King Floyd - Learning To Forget You (Dial 1027)
Learning To Forget You
Hi folks. It's me again... I just wanted to share this with you.
As I'm sure you know by now, the B side digs King Floyd. We pretty much covered all the bases in our previous posts on him... or so I thought. After he died a few weeks ago, I, like everybody else in this soul blogosphere, was reading as much as I could about him on everybody else's sites.
It was in the comments on the great Get On Down With The Stepfather Of Soul blog, that I read 'Many people, including myself, rate this Dial release as his greatest moment, better artistically, if not financially, than "Groove Me."' Whoa, I sez... DIAL? I didn't know he had any records on Dial...
Well, sure enough, in all the research and stuff I did for my own King Floyd posts, I somehow missed it (even though it's right there in black & white in Jeff Hannusch's I Hear You Knockin'). Well, DUH!
SO, I did some diggin' around, and came up with a copy for us. As fate would have it, the B side of the record is, in my opinion, the better side. Once again King shows off his skills as a songwriter as well as his ability to lay his heart on the line.
What a great record.
It was released in late 1974 as the flip of Can You Dig It?.
Floyd and Malaco had gone their separate ways at this point (although the company would continue to release material they already had "in the can" well into 1978), and he approached Buddy Killen at Dial Records, with a few songs he had written. Buddy brought him into his Sound Shop Studios in Nashville and co-produced this double-sided slab of southern soul with Mike Leach (who had appeared on the classic Dusty In Memphis) providing the arrangements.
It may just be his "greatest moment" after all.We'll focus some more on Dial and stuff in the near future, but I just wanted to get this record up here while we're all still kinda saying our goodbyes...
You learn something new everyday!
posted by Red Kelly at 8:38 PM
10 Comments:
I was just reading your sidebar where it says '...poor, neglected, b-sides...' These are awesome. They are like treasures for those of us on this side of the screen. Then there are the cherries - the label scans. This one in particular is so crisp and amazing. Thanks alot man. Appreciate it. All of it.
Glad you got one of the Dial sides up, Red. It's a nice single; and he should have had another shot, had things not bottomed out for him. Still, I think there are several of his Malaco sessions (not even counting "Groove Me") that beat these, for what it's worth. As a long time KF fan, I wonder what you or any of your readers think is the reason that King Floyd was not more widely appreciated in his day and was not much acknowledged by soul/funk lovers until he passed. Just curious.
To me, I think it all lies with the distribution end of it... Atlantic (read: Jerry Wexler) at this point was like this wobbly, finicky giant that wasn't sure where it was headed. They were making big bucks off album sales on people like Crosby, Stills, and Nash and Led Zeppelin, and, in my opinion, viewed the whole southern soul 'singles' market as some kind of quaint reminder of their roots, or something.
Their distribution deal with Malaco/Chimneyville was an on again/off again kind of thing. They just weren't that interested in the "product" Floyd was putting out. (As a matter of fact, Wexler had initially turned "Groove Me" down as well, claiming that he "just didn't HEAR it..." and maintains to this day that he still doesn't!). It was New Orleans DJ George Vinnett, along with King's uncle Cleon Floyd (a local promoter), that convinced Atlantic to release "Woman Don't Go Astray" in 1972, an album cut that had been recorded 3 years earlier. It spent 15 weeks on the R&B charts, peaking at #3... I guess they were right!
Still, Atlantic didn't care. Wexler had set up shop for himself in Miami by 1973, and was shifting all his southern recording to his Criteria Sound studio. I guess he figured 'what do I need these dinky little studios like Malaco, or Fame, or American with their weird personality issues for, anyway?' (maybe because they made you who you are, jerk?!)...
ANYWAY, by 1974, Atlantic had discontinued their distribution deal with Malaco altogether, and it was only picked up by Henry Stone's T.K. Records in Miami (which was certainly no Atlantic) after the label had their last ditch attempt at a hit single, Dorothy Moore's "Misty Blue", crack the Southern market wide open...
I think also, like Teddy Royal said on your site, Dan, Floyd had "burned a few bridges" by this time, and folks just weren't into getting behind his work.
As far as why people today aren't like huge fans, maybe it's because they are always looking for the next "Groove Me", and not seeing the rest of the picture. I guess that's what happens sometimes when your biggest hit comes first (although I'm sure Floyd didn't feel it was first, after all the work he did on the left coast...).
Anyway, I'll shut up now. Thanks for stoppin' by!
Great remarks re distribution problems. The fact of the matter is that by the mid-'70s the death bells were pealing lustily for the great independent labels and studios: Chess, Stax, et al. Atlantic was shielded from all of that due to its connection with Warner. It didn't help matters that the majors finally got into the R&B race and basically squashed everyone else. Although the corporatization of soul music hadn't reached today's levels, the movement was in full swing.
Nice to read your comments, people.
And Mr Red, nonetheless I need to get a listen to the A-side of that 45.
Dominik
Dominik -
Both sides of this single are available on the TRULY EXCELLENT and VERY COOL The Dial Records Southern Soul Story, a 2 disc set with a LOAD of other must have music, and informative liner notes by noted "soulies" (and all around nice guys) John Broven and John Ridley. I just got mine in the mail yesterday... it's AMAZING!!
With that said, boys and girls, in the interest of the tribute to this man's legacy of music that we're all sharing, I'm posting the other side of the single, Can You Dig It? over on the A side.
Buy the Dial Cd set, though... you won't be sorry!
this is well awesome..i have been blasting it thru the cans and enjoying the live crackly feel of it, how singles used to sound. i will check out mr floyd straight away and it has rekindled my desire to check out more of those lost but thankfully not forgotten b sides. cheers and the best of tartan to you!!!
Hi Red,
I got PC problems. Cant listen at the moment.
Thanks anyway for sharing the B and A-side.
BTW I didnt know about your "mirror side" til now.
You should people know more obviously (than in a comment section!)?
I might have missed it though.
Thanks a lot,
Dominik
Hi RK,
Very cool idea for a blog! Thanks for sharing your 45's...
I found your blog doing the "Next Blog" thing at the top of the page.
Btw, check my Q&A blog called "The Big Question" at http://bigquestion2day.blogspot.com. If you get time, come answer a few questions (I post a new one each day). It's cool to see all the answers from the diverse group of readers that visit.
Take care,
Sublime
Red. For failing to give me credit for the "Can You Dig It" comment on stepdaddy's site I've given your age away at
http://madpriest-uk.blogspot.com/
Vengeance is mine sayeth the reverend.
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