Eldridge Holmes

 

Greetings all.

I come to you in the middle of the week to offer up one of my personal white whales, just recently reeled in.

If you follow the goings on here at the blog or the radio show, you know that the mighty Eldridge Holmes occupies a very special place in my heart.

Holmes was – during the 1960s – one of the truly great vocalists working with Allen Toussaint down in New Orleans, yet here, years after his death he remains every bit as obscure as he was prodigiously talented.

I was lucky enough to track down every one of his 45s years ago, save the one you see before you today.

The fifth and last 45 he recorded with Toussaint at ALON, ‘Emperor Jones’ b/w ‘A Time For Everything’ is one of the finest 45s in his catalog, and by far the rarest. Though it has never been incredibly expensive, it is exceedingly scarce, rarely showing up on Ebay and subject to competitive bidding whenever it does.

I have watched, bid on and lost this 45 at least a dozen times in the last ten years, hoping against hope that I might find it in the field, yet until recently it remained elusive.

When I finally got my hands on a copy, it had a damaged label (which I really couldn’t care less about, never having needed to play a label), but the grooves were in very decent shape indeed.

‘Emperor Jones’ has always been a fave of mine, not only because it features a stellar vocal by Holmes, but because it stands alongside the Van Dyke’s ‘No Man Is An Island’ as the greatest bit of Chicago-style soul ever waxed in the deep South.

Recorded in 1965, and written by Toussaint under his ‘Naomi Neville’ pseudonym, ‘Emperor Jones’ seems like an invitation to dance (“Do the Emperor Jones”), opening with a drum and horn fanfare, and borrowing its title from a Eugene O’Neill play. The repeated trombone and piano vamp under the verse echoes Major Lance’s ‘Monkey Time’, and the falsetto backing vocals are pure Mayfield.

It is one of Toussaints finest ‘pure’ soul 45s of the 60s, and a record that ought to be better known.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

 

 

 

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

 

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.