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Big Heads

You are currently browsing the archive for the Big Heads category.

Hey big boy!

Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup  Delmark Records “Look On Yonder’s Wall, Hand Me Down My Walking Cane”  (1969).  The human voice has rarely been as movingly rich as that of Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup nor has the human experience been so thoroughly mirrored as in the simple blues poetry of this big and gentle man from Mississippi.  Some have commented that Crudup’s voice sounds similar to that of Elvis Presley but the truth is the other way around; Crudup wrote several of Presley’s hits and seems to have been an early Presley idol.  – Delmark Records  His last few gigs were with Bonnie Raitt.  He passed away in 1974.  You can see here in the design, the melding of blues legends into popular music and the youth culture of the sixties.

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“Ceci n’est pas une pipe”

K.C. Douglas  “The Country Boy”  Arhoolie Records  (1974)

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One joint, one call, twenty years

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Catalonia! What makes your big heads so big?

A rare one on the Kubaney label  Manuel Caballero’s “Gigantes y Cabezudos”  Many Spanish festivals include costumed figures known as gigantes y cabezudos, roughly, “Giants and Big-Heads” . The main feature of these figures is typically their papier mache heads; bodies are covered in clothing matching the costume’s theme.  These figures are particularly common in festivals of Basque Country or Catalonia, where many cities and towns have their own figures.  FREAKY great cover.

Bonus pic:

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Who knows what evil lurks?

Italian EP by Franco Trincale on Fonola Records  (1972)  I just found this on YouTube.  Crazy.  What is he singing about?  I’m afraid to know.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (26 votes, average: 3.58 out of 5)
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Lonely teardrop

Johnny Ray “I Cry For You”  This pressing is from Australia on Coronet Records but it’s from the Columbia Records “House Party” Series  (Seems more like a “pity party” though)

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (32 votes, average: 3.53 out of 5)
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A’masian!

Music by the Four Fingers  NVRC Records (China)

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (22 votes, average: 3.27 out of 5)
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A little black (& white) Samba

Samba e Bom Assim (No.2)   Moacyr Silva  Copacabana Records (Brazil)

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Cole turkey

HOW TO:  “Stop Smoking by Cole”  An exhilarating technique!  Check out the smoking skull!  Looks more like an exorcism.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (35 votes, average: 3.20 out of 5)
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Alto ‘tude

Hank Crawford  “More Soul”  Atlantic Records (1961)   Portrait by Lee Friedlander.  Along with David “Fathead” Newman, Hank Crawford lead the pre-eminent sax section of Ray Charles classic group of the late 50′s – early 60′s.  Crawford, who joined Charles’ band in 1957, primarily held down the role of baritone sax player, but with this recording he’s able to stretch out on the alto.  As he often did with Ray Charles, More Soul sees Hank in the role of arranger.   The night that this record was cut, I’ve read, Crawford played Harlem’s Apollo theater until 1am, took the short ride down to Broadway and the Atlantic studios and recorded these seven tracks before dawn.  Crawford’s arrangements for septet dispense with piano, aside from a little comping by Hank, which vividly opens out the sound of brass and horns, and gives a greater weight and clarity to the bass/drums rhythm section of Edgar Willis and Milt Turner.  Fathead Newman plays tenor.  The great Tom Dowd engineered.  Nesuhi Ertegun produced.  Check it out!

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