Upsetters – Down Home b/w Don’t Be Cruel
The Upsetters LP
Listen/Download – The Upsetters – Down Home
Listen/Download – The Upsetters – Don’t Be Cruel
Greetings all.
Welcome to another week at the Funky16Corners blog.
My wife goes back in to the hospital this week for round two of chemo, so please keep her in your thoughts.
I quite literally stumbled over today’s selection during an Ebay search for Hammond 45s, saw the track, gave it a listen and knew I had to have a copy.
Fortunately it was quite affordable, and along with the groovy instro, carried with it an unexpectedly excellent flip side.
The little I have been able to discover about the Upsetters (these Upsetters) is that they hailed from Baltimore, and had nothing to do with Little Richard or Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.
These Upsetters were led by singer Jimmy Wess, and recorded one album for ABC in 1968 entitled ‘We Remember Otis’. The group consisted of Wess, Lee Foy (sax), Barry Sachs (guitar), Harry Hoehn (trumpet), Howard Ridgley (bass), Danny O’Day (drums) and John Baseman (organ).
The album included several Otis Redding covers, as well as a number of other contemporary tunes.
The track that led me to this 45 is a little number called ‘Down Home’, even though a cursory listen reveals it to be a rip-off (way too blatant to be an homage) of the Spencer Davis Group’s ‘Gimme Some Lovin’. Despite the fact that it has been appropriated, it is a rough and ready interpretation of the source material and the band really lays it in the groove.
The real surprise for me however, was waiting for me on the flipside.
No one sane would ever describe me as an Elvis fan, so when I saw that the other side of this 45 was a version of ‘Don’t Be Cruel’, I was less than enthused.
But then I listened to it.
Wess and the Upsetters really lay into the tune, revving it up with a strong beat and a great horn chart.
Though Wess doesn’t sound a whole lot like Otis (despite a lot of effort in that direction) whoever did the horn arrangements really had their ear aimed in the direction of Memphis, and the results are excellent.
I hope you dig the tunes, and I’ll see you on Wednesday.
Peace
Larry
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Themocracy
Conquer the week, my man. Good luck. Stay tough.
I’ve been visiting your blog for some time and want to add to the thanks for what you do. There’s an undiscovered stream of humanity flowing out of these dusty 45s, thanks for giving them life. I remember in the late 70s in high school riding around in the 69 impala (with breather flipped for effect) listening to my zeppelin cassettes when the tape broke, so i hit the radio button by accident. rolling out of my jensen triaxials came the sound of Curtis Mayfield singing “This is My Country”, as well as the whole album side on the local am radio station. By the time he got to “I’m Loving Nothing”, I had chills. It’s one thing to have guitar licks from Jimmy Page rattle you, but great soul music (especially Curtis) works it’s way from the inside out. Before you know it, that sweet voice has invaded your core, delivering with it messages of right, wrong, and reminding those of us in small town USA that we are all kindred spirits. Thanks for keeping that feeling alive by what you do.
My sincere prayers and best wishes to you and your wife..
TC
That’s a great story, made even greater by the mention of Jensen triaxials, which in a Proustian way brought me back to the season I spent slaving for two old car stereo dealers at a dusty flea market some 30+ years ago.
Thanks also for the very kind words.
Larry
all thoughts with the LADY
Nice to be rediscovered. Thanks for the kind review. Wish you could have heard us live. Like Sunday afternoons at Cars Beach, Annapolis courtesy WANN’s Hoppy Adams with Curtis, Ike and Tina, Bobby Blue Bland, Drifters, Coasters and about every name act that came to Baltimore/Washingon. We were also the House Band at the Rhapsody Club before going big time. Best damn group of musicians I’ve ever been with at one time. The music moved ya hard… like no car system could. Again thanks
Hey Howard, my name is Andrew O’Day and Danny O’Day was my father. He passed away about 9 years ago and i have been doing a lot of research trying to find out as much as i could with his music career. would love to hear some history of u and my father. feel free to email me any time. Odayandrew@yahoo.com