Digging Across America

We began the story of our trip digging for records across America in Seattle.

Details of the next place, a very special pilgramage in record digging to come shortly.

Listen to the tracks that were uncovered on our trip across digging the Highway 45,

Highway 45 - Diggin Across the USA by Thesoulfulstrut on Mixcloud

Tracklist

Jackie Wilson, I Believe I'll Love On
Syl Johnson, Ode To Soul Man
The Capitals, Cool Jerk
Ray Charles, Don’T Set Me Free
Alvin Cash Feat The Registers, Diff'rent Strokes For Diff'rent Folks
Syl Johnson, Different Strokes
Dennis Coffey, Scorpio
James Brown, Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved Pt 2
Marva Whitney, Things Got To Get Better
The Mighty Marvelows, Talkin‘ Bout Ya, Baby
Betty Everett, Take Me
Herman Griffin & The Boys In The Band, Are You For Me Or Against Me
Tyrone Davis, Can I Change My Mind
O'Neal And The Dean Brothers, Don't Give Up
The Knight Bros, Temptation ‘Bout To Get Me
Jerry Butler, Just Because I Really Love

Double trouble: Anti Radar Funk #6 and #7

Hot damn! The royal wedding must have sent the Soulful Strut loopy! Tomorrow we're unleashing not one but two cassettes of vinyl goodness upon the masses of the metropolis that is London town. Check the tracklists below and join us in prayer that these analogue treasure chests fall into safe hands.

Oh, and #7 contains a little treat for any fans of the Soulful Strut's favourite comedy of the moment, Eastbound and Down. It's going to be well received – I can feel it down in my plums...

Anti Radar Funk #6
Side A
Tubby Hayes, Voodoo, Trunk
Rusty Bryant, Fire Eater, Prestige
Preston Love, Cool Ade, Kent
Gene Williams, Whatever You Do, Do It Good, Forte
Otis Clay, Good Lovin’, Elka
Hank Ballard, I’m A Junkie For My Baby’s Love, Chess
Ray Charles, Something Inside Me, ABC
Betty Lavette, Your Turn to Cry, Atco
Marvin Gaye, Trouble Man, Tamla
Ray Bryant, Up Above The Rock, Cadet
Tyrone Davis, Can I Change My Mind, Dakar
Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, No Good To Cry, Atco
Nina Simone, Ain't Got No, I Got Life, RCA
Flint Executives, Wheel Of Faite, Star Route
Alan Trajan, Speak To Me Clarissa, MCA
Mouse & The Traps, Sometimes You Just Can’t Win, President

Side B
Count Yates, At The Soul Inn (Part 1), New Bag
Cinnamon Suns, Party Time, Ida
Jack Jacobs, I Believe It’s Alright, Libra
Menahan Street Band, Make The Road By Walking, Dunham
Eddie Bo & Inez Cheatham, Lover And A Friend, Seven B
Lee Moses, Diana (From NYC), Lee John
Bill Wright, You Got A Spell On Me, Tragar
Franciene Thomas, I’ll Be There, Tragar
Mickey And His Mice, Cracker Jack, Marti
Barbara Lynn, I’m A Good Woman, Brave
Gene Chandler, In My Body’s House, Checker
Freddie Scott, I’ll Be Gone, Shout
Jim Manns & The Blackmailers, Messing With The Kid, Mel
Dynamic Walter B And The New Breed Band, Before I Fall In Love, New Breed Records
Nina Simone, Save Me, RCA
Gloria Walker And The Mighty Chevelles, You Hit The Spot Baby, Flaming Arrow
Count Yates, At The Soul Inn (Part 2), New Bag

