Maxine Brown: "One in a Million" c/w "Anything You Do is Alright" (Wand 1117, rel. 8/1966)

 

Today is the last day of democracy—for two years, at least. It imbues everything I do with a certain sadness. I hope we can all make it through what may well be awful times to come. Tomorrow will be perhaps the worst day for a while, given all the noisy, violent gloating that’s bound to happen. I choose to ignore tomorrow’s crass, vulgar events and will approach each day after that with caution.

Thank the stars for music—a constant consolation for the ugly actions of mankind. It’s always a reminder of the beauty human beings can achieve when they focus on the joy of creativity. Those in power starting tomorrow have zero creativity, aside from conjuring chaos, division and an unslaked greed that is childish at best—and at worst. These are angry, spoiled children deeply wounded and unwilling to address those wounds. Their warped, cruel vision of the world is the polar opposite of mine, and the ignorant idiots who voted them into power will live to regret their poor choice.

Enough of that. Now onto the show…

 

Maxine Brown has one of the most distinguished discographies in Black music. While some of her singles are better than others, none are dull. She is on that longish list of artists whose records I will always pick up. One has eluded me for years—and I’ve known why. “One in a Million,” a song by Rudy Clark, one of the best songwriters in 1960s Black music, was a massive commercial failure when released in the summer of 1966. It was an early candidate for the Northern Soul canon—despite its arrangement being a complete cop of Stevie Wonder’s 1965 Tamla Records hit “Uptight.”

That’s not Clark’s fault: an uncredited arranger wrote those horn parts and might have been urged by producer Steve Tyrell to make them sound like Wonder’s hit single. This wasn’t the first nor the last time this happened in pop music: it remains a constant practice.

But because of its NS affiliation, it remained the one Maxine Brown 45 I never thought I’d lay hands on. At a record fair this past summer, never became ever when it showed up in a clump of Brown’s Wand Records singles, all priced at two bucks. I had all of them except this one, and it was at the back of said clump. It took a moment for the nickel to drop; the seller had a ton of hard-to-find 45s he seemed determined to rid himself of for peanuts. I assured him, as I paid for my stack of finds, that these records were going to a loving home where they’d be appreciated and well-tended.

“One in a Million” is a rather ordinary song with that astro-dynamic sound redolent of Black music in 1966. It’s an example of Maxine Brown doing her magic as a performer. She can take a meh song and make it sound better than it really is. And with top material like Goffin and King’s “Oh No, Not My Baby” or 1965’s “Anything for a Laugh” she can create pop-soul masterpieces.

One can get why “One in a Million” became a NS must-have. It possesses that get-‘em-on-the-dance-floor charisma few records contain. And it wasn’t a hit; that’s another vital component of a Northern Soul item. No hint of success present. Bless them, these Brits have elevated forgotten, ignored records into acclaimed and respected things. Though their reasoning is something askew, their intentions are real and sincere.

Hear it >>>>> HERE. <<<<<

Ms. Brown penned the flip. “Anything You Do is All Right” is the better song—a positive, bright blend of soul, show-tune and pop with a crazy blast of discordant brass at effective intervals. With a femme chorus in tow, Ms. B, in character, acknowledges that her crush has his problems (who doesn’t?) but that his assets outweigh any liabilities.

This massive arrangement features a showboating drummer and barely audible pizzicato strings way off in the sonic distance. This sounds like more of a hit song to these ears; it has personality, an earworm melody and a brighter sound. It achieves a certain balance of the good and bad in life and is thus relatable—a key element in a pop song’s success. Too bad no one recognized these qualities at the time; this song on the A might have expedited its entry onto the Hot 100 and given Maxine a hit as a composer.

Hear it >>>>> HERE. <<<<<

I know I have several Maxine Brown 45s I’ve not played here yet. I’ll get to ‘em in time.

Tomorrow: sitting on the free pile at a local record store, mistaken as the work of a lesser group of the same name, was a fantastic doo-wop platter by The Royaltones. Two spicy sides from 1956 with great sound quality and riveting performances!