This is The GO Mechanism, an audio odyssey that tunes out all un-hip and un-clean finkdom! The GO is a program that is periodically produced by its host, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus. It initiates on the fantabulous Luxuria Music radio stream as a Saturday Night Special before it resides on the mixclouds and here in the Boogaloo Bag. That’s G-O GO! G is for Groove. O is for O’Rooney. We have an exciting one in store for you. It will be loaded with fabulous Groove and dressed up in some fantastic O’Rooney.
In order to fully experience The GO Mechanism, it is strongly suggested that all readers listen to the show with it’s corresponding Boogaloo Bag entry in hand. Here is complete track listing of the songs heard on the show and even more information regarding some of these songs and artists, including links and graphics. In a few weeks after its initial air-date, this GO will be archived here and one may listen to it over and over.
In this episode’s Science Corner, we will listen to three tracks from an odd James Brown album called Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things. Little Willie John is mostly known for the original version of “Fever.” He had a fantastic, expressive voice and made plenty of great records. He was a contemporary of, and hero to, James Brown.
Little Willie John was convicted of manslaughter in 1966 and he died in a Washington State prison in May 1968. The very next month, James Brown was in a recording studio where he cut six songs that became side one of this tribute to the great singer. (The other side consists of six organ instrumentals… “a few nice things.”) The album was released that December.
During his career, James Brown did not shy away from recording songs by the artists that influenced him. He cut songs by Roy Brown, Hank Ballard, The “5” Royales, Billy Ward & His Dominoes and Guitar Slim. So perhaps it should be no surprise that he dedicated one full side of an album to Little Willie John so soon after his untimely death.
The songs played in this edition of The Science Corner are:
•“Talk to Me, Talk to Me” was a Number 5 R&B and Number 20 pop hit record and one of Little Willie John’s biggest hits.
•”Home at Last” was a Number 6 R&B hit that was written by Rudy Toombs, the subject of the Science Corner in GO Mechanism Number 15.
•”Heartbreak (It’s Hurting Me)” was a Number 11 R&B hit that squeaked into the pop Top Forty. This latter song was written by Jon Thomas, a keyboard player based in Cincinnati who played on several sessions for King Records (who issued both Little Willie John and James Brown records), including Little Willie John’s hit version of “Fever.”
The other songs on JB’s tribute are “Suffering With the Blues,” which was likely written for Little Willie John; and two standards, “Cottage for Sale” and “Bill Bailey.” There’s little doubt that Little Willie John learned “Cottage” from the hit version by Billy Eckstine. “Bill Bailey” is a ditty that dates to 1902 and is favored by Dixieland musicians. Little Willie John’s version turns it into a jump blues; James Brown added his own touch of funky swing on this album.
Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things is unlike any other James Brown album. At the time this was recorded and released, 1968, he was riding high with his new heavy funk; “I Can’t Stand Myself (When You Touch Me),” “I Got the Feelin’” and “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)” were all on the charts. This must have sounded like a throw-back to his fans—and the organ cuts may have sounded like throw-aways—thus it did not sell well. One can only imagine that this was a labor of love, a tribute to someone that the Godfather of Soul truly held in high esteem—as we all should. Little Willie John’s music will live forever.
[Suggested reading: Fever: Little Willie John: A Fast Life, Mysterious Death, and the Birth of Soul by Susan Whitall]
For some reason Red Prysock has two entries in this edition of The GO Mechanism. Coincidentally, both of them have spoken introductions. The great saxophonist and his musicians were clearly having fun recording these tracks. Before striking out on his own, Prysock played with two “Tinys”: Tiny Grimes and Tiny Bradshaw. Prysock’s string of honking R&B instrumentals is matched only by Big Jay McNeely in their fabulousness, with “Hand Clappin’” being Red’s biggest seller.
In case the listener missed the GO Mechanism in-joke, we’ll explain it here: The show goes from Chuck Berry’s instrumental “Liverpool Drive” to “Mashed Potatoes” by a group from Liverpool called The Undertakers. Sandwiched between the two is a bit by Wild Man Fischer where he states, “You can get Herb Alpert and Jackie Lomax for forty cents.” The Undertaker’s lead singer was Jackie Lomax.
Alan Copeland checks into The GO with an early mixing of two different songs—something that the kids today call a “mash-up.” He directed his chorus to sing The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” to the tune of the theme to “Mission: Impossible.” Somehow it works—mostly because the “Mission: Impossible” theme is so hard to mess with. Copeland had been in the music biz for about 20 years before this. He had been a member of The Modernaires, a vocal group that goes back to its time with Glenn Miller & His Orchestra in the thirties. Copeland wrote a hit song for Jo Stafford and made vocal arrangements for various pop acts and for films. Although “Norwegian/Mission” didn’t make much noise on the pop charts—it bubbled under at Number 120—in 1968 Copeland received the Grammy for Best Contemporary Pop Performance, Chorus. A year later he tried to recreate that magic using Simon & Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair” with Mason Williams’ “Classical Gas.” It is not nearly as much fun.
