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Happy Newsletter day Sorry Staters. Even though we have switched our drop day to Mondays, we’ve still kept our deadline for our picks to Thursdays, which isn’t anything odd, but writing for the future this week is a little weird. Today, Thursday, is the first day of the Hopscotch Music Festival here in Raleigh and this year’s line-up is particularly strong. I’m hoping that by the time you read this, if you went, you had a killer time. Not even sure who I’ll end up catching, but it doesn’t really matter. Live music. It’s ace.

If you were in town and had a chance to stop by our store and pick up something tasty, thank you. Thank you everyone for your support. You keep the wheels rolling and the lights on, which means that we can keep stocking more new records by more bands and in turn support them.

There’s so much new stuff coming through our store, let alone elsewhere, that it is literally impossible to keep on top of it all. Two examples I would like to use as my picks for you readers this week are the bands Heavenly Blue and Tha Retail Simps. Both bands from Canada and although a little different in sound, both following the long lineage of garage and punk bands that have kept the original spirit of teenage rock ‘n roll alive and well. As someone raised on Pebbles, Back From The Grave and KBD comps, I hear a lot to like in both bands.

Prompted by the recent arrival of the latest Retail Simps record Live On Cool Street and a 45 from Heavenly Blue, I gave a good listen to everything we had by both bands. Retail Simps changed their Tha to Thee and might be adding an extra e with each new release. Very Oh Sees and Headcoats of them. This is the first slice of wax that we have had from Heavenly Blue, carrying their two previous cassette releases. They are out on the Sewercide label whilst the Simps are currently on Total Punk. That should be the end of anyone’s review saying they’re on the Total Punk label. I mean, what can you say? Those guys have a deserved reputation akin to Crypt, Sympathy For The Record Industry, Bomp, Stiff and many other fine labels for high-level quality releases. You almost don’t need to hear it before you buy it. The best compliment one can give a label.

I liked the new Heavenly Blue 45. The simple garage aesthetic of the plain brown sleeve and stamped band logo appealed to me. It looks like an old single from the late sixties or early seventies. Sound wise, the band have added a little fidelity polish to proceedings, but keep to the garage punk of their demo tape, although as Jeff and I listened we wondered whether there was a different vocalist. The singer seemed to be less growly, we thought. Good stuff though. Four tracks, with the first Push On Thru reminding me of a slowed down take on The Wailers’ Out Of Our Tree. Slightly. I can’t tell you too much about the band other than they come from Halifax, Nova Scotia and that you should give them a listen and check ‘em out live if they come to your town or you are in their neck of the woods.

As for Thee Retail Simps? Do you like garage punk? Have you attended a Goner Fest? Do bands like Dead Moon, The Make-Up, Thee Oh Sees, Smirk, Blues Explosion, King Khan & The Shrines float yer boat? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you probably are already hip to what these guys are doing. For those playing catch up like myself, don’t sweat; we have both their records currently in stock and you should check ‘em out. Two winners I think.

These guys are from Montreal, Canada, but if you told me Memphis, it would make total sense. The music is very much American but with the Euro X factor going on, which makes for an interesting and fun listen. On the latest record, they expand on their sound and throw in a few curve balls. When I was listening, I had to check once or twice to make sure it was the same record. Not that the stylistic changes are so dramatic, but there is more going on than just simple, drunken garage rock. You get some of that for sure, but you also get some clever song writing and mood setters for your money too. Neato packaging too with a poster included.

Whether you are an old school head or not, these guys might well become your new favorite band. Maybe.

Okay, I must finish this and get on with work and then get out and see some music. Thanks for reading. See you next time.

Cheers - Dom

Hey! What’s up everyone? We’ve gone from Memorial Day to Labor Day and another summer is ending. The seasons change as the world turns and we all get another year older. The only thing any of us can’t do is stop, delay or stockpile time. We must make the best of what we are given. Try to leave the world a better place for having been here and hopefully have a few laughs along the way. I’ve been thinking about the passing of time a lot lately and how years can go by one after the other in what seems like the blink of an eye. I’m just a few weeks away from taking my first trip back to the UK in ten years. The last time I went over was for my Dad’s funeral and unfortunately circumstances and finances haven’t allowed me to go back since. It hasn’t been good for me to be honest. Not seeing your family for so long, if you are lucky enough to have one, does a number on you. Thankfully that will all be done with very soon. I can’t wait to see everyone and the ol’ country again. I will be back in time for Sorry State’s ten-year store anniversary and Sorry State Fest though. That’s going to be awesome, and I am so proud to be a part of this beautiful family also.

Another reminder about time flying by was given to me when I came to work on Tuesday and saw that we had got in the Lush reissues. I might have let out a shout of delight when I saw them in the new arrivals section. It’s been tough and expensive finding Lush records, as it is with many 90s vinyl. I have been holding on to my CD copies since buying them when they first came out. Lush were a special band for sure and I was fortunate enough to see them live back in the day. Lumped into the Shoegaze category of bands around at the time, and although from the UK were more popular in the US. That worked out great for me as I was over in America more than Britain during the 1990s and got to see many touring UK bands play smaller venues here. I was working on the ships from the late 80s through the 90s and was in Miami a lot. Back then South Florida had a healthy live music scene. There were a lot of clubs to go see bands at. It seemed like I was always catching something good, although if I remember rightly it was at Lollapalooza that I saw Lush in Miami. Anyway, a great band that made the move from Shoegaze to Britpop successfully with the Lovelife album in 1996 but ended shortly after with the tragic death of drummer Chris Acland. My personal favorite album is probably Spooky from 1991 along with Gala from the previous year. The latter was a compilation made for the US market which combined their debut mini album with single sides and tracks exclusive to that collection. Again, I still have the CD of that release and perhaps one day will score an original vinyl but hopefully it might also get the reissue treatment. We have Spooky, Lovelife and Split in stock currently and they are reasonably priced. So, if you are a longtime fan or just discovering them, now is the time to take the plunge.

