Typically NPR does not chose old music for their Song of the Day. However, today seems to be the exception to the rule. The (somewhat tragic) story behind Mickey Murray’s People Are Together seems to have broken that barrier as it is today’s Song of the Day.
Check it out here.
Originally pressed by King’s Federal Records imprint in 1970, People Are Together by Mickey Murray is truly a lost gem. King knew that they were going to lose James Brown and didn’t have the capital to sign another act of Brown’s stature, so they decided to build another star. King groomed Mickey Murray to be their next James Brown. Unfortunately, several important things happened that prevented this. The title track, and first radio single, from Mickey Murray’s People Are Together LP was racially progressive and controversial for its time and place, so much so that DJs throughout the south refused to play it for fear of losing their jobs. At the same time, King had been sold to new owners with little interest in supporting front line releases with tours or extensive promotions. As a result, King put the album aside. According to Mickey, the album may not have formally been released.
We are proud to present the first ever reissue of this incredible record in any format. Each track has been carefully remastered from the original master tapes. We have worked closely with Mickey Murray to help tell his story with a gatefold jacket containing never before seen photos and extensive liner notes. As always, each unit is hand numbered, comes in a resalable dust bag, and includes a free download of the entire LP.Click HERE to pre-order the limited edition version with bonus 7″.
Check out the video below to hear a sample from the bonus 45:
Come join us Friday, October 14 at Clubhouse Jäger as we celebrate the reissue of Obi Agye Me Dofo by Ghanaian legends Vis-A-Vis. DJs will be spinning Afrobeat and Funk throughout the night. Check out the eclectic styles of Paul Harding, DJ Steely from KFAI’s Kinda Cloudy Radio, General Moses from Steady Rock Sound, Dave Englund from KFAI’s Rhythms and Grooves, And Salif Keita & Brad Wrolstad from KFAI’s African Rhythms.
Make sure to check out our table in the back for some great deals on Secret Stash vinyl – including the limited edition Vis-A-Vis Pre-order pack (only 250 pressed and includes a bonus 7″).
Here are some important details:
– 21+
– No Cover
– $4.50 Tallgrass Tallboys drink special
Cumbia began as the musical folklore and dance celebrating the courtship between the indigenous people of Colombia and the newly arriving Africans being brought to the country. Not being embraced, and looked down on by people of social status, it remained among the lower class. Cumbia is an easy to groove to, two-step rhythm “which became a flexible platform upon which everything from Cuban guaracha to Andean huayño to Spanish criollo traditions could be stacked.”1 The unrefined and always evolving cumbia is seen as gritty, not music your grandmother wants you to be hearing.
Being the musical collaboration of multiple nations and ethnicities, cumbia’s rhythm invites the body to move and moves the soul; the challenge is to stay still. Cumbia cannot stay still either, its rhythm embraces new instruments to help move the rhythm. For instance, according to legend the accordion made its way into cumbia by way of a ship filled with accordions wrecking, washing the instruments on shore.
Enrique Delgado of Los Destellos heard the psychedelic sound waves of California’s surf guitar and rode the waves into the coast of Peru, resulting in Cumbia Peruana. The distinctive sound of Peruvian cumbia is like a storm crashing into the ears making waves throughout the body. Peruvian cumbia has a more suave sound than it’s Colombian predecessors, substituting the electric guitar and some funky reverb for the traditional horns and flutes. Delgado started a revolution of noise and a new generation is starting to take notice thanks to the progression of technology: blogs, online articles, youtube, etc.
Los Destellos’ album Constelación features heavy guitar rippling over traditional cumbia rhythm. So like a good surfer looking at the moon seeing what the tides will bring, look past the moon to the stars, to look at the constellations, and get lost in something out of this world.
-Paul
Secret Stash Intern
Please RSVP soon! Our pre-orders for this record sold out in less than 48 hours. But, we set aside 5 copies for the assembly party. We will be giving away these limited edition purple vinyl copies to the first five who rsvp. Have no fear! No volunteer will go away empty handed. All other volunteers will leave with a free standard black version of the album.
As always, we have two turntables set up in the office ready to spin funky jams all night!
To RSVP, send us an email, or send us a message on facebook.
It is after August 9, so we are no longer accepting pre-orders for George Danquah’s “Hot and Jumpy”. We are happy to say all 100 pink copies were sold! Standard black pressings are still available, grab ’em here… George Danquah
