Thursday 20 January 2011

“Didn’t I Give You Everything?”

Welcome back!

I return here from our monthly outing at The Vestry, a little tired and worn from burning the proverbial candle at both ends, but it’s all self inflicted so I shouldn’t complain.

Saturday night was another great night, the sunny weather led to a late start but that didn’t stop the venue reaching capacity, and by 10pm the dance floor was packed.

A big thank you to James and Lewis who helped make the night enjoyable and stress free! Stay tuned for photos on the GALLERY page later on during the week.



Those that follow my Twitter feed may have already had a sneak preview of today’s post but this one is more than worthy of a repeated airing, so here we go!

Early last week I picked up a new grip of 45s whilst doing the rounds at a few of my favourite spots. Before heading home I decided to drop by and see a guy who always has a small box of special 45s under the counter. The singles that he pulled out were all top quality joints, so I had to try and be fairly selective over what to take and what to leave behind.

One of the first 45s out of the box was Dorando (sic) and his 1973 cut ‘Didn’t I’. This is actually the flipside to ‘Listen To My Song’, but the B-side received more airplay at the time, making #5 on the local R&B charts in the Bay Area.

I actually (rather stupidly) decided to leave it behind as I was unsure on what the going rate for it was and whether I could stretch my bank balance to take it.
A quick Google-ification later and I realised that the quoted price was more than reasonable and I was kicking myself for not taking it on account of its apparent elusiveness as well.

Unfortunately I had to sit out the week waiting for a chance to catch him, so my fate was in the hands of the big record dealer in the sky! Luck was on my side and after a swift dash across the West End I managed to score the 45 on Friday and make my train back to Chichester in time. Happy days!


Darondo


The 45 is credited to Dorando (sic), however his actual name is Darondo Pulliam and seeing that he is now back on the scene as the later, I can only assume that this was a spelling / pressing error.

However you choose to refer to the man, his music is what matters. Today’s 45 was picked up by Gilles Peterson for his ‘Gilles Peterson Digs America: Brownswood U.S.A.’ compilation afew years back. This led to Darondo eventually being tracked down after over 25 years out of the music industry.


Darondo – Listen To My Song


After experiencing the heady heights of opening for James Brown he eventually fell out with Music City Records over unpaid advances and royalties, something that the label was notorious for. He went onto be involved in various local television upto the time of the early 80’s, even dressing up as a rabbit for a childrens program!

His personal problems grew and it’s cited that he disapeared altogether after suffering from a nervous breakdown.

In a twist of fate a few years back Ubiquity Records reissued Darondo’s ‘Let My People Go’ as well as his three 45s, so things seem on the up again! Hopefully more people will be exposed to his fantastic music.

I challenge anyone to find as good a slice of raw emotion filled soul as this 45. Both sides do the business and have been fast tracked to the front of my playbox. I’m struggling to pick my favourite side of the 45, a listen to the soundfiles below will show you just why!

Stay safe and I’ll be back here shortly with some more of ‘The Good Stuff’ for you!

Dorando – Didn’t I – Music City


Dorando – Listen To My Song – Music City


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