The first Shim Sham Shimmy of the year was held on January 3, as always, at the great, stoned building called The Salt Box in Kingston, NY. It was cold outside—REALLY cold! However, DJs Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus brought the heat in the form of some wild and rockin’ 45 RPM records. Pete Pop was so excited about the Shimmy that he made two posters for it (see below.)
Since the event was so close to New Year’s Eve not much was expected, but folks came out—lots of folks came out—to dig the boss sounds that the DJs were puttin’ down. Miss Nancy baked some Spanish cinnamon cookies, pumpkin bread and chex mix. Needing something a little more substantive, Phast Phreddie ordered some French fries from the adjacent food truck. That was good.
Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the January Shim Sham Shimmy:
Santio’s Premiers–Doggin’ the Twine (Candi)
The Yorkshires–Switch Time Part I (Mammoth)
Jerry Cole & His Spacemen–Movin’ Surf (Capitol)
Elliott Shavers and His Blazers–Scratch That Itch (King)
On January 4, The Shim Sham Shimmy rolled into the Salt Box in Kingston, NY. Folks, this is the fun one, the one that rocks, the one that swings, the one that bops the one that everyone is talking about. At the Shim, DJs Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus spin fantastic 45s: R&B, Blues, Soul, Surf, Rock’n’Roll, Rockabilly, Jump Blues and all kinds of nasty, jumpin’, rockin’ and swingin’ trash. On this particular night, things got so hectic that we forgot to take but one photo! You know it was a grand affair when drinks got spilled and glasses got broken!
Although The Shim Sham Shimmy is supposed to take place on the first Saturday of the month, it moves around from time to time. For example, the February Shim will take place on February 8—the second Saturday. With any luck it will return to the first Saturday in March. Stay tuned.
At the Shimmy, Pete and Phast trade mini-sets of three songs each. Sometimes the three songs are related; often they are not. Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the January Shim Sham Shimmy:
The Shim Sham Shimmy at the Salt Box in Kingston is the newest addition to the Pete Pop DJ hustle. It is supposed to take place on the first Saturday of the month—but for two months it has been on the second, due to conflicting DJ schedules. Mr. Pop is a very busy man. In December it was the Benny Trokan show at Tubby’s. So for this month the event was held on the 14th, the day after Do The 45 in Beacon—another wild weekend!
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and DJ Pete Pop swing at the Shim Sham Shimmy!
For the Shimmy, Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus bring out their rockin’ stuff: early R&B, rockabilly, rock’n’roll, doo wop, rockin’ blues and all sorts of reet music. They trade off playing sets of three records the whole time. Sometimes the three records played are related in some way. Often they are not. However, the music was boisterous and folks were jumping all night long. Somehow the old building didn’t crumble to the ground!
Pete and Phast were pleased that several of their friends came by to swing; plus there were plenty of other locals who ventured up the stairs to the famous Salt BoxRumpus Room and they all joined in on the fun and excitement, which went into the wee hours of the next morning.
Here is a list of records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the December Shim Sham Shimmy:
It may have been Friday the thirteenth, but Do The 45 held on that date was anything but unlucky. In fact, it may have been one of the best ones yet! All night folks were boppin’ to the boss sounds laid down by host DJ Pete Pop, his co-host Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and their guests Marty Shane and James Pogo. Go-Go dancer Bella Bombora performed so enthusiastically that dozens of folks got up on the raised dance floor to boogie with her throughout the night. In all, it was quite a success.
Marty Shane, again, played some pretty great records—even some seasonal ones. Much as he did last month, James Pogo delighted everybody again with his excellent selection of dance tracks. Pete Pop, of course played his fantastic records. Miss Nancy made her yummy chex mix and pumpkin cookies.
Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the December Do The 45:
The GO Mechanism is an audio Odyssey scientifically engineered and programed in the secret laboratory of Boogaloo Omnibus Productions incorporating ultra-phonic techniques not available to other broadcast entities. The G stands for GROOVE, and there is always plenty of GROOVE in each GO Mechanism. The O stands for O’Roony, an intricate and complex attitude that is incomprehensible to those who possess standard-issue precepts. Listen and you will hear.
The GO Mechanism is first aired on the Luxuria Music web streaming hustle as a Saturday Night Special. It will then be available as a podcast on the Luxuria Music web site for a few weeks, then it will sit in that limbo called the Mixclouds. This one will first air on November 16, 2024.
In order to achieve total comprehension of this GO Mechanism, it is strongly suggested that the listener follow along with this blog post as he or she listens to the program. This blog will act as a guiding light, with a track listing and information regarding some of the songs featured in the show.
An hour into the GO there will be a Science Corner—a segment of the trip where we discuss a topic of musical importance. This Science Corner we will listen to three songs that feature Bo Diddley playing the violin.
Bo Diddley actually studied the violin when he was a boy. When he decided he wanted to play that instrument, the parishioners of Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church took up a collection to buy him one. He took lessons, then he joined the Sunday school band. The teacher made him play hymns and classical pieces, but he wanted to see if he can play blues on it. He took violin lessons until he was 15. Around that time he was given a guitar as a Christmas present and that instrument took him places.
We have found three instances where he recorded with his first instrument. The sound he gets out of his violin is eerie, and not like any violin sound you’ve heard. This is clearly not Itzhak Pearlman!
