Happy Holidays, From the Dark End of the Street 12/19/2008

Happy Holidays to all. I don't find Xmas music that compelling, it always seems more camp than substance, so I decided (partly out of laziness), not to do a Holiday music show this year. So if you're looking for many days of Xmas, check out my colleague Brian's excellent blog, The Real Big Rock Candy Mountain.

I did, however, start the show off with one Xmas song, Otis Redding's excellent "Merry Chirstmas, Baby."


Happy Holidays to you and yours. I've got a backlog of some shows and posts which I'll start putting up more regularly in the New Year. I've also got some shows lined up, including some of the best releases of 2008, a deep soul focus on the influence of Bobby Blue Bland, an Eddie Hinton penned show, and more.

Thanks for sticking with me through this long year.


Here's the playlist:

Percy Sledge; From the Dark End of the Street; The Percy Sledge Way; Atlantic

Otis Redding; Merry Christmas, Baby; Atco 6631
Sam & Dave; You Don't Know What You Mean to Me; I Thank You; Atlantic
Doris Allen; I'll Just Keep On Loving You; Shell of a Woman: The Legendary Playground Recordings (Soulscape)
Don Varner; Down in Texas; Finally Got Over (Shout!)
Toussiant McCall; I'm Gonna Make Me a Woman; Ronn 20 (West Side)

O.V. Wright; A Nickel and a Nail; Backbeat 822
Homer Banks; Fighting So Hard To Win; Minit (Stateside)
Bobby Womack; Arkansas State Prison; My Redemption; Capitol (Charley)
Steve Young; Montgomery in the Rain; No Place To Fall (BMG Canada)
Johnny Addams; Real Live Hurtin' Man; Body & Soul; SSS (VampiSoul)

Joe Tex; A Sweet Woman Like You; Dial
Aretha Franklin; It Was You; Rare & Unreleased; (Rhino)
Sam Baker; Safe in the Arms of Love; I Believe in You (Soulscape)
Lucille Mathis; Somewhere Out There; Abet 9431 (Excello)
Van & Grace; Set Me Free; Louisiana Legends (Jin)

Roscoe Shelton; Running From My Life; Deep in My Soul (AIM)
King Curtis; Hold On, I'm Coming; Plays the Great Memphis Hits; Atco
Sweet Inspirations; Sweet Inspiration; Atlantic 2476
Joe Simon; Further On Down the Road; SS7 (Shout!)
Eddie Hinton; Happiness Is Just Around the Corner; Dear Y'all; Zane
Syl Johnson; Let Yourself Go; Hi 2269

Solomon Burke; Seems Like You're Gonna Take Me Back; Nashville; Shout Factory
Grace Braun; Do Right; It Won't Hurt; Rykodisc
Lloyd Price; Restless Heart; Profile; Specialty
Doug Sahm; Sell a Song; Complete Mercury Recordings; Rhino

Yes, We Did! Obama's Got Soul

At 10:oopm Central Time on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008, all of my anxiety and anger for the past few years was suddenly eased with a chill in my spine. I have been moved by the voice of this country:

"Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope"

On Friday morning, I did a radio show--the HPK stands for Hyde Park-Kenwood, home of the President Elect!--of soul songs that, in part, encompass many of the feelings that accompanied this historic event: freedom, redemption, optimism, unity, service, and mostly, hope for a new day. So many songs from the Civil Rights Era, echoing those same sentiments, seemed suddenly appropriate and re-energized to me, much as many of those themes were for this country during these past 22 months of campaigning. In the enduring words and spirit of Sam Cooke, "It's been a long, long time coming, but I know A Change Gonna Come, Yes it will." Let us all hope it has.


And not to get ahead of our selves, let us remember:

"This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other."

Many of these songs speak to that for me, and I hope they can for you. Yes, We Can!

