The Other Brothers, "It's Been A Long Time Baby" c/w "Hole In The Wall," Modern 45xM 1027 (rel. 8/1966)

 

Modern Records was a wellspring of intense, hard-hitting Black music in the 1940s, '50s and '60s. Despite its nefarious business practices, which we've discussed here in the past, Modern and its satellite labels offer an array of tremendous West Coast r&b, soul, funk and jazz talent. The Modern imprint, started in 1945, was put on hiatus in '58. Six years later, it was revived and had some success with Ike Turner-produced recordings, including some chart hits for The Ikettes.

Into this revival came The Other Brothers, a Dallas, Texas-based soul combo. Larry Chernoff, Charles Duncan, Gary Erisman, Eugene Halton, and J.J. Johnson comprised this group, which, from the basis of today's single, combined instrumental prowess with a tough, gritty feeling that creates a magical moment with "It's Been a Long Time Baby." It's not hyperbole to call this recording one of the best soul sides of 1966--a year with some mighty big competition.

With the grit and grunge of a regional recording, this side is a Northern Soul banger with mood and attitude galore. Penned by Johnson and Bill McAfee, who recorded some fine soul for LA label Galaxy Records, it sets a foreboding mood with its garage-band chord changes and its wall of instrumental sound. The lead vocalist, seen above but not identifiable at present, delivers a manifesto of longing, waiting and worrying. He's fed up with the existential state of life and wants to push through his depression, anger and sense of loss. 

This singer lives the words he sings, which are backed up with repeated chants by the other Other Brothers to fine effect, like a nagging conscience or headache might do. This recording has an overwhelming sound. It feels like a down-and-dirty version of The Temptations or Four Tops; there's a definite Motown influence here, but it's filtered through layers of outlier grime and debris. Unheralded by the music biz magazines (likely due to Modern's cheapness; why send out review copies when we can sell 'em?) Billboard had it in a laundry-list of r&b singles they expected to chart in their September 2, 1966 issue; that's all it got.

The intended A-side is a live recording (or a studio take with overdubbed nightclub ambience) of a heightened cover version of The Packers' 1965 "Hole in the Wall" with comical lyrics penned by a group member who went uncredited. The laundry list of comic-book heroes, all doing (or attempting) dance steps of the day, is a grubby time-capsule. 

The power and soul of this take outdoes The Packers' (and, arguable, The Bar-Kays' 1967 instrumental, issued on their Soul Finger LP). The band is on fire here. Even those averse to dancing will find themselves animated as this raucous side plays. Whew!

The Other Brothers made other records, but none of them got into the mainstream. Modern folded for good in 1968; in its last years it issued some soul rarities that keep collectors focused as they paw through random boxes in out-of-the-way places. The sight of that tomato-red label is cause for excitement.

I found my first copy of this single on Labor Day, in those plastic bins I've immortalized on this blog. The A-side had what looked like upchucked oatmeal on one side of the vinyl. It had long since dried, and I got most of it off. When a much cleaner copy appeared at this year's Record Hawk show, I was happy to get it.

I hope these two "wow" performances have added to your Sunday pleasure!

Tomorrow: we leapfrog to Australia, where Normie Rowe and The Playboys serenade us with a fine treatment of a Gershwin classic (it's not "Summertime") and a folk-rock-ish original, via a 1965 Sunshine Records platter. Not many of these still around!