The past month, I have managed to find a lot of scratchy ole 45s at various junk stores. Coralville, Dubuque, Davenport and now somebody dumped a bunch of juke box and junk box records at our local Goodwill store. Plenty of 1990s 45s from various juke boxes, but I did have to pass of the lot of them. I did pick one Gin Blossoms 45 but left the other behind due to the jukebox kisses and scratches of being played 100's of times. A record collector's dream but a hoarder's nightmare. overbuying on the singles that I will donate back later on. The kindness of donators, but once getting rid of, the pickers come along and trash the 45s and picture sleeves. I found that out the hard way, when I donated about 200 45s about 10 years ago and returned, only to find some of the pristine copies out of their sleeves and gaining scratches that haven't been there before. Geezus people, if you are not going to buy, then at least stack them nicely back.
(Licht Und Blindheit: Photo credit)
(From On The Flip Side Blogspot site)
Mary Wells-Old Love (From Crabby's Scratchy Record Emporium)
We are six decades removed from the 1960s, to which most of my music memories started with. And then the 50s from the box of records that awaited me when we visited Grandma Ambrose in Illinois years ago. And then received most of them later on and then started replacing the worn out copies from future record hunts. It hasn't been easy but I have managed to get about 85 percent of them through luck and finding them at various venues. The bigger challenge was to try to get the original records that I grew up with. And it took me almost 50 years to get Gonna Send You Back To Walker by The Animals. And then settling for a reissue of Piano Nellie by Bobby Brant, which came from my first ever box of records that we got at some Waterloo store (Maybe it was Wells that sold them?) 10 records for a 1.99. I think the only ones missing that I have yet to find was Tommy Facenda's High School USA (Baltimore-DC Version) and a Carla Thomas Stax single that didn't impress me. It's a shame I didn't take better care of Piano Nellie (East West label) or the Atco distributed The Gamble from Roy Agee (to which I found in Madison this summer). But my record player was a cheap VF kid's player and most of those records got the grooves wore off. I always had a good memory of what I had in my record collection as a child but even today the memories can be a blur. I am certain of remembering Gonna Send You Back To Walker or I (who had nothing) from Ben E King, but I can't think of the early Motown singles that the old man brought from Esterville when he was working as a gas station manager. I remember a Tamla single from perhaps the Marvelettes, or maybe that Motown single was Eddie Holland's Leaving Here. Then again my imagination may be playing tricks on me.
As I approach 60 years of living (hard to believe but thank the internet for wasting the last 20 years away, just like that), I have come to the conclusion that there is still plenty of 45s to be found. The vinyl revival hasn't been too kind to the 7 inch single. Sure there's been times that the local junk store didn't have many 45s but of late, it seems people are emptying their attics and basements and bars for singles. And this month, I have gotten fairly lucky on buys. Looks can be deceiving, I found records that look beat up but play fine, and I have seen copies that look mint, that played like shit due to a bad needle from the previous owner. But take a peak of the week's findings.
From Collectibles:
Church Bells May Ring-The Willow COL 3025
Why Don't You Write Me-The Jacks
Denise-Randy And The Rainbows COL 2110
My Block-The Four Pennies
Basically I got it for The Willows, one of the better uptempo doo wop numbers from the 50s, tho The Jacks song is vintage mellow doo wop. I always liked Denise, the song but not so much The Four Pennies song. In the case of Collectible's, their 45's sound more polished than the original masters
She And I-Alabama (RCA PB-14281) #1 1986
I'm surprised this didn't make the pop charts. It's more rocking than your typical Alabama balladry. A little Alabama goes a long way but this was one of the songs that I played in the reunited Stone Garden band that didn't last long as She And I made number 1 for 3 weeks on KHAK. B side is for The Fans. But not for me.
Chattanooga Choo Choo-Harper's Bizarre (Warner 7090) #45 1967
Listening to these guys, you'd never know that two of the finest Warner Brothers staff producers were part of this band, Lenny Waronker and Ted Templeman, well Ted was in the band, Lenny just produced them. I kinda enjoy the laid back ness of their Glenn Miller cover. B side Hey You In The Crowd adds some canned applause to a so so Templeman/Scoppettne comp. The Association did this soft pop better. The record is in better than average shape.
