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| GENO WASHINGTON & THE RAM JAM BAND-Water/Understanding US Congress CG-269 1966 |
Swinging London soul legend Geno Washington was originally from Evansville, Indiana but curiously despite a massive career in England only saw two U.S. releases. Today's specimen was his first of just three.
Back in the U.K. today's release was his second U.K. single issued in April 1966 as Piccadilly 7N 35312, it was released here the following month.
"Water" was composed by the songwriters Miller and McCoy. As far as I can tell Geno Washington was the first artist to record the track. It's a very brass heavy number which for Geno's studio recordings was always a strong suit because his voice was not always up to par (to my ears anyway). The track has a great swing thanks to the Ram Jam Band and their razor sharp playing, but again it's Geno's voice that's not exactly a plus.
"Understanding" was originally penned and recorded by Johnny Nash, again the musical backing is straight on solid but again the vocals are a tad weak.
Both sides have been collected on a lot of compilations, the most recent being Castle's "Foot Stompin' Soul" and is also available to hear on Spotify.
Hear "Water":
Hear "Understanding":
1 comment:
Thanks for the info.
I was only aware of a few early singles from here in the US.
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