Clarence Fountain

Artist: Clarence Fountain

LP: Soul, Spirit and Song
Song: "Oh! Happy Day"

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Song: "Sending Up My Timber"

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I figured some good old fashioned gospel music would make a nice tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. on this special day. What I didn't realize until doing a little research just now is that Clarence Fountain was one of the original founding members of The Blind Boys of Alabama, the famous gospel group that actually performed at benefits for Rev. King during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. 

This 1974 LP is one that Fountain released during his ten-year hiatus from The Blind Boys, when he decided to try his hand at a solo career. His solo work sounds pretty terrific to me (that voice! And he makes particularly nice use of the electric organ as accompaniment), but in the late 1970s Clarence went back to perform with the group he'd founded. When Fountain passed away last June at the age of 88, he left Jimmy Carter as the only remaining founding member of The Blind Boys of Alabama; Jimmy still performs with the group today. Happy Martin Luther, King Jr. Day!

[ Clarence Fountain: November 28, 1929 — June 3, 2018 ]

Bill Wyman

Artist: Bill Wyman

LP: 7" single

Song: "(Si Si) Je Suis un Rock Star"

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Here's something I found while going singles shopping last weekend at Jive Time Records in Fremont. (I wasn't going to stop there unless there was parking right in front—and there was! There is never parking in front of Jive Time.) I had pretty low expectations as I put this single by Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman (si si, Bill suis un rock star) on the listening station turntable. Bill reportedly recorded the song as a demo for Ian Dury, but Ian and others thought Bill should release it himself. Performed in what Wyman calls a "Cockney French" accent, "(Si Si) Je Suis un Rock Star" is actually pretty terrific and went to #14 on the UK singles charts in 1981. My copy is the US release, but I can't find any evidence that the song ever made its way onto the singles charts on this side of the pond. What I did find, however, is some startling evidence that Bill Wyman and Lily Tomlin may have been the exact same person at several points in time throughout the mid-to-late 1970s.

[ Bill Wyman or Lily Tomlin—who can be sure? ]

You can read more about the life and career of Bill Wyman, who celebrates his 78th birthday next week, on Wikipedia here. There's even a page here dedicated entirely to "Je Suis un Rock Star." Si Si!

[ Bill Wyman—then and now ]