Fab Flipside #7--"Stone Fox" James Brown

[gremashlo]

In the past, I've noted how with many flipsides, an artist or a producer will deliberately put together an obviously inferior product to make sure that the "A" side is obvious for all and sundry (as if "Umbassa the Dragon"didn't confuse dj's enough!). But, what happens when the rock gods do the same?

Sometimes, you get intentional crap. But, sometimes, you get "Stone Fox".



This is the flip to Brown's remake of "Kansas City" (1967), to be honest, an unnecesary act that revealed James was running on creative fumes. But, on the flip, the tune had actually featured not James' band but Troy Seal and the Daps, a white group that normally accompanied the white singer Lonnie Mack, whose greatest hit had been the instrumental "Memphis." But, James has label credit as author (along with Buddy Hobgood), but as Morris Levy will tell you, label credit means squat.

So, you have a white group pretending to be James Brown's band on an obscure flipside. Simple.

Except for the fact that the song is so damn listenable--I cannot recall a time that i've listened to it, and NOT wanted to play it again. I will need to hunt down the guitarist and the drummer for the Daps, to give them the respect they deserve here...they drive the funk.

Brown would turn around and record a vocal on it for his album, "Got the Feelin"--but it is the instrumental that remains the most glorious. I have a feeling that this track is similar in history to "Soulful Strut" and "The Horse"--backing tracks so strong that they eliminated the vocals.

What is incredible is that this is essentially a glorified jam session--other artists would have worked for YEARS to match this track's glory, and James tosses it onto a failed single simply to take up space.

A white trash Nebraska boy (which I am) should NEVER have heard this record...a flip to a mediocre JB tune that sold poorly? But, somewhere, somehow, my family got a hold of a few dozen 45s that must have been a DJ's castoffs...and amidst the dross lay this nugget. Not knowing which side was the hit, I played "Stone Fox" simply because of the title! It's probably my favorite instrumental--and it is easily my favorite JB (or, "not" JB) recording.

[dave910]

Grem,

I like that b-side. I have a James Brown boxed set and that track is no where to found on my collection. Perhaps the estate of James Brown will consider releasing some of his better b-sides, like the one you posted!

[gremashlo]

Apr 5, 2010 23:48:43 GMT -5 dave910 said:

Grem,

I like that b-side. I have a James Brown boxed set and that track is no where to found on my collection. Perhaps the estate of James Brown will consider releasing some of his better b-sides, like the one you posted!

I found a blog that focused on "Stone Fox", and he contacted Polygram on that very issue, and they responded with the info about the Troy Seals and the Daps info, and since it was NOT James Brown, it was left off. Shame. However, I have found a few CD's of minor JB material that includes the cut...

[m c dornan]

I like it, but it sounds like what a 60s TV show or movie would put in the soudtrack to indicate "rock music" without actually using any real rock song.

[gremashlo]

Apr 6, 2010 22:42:56 GMT -5 m c dornan said:

I like it, but it sounds like what a 60s TV show or movie would put in the soudtrack to indicate "rock music" without actually using any real rock song.

I thoroughly like that description! I will likely use it as a description somewhere else to show how "worldly" I am, and probably won't give you credit.

[H2IZCOOL]

I finally had a chance to listen to this song last night. It's certainly better than most of those instrumental throw aways you find on a lot of '60s 45s. But it's always interesting to learn the history of songs that are attributed to the wrong person/people.

My favorite of that group is "The All American Boy" by Bill Parsons. A very interesting story of which there are apparently several versions. I just found this one on he Internets:

BILL PARSONS (By Dik de Heer)
Born 8 September 1934, Crossville, Tennessee

Some people think that Bill Parsons was not an actual person, but a pseudonym for Bobby Bare. The fascinating saga of "The All American Boy" will be broadly familiar to most of our readers. Unfortunately, when it comes to detail, the info is highly contradictory. In my BTBWY piece about Bobby Bare, on April 7, 2002, I leaned heavily on Wayne Jancik's version of the story, as reported in his "Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders". This time, not wanting to repeat myself, I present a somewhat different version, taken from the liner notes (by Rob Finnis) of the CD "All-American Rock 'n' Roll : The Fraternity Story, Vol. 2" (Ace 822, 2001):

"In late 1958, future country star Bobby Bare fell in with Bill Parsons, an old friend from Coalton, Ohio, who was trying to get on record. 24 year-old Parsons had just come back from army service in Germany and was working in small Ohio night-spots for $10 a night. Parsons and a 40 year old half-Irish, half-Cherokee drifter named Orville Lunsford had penned "All-American Boy", a talking blues parodying Elvis' rise to fame and his subsequent call to duty. Parsons actually had greater faith in another song "Rubber Dolly", a trite rocker adapted from a folk song, and set up a session at the King Records studio in Cincinnati on 4th November, 1958. Thinking him better suited to the task, Parsons asked Bare to perform the drawling first-person narrative on "All-American Boy" while Parsons himself delivered the vocal on "Rubber Dolly". Fraternity purchased the masters but when the record came out, both sides were credited to Parsons. Bare, meanwhile, having reported for duty, was unaware of these developments. In the event, "All-American Boy" caught the public's imaginationand reached # 2 on the Hot 100, becoming Fraternity's third mega-hit in as many years - by strange coincidence, both "Ivory Tower" (Cathy Carr) and "So Rare" (Jimmy Dorsey) had also hit the # 2 spot."End of quote. Parsons should not be seen as an impostor, nor did Bare hold a grudge against him. In 1960, Bobby Bare testified before the Harris sub-committee (the congressional probe into payola) and declared that he had composed, arranged and performed "All American Boy" for the sole purpose of helping his friend, Bill Parsons, and that he had agreed to let Parsons put his name to it. Parsons and Lunsford has signed a contract with Fraternity Records on November 5, 1958; one of the clauses indicated that the two men had written "The All American Boy" and that the tape embodied Parsons' rendering of same. The pact also called for Harry Carlson (Fraternity's owner) to acquire the tape and publishing rights in return for $500 advance against future royalties. Following the record's staggering success, Lunsford and Parsons accused Carlson of withholding royalty payments. Carlson told the subcommittee hearings that Parsons had lied to him and that he'd known nothing of the masquerade until later. Indeed, he'd continued to record Parsons and was mystified when the musicians asked "Why can't you get the same sound from Bill Parsons as you have on The All American Boy?". Fraternity issued two further singles by Parsons (sung by himself), of which "Educated Rock 'n' Roll" was quite good, but failed to chart. Some unissued Fraternity material by Parsons first saw the light of day on the two Ace CD's "All American Rock 'n' Roll from Fraternity", including "Absolutely Nothin'". An abbreviated version of this song had been issued as "Guitar Blues" in 1960 on Starday 526 (c/w "Hot Rod Volkswagen"). After a second unsuccesful single for Starday in 1961, Parsons retired from the music business.

When Bobby Bare was discharged in 1960, he returned to Fraternity, and recorded a sequel to "All American Boy" called "I'm Hangin' Up My Rifle" (about Elvis' return to civilian life). He would even record a third instalment, "Brooklyn Bridge", for RCA, still using the same tune and accompaniment.