Mirtha y Raul – Ya No Habran Raices
Mirtha y Raul – Rosas De Algodon
Mirtha y Raul – El Gran Sol Como Testigo Se Quedo

For our first Dig Deep of year #3 I wanted to REALLY dig deep and present one of my favorite gems, Mirtha y Raul’s self-titled record on the Cuban label Arieto. I first heard this on volume 2 of Waxing Deep’s excellent series, Si, Para Usted which has shined a light on the far too obscured, though really quite fabulous, Cuban music scene of the 1970s. The Waxing Deep folks had the great sense to include “El Sueno De Andria” on that compilation, a swirling bit of tasty psychedelica that features a fantastic breakdown that reminds me quite a bit of the break on McDonald & Giles “Tomorrow’s People” (Which given the fact I’m pretty sure this record came out 2 years prior to that one, I wonder if M & G sampled M & R…). Because of the really very silly, at this point particularly, embargo of Cuba, records like these are very very very difficult to run across in the States (though I’ve never been to Miami, perhaps they turn up there in the center of all things Cuban-American). I tracked this one down by sheer luck from a dealer in Japan.

Mirtha Y Raul were in some ways kind of like Sonny & Cher, with the heights reversed and a much funkier backing group. They even hosted a youth program called “Buenas Tardes” and seem to have been very instrumental in spreading this brand of rock/pop in Cuba. On this album the duo is backed up primarily by a Cuban rock group, Los Bucaneros. I really hope that group was able to record an album by themselves, cause they are really fantastic, rocking when they need to be with shades of psych, soul, tropicalia and that unique style that is Cuba. For me, there are times where the poppy nature of the vocals gets in the way of really taut 1960s rock & soul music, but at the same time, part of the appeal of songs like “Rosas De Algodon” and “El Gran Sol” is the way the vocals interplay with the music. Some of that may also be that they’re singing in Spanish, I can imagine that if they’d been a standard bubblegum pop group from the US in that same period I wouldn’t even bother. Then again, when you’ve got such great punchy drums and layers of rhythm from bass, piano and psychedelic sitar-like guitars, as you do on “Ya No Habran Raices” it’s hard not just to go with it all and nod your head. When the horns are added, as they are on the other two tracks I’ve posted here, it’s late 1960s rhythmic heaven for me and likely you too.

Cheers,

Michael

Here’s a clip from the Cuban TV show “Buenas Tardes” that uses the break from “Sueno” as intro music and gives a better sense of the duo’s style. Plus, there’s a really swanky “performance” of “Rosas De Algodon”…Way Groovy:

And just because I do seriously love this song, here’s “El Sueno De Andria” which is on this record and Si, Para Usted Vol. 2:

Most DJs I know won’t buy a record unless it’s in at least VG condition. There’s nothing more deflating than digging through crates and crates of 45s, finding a super rare gem and then putting the needle to record and hearing nothing but massive surface noise, distorted vocals and groove disrupting pops, clicks and scratches. Sometimes though I have to admit I appreciate a record that will play straight through but has a lot of snap, crackle and pop as it goes. It’s part of what gives vinyl it’s distinctive sound and part of what continues to make it the most endearing of the various means of recorded music. Crackly vinyl tells a story, you might not know the full story, what exactly happened to the record, but you know SOMETHING happened to give that record it’s extra crispy catfish frying sound. In my mind I like to think the original owners simply played the 45 so much it wore out, that was certainly the case with some 45s in the Barnes Family…For this 45 edition I thought I’d focus on some of my dustier tracks, in my opinion all top shelf material even if none of them are super super rare. It’s also worth noting that the total price for all four of these 45s was $5 and when I bought these records they sounded considerably worse that this, but a little cleaning makes them listenable while retaining all the “character” of the 45.

This one is probably in the best shape of this bunch, though the condition is not great it doesn’t get in the way of what is a truly dynamite song. Jurassic 5 fans surely recognize this (or the instrumental version at least) as the bedrock sample for “Quality Control”. As much as I love the instrumental, I love this vocal version even more. It adds some extra horns and Reid’s lyrics and performance just knock it out of the park, especially the way he exclaims, “Masterpiece!” throughout the song. This one is a legit $50-100 record, but I scored it for $3 at Records LA.

