My love of Alvin Cash is already documented and while these may have slight deviations from what's seen there, each 45 has all of the requirements for an Alvin classic
*High on danceability
*Moronic lyrical content
*Showcasing a stupid dance
*Alvin sounds like a happy dude!
*"Oooh-Wee!"
*"Awwww but you're lookin' good baby!"
*"Awwwwwww have mercy!"
and of course, the Twine still gets nods.
The earlier 45 (1965): the Penguin (Tuxedo Bird)/Un-Wind the Twine is especially close to the content of the twine time LP. Sometimes I think he just goes to the zoo and comes back with all sorts of inspiration
Alvin Cash - The Penguin (Tuxedo Bird)
Unwind the Twine is of course his umpteenth reference to his favorite dance. What rules about this track is that it seems to have a neat little marimba in the background!
Alvin Cash - Unwind the Twine
1967's Doin' the Ali Shuffle / Feel So Good is two years later but does show a little bit of a change. Ali Shuffle (MUCH different from his 1976 Dakar records release) is the more familiar of the two. Still a goofy (but killer) dance, with some of his goofiest lyrics like "I want you to float like a butterfly, baby, and I want you to sting like a bee" duhhhhh
The B-Side instrumental "Feel So Good" honestly doesn't feel so good with me. I like a lot of his earlier instrumentals but this is a little too smooth saxxy. Though I think it demonstrates a pretty good bridge to his later career (he is, after all, now with the Registers when he used to be with the Crawlers, a comment on his age)
It's worth noting that both of these were different producers than his Twine Time days (which means no more Andre Williams). Penguin and Un-Wind the Twine have Hayes, Burrage and J. Jones despite being released around the same time as songs like BARRACUDA. Ali Shuffle and Feel So Good are both produced by Eddie Silvers. I don't know much about either of these guys and I'm so close to hitting "publish post" that I think I might take care of that later.
By the way, here's a pretty good resource of Alvin
2 comments:
Thank you! The more Alvin the better!
Jones, Hayes, and Silvers were in-house writers/products at One-derful, Mar-V-Lus, and M-Pac! As was Harold Burrage who also recorded several 45s for M-Pac! and had a big locat hit in Detroit with "Gotta Find A Way". Charley Records released in the late 90s a three CD overview of the three labels and the one dedicated to Mar-V-Lus includes several tracks by Alvin Cash. Each CD is worth tracking down if you like the gritty Detroit soul.
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