“The Clock Strikes Twelve” starts like a typical Bo Diddley song, with the “I’m a Man” beat, but then soon morphs into a slow blues instrumental with the pianist Lafayette Leake and Willie Dixon on bass, and of course, Jerome Green on maracas. The song was first issued as the B-side to the 1959 novelty hit “Say Man,” then it appeared on his second album, Go Bo Diddley.
“To Each His Own,” was written for the movie of the same name in 1946. At one point that year, the song held five different spots on the Pop Top Ten chart by five different artists. Notably, one of the artists was The Ink Spots, whose version also placed high in what was then called the Most Played Juke Box Race Records chart. Bo Diddley’s violin playing is, again, very eerie, and half way through he plays it pizzicato. This track was recorded in 1959, but not issued—maybe it was deemed unworthy of release because of the plodding beat that the musicians lend to the song. But Bo’s violin playing is unique and may even be called avant-garde, especially for the time.
After that we will hear “Call Me.” It was recorded at Bo Diddley’s home studio in Washington, D.C. in February 1961 and it was issued as the flip-side to “Pills.” For some reason it was called “Bo’s Blues” on the album Bo Diddley Is a Lover. It’s another slow blues, with Bo singing, this time. On this track, Bo’s violin playing almost sounds like Little Walter’s harmonica playing! It really must be heard to be believed, and we will hear it in The GO Mechanism.
Along with B.B. King and Freddy King, Albert King is considered one of the “Three Kings of the Blues.” (People tend to forget the great Earl King, who made tremendous records in New Orleans—but that’s another story; perhaps even a Science Corner). Albert King was born in Mississippi and eventually moved to the Chicago area to further his career in music. He played drums in Jimmy Reed’s band, including on some of Reed’s earliest recordings. King cut a record for Parrot that did not sell well, then he moved to the St. Louis area. It is there that he became a popular draw in the thriving nightclub scene. He cut some records for Bobbin Records, a label partially owned by Little Milton. When his first single, “Don’t Throw Your Love on Me So Strong,” started to make some noise, it was picked up by King Records. The platter topped out at Number 14 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Sides chart in early 1962. In this GO Mechanism, we hear “This Morning,” an instrumental that was the flip side of “Don’t Throw…” The King Records marketing people added a little note on the white label promo copies that went out to radio stations that stated: “Attn: Disc Jocks, This instrumental will be liked by The Teenagers!” Most likely this inscription was placed there because of it’s uncanny resemblance to “Last Night” by The Mar-Keys, a smash hit during the summer of 1961. Interestingly, The Mar-Keys record was issued on Satellite Records—a Memphis company that soon renamed itself Stax Records. Five years later, Albert King was signed to Stax and it is there that his legacy was created.
Mike Laure (pronounced mee-kay loo-ray) was one of the first Mexican musicians to perform cumbia music. In the late fifties, he formed a Rock’n’Roll group and named it “Los Cometas” after Bill Haley’s band. By 1960, he had added tropical rhythms and instruments that are more closely associated with cumbia of Colombia. Laure’s records have a more pronounced beat than most cumbia records, which employed several percussion instruments, but not a drum set. “Tabaco Mascao” is a traditional cumbia, first recorded by the Colombian group Combo Los Galleros in the late fifties. Mike Laure’s version is from 1965 and it swings with an accented beat.
Howlin’ Wolf’s “No Place to Go” is often confused with “You Gonna Wreck My Life.” In fact, one is the alternate take of the other, but with different lyrics. On the original releases—“Place” in 1954 and “Wreck” in 1959—they showed different songwriters, too: Willie Dixon for the former and Chester Burnett (AKA Howlin’ Wolf) for the latter. Confusing matters more is the fact that they both were issued with the exact same matrix number—a number that is usually small on the label and also etched into the dead wax of the record in order that the right label is attached to the correct side when the records are assembled. Usually, a dash after the number will indicate which take is used, but no dash numbers were added to either release so, at this late date, it’s hard to tell which came first. Confusing things further is the fact that when “Place” was issued on 78 it listed Willie Dixon as the writer, but on the back cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s first album it lists the writer as C. Burnett. “Wreck” has always listed Burnett as the writer. In GO Mechanism Number 19, we played Guitar Ray’s version of “You’re Gonna Wreck My Life,” but he sings the “No Place to Go” lyric!
Are we confused yet? If not, consider also that the first line of both songs is “How many more years;” which is also the title of an earlier Howlin’ Wolf song that is only slightly related to these two! Whatever, Howlin’ Wolf is one of the all-time greats of music and we’ll be sure to hear more of his stuff in future GO Mechanisms.
Preston Love, 1943
Preston Love was a saxophonist who came out of the big band tradition. He was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska and he worked in several territory bands. These were orchestras that barnstormed through the South and the Midwest—many went unrecorded but all contained talented musicians that the name bands would lure to their own bands. One day, Count Basie came calling for Preston Love. During his career, Preston Love played with many of the great jazz and R&B stars of the late forties and fifties. During the sixties, Love hooked up with Motown Records and he led the bands for Motown acts when they played on the West Coast. He also made some great funk records.
