I may have suggested recently that I find London a hassle but if you want stuff it's hard to beat. The other day I was roving the internet and some reggae tunes led me to Soul Jazz's Dancehall compilation. Checking out their website I dropped my quest for reggae and realised that I probably couldn't live without both their New Orleans Funk compilations.And so lunchtime the next day I hopped on a bike and pedalled to Sounds of the Universe. Five minutes and about twenty-four quid later I walked out of there with six shiny vinyl discs of very high quality funk. What a bargain. What a label. What a shop. It's impossible to go wrong. I'm even considering that Polyphonic Voices of Georgia album.
Anyway, a tune from vol 2. The original, which I'm not ashamed to say I'd never heard before.
Benny Spellman Fortune Teller
And, for variety, a less funk but no less cool cover version. I've always loved the Stones version but found this during some pre-purchase sussing out. The Vibrations - a bit of confusion had me thinking those brothers really nailed that British Invasion sound. But no, a classic British garage track with one of the scruffiest riffs this side of You Really Got Me.
The Vibrations Fortune Teller
It's the sign of a great tune. I reckon you could strip it down to 3 chords and bang it out on an old acoustic. In fact, hang on, I'm away to work out the tabs.
ReplyDeleteI love both the versions there, especially the percussion in the original. But that guitar in the Vibrations' version is my idea of a perfect guitar sound (the riff not the solo).
ReplyDeleteDoh! It would appear that Alison Krauss & Robert Plant have beaten me to it. And I was right: D, C & A. All the great tunes have got 3 simple chords.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly recommend the Georgian CD. I bought it together with Chechen Songs of Survival, which is similarly wonderful.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great shop. I'm on the Welsh border, so tend to worship Cob Records of Bangor and Porthmadog.
John - In the sleeve notes of In Blood Billy Childish insists that you only really need one chord. Not having a very technical understanding of music I'm not sure how that's possible, but it's a great album.
ReplyDeleteVole - I'll be up Porthmadog way in about three weeks for my (several times deferred) summer holidays. I'll pop in.
If the weather isn't too bad I'll try to get down to Lampeter, home of Hag's Records. Have you ever been? When I was a student I was in there everyday. I bought an album most days.
It is a great album , you're not wrong - that's the one he recorded with Holly Golightly. I love her voice.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm a much bigger fan of hers than I am of Billy Childish. She was always playing gigs (another thing London's good for) and I never went along. And now I think she lives in America.
ReplyDeleteit is indeed a shop of heaven. i can recommend lucky dipping in the £3 rocksteady box - i've never been disappointed.
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Ally! Blimey! I wasn't expecting you. I'd been in a few times before but always been a bit dazzled and indecisive, though I did emerge once with a Jackie Mittoo lp.
ReplyDeletejust thrust a greedy hand in and pull dear - works for me
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