You Gotta Start 'Somewhere'

Welcome to my spot and to what I have to offer. I still don't know what I'm doing but I'll figure it out. My main goal is to express and give from a personal level. Googling is too easy to think I can educate anybody formally, but I 'can' add my perspective on the music and that special 'Edie' touch. So here we go.

I think it's apropos to lead with my favorite cut of all time "Cristo Redentor" by Donald Byrd. Regarding the album: "The idea of a jazz group and vocal chorus is an unlikely one. But what Donald Byrd and Duke Pearson accomplished in this 1963 session was more than an innovative experiment. It is music of exquisite beauty typified by the classic "Cristo Redentor." Hank Mobley, Kenny Burrell and Herbie Hancock are among the sidemen."
Cristo Redentor-Donald Byrd/A New Perspective

I was different as a teenager because although I loved doo-wop and all the songs of that era--I deemed 'this' cut (actually the whole album is etched in my heart, but this cut reigns above everybody..lol) my favorite. That's not the norm for a 14 year old.

My favorite by this next group is "I Love You More", which reminds me of the crooners outside my window in the wee hours of the night back in the early 60's. Had I the mind at that time I would have had me a tape recorder because they jammed. It was like lullabies of soul. Anyway, enjoy this cut from the same group.
Lee Williams & The Cymbals-Say It Isn't So-1966 Sorry the link didn't work and thanks to "private beach" for the heads up. I didn't realize you can't have certain characters in the link or it won't take.

I fixed it though.

Sunday, December 30, 2007 11:33PM

I'm so exhausted from trying to move and extract my music files to my server. What a nightmare! I accidentally deleted all my pictures and the back-up, so you know I'm bummed. Life goes on though. I've been assuaged by this gem of a cut by The Occasions called

Baby Don't Go-1967 I hate I couldn't find a pic of this group. It's off of a Dusties compilation that I picked up from my hometown in Chicago several years ago from my favorite record shop there called Out Of The Past Records. It's a wonderland in there for dusty lovers--like me. Here's some info on this obscure group that I wish had a pic somewhere..dagnabbit:

According to Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide, Jim Brown's legendary career with the Cleveland Browns was over when he decided to back a local singing group. Big Jim Records had lofty goals of recording local talent, and the Occasions, a relatively unknown group, consisting of Jennifer Mason, Johnal Thompson, Billy Carter, and Evans Woodson, was the first act.
The label, a subsidiary of Way Out Records, unleashed "Baby Don't Go" in 1967. The soft, floater written by Carter and Woodson became an instant local hit and received play in other metropolitan areas. "There's No You," a snappy uptempo number featuring Woodson on lead vocal, was the B-side. Big Jim was off and running with more releases coming, or so they said. It never happened. If Jim had remained with the Browns, it might have, but he retired at the end of the 1965 season and had begun acting in movies; he left Cleveland for Hollywood permanently shortly after the Occasions release and never looked back.

People waited and waited for the new Occasions record that never came. They only did a few gigs so few people witnessed a live performance; distraught, they gave up and never recorded again. Jennifer Mason married Evans Woodson, Woodson died in the late 90's; the rest are alive and well in Cleveland. Brown wasn't in California long before he backed another act, the Friends of Distinction, this time getting a bang for his bucks when they hit the first time out with "Grazing In The Grass," in 1969.

I've played this tune about 25x's straight while composing this blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.