As an additional “pick” this week I must give a mention to the limited repress that label Goodbye Boozy gave to the Sick Thoughts 45 from 2021 called Poor Boys b/w Drug Rock. If you missed it the first time around make sure to snag yourself one. That is, if you want two sides of fun, catchy, kick ass rock ‘n roll. This is the type of punk, garage, rock, call it whatever you like, stuff I love best. Although essentially a one-man band, Drew Owen has released a couple of dozen records over the past decade across multiple labels and the easiest comparison would be to the late great Jay Reatard or to someone like Billy Childish. Sick Thoughts play that Oblivions, Carbonas, style of punk garage with a big dash of 70s Heartbreakers and Saints for good measure. You can catch them soon at the upcoming Goner Fest, which seems like the perfect surroundings for this type of sound. In the meantime, snag yourself a copy of the single and make sure to watch the official videos for both tunes. Worth watching.

Okay, back to work. I’ve got boxes and boxes of used records to price. See you here next time or in the store itself if you get a chance. Thanks for reading and supporting us. We really appreciate it. Cheers!

-Dom

Hey there Sorry Staters! It’s been a long hot summer here in North Carolina and the heat hasn’t let up yet. We are doing our best to keep cool and hope that wherever you are in the world things aren’t too bad. Obviously our southern hemisphere readers are in their winter, but certainly know all about scorching summers. Extreme weather events are becoming the norm and yet here in America just this week during their debate, Republican candidates for president to a man all denied climate change was even real or an issue. Shameful and disgusting. The lot of them. But whatever, we all know they’re assholes. Let’s talk about music and records instead. It’s been a minute since we did one of these and honestly evangelizing about music and turning folks on to cool records is what we love to do most here at Sorry State. That and bringing the music to you directly, like when Scarecrow play live.

Talking about Scarecrow playing live, I hope that some of you got a chance to see them play on their recent tour with Vidro. I really enjoyed the show here in Raleigh and was particularly impressed with Vidro from Sweden. We should still have copies of their LP in stock, and I can highly recommend it. Also playing that evening was Yellowcake and Pig City. We missed Pig City as we were closing the shop, but had the pleasure of meeting the bands in the store and took the opportunity to take some copies of records and tapes that both had with them. The Yellowcake tapes sold already, but we do still have copies of the Pig City LP if you would like to support them.

This week I would like to use my space in the newsletter to talk about an artist who in the country music world is a household name, but might be new to some of you reading. His name is John Hartford, and although sadly not with us anymore, left a body of work behind him to guarantee his legendary status for years to come. I’m not sure how many of you punks out there appreciate county, folk and bluegrass music, but if you do, then John Hartford is someone you should investigate in addition to the countless other cool artists and records that come under the country and bluegrass banner. Don’t forget the Ramones played at a place called CBGB & OMFUG, which literally has the name of the music in the name. As I write this, Jeff and I are listening to Rocket to Russia. Everything is connected. LoL.

So, back to John Hartford. His career would take a couple of pages to write about and I would encourage a deeper look at his Wiki page for starters. He was born in New York, raised in St. Louis and moved to Nashville to begin his career in the early 1960s. His early records were in the then current country folk style, but his big break came with a tune called Gentle On My Mind, which he wrote. It became a small hit for him but an even bigger one for Glen Campbell, who heard it and covered it himself and turned the song into an international hit song. Years later, Hartford would credit that early break in financing his whole career and affording him the luxury to experiment and be true to himself as an artist.

Harford was a multi-instrumentalist and could play banjo, fiddle and guitar equally well. He also developed a clogging technique where he would stomp on wood boards to provide his own beat. A true one-man band. His music caught the ear of many as he became popular, and this led to him becoming a regular on the Smothers Brothers TV show and on Glen Campbell’s TV show. A label switch to Warner Brothers and then Flying Fish in the 70s began a run of releases that were far more experimental in their approach to bluegrass and would be later be dubbed as Newgrass. For many, the defining record in his catalogue is one titled Aero-Plane, released in 1971. I have become slightly obsessed with this record recently and was delighted to find it in a collection that we bought a while back. I had a strong feeling that I was going to find a copy and was convinced that there would be one in this collection. Sure enough, in the very last box (out of dozens) that we had been going through, there was a copy. Sweet. I love it when that happens. The main reason that I have fallen in love with this record is for the song Steam Powered Aero-plane, which is just so good and probably the reason why people seek out this particular title. I must thank Rachel (who used to work for us) and John Scott for reviving my interest in country and bluegrass. John Scott introduced me to Billy Strings, a real generational talent btw, and his band cover some John Hartford songs. We listen to Billy Strings live shows while we work and had been enjoying hearing their take on the Aero-Plane song and so it was great to see them perform the song live at one of the shows the band played here in North Carolina recently. There were many other great moments that night in Cary, but that one really made it for me. Kudos to banjo player Billy Failing who sings the song in their sets.

Looking at Discogs, it seems that the Aero-Plane album commands the highest price amongst his albums. His other Warner Brothers record called Morning Bugle, which was released the year after, is also a good record and in demand, but most of his other albums shouldn’t make a big dent in your wallet should you start to seek them out. He recorded over thirty albums throughout his career, so there are lots to find. I’ve managed to score a few so far and have found something cool on all of them. I love Hartford’s voice and his lyrics. He’s a character for sure and supremely smart and talented. Apparently, though, amongst some bluegrass purists, his Newgrass style wasn’t universally appreciated. Their loss I say. However, for most people, his music is something to cherish and celebrate. The more I read about him, the more I like him. He was fascinated with the Mississippi River and the stories through history associated with it, for instance, and recorded a cool record in tribute to it titled Mark Twang. I found this one too, and it’s another good one. Hopefully I’ll come across a couple of those earlier sixties albums soon, but I am extremely happy to snag a copy of Aero-Plane.

Rock ‘n’ Roll and loud guitar music will always rule, but there’s plenty of punk attitude to be found in Bluegrass music, just as there is in other styles. Cumbia is a great example. Remember it’s not your clothes or your haircut that makes you punk. Thanks for reading and your support. Go play some records.

Cheers - Dom

Hi there, how’s your summer going? Apparently, in some parts, there hasn’t been much of a summer so far for you, but down here in North Carolina we are currently chilling with temps in the high 90s and not much change in sight. The good news is that the UPS driver’s union won their dispute and there will now be a/c units in the delivery vans, so they don’t have to drop from heat exhaustion and hopefully the shipments of vinyl they are carrying won’t be exposed to 100+ degrees also. Always a big concern shipping and receiving records in the height of summer. A good time to listen to Billy Bragg’s There’s Power In A Union.

