Dick Jensen- Giant of Hawaii

This was one dollar.  There is an autograph on the cover but I am unsure if it from the artist or the owner.  In tribute to Hawaii, I started to write this post in all haiku but that got old real quick.  Some day but not today, the all haiku post will happen.

Dick Jensen, born in Kalihi, Oahu, HI in 1946 was a “White hot soul” singer who maintained a respectable amount of success not only on the island but on the mainland as well.  His stage style was compared to Jackie Wilson and James Brown due to his electric movements on stage He as nicknamed The Giant due to his size.  He parlayed this success to TV where he started in bit roles on popular shows of the time.  Towards the end of his career, he became a Christian minister.  Lou Gehrig’s Disease took his life in 2006.  He was 64.

Jensen’s Obit

 

This record was released somewhat mid career I believe in 1975.  Apparently he was working on new material when his label dropped him.  Therefore, this material was released on his own label, Record Club of Honolulu.  Pretty decent album.  Does not reflect the high energy of his stage show but it is good musicianship.  I was going to write more but I decided to defer to this rather lengthy post from a fellow music blogger. Perhaps this idea of trying to get current on posts has backfired as I am stressing time wise for getting these out.

Stereo Candies

For a sample, I went with the opening track ” Papa Was A Music Man” as it was the best track on the record.

Satisfactory.

 

Bloomfield, Kooper, Stills- Super Session

 

DSCN4227This was $3.20.  Looking at the names on the cover, if you know anything about music and musicians, you would take a chance on this album.

Bloomfield
Bloomfield

Al Kooper organized Blood, Sweat, and Tears, worked with Dylan among others in the early days, and is kind of a musician’s go-to musician if that makes sense.  Mike Bloomfield was one of the first music superstars to be known purely for his guitar playing.  He later died of an overdose.  Steven Stills was in Buffallo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, (with and without Young) and is Still alive in spite of that.

Kooper
Kooper

This album was made in 1968.  Kooper, who had just left BS&T, and Bloomfield, who was about to leave Electric Flag, decided to book some studio time with bassist Harvey Brooks and drummer “Fast”Eddie Hoh ( who incidentally played on the Monkee’s albums. The two knew each other from working with Dylan. Bloomfield was a no-show however for the second day, however so Kooper called Stills, who was in the process of leaving Buffalo Springfield.  So the theme of this album and this post is leaving things.

Stills
Stills

The album sold well and went Gold.  It also paved the way for other super-group albums, for better or for worse.  You decide. Fast Eddie Hoh on the other hand, quit music in the seventies.  He died in a nursing home last November.

I just like saying it; Fast Eddie Hoh.
I just like saying it; Fast Eddie Hoh.

The album is pretty good.  The best songs are “His Holy Modal Majesty” and Donovan’s ” The Season of the Witch” (which has excellent drumming from Hoh).  However, both songs are long and I do not like posting long songs, so here is a cut from the Bloomfield session, “Stop”.  It is pretty funky.DSCN4232

Top Rated album.

DSCN4227