RUDY RAY MOORE "DOLEMITE" - Flatland (1975)

R.I.P. Rudy Ray Moore (Mar. 17, 1927 - Oct. 19, 2008)

Rudy Ray Moore, whose standup comedy, records and movies related earthy rhyming tales of a vivid gaggle of characters as they lurched from sexual escapade to sexual escapade in a boisterous tradition, born in Africa, that helped shape today’s hip-hop, died Sunday in Akron, Ohio. He was 81. The cause was complications of diabetes, his Web site said.

Mr. Moore called himself the Godfather of Rap because of the number of hip-hop artists who used snippets of his recordings in theirs, performed with him or imitated him. These included Dr. Dre, Big Daddy Kane and 2 Live Crew. Snoop Dogg thanked Mr. Moore in liner notes to the 2006 release of the soundtrack to Mr. Moore’s 1975 film, "Dolemite", saying, “Without Rudy Ray Moore, there would be no Snoop Dogg, and that’s for real.”
Most critics refrained from overpraising “Dolemite,” with the possible exception of John Leland, who wrote in The New York Times in 2002 that it “remains the ‘Citizen Kane’ of kung fu pimping movies.” The film, made for $100,000, nonetheless became a cult classic among aficionados of so-called blaxploitation movies — films that so exaggerate black stereotypes that they might plausibly be said to transcend those stereotypes.

DOLEMITE! One of unsung foul-mouthed funky poets of our time! This track is from the soundtrack to Moore's best-known film, and everything about it is dripping with sleaze and groove.

Song : "Flatland" by Rudy Ray Moore (with Ben Taylor)
From the LP "DOLOMITE : The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" 1975

Get it here : Flatland
Also get a classic Rudy rant : Dolomite rant

JERRY REED : When You're Hot, You're Hot (1971)

R.I.P. 1937 - 2008

Jerry Reed, whose roles in three "Smokey and the Bandit" Southern comedy films opposite Burt Reynolds often overshadowed his gifts as a prolific country singer-songwriter and virtuoso guitarist, died Monday Aug. 31 at his home outside Nashville of complications from emphysema. He was 71."He was still recording right up until he couldn't any more," his booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed, who is not related, said Tuesday. "He had been ill for some time."

Reed gained widespread fame as Reynolds' wisecracking foil starting with "W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings" in 1975, followed the next year by "Gator" and then, in 1977, the first of three "Smokey and the Bandit" movies in which he played Cledus "Snowman" Snow. In his last major film role, he played a harsh football coach in the 1998 Adam Sandler comedy "The Waterboy."

But before he made the jump to Hollywood he had established himself as one of the most sought-after guitarists in Nashville, a songwriter who wrote hits for Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Brenda Lee and many others. He became a regular presence on the pop and country charts in the '70s and '80s with humorous hits including "When You're Hot, You're Hot," "Amos Moses," "East Bound and Down" and "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)."

This novelty country song was quite a hit for Reed. Mainly because of how goofy and catchy it is! But he DID win a Grammy for it that year for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

Song : "When You're Hot, You're Hot"
From the LP "When You're Hot, You're Hot" (RCA Victor) 1971

Get it here : When You're Hot, You're Hot

BRIAN DAVISON'S EVERY WHICH WAY : All In Time (1970)

R.I.P. Brian Davison (May 25, 1942 - Apr. 15, 2008)
R.I.P. Graham Bell (Apr. 24, 1948 - May 2, 2008)

Brian Davison obit:
Brian Davison was in at the birth of “prog rock” as the drummer with the Nice, a group that in many ways summed up the progressive genre and its philosophy of fusing rock music with elements of jazz and symphonic composition.
The classical influence was supplied by the keyboard virtuoso Keith Emerson. The jazz leanings came from Davison, whose style was influenced by drummers such as Max Roach and Art Blakey. He added a driving beat to Emerson’s arrangements of material by composers such as Sibelius, Bach and Tchaikovsky, as well as the group’s party piece, a melodramatic and political onslaught on Leonard Bernstein’s America from West Side Story.
After the Nice broke up in 1970 Davison’s career was dogged by bad luck and for a time he drifted out of music altogether, returning to the spotlight only when the Nice briefly but successfully reunited in 2002.
Brian Davison was a drummer active in the late-60s/early-70s, most popular in The Nice. After the split, he released this 'solo' album with some mates, including singer Graham Bell. This track uses the common rock chord progression (a la "White Room" by Cream), with some good jamming, albeit a bit long. At least a decent showcase for Bell's vocals, and Davison is willing to play for the band, and not for his own sake.

Davison went on to join Jackson Heights, prog-rock group Refugee, and later Gong. He died of a brain tumour.
Bell had previously played with UK psych group Skip Bifferty, and would later play in bands such as Bell + Arc, Carol Grimes, and release a solo album. He died of throat cancer.

Song : "All In Time"
LP "BRIAN DAVISON'S EVERY WHICH WAY" (Charisma) 1970

LINEUP:
Brian Davison : drums and percussion
Graham Bell : vocals, acoustic guitar
Geoffrey Peach : reeds, backing vocals
Alan Cartwright : bass guitar
John Hedley : lead guitar

Get it here : All In Time

THE TRAMMPS : Disco Inferno (1976)

R.I.P. Jack Hart (1941 - 2008)

John "Jack" Hart Jr., 67, of West Philadelphia, an organist and one of the original members of the Grammy-winning soul group the Trammps, died of heart failure Apr. 11 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Their biggest hit was "Disco Inferno," which was featured in the 1977 movie Saturday Night Fever. The movie soundtrack won a Grammy in 1978.
To bring in more money to support his family, Mr. Hart became a welding instructor in the mid-1970s at the former Airco Technical Institute at 46th and Chestnut Streets.
Mr. Hart stopped touring with the Trammps in 1978, when he and his family moved to New Orleans, where he worked as a welder for NASA until he returned to West Philadelphia in 1986. Mr. Hart continued working as a welding instructor and played as many gigs as he could until he had to have a leg amputated because of diabetes in 2007.
Here's a blurb about the track:
The song was originally performed by the Trammps in 1976 and released as a single. Although it topped the U.S. Disco chart, it was not a significant success at pop radio, peaking at number fifty-three on the Billboard Hot 100. According to famed mixer Tom Moulton (who mixed the record), the levels had been set wrong during the mixdown of the tracks, resulting in a much wider dynamic than was commonly accepted at the time. Due to this the record seems to "jump out" at the listener.
"Disco Inferno" gained much greater recognition once it was included on the soundtrack to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever. Re-released by Atlantic Records, the track peaked at number eleven in the U.S. during the spring of 1978, becoming the Trammps' biggest and most-recognized single. Later, it was included in the Saturday Night Fever musical, interpreted by the 'DJ Monty' in the "Odissey 2001" discotheque.

OK this is a no-brainer, a classic disco track from a classic soundtrack with a classic backbeat from Mr. Hart.

Song : "Disco Inferno"
From the LP "DISCO INFERNO" (Atlantic) Dec. 29, 1976

Get it here : Disco Inferno