If “Masterpiece” sounds the best of these four, “Campbell Lock” is probably in the worst condition, especially on the vocal version. I thought about posting the instrumental version, but I love the vocal version so much I had to run with it, even with the mild distortion in addition to the scratchiness. I was super stoked to come across this one at Bagatelle, super deflated when I actually got it out of its sleeve and on a turntable, but for $1 I couldn’t pass on this one. Don “Soul Train” Campbell is so named because he was on Soul Train in the early 1970s, and he is indeed one of the original Poppers/Lockers from out her in Los Angeles. Classic tune from a legendary dancer.

I’m really fond of mid-1960s soul instrumentals, “Twine Time” being one of the best of those post “Green Onions” tracks to hit the soul charts before things got real funky in 1967/1968. Aside from the “Ooh-Aah’s” of the opening, it’s that slinky rhythm with just a bit of “Tramp” in it and those boss horns that make this one such a winner. A real late night strutter of a track for sure. This one was in such sorry shape I actually got it for free from Bagatelle. I stay on the lookout for a clean copy of this one, if nothing more so I can hear the handclaps and finger snaps a bit clearer, but at the same time I like how this copy sounds almost as gritty as the actual song.

James Brown penned and Hank Ballard performed, “Blackenized” is a serious call (though delivered mostly tongue-in-cheek) for Black people to get their self-respecting act together over a seriously mellow groove. Despite the condition there was no way I could pass this one up, especially since it ended up costing me only $1. By far my favorite line is one of the closers, “you don’t have to be like an Oreo cookie brother, black on the outside and white on the inside,” if only cause I had no idea “Oreo” went all the way back to the 1960s. I figured it had to have come out of the post-Cosby show 1980s. Thinking about these lyrics, I wish someone had the guts to record a track like this for the current generation who thinks “Blackness” is all about being a hyper-masculine “thug,” mainly since that’s largely the only images of Black masculinity we get in mainstream media…I could go on and on and on, on that front, but that would require me startin’ a whole ‘nuther blog folks.

Eddie Palmieri – Condiciones Que Existen
Eddie Palmieri – Puerto Rico
Eddie Palmieri – Cosas Del Alma

I run into this album from Eddie Palmieri a fair amount, I think both copies I’ve owned have come from Amoeba, first at Berkeley, more recently in Hollywood. It’s a bridge album in some ways for Palmieri, with his sound moving away from the more experimental and visionary work he’d been laying down with Harlem River Drive and his bands at the beginning of the 1970s and into a more refined salsa-jazz style. As such it features a bit of everything, but everything here is really quite fantastic.

“Condiciones Que Existen” sounds just like a outtake from the Harlem River Drive sessions, especially with its easy funky vibe. I know most DJs who pick up this album wish the whole album was full of latin-funk like this, but the fact that its not just make this track more expectional. Besides, if the album had been an all latin-funk jam, we wouldn’t have maybe the single best salsa anthem for Puerto Rico, “Puerto Rico.” I know there are other salsa tracks from this period of time that are more well known, but I’m not sure there’s one that’s more anthemic than this one. When those horns hit and start to swing I get chills every time. The song is so good I feel proud for Puerto Ricans even though I’m not even remotely Puerto Rican! No matter your ethnic affinity, it’s hard not to feel it once that chorus “Isla Linda y Preciosa, Fabulosa, Para Mi Casa” comes in. Fabulosa indeed.

I could have chosen the truly epic salsa-jazz number “Adoracion” but instead I’ve gone with what is probably more in the bolero style, “Cosas Del Alma.” Normally when bolero latin slow-jam tracks like this turn up on a record I can’t pick the needle up quick enough. “Alma” however has this really lovely opening, almost like something you’d expect on a Bud Shank/Laurindo Almeida record from 1960, just gorgeous stuff. The use of electric guitar in particular throughout the track keeps that feel going and elevates it above other similarly romantically styled songs. Great sound and great playing throughout from truly one of the greatest.

Cheers,

Michael