Preston Love was close friends with the bandleader Johnny Otis whose long career is legendary. Otis helped Love whenever he could. During the mid fifties, when Love was unable to record, Otis issued a few records under Preston Love’s name just to keep it in the spotlight. “Ali Baba’s Boogie,” heard in this GO Mechanism, is one of those songs. The saxophonist on the record is Jackie Kelso.
Love would eventually move back to Omaha, where he became a local legend. The singer Laura Love is his daughter, his youngest son Richie Love continues the saxophone tradition and Preston Love, Jr. is a civil rights activist and recently ran for U.S. Senator in Nebraska.
Big Jay McNeely was one of our favorite saxophonists in the world. His big, honking sound was very powerful. Also, like Preston Love, he came to prominence with the help of Johnny Otis—McNeely’s first recording was with Otis in 1948. In December of that year, Big Jay recorded “Deacon’s Hop,” which topped out the R&B charts in 1949. Twenty years later, McNeely cut the record again and that’s the version heard on this installment of The GO Mechanism. As fabulous as the original version is, this is much more greasy, the beat is heavier and McNeely’s big fat tone is still in evidence—if not more so! The GO Mechanism producers were hesitant to pick up this record when it was initially offered to them, since it is on the Modern ‘Oldies Series’ label, thinking it was some sort of reissue—a Bozo no-no in the collectors’ world. However, our research shows that this is the only way it was ever available.
The Time Surfers, with Bella Bombora!
Time Surfers are a rockin’ surf-type instrumental trio based out of Newburgh, NY. The GO Mechanism producers recently witnessed one of the band’s shows at the Upper Depot Brewing Company in Hudson, NY and were able to capture its version of “The Peter Gunn Theme” on tape. Bella Bombora, one of the Go Go dancers for Pete Pop’s Do The 45 DJ night, is often seen shaking her tail feathers with the band. The Time Surfers are good and fun and deserve the attention of the GO Mechanism faithful.
Bobby Graham is considered the greatest British drummer nobody has ever heard of. During the sixties, he was the first-call session drummer in London and it is estimated that he played on about 15,000 recordings! Apparently, he’s the drummer on most, if not all, the Dave Clark Five records—not Dave Clark. He also played on records by such artists as Peter & Gordon, The Kinks, Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield, John Barry, Shirley Bassey, Joe Cocker, Rod Stewart, Petula Clark, Brenda Lee, Van Morrison and many more. In the London studios, he often played with Jimmy Page, who also worked as a session musician before he joined The Yardbirds. Here in the GO we present Graham’s super boss record “Zoom, Widge and Wag,” which was co-written with Page and the guitarist provides one of his best solos toward the end.
Freddy DeBoe is another contemporary musician worthy of consideration. He is a saxophonist from Milwaukee who made his way to New York City in order to further his career. He has worked with artists on the Daptone Records roster, including Sharon Jones, Lee Fields, Charles Bradley and James Hunter. His own band has a cool, mod jazz vibe, as heard in “Savage,” a song released on Fine Wine Records—a company owned by our friend Mr. Fine Wine, the popular WFMU disc jockey.
Once again, The GO Mechanism ends with one of the Greatest Records Of All Time: “The Ostrich” by The Primitives. Pickwick Records was a company that made its mark by selling cheesy budget albums to unsophisticated teens. Often, an album would consist of a few songs by a current popular artist, usually recorded before that artist was famous, then fill out the rest of the LP with an unknown singer from the Pickwick stable. Also, the company would issue albums of original material capitalizing on some teen fad, like hot rods or surfing. One of the musicians involved in this operation was Lou Reed. He worked for Pickwick for about a year, starting in September 1964. One of the tracks he worked on was “The Ostrich”—an amazing example of folks bangin’ on shit and screamin’ in a Rock’n’Roll context. One of the things that make this record so unique is that when Reed cut the track, he had all six of his strings tuned to the same note. By the summer of 1965, Lou Reed met John Cale at Pickwick and the two left the company to form The Velvet Underground. This story is best told in issue 60 of Ugly Things Magazine as well as in the Ugly Things podcast, where publisher Mike Stax interviews Velvet Underground expert Phil Milstein regarding this period of Lou Reed’s life. Also note that 25 tracks associated with Lou Reed during his Pickwick period have just been reissued by Light In The Attic Records on an album called Why Don’t You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964 – 65 and it is highly recommended. There is no doubt in our mind that “this”The Ostrich” is the best record Lou Reed ever made!
A very special shout-out and ‘thank you’ goes to our friend Mike Minky, who gave a copy of “The Ostrich” to the Go Mechanism producers about 35 years ago!