We’ve been keeping busy here at Sorry State with plenty of new and used records coming through the doors each week, but have taken a brief break from writing our staff picks. Not that there hasn’t been plenty to write about. As I type, we are receiving the latest releases from Iron Lung Records and Static Shock Records. I’m curious to hear The Steves singles and am excited to see new ones from The Hazmats and Powerplant. We’re constantly adding good, cool used records to our inventory and have been keeping the store as full as possible and not slowing down on the used new arrivals drops each week. It truly is so satisfying and rewarding seeing good records being appreciated and bought by you, our fantastic customers. We thank you for your continued support.

In a recent social media post, we had the old man of the place (me) with his nose in a pile of books wearing his cheaters. Apparently that made some of you smile, but there were some excellent books in that stack, and with that in mind I thought I would recommend a book for you today. If you are lucky to be taking a summer vacation this year at the beach or somewhere else where the plan is to relax and do very little, you might need something good to read. It’s been a few years since I have had a “vacation”, but I can recall how I used to get through several books during a typical week’s holiday. One decent read that I could recommend to you which I am just finishing up is Music Is History by Questlove with Ben Greenman, published by Abrams Image. It’s an easy, fun and informative read covering the years 1971 to the present in musical history as seen through the eyes of Questlove. Each short chapter covers a year and begins with a bullet point list of the year’s key events and happenings and then has Questlove’s thoughts regarding records that came out that year and how the music and news events connect and affect each other along with plenty of other interesting factoids and asides. The focus is almost entirely on America and the American experience, but that shouldn’t make it any less appealing to folks from other parts of the world. Assuming, that is, that you have more than a passing interest in American history, music and politics and know and care who Questlove is.

I, as a fan of The Roots and Questlove and a resident of America and a lover of music and history found plenty to be amused and informed by.

One of the chapters talks about Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, where there’s an interesting story about how Thomas Dolby almost contributed a cut to the record, but things didn’t work out, so he took the song, Hyperactive, and recorded it himself. Questlove tells it much better, but the real point of the story was how it was around this time in his life that the author was experiencing music directly and not second hand via his parents or from the established gatekeepers telling him what mattered and what was or was not good. I’m just a couple of years older than him and can relate to that emotion. The feeling of discovering music yourself and experiencing things directly as they happen as opposed to reading about the past or watching it told back in a documentary or something. Also, being of age that you could participate in some way was the crucial factor. Being able to claim music, bands, artists as your own.

I’m not as avid a reader as I used to be, and I’ve held on to this book for too long since we were gifted one here at the store from the publishers, and I know Daniel wants to read it also. Our copy came with a doodle graph signed by Questlove, too. Pretty cool. Grab yourself a copy for your beach holiday. Sorry Daniel for holding on to it for so long to miss your beach getaway, but you probably had plenty of other good reads with you, right?

Cheers everyone, enjoy your summer and stay cool.

-Dom

Hello guys, we hope we find you well as we close out another week here with the ol’ Sorry State Newsletter. As always, thank you for reading and hopefully you come away with some good steers towards cool and fun shit. As music lovers, we come to you again with heavy hearts saddened by more passings in the world of music. This week we lost Astrud Gilberto and Tony McPhee, the former the world’s forever girl from Ipanema and the latter the UK blues guitar hero who gave Peter Green a run for his money. I hate turning the newsletter into an obituary and quite honestly there are far more eloquent tributes being made than I could ever come up with, but damn it sucks losing more great artists and makes you feel old and think about your own mortality. Certainly, in this old geezer’s case.

Astrud Gilberto helped bring the sound of bossa nova to the world and was key to my entry into the music of Brazil. A friend of ours here at Sorry State posted on his social media a story of his introduction to Astrud via the exchanging of mixtapes with an old girlfriend and how hearing her voice and music changed his life and had such a profound effect on him. That’s the power of music. Gilberto cut a slew of fun, bright, romantic and groovy records throughout the 1960s and into the 70s. Mostly sticking to the jazzy bossa format, but adding in some interesting songs and sounds along the way. She always had top writers, arrangers, producers and musicians contributing to her records, making each one different and desirable. I dig them all, but really like the ones she cut at the end of the sixties most. Namely, I Haven’t Got Anything Better To Do from 1969, which sports a close-up shot of Astrud with a tear in her eye and from the following year, September 17, 1969. These were both produced and arranged by Brooks Arthur, whose New York City-based studio Century Sound would see everyone from Neil Diamond to Van Morrison record there. Arthur was a huge talent. He could write quality songs, sing them and record them in equal measure, and often did all three at once. In the 1970s he would have hits with singer Janis Ian and then later went on to have success with recording comedy albums, notably with Robin Williams. He sadly passed away last year.

On these two Gilberto albums, the sound is a little more “mature” in nature with elements of melancholy in particular on I Haven’t Got Anything Better To Do. There are also some top tunes. The song Beginnings from September 17, 1969 is a banger and a great start to the record. Her record on Perception from a couple of years later called Now is a good one too, and she is credited as producer. The opener on that one called Zigy Zigy Za is a fun tune and makes me smile. Again, she is assisted by a who's who of talented musicians too long to list here. Check these records out if you dig her and need more than The Girl From Ipanema.

Tony McPhee might not be known to as many around the world as Astrud Gilberto, but his contribution to music is massive. His group The Groundhogs were active across five decades, although he was the only constant member. A killer guitarist who alongside others like Peter Green brought fresh life into blues music and was instrumental in the blues boom of the sixties. His group backed John Lee Hooker and Champion Jack Dupree on their tours. Whilst recording a single with Dupree, McPhee was given the nickname T.S. which stood for “Tough Shit” by producer Mike Vernon and at his suggestion added the initials to his name to make him sound more blues like. If you like the early Fleetwood Mac records, then you’ll enjoy the early Groundhogs albums too. The album that most people know by them is Split, featuring the song Cherry Red. That is a good album and recommended. As too are the albums proceeding it. Thank Christ For The Bomb is a good one and so is Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs which came out the year after Split. McPhee maintained an everyman’s approach to music and life, never playing overly complicated parts or acting and looking flash. It’s no wonder that the likes of Mark E. Smith and Peter Hook admired him. Over the years, it seems more and more artists have claimed McPhee and The Groundhogs as inspiration and influence for their own music. Although his solo records and later group works might not have reached critical and commercial highs, those from the sixties and early seventies are all close to essential listening, in my opinion, and you are highly encouraged to dive in and explore.