Mel & Tim; Yes We Can!; Starting All Over Again
Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come; The Man Who Invented Soul
Aretha Franklin; People Get Ready; Lady Soul; Atlantic
Gene Allison; You Can Make It If You Try; You Can Make It If You Try; Vee Jay
Bettye LaVette; All The Black And White Children; Child Of The Seventies; Rhino
Otis Redding; Amen; Definitive
The Impressions; This Is My Country; This Is My Country; Curtom
Notations; A New Day; Eccentric Soul: Twinight's Lunar Rotation (Numero Uno)
The Chambers Brothers; Time Has Come Today [Single Ed]; Time Has Come: The Best of the; Mercury
James Carr; Freedom Train; The Complete Goldwax Singles (Kent)
Solomon Burke; Maggie's Farm; Atlantic 2288
Bill Moss; Sock It To 'Em Soul Brother; Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label (Numero Uno)
Wilson Pickett; You Can't Stand Alone; The Sound of Wilson Pickett; Atlantic
Otis Clay; If I Could Reach Out (And Help Someone); Hi 2252 B;
Johnny Copeland; Blowing in the Wind; Wand 1114
Willie Hightower; Walk a Mile In My Shoes; s/t (Astralwerks/Honest Jon's)
Syl Johnson; Talk Bout Freedom; Is It Because I'm Black; Twinight
Eddie Hinton; We Got It; Very Extremely Dangerous
will.i.am; The Yes We Can Song (Obama for America); www.barackobama.com
Bob Dylan; Chimes Of Freedom [Live at Newport Folk Fest, 1964]; No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (Columbia)
Mahlia Jackson; We Shall Overcome

(This time I put up a version of the show that eliminates my talking--thanks for listening. And the excess of Dyland songs are in part because Mr. Obama has spoken of how his songs speak to him, specifically, the rebellious spirit of Maggie's Farm).

In that spirit, I have been talking about, and sharing, the following quote from Robert F. Kennedy, while campaigning for President in 1968. And it is my sincere belief and hope that it will be this President who can bring America to judge itself by "the enduring power of our ideals":

"We will find neither national purpose nor personal satisfaction in a mere continuation of economic progress, in an endless amassing of worldly goods. We cannot measure national spirit by the Dow Jones Average, nor national achievement by the gross national product. For the gross national product includes air pollution and advertising for cigarettes, and ambulances to clear our highway carnage. It counts special locks for our doors, and jails for the people who break them. The gross national product includes the destruction of the redwoods, and the death of Lake Superior. It grows with the production of napalm and missiles and nuclear warheads . . . It includes Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the broadcasting of television programs which glorify violence to sell goods to our children.

And if the gross national product includes all this, there is much that it does not comprehend. It does not allow for the health of our families, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It is indifferent to the decency of our factories and the safety of our streets alike. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of public officials . . . the gross national product measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile; and it can tell us everything about America -- except whether we are proud to be Americans."

You can listen to a different version of this speech here.

Another Lost Gem: Don Varner's He Kept On Talking

More and more excuses, so I figured I post a recent show that starts with a great track from Don Varner. I was reminded of this track from the yahoo southern soul chat list email, and as it turns out, it's only from that group that Don Varner was rediscovered in 2000.

All the information I have on Don Varner comes from David Cole in the liner notes to the excellent CD reissue of Don Varner's recordings, Finally Got Over: Deep Soul From the Classic Era (Shout!), which he took from a longer article in his excellent In the Basement Magazine. There's no need to recount all that here (go pick up a copy of the cd), just in short to say, Don Varner bounced around a few of the more obscure 45 labels in the South in the late 1960s and early 1970s (Downbeat, South Camp, Quinvy, House of Orange), did almost all of his recordings with Eddie Hinton at Quin Ivy's studio in Muscle Shoals, and just generally, seemed to be a great guy with a warm heart and an incredibly stark raspy, baritone voice. As I said, pick up the CD and check out the wealth of great tracks, from the Northern Soul favorite, "Tearstained Face," a great country soul swinger, "Down in Texas", a couple of Dan Penn gems, and some self-penned shakers like the title track. Even some of the cliched parts of the recordings, like the 60s tremloed guitar or the hip shaking, are overshadowed by the edge of his voice.

The track here, "He Kept On Talking," never got released in its day. According to Don (as interviewed by David Cole), "I thought that was the one. Everybody else thought that was the one, but it just didn't happen, it didn't even get a release." Quin Ivy prodcued the track himself, and it's written by another member of that southern soul mailing list, Jerry Williams, aka Swamp Dogg. It definitely has that commercial appeal with the arrangements and doesn't have the edge of the Eddie Hinton produced tracks. That's not the appeal the song has for me: it's the downward spiral that Don Varner takes from the lyrics.

I admit that I have a soft spot for the narrative song, especially when its initial emotion is revealed and subtly shifted during the telling, and this is one of those that sticks in the throat just right. The kind of songs that are country strong: Looking back and wanting everything to change, allowing the anger to swell, then consigning yourself to the harsh end. The first song that came to mind was "Mansion on the Hill," but after thinking about it I realized I could name about 15 Hank Williams songs that word. Although the performance reminds me more of the young, vulnerbale Johnny Paycheck ("Apartment #9" or "The Late and Great Me").