Here is a complete track list of all the songs played in GO Mechanism Number 25:
Earl Bostic—Lester Leaps In (King)
Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk—In Walked Bud (from LP Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk; Atlantic)
Michael McClure—For Monk (spoken bit)
Albert King—This Morning (King)
Al Duncan—Bawana Jinde (Stacy)
Billy Larkin and the Delegates—Pigmy (Part 1) (Aura)
Ahmet Koç—Surf Rider (from album Paradoks; Doğan Müzik Dağıtım; Turkey)
Mike Laure y sus Cometas—Tabaco Mascao (Musart; Mexico)
The Ventures—Wack Wack (from LP Guitar Freakout; Dolton)
The Zodiacs—Caravan (from EP The Primitive Instrumental Sounds of The Zodiacs; Norton)
Tito Puente —Eléquana (from LP Top Percussion (RCA Victor)
Jackson Five—I Want You Back—backing track (Motown)
Howlin’ Wolf—No Place to Go (Chess)
Johnny Cale—Shock Hop (Mercury)
Preston Love & His Orchestra—Ali Baba’s Boogie (Ultra)
Jimmy Haskell—James Bond Theme (Capitol)
Susan Lynne—Don’t Drag No More (Capitol)
Beauregard and the Tuffs—Ramblin’ Rose (Decca)
Lee Fields—Let a Man Do What He Wanna Do (from LP Let’s Get a Groove On; Desco)
The Eloise Trio—Anna Ba Coha (from LP The Eloise Trio; Decca)
Big Jay McNeely—Deacon’s Hop (Modern Oldies)
Eddie Kirk—Them Bones (Volt)
Oquesta Monteria Swing—La Pua (Discos Fuentes)
King Kong Itself—The Mothers of Invention (from LP Uncle Meat; Bizarre)
Charles Mingus—Cumbia Jazz Fusion (edit from LP Cumbia Jazz Fusion; Atlantic)
Aaron Neville—Hercules (Mercury)
——Science Corner
Bo Diddley—Clock Strikes Twelve (Checker)
Bo Diddley—Diddling (Checker)
Bo Diddley—To Each His Own (from album Road Runner – The Chess Masters 1959-1960; Chess/Geffen)
Bo Diddley—Call Me (Bo’s Blues) (Checker)
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins—Africa Gone Funky (London)
The Time Surfers—Peter Gunn Theme (live recording)
Captain Beefheart & the Saxons—Golden Birdies Camel Walk (Boogaloo exclusive mash-up)
Bobby Graham—Zoom, Widge, Wag (Fontana; UK)
Symarip—These Boots Are Made for Stompin’ (Harlem Shuffle; UK)
Ornette Coleman—Free Jazz (edit) (from LP Free Jazz; Atlantic)
Dylan Thomas—Should Lanterns Shine (spoken bit)
Johnny Zorro—Bongo Guitar (Infinity)
Freddy DeBoe—Savage (Fine Wine)
Bo Jr.—Coffee Pot (Part 1) (Tail-Gate)
Perez Prado—Moliendo Cafe (RCA Victor)
Curtis Mayfield—Freddie’s Dead (closing theme/Boogaloo Edit) (Curtom)
The Primitives—The Ostrich (Pickwick City)
Peter Case’s important message (edit from Peter Case: A Million Miles Away documentary)
Once again we thank the groovy people at Luxuria Music for allowing us to present The GO Mechanism over their web-streaming hustle. Luxuria Music is a listener supported entity and can not exist without your help. Please visit the Luxuria Music website and figure out how you can send them some money.
This edition of The Go Mechanism will be available as a podcast on the Luxuria Music website after its initial air-date of November 16, 2024 as a Saturday Night Special. After a few weeks it will be posted on the Mixclouds and then it will magically appear below…
Princess Wow, Pete Pop, the Rock’n’Roll Nurse and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus make it with the headgear at Do The 45!
On October 11, another fantastic Do The 45 took place at Quinn’s in Beacon, NY. The September event was so successful, what with all the guest DJs, that host Pete Pop decided to invite them all back: Marty Shane, Nina Day and the inimitable Vince Vincent, along with eternal guest DJ Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus. They all played top-notch groovy jams that kept the Quinn’s folk boppin’ all night.
Among the folks at Quinn’s that night was the local celebrity Princess Wow, whose Smile Revolution Show has played in London and New York, as well as venues in the Hudson Valley.
Bella Bombora, Princess Wow, Sheba Shake and the Rock’n’Roll Nurse swing at Do The 45!
Miss Nancy baked up some sweet vittles that were gone before we could photograph them!!
Bella Bombora and Sheba Shake go-go danced, which induced many of Quinn’s elegant clientele to join them on the raised dance floor.
Toward the end of the night, after all the guest DJs left, DJ Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus traded ones. Here’s a list of all the records played by The Boog at the October Do The 45:
The inner workings of The Salt Box–upstairs in the Rumpus Room!
Our pals Peter Aaron and Sean McDJ have a cool night at the Salt Box in Kingston called Smash! Crash!! Bash!!!. It takes place on the last Friday of the month. At this gig, these guys plays some fabulous rockin’ records that can go from rockabilly to punk to funk, to new wave, to garage rock to who knows what. Whatever they play, it is always rockin’, that’s for sure!
For The Bash!!! on September 27, neither DJ could make the scene, due to more pressing events elsewhere, so they asked Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus to step in. Instead of trying to imitate The Bash!!!, Pete Pop decided to throw a special bonus Shim Sham Shimmy. Mr. Pop called for a new Shimmy format: R&B, rockabilly, rockin’ blues, rock’n’roll, so that’s what was played at the Salt Box that night. The place was jumpin’!!! Pete and the Boog mixed it up pretty good, trading twenty-minute sets all night.
DJ Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus goof at the Shim Sham Shimmy!
