First off, I LOVE this record. A little back story: “Hey, It’s Over” by Windy City is a record that came out in 1974 on local Innovation II records, later issued on Warner Bros. Produced by Willie “Mr. Brunswick”* Henderson and Arranged by James “The Soul Educator” Mack*, it has a great shuffly, brassy, breezy sound that fits the group’s name perfectly. And, the jangly guitar and crisp high-hat make me smile. Not on Windy City’s only album (pictured below [and also recommended]), it’s pretty rare.
I bought the record in an online auction lot with about a hundred other 45s five years ago, spending what wound up to be about a dollar per record. At the time I was a college student, and for me it was a BIG investment. The records were not packed very well, and so my b-side (“If by Chance”) has an annoying click on it.
I went online to see if I could find a replacement and I got quite a shock. Apparently the record got hot recently (probably in Europe), because today “Hey It’s Over” alone is selling for the price I paid for the whole lot. One of the few times in which a very rare record is also very well produced.
Antiques Roadshow, here I come!
*Willie Henderson produced dozens of spectacular sides for Brunswick Records; While James Mack not only arranged beautifully himself, he taught a whole generation of the city’s best arrangers (including Tom Tom Washington).
(photos: Labor Day 1936 at 31st Street Beach, Chicago) found at bvikkivintage
I love “I’ll Never Forget You” by Nolan Chance. Released here in Chicago in 1969, its creation was a collaboration between Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, and Leroy Hutson (arguably the patron saints of Chicago Soul for the decade that was to come). The song has aural dream sequences: One moment, Nolan is reminiscing the sand-in-shoes good times spent with his lost love. The music is floaty, featuring dreamy keys and a güiro, the same scraping percussion instrument in the Drifters’ “Under the Boardwalk”.
The next moment, Nolan is snapped back into reality and the music features rhythmic, ebbing horns that recede like the tide. It makes me want to go to the beach. Enjoy the pictures and the music….
NOTE: Nolan Chance (born Charles David) was raised in LaGrange, IL, and was at one time a member of the Artistics. Another record of his that I picked up based on my love for “I’ll Never Forget You” is “I’d Like to Make it With You”, the B-side of “Sara Lee” (released in 1972, and NOT the same song as the similarly titled ”Make it With You” by Bread). Great sassy Chicago brass and pulsating rhythm. Jive on.
Darkjive has been on Summer Vacation, but always digging deeper… I’ve been really into swinging sixties jazz from Chicago, like “Coming to Atlantis” a hip mover produced by Monk Higgins and credited to Freddie “The Creeper” Robinson (on Lead Guitar). The Flip of this 45, called “Before Six” is wonderful, as well.
During the late 1960′s, there was, of course, lots of overlap between soul and jazz scenes in Chicago, and many instrumentals charted on Soul-formated radio (like “Burning Spear” by the Soulful Strings [a pet project of Charles Stepney and Richard Evans at Cadet], and “Soulful Strut” by Young-Holt Unlimited).
Below is from one of my treasured Dorothy Ashby albums (arranged by Richard Evans), “Come Live With Me” (originally featured in the film, Valley of the Dolls). Many of my favorite cuts, not surprisingly, are not on youtube. After all, the revolution wasn’t televised.
Jive on.
The Get Down is back! This Thursday, February 11, let’s celebrate what we love: feel good music! Soul, Funk, Disco, and Bluesy Groovers spun with love by yours truly (DJ Ayana). Expect a healthy helping of both rare and classic homegrown monsters, plus all the darkjive featured music you’ve come to love.
Thursday, February 11 @ the Morseland (don’t forget to check out their revamped menu… their kitchen is open late!)
1218 West Morse Avenue / 9:00pm-1:00am
No Cover!
Sneak Peak music:
Chicago’s own Keni Burke (of Five Stairsteps ["Oooh Ooh Child"] fame) released his self titled debut on George Harrison’s Dark Horse Records in 1976. “Keep on Singing” keeps me high to this day. Enjoy and see you soon!
Someone who could “never lose” at the South Side Talent Shows that local record execs scoured for fresh talent, Chicago’s own Garland Greenmade a name for himself in the late sixties as a growling, burgeoning soul star to be reckoned with. Ironically, he wasn’t discovered at a Talent Show, but playing pool.
