Clarence "Pine Top" Smith is one of the most influential and least celebrated artists in popular music. This is largely because his early death and limited recording history doomed him to obscurity. (No photograph of him is know to exist.) His shocking murder at the tender age of 24 in Chicago at the height of his fame provoked one of Downbeat Magazine's most iconic headlines: "I Saw Pinetop Spit Blood!" Clarence "Pine Top" Smith innovated boogie woogie piano and some even credit him with creating the phrase "boogie woogie" since "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie" is the first known recorded use of the phrase and the style when it was recorded in 1928. His music is both an iconic representation of the early jazz age and totally timeless. He and his cadre of Southern born but urban and northern living musicians helped to move the blues into a more jazz like manifestation. His wit and talent are on display in all his recordings including on "Pine Top is sober now!"

Mr Pinetop Smith Is Sober Now

"We're Fat, We're Fat and we could never be whack!" the Fat Boys told us in 1984 proving that the big boys could rhyme AND be sexy. Here's a sampling of classic hip hop tracks from Chubb Rock, Notorious BIG, Fat Joe, Fat Killaz, Fat Boys, Big Pun and Heavy D and the Boys celebrating fat beats and fat love and proving that when it comes to classic hip hop big is where its at.

Fat And Classic Hip Hop

3 inch vinyl records are a forgotten format that was. originally invented in Japan by the company Bandai. It was mostly meant as a children's toy so the early records included music from children's shows. The records are 8 centimeters apart so the format began to be called 8-Ban records. The original 3" vinyl record format was officially discontinued in Japan in 2005. They continued to be released in the US in small numbers and were especially revived by The Jack White of White Stripes, who released several series of records including The White Stripes and other groups on the Third Man record label as late as 2019. This mix starts with Kyu Sakamoto's "Sukiyaki." Sakamoto was the first Japanese artist to reach number one on the US billboard charts with this song. The next song is by The Checkers, a group that never had much success outside Japan. They recorded "Song for the USA" on their album Last American Dream but they never actually charted in the US. The next two songs are theme songs from Hirake! Ponkikki Hit Parade and the Asahi Sonorama Selection Part 1. In general the record format featured many songs from Japanese children's television from the seventies and eighties.

Retro Japan Mini Mix (8-Ban records)

Many people knew Travis Fristoe through his incredible contributions to the punk scene from making zines and being in bands to creating spaces like The Ark.  Others knew him through his considerable politic work with Books to Prisoners and other organizations.  But not everyone knew he was a huge and very knowledgable jazz fan. He particularly liked free jazz and he helped enrich my knowledge of it. One of the last times I saw him he gave me an original pressing of Eric Dolphy's "Out to Lunch." His love of the music was deep and spiritual and this mix celebrates him and mourns his passing.

Celebrating the Life of Travis Fristoe

Recently activist Ashley Williams inspired everybody by confronting Hilary Clinton about her role in Black mass incarceration. Williams specifically asked Clinton to apologize for labeling our children who were wrestling with the criminal justice system "superpredators" in 1996. 1996 was truly a devastating year for Black youth due to the Clinton's "War on Crime" but this got me thinking back to '96 and all the other stories about Black people that were in some of the best hip hop ever made.  1996 was a big year for hip hop.  Tupac Shakur's murder set off the events that would lead to the murder of Notorious B.IG. the next year.  Nas dropped his second album. The Fugees first album was an unprecedented mainstream hit. But under all the flash and drama artists like De La Soul, Jeru the Damaja, Bahamadia, The Roots, and Outkast were telling very different stories about the struggle to be Black in America. D'Angelo even sung a Marvin Gay-Tammy Terrell duet with Erykah Badu. Its all here in celebration of the strength of Black youth when they speak truth to power.

Superpredator '96 The Ashley Williams Classic Hip Hop Mix

When you buy a collection of 45s, its like getting a window into another space and time. I found a bunch of old hardcore punk records for a cheap price so I bought them and made them into this mix. It includes Sprung Monkey, NOFX, Antischism, Buzz Oven, Lesser of Two, Operation Ivy, Face to Face and Debt of Nature

7 Inches Of Hardcore Punk

This 45 minimix is a tribute to the collaboration between Johnny Cash and members of the Carter family.  Cash is an icon of country music but he is also the product of many collaborations, including most notably with his wife June Carter Cash, who was a member of the legendary folksingers The Carter Family. The moments where Mother Maybelle Carter joins Cash on "Pick the Wildwood Flower" are some of the most beautiful moments of recorded music. The mix concludes with an original Sun Records 45 recording of Johnny Cash solo on "I Walk the Line" because its hard not to think of June Carter Cash when you hear that song.

