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Beach Buzz August

Tireless Beach music promoter Judie Walters has arranged and released what could be the first of a series of music compilations. Judie's Patio Party Volume 1 entitled Friends was engineered and produced by Tim Eaton at Studio East in Charlotte. What we have is a diverse blend of music from the several of the close friends Judie has made over the years in the business. It is a collaboration of new tracks together with old memories, cover tunes as well as originals. The late Dink Perry leads off with the album title track, which makes us realize how much he is missed. More key songs include an uptempo fresh cut, Do You Love Me Like That,  from the hottest new band in Beach music, Steve Owens & Summertime,  the Buffet-esque My Great Escape from Johnny Cobb,  jazz grooves from legendary sax man Tim Gordon on Morning Grace,  slow testimony on Cool Change by The Fantastic Shakers,  a rendition of the Al Green rarity entitled Keep On Pushing Love by Josh and Daniel Stone with Roger Smith, Mercy from Cindy Floyd,  Loving Me Loving You by Gary Lowder and the already charting Been There Done That from the Memories, which consists of Big John (Thompson), Doc (Warren McDonald) and Roger (Smith). There are also some previous fan favorites such as You from Ken Knox & Company, For Your Love from Jackie & Terri Gore, What A Wonderful World by the late Bobby Smith and Hey Little Girl by the quartet of Big John Thompson, John G. Franklin, Craig Woolard and Dink Perry. Sixteen tunes in the total package – for more information and to purchase go to http://www.judiespatioparty.com.  There is a band that came together in the mid-'90's way down yonder in Texas that is not real well known in mainstream musicana. Mingo Fishtrap is a bluesy, funky, full bore horn laden group that has been right on the edge of Beach music ever since it was formed. This premise is mainly based on individual DJs discovering their tunes over the years and incorporating them into their playlists. Fishtrap's style might be described as middle America Tower of Power with a touch of Delbert, a hint of the Subdudes and a pinch of Smokehouse. An extremely active road band, their tour dates over the next two months range from Brooklyn to Charlottesville to Nashville to St. Louis to New Orleans to Austin to Monterey, CA.   Mingo Fishtrap has released four full albums and two EPs to date. Their inaugural effort in 1997, Succotash, had some killer tracks including Out Of Control, Bitta Honey and Heart Attack.  The 2000 From The Private Bag album was an unique combination of both live recordings and studio cuts. Yesterday, dropped in 2005, may have been the best demonstration of the full range of the band with fourteen high energy tunes such as Dirty Gritty, Let The Games Begin, Catch The Bus, Wrapped Up and Baby Money.  The single Without Question, from the EP3 release, received a fair amount of Beach DJ attention. Fishtrap's most recent effort, In The Meantime, contains a track that I felt should have already made the Beach charts -  Back It On Up has shag all over it! Check their music out if you get the opportunity, I am going to try to catch them live somewhere very soon!  What’s Way Old:  Who would you say over the years recorded the best version of the Soul and Beach classic Open The Door To Your Heart? The original, released in 1966 by Buffalo, New York's Darrell Banks, was immediately surrounded by controversy and legal entanglements. The song was primarily written by Donnie Elbert, but when the song was recorded and the 45 issued, Banks was credited as the lone songwriter. Meanwhile, the killer tune was a major hit, peaking at #2 on Billboard's R&B charts. Definitely not the easiest of songs to cover, particularly in terms of synchronizing vocal and horn arrangements but several artists have taken their shot. The Capitols of Cool Jerk fame nailed a pretty strong version of the song the same year the original was released. British rocker Chris Farlowe also jumped on the cover train in 1966. The late great Jackie Wilson included a fine version of the tune on his 1967 Higher And Higher album. '70's diva Betty Wright took a stab at it, releasing a promo 45 that mistakenly listed the song authors as Homer Banks, Raymond Jackson and Bettye Crutcher. There have been several notable versions recorded by Soul artists, including those from J.J. Barnes, Little Milton, Tyrone Davis, Lew Kirton, Willie Clayton and Clarence Carter. Closer to home, creditable versions have been released by both Gary Bass with the EBS All Star Band and by Jerry Wilson, who fronts a band called The Jewels. Former '60's Thee Midniters and later Malo lead singer Little Willie G. released a unique rendition of the tune in 2000. British singer/songwriter Oliver Darley covered the song with a flair on his inaugural album in 2002. One of the absolute best versions I have ever heard was on a 1994 album from a session group called The Uptown Horns. Among their members was veteran sax man Crispin Cioe, who several years later surfaced with hit tunes in Beach music leading a New York based band called Cracked Ice. There have certainly been many strong versions of this timeless classic. No matter who is singing the song when I hear it, Open The Door To Your Heart will forever remind me of the barroom days of long ago when you got three jukebox plays for a quarter and you could buy a draft beer with the loose change in your pocket!   Artists, DJ’s, Club owners etc. send me your latest news for potential inclusion in Beach Buzz at nealfur@aol.com.