Earl Van Dyke and The Soul Brothers - That Motown Sound Lp

Earl Van Dyke was a keyboardist, bandleader, and stalwart member of Motown’s fabled backing band, the Funk Brothers. This album, aptly titled That Motown Sound, is comprised of "instrumental versions of the hits made famous by" Motown artists and songwriters. All these songs are amazing and it’s cool to hear each of them so raw and exposed without vocals. Earl Van Dyke takes the lead on the cuts supplying keyboard riffs and melodies in place of the familiar vocal parts. I was pretty amped to find this record in such great condition. When a record is this good, and almost fifty years old, it’s safe to assume a natural patina and wear and tear has taken hold. As you can hear, on both sides of the platter, this particular copy has held on strong and still sounds minty fresh.

Enjoy the tunes!

Earl Van Dyke - That Motown Sound (Motown, 1965)

Side 1

1. Nowhere to Run
2. Come See About Me
3. You're a Wonderful One
4. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)
5. My Girl
6. All for You

Side 2

1. Too Many Fish In The Sea
2. Try It Baby
3. The Way You Do The Things You Do
4. Can I Get A Witness
5. Can You Jerk Like Me
6. Money (That's What I Want)

Sweet Apple - Self-Titled Lp

It seems strange that there isn't more information available about early 70's rock outfit Sweet Apple. I picked up this album, fairly blind to its contents, based on a super fast needle drop while in the record store. In that quick test run, I managed to hear the right combination of rock, funk, and jazz to pull the trigger and add to my stack. This self-titled Sweet Apple album was released on Columbia, and has somehow managed to slip through the cracks without more than a trace of information available online. I couldn't even find where the band was from or if they had any other records. I found the whole record totally engaging and side two especially funky. I have posted both sides of the record for your listening enjoyment. Sweet indeed!

Sweet Apple - Self-Titled Lp (Columbia, 1970)

Side 1

1. Power Of A Man
2. Puddy's Lodge
3. Voices
4. Silly People
5. Sweet Apple

Side 2

1. The Act
2. I Can't Find My Way
3. Fonky McGregor
4. Sweet Apple Jam

New Digs - Mid August 2012

I've always seen Wilson Pickett records out in stores, but for whatever reason, found reasons to pass in favor of something else. I appreciate his output and have always enjoyed the material I have on 45, but it's possible I knew I could always score his records in a pinch and just steered clear. I recently found a stash of Wilson Pickett records that were in such great shape, I felt foolish not to finally make a move and bring 'em home. I'm glad I did, as his output honors the sweaty dance numbers for which he is mostly known (and I am most familiar) while also finding time to slow it down every now and then to make for a more varied listening experience. Dig it!

Wilson Pickett - In The Midnight Hour (Atco, 1965)

Wilson Pickett - The Sound Of Wilson Pickett (Atco, 1967)

Wilson Pickett - I'm In Love (Atco, 1968)

Wilson Pickett - The Midnight Mover (Atco, 1968)

New Digs - Early August 2012

I've scored some nice Tamla records the last couple weeks. It's getting tougher to find this stuff really clean since everybody stayed getting down with this stuff from back in the day 'til now. I must have missed a day of Motown class, or maybe I never really paid that much attention, but Marvin Gaye's album In The Groove is actually the original press of his classic I Heard It Thrrough The Grapevine, same songs and everything. I guess once the title-cut beacame so popular, Berry Gordy thought it would be a good idea to re-title the record with new packaging to capitalize off the singles popularity to boost sales. I like the cover for In The Groove way better... and it's still nice to have both versions! ;)

Here are the other recent pick-ups:

The Marvelettes - On Stage (Tamla, 1963)

Marvin Gaye - In The Groove (Tamla, 1968)

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Greatest Hits (Tamla, 1971)

Marvin Gaye - Super Hits (Tamla, 1970)

Wilmer And The Dukes - "Give Me One More Chance / Get It (Instrumental)"

I really like all that I've heard from Wilmer And The Dukes. It always seems that once you start noticing records by a particular artist, after never really seeing them before, their records pop up all the time! I now have two super clean copies of the bands only LP, and a couple of their 45's, one of which was previously showcased on the blog. This particular record is apparently their first release and features two cool funk ditties “Give Me One More Chance” and the saxophone rocking instrumental “Get It”. Get it!