RON ENGLISH LP FISH FEET
MR_ZIMMS
210 Posts
DOES ANYONE HAVE THE RON ENGLISH LP "FISH FEET" & CAN TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT IT?
THE "SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL" LP IS KINDA HOLY TO ME... SO THAT'S WHY...
A PICTURE OF THIS LP IS FEATURED ON THE BACK OF THIS LP !ANY HELP?ZIMMS
THE "SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL" LP IS KINDA HOLY TO ME... SO THAT'S WHY...
A PICTURE OF THIS LP IS FEATURED ON THE BACK OF THIS LP !ANY HELP?ZIMMS
Comments
This LP was never produced.
According to John Sinclair the album was never pressed up, though they did complete the cover art (as seen on the back of LWO). Through some independent research, I've found that Ron English did have a number of originals that he'd perform live with a backing band that consisted of the standard Strata players (Danny Spencer on drums, Lyman on keys, etc.). There may, somewhere out there, be a recording of some of those live performances but I've certainly never seen or heard them.
While perusing some of Mr. Sinclair's papers I also found out that Sun Ra was slated to release an album on Strata...but that project strikes me more as a pipe dream than something that was ever put into motion.
what he said
DCdigga? Or a username that sounded like that?
Yes, DC Digga did.
I'll se if I can roust him out to tell the story.
I call bullshit on that.
Word. I believe it was a waterlogged Lyman Woodard, not Ron English.
You may wanna do that AFTER the story gets told. It could be that we are remembering it wrong, but it may not. I'ma call him now.
The story goes like this. His aunt, who lived in Detroit for many years in and around the early 70s, had a sizable record collection that he was always after her about. Jazz, R&B, and she was INTO records in her day the way he tells it. Flash to about 2 years ago, she now lives around Ft Washington MD, and Hurricane Isabel does a number on her area, flooding her basement severly. Right where she kept the records while she was deciding "what to do with them". So tragically, the LPs that Digga has always longed for are just ruined, with almost no exception. Many fell off shelves, cracking, breaking, and most all were covered in mold, mildew and mud from the flooding.
So DCDigga is now called to help cleanup the mess. In the cleanup, he is trying in vain to see what could be salvaged, his heart breaking every step of the way. One piece of a record pulled away as it fell out of a clump of stuck together LP covers, and he pulled it's broken carcass out to see. It was covered in mold and mildew and gunk, but broken in half, he could still see the silver 'Strata' label with the name 'Ron Engli' visible, and the word 'Fish' below that, and the word 'promo' fading off as well.
Now, he will be the first to tell you there is no way to validate if what he saw WAS the actual LP, but all the circumstantial evidence points to a promo/DJ/radio copy that fell into his Aunt's possesion at some point. When he tried to ask his aunt about it, she evidently was in no mood to discuss some stupid record after having a huge flood bill to contend with.
So that's that. And Digga asked me to tell that 'Bama Bizzo' thanks for bringing up those painful memories of what maybe coulda been!
This part reads just like a horror story.
...and then operator said the call was coming from within the house!
A Promo? Sounds, ahem, 'fishy' to me. Not to call DCDigga a liar by any means, but it seems unlikely that the copy he found would have been a promo. An acetate/test-pressing maybe, but a promo? Given that the first run of Saturday Night Specials was 2000, I would reckon Fish Feet would have been pressed up in a lot of at least 1000. In any case, I'd like to see pictures of the broken record, if only for the sake of preserving what little hope I have that it exists.
"....and in the morning he went to find his decomposed copy of "fish feet" to be nothing more than a moldy mantovanni!!"
Dude, relax.
K.
...hey, on a side note. The illustrator of those scary stories books is a relative of mine (Stephen Gammel).
...hey, on a side note. The illustrator of those scary stories books is a relative of mine (Stephen Gammel).
thats awesome. Tell him he is responsible for many of my most vivid childhood nightmares. Even when the story was stupid, the pictures were rediculously scary. The mom with the wooden tail and glass eye wasnt scary at all, but the picture left me with crazy nightmares.
As a victim of a false Ron English sighting I have to chime in. Someone posted that they saw one at my house a few years ago and caused a stir. It was actually the Larry Nozero.
I've been told by those involved that it never came out and I'm inclined to believe them. Word is Ron English has the masters to "Fish Feet" though and plans to release them. Also there are some quality Lyman Woodard Orginazation live tapes being cleaned up for release next year. Lyman, Robert Lowe, and Leonard King have been playing together occasionally also.
And now a story.
There was this braggart hanging out at the record store I work at. He always said he had every joint no matter how rare. This one time there were like 5 dudes standing around yapping about records and the subject of Strata came up. A lot of dudes around here have or have had "Saturday Night Special" and its a local favorite but conversation swayed to the records on the back. Anyways, dude starts saying how he's got all of them. Someone says "You got that "Fish Fett?", and he's like "Oh yeah, I been had that" and everyone's like "Whoa!". My man Murphy, who's very knowledgeable about records and liars, pulls out a $50 dollar bill and says "I'll give you fifty bucks to go home, bring it back, and just show it to me. That's all you gotta do is show it to me. Fifty bucks.". The braggart gets shook but tries to keep a front going "I'll show you, I'm going home to get it and take your fifty bucks sucker. I'll be back." They waited for an hour. Dude never came back.
SONIC
Now then, has anyone in detroit ever seen any Strata record with "Promo" on the label?
In much the same vein, I would like to see the mysterious second "Combo Xingu" album with the white cover. Anyone got a jpeg or is this Suitcase as well?
I want everyone to keep in mind that I was relating the story second hand as best I could. Hopefully M******l can get to an internet connection and add his first hand account soon. Like I said though, he just saw what he saw and has no investment in any of this outside of the story, and is not trying to impress anyone. He mentioned that after he first related the story that some Detroit folks PM'ed him regarding Ron English,etc, so the shard of an LP he saw remains a mystery, perhaps never to be fully solved to DCDigga.
I just am uncomfortable with people throwing around the term 'bullshit' about a guy that wouldn't lie to you to save his own life. A mystery perhaps, but not 'bullshit'.
2nd Combo Xingu sounds Suitcase to me though.
Sorry, Thes, I really am not directing this at you or Aaro*....I just don't want anyone to get anything twisted about the story. It is totally NOT that serious...
It's shit. I've had it and sold it before (for fairly big dough on eBay $3??). I might have a pic sitting on my computer somewhere.
K in Canada.
what about that Combo Xingu 45... anything good?
KEvin.
Don't profess any knowledge of this.
K.