James Maycock’s frank and at times scary notes complemented Tony Rounce’s carefully pieced together music selection. Swamp Dogg’s version of ‘Sam Stone’ summed it up. From call-up to active service to homecoming, the whole narrative was covered with outcomes that were not always good. Moving from the absurd to the genuinely tragic “A Soldier’s Sad Story: Vietnam Through The Eyes Of Black America” charted the black experience of the “American war” as it is referred to in S.E. Or to put it another way, Oo-Ma-Liddi Boom Pacha Boom Um Bow Bow Ting Ting Boom Scat Ookey Ook Good Googa Mooga Jambo!! Not to be out-done by Rob, Roger and occasional consultant Brian Nevill hit back with “Great Googa Mooga” a tribute to gibberish as sung. Be it the Five Blobs’ ‘The Blob’ or ‘They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!’ by Napoleon XIV or even the delicious ‘Delicious’ by Jim Bakus & Friend, all 30 tracks were fit to amuse even the serious collector. Sometimes we took ourselves a bit seriously so this year we put on a funny hat and false nose, getting Rob Finnis to put together a “Novelty” edition of the Golden Age series. So, with no little cheek, we compiled his acolytes’ work as “Phil’s Spectre: A Wall Of Soundalikes”. Productions by Phil Spector were otherwise engaged as far as access was concerned. Friends and relations Glen Campbell, Gary Usher, American Spring and the Honeys: all had the Brian Wilson magic dust added to their performances. Some 4000 miles away on the opposite coast pop genius Brian Wilson was not only the leading Beach Boy but laying down some fabulous productions for other artists, which we gathered up under the heading “Pet Projects”. So Vicki Fox, Ace scanner and photo-fixer extraordinaire, worked her magic with a remarkable reconstruction job and it became the front cover to the “Old Town Story”, a double CD of fabulous New York doo wop, blues and jive. Who knows why, but it really captured the imposing nature of the man.

Old Town’s Hy Weiss gave us a copy of a fantastic photo of himself sitting in a giant overcoat behind a drum kit. 'Southland Rock’n’Roll” documented the sound of young Ville Platte and the early years of Jin Records.ĭigital processing meant we could work wonders - not just with audio but also with images. “Sure Fire Hits On Central Avenue” captured the R&B honking at the heart of black Los Angeles. Everyone loved to do ‘mix tapes’ but a compilation for a wider public had to have the focus to make a satisfying story. They were great fun to do and, with the right idea, captured the imagination of our audience. King was a big enough blues artist to warrant committing to 12”.Īcross the labels, we went compilation crazy. Started in 1957, the label mainly carried jazz, MOR and teen rock’n’roll record hop collections aimed at white kids with the money for the Long Player. King catalogue with the first four of his albums issued on Modern’s Crown imprint. We continued to make our way through the B.B. The white version of downhome was represented by the “Complete Meteor Rockabilly & Hillbilly Recordings”, featuring Charlie Feathers, the cooler teen rebel sounds of ‘Raw Deal’ by Junior Thompson and Steve Carl & the Jags bemoaning the ‘Curfew’. Primitive at times but thrillingly exciting. The music was a continuation from the pre-war period, only now with added amps. He was run out of town and then state, lucky to get away with his life. Once when leaving a session Joe was confronted by two redneck cops who asked him what he thought they fought the civil war for. It was not a good time for a white man to be recording black music in that part of the world. Following on from the previous year’s compilation, John Broven began to anthologise the field recordings made by Joe Bihari in the Southern States of America in the early 50s. The Modern catalogue was back in fashion at Ace. The main rock band on the label, the Leaves, was not part of the deal but we were more than happy with fabulous soul sides from Jackie Lee, Bob & Earl, the Mirettes and the Olympics and Northern monsters such as the perfectly titled ‘That Beatin’ Rhythm’ by Richard Temple. Betty Chiapetta had been involved in the labels and acquired rights from Randy Wood, late of Vee-Jay. When we got the opportunity to buy them, we grabbed with both hands and all feet dancing. The Mira and Mirwood catalogues were something of a holy grail of Northern soul.

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