Legend has it that a local Barbecue Magnate named Argia B. Collins overheard Green’s distinctive growl while the singer was playing pool, and that he ultimately funded Garland’s turn at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. Garland went on to record dozens of sides for various record labels, but sadly, only one album (pictured above). Here’s a clip from my interview with Mr. Green.
and here’s my interview with Argia B. Collins’ daughter (Allison Collins), who keeps her father’s South Side-born creation,Mumbo Sauce, on store shelves (and in barbecue lovers’ hearts). Argia B. (as he was often called) was a well known businessman in the community who owned multiple Barbecue joints and created the iconic sauce that is still sold today.
Here’s Garland Green with “Angel Baby” from his highly recommended, sole LP, “Jealous Kinda Fella” (pictured above). Below, an ad for Mumbo Sauce that appeared in Life Magazine.
Here in Chicago, music fans know Linda Clifford as a singer affiliated with Curtis Mayfield’s camp in the disco era. But Clifford, a native New Yorker, is also a former Miss New York State, and at one time worked as an actress who played minor roles in major films like The Boston Strangler with Tony Curtis and Henry Ford and Sweet Charity with Shirley MacLaine.
Still performing today, she is best known for the cuts from her 1978 debut album on Curtom: “If My Friends Could See Me Now” (#1 on the Disco Charts), and “Runaway Love” (#3 on the R&B Charts). Backed by The Jones Girls, her Curtom hits were electrifying, and fully Chicago-bred in an era when the City’s influence on popular music was waning (after the peak of Chicago Soul, and before the House Explosion).
Below, it’s Linda Clifford dishing it out with a televised performance of “Runaway Love”. Jive on!
Wishing you candied yams, green bean casserole, pie and a touch of “Love and Happiness” from local group Gregory James Edition (led by keyboardist Gregory Bibb and guitarist James Norris) on Chicago’s own Dakar Records, from their album “Prophets of Soul” (1973). Found a GJE 45 on a recent trek. Killer, off-kilter funk.
Chicago has a vast musical heritage. It is known for electrifying Delta Blues, known for creating House Music, renowned for its particular brands of Chicago Soul and Gospel, and also known as contributing its own twang to 60′s garage proto-punk, jazz, and just about every other genre out there. Why not loungy folk-pop goodness?
Spanky and Our Gang formed in Chicago in 1966 when Elaine McFarlane was working as a singing waitress at a local club called Mother Blues. Club owner Curly Tait offered her a chance to form a group to open for his featured acts. She quickly recruited Nigel Pickering and Oz Bach.
With McFarlane playing washboard and kazoo, Pickering on guitar and Bach on bass, the trio jokingly began calling themselves Spanky and Our Gang, playing on their singer’s nickname. Eventually guitarist Malcolm Hale was added to the roster. A club favorite, the group caught the ear of Chicago’s Mercury Records, and their first single, “Sunday Will Never Be The Same” was a Top 10 Pop hit. Four more successful singles followed. The Windy City begat something breezier.
Above, a 1967 live vocal performance by the group of “Sunday”. Even with a bit of a cough, Ellen’s voice was in great form. Below, their groovy cut, “Suzanne”. I love the rhythm changes in this.
Sadly, the group hit an insurmountable loss when on October 31st, 1968, forty years ago (almost to the day), 37 year old Malcolm Hale died suddenly of pneumonia (the cause of death is sometimes listed as Carbon Monoxide poisoning). The group broke up shortly after, but they left us with some Breezy City goodness.
I remember where I was when I first heard this: the local round-the-way record store. The carpet was checkered with the maytag logo in bittersweet on brown (harkening back to the store’s past life). There we stood in a communal experience that began with the shop owner saying, “You’ve got to hear this record”. We stood waiting. Waiting melted away to awe. Nine minutes later we knew life was a bit different…just wait for the progression of the track. It blossoms and eventually bursts.
“Dancing Girl” is from the album, “What Color is Love” (Cadet, 1973). A great record for a chilled autumn day.
Terry Callier was a childhood friend of Curtis Mayfield and co-wrote numerous Chicago Records for artists as diverse as the Soulful Strings, The Dells, and Garland Green. He spent much of the eighties and nineties as a single father, raising his daughter, Sundiata, and working at the University of Chicago.
He returned to recording in the late nineties to critical acclaim, and released “Hidden Conversations” (his fifth album in 10 years) this year. It features Massive Attack.
9image, Common at Army & Lou’s (75th & King Drive, Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood)
Here’s the recently released alternate version of the video for Chicago-bred Common’s “Universal Mind Control”. Directed by Lil X, it was shelved in favor of Hype Williams’ robo-love version. Jive on.
image, Common at Army & Lou’s (75th & King Drive, Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood)