Lastly, before I go, I would like to steer you all towards a cool reissue that we recently stocked from the good folks at Iron Lung Records. It’s the 1981 single Living Underground from an Australian group called The Vacant Lot. I dig it. Four very distinct tracks that straddle the Punk, Post Punk divide. Check out the story and our take here. John Scott was spinning it the other day and at first I thought he was changing the record between songs as the sound varies so much. The last song, Multinationals, I recognized but couldn’t place. Turns out it was on the compilation Bloodstains Across Australia. I love the keyboard on this song. Those into KBD type stuff are probably already hip to this one, but if you aren’t, go check it. Being an obscure release, naturally originals go for three figures, so a big thank you to Iron Lung for this affordable reissue. Any plans to do a stateside issue of the group’s recent album?

Okay, that’s all I got for you. Back to work. Thanks for reading and supporting us and loving your music as much as we do. See you next time.

Cheers - Dom

Hey there everyone, I hope all is well with you. Thanks for tuning in again and checking out the ‘ol newsletter. We appreciate it.

Like any head into music, I love witnessing live music. That’s where it’s at for sure. Seeing, hearing and feeling great music performed in person is the best. In recent years, that has been something that I haven’t been doing a lot of and it sucks. Partly due to the covid years and not wanting to be in crowds again too soon, but mostly down to my old broken-down body not being able to take it anymore. My legs, knees and feet are usually giving me a lot of pain by the end of any given day and so standing for long periods of time, especially in place, amongst a crowd is verging on agony now for me. As a result, I barely go out much at all now let alone go to shows and stuff. I’m saying this not for pity but as a lead into my pick for you all this week. Because I have not been attending shows, I have been going through my record collection and spinning some of the live albums I have. That and watching concert footage on TV and streaming live audio via the internet. Here at Sorry State, whenever I work with John Scott, we typically play at least one live show during a shift. It has started to become our ritual to fire up his Nugs account during the last hour and play a Billy Strings show or something similar.

One live album that I did pull from my jazz shelf this past weekend was the fabulous double by Grant Green titled Live At The Lighthouse, on Blue Note Records from 1972. What a killer record and thoroughly recommended for fans of Jazz, Soul and Funk music. To paraphrase Big Daddy Digs, this one is so hot it smokes across all four sides; you’ll need a fire extinguisher standing by.

Jazz fans will not need any introduction to ace guitar slinger Grant Green, but if you are new to him, then this record is a fine place to begin. This was his last album for the great Blue Note label, one that he had been with since the early sixties, with a couple of excursions to other labels here and there, and for which he had cut nearly two dozen albums. These records are great, but many have argued that Green really excelled in the live environment. Perhaps a case that could be made for many a performer. Two years previously to the Lighthouse session, Blue Note released another album by Green recorded live at a club in New Jersey called the Cliché Lounge. This, Alive! is a great record too, capturing Green and fellow musicians in fine form. You really can feel the atmosphere of the room in the recording. Soul Jazz in its purest and simplest form. Funky and groovy and current but with the jazz and blues roots upfront instead of perhaps the new fusion and psychedelic elements that were now becoming in vogue. Highlight of that set for me being the cover of the Don Covay tune Sookie Sookie that rockers Steppenwolf helped popularize a couple of years previously. On Alive!, Green is supported by the ace drumming of Idris Muhammed and by Ronnie Foster on keys. Those names alone should be enough to convince you of the pedigree of the record.

However, in my opinion, and I don’t think I am alone in saying this, Live At The Lighthouse is even better than Alive! Two years later and a change of coasts and venue and with a different line up, albeit just as talented. This time around the drummer’s stool is occupied by Greg Williams, a young cat at the beginning of his career who started with Lou Donaldson and in the same year as the Lighthouse session would play drums on Jack McDuff’s great Heatin’ System album, ably demonstrating his ability to keep it funky. Shout outs and mentions must be given to all the musicians, so on vibes was Gary Coleman who had played on dates for everyone from David Axelrod to Quincy Jones. On organ was Shelton Laster who gets a writing credit for the tune Flood In Franklin Park. Bass duties were filled by Wilton Felder of the Jazz Crusaders. On tenor and soprano sax was Claude Bartee who had previously been playing with Pucho And The Latin Soul Brothers. Lastly, special mention must be made for Bobbye Porter Hall on percussion. A native of Detroit who played, often uncredited, on countless Motown recordings alongside the Funk Brothers in Detroit and the Wrecking Crew in Los Angeles. She changed the spelling of her first name to distinguish herself as a female musician. Her bongo skills can be heard on Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler) for one example. She has played with everyone from Marvin Gaye to Bill Withers, Gene Clark to Carole King and many, many more.

Green selected his bandmates well, and together they put on a barnstormer of a performance for the lucky folks crammed into the Lighthouse for these recordings. The Lighthouse is an historic venue that started as a restaurant and then became a bar in the 1940s and beginning in the 1950s a venue for jazz music. Located at 30 Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach, it became a hub for the burgeoning West Coast Jazz scene and a must play venue for touring musicians. It’s still there, although it’s added Café to its name. Years ago, after I left college, I flew to California with a view to try and get a job and stayed in Hermosa Beach with a friend of my old boss. The job didn’t pan out, but I was staying just up the street from Pier Avenue and the famous Lighthouse venue and would walk past often and did catch a show there. I was just beginning my journeys into jazz back then so wasn’t hip to the history of the club necessarily, but it was cool to have been there.

