Format Details: Jewel Case
Release Date: 26 November 2001
Label: Ace Records
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 029667179720
Description
When I was just a little pup on the streets of the Bronx, not quite old enough to start school but old enough to live or die with the mighty New York Yankees, my Uncle Teddy was a hero of sorts to me. Not the most upstanding character, Teddy was more the type who would not only not die of old age but would never have made it through even the most forgiving airport metal detector (had he lived long enough to see them) if you catch my drift. Uncle Teddy was not only tough, violent and a little deranged, he was always packin'. All of his friends seemed to have only the most ironic of names. Believe me, Cookie, Pinky and Smiley did way more than not live up to their monikers. Well, one day me and the big boys were hangin' on the stoop drinkin' beer (well they drank, I watched), talkin' about chicks, knives and stealing cars (they talked, I listened). After a few not wasted hours, the guys got bored and decided to take a walk. I was invited to continue tagging along. I guess I was somewhat of a mascot to them and besides they all knew how easy it was to impress me. We headed north along the Grand Concourse watching people get out of our way or even cross the street as we approached. At 182nd Street, we hung a Ralphie (that is, we made a right turn). Soon we were crossing Arthur Avenue and were deep into the Little Italy section of the Bronx. I loved it here. It was always noisy and busy and friendly and it smelled GREAT! Everywhere you could smell somebody's grandma's sauce simmering from an open window. The Holy Land of Marinara As we approached Crotona Avenue we could hear the faint sounds of guys singing. And I mean singing. Harmonies soaring and twisting and words and non-words locking together in rhythm and melody. It was so alien to me, so strange, so good. We walked on slowly and the sounds started to come into focus. They sounded better and better the closer we came. Like angels, they were. Like Italian angels, like I died and woke up in Goombah heaven. Suddenly one voice broke away from the others and the whole thing felt like it was going to lift off the ground. This voice was something else again. It was at once pure and dirty and it struck a nerve deep inside my little heart. Trancelike I continued walking toward the four singing teenagers and suddenly realised that I was alone. Looking back for my uncle, I found him twenty feet back frozen in his tracks. Teddy and his friends were just standing there with their mouths open, the oddest looks on their faces and little tears streaming gently down their hoodlum cheeks. I ran back to him and in a voice trembling with emotion, all he could say was "Scott, that's Dion and the Belmonts". To me, Uncle Teddy looked and sounded like Moses back from the mountain with the Ten Commandments. He was awe-struck and humbled and actually crying. I had never seen him any of these ways before. Who were these Belmonts and what the hell was this Dion?! Forty years later that incident has stayed with me, etc
Tracklisting
Young Jessie
Wynonie Harris
Willie Hightower
Willie Headen
Wayne Cochran
Wanda Jackson
Wanda Jackson
Walter Horton
Z.Z. Hill
Willie Hightower
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
