Remember, race fans, use your rubber!

Been a while... some tunes to tide youse over

2007-07-23T16:23:00.001-07:00

I have been away from the Cratedigger homestead all of last week, with nary a chance for digging. In the meantime and in order to keep things interesting, here is a list of interesting mixes put out by other bloggers:

Vincent at Fufu Stew has a new mix called, Fufu Soul Soundcheck. Some great covers are on offer on his mix. Makes me wonder how he has the time to put together so many tough sets.

DJ Dubstrong at Disco Devil has a new dancehall dub mix that I have been listening to today called, Uptown Skank v. 2. He hails from Brasil, so much of the blog is in Portugeuse.

Phill Most Chill at That Real Schitt put out a digital version of his mix called 2001 Spaced Oddities from a few years back of some killer beats and breaks. Here is Side A. It is cool listening. I have much to learn, Grasshopper.

Heavy Soul Brutha Dave from Soul Brutha's Put The needle on the Record has the second installment of his series, Soulbrutha Meets Caplog V. 2 on Mod Radio UK. It is an internet radio show that repeats. Maybe he will post it soon... hint, hint.

Enjoy and support the players above. I am off to Gotham. Hopefully, I will be able to put something together on Friday or over the weekend.

Some hot and weird cars in Mundelein, IL

2007-07-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

One of the summer rituals here in the Midwest is to get your car out to the cruise nights. My 66 is not really nice enough to take to one of these events, where lawn chairs and diet pepsi is the norm.

Anyway, I put some high priced high test into the Mustang and was on my way the 12 miles or so to the Mundelein IL Park on Park Cruise Night that occurs once a month during the summer.

This was a 35 Ford Truck that still had an old flathead in it. There was still some original Henry Ford pin striping under the rust and patina. The old guy that owned it was a bit squirrelly, when I spoke with him. I still liked it.
This Mini was pretty cool in British racing green. It might have too many decals and doo dads on it though.
This was a nice Yenko Camaro set up for the strip. I parked right next to it. It was really too nice to put on the strip.
This was an especially clean mid 30s Ford Cabriolet. 35/36? I am not sure but it was so clean that you could eat off of it.
This Camaro was also clean, the stripes on the sides of the car were a nice metal flake. A very nice paint job indeed.

The quote of the evening was, "I didn't realize that cars could be antiques." This was spoken by an 8 year old girl. Some of the people there could have been classified as antiques. I even saw a couple of Outlaws. (They are the ultimate rival bike club of the Hells Angels.)

Hats off to The Colonel-cratedigger guest selector...

2007-07-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

A close friend of mine from the way back machine, chose to keep his life much closer to nature than I did after college.

His name is the Colonel. He spends much of his free time climbing mountains and slashing powder on the slopes in the western areas of our grand country.

For the soundtrack to his outdoor pursuits, he is a big reggae and dub fan. I received an unbelievable package in the snail mail from him last week containing a whole grip of cds filled with freaked out tunage.

In honor of this great gift, I have assembled a mix of some of the jamming tunes contained on a few of the cds. Call the Colonel a guest selector, if you will.

As I mentioned, the tracks below were grabbed from cds and NOT vinyl.

ENJOY! And Thanks Colonel.

Download The Colonel's Little Unique Mix

Tracklist

01 Dance of The Vampires Scientist
02 A Useful Version Prince Jammy & The Aggrovators
03 Prince Far-I Bedward Dub Syndicate
04 Alam Dub Bill Laswell & Jah Wobble
05 Dub In The Right Way Soul Syndicate
06 Rude Boy Dub Prince Jammy
07 Drifter Dub King Tubby
08 The Alien Aborts Roots Radics Band
09 Dreader Locks Lee Perry & Junor Byles
10 Kiwi Culture Mad Professor
11 Trinity Dub Massive Attack vs. Mad Professor

CAN

2007-07-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

I have a passing interest in Krautrock, but I have to admit I know very little about the entire genre. When I have a chance, I have been taking recommendations from other music heads about their faves.

Using this approach, I have heard some Can, Faust, Gong and I happened across a burn of AR+Machines, which seems to be a Krautrock talisman of some repute, (and non reissued).

I also received via a trade, three full dvds of Krautrock. One of the bands that struck me with both their overt weirdness as well as their ability to rock was Can.

I happened upon a dvd full of live Can recently and this extreme hot weather has put me into an odd mood. Can seems to fit the bill for the 90 degrees and humidity here on the shores of Lake Michigan.