On the recordings, each tune is introduced by announcers Hank Stewart and Ed Hamilton and throughout the audience plays their part also. You hear quite a few shouts of “Right On!” and rightfully so. There isn’t a dull moment on any of the four sides of the album, but I really dig their interpretation of the Donald Byrd tune Fancy Free along with the workout they give to the song Jan Jan from The Fabulous Counts. Both stellar performances worth the price of admission alone. This is top-notch stuff, funky and groovy, right on and just plain fun. Green’s guitar playing here is some of the best you’ll ever hear. With the band cooking behind him, his solos are sublime. Funky, bluesy and driving, yet simple and always soulful. He doesn’t need to be flash and doesn’t hog the spotlight, giving plenty of room for all the musicians to soar on their solos. Almost all the numbers are stretched out to ten plus minutes, but you could easily see and want them to keep going on longer. Reading a few reviews from then and now, it seems that in not following the rush to fusion territory this record has perhaps aged better than some of those that did. Funny how things circle around, although in more recent years, fusion is becoming more popular again. Whatever. Just enjoy it all I say.

Grant Green has left us. He tragically died in his car of a heart attack aged 43 whilst in New York to play at George Benson’s Breezin’ Lounge. He had gone back out on the road against doctor’s orders after having spent much of the previous year in hospital. Since his death there has been more music released in his name than when he was alive. He literally recorded on hundreds of sessions whether as a leader or sideman and his legacy is as one of the greats. Several of his recordings have been sampled in the hip-hop world and the Acid Jazz boom of the late 80s and early 90s picked up on his rare groove classics, keeping his name alive with the next generations of music lovers. One of his six children, Grant Green Jr., is an accomplished jazz guitarist himself and plays in a similar style. In addition, his daughter-in-law Sharony Andrews Green has authored an informative and heartfelt book titled Grant Green: Rediscovering The Forgotten Genius Of Jazz Guitar. The book concentrates more on Green the man rather than being a dry diary of recording sessions, etc.

If after listening to Alive! and Live At The Lighthouse and are hungry for more jazz guitar, then you will be in for a treat with pretty much any Green album you pick next. Released the same year is the soundtrack to The Final Comedown, which Green provides the music for. A good movie and a great soundtrack, which has the distinction of being the first soundtrack on Blue Note. A record that is popular with the samplers and rare groove guys is The Main Attraction, released in 1976 on Kudu. You can dip in with confidence to any of his 60s recordings. Street Of Dreams from 1967 is a good one. The Latin Bit from 1963 is a favorite too.

Personally, as far as instrumentation in jazz goes, I love the guitar and vibes the most. Add in some Afro-Cuban percussion and a funky drummer and we’re off to the races. My collection features a lot of albums with guitar and my favorite artists other than Grant Green are many. George Benson, Boogaloo Joe Jones, O’Donel Levy, Jim Hall, Wes Montgomery, Gabor Szabo, Kenny Burrell, Pat Martino, Larry Coryell, Sonny Sharrock, Charlie Christian, Joe Pass, Django Reinhardt, Les Paul and John McLaughlin are the first few names off the top of my head, and I know I’m missing many more. You get the point. If you dig the sound of guitar in your music and see any of those names in the credits, you’re guaranteed some top playing no questions asked. Go explore.

Signing off now and getting back to work. Tonight, John Scott is going to see the Dead in concert and Jeff is preparing for his weekend of gigs and as I have been writing I’ve been spinning The Great Society live at The Matrix from 1966. It’s all live music action around here and always where it’s at.

Cheers - Dom

Greetings Sorry Staters, thanks for clicking on us and reading. Thanks also for the nice comments and support that we received from many of you this past week. As you may have noticed, we had the hump and were annoyed by certain comments directed towards us. Regardless, we are moving on and will continue to work hard and do our best for you out there and hope that if we slip and make a mistake, you will understand and give us the benefit of the doubt instead of slagging us off and being that guy. Of course, if we deserve to be told off, we’ll take it, but fortunately those types of situations don’t happen that often.

Moving on. Writing anything today is with heavy heart after the sad news of yet another legend leaving us. I’m speaking of Tina Turner. Rest in power Queen. I’m of the age where I grew up with her music and presence in the popular culture. One of the first records I owned as a kid was the River Deep Mountain High album on A&M. That was the Phil Specter produced album she did with Ike. The title tune being a song that originally did not hit in the US, but went massive in the UK. Great album with a bunch of great tunes. Title track of course, but I Idolize You being my next favorite. Lovers of Soul and R & B music have been following Tina since the early 1960s and I joined her rank of fans as a kid in the 70s and 80s. I don’t need to tell you about her remarkable story, but suffice to say she truly earned her legendary status.

I was thinking about the book that Daniel talked about last week in the newsletter on celebrities that fall from grace and whether it is possible to separate the art from the artist etc. Can we still listen to Ike & Tina records? Don’t get me wrong, I love Private Dancer as much as the next person and can dig the Mad Max movie, but the records she made with Ike in the 1960s are so good. Not to ignore all the horrible things that Ike was, but he wasn’t the only person in the studio when all those fantastic records were made. He may have been the main catalyst for the music’s creation, but many others worked hard to make them happen. Should their efforts and talent be ignored? Big questions and answers don’t come easy. As the writer of the book points out. I’m going to continue enjoying the music Tina made with Ike in celebration of her and for the power of the music itself and nothing more.

I hate to make this column an obituary, but I couldn’t talk about one legend passing without also mentioning the sad departure of Andy Rourke last week also. Bass player for The Smiths and all-around top bloke. Those records would not have sounded as great as they were without his inspired playing. When your band mate is Johnny Marr and he is in awe of the lines you played, you must be damn good. Andy, in later life, lived in New York City and was a fantastic DJ. His show on East Village Radio was terrific and that show and the station were influential on many, including The Face Radio, who I am with now. God bless you Andy, rest in peace.

As for my “staff pick” selection this week? Other than plenty of Smiths and Tina? How about a great 45 that finally made its way to us here from the UK? We have been proud to be carrying releases from a fabulous small label in England called The Big AC Records. Among a talented roster of artists, they are championing the career of an incredible vocalist called Carmy Love. We have one of her previous records, Rebel, here in stock. This new one is titled In The Morning, although officially a few months old from release date it’s new to us and I imagine you. This is modern sophisticated soul music that manages to maintain a retro feel whilst still sounding current. Not as easy as it might seem. Carmy Love may not be in Tina Turner territory quite yet, but critics and fans are falling over themselves to heap praise on her vocal talent. All her previous singles have sold out at the label, so this is a good chance for you to snag a copy before they disappear. She has a new single out next month which we should be stocking, so keep your eyes peeled for that but in the meantime go take a listen to In The Morning and see what you think for yourselves.

