Get Involved blog

I picked up some lovingly repressed copies of three Bo Diddley Checker LPs (he cut 11 full length albums on Checker between 1958 and 1963) the other week and have been absolutely blown away by them. I could waffle on about the raw infectiousness of Diddley’s combination of fuzzy rhythm guitar, crisp drums and almost constant maraca or tambourine shaking - but really you’ve just got to stick this particular record on and crank up the volume to see why it’s ruling my world right now… So here it is, my recording of his eponymously titled Bo Diddley LP on the Checker label from 1962…

Ripped from vinyl at 320kps. Download it here

Side One
1. I Can Tell
2. Mr Kruschev
3. Diddling
4. Give Me A Break
5. Bo’s Bounce
6. Please Mr Engineer

Side 2
1. Who May Your Lover Be
2. You Can’t Judge A Book By Looking At The Cover
3. Babes In The Woods
4. Sad Sack
5. Mama Don’t Allow No Twistin’
6. You All Green
7. Bo’s Twist

My highlight: Please Mr Engineer. Check it out!

Johnny Nash - Strange Feeling

When looking for a worthy birthday present for a music-loving friend of mine, I had a chat with Bill at JB’s record store who pointed me in the direction of Johnny Nash’s Teardrops In The Rain LP - he had a near mint copy of it in stock. He said, this is brilliant. I said Oh yeah? He said, let me play you a couple of tracks. He played one tune and I’d heard all I needed to hear: I bought the LP and gave it to Paul the next day to say Happy Birthday. Me being me, I tracked down a 45 of the tune Bill had played me: Strange Feeling and now I’m sharing it with you.

The lyrics turn out to be about a creeping paranoia that his lover isn’t interested in him anymore, but – given the way the tune starts and Johnny’s opening “Woooooo” – you’d be forgiven for initially thinking that Johnny’s Strange Feeling was actually related to a recent ingestion of magic mushrooms and pharmaceutical grade opiates. Oh yes, I love this tune for loads of different reasons, of which cowbell is just one. There’s also what I can only describe as a “Terry & June break” in the middle that is, nostalgia dictates, absolutely awesome.

The Sheep - Hide & Seek

Here’s another track I first heard on a Kent compilation, Shoes. It’s a take on Bunker Hill’s classic Hide And Go Seek recorded by The Sheep and which originally came out on the Bang label in 1966. Who the heck are The Sheep though? There are some clues on the label: “Arr. & Cond. by Bassett Hand. A Boom Recording, Feldman - Goldstein - Gottehrer Prod.” Now, where have I seen that before? On the label of The Strangeloves’ I Want Candy / It’s About My Baby record I posted up on my pre-blog Old Gold page. Actually, BOTH of these records appeared on the Get Involved Vol. III mix… Anyway, yes, so it turns out The Sheep ARE The Strangeloves - and the name, I guess, refers to their fabricated backstory about being Australian sheep farmers (if you read my original Strangeloves you’ll know what I’m talking about). It’s true: you learn something new every day!