From some cursory internet research, Can was formed as a collective way back in 68. They had their own studio called Inner Space, which seems like a rather non sequitir as their soundscapes that I am hearing are more akin to spacerock, more like a more arty Hawkwind without the preachy scifi baggage of the Hawks. I can also hear elements of the more spacey areas of English artrock, eg. Eno, and possibly 801 without the Manzanera guitar pyrotechnics.

In 1970, Damo Suzuki was discovered on the street performing music and was quickly incorporated into the Can clan as their lead vocalist.

1971 was when Can started gaining some traction with the critics with their release Tago Mago. Ege Bamyasi was put out the next year and contained the track Spoon which oddly enough appears on two of the three of the dvds that I received. Spoon brought them acclaim in a wider arena as it was used as the theme for a film called Das Messer and was Can's first success charting wise.

listening to some of these extended jams, repetition seems to be the modus operandi for the freak factor.

Here is a link to CAN performing Improvisation for the BBC (the BEEB) in 1974. The limited info that I have on the track suggests that this track did not appear on the Peel Sessions CD.

Here is another download link, if the player ain't your bag.

CAN Improvisation

Chicago Critical Mass June 2007 p2

2007-07-09T08:01:00.001-07:00

This video clip catches much of the flavor of June's ride.

The 1st part is more of a hosted webtv show discussing Critical Mass affairs.

Check it out.

if the glove don't fit...

2007-07-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

If the glove don’t fit- a cratedigger compilation

01 Intro
02 Soul Searchers Funk To The Folks Sussex 517
03 Isley Brothers Don’t Give it Away T Neck 901
04 Dialog
05 Bobby Blue Bland Turn On Your Lovelight Duke 344
06 Clarence Carter Funky Fever Atlantic 2508
07 Dialog
08 Ike & Tina Turner Funkier Thank A Mosquita’s Tweeter Liberty 56216
09 Curley Moore Funky Yeah House of The Fox 1934
10 Dialog
11 Rufus Thomas Do The Double Bump Stax 236
12 Dennis Coffey Scorpio (rb edit) Sussex 226
13 James & Bobby Purify I’m Your Puppet Bell 648
14 James Brown Brother Rapp (pts 1&2) King 6310
15 Dialog
16 Fantastic Johnny C Boogaloo Down Broadway Phil LA of Soul 305
17 Sons of Slum Right On Stax 120 (mono)
18 Dialog
19 Kool & The Gang Funky Stuff Dee-Lite 557(mono)
20 Jimmy Castor Bunch Bertha Butt Boogie (pt 1) Atlantic 3232
21 Outro
22 Funkadelic Loose Booty Westbound 205 (promo)

all of the above tracks were captured from original 45s, gathered in various dusty midwestern locales. no ebay track diggin' whatsoever...

dialog comes from the aip motion picture "abby" starring carol speed and william marshall, which comes from a very old vhs transfer.

Please download if the glove don't fit...

D/L Link

Thanks to Fufu Stew, Fleamarket Funk, Funky 16 Corners, this is tomorrow, and Soul Brotha's Put the Needle in The Groove for inspiration.

Happy 4th. Be safe.

N.B. It appears that the divshare link above is AOK, but the zshare version of the file is shortened. I tried to reupload, but it continues to chop my file in half. There is a save option within Divshare. Sorry about the technical difficulties.

Chicago Critical Mass 062907

2007-06-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

One of the best rides of my life?

Really, I went places in the City of Chicago, on a bike with roughly 800 of my closest friends, that I have never seen , much less traveled in a car or any other vehicle for that matter. But to be on a bike on a summer Friday night when the air temp was in the 60s- it couldn't have been more perfect.

Below is a picture of a mcdonald'$ on Cermak, under the American flag. I think the shot sums it all up- you have a ton of people on bikes, riding by a mcd'$ and a Coke sign above the tunnel. Riding up the Wild West Side, here is a shot that also captures the scenery and mood. Picture scenes such as this, replete with alternately Roger & The Gypsies and Curtis Mayfield blasting on the mobile bike soundsystems-loud. The residents, and the undercover police threw a lot of high signs and raise the roof gestures. They looked as if they were watching a procession of Martians. The shorty shaking it ten feet off the ground-safety be damned- was definitely feeling it.

I really have to give props to the mobile sound system DJ who was playing Chitown Homeboy #1, Mr. Mayfield. The scenery matched up with the anti-drug lyrical content perfectly. RIP Curtis.
This shot is just for looks, as I think it looks awesome. That tunnel on Damen on the South Side is like a block long, then there is a break and then it continues for another block. In a word, "Whoa!!!"