Dig This!
The Numero label unearths more forgotten treasures of guitar, funk, and rap
By Chris Morris
Since the 1940s, when collectors began poking around in a search for information and rare sounds from the hot jazz era, musical archaeologists have spread the gospel of obscure yet brilliant American music into the mainstream. In the LP era, jazz and blues were the principal deep-reissue genres, but crate-digging now surveys every imaginable style and sound.
Ken Shipley and Rob Sevier of the Chicago indie label the Numero Group are the most dedicated musical tomb raiders around, and their tastes are assuredly the most catholic in the business. Over the last four years, Numero has exhumed unheard material that could be filed with a diversity of bin cards: funk and soul (in their magnificent “Eccentric Soul” series devoted to arcane ’60s and ’70s labels), folk and folk-pop (including their delicious Catherine Howe re-release What a Beautiful Place, reviewed here last year), power-pop (on the Yellow Pills compilation), and electro-pop (from France’s Antena).
Numero’s two latest releases unsurprisingly stand at opposite ends of the genre spectrum. Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli, released in January, collects 14 solo instrumentals cut mainly in the ’70s and ’80s by a posse of unsung pickers. Don’t Stop: Recording Tap, out this week, compiles delectable ’80s funk, rap, and disco recorded by an oddball New York entrepreneur. The Numero boys aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, and their treasure hunts have borne fruit again.
The performers on Guitar Soli largely took their cues from guitarist (and early blues bush-beater) John Fahey, who established a market for solo albums with his independent label Takoma Records, home for his own groundbreaking work and that of virtuosi like Robbie Basho, Peter Lang, and Leo Kottke in the ’60s and ’70s. Some also fell under the sway of the early Windham Hill label, whose owner Will Ackerman was a Fahey acolyte. Almost without exception, their albums were self-released.
Sevier’s notes lay out some fascinating back stories. The players include the brilliant Daniel Hecht, who was forced to lay down his guitar and take up mystery writing after a severe case of psoriasis made the skin on his hands fall off; George Cromarty, who recorded the oft-covered Dr. Demento favorite “Plastic Jesus” with the Gold Cross Singers before taking the solo route; and Ted Lucas, who was Motown Records’ Indian instrument specialist. The only name that might be even vaguely familiar here is Mark Lang, brother of Peter, whose skills equal his sibling’s. The pieces range from meditative to furious, and reflect a wealth of influences – blues, Segovia, ragas, and the sui generis playing of Sandy Bull. None of them is less than fine; all of them are rewarding, in the foreground or the background.
Don’t Stop digs up the untold story of Jeremiah Yisrael’s bizarre music enterprise, Tap Records. The liner notes are worth the price of admission. Né Teddy Thompson, Yisrael had a short-lived R&B singing career and worked as a movie bit player before opening a chain of New York health food stores and a cultish storefront church. After re-encountering his mentor, producer-arranger Gene Redd Jr., around 1980, he sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars into sessions with a succession of young talents, starting with his girlfriend Annette Denvil. (Some things never change in the music biz.) He exhibited strong ears, but little business skill: All of Tap’s output, mostly 12-inch singles, sank without a trace. Yisrael exited the game soon after Redd, a married, closeted gay, died of AIDS in 1983. His tapes were moldering in a Jacksonville, Florida, garage when Numero found him.
It’s sweet stuff: Ripe-voiced discoette Jackie Stoudemire, distaff old-school rappers Missy Dee & the Melody Crew, raspy R&B disco man Arnie Love, and even gal pal Denvil deliver the goods, and the production values are sky-high. Would we ever have heard this unusual tale and this fascinating music if Numero hadn’t gone tunneling for it? Excavate on, gentlemen.
Chris Morris hosts Watusi Rodeo on Indie 103.1 every Sunday at 9 a.m.
Published: 03/05/2008
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