Amsterdam Russ

I also notice that your promo credits M. Thomas as the arranger, whereas mine gives credit to M. Thompson and J Prowell and the bottom-right scan of the four you first posted only acknowledges M. