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Mississippi Records and Lee Moses' Bad Girl

Started by holyzombiejesus, June 15, 2019, 12:19:13 AM

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holyzombiejesus

Years ago I went to see a talk by Eric Isaacson, the owner of Portland's Mississippi Records. The label is one of my favorites; it puts out all these wonky compilations of gospel, blues, soul and 'outernational' (bleurgh!) music and I heartily recommend you check out their back catalogue. Honest Jons stock lots of it and their prices seem best. The label was the first place where I heard Washington Phillips, Aaron Neville's gorgeous How Could I Help But Love You and tons of other beautiful gentle soul music. (I really liked the story that a record shop owner in Glasgow told me about how the label insists on meticulously tracking down the copyright holders to the tracks they compile and will then voluntarily pay over the odds for the use of the song, but purposely misspell the artist or song title.) Anyway, after his talk, Eric djed and played a record that just sounded so brilliant. I wrote the title down in my birdwatching book (don't ask) but have never been able to source a copy for less than £100. Today, I was looking through the compilation racks and there it was -

Bad Girl by Lee Moses.

It's fucking brilliant.

I was going to post it in the 'what have you listened to 5 times please write it in a list and don't discuss' thread but thought I would write about it here and watch the thread sink with zero replies bye.


Sin Agog

Weird, man.  I've been thinking about them a bunch lately.  I've got maybe ten of their tapes, and they're a total masterclass in tone.  I once went to an acting class where we were asked to imperceptibly shift from one emotion to another in the course of a five-minute scene.  Their comps can be a bit like that.  I tend to relisten to the more eerie and spectral ones like Difficult Children's Music the most, but they're all great.  The analog fuzzy tape sound only makes the music even more delicious sounding.  I am a pauper, else when they put out a box set made out of the actual Mississippi Records store after it closed down, I'd have been in like Flynn for that thing.

holyzombiejesus

Ah, I never got the tapes although Monorail in Glasgow had a bunch for sale a while back. Such a brilliant label. there's a real Twin Peaks vibe to some of their stuff without it sounding anything like Julee Cruise or whatever. If Eric Isaacson ever comes back to the UK again, you must go and see him; some of the footage he showed was incredible.

Sin Agog

An appropriate joke.

Two Italian men were chatting on a bus, and the prim and proper woman behind them was utterly appalled at what she was hearing.  One was saying to the other: "Emma she come first, and then I come next. And then the two asses, they a come a together.  And then I come again.  And then once more the two asses they a come a together.  And I come once more and pee twice.  And finally I come one last time."

Unable to take it anymore, the lady reprimands the two men. "You are two of the most vile creatures I've ever encountered.  You should be utterly ashamed of yourselves!"

The Italian, perplexed, replies: "Wassa matter, lady? I only teach me friend how to spell 'Mississippi.'"

chveik

Quote from: Sin Agog on June 15, 2019, 12:27:27 AM
I've got maybe ten of their tapes, and they're a total masterclass in tone. 

ooh you lucky man. their tape series is indeed fantastic.

really like this one of Chaabi music from Morocco. the sort of thing my father used to listen to all the time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gj6fvML4Gk


Sin Agog

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on June 15, 2019, 12:31:09 AM
Ah, I never got the tapes although Monorail in Glasgow had a bunch for sale a while back. Such a brilliant label. there's a real Twin Peaks vibe to some of their stuff without it sounding anything like Julee Cruise or whatever. If Eric Isaacson ever comes back to the UK again, you must go and see him; some of the footage he showed was incredible.

I'll look more into Eric Isaacson the man.  Never thought of putting a face to the compilations before, though I don't know why.  Was it solely him compiling them all?

holyzombiejesus

I just want to stay up all night listening to their records. Yes, I think the early ones were Eric but I could well be wrong.

A good interview: http://soundamerican.org/sa_archive/sa4/sa4-eric-isaacson-and-mississippi-records.html

and another one: https://www.printmag.com/article/june-2012-features-mighty-mississippi/#ixzz2I3zYxpi5

Sin Agog

Cheers fer those, man.  He seems as interesting, and introverted, as I imagined.  Crom bless those obsessive wallflowers who devote their lives to making experiences for the rest of us!  Will try and blast at least two MR tapes whilst cycling today.

holyzombiejesus

Was just looking around Discogs to see if Eric still owns the label and it seems he doesn't. There was this interesting exchange though...

https://www.discogs.com/label/89796-Mississippi-Records/reviews#c1209366

QuoteMississippi Records — Quilled_Investigator  April 19, 2019
Would like to provide a reminder to those who are ill-informed - that Mississippi has many illicit bootlegs and reissues that do not honour royalties for the original artists. There are many accusations of this - here's just one example:
http://www.radioafrica.com.au/Classics/Kayes.html
http://www.radioafrica.com.au/Classics/Kayes.html

The compilations "Love is Love" and "Hasabe" are just constructed directly out of rips from Original Music (2) and Éthiopiques, they aren't even original transcriptions from the records. Obviously Ethiopiques can hold their own, but poor John Storm Roberts is having his entire life-work stolen and abused by labels like Mississippi and their subsidiary, Domino Sound.