Mighty Clouds Of Joy-The Mighty Clouds Of Joy (Dunhill/ABC D-15025) 1974
Alas, a record that played worse than it looked. Dave Crawford produced this gospel gone soul band, with help from MFSB band. A decent song but the record is trashed.
Back To The Couch I Go-Tommy Hammond (Hickory K-1526) 1968
Journeyman country singer that made a couple of forgettable singles for Hickory. Another so so country song that nobody remembers. B side If You Don't Love Me (you should) is wishful thinking.
As Long As It Matters-Gin Blossoms (A&M 31458 1672 2) #75 1996
Our beloved band from Tempe Arizona, the Gin Bunnies have always been one of my all time fave bands of the 1990s. This stems back to when I saw them at Chuy's in Summer of 1992, replacing the Sand Rubies/Sidewinders and I managed to get a couch view of these guys in action. I did buy New Miserable Exp. when it came out and got to ride the wave of success that they had. They came to play the Freedom Fest in CR in 1993 between the floods. They did managed to get their hits issued on 45s, some that I have found but not in playable shape. This record was one of two juke box 45s, the other Hey Jealousy was a bit more scratched up, but hey, this one had a live version of Allison Road as a b side. The studio version was issued as b side to Found Out About You, to which that one is on the wish list. But I do admit I'm not a big fan of As Long As It Matters, I thought it was Till' I Hear It From You, their number 11 hit from the Empire Records soundtrack. Being a fan, As Long It Matters really does matter. Even if this song is subpar.
E T Blues-Texas Troubadours (Decca 32065) 1966
Ah, Leon, as in Rhodes, who wrote this little tribute to leader, the legendary Ernst Tubb and maybe Buddy Emmons is on steel guitar on this as well. B side is Walking The Floor Over You, done as an instrumental.
Tulsa Time-Don Williams (MCA 53557) #106 1978 #1 Country
The gentle giant, Williams scored plenty of top 10 country hits but this song was more rocking than what Williams usually does, but still a bit laid back. Eric Clapton turned it into a number 30 hit in 1980. Still, you can compete with Mr. Williams. B side is Love Is On A Roll, another number 1 country hit in 1983. A double sided oldies hit as you can tell. Mr. Williams will be back later in this collection of singles.
The Oogum Boogum Song-Brenton Wood (Double Shot 111) #34 1967
Wood's first top 40 single (next song Gimme A Little Sign made number 9), a silly R and B number that is fun to sing to. I haven't listened to the B side I Like The Way You Love Me, since some dumbass decided to put a price sticker on the playing surface, a major no no. Thankfully the label sticker came off and left no sticky residue. A so so ballad.
Strollin' In The Springtime-Fabian (Chancellor C-1051) 1960 #83 Cashbox
Like Bobby Sherman, Fabian has been raked over the coals by so called know it all critics, best one came from Fred Schrurers who called him the Instant Asphalt Elvis from Philadelphia. But then again anybody from Rolling Stone would consider Dion the best of the teen idols of that era and anybody else was shivering wannabes. Of course Dion was the best, but Ricky Nelson could his own, Brian Hyland could host his own, ditto Bobby Vee, tho Fabian Forte and Franklie Avalon and Paul Anka might be pulling up from the rear. There's a guilty pleasure of hearing Tiger or Turn Me Loose, tho when you played Hound Dog Man at 78 RPM, it sounded like Hot Dog Man and everybody got a laugh out of that. I remember having a garage sale of getting rid of some scratchy 45's (most were chewed up) and one collector took Got The Feeling/Come On And Get Me off my hands. It was probably still in decent shape. Getting back to the current single, Strollin' in the Springtime was a knockoff on the stroll craze but Fabian's song didn't chart on the billboard chart, tho it made number 83 and b side I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter made number 85 on Cashbox. For fun and games Strollin' is the better number but you won't hear this on the radio. Maybe on my stereo once in a great while.