Okay, back to work. These boxes won’t open themselves. Plenty of incoming goodness along with a nice new batch of cool used records are awaiting my attendance. Better hop to it. Cheers and see you next time.

• Dom

It’s Thursday and Newsletter time once again. Hi there everyone. Thank you so much for reading and supporting the store. We truly appreciate it. You have more than enough options for your screen time and buying needs, so any of it you throw our way means a lot. Cheers to you all. I always say the same thing each week, but it’s true, records are coming at us (thankfully) at a continued deluge rate. All sorts of stuff: cheap, expensive, rare, common, but all good. At least we think so. This week we worked on a nice collection that had some cool 70s Prog along with a lot of interesting UK pressed 45s from the Post Punk era. Those will be hitting the floor in the weeks to come. I bought another bunch of records the other day from a chap which we had to brush off outside first before bringing them inside due to the heavy layer of dust and fluff covering them all. I spent a couple of days dusting and cleaning them, getting black hands and sneezing constantly, but at the end came out with some nice records. So, although it may seem to some that we’re spending our time taking selfies and eating bonbons, we are working hard to make these records with all this great music available to you at a fair price. Sometimes we may pose on social media holding a record. This apparently annoys some, but guess what? That’s the game and how things work.

One of the rewards for going home with dust in your hair and lungs is that occasionally, as a record store jerk, you get to bring home a cool record. From the bunch of post punk 45s that I mentioned, I did grab a Wire—Dot Dash single. We are all big Wire fans here at Sorry State manors, as are you probably. I won’t front and say that I was hip to them out of the gate. I was just a kid in 1977, but sometime in the mid 1980s or so, I was introduced to their first two records and later the third. During the Brit Pop era of the 1990s, Wire became quite the influencers, to the point that they had to take bands to court for ripping them off. Anyhow, over the years, I have collected those first three albums and surrounding singles whenever I found a copy I could afford at the time. I still need a Mannequin single (don’t we all) but crossing off the Dot Dash one from the ol’ want list does feel good. What a crackin’ tune it is too and not an album track to boot, along with the B-side song Options R. For the last few decades, I have thankfully owned the Wire Play Pop compilation that had Dot Dash and Mannequin on it, so wasn’t without a version, but as all record nerds know, that’s not the same as owning the original singles. Who doesn’t love a picture sleeve with exclusive tracks?

As I said, Dot Dash is a cracking tune. Great catchy chorus—something about not crashing, with the trademark Wire guitar sound over a boppy beat. I had always thought the dot dash was a morse code reference, but now looking at the sleeve and listening again to the lyrics, it’s apparently about car headlights and their fog settings. Fair enough. Genius stuff and all under two and a half minutes. A proper length for a pop song.

Daniel and I were talking about some of the later Wire records and in particular A Bell Is A Cup…Until It Is Struck from 1988, as there was a copy of that one in this one collection. I admit to not being familiar with that one, along with The Drill from the 1990s. Daniel gave a big thumbs up to A Bell and so Jeff and I gave it a spin earlier. Naturally it’s a good record and of course I want it, but might have to be good and spend my money on food or rent or some other waste of finances. We promise we don’t take all the good stuff home ourselves. That’s called getting high on your own supply. Lol. Although I did have to convince Daniel that he shouldn’t feel bad about taking a couple of Prog and Krautrock records for himself.

So yeah, Wire, they’re awesome and you should listen to their records. That’s all I got on that for this week. Get to discovering them if you are new to the group and don’t forget the later albums too, there’s plenty to enjoy.

Cheers -Dom

Greetings Sorry Staters. How was your week? Good, I hope. There certainly has been plenty going on since I last wrote in these pages. A new king crowned in Britain, an ex-president further disgraced in America, excitement and drama in sports and our favorite band from Brazil, Lasso are stateside and playing gigs. I would like to use this space to apologize to Lasso for not being able to make it out to their gig in Durham last night. I am unfortunately suffering from lower back and shoulder pain (among other ailments) and am basically toast by the end of the day. I had to call out for a couple of days last week, hence missing the newsletter. Anyway, we all have our problems so not to moan about it. Good luck to Lasso on the rest of their tour here. If they are hitting your town, get along and check ‘em out. Tour details posted in the gig section of the newsletter.

Here at the store, new and used records are coming at us thick and fast. If we tripled our floor space, there still wouldn’t be enough room for everything. You can be guaranteed that whenever you visit the store, there will be plenty of cool stuff to browse. So many awesome used records across multiple genres and as always we endeavor to keep all those classic titles that are still in print available for you too. If Dischord, SST, etc. keep making ‘em, we’ll keep stocking ‘em.

Talking of keeping titles in print, I, along with millions of others, have been so happy to have the De La Soul records back in print again. This month saw my personal favorite from them finally becoming available once more. Buhloone Mindstate was the group’s third album and has been hard to score on vinyl even when it first came out in 1993. I’ve been lovingly holding onto my CD copy since then, hoping to find a copy. Finally, the day came. I’ll take a reissue on this one, having only seen an original on a few occasions. Since De La Soul has retained ownership of their catalogue, they have been releasing a title a month. Next month should be Stakes Is High. I love that record too; it was the first that wasn’t produced by Prince Paul and at the time it seemed like a new era and sound for the group. My affection for Buhloone Mindstate has endured over the years and only grown stronger. Perhaps it is because of the jazz samples used, the guests–Guru from Gang Starr, Maceo Parker blowing sax, Biz Markie being Biz and a female MC called Shortie No Mas who was Posdnous’s cousin. It all mixes and comes together to form a perfect record. We have copies in stock currently—go grab yourself one.