The version of “Caravan” in this episode of The GO Mechanism is by Chuck Rio. Other than the fact that it is quite rockin’, we like this rendition because it adheres a little closer to the original version by the Duke Ellington spin-off group Barney Bigard & His Jazzopators; Rio’s version keeps the percussive horn arrangement that most versions omit. On the label of this record, the artist is noted as Chuck “Tequila” Rio. Indeed, Rio was a member of The Champs and wrote their hit “Tequila.” He sought to remind potential record buyers of this with several of his post-Champs recordings. [For more about “Caravan,” see The Science Corner in GO Mechanism Number Three]
Laurel Aitken had one of the longest careers of any Jamaican musician—from about 1958 to a few years into the next century. He recorded in just about every style of music that was ever created in Jamaica, including ska, rocksteady, reggae and dancehall. He even recorded some R&B tracks in the early sixties. The record played here, “Baba Kill Me a Goat,” is in the mento style. Mento predated ska in Jamaica and it is often confused with calypso music. The GO Mechanism producers will cop to the fact that they can’t really tell the two apart; however, suffice it to say, it is boss and thus presented for the listener’s enjoyment.
Charles Lloyd recorded “She’s a Woman” on March 8, 1965 at Columbia Studio A in New York City. The participants were Lloyd on tenor sax, Gabor Szabo on guitar, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums. The track was only released as a single.
While tooling around in Tower Records’ under-stock in the fall of 1974, my friend Tom Gardner and I discovered a box of “Piss Factory” 45s that hadn’t made it to the sell bins yet. Needless to say, we bought a bunch of them and brought them home to our friends—we knew who Patti Smith was at the time—she had written some things in Creem Magazine, co-wrote some songs for The Blue Öyster Cult and was written about in Rock Scene Magazine. Plus, label credits listed our hero Lenny Kaye on guitar. How could it be bad?
In fact, it is one of the greatest records of all time. Subsequent recordings by The Patti Smith Group are all quite fabulous, of course, but this initial offering will always be held in high reverence with the GO Mechanism producers and the Boogaloo Bag writers. Nothing sounds like it, and nothing ever will.
Bo Diddley’s “Somebody Beat Me” is an odd one in his catalog. It was originally issued on the LP 500% More Man, and also twice on 45 in England. The song is about getting beaten up and robbed in Las Vegas. Could this be autobiographical? The subject matter is a long way from Bo Diddley’s braggadocio themes that we have come to know and love. Anyway, it’s got a cool groove.
Before Arthur Lee and Johnny Echols formed the boss rock group Love, they issued two singles by two different groups: Arthur Lee & the L.A.G.’s (“Rumble-Still-Skin” was featured in GO Mechanism #12) and The American Four. “Soul Food” is a tough, “Green Onions”-like groove with hot guitar playing by Echols. Around this time, Lee was writing songs and getting them recorded by other acts—two “jerk” songs by Ronnie & the Pomona Casuals and “My Diary” for Rosa Lee Brooks. Soon, he would see The Byrds in concert, which inspired him and Echols to form Love.
Mose Allison was an early hero of the Boogaloo Bag writers and GO Mechanism producers. They attended a Mose appearance at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, CA around 1973 where Mr. Allison’s signature was obtained on a napkin. “I’m Not Talking” was written by Mr. Allison and recorded for his 1964 The Word From Mose album. Two years later The Yardbirds covered the song and things haven’t been the same since.
Robert Roland Chudnick was a bebop trumpet player that worked as Red Rodney. “Red’s Mambo” is a Cubano-influenced jump number played at punk rock tempo by a bunch of guys from Philadelphia. Before this, Red Rodney played briefly with a group led by Charlie Parker. When the group toured the South, he was billed as “Albino Red” so they wouldn’t upset the locals who frowned upon mixed-race musical ensembles. Ignorant people are easily fooled.
The Greatest Record Of All Time that ends this edition of The GO Mechanism is “My One And Only Jimmy Boy” by The Girlfriends. The song was written, and most likely produced by David Gates (for Raven Wood Productions, Inc., whatever that is). The record sounds like a Phil Spector record played at 78 RPM; in our book it’s better than any Spector production. This same David Gates went on to produced two great singles by Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band. Gates also wrote and/or produced songs by such artists as The Murmaids, Merry Clayton, Duane Eddy and Dorothy Berry. Somewhere he lost the map and formed the pop group Bread, and that is where he found his success. It’s a shame how mediocrity always seems to be the big money-maker for some folks. At least he made this fantastic girl group record that we in the GO Mechanism studio consider one of the Greatest Records Of All Time!