Johnny Cash And The Carter Family Minimix

As Oddisee says: "These are good days for bad people." With the refugee crisis and the rise of the Far Right in Europe and the election of Trump in the US,things can seem hopeless. But the last 18 months have been really great for hip hop. From Oddisee's Alwasta to Kendrick Lamar's Damn, artists have responded to the new world order world by creating contemporary classics that are unlike anything ever heard. Even Lil Wayne was inspirational on Solange's breathtaking breakthrough album. Childish Gambino even released an album of pure funk classics with no hip hop on it. This mix is a taste of all of that and also the world to come with the Afrofuturism of Moor Mother. It also includes some samples from dirty rap pioneer Clarence Reid aka Blowfly who passed away in 2016.

Hip Hip Revival II

I drove out to the country to buy someone's great grandmother's collection of 78s. He said he had been hauling them around his whole life and was tired of it. The collection contains some real gems including Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan singing a song written by Whilmot Houdini and wonderful gospel from the Golden Gate Quartet. Some of these scratchy oldies are digitized here for your enjoyment.

Flea Market finds

Ella, Louis Jordan, Jump Jackson and Friends on 78

This is a vinyl only mix made from a stack of old 45s that reflect how good music used to be. It is made to celebrate Amanda's birthday. The world is so lucky she was born and like these old records she just gets better and better.

Old Worn Out Soul for Amanda's Earthday

Amanda's Worn Out Old Soul Earthday Mix (final)

Are you someone who likes country music from way back when it was known as hillbilly records? If so, this mix is for you. I drove out to the country to buy a victrola and it came with a stack of 78s that contained some of the most classic country music from when country music wasnt even a category yet. Some of this music is still widely known and some of it such as Cliffie STone and The Four Horsemen have been mostly forgotten but I am sure that you will agree with me that it is all worth a listen.

Hillbilly Records 

Hillbilly Records (78s)

"Just like a piece of sizzlelean you'll sit inside my stomach with the eggs and grits between."Flava in Ya Ear is one of the most iconic songs in hip hop history and Craig Mack is one of the most underrated MCs of all time. Bad Boy wouldnt have happened without Craig Mack and he appeared on some of the most important tracks of the classic hip hop era. From Mary J. Blige to Blackaliscious, Craig Mack appearances on a track elevated it to the stratosphere. Like so many talented brothers he left us to early but his legacy will live on forever.

Craig Mack Rest In Power Mix

Doo Wop is a largely under-celebrated moment in the history of Black pop music. But without it there would be no contemporary soul, r&b or rock and roll. This mix highlights some familiar and not so familiar sounds from the doo wop era.

Don't Stop The Doo Wop

Despite the title, which is drawn from a Langston Hughes poem, this mix focuses on the sounds and feelings of the seventies.  Featuring Assata Shakur, Rudy Ray Moore, and Gil Scot Heron and the familliar sounds and attitudes of the seventies, this scratchy vinyl will take you back to when Black liberation wasnt just a dream.

Song for a Dark Girl (sounds of the 70s)

I was reading Sohail Daulatzai's book Black Star, Crescent Moon: The Muslim International and Black Freedom, where he writes about the influence of Islam on hip hop and I was inspired to make a mix of old skool hip hop that reflects on the power of the Islamic revolution that happened in Black communities in the sixties and seventies in the US.  Tracks include Professor X, Grand Puba, Poor Righteous Teachers, Jamal, Pete Rock, Jeru the Damaja and others.  

Old Skool Under the Crescent Moon

Seeco Records was a small independent record company founded by Sidney Seigel in 1943.  He traveled around Cuba, Puerto Rico and the rest of Latin America recording music Latin music for sale in the States and Canada.  Latin music was in its Golden Age and Seigel captured defining acts like Celia Cruz and Tito Puente while they were still young.  One day, I went to the flea market and asked a record dealer if he had any Latin music and he said: "I just have these old 45s. You can have them for 50 cents a piece." They were a treasure trove of old Seeco recordings.  This first recording is of guarachas by groups such as Celia Cruz and Sonora Matancera, Miguelito Valdes, Orquestra Riverside, and Daniel Santos.

Tribute to Seeco  Guaracha

I strictly spin vinyl keeping a look out for all the great shit that you forgot about!

afrekete

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