NY Night Train just started uploading an original 45rpm vinyl record every day on YouTube – the NYNT Daily Party Platter Playlist Hit up NYNT YouTube channel every day to see what’s cookin’…

Its hard to believe its been nearly a decade since Arthur Lee passed! Before establishing unequivocally one of the coolest and most important bands of all time, the Love man had a brief but interesting early 1960s career as a Los Angeles studio system songwriter. He wrote a couple of surf exploitation songs (about skiing!), an early Jimi Hendrix session (backing Rosa Lee Brooks on his “My Diary”), a minor local hit for East L.A. teen idol Little Ray (“I’ve Been Tryin”), and a couple of LP cuts for killer chicano dance band Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals (the title track and “Slow Jerk” on the canonical “Everybody Jerk” LP). And somewhere in the middle of all of this, he assembled The American Four, with future Love guitarist Johnny Echols and original bassist John Fleckenstein, to record a single for Del-Fi subsidiary Selma Records – an ode to President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s daughter Luci Baines Johnson. While this isn’t Arthur Lee’s most original work (its a ripoff of “Twist and Shout”), its the first appearance of his extraordinary voice on a record – born on vinyl fully realized.The groove is super-danceable, relaxed but pushing forward, and the band digs into this thing with fire and conviction – particularly on the breaks where they’re having a blast with the “ah…. ahh… ahhh…. ahhhhhowwww” build up. This was only two years after the Isley Brothers’ version and a year after the Beatles’ hit and Arthur Lee definitely makes this Latin-inspired Bert Berns pop classic his own. Indulge in this summery confection and feel the power of Love being conceived!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Lee_(musician)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twist_and_Shout

A previously-unreleased American Four demo “Stay Away” is currently available on 45 from Norton Records:
http://www.nortonrecords.com/arthur-lee-the-american-four-stay-away-arthur-lee-the-grass-roots-you-ill-be-following-colored-wax-7n7/

graphics by AVI SPIVAK (http://www.avispivak.com)!

You’re listening to my daily addition to the New York Night Train Party Platter playlist. Each track here is recorded directly from the original 45 (no bootlegs, reproductions, etc) to give you an idea of what the real deal authentic vinyl sounds like. COME BACK EVERY DAY FOR A NEW FIX! Because the records pass so quickly at my dance parties, this channel is an attempt to stop and focus on one record at a time in hopes that it’ll turn you on to the artists, tracks, labels, etc. I’m just hipping myself to a lot of these records for the first time as well – so you can view this as a part of our journey to learning more about cool old records together! But mostly I hope this music moves you as much as it moves me.

Get your enjoys,
Jonathan Toubin
Soul Proprietor, New York Night Train
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