Anti Radar Funk #7
Side A
Gene Ammons, Jug Eyes, Prestige
Ahmad Jamal, Minor Moods, Cadet
Mike Hanks, The Hawk, Spartan
MaseQua Myers & Jami Ayinde, Black Land of the Nile, Jazzman
Dave Cortez & the Moon People, Happy Soul (With a Hook), Speed
Saints & Sinners, Cayuco, Capri
Tubby Hayes, Voodoo, Trunk
The Organics, Foot Stumping, Compose
Betty Harris, There's a Break in the Road, SOS
Irene & the Scotts, I'm Stuck on My Baby, Smash
Rated X, Rated X, Vanco
Bob & Gene, Your Name, Mo Do
Salt & Pepper, A Man of My Word, Kent
Willie Wright, Right on for the Darkness, Hotel
Johnny Starr, Do Re Me Fa So La Ti Do, Mala
D Isaac Andrews, You Gotta Love Me, Switch
Ernestine Anderson, Keep an Eye on Love, Sue

Side B
The Turtles - Buzzsaw, White Whale
The Castaways, Goodbye Babe, Soma
The Bittersweets, In the Night, Original Sound
Mouse & the Traps, Beg Borrow and Steal, Fraternity
Flesh and Blood, Natural Man, UA
The Gestures, It Seems to Me, Soma
NGC-4594, Going Home, Smash
The Citations, Moon Race, Sara
Big Maybelle, That's a Pretty Good Love, Savoy
Titus Turner, Big John, Wing
Dave Hamilton, Beatle Walk, Fortune
Freddie King, Going Down, Shelter
Little Daddy Walton & Sons, Highway Blues, Big Hit
Travis Wammack, Scratchy, Ara
The Masonics, Call It a Day, Interphon
Rudy Greene, Juicy Fruit, Ember
Gloria Irving, I Need a Man, Cobra
Jessie Crawford, Please Don't Go, Ru-Jac
Stormy Gayle, Flipsville, Staff
Charlie Feathers, That Certain Female, Rollin' Rock

Anti Radar Funk #5: yours for 99p!

To mark official Record Store Day 2011, this afternoon we dropped another Type II funk bomb at a chazza in north London. Packed with vinyl-sourced curiosities and obscurities (see previous post for tracklist), this Pandora's box of delights could be yours for 99 English pence. Love me again, indeed!

Top 5: Eddie Bo

There should be no introduction needed to this fantastic Nola pianist, singer, songwriter, producer and arranger who sadly passed away in 2009, leaving a legacy that bears comparison with that other colossus of soul music, Curtis Mayfield. Like Mayfield, Eddie's work and influence stretches far beyond the records he sang on, encompassing fine compositions, productions and arrangements for the great Mary Jane Hooper and Johnny Adams among many others. Featuring funk, soul and R&B, our Top 5 Bo 45s is testament to the man's genius.

(Click on the title to hear the song on YouTube.)

5. Check Your Bucket, Bo Sound

4. From This Day On, Seven B

3. Hook and Sling – Part 1, Scram

2. Lover and a Friend (with Inez Cheatham), Seven B

1. I Found a Little Girl, At Last

Anti Radar Funk #5: Record Store Day special

It may be official Record Store Day on 16 April but don't think the Soulful Strut will be doing nothing other than purchasing LPs and 45s. Oh no. To mark a day devoted to vinyl records we'll be dropping, er, a cassette (well they don't have a Cassette Store Day, do they?) of vintage tunage at an unsuspecting charity shop in the capital.

Packed with 45-shaped obscurities (you know the score by now), this latest tape drop comes with a special new feature: after foisting several compilations of undisclosed music on London punters, from here on in we'll be posting the track list of each Anti Radar Funk mix on this blog a couple of days before they hit the shops. So without further ado, here are the soul, funk and R&B rarities that made it on to our 5th tape. Happy hunting.


Anti Radar Funk #5
Side A
Count Yates, At The Soul Inn, New Bag
Dale Serrano, Ou We Man, Stix
Josephine Taylor, Is It Worth A Chance, Twinight
Hank Ballard, I’m A Junkie For My Baby’s Love, Chess
Sheila Skipworth, Look What You Have Done To Me, Enyx
Bobby Hebb, Evil Woman, Crystal Ball
Flint Executives, Wheel Of Faite, Star Route
Rhetta Hughes, You’re Doing It With Her, Tetragrammaton
Philharmonics, I Need Need Your Love, Soulin
Loneliness, Ray Frazier & the Shades of Madness, Stanson
Nelson Sanders, This Love Is Here To Stay, La Beat
Banny Price, You Love Me Pretty Baby, Jewel
Nathaniel Mayer, I Had A Dream, Fortune
Big T Tyler, King Kong, Aladdin
Ann Cole, Each Day, Baton
Varetta Dillard (pictured above), That’s Why I Cry, RCA
Otis Rush, My Baby's a Good 'Un, Cobra
Floyd Dixon, Ooh Little Girl, Ebb
Eddie Bo, I Found A Little Girl, At Last

