Music is fun for everyone
Hit Records was a Nashville based label that specialized in recording cover versions of hit records. The label would sell the singles (cheap – only 39 cents!) in drug and grocery stores through out the south.
Record collectors never pick up anything on the Hit Records label. The serious collector will sniff that "it's not the original artist" or "it's a bunch of Nashville session musicians". So what? BLONDE ON BLONDE was recorded with a bunch of Nashville session musicians and turned out well. OK, it probably wasn't these particular session musicians in the studio with Dylan.
Quality wasn't a high priority. The band didn't let a thing like not knowing the words to a song stop them from recording it. But the acts could be creative. I bet that the Count Five probably never even considered using a lonesome train whistle harmonica on "Psychotic Reaction". The Jalopy Five did.
That's why I'll usually get anything with the Hit name on it. Where else are you gonna hear a garage stomp through "Bernadette" sung by punkish singer with a voice that is almost the complete opposite of Levi Stubbs. Sometimes they turn out to be pretty good.
Sometimes the records really are good. The kind of records that serious collectors would drool over. If they hadn't been released on Hit Records.
Some of the performers that worked at Hit Records before going on to bigger things were Sandy Posey, Herbert Hunter, Latimore, Ray Stevens, Buzz Cason and Bobby Russell. As far as I know, Sammie Moore has never been confirmed to be Sam Moore from Sam & Dave.
Record collectors never pick up anything on the Hit Records label. The serious collector will sniff that "it's not the original artist" or "it's a bunch of Nashville session musicians". So what? BLONDE ON BLONDE was recorded with a bunch of Nashville session musicians and turned out well. OK, it probably wasn't these particular session musicians in the studio with Dylan.
Quality wasn't a high priority. The band didn't let a thing like not knowing the words to a song stop them from recording it. But the acts could be creative. I bet that the Count Five probably never even considered using a lonesome train whistle harmonica on "Psychotic Reaction". The Jalopy Five did.
That's why I'll usually get anything with the Hit name on it. Where else are you gonna hear a garage stomp through "Bernadette" sung by punkish singer with a voice that is almost the complete opposite of Levi Stubbs. Sometimes they turn out to be pretty good.
Sometimes the records really are good. The kind of records that serious collectors would drool over. If they hadn't been released on Hit Records.
Some of the performers that worked at Hit Records before going on to bigger things were Sandy Posey, Herbert Hunter, Latimore, Ray Stevens, Buzz Cason and Bobby Russell. As far as I know, Sammie Moore has never been confirmed to be Sam Moore from Sam & Dave.
posted by KS at 1/07/2009 06:54:00 PM
4 Comments:
Hey, some of those records are pretty good. I like the languid pacing of Psychotic Reaction (but I think you need to give the Count 5's recording another listen, or else "train whistle harmonica" doesn't mean what I think it means).
Thanks for another great post.
The harmonica part on the Jalopy Five version has more of a country sound than the Count Five version. The notes are bent more.
Does anyone know if the Bobby Brooks posted here is the same one who cut "Huntsville Lights"?
I've been wondering about that too. What label is "Huntsville Lights" on?
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