Listening wise this week, I pulled out a few selections for my radio show Worldy this past week as a nod to the coronation of King Charles. Some of you may have heard that over the weekend football games in England began with the playing of the National Anthem, and that at Liverpool the sound was drowned out by the fans in protest. As a Liverpool supporter, I know why that happened, but many don’t and are unaware of the history the club and the city have with the British government and the relationship with the rest of the country. If any of you are curious, please google and read up. Start with the Hillsborough disaster. Anyway, one of the records I pulled for play was the debut by Liverpool band The La’s. Easily a contender for my all-time top ten albums list. So much has been written about this record and the circumstances and trials behind its creation that I couldn’t do it justice here. Suffice to say, for many of us who were around in the late 80s, this was an important record. Of course, most folks only know the band for the global hit they had with the song There She Goes, although even that tune didn’t hit at first and went through a couple of re-recordings. As did the whole album. The group spent close to two years recording and re-recording the songs, going through line up changes, producers and studios at a rate that wouldn’t be tolerated today and barely was back then. Critical praise and acclaim did come once the album finally saw release in 1990, although overall sales were not massive by comparative standards. Front man Lee Mavers described their sound as rootsy, raw and organic. They were certainly more retro than most of their contemporaries, with a distinct Merseybeat and sixties influence in their sound. Throw in a dash of Captain Beefheart, Bo Diddley, Beatles and Kinks for good measure and you just about have it. Those are all great influences, as far as I am concerned.

Have a read about the band and their story if you have the time and interest, but certainly give the album a listen if you haven’t heard it before and even if you have. I have heard these songs so many times now that they are almost in my DNA. Over the years, all sorts of alternate versions of the songs have come out, and I have gobbled them all up. It is interesting hearing the earlier demo versions and alternate takes. Just like classic folk songs, the song remains the same, just the interpretation differs. Or something like that.

I can tell you that among the many, many things that make working with Jeff here at SSR so cool is that he is also a fan of The La’s and rates this record as much as I do. When I discovered that fact, I knew for absolute certainty that I was in the right place. For a lad from England to end up working in a store in Raleigh, North Carolina where The Fall, Wire and The La’s are held in high regard is a beautiful thing. Here’s a link to the album if you need one. Enjoy it. If you need more, I would highly recommend listening to the BBC sessions and a collection titled Callin’ All. The BBC sessions is great. The songs flow with urgency and, dare I say, rock. Check it.

Up the Reds. Cheers - Dom

What’s up Sorry State friends? I hope all is well in your world. We are recovered from this past weekend’s Earth Day and Record Store Day festivities and back to the grindstone here, gearing up for the next project. No matter the opinion on RSD—it has its faults—it was still a great day for us here at the store despite the shitty weather threatening to soak everyone waiting in line. It was cool seeing so many of our regulars and new friends coming through, and we thank you for your support. I hope that everyone managed to get that gem they might have had their eye on. I couldn’t resist blowing the grocery money on one or two items myself. I went for the Fall 1977 because, The Fall. I also took a copy of the Flash & The Dynamics—Electric Latin Soul, which has been on my wants list for decades now. I have a previous reissue and even some compilations with tracks, but this version came with improved sound and will probably have to do it as far as owning a copy is concerned, as originals never turn up. This year there were a lot of great releases to tempt the wallet with and I could have taken home a bunch. My DJ partner Matt snagged a few too, so between us we covered most of the titles we wanted. Most of them. LOL.

In other news, today, Thursday, is our colleague John Scott’s birthday. So, raise a glass and play a Doc Watson tune in his honor. In other, other news, Liverpool FC has finally managed to win a few games on the bounce this year and may yet still qualify for European competition next term. The title race may have been decided by City beating the Gunners yesterday, we’ll see, but from my perspective there are things to be happy about and to find positives from. I almost hate that I allow following a team and a game to affect my mood so much, but it surely does. I still believe that the beautiful game has a social impact far greater than just a mere sporting spectacle. It’s about community and brotherhood too. More positives than negatives.

Musically speaking, this week I have been listening to the complete range: Jazz, Psych, Blues, Hip-Hop, Soul, Latin, Reggae, you name it. We are going through collections and pricing records as fast as we can, and there are so many cool things to listen to. Visitors to our store should have no problem finding plenty of nice records of all descriptions and price ranges. One genre that we have a good amount of is Jazz. A few big name holy grails but mostly just good affordable copies of decent records. Lovers of the ECM label and 70s fusion will find plenty to tickle their fancy. I have started to dip my toes into the ECM world and whilst a lot of experimental free jazz is not my cup of tea, I have found my ears coming around to moments on these records. It must be an age thing.

This upcoming Sunday will be what is known as International Jazz Day. A twenty-four-hour celebration of all things Jazz. For my part, Matt and I will be broadcasting a special Worldy via The Face Radio. We go on from 7PM EST to 9PM EST if you want to tune in and listen along. I’m not sure exactly what I shall be playing, but we will try to spin as many jazz records from around the world as we can manage within the two hours. Jazz being jazz, that will mean most tunes won’t be two minutes and twenty seconds pop songs, but rather a bit longer. As our show aims to play music without borders, in addition to being international, I would like to try to fit in a few things that straddle the genre tags also. Perhaps some fusion will be in order?

As I have been writing this today, I have also been bagging some used records that we bought. One of which is Manfred Mann: Chapter Three on Polydor from 1969. It’s kind of exactly what I was talking about. A rock and jazz fusion record and an interesting listen I think. Not so much a hit with Jeff as we listened—too much saxophone for him. I dig it though.

This is a bit of a lost album in the Manfred Mann catalogue. It came about after the original line up of Manfred Mann, the band, called it quits and founding members Manfred Mann and Mike Hugg continued together, bolstered with a bunch of new musicians in a new Jazz Rock style. They went on to record two albums as Chapter Three, confusingly naming the follow up in 1970 as Volume Two. A third album was worked on but never released. Manfred Mann, feeling constrained by the set-up of Chapter Three and mostly playing Mike Hugg’s material, decided to break up the group and continued from 1971 as Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. In that band, he went on to have considerable success throughout the 70s, scoring hits with of all things, Bruce Springsteen covers. Regardless, I really like the vibe on the first Chapter Three record. It takes a few listens perhaps, but there are some choice moments on the record. It is hard to describe truly accurately, but typical with many records released at the end of the 60s, it has a unique, of the time, sound. Keyboard led with horns and a tasty rhythm section. There are more than one head nodding moments to enjoy on this set. Just as long as you like horns. In addition, there are vocals on the record, provided by Hugg, who comes off sounding like a cross between Dr. John and Brit Popper Tim Burgess from The Charlatans.

