Vinyl 45s from the States



I haven't featured any vinyl on The Vinyl Word lately so here are a few of the quite large bundle of 45s that I picked up on my recent US trip. Check out the Youtube links.
1. Dion - Kissin' Game/ Heaven Help Me.  As a Dion fan I know that Dion only had two 45s released on HMV in the UK (The Wanderer and Lovers Who Wander) but here's another one on the blue HMV label. What's more it's a single which wasn't issued in the UK at all, despite it being released on Laurie in the US in 1961. As the label states, this is a South African release, but I can't help wondering why the UK didn't get this 45.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trGNRIcWUGk   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DVk4xTH4ZY

2. Lucille Starr - The French Song/ Sit Down And Write A Letter To Me. There's nothing very interesting about this record apart from the fact that it's on the UK London American label but has a number totally different from other London 45s. The reason, apparently, is that it was a big hit in the Netherlands and they needed some emergency supplies of the record from the UK, hence the number 3136, rather than the 9900 number on the UK issue.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKIvzSgodi8

3. Tammy Montgomery - I Cried/ If You Don't Think. Tammy Montgomery is better known as Tammi Terrell, but prior to that she spent two years with the James Brown revue and recorded this soulful number for his Try Me label in 1963.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMLH2IU7Hqk

4. Barbara George - Send For Me (If You Need Some Lovin')/ Bless You.   Barbara George never repeated the success that she enjoyed with I Know on the AFO label but she made some pretty good records afterwards, including this one, before disappearing from the music business in 1968. I saw her perform a couple of times in New Orleans in the 1990s but sadly she died in 2006.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2e1aFqSyew

5. The Jive Bombers - Bad Boy/ When Your Hair Has Turned To Silver.  The lead singer of this New York doowop group, Clarence Palmer, shows off an eccentric vocal style on this 1957 song, which was later covered by Mink DeVille, Ringo Starr and Sha Na Na. Worth a listen though.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhcVx5Txk3Y

6, L C Cooke - Sufferin'/ The Lover. Anything on Sam Cooke's SAR label is worth hearing and this one by his brother is no exception. In fact, L C sounds eerily like his more successful older brother.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQmNCBnj2YA

7. Raymond Lewis - I'm Gonna Put Some Hurt On You/ Nine Cents Worth Of Chances. Instant is a favourite label of mine, largely because most releases feature the unmistakable piano of Allen Toussaint. This one is a great slice of New Orleans R and B.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUCE-RAtv-s

8. James 'Sugarboy' Crawford - I Don't Need You/ Morning Star. Most famous for recording the New Orleans anthem Jock-A-Mo in 1954, this 45 just has to be good with Huey Smith and Dave Bartholomew as songwriters. And so it is - a joyous piece of New Orleans. The B side is great too - wonderful swamp pop. Sugarboy died in 2012.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exxr3op4T6I    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMKcr7MuYgA

9. Willie Mays - My Sad Heart/ If You Love Me. Willie Mays was one of the most famous US baseball players of the fifties and sixties and this 45, recorded for Don Robey's Duke label, was a one off. I can only find If You Love Me on Youtube, but it's good, very much in the Bobby Bland vein.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDKBwdEoJcs  Update: I've uploaded my copy to Youtube:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2CLq_t1NLQ

10. Eddie Bo - You're The Only One/ You're With Me. Another great New Orleans musician, Eddie Bo recorded hundreds of tracks between 1956 and his death in 2009. This excellent 45 came out in 1962.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uslprPogHtU

11. Johnny and Jonie - Kee-ro-ryin'/ Just Before Dawn. Finally for rockabilly fans, here's a 1958 single that rocks along by a duo who found success later in the country field.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boda1JiHTUw