Don's got it all over too: the innocence; trembling shock as he soars over all the bridges, "We were just talkin' . . .", "So go on with him . . .", "I'll just swallow my pride . . ."; a waver as he tries to hold himself together even after the fact "I kept on smiling and turned my head / 'cause a man ain't supposed to cry." Finishing it all off with the brutality of the last line:

"But the memory of you face
Is gonna be hard to erase
'cause everytime I come see my children
I'll see you.

I'll see your face, baby."

It doesn't get any harder than that.


Don Varner passed away in 2002, but his wife keeps his legacy alive. It was a post to the southern soul email list in 2000 by Mrs. Francine Varner that led to David Cole's contacting Don and the reissue cd, so go out and grab a copy. David Cole also has a new issue of In The Basement out, which I haven't gotten a chance to get my hands on yet, but I have no doubt to its depth and quality.

The song appears not only on the Shout! reissue, but also on Down & Out: The Sad Soul of the Black South, a real solid southern soul compilation put out in Germany by the Trinkont label.


Well, here's the playlist:


Linda Rondstadt; The Dark End of the Street

Don Varner; He Kept On Talking; Finally Got Over! (Shout!)
Sam Baker; Sometimes You Have to Cry; SS7 2550
Major Smith; Paying With My Own Tears; Lewis 2807
Solomon Burke; These Arms of Mine; Proud Mary (Atlantic)
Mighty Sam McClain; Silent Tears; Amy

Eddie Giles; So Deep In Love; Silver Fox 9
Clarnce Carter; Too Weak To Fight; This Is; Atlantic
Bill Brandon; Full Grown Loving Man; On Rainbow Road (Soulscape)
Roy Head; She's About a Mover; Introduction to (Fuel)
Sam & Dave; You Left the Running; (Atlantic Unearthed)

Ella Brown; A Woman Left Lonely; Lanor 566
Joe Simon; Further On Down the Road; SS7
Arthur Alexander; Call Me Honey; The Momument Years (Kent)
Kinky Friedman; Sold America (live); Lasson From El Paso
Joe Tex; I'll Never Do You Wrong; Soul Country; Atlantic
Merle Haggard; My Past Is Present; Sing Me Back Home; Capitol

Johnnie Allen; I'll Never Love Again; Promised Land (Kent)
Touissant McCall; I'll Do It For You; Ronn 10 (West Side)
Lattimore Brown; I Wish I Felt This Way At Home; Renegade 101
George Jones; Heartaches By The Number; Mercury Recordings

Don Covay; Just Because; Mercy; Atlantic
Van Broussard; Tell Me the Truth; Van and Grace (Jin)
Johnny Truitt; There Goes the Girl (alt); Excello
Roscoe Shelton; I Can Cry If I Want To; AIM
Bobby Charles; Your Picture; Chess Masters

The Ovations; You Had Your Choice; Goldxaw Recordings (Kent)
Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Dunn; You Can't Blamc Me; CapSoul 22 (Numero Uno)
Impressions; You Want Somebody Else; This Is My Country; Curtom

And don't forget to vote next week.

R.I.P. Jerry Wexler, 1917-2008

Another sad post here on From the Dark End of the Street. The music giant, Jerry Wexler passed away a couple of weeks ago. There's no way I can come close to summing up the broad influence of his big ears on American Music. From the early days of R&B to the heyday of Southern Soul, the world wouldn't have been the same without him.

This show is made up of many of the hits from the golden era of Atlantic R&B. I forgot the set list at the station, so just sit back and enjoy the fruits of Jerry's hard work.


Rolling Stone has written a good obituary here.

R.I.P. Isaac Hayes: From the Dark End of the Street, 08/15/2008

The great Isaac Hayes passed away last Sunday at the young age of 65. While there are a lot of very fitting tributes out there to this immensely talented man, this show focusses on his songwriting while at Stax. The first two sets of the show are all songs written by Isaac. While there, Issac Hayes wrote over 200 songs with longtime collaborator David Porter, the breadth and depth of which are simply hard to come to grips with. His legacy is a huge one, and that's not even to mention the piano playing, session work, arrangements and solo performances.