For this event, Miss Nancy made some banana bread and sliced it up ready to eat. Our friend Tim Broun has a dog named Rosie. Mr. Broun was coming to the Salt Box that night with his dog in tow, so Miss Nancy made some cookies in the shape of a Scottish terrier in Rosie’s honor!
Dog cookies!Rosie!
We were very happy that a bunch of our friends showed up to swing…including Peter Aaron, whose other event got cancelled due to complications of the hurricane Helene. Shame about his event, but we are always happy to see him in the room—playing records or not!
Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at this bonus Shim Sham Shimmy:
Hello, boys and girls. Welcome to another exciting adventure of The GO Mechanism with your host, Phast Phreddie. The GO Mechanism is an audio Odyssey scientifically engineered and programed in the secret laboratory of Boogaloo Omnibus Productions incorporating ultra-phonic techniques not available to other broadcast entities. The G stands for Groove, and there is always plenty of Groove in each GO Mechanism. The O stands for O’Roony, an intricate and complex attitude that is incomprehensible to those who possess standard-issue precepts. Listen and you will hear.
The GO Mechanism is first aired on the Luxuria Music web streaming hustle as a Saturday Night Special. It will then be available as a podcast on the Luxuria Music web site for a few weeks, then it will sit in that limbo called the Mixclouds. This one will first air on September 21, 2024.
In order to achieve total comprehension of this GO Mechanism, it is strongly suggested that the listener follow along with this blog post as he or she listens to the program. This blog will act as a guiding light, with a track listing and information regarding some of the songs featured in the show.
An hour into the GO there will be a Science Corner—a segment of the trip where we discuss a topic of musical importance. This Science Corner we will listen to three lesser known songs by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles for no other reason than, we can!
Smokey Robinson was a dynamic entity during the golden era of Motown Records: He wrote hit songs, he sang on hit songs and he produced hit records. The vocal group in which he commenced his career, The Miracles, was one of the finest during this period. It emerged from the ashes of the fifties R&B vocal group era into full-fledged soul music innovators during the sixties. Smokey was the guiding light; and, with his silky smooth, high tenor voice and his songwriting, The Miracles couldn’t miss. Even many of their records that were not big hits are worth listening to. In the Science Corner, we have spotlighted three songs that were hidden as LP tracks.
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles 1965 album Goin’ to A’ Go-Go (on the Tamla label, a subsidiary of Motown) was the group’s best selling album, reaching Number Eight on the charts. It was full of great songs and we have selected “Head to Toe” for your listening pleasure. Despite the excellence of its hummable melody it was never released as a single. However, a couple of years later, Smokey produced a version of it by a white female singer signed to Motown named Chris Clark. That version—also quite good, though the beat wasn’t as strong—was released as a single but it didn’t do much business.
“Dancing’s Alight” is from the 1967 album Make It Happen, which was full of good songs, including the hits “The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage” and “More Love.” It also had some good LP-only tracks such as “Soulful Shack,” It’s a Good Feeling” and “The Tears of a Clown.” About two years after the album was released, British Tamla/Motown issued “The Tears of a Clown” as a single and it did quite well. U.S. Motown got wise and subsequently issued it here, where it went to Number One in the Pop and R&B charts in 1970.
For a 1969 soul album, Four in Blue may have been unique as no singles were released from it. One of its songs, “Dreams Dreams” could have been a hit, so we’ll listen to it here in The GO Mechanism’s Science Corner in order to expose the outstanding work that Smokey Robinson & the Miracles were creating at the time.
GO Mechanism Number Twenty Four jumps right into the swing of things with two hot recordings that each feature a baritone saxophonist.
Leo Parker
The first is by Sir Charles Thompsonand his All Stars and it features Leo Parker. Parker started on the alto saxophone in the early forties, but took up the baritone when he joined Billy Eckstine’s big band of bebop musicians (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons and many others passed through this orchestra before Eckstine found his calling as a crooner.). When Leo Parker left the band he continued on the baritone, in part because he didn’t want to be playing alto saxophone in the shadow of Charlie Parker. It is on the baritone that he made a name for himself, especially in bebop circles. He played the big horn with groups lead by Dizzy Gillespie, Illinois Jacquet and Fats Navaro. In 1947 he cut “Mad Lad” with pianist Sir Charles Thompson for Apollo Records and it became his signature tune. He was often called “The Mad Lad” and he composed several songs incorporating it in the titles in order to recapture the magic of the Thompson recording: “Mad Lad Boogie,” “Mad Lad Returns.” Due to health issues, his recording output was limited. He cut two albums for Blue Note in the early sixties, but one wasn’t released until 1980. Parker died in 1962 at the age of 36.
Paul “Hucklebuck” Williams
The next baritone saxophonist was much more prolific than Leo Parker, but sows confusion as he shares the name of several other well known musicians: Paul Williams. Our Paul Williams is often called Paul “Hucklebuck” Williams after his biggest hit; it was Number One R&B for 14 weeks! Williams cut records for the Savoy label for about five years, starting in 1947. Some of them did quite well. Several R&B stars got their start in Williams’ band, including singer Little Willie John and saxophonists Noble “Thin Man” Watts and “Wild” Bill Moore (who would later play on Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin’ On LP). The song heard here in The GO is “Hoppin’ John,” named after a favorite food. Williams died in 2002 at the age of 87.