It's A Long Way To Georgia-Don Gibson (RCA 47-9563) #12 Country
To be honest, Don Gibson made some great singles and albums in the 50s and early 60s but as his time with RCA was winding down, the songs weren't so much great. Maybe a change in scenery and labels might help him (He did wind up on Hickory for a decade long revival of sorts) but It's A Long Way To Georgia isn't any better than previous song the number 72 Good Morning Dear, to which Gibson reprised his whistling to better effect (?) but then again the blame can be placed on Brenton Banks banal arrangements. Even with Gibson doing his best, this sounds tossed off. B side Low And Lonely is better but Gibson had done better. Even on off days.
Thru Spray Covered Glasses-Dino, Desi & Billy (Uni 55127) 1969
A one off single for Uni, to which they hooked up with David A Gates (Bread) and Stu Phillips to put together a 2 minute sunshine pop throwaway for a forgotten B movie. B side Someday, is interesting to see the used to be teen heartthrobs go for a more hippy dippy rock number. Coming from DDB, it sounds weird. I'd say the record is not very playable, plenty of scratches to go around and probably thrown back in the donation stack.
I Can Make It With You-Pozo Seco Singers (Columbia 4-43784) #32 1966
Their two albums came out on a Collector's Choice CD years ago (and hard to find now) and I found their folk rock not exactly that exciting with the exception of this song which is sung by Don Williams, who would leave for a more rewarding country career. Follow up single Look What You Done also petered out at number 32 but the only other song I remember was the crappy song Diet. But to these ears, I Can Make It With You is their best song. B side is their take on Come A Little Bit Closer, which was done better by Jay And The Americans. Record is in decent shape.
Lisa, Listen To Me-Blood, Sweat And Tears (Columbia 4-45477) #73 1971
BST continued to stumble along in the early 70s after the popularity of their S/T album faded away and each album, they continued to lose fans. Go Down Gamblin' was hard rock fun including horns but even that record didn't impress the charts. Lisa, on the other hand was a bit more country than rock but I don't remember the local radio stations playing it much, if at all. KLWW might have. B side Cowboys And Indians is three minutes of boredom. Another sleeveless record that plays VG.
I Don't Need No Doctor-Ray Charles (ABC 45-10865) #72 1966
The other side Please Say You're Fooling was the higher placement at number 64 but I don't remember hearing it on the radio. However I Don't Need No Doctor was the better known song, to which Humble Pie turned it into a metallic rocker and New Riders Of The Purple Sage did a more country jam version. I don't think Ray Charles lost his popularity, in fact in the mid 60s, I seek out Ray's ABC Paramount stuff, and yes I could use another copy of Let's Go Get Stoned/The Train. That poor record really got the grooves worn out (you can see my copy on Fun With Scratchy Records). Please Say You're Fooling, is kind of a update to Modern Sounds in Country and Western, but at that time, Ray was recording out his RPM/Tangerine studios and the sound he got from there was a bit more rough. I know I had a friend that had a copy of that record, not sure who. One of Ray's best songs of the mid to late 60s, No Doctor is tough R and B which shows that Brother Ray could rock with the best of them. As for the record itself, it's rough sounding but not as bad as the Dino, Desi and Billy song. Since it's Ray Charles, it's a keeper.
So that concludes this new batch of found 45s and the usual chest beating of look what I found. I'm sure we'll continue to Singles Going Steady sides if and when we get lucky finding 45s. My guess the next batch will be sooner than later.
They usually are.
The Beaker Hour on KCCK 12/19/2020
Smoke On The Water-Deep Purple
Rock And Soul Music/Love-Country Joe And The Fish
I Love to Change The World-10 Years After
Jack Frost And The Hooded Crow-Jethro Tull
The King Will Come-Wishbone Ash
Humpback Whales-National Lampoon
Muffin Man-Frank Zappa
The Knife's Edge-Emerson Lake And Palmer
Little Drummer Boy/Silent Night/Auld Sayne Lang-Jimi Hendrix
A very slight tilt toward the classic rock side of things with Deep Purple and 10 Years After but Big Mo played something off the Jethro Tull Christmas Album and concluded with an Jimi Hendrix outtake.
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