We knew this was gonna be a winning read when we first heard about
"KING OF THE QUEEN CITY: THE STORY OF KING RECORDS".
Not only did two of WAGRadio's favourite 1960's musical acts record for the King and Federal labels, namely Hank Ballard and The Midnighters and James Brown and The Famous Flames but also Freddie King, Bill Doggett, The 5 Royales, Little Willie John and so many others gave the familiar look of the 45's immediate appeal.
We are three-quarters-way-through this 234 page book and can't put it down.
Here is an excerpt;
"(King record owner Syd) Nathan got on the phone and said, "What are you on? What kind of shit are you on? See, everybody in those days thought I (Sam Bass) was smoking pot because of the crazy things I did. Henry Glover said to me once, 'I'm black, but I won't go to some of the joints you do. 'So, I had to be on some shit, right?
"Anyway, Nathan says, 'You gotta be on something, because how could anybody in his right mind record the worst piece of shit I ever heard in my life? Sounds like someone stuttering on a record, all he says is one word.' I said, 'Oh, you must mean the Flames and "Please, Please, Please".
This is another wonderful book about the history of New World African American Music and also how King records influenced the world of Country and Western.
WAGRadio Management
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