Earl Hooker
Next up is the legendary blues guitarist Earl Hooker with his take on Paul Williams’ big hit record! Hooker’s track was recorded in Memphis 1953 but not released until the seventies when some genius British people raided the vaults at Sun Records. This Hooker isn’t nearly as well know, nor was he as successful as, the other Hooker, John Lee. Although both were born in Mississippi, they are not related. However, folks who really know their blues records are aware of his awesomeness. This version of “The Huckelbuck” will give you an idea.
Note John Fogerty’s clever songwriting credit!
“Call It Pretending” is the B-side of the first single released by Creedence Clearwater Revival. The group made some records previous to this, but under different names, such as The Golliwogs, a name that was forced upon the group. In fact, this record was first released as by The Golliwogs, then changed to Creedence Clearwater Revival when the band started to assert control over its own direction. The A-side was an early version of “Porterville,” which made it onto the first Creedence LP. “Call It Pretending” never made it onto a proper Creedence album even though it is the group’s best song.
The weird noises you hear on Melvin Jackson’s “Funk Skull” is Jackson playing his stand-up bass hooked up to some electrical effects devices that were meant for guitars. He plucks his bass in some parts and plays it with a bow in others. Perhaps he got this idea from Eddie Harris, who Jackson often worked with. Harris played his saxophone hooked up to a similar device.
It would not be a GO Mechanism if there were not a version of “Caravan” included. For this installment of The GO, we have included a rendition by Jerry Betters; a drummer who was the younger brother of Harold Betters, a trombone player who had a minor hit with “Do Anything You Wanna” in 1964. Jerry played on some of Harold‘s recordings, but was also a singer who appeared in the Pittsburgh area. He died in Connellsville, PA, where he grew up, when a truck hit him as he was crossing the street in 2007.
Los Beats were a band from El Salvador that would often take songs by The Beatles and other English-speaking acts and translate them into Spanish for their market. “Eres Tu” is the group’s version of a song found on the first Grateful Dead album called “Cold Rain and Snow.” Although The Dead took songwriting credit on their album, it was actually an old folk song that they most likely heard from a 1961 album by the banjo player Obray Ramsey.
“Kanfera (Return to Fisher) is by Mor Thiam, a percussionist who was born in Senegal. In 1973 he moved to St. Louis, and soon after, recorded an album consisting of a fusion of modern jazz and African beats—the kind of music the kids today call Spiritual Jazz. The record, called Dini Safarrar, benefited from the talents of several musicians from the area, including the producer Oliver Sain, trumpet player Lester Bowie, saxophonist Oliver Lake and guitarist Phillip Westmoreland (listed here as Wesdmoread!). Also in 1973 in St. Louis, Thiam’s son was born: Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam—better known as the successful contemporary R&B singer/rapper Akon.
Bo Diddley’s version of “Old Man River” is almost unrecognizable from the song sung by Paul Robeson in the film Showboat. Bo’s version is close to surf music—maybe because it was included on the album Surfin’ With Bo Diddley. This is a controversial LP in itself, since only four of the dozen songs on the album were actually by Bo Diddley. For some reason, the album was filled out with eight tracks by The Megatons, a group that featured rockabilly singer Billy Lee Riley. Some of this is addressed in the Science Corner of GO Mechanism Number Eight.
in 1963, Bobby Fuller, his brother Randy and a couple other Texas musicians traveled to Los Angeles to make a name for themselves. They had already released some singles on their own and were a big deal in their home town of El Paso. In California, the boys studied the local surf bands and tried to get signed to a record company. The only one who paid attention to them was Bob Keane at Del-Fi Records—the label that had issued records by Ritchie Valens. Keane thought the group was interesting, but told them to return to El Paso and work on their music for a year then come back. About a year later, the Fuller brothers with new musicians, now called The Fanatics, came back and knocked on Keane’s door again. Keane had them record a cheesy teen ballad, but the flip side was “Our Favorite Martian,” a super boss, reverb-drenched surf instrumental that clearly wipes out just about every other surf instrumental you can name. Soon after, the group would change its name to The Bobby Fuller Four and cut a series of fantastic records for Keane’s other label, Mustang Records; this included “I Fought the Law,” “Let Her Dance” and “The Magic Touch.” Right as Bobby Fuller was poised to become a big Rock’n’Roll star, he died a mysterious death. Suggested reading: I Fought the Law: The Life and Strange Death of Bobby Fuller by Miriam Linna and Randall Fuller.
Phil Alvin is quite simply one of the greatest singers of our time. He came to prominence as the singer of The Blasters—one of the greatest Rock’n’Roll bands this planet has ever produced. Phil has made a couple of solo albums and “Daddy Rolling Stone” comes to us from his first one, Un Sung Stories (which has been recently reissued on CD by Liberation Hall Records with liner notes by our pal Chris Morris.)