Lots of cool moments on this one but I like the cut called One Way Glass. Check it out and see whether you agree. The Prodigy like that song too and sampled it for their record Stand Up. In addition, a French group called Trifle has covered it. Mann himself redid the tune for an Earth Band record.

So, not Jazz, not Psych, not Prog, but somewhere in between the three. The UK version has a green cover with cartoon drawings of the two main players on the front, whereas the US version sports different artwork, showing a book made out to look like the number three. Get it? Either version shouldn’t be too hard to track down and won’t cost you an arm and leg. We have this US copy available in the store for any locals wanting to investigate further.

Okay, I must get back to helping Jeff with all these orders. Busy, busy, busy. Thanks for reading and your support and see you next time. Cheers all - Dom

Hi everyone out there in Sorry State Newsletter land. Happy 4/20 for those that celebrate. In a timely manner, Daniel just bought a small collection of records with a few interesting reggae albums in there, so today the soundtrack at the store is going to feature some of those green tinged tunes. There’s not much time for a lengthy staff pick this week or much of anything else as we are feverishly preparing for this upcoming Saturday’s Record Store Day. Jeff is taking photos like a possessed David Bailey—there’s a lot of titles this year and thus so many product photos to take. It’s all action around here, but I have the coffee going and we are fueled and good to go.

So, for my pick this week I just wanted to give a mention to a new 45 that my DJ partner Matt hooked me up with the other day. Hot off the Big Crown Records presses, it’s El Michels Affair and Black Thought with the title track from their new album Glorious Game. What a great record it is and one that should do very well for all concerned. I can see this one being a big one. I’ll remind Daniel and Jeff to make sure we have copies in stock for you. For all hip-hop fans out there, this one is an essential pick up.

Glorious Game is a nice G Funk flavored track with a killer groove and the b-side tune called Grateful, also from the new album is a reggae-tinged banger (it samples Shabba Ranks) with a nice flute line hook. Really good stuff. A great collaboration between the soulful, funky El Michels Affair and arguably one of the best hip-hop artists currently out there. Surprisingly, this was their first time working together, but one can assume there will be more to come as the music and lyrics are a terrific match together. I hope so. I’m a big fan of El Michels Affair and have mentioned them in these pages before and everyone surely loves The Roots, right? With them busy each week holding down the Tonight Show in New York, one would think the opportunity for more collaborations might be possible. Big Crown is Brooklyn based, so let’s hope so.

Go ahead and give these two a blast and hopefully you’ll be feeling the vibe too. Gotta get back to the Record Store Day business. Hope to see some of you come through Saturday. Thanks for supporting us and all the other great record stores out there. Music is your best value entertainment. Cheers - Dom

Howdy, howdy everyone, thanks for dialing us up again this week. It’s been a typical busy week here at Sorry State with more and more great records hitting the bins. Record Store Day is just around the corner, and we are beginning to receive some of those titles from our distributors. There are a lot of great releases this go-around. Besides the RSD records, we are busying trying to price up as many cool used records as possible so that the store will be bursting with great records. More than normal. Don’t worry, we have plenty to still load up the Friday New Arrivals before then and for a good while afterwards. All sorts of great stuff too, not just punk and metal. This week, for instance, I have been working on a box that had a lot of Blues records. We let you know about a couple the other day on our Instagram, which you may have seen. John Scott and I were enjoying spinning those and a few other cool ones. Come flip through the Blues section and our new arrivals next time you are visiting to get your fix.

I have always liked Blues music. As a kid discovering 1950s Rock ‘n’ Roll and Rockabilly, it was natural to dig deeper and sideways and appreciate Blues, Country, Jazz and R & B at the same time. I fell in love with B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Robert Johnson et al. My love of Jimi Hendrix solidified my appreciation of blues music considerably. I don’t have a massive number of blues records, but over the years have collected a few good ones. Anytime I can pick up a new to me good one I am happy. Such was the case whilst pricing up some of these latest purchases. It wasn’t one that I had initial high hopes for as it was recorded in the 1980s, not the classic era for Blues music but a time when there were still plenty of old school blues artists alive and a few younger cats playing authentic blues. Anyway, I enjoyed this album, and I’d like to make it my staff pick for this week.

Johnny Copeland: Texas Twister. Rounder Records. 1983

Johnny Copeland played the Texas Blues style and had a career beginning in the mid to late 1950s. Born in Louisiana, he established himself in Houston, Texas and released records on Duke and other labels to marginal success. He established himself on the touring circuit however, and spent a good couple of decades slinging guitar and playing the blues with a dash of soul to audiences across Texas and the South. Towards the late 1970s, he moved to New York with an eye on mixing in some of the disco sound into his music. Here he linked with an upcoming younger producer, Dan Doyle, who helped sign him to Rounder Records and produced his early records on the label. Texas Twister was his second for the label and features a couple of special guest artists. Firstly, Stevie Ray Vaughan plays guitar on a couple of songs, which is cool and probably why people pay a bit more for the record. Johnny met Stevie playing the blues festivals and clubs and performed on several of the same bills during this time. The second special guest is Archie Shepp, the Jazz legend. He plays some cool tenor sax on my favorite track on the album, the song called North Carolina. It was that cut that made me check the record in the first place and it’s been ear worming me all week. For an 80s record, it still has the funk with the blues. Any track that can connect on a personal level is a winner in my book and the lyrics of this tune where he sings about moving from New York to North Carolina had relevance to my own life. The track has a cool repetitive horn and piano hook and then the nice solo by Archie Shepp to cap it off. Nice. I’ve been digging it.

The record has an awesome cover too. Our man Johnny sporting a dapper suit with his Peavey T-60 guitar looking bad ass. Jeff confirmed the guitar make btw and informs us that this model has a cool Toaster pickup. So, there you go. Cheers Jeff for the expert info.

Sadly, Johnny left this world prematurely aged just sixty in 1997, but left an enduring legacy of fine blues and soul recordings behind him. His daughter, Shemekia Copeland, has carried on the family tradition however, and is an award-winning blues vocalist with over ten albums under her belt.

Is this the best blues record in the world? Of course not. Is Johnny Copeland cool and a bad ass? You bet he is. Crank up the computer volume and give North Carolina a blast and nod your head along with me.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time. Cheers – Dom