The set list:

Aretha Franklin; Do Right Woman - Do Right Man; I Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You; Atlantic

Ruby Johnson; Left Over Love; I'll Run the Blues Away; Stax
Johnnie Taylor; I Had a Dream; Stax 186
Mable John; Same Time, Same Place; Stax 215
William Bell; It's Happening All Over; Soul of a Bell; Stax
Carla Thomas; Something Good (Is Gonna Happen For You); Stax 207
(Sir Isaac & the Do Dads; Blue Groove; Volt 129)

Homer Banks; Lad of Stone; Minit 32030 (Hooker on Love; Stateside)
Judy Clay; You Can't Run Away From Your Heart; Stax 230
The Astors; Twilight Zone; Stax 179
Wilson Pickett; Toe Hold; Hey Jude; Atlantic
Sam & Dave; Hold On, I'm Comin'; Stax 189
Danny White; Keep My Woman Home; Natural Soul Brother (Kent)
(Booker T. & the M.G.s; Winter Snow; Stax 236)

Isaac Hayes; I Don't Know What To Do With Myself; The Isaac Hayes Movement; Enterprise
Geater Davis; I'll Play the Blues For You; House of Orange Recordings; Soulscape
Bettye LaVette; Your Turn To Cry; Let Me Down Easy in Concert; Munich
Don Varner; Here Come My Tears Again; Down Beat 102 (Finally Got Over; Shout!)
Arthur Conley; Sleep On Otis; Soul Directions; Atco

James Carr; Stronger Than Love; Complete Goldwax Singles (Kent)
Dwight Yoakam; Stayin' Up Late; Population Me; Koch
Tony Borders; Headman; Cheaters Never Win; Soulscape
Chuck Jackson; Any Other Way; Wand (Mr. Emotion; Kent)
Jimmy Donley; Just a Game; Born to Be a Loser; Crazy Cajun/Edsel

Chris Kenner; That's My Girl; Instant
Clarence Murray; Dancing to the Beat; SSS 778
Chuck Mitchell; Let Me Be Myself; The Birmingham Sound: The Soul of Neil Hamphill, volume 2
Bill Wright; You've Got a Spell On Me; Eccentric Soul: The Tragar and Note Labels; Numero Uno
Sir Douglas Qunitet; Sixty Minutes; 1+1+1=4; Mercury


This show does not way come close to the genius of Isaac Hayes, but I hope y'all enjoy it.

I got an email on my way up the stairs to the radio station that Jerry Wexler had passed away during the night. Next week, I'll do a show on his giant legacy. Red Kelly has already done a great tribute here.

Thanks for listening and I've got a back log of shows (that aren't memorials thankfully) and some posts started which I'll finish up someday.

R.I.P. Chris Gaffney: Cowboys to Girls

Well, I've been completely remiss about updating this blog, between travel, work and some 16" softball, I haven't had much free time. But, well, that's no real excuse not to put up the podcasts, so apologies are in order.

The podcast is from the show a couple of weeks ago when still mourning the death of the great "Western Soul" singer, songwriter and accordionist, Chris Gaffney. So here's his first recorded version of the Gamble-Huff classic, "Cowboys to Girls."

Everyone knows The Intruders' version of this song, written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, the song was so big (#1 R&B; #5 Pop), that it defined Philadelphia Soul and allowed it to develop freely. It was the perfect song for the beginning of the movement's shift to prominence--full of street corner doo-wop swing with equal hints of urban gospel and teenage dancehall. And a timeless nostalgia that took people's minds off the tumult that was 1968 in America ("This whole world has been rearranged"). Whether that's good or bad in the bigger cultural picture is probably a subject for another blogger. As is the ensuing development of Gamble and Huff's productions (and Sissy Soul) after this song convinced Columbia to throw some money their way and establish the (very profitable) Philadelphia International Label.

The version here, from Chris Gaffney's great 1995 album, "Loser's Paradise" has much of the same elements of the original, but the mood is entirely different, and a much more emotional performance. Produced by his good friend and collaborator, Dave Alvin, the record showcases the various Southern influences on Gaff's music: Honky-Tonk, Tex-Mex, Southern California Roots Rock, Doo-Wop, and even some Cajun (he does a real nice job wailing the vocals and accordion on a version of the classic runner "Sugar Bee"). The song inserts those elements smoothly--the Tex-Mex picked guitar over a decidedly soul organ intro, the backing doo-wop backing vocals replaced by some haunting, and delicate, singing by Lucinda Williams, and of course, Chris' gruff vocals. The Intruders version has no sense of sadness, and what's nostalgia without that? I love the way Gaff breaks in after the intrumental fill, with "Oh I remem-hem-ber" just drenched in how much he missed a simpler time. And then there's that added verse at the end: "making love till long after dark / all day / all day."

