Welcome back!

Time to drop out of the seemingly endless rat race and hit you up again with some more of the good stuff!

Time is a very precious commodity for me at the moment! Along with ongoing work commitments, I also have several ‘irons’ warming up nicely in the fire! I’m currently in the process of organising something very special with regards to both the monthly night, as well as the Blog / Podcast so be patient, sit tight and all will be revealed shortly!

In the meantime, I thought I’d resort to dropping a mini compilation for you containing a few tunes that are keeping me sane and grounded at the moment!

The Five Royales – Right Around The Corner

First up are The Five Royales with ‘Right Around The Corner’, a great little feel good Doo-Wop number from 1956. Hailing from North Carolina, the group were the first to record ‘Think’, which went on to become a big James Brown hit in 1960.

Frank “Sugarchile” Robinson – Numbers Boogie

Next up, kickin’ it on the ivories is Frank “SugarChile” Robinson, the child prodigy from Detroit, Michigan. He was musically competent by the age of two and by the age of six, performed ‘Caldonia’ in the movie ‘No Leave, No Love’ (See video clip below).

By the age of nine he had made it to No 4 on the R&B Billboard charts with ‘Numbers Boogie’. Check the FOR YOU EYES ONLY tab at the top of the page for more video clips of SugarChile

Betty Harris – Ride Your Pony

After a brief jaunt on the Jubilee record label, Betty Harris joined the New Orleans based Sansu label in 1965. Under the wing of Allen Tousaint she knocked out this cracking cover of Lee Dorsey’s ‘Ride Your Pony’. Great stuff!

Lightnin’ Hopkins – Ball Of Twine

How about a little slice of low down Texas Blues? You got it! Lightnin’ Hopkins waxes lyrical about an uptight woman. Highly regarded and influential, his contribution here is most welcome!

The Swan Silvertones – Oh Mary Don’t You Weep

Unlike the scrotum kicking track that I featured by The Swan Silvertones a while back HERE, this is a slightly more grass roots gospel affair. Don’t be fooled by the low quality recording as this is a real builder full to the brim with soulful goodness!

Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Band - Your Love (Means Everything To Me)

Back to the funk! Charles Wright will be an artist familiar to many of you. ‘Your Love’ (Means Everything To Me) is a tasty little builder with a contagious bass lick to boot! Not as obvious as ‘Express Yourself’ but just as good IMHO.

Bill Thomas & The Fendells – Southern Fried Chicken

I have to raise my grubby mitts up and say I know very little about this one. When I say very little, I actually mean nothing, as apart from a few mentions in various play lists it is pretty much un-google-able! However once you pull down the digits and have a listen I’m sure you’ll agree with me this is a top tune! “Dig This!!”

Download a ZIP file containing all seven tracks HERE

That should tide you over until my (hopefully) swift return here. A quick heads up, as in addition to our regular monthly Hook & Sling outing on Saturday 3rd October featuring The Popcorn King, both Myself and Hoppin’ John will be airing the 45s for a quick mid week warm up at The Vestry in Chichester, West Sussex on Tuesday 29th September. If you’re about, come down and join us for the usual soulful shenanigans!