The continuing lure of the 78

I've never been a great fan of the 78. They are heavy, easily broken and usually poor quality in terms of sound quality. Despite that, the 78 continues to have a large number of enthusiastic followers. There are several 78 groups on line and some friends of mine hold regular 78 DJ evenings in North East London. My first introduction to rock and roll came through the 78s that my older sister brought home. Elvis, Bill Haley, Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Buddy Holly all entered my consciousness by way of shellac recordings. But the 45, which gradually took over from 78s in the late fifties, was much more practicable, as well of sounding better on the whole. Despite my disdain, I still look out for rock and roll and R and B 78s at car boot sales and in charity shops. And collectable ones in really good condition do occasionally turn up for a minimal outlay. One such was the Cliff Richard 78 pictured above, which was his last 78 released in the UK in early 1960. It goes for three figure sums these days but set me back a mere 50p in a charity shop the other day. I paid a similar amount for the fairly rare rockabilly number by Johnny Carroll. It's worth in the region of £100, but came out a few years earlier when it was the 45, not the 78, that was really hard to find and hence more valuable.

Some of the most collectable 78s (and 45s) are R and B records which were released on the Vogue label. Here we have a 78-only Muddy Waters record released in 1952 which inspired the Rolling Stones to name their band after it. Also one by Wynonie Harris which is a contender for the first genuine rock and roll record.

Here are a few other early R and B/rock and roll records which are quite hard to find in any UK format: by Otis Williams and the Charms, Sanford Clark, Bobby Day and the Satellites and Ivory Joe Hunter.

78s pressed overseas are quite hard to find in the UK - not surprising, given their weight and fragility - but do turn up occasionally. Here's a Jamaican issue of Billy Myles' R and B hit of 1957 (found in a local charity shop), a US gospel release by the Ward Singers, an early outing by Little Esther Phillips with Johnny Otis and some early R and R from Marvin Phllips on Specialty.

Many of the most common UK 78s that roughly fall into the rock and roll category are by UK based artists, such as Tommy Steele, Jim Dale and Don Lang. They are mostly poor imitations of US originals and not worth much. Here are a couple that are slightly less common - the Adam Faith hit is another example of a 78 that came out when the format was on the verge of extinction, and a Carl Perkins cover by Terry Wayne.

Finally here's an example of what can be seen as a halfway house between shellac 78s and vinyl 45s - the vinyl 78. This one by Sister Rosetta Tharpe was one of several issued on the Pye and Mercury labels by the likes of Lonnie Donegan, the Platters and the Diamonds.

Charles Blackwell and others RIP

A few more music deaths to report I'm afraid. Charles Blackwell, who has died aged 84, was never a hit maker himself, although he made quite a few instrumental records with his orchestra or combo. But he was the man behind countless British and French records of the sixties, many of them big hits. He worked with Joe Meek and produced John Leyton's 'Johnny Remember Me' and also produced hits for Tom Jones ('What's New Pussycat'), Engelbert Humperdinck ('Release Me') and P J Proby ('Hold Me'). Other artists he produced included Kathy Kirby, Francoise Hardy, the Vernons Girls, Jet Harris, Billy Fury, Shirley Bassey and Karl Denver. He also produced records for US artists such as Dionne Warwick, Del Shannon, Bobby Goldsboro, Brook Benton and Jackie DeShannon. His songwriting included 'Come Outside' and 'Just For Kicks' for Mike Sarne. Charles attended the Tales From The Woods tribute to Joe Meek in 2014 and lead guitarist John Spencely introduced him to the audience (pictured above).

Another death is New Orleans soul and blues singer Luther Kent at the age of 76. Together with his band Trick Bag he was a regular at JazzFest and other local festivals. His first album, 'World Class', for RCS, was produced at Abbey Road studios in London and he made several albums with Trick Bag in the nineties. Photo below shows Luther at the Crescent City Blues and Barbecue Festival in New Orleans in 2017.

Another death is that of Joe Chambers (81), who was a founder member of psychedelic soul band the Chambers Brothers. Originally a gospel group they moved towards the folk scene when they played in New York and LA and appeared at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 thanks to Pete Seeger. Their debut album 'People Get Ready' followed shortly afterwards and success came with 'All Strung Out Over You' and 'Time Has Come Today'. Other live albums included 'Love Peace and Happiness' and studio albums included 'A New Time - A New Day', 'New Generation' and 'Right Move'.

Hold On I'm Comin' - no you're not

There's a certain irony to the legal threat that the family of Isaac Hayes has launched against Donald Trump's use of the Sam and Dave classic 'Hold On I'm Comin' at his rallies. Isaac Hayes' son, Isaac Hayes III, is claiming that Trump does not have permission to use the record to support his (surely doomed) election campaign and has filed a legal suit. He says in a statement "We demand the cessation of use, removal of all related videos, a public disclaimer, and payment of $3 million in licensing fees by August 16, 2024. Failure to comply will result in further legal action.” The irony, of course, is that one half of Sam and Dave, Sam Moore, sang at Trump's inauguration in 2017. I wrote at the time: "I was a little saddened to see the great Sam Moore singing at Trump's inauguration event. His rendition of 'America The Beautiful' was not his finest hour. It's a corny song and he sang it rather poorly I thought.' This time around it's the song, rather than the singer that's at the centre of the controvery. I'm pretty sure Trump has a mental disorder and that eventually the vast majority of Americans will see him for what he is - an unhinged, probably demented bully and he will lose decisively to Kamala Harris. I hope so anyway, as who knows what will happen if it's a close result or, worst of all, a Trump win..

Meanwhile, there have been a couple of music deaths to report. Blues guitarist Carl Weathersby has died aged 71. Carl played with Chicago blues great Albert King and went on to play with Billy Branch's Sons of Blues Band where he spent 15 years. His first solo record, 'Don't Lay Your Blues On Me' came out in 1996 and he recorded a further eight albums after that, as well as contributing to dozens of albums by fellow blues artists. Carl played at the Porretta Soul Festival and I remember seeing him at the short-lived Charlotte Street Blues club in London in 2009 (below) - anyone else remember that place? - and again at the King Biscuit Festival in 2013 (pictured above).

Another recent death is that of drummer Mike Underwood at the age of 78. Mike played with Jet Harris (including on the 1962 Sam Cooke/Little Richard UK tour), the Outlaws (including with Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent in Hamburg and on their own records), the Herd, Episode Six and the Ian Gillan Band. RIP to both.

Maurice Williams of the Zodiacs RIP

Another great of doowop and early soul has died - this time Maurice Williams (86) whose biggest hit 'Stay' holds the record as the shortest major hit at just one minute and 36 seconds. It may have been short but what a great record. And it wasn't the only huge hit that Williams made. Born in South Carolina, Maurice formed a group called the Royal Charms (named after the Five Royales and the Charms) but the name was changed to the Gladiolas when they went to Nashville to record 'Little Darlin' for Excello. This was a fair sized hit but the song, written by Maurice, became an even bigger hit when covered by Canadian group the Diamonds. After playing around the Carolinas for a couple of years and having changed their name to the Zodiacs (named after the British Ford Zodiac), the group presented a demo of 'Stay', a song written several years earlier, to Al Silver of Herald records in New York. The song was a huge hit, despite its brevity, and went on to be covered by the Hollies, the Four Seasons and Jackson Browne. The follow ups, 'I Remember' and 'Come Along' were moderately successful and 'May I'. recorded for Veejay in 1965, sold well, but none could match the success of 'Stay', which enjoyed a new lease of life when it was featured in 'Dirty Dancing' in 1987.