Penfro Sounds

Horace Andy Don't Try To Use Me / Goddess Of Love Bread BR-1120 (1973) An early 1970s reggae tune from Horace Andy (b. 1951) a singer noted for his distinctive vocals.  Born in Kingston, Jamaica he recorded his first single in 1967 and has since constantly recorded with his most recent album being released in 2022.  He has over the years worked with many including Massive Attack, Easy Star All-Stars and Mad Professor. The flip of the single is in-fact a Cornel Campbell recording although credited on the label to Horace. FLAC

The Gallants The Man From U.N.C.L.E. / The Vagabond Capitol CL 15408 (1965) Could not find any real information on this band but nevertheless what we have is two guitar heavy tunes from this early slice of 60s instrumental rock.  This is not the actual theme to the TV series (or the movie quoted on the label) but a more guitar led cover arranged by H.B. Barnum.  The flip I am told was a mod dancer number in its day. Now whilst information on the band is lacking H.B. Barnum is well know on the US music scene from his start with doo-wop groups to his later move into song writing, arranging and production.  He worked over the years with Sinatra, The Supremes and Aretha Franklin.  He is also the composer of Judy Street's classic "What!" FLAC

The Black Belles What Can I Do? / Lies Third Man Records TMR 024 (2011) The Black Belles were one of the first signings to Jack White's Third Man empire. An American all girl "garage goth" band formed during 2009 in Nashville, they were fronted by Olivia Jean.  Prior to the band being formed Olivia had sent Jack White several demo's.  He obviously liked what he heard and invited her into his studio.  As she did not have a band he introduced her to Shelly Lynne and Ruby Rogers and from that meeting The Black Belles were born.   The fourth band member on this 45 is Erin Belle.   The A side is one the songs Olivia submitted to Jack White and the flip is a cover of The Knickerbockers' track.  The A side was used by the scream queen Elvira as the theme song for her TV show Elvira's Movie Macabre. The band was put on hiatus in 2014 when Olivia released her first solo album. FLAC

The John Barry Seven Watch Your Step / Twist It Columbia DB 4746 (1961) John Barry (1933-2011) is most associated with his movie scores in particular James Bond.  John founded this band on completion of his Army National Service.  The original line up included three musicians he had served with.  During the late 50s and early 60s he had several UK chart entries including Hit and Miss the theme tune he wrote for the TV show Juke Box Jury . This particular 45 predates his first Bond encounter and was released even before I was born!  This single surprisingly failed to chart even though it contained two great instrumentals.   FLAC

Elton John Band Featuring John Lennon And The Muscle Shoals Band I Saw Her Standing There DJM DJS 10965 (1975) Elton John (b. 1947) once compared his friendship with John Lennon (1940-1980) as a whirlwind romance.  Whilst stating that when they first met in 1973 he was awestruck by John, they found that they had much in common and quickly formed a great friendship.   As part of that friendship they collaborated musically. Elton played on John's 1974 Wall And Bridges album. On 28th November 1974 John Lennon joined his friend on stage at New York's Madison Square Gardens.  This happened to be the last time the former Beatle ever played live. I personally love the intro to the A side where John quips " ... I thought we'd do a number of old estranged fiancée of mine called Paul... ".  He also states " this one I never sang, it's an old Beatle number " and in fact it surprised many as John had never been know to sing a McCartney song before.   The flip s...

Pauline Murray And The Invisible Girls Dream Sequences Illusion IVEX 1 (1980 ) Pauline Murray (born 1958) having been inspired by seeing the Sex Pistols perform formed the punk band Penetration.  The band had some success in the UK but in October 1979 they had split up. Pauline in 1980 then recorded her first solo work being backed in the studio by The Invisible Girls.  This single is taken from the resulting album.  This version in my collection is a 10" single, it was also released on  7" vinyl. FLAC

Queen Somebody To Love / White Man EMI 2565 (1975) A classic 45 taken from the album A Day At The Races. Both sides are excellent and always a firm favourite to play.  This was issued in the UK in a picture sleeve but to be honest it is one of the worst I have ever seen with a crappy caricature of the band. Thankfully I don't have the sleeve so I will not have to inflict it on you (look it up on 45cat and see how bad it is!) The A side was written by Freddie Mercury whilst the flip, a heavy rock number, was written by Brian Man. This 45 reached #2 in the UK charts. FLAC