Gaff's most recent project, The Hacienda Brothers also added "Cowboys to Girls" into their repertoire, and it was a huge hit. The three times that I saw them, this song always got people up to slow dance and sing along in whispered voiced to his/her partner. It was just such a beautiful sight for what a song can do.

They also released a version on the great cd, "What's Wrong With Right." The Hacienda Brothers are going to continue on without Gaff and will be playing some shows throughout the summer in what promises to be an emotional tour. They are also releasing a new record in a couple of weeks, "Arizona Motel," which if you buy from www.helpgaff.com a portion of the proceeds will go to alleviating some of the medical costs to his family.

There are a couple of other versions of Cowboys to Girls that I know of: Gene Chandler did a upbeat version on his Brunswick LP, "Now There Was a Time," that's a pretty hard hitting version for Chicago soul with some great sliding falsettos. Joe Bataan also did a version, and apparently, the song was a big hit with Latino youth in Southern California in the late 60's, which I know nothing about (but intrigues me muchly).

Thanks for listening and I promise I'll be better in the future about posting the shows (even if I don't have time to write anything).

And please visit www.helpgaff.com

Here's the playlist:

James Carr; The Dark End of the Street; Goldwax 317

Chris Gaffney; Cowboys to Girls; Loser's Paradise; Hi-Tone
The 5 Royales with Willie Mitchell; Show Me; Take Me With You Baby; (Purple Pyramid)
Betty Everett; Getting Mighty Crowded; VeeJay 628
The Ovations; Qualifications; Gold Wax 306 (Kent)
Wilson Pickett; Something You Got; The Exciting Wilson Pickett; Atlantic

Joe Simon; Long Hot Summer; SS7 2608
Little Johnnie Taylor; There is Something on Your Mind; Ronn 59
Homer Banks; 60 Minutes of Your Love; Minit 32008 (Hooked On Love; Stateside)
Spenser Wiggins; He's Too Old; Gold Wax 337 (Kent)
Solomon Burke; (No No No) Can't Stop Loving You Now; Atlantic

Geater Davis; Sweet Woman's Love; House of Orange 2401
Johnny Truitt; That's What Love Will Do; Abet 9423 (Excello Soul Story; P-Vine)
George Jones; Sometimes You Just Can't Win; Trouble in Mind; United Artists
Ruby Johnson; How Strong Is My Love; (I'll Run Your Hurt Away; Stax)
Tony Ashley; We Must Have Love; Decca 32342

Clarence Carter; That Old Time Feeling; Atlantic 2876
Jerry Lee Lewis; Another Place, Another Time; Another Place, Another Time; Smash
Otis Clay; Trying to Live My Life Without You; Hi 2226
Johnny Soul; Lonely Man; SSS 785 (Souther Soul Showcase; Kent)
Ralph "Soul" Jackson; 'Cause I Love You; Atlantic 2597

Otis Rush; Gambler's Blues (long version); Cotillion 44032
Ted Taylor; The Road of Love; You Can Dig It!; Ronn
Don Varner; Handshakin'; Diamond 264; (Finally Got Over; Shout!)
Joe Hinton; You Gotta Have Love; Backbeat
Jan Howard; I Still Believe in Love; s/t; Decca

Donnie Fritts; You Gonna Love Yourself in the Morning; Prone to Lean; Atlantic
Bobby Charles; Everyone Knows; Walkin' to New Orleans; (Edsel)
Johhny Ace; Saving My Love For You; Memorial Album; MCA

R.I.P. Chris Gaffney, October 3, 1950-April 17, 2008

A sad day for Western Soul. Chris Gaffney, singer, songwriter and accordionist, passed away a few days ago after a brief battle with liver cancer.

Most recently, Chris was the lead singer of the Hacienda Brothers, a country soul band based out of Tuscon, Arizona. Anyone who was lucky enough to see Chris perform know he sang the songs the way they had to be: with direct, honest emotion.

If you would like to send a message to Chris's family or help contribute to the medical expenses, please visit this website: http://www.helpgaff.com/

The Years That Got Away: "I never saw them coming, I never felt them leave, they came and went just like a whisp of smoke upon the breeze."

He will be greatly missed.