The Diablos Featuring Nolan Strong, "Jump, Shake And Move" c/w "The Way You Dog Me Around," Fortune 518 (rel. 10/1955; from c. 1979 reissue)

 

Good Monday to you! Today the final episode of the current podcast season dropped. It’s a great collection of rousin’ rekkids guaranteed to brighten your whenever. Please do have a listen. Some killer-dillers therein!

Speaking of killer-dillers, Nolan Strong and Diablos and Fortune Records define that phrase. The craziest li’l hole in the wall label and one of the best Black vocal groups from Detroit deliver a pair of primo items via a 1955 single that the label reissued sometime in the late 1970s—same catalog number and all—so it’s considered a variant pressing of the ’55 original.

This edition is minus the monster hiss that is a part of the Fortune Records experience. This makes me aware of something I’d not noticed before. The label continued to master their seven-inch records at the groove width of the larger 78rpm discs later than other companies. That’s where the custom-made hissssssssss comes from. This remastered-for-microgroove version from the master tapes reveals a clarity that’s welcome and surprising.

If you’re an experience reader of this blog, I don’t have to reiterate about Fortune Records. I had passed over the copy of this record for months. When its seller marked it down to two bucks, I said “why not?” I expected that hissssssssss, but it’s gone, gone, gone—revealing the crude power of these two stellar sides.

“Jump, Shake and Move” is one of the most exciting vocal groups sides of its era. Grungy guitar kicks off this swinger, with a pause/twang that’s breath-taking. Then Strong and gang enter the scene and exhort us all to move our tushes. With the hissssssssss gone, one hears things not often noticed on Fortune Records. The stand-up bass is crisp, as are—gasp!—the drums (the latter is usually a lake of mud, sound-wise, on earlier pressings).

Nolan Strong’s voice wails with an urgency and freshness that retains all of its original excitement, and their guitarist Bob “Chico” Edwards gains enormous respect with his vicious, gutsy fretwork throughout. This is a perfect example of why I love the Black vocal group sound; I hope it’s contagious.

Cash Box gave this a standout plug "As indicated by the title, the deck jumps."

The topside is a bluesy ballad bolstered by Fortune’s quirky reverb unit. Nolan channels his inner Clyde McPhatter for “The Way You Dog Me Around.” I still feel shock by the clarity of the piano and stand-up bass—and ditto for the four voices. With the hissssssssss off the premises, one can feel the sound bounce of the concrete-brick walls and dirt floors of the Fortune studio. Bonus points for a spoken-word interlude.

This is secular gospel music—soaring, intense, heart-on-sleeve. Strong’s voice is a thing of ethereal beauty and I don’t think I’ve ever heard it sound better than on this late reissue of one fantastic record.

I hope this helps your Monday get off to a jet-fueled start. And do check out the podcast—it’s a good ‘un!

Tomorrow: regional white rockers The Five Stars deliver a pile-driver and a thoughtful, sparse ballad via a 1957 Hunt Records platter. These are the “Atom Bomb Baby” guys and they’re solid senders.