Marvin Gaye, Anna Gordy, Gwen Gordy, Harvey Fuqua
This GO Mechanism, like many of the recent ones, closes out with one of the greatest records of all time: “Anyway Ya Wannta” by Harvey. This is Harvey Fuqua, who began his career as the leader of the great R&B vocal group The Moonglows in the fifties; “Sincerely” was a Number One R&B hit in January 1955. That group disintegrated in Washington D.C. around 1959, and Bo Diddley, then a D.C. resident, suggested to Fuqua that he enlist a local group called The Marquees to be the new Moonglows. Once this was done, Fugua eventually took these Moonglows, which included a fellow named Marvin Gaye, to Chicago to cut a few records for their record company, Chess. When The Moonglows broke up, Fuqua took Gaye to Detroit. There they became entangled professionally and personally with Barry Gordy and his family. Fuqua would form record companies (Anna, Tri-Phi, Harvey) with Gordy’s sisters Anna and/or Gwen and married the latter. Gaye worked as a session musician—he played drums, some piano, and of course he could sing—for the labels and he married the former. When Barry Gordy’s label Tamla first released Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want)” it couldn’t handle it and the record was shifted to Anna and Gwen’s Anna Records where, with the help of Chess distribution, it became a Number Two R&B hit in 1960. Brother Barry learned his lesson and the next year he had a smash Number One hit with The Miracles’ “Shop Around.” Soon after, he formed Motown and a few subsidiaries and eventually absorbed his sisters’ labels—including the talent which included Junior Walker & the All Stars, The Spinners, David Ruffin and Marvin Gaye—who hadn’t recorded as a solo act yet but was part of the family.
Harvey’s 1962 record on Tri-Phi, “Anyway Ya Wanta,” is one of our most favorite of records, what with it’s wild yelps, calling out of popular dances and its bump-bump-bumpity bump rhythm. The first time we heard it (probably when Mr. Fine Wine played it at an Empire State Soul Club event during the nineties) we thought it was some Billy Stewart record that we somehow missed; it really captured us with “Do the hitchhike!” Man, we went crazy for it—we bought a cheap bootleg and, after several years, tracked down an affordable original in good shape. It is presented in The GO Mechanism as one of the Greatest Records Of All Time.
Once again we thank the groovy people at Luxuria Music for allowing us to present The GO Mechanism over their web-streaming hustle. Luxuria Music is a listener supported entity and can not exist without your help. Please visit the Luxuria Music website and figure out how you can send them some money.
Earl Bostic—Lester Leaps In (King)
Sir Charles Thompson and his All Stars—Mad Lad (Apollo)
Paul Williams—Hoppin’ John (Savoy)
Earl Hooker—The Hucklebuck (from LP Sun: The Roots of Rock: Volume 11: Memphis Blues Sounds; Charly; UK)
James Booker—Cool Turkey (Peacock)
Creedence Clearwater Revival—Call It Pretending (Scorpio)
Los Mirlos—El Sonido de Los MIrlos (Infopesa; Peru)
The Maytals—Do the Boogaloo (Trojan; UK)
Timmie Thomas—Have Some Boogaloo (Goldwax)
Bobby Rush—Sock Boo Ga Loo (Checker)
Melvin Jackson—Funky Skull Part 1 (Limelight)
Cal Tjader—A Night in Tunisia (Fantasy)
Gregory Corso—The Fleeting Hand of Time
Jerry Betters—Caravan (Gateway)
Los Beats—Eres Tu (Orfeon; Costa Rica)
The Green Slime—The Green Slime (M-G-M)
Dick Hyman & His Orchestra—Agent Double-O Soul (Command)
Grupo Miramar—El Cameron (Accion; Mexico)
Marvin Gaye—Walk on the Wild Side (Tamla)
The Quik—Bert’s Apple Crumple (Klook’s Kleek; UK)
Mor Thiam—Kanfera (Return to Fisher) (from LP Dini Safarrar – Drums of Fire; Rite Record Production)
Los Lobos—A Matter of Time (from LP How Will the Wolf Survive?; Slash)
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles—From Head to Toe (from LP Goin’ to A Go-Go; Tamla)
The Funk Brothers—The One Who Really Loves You (bed music—from soundtrack Standing in the Shadows of Motown – Deluxe Edition; Hip-O/Motown)
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles—Dancing’s All Right (from LP Make It Happen; Tamla)
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles—Dreams Dreams (from LP Four in Blue; Tamla)
Grupo Sta. Cecilia—1, 2, 3, Hustle (Orfeon; Mexico)
Gene Redd & the Globe Trotters—Zeen Beat (King)
The T-K-O’s—The Charge (Ten Star)
Bo Diddley—Old Man River (from LP Surfin’ With Bo Diddley; Checker)
Wanderlea—Vou Lhe Contar (Pushin’ Too Hard) (CBS; Brazil)
Roland Kirk—Safari (from LP Slightly Latin; Limelight)
W.H. Auden—As I Walked Out One Evening
Dyke & the Blazers—The Broadway Combination (from LP The Funky Broadway; Original Sound)
The Ventures—Diamond Head (Dolton)
Booker T & the M.G.’s—Chicken Pox (from LP Melting Pot; Stax)
Slim Harpo—I’m a King Bee (Excello)
Aaron Neville—Space Man (Par Lo)
Bobby Fuller and the Fanatics—Our Favorite Martian (Donna)
Phil Alvin—Daddy Rollin’ Stone (from LP Un “Sung” Songs; Slash)
Pete Terrace—The Basic Cha Cha (Tico)
Curtis Mayfield—Freddie’s Dead (Boogaloo edit, closing theme; Curtom)
Harvey—Anyway Ya Wannta (Tri-Phi)
OKeh Laughing Record
This edition of The Go Mechanism will be available as a podcast on the Luxuria Music website after its initial air-date of September 21, 2024 as a Saturday Night Special. After a few weeks it will be posted on the Mixclouds and it will appear below…
On June 14, another fantastic Do The 45 took place at Quinn’s in Beacon. Host DJ Pete Pop and his regular guest DJ Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus were delighted when so many of their lovely friends showed up to bop to the slop that they presented—all on 45 RPM records, mostly original pressings. It had rained earlier in the evening, and as folks were showing up to Quinn’s a rainbow appeared over Beacon! Surly a sign that the night would be a gas.