Side B
Trevor Dandy, Is There Any Love, Numero
Means of Persuasion, One Way Street, C&J
Juggy, Soul At Sunrise, Sue
Margie Joseph, One More Chance, Volt
Lee Moses, If Loving You Is a Crime (I'll Always Be Guilty), Dynamo
Mitch Mitchell & Gene King, Never Walk Out On You, Prix
Johnnie Mae Matthews, Got To Be On (The Case), Art
Catherine Howe, In the Hot Summer, Numero
Dorando, Didn’t I, Music City
Jean Plum, Look At The Boy, Hi
Betty Wright, Circle Of Heart Break, Alston
The Royal Esquires, Our Love Used to Be, Prix
Marvelle Hampton, I Know How It Feel, Piggylo
James Polk & The Brothers, Stick-To-It-Tive-Ness, Sonobeat
Arthur Ponder, Dr Strangelove, Capricorn

Digging Across America

For most of this winter you'd be forgiven for thinking that the only diggin' going on was the shovelling of snow – from the streets of London to downtown LA. But while the world lay under a blanket of white, the Soulful Strut took a trip across the United States, visiting independent record shops in search of funky nuggets squirrelled away until spring.

Taking a journey along the west coast, and from the deep south up to New York, we went looking for rare, unusual or just downright brilliant funk, soul, r'n'b and gospel music. Our quest took us to some great independent record shops, and we came away with some amazing spoils, the best of which we are going to reveal over the coming weeks...

Bop Street Records,
2220 NW Market St, Seattle, Washington - (206) 297-2232

There are a number of great record shops across Seattle, each with an impressive range of styles and stock (including, surprise surprise, grunge). Bop Street Records was one of our favourite spots, and we spent a whole afternoon diggin' there. Located in the city's funky Ballard neighbourhood, the shop is an Aladdin's cave of vinyl, superbly laid out, floor to ceiling with shelves upon shelves of records.

Upon entering you're met with an impressive sight: the store recently relocated from around the corner and has been fitted with shelving so high it's reminiscent of the sliding ladders you'll find in the British library or, perhaps, the Batcave.




The afternoon we visited was unplanned; we were in the area and happened across the store by sheer luck. Finding the jaw-dropping array of vinyl in front of us, the rest of the day was immediately put on ice in favour of delving into the crates.

With so much variety it was hard to choose where to begin, but the helpful guys behind the counter offered a friendly welcome and were on hand to guide us around the shop (they even helped us look for some records too – thanks again Bob and Davin).

The large top floor is dedicated to boxes and boxes of 45s, and there are a couple of listening posts tucked away to sample the bounty.



We spent a frantic four hours at Bop and still didn't get through even half of the vinyl at our mercy. This is truly one of the biggest collections on the west coast, as well as a really cool place to dig (even Radiohead are known to pop in now and again to spend the night browsing for inspiration).


One of our finds from the day at Bop Street Records:

Ray Charles - Don't Set Me Free

We're currently busy assembling a killer mix of the best music we found during our trip, so watch this space!

Some other good stores we found in Seattle:
Silver Platters
Easy Street Records
Holy Cow Records
Sonic Boom Records

Anti Radar Funk #4

As our all-time favourite MC, Rakim, said: "It's been a long time/ I shouldn't have left you/ Without a dope beat to step to."

And so it was with the Soulful Strut's Anti Radar Funk cassettes, which have been gathering dust in our north London pad for months rather than pumping from the speakers of some stranger's 80s ghetto blaster. So today we put things right by depositing our fourth installment of every analogue fan's wet dream in a charity shop on our favourite London street, home to the best Italian restaurant in the capital as well as two of the finest clothes shops and, er, our dentist.