The GO Mechanism is produced whenever we feel like it, and incorporates exclusive copyrighted Vitaphonic, Ultra-sonic and Quasi-tonal methods in order to bring out a higher standard of standardness. Legacy GO Mechanisms may be found on the mixclouds as well as here in the Boogaloo Bag.
The GO Mechanism originates on the Luxuria Music web-streaming hustle. The GO Mechanism producers heartily thank the Luxuria Music people for giving us the opportunity to play a few rekkids over their deluxe electronic audio delivery system. Please support Luxuria Music in any way you can. Go to the Luxuria Music web hustle to find out how.
Here’s a list of all the records played on GO Mechanism Number Seventeen:
- Earl Bostic—Lester Leaps In (King) [ GO Mechanism Theme Song]
- Roland Kirk—No Tonic Press (from LP Rip, Rig & Panic; Limelight)
- Red Prysock—Rock and Roll Party (Merucry)
- Steve Karmen—Pontiac Theme (Pontiac)
- Chuck Berry—Liverpool Drive (from LP From St. Louis to Liverpool; Chess)
- The Undertakers—Mashed Potatoes (Pye; UK)
- Los Melodicos—Cornichons (Tropical Tiger; Italy)
- The Sugarman 3—Your Friendly Neighborhood Sugarman (from LP What the World Needs Now; Daptone)
- The Hi-Fly Orch.—Soul Bossa Nova (Tramp; Germany)
- Alan Copeland—Mission: Impossible/Norwegian Wood (ABC)
- Chuck “Tequila” Rio—Caravan (Tequila)
- Laurel Aitken and the Boogie Cats—Baba Kill Me Goat (RCA; Jamaica)
- Zuzu Blues Band—Zuzu Man (A&M)
- Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra—Monologue (Pretty and the Wolf) (Columbia)
- The Mothers of Invention—Help I’m a Rock (edit) (from LP Freak Out; Verve)
- The Chairmen of the Board—Life and Death in G and A (Invictus)
- Orquesta Monteria Swing—La Samaria (from LP Cumbias y Gaitas Famosas 3; Discos Fuentes; Colombia)
- Chip Kinman—Pop Become Art Become Pop (from LP The Great Confrontation; In The Red) [ bed music for Alec Guinness recitation ]
- The Swingers—Out to Lunch (from soundtrack to A Swingin’ Summer; HBR)
- Charles Lloyd—She’s a Woman (Columbia)
- Charles Brown—When You Play With Cats (King)
- Dave Baby Cortez—Watermelon Man (from LP Organ Shindig; Roulette)
- Louis Amando—Trinadad E-O (Encino)
- Smokey Robinson & the Miracles—From Head to Toe (from LP Going to A Go-Go; Tamla)
- Patti Smith—Piss Factory (Mer)
- THE SCIENCE CORNER – Zombie Rev—My Showdown (bed music)
- James Brown—Talk to Me, Talk to Me (from LP Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things; King)
- James Brown—Home at Last (from LP Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things; King)
- James Brown—Heart Break (from LP Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things; King)
- Dave Barker—Prisoner of Love (from LP Trojan Mod Reggae Vol. 2; Trojan; UK)
- Bo Diddley—Somebody Beat Me (Chess; UK)
- Antoine et les Problemes—Dodecaphonie (Vogue; France)
- The Young Ones—Sour Grapes (Columbia)
- The American Four—Soul Food (Selma)
- Ninapinta and His Bongos and Congas—It Ain’t Me Babe (from LP The Downtown Scene; Decca)
- Mose Allison—I’m Not Talkin’ (from LP The Word From Mose; Atlantic)
- Red Rodney Sextet—Red’s Mambo (OKeh)
- Red Prysock—What’s the Word? Thunderbird (Mercury)
- Slim & Slam—Groove Juice (from LP The Complete Slim & Slam; Affinity; UK)
- Sonny Cox—Hoggin’ (Cadet)
- Top Hat & Little Jeff—Mississippi Bump (C.J.)
- The X-Citers Unlimited—Soul to Billy Joe (ABC)
- Crispy & Company [The Lafayette Afro Rock Band]—A.I.E. A Mwana (from LP Afro Funk Explosion; Manifesto)
- Trinity meet The Mighty Diamonds—L.S.D. (from LP Trinity Meet The Mighty Diamonds; Gorgon; Jamaica—Super Boogaloo edit)
- Curtis Mayfield—Freddie’s Dead (Curtom; Super Boogaloo Mix)
- The Girlfriends—My One and Only Jimmy Boy (Colpix)
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