And it was!
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and DJ Pete Pop swing at Do The 45!
As usual, Pete Pop played some fantastic records. Also as usual, Go-Go dancers Sheba Shake and Bella Bombora induced much dancing around by the folks who were in attendance. Pete Pop‘s fabulous videos had folks fascinated and much merriment took place. Our pal Stuart Millman showed up, and whenever he does, the Do The 45 DJs play more rockabilly 45s than usual in order to keep him coming back! He’s a rockabilly cat from way back and the DJs dig it when he’s in the house so they can show off their boss rockin’ jams.
Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the June edition of Do The 45:
Our pal Jonathan Toubin, truly a premier DJ of reet music if ever there was one, hosts the groovy Sunday Soul Scream on the rooftop of Our Wicked Lady through the summer months. He is a very busy man. On Sunday July 1, he was scheduled to be in Los Angeles for a series of events and could not make the Scream. To host the night, he roped in Haley Griffin and Bailey Leiter to make sure the evening ran smoothly. One of Brooklyn’s bossest bands The Othermen agreed to appear. Our newfriend The Wig Doctor was signed on to spin records before the band played. Post band DJs picked for this occasion were Avi Spivak of Rebel Rouser and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus. The night was warm and humid–indeed, everyone was sweatying–and Our Wicked Lady responded with an assortment of frozen cocktails. The moon was out and a lot of our friends showed up to swing with us.
The secret of the evening is the room on the ground floor which is air conditioned. The music from the rooftop is piped in, so no one missed a single needle-drop. Phast Phreddie‘s favorite thing: they have an excellent ginger beer on tap!
On the Googles, Our Wicked Lady is noted as a “hip music venue, arts complex & roof bar.” And so it is. Although the bar itself is of average size, the rooftop area is fairly sizable, allowing for a stage on one end and a bar, with DJ setup, on the other. It is situated in a very industrial area of East Williamsburg where few people live. Thus it can have loud music playing well into the night with nobody complaining. At about five minutes from the Morgan Avenue L Train stop, it is in a very convenient location.
Bailey & Haley swing at the Sunday Soul Scream
As Mr. Toubin so aptly put it, Haley and Bailey are “two snazzy babes.” After being on the scene and witnessing things going down for several years, they started their own event Je T’Aime Oh No, which takes place every Monday at Berlin. These gals know how to party, that’s for sure.
Bailey & Haley introduce The Othermen at the Sunday Soul Scream.
The Othermen is a grunge rock band in the pure sense of the word (having absolutely nothing to do with the so-called grunge rock movement of the early Nineties). At dictionary.com, “grunge” is defined as “dirt, filth, rubbish.” That’s exactly what this group sounds like, in the most fabulous way imaginable. With every instrument played at levels that achieve stunning audio distortion, this group makes a righteous, rockin’ noise unlike any other–with the optimal word being “noise” and the noise is boss! Highly recommended.
The Othermen in action!
The Boogaloo Bag writers first met The Wig Doctor when they DJed together at one of DJ Rata’s Shake It Up Sundays last summer. He played some heavy, heavy mambos and cumbia records that we all dug. He is often seen working on Thursdays at Friends and Lovers in Prospect Heights and spins at Our Wicked Lady fairly regularly. He also pals around with Drew Redmond and they often DJ together, such as their Gettin’ Ugly night at the Beauty Bar. On this night, The Wig Doctor mixed it up with an eclectic set of rock, soul, funk, mambo and several other exotic styles. It was a gas.
The Wig Doctor swings at the Sunday Soul Scream.
Besides being an incredible artist, Avi Spivak is a cat with a bunch of boss trash. He swings at the Rebel Rouser, a cool record and groovy stuff store. LPs, 45s, books, horror magazines, underground comix, and weird cult movies are all there for the buying. Located on Broadway, near the edge of Bushwick, it may seem small, but everything the place sells is gear. Rebel Rouser has hosted Rebel Rouser Club House nights at Ceremony with Josh Styles, William Martin, usually a rockin’ band and always Avi Spivak. A solid good time.
Avi Spivak swings at the Sunday Soul Scream.
The rooftop space was place was full of folks to dig The Othermen, and most of them stayed to dance to the solid sounds laid down by the two late-night DJs. Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus did not fool around by playing any lukewarm jive. Every record he played had super Go-Go Beat excitation. He must have gotten hungry around three quarters through the night as he played five food records in a row. Six if you count the Phil Flowers record (“…having to scrounge your next meal”)!
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swings at the Sunday Soul Scream.
Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the Sunday Soul Scream:
boogaloobag 