Margo Price Paper Cowboy / Good Luck Third Man Records TMR 502 (2017) This was the 2nd 45rpm of a two disc set that was released by Third Man Records.  Starting off like a traditional country ballad, the tempo soon picks ups and rocks with some great lyrics and guitar playing. "Well you're nothing but a paper cowboy Made out of glue and old news And all your bravado and your drug-dealing ways Well, that only gives us the blues" The 1st disc in this set will be posted in the next few days. FLAC

Bill Nelson's Red Noise Revolt Into Style / Out Of Touch Harvest HAR 5183 (1979) This band was formed following the breakup of Be-Bop Deluxe.  The actual band name is Red Noise however EMI insisted that Bill's name was included to obviously cash in on the fame gained from Be-Bop Deluxe.  Red Noise is considered by many fans of being continuation of the previous band as the sound of Bill's new band was very similar to the style of the album Drastic Plastic released in 1978. This is discounted by Bill in an interview from 1979 where he states that Red Noise was an escape from the old band not a continuation... One album and two singles were released by the band before it folded and Bill moved on to new projects.   The label on this 45 is incorrect in that only the B side is recorded live, not both tracks. FLAC

Parker Millsap & Sarah Jarosz Your Water / The Glory Of Love Third Man Records TMR 431 (2017) This collaboration is just one of many that occurred thanks to Luck Reunion and Third Man Records, who set up shop in an old Nashville mansion turned analog studio for a week back in September 2016. Sarah Jarosz who hails from Texas won a Grammy for Best Folk Album in 2017 and at the time of recording this 45 Parker Millsap (from Oklahoma) had a trio of albums under his belt. In “Your Water,” Millsap’s bluesy style and raspy voice bring out an edge in Jarosz that often gets lost in her softer solo work. “The Glory of Love” is a charming rendition of the American standard first recorded in the 1930s by the famous bandleader Benny Goodman and recorded by The Five Keys. FLAC

 The Fancy Lads Everything Is You / Shake Appeal Plante Of Noise PON 006 (1997) Described by themselves as a Los Angeles outrageous trash band that plays "authentic good ole have a great fuckin' time rock 'n' roll. Can' t tell you much about this band as it appears this was their only single released and although there is a Facebook page for a band named the same I can't confirm its them.  So a case of listen to the music and decide yourself if they rock your world with this bit of punk(ish) rock! FLAC

Bryan Ferry Extended Play Island IEP 1 (1976) Roxy Music first hit the UK charts in 1972 and the following year Bryan Ferry released his first album "These Foolish Things".  The album consisted of Bryan's cover versions of many standards including material from The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Bob Dylan. The trend of recording contemporary cover versions of popular standards continued on most of his albums.  Several have been released as singles with great success.  This EP, released on Island Records in 1976, consists of four of his covers.  The tracks are: The Price Of Love (The Everly Brothers) Shame Shame Shame (Jimmy Reed) Heart On My Sleeve (Gallagher & Lyle) It's Only Love (The Beatles) The EP was quite successful reaching #7 in the UK charts. FLAC

Dwight Yoakham Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day / High On A Mountain Of Love Third Man Records TMR 363 (2016) With it's HQ in Nashville it can be expected that Jack White's Third Man Records would get country music into the studio and this is one of those many occasions. Dwight Yoakham was recorded at Third Man during 2016 covering these two tunes for Third Man's Blue Series.  The A side was previously recorded by The Monkees and the flip side has been recorded by many including Johnny Rivers and also The Beach Boys (a version I love and will no doubt post in the future). The Blue Series is basically a 45rpm single recorded in a single day, in the same studio, with the same producer (Jack White), with photos taken in the same locale (Third Man Records' onsite Blue Room).  Both sides of this record are good but to my untrained ear the recording on the A side sounds a little muddy compared to others in the series.  Have a listen and see what you think.  FLAC

Sexy Girl & Busters All Stars Sexy Girl Dice CC 100 (1969) The Dice label was a subsidiary of Melodisc and ran between 1962-69 issuing some great ska with this single being the last one released by the label. Information on this 45 is limited and I could not identify who the female singer is.  The flip whilst credited to Little Joe, is in fact The Mellotones and the actual song is not "Hy-There" but "Fly Away".   FLAC

Calamity Jane Hang Up / You Got It Rough / Outta Money Brimstone BS01 (1990) Originating from Portland, Oregon this all-female band existed from 1989-1992.  During that period they released 4 singles and an album. In their time as part of the Portland grunge scene they supported on tour Scrawl and Fugazi. They also covered the support slot Nirvana for a few shows on their 1992 South American tour. This was their first single released in 1990 in a batch of 500 copies pressed on orange/dark yellow vinyl.  The YouTube link below is the slightly different version of Hang Up that appeared on their 1992 album. FLAC