Please avoid this label until they work to actually construct honest compilations.


QuoteMississippi Records — jmartin3rd  June 2, 2019
edited 12 days ago
From Eric Isaacson, responding to the above posted April 19, 2019

Hello Quilled Investigator,
While I appreciate your instincts in defending the little guy where you can, singling out Mississippi as a victimizer of artists is misplaced.
I am one of the founders of the label. I'd just like to point out the following -

- The link to the Graem Counsel rant against Mississippi you posted is outdated. Initially, we released the Kayes record without paying Sterns music, the company Graem was working for who owned the rights to the LP. We did however, pay some artists who performed on the record directly previous to its release.
After the release, we had a good conference with Sterns music and ended up licensing 4 other titles from their catalog - splitting money between them and artists. (you can see "licensed from Sterns music" posted on the back of the Orchestre Regional De Mopti, Le Orchestre Nationale A and Rail Band LP's).
Mississippi has always done due diligence and paid artists whenever possible. You are correct though - in some cases we could not track down artists and still released their music without compensating them or their ancestors. In these cases, we have always been prepared to pay the artist if they came to light.

- Mississippi worked directly with Buda Music (who released the Ethiopiques series), Mahmoud Ahmed and Miriam Tsege Gebru to put out our series of Ethiopian releases. You can see plainly on the back of our Ethiopian LP's "Licensed from Buda Music" or "Licensed from Mahmoud Ahmed Records". Our source materials were drawn from the same well as the CD releases, which - in my opinion - are excellent quality sources. We have been involved directly with the Ethiopian music community on lots of levels.

- Domino Sound is not a Mississippi subsidiary. It is a label run out of New Orleans by Matt Knowles. I happen to know Matt works tirelessly to put out quality releases in partnership with artists. He has visited Africa on multiple occasions and is a beyond honorable operator. Matt is one of the most ethical people I know. I take a lot of offense at you characterizing his releases as low quality and unethical. He's the best in the biz!

- Mississippi operated on a shoe string budget and never made any significant profits beyond just operating costs. We payed artists we worked with 50% of all profits or more on all releases. At times we worked with other companies and licensed from them, leaving it to them to dole out money to artists.

I no longer run the Mississippi Records label. The two guys who run it now have gone to great pains to work directly with people in Africa - traveling hard and long to find artists and pay them directly as well as working with people on the continent directly to do research and translations. They have payed all their collaborators well for their work. I handed the label over to these folks specifically because I felt like they were ethical and capable of more due diligence than I am capable of.
While I am overall proud of my work with the Mississippi label and definitely consider our model 100 times better than most labels that release music from the African disporia, I also believe there is a lot of room to improve our practices, mainly by physically visiting the places the music is being issued from and connecting that way. (which the new owners of the label have done on multiple occasions) Unfortunately, in the early days of the Mississippi label, we did not have the resources to travel and relied on intermediaries or the best links to musicians directly we could find.
Admittedly, we did some shoddy work in our early days - and I am wholly responsible for that. I still shudder at the slop and dash approach I took on the "Love Is Love" and "Lipa Kodi Ya City Council" LP's. I was 28 years old and just doing the best I could with the limited resources I had. That was 15 years ago and I would never put out a record that way now. Folly of youth. The music on these records is excellent, but the packaging is garish and the approach overall leaves a lot to be desired.
Yes- those two releases are part of Mississippi's catalog and an argument could be made that they are total shit and should not have happened. But, to damn the whole label based on a few shoddy releases made when we were young seems cruel. Mississippi has put out over 260 records, put a lot of money in artists pockets (more than our own pockets), and exposed a lot of people to some real good shit.
As I stated before, I do not run the label anymore and am writing here in defense of the current owners. I may deserve some smack talking, but they have been highly ethical in their running of this label and have not turned any profit. To call out their work (as well as 96% of mine) as non responsive to artists rights and just "illicit bootlegs" is way the hell off.
If you are ever in Portland, stop by the Mississippi shop and say hello. I am not some shadowing figure slingin bootlegs out of a basement - I work behind the counter at a record store 5- 6 days a week, love to talk to folks about music and love to connect directly with artists whenever I can. A good chunk of the artists on the label are good friends of mine.
Hope this message finds you well.

All the best,
Eric Isaacson
5202 N Albina Ave
Portland OR 97217
503 282 2990

Inspector Norse

Quote from: chveik on June 15, 2019, 12:34:27 AM
ooh you lucky man. their tape series is indeed fantastic.

Some really helpful people have put up playlists of cuts from the cassettes on Spotify. As someone who loves hearing great old stuff but struggles to wade through all the generic filler that most artists put out, I am eternally grateful to people who put out cherrypicked compilations and to the people who then spend their time putting stuff from those compilations up on Spotify for those of us who missed out on the tapes or whatever.

Here's a link to one.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7oEvPmljjsR9NEarF8eo8p

NattyDread 2

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on June 15, 2019, 12:19:13 AM

Bad Girl by Lee Moses.

It's fucking brilliant.


Yes indeed! Don't know much about that label but I'll be seeking their stuff out right now, so thanks. The Lee Moses album 'Time and Place' is an absolute stoater. Was very chuffed to find the reissue in Glasgow's Avalanche Records for about a tenner. Just looked it up on discogs as I couldn't remember the label and noticed it goes for a pretty penny now (Castle reish that is). Original would set you back a fortune. One of the best soul records I own.

holyzombiejesus

Just had the latest mailout from them and the bit in bold made me burst out laughing.

QuoteAll is well down at Mississippi Records Portland. The shop is full of good stuff. It's mostly top quality reissues, though great used collections have been coming through (and leaving too fast). If you don't like cheap reissues then maybe don't stop by. But - If you're open to getting a quality reissue record you could never find an OG of for a decent price, then our shop is Shangri La! To you snob record collectors who won't get with this golden age of reissues and insist on only buying O.G pressings, I suggest you look at your life and think about what you have become.

holyzombiejesus

I guess to justify the bump I should state that the Mississippi offshoot label, Cairo Records, is producing some of the best soul/ blues compilations I've ever heard. A lot of the stuff is from the tapes they used to put out but don't let that (or the cost) put you off. Beautifully packaged, amazing music.

https://www.discogs.com/label/1483416-Cairo-Records-2

https://honestjons.com/shop/label/Cairo

Sebastian Cobb

what compilation was it on? Sorry if I've missed a link somewhere.

holyzombiejesus

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on October 05, 2022, 02:58:02 PMwhat compilation was it on? Sorry if I've missed a link somewhere.

Don't think I siad, sorry.

It's on this

https://www.discogs.com/master/1551083-Lee-Moses-How-Much-Longer-Must-I-Wait-Singles-Rarities-1965-1972

and this

https://www.discogs.com/master/1735482-Various-The-Love-You-Save-American-Soul-Music-1955-1972

and there have been a few represses of the single too.

https://www.discogs.com/master/1038871-Lee-Moses-Bad-Girl-Part-I-Bad-Girl-Part-II

I wish someone could put the 2 sides of the single together and make the 'proper' track. That youtube video splices them together really well.


holyzombiejesus

Ace piece in the latest mailout celebrating 20 years of Mississippi. Makes a lot of current record shops seem like dull corporate chancers. Imagine these lot having anything to do with wank like record shop day! There's something so life affirming about what Eric's done.

Hello,

    Today is the bonafide 20th anniversary of Mississippi Records!

    Twenty years ago today Orion Satushek and I opened the original Mississippi Records shop. That first day exactly twenty years ago, tons of people who ended up figuring prominently in my life all came flooding in at once - folks who became artists on our label, best friends, and collaborators.

   I decided to open the shop only two months before May 2nd, 2003. I was a lost twenty seven years old, living out of a minivan most of the time. Believe it or not, starting a record store seemed like the path of least resistance. I was randomly offered a cheap space, had six hundred records I could sell and $5,000 in the bank. My Grandma offered to sell my deceased Grandpa's stamp collection and give me another $2,000. At the time $7,000 seemed like an insanely large amount of money and I was excited to blow my fortune on a silly project. I never liked having money in the bank.


   By opening day, I had $50 in ones and fives in the register for change and not another dime. I had put every one of my personal records and books in the shop and spent the $7,000 on rent deposits, a business license, some wood for shelves, and records to fill the place. Friends volunteered to build the place up. My punk house roommate Sweet Jimmy T painted some shockingly professional looking window signage that automatically legitimized the business. My other punk house roomate Erin Yanke told me she'd work for free every Monday for a year so I could have a day off (she ended up doing it for five years).

   My business strategy was based on advice my old boss / guru from a record store I worked at in Oakland called Saturn Records offered. When I told him I was debating opening a shop he said -

   "In the Boyscouts, what do they teach you to do if you're lost in the woods and you know there's search parties out who want to find you? Do you wander around looking for a search party or do you find a spot with good visibility and some shade to sit and wait for folks to find you? Just open the store, put two barstools in front of the counter, and you'll find your whole community."

So, I really opened the shop to make friends. My plan was to be open for six months or so and then close the joint and move on to something else. I knew owning a business was not something I was built for and had no interest in "really" doing it. My business partner Orion, who was splitting the 500 square foot space with me and running a repair shop in it, knew the space was too small for him and planned on moving out in six months too. Mississippi Records was supposed to be a short-lived "art experiment".

One month after we opened, Orion was riding his bike when a drunk driver speeding at seventy miles per hour hit and killed him. After this I wanted to shut down the store but the small community that had gathered around it refused to let that happen. I stopped showing up to work, but friends took it upon themselves to open everyday and kept things rolling. After Orion's parents gave me a heavy speech about keeping the store open as a tribute to their son, I came back with a renewed sense of purpose.

Lots happened fast after that. Me and my best friend since a teenager Warren (who now owns Little Axe Records) started the Mississippi label to make some small press records just for our shops and a few friends. At the same time, Alex Yusimov started putting out Post Punk reissues and local artists under the Mississippi Records banner. Callie Danger moved into the shop space (storing her bed roll under a rack during the day) and started putting together psych and country comps for the label. Our neighbor Tim Stollenwork started a mastering studio two blocks away and charged us outlandishly cheap rates to crank records out.  Michael Hurley wandered into the shop and said, "Hey, my friends say you're starting a label and I should be on it."  Fred and Toody Cole miraculously agreed to let me reissue their catalog. Deep heads like Nathan Salsburg from the Alan Lomax Archive and Ian Nagoski from Canary Records called and offered to work with our amateur-hour label. Chris Kirkley started co-releasing amazing records from the Sahel with us. Celebrities like Neil Young, David Byrne, Jason Spaceman, REM and Werner Herzog gave us free press which spiked sales on some truly uncommercial records. Director of The Hollywood Theatre Doug Whyte wandered in and told me I should start curating programming there. Aaron Heurberger started doing repairs and selling turntables in our space...I'm pretty sure without us ever having a discussion about him taking on that role. Raf Speilman started a weirdly successful subscription service for our label

Then, Aaron and I bought a building at 5202 N Albina. Our friend Eloise started a cafe next to us and my best friend Libby started an art gallery in the basement. I started releasing a record per week. When the Mississippi Record label got too big for me to handle, I sold it to Gordon Ashworth and Cyrus Moussavi and they moved it to Chicago. Mississippi promoted a bunch of shows and became friends with many of our favorite artists. The park across the street from the shop turned into a neighborhood show space every summer. Libby closed the art gallery in the basement and Toody Cole opened a thrift store down there, calling it "Junkstore Cowboy". Aaron opened a full on stereo store in the space where we used to distribute the label. Cyrus and Gordon stewarded the label into a bigger and better world.

 .....and this is the short version of our story for sure. Like most interesting things, Mississippi Records is way too complex to sum up easily. There are too many people to thank and too many stories to tell. Gotta choose our battles.

    Most of all - I'd like to take this space to thank all the people who have put in thousands of hours of free labor for Mississippi Records. Over the past twenty years tons of folks have volunteered time to stuff records in sleeves, carry heavy boxes, watch the counter, take care of plants, help with accounting, give legal and business advice, make art, paint walls, record people, drive visiting musicians around, haul equipment and build things. Without all this free labor Mississippi Records would not be here. I dare say that the "Love Over Gold" motto above the door has held its ground.

   I'd also like to thank all the customers who have bought our labels weird records (over one and a half million units sold!), tapes (over 150,000 units sold!), frequented the record shop (who knows how many records sold!), and attended events. It's an amazing privilege to have a community so willing to take in so much real deal underground art.

   And - I'd like to thank the ghost of Orion Satushek for haunting me into doing what turned out to be my life's work.

What happens next is anyone's guess!

       Anarchy is the only way to be and it's all worth doing.



         All love,

           Eric Isaacson (Mississippi Records founder!)


Youtube playlist of songs from Mississippi releases - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhg6ikhbGe-a1FSj7j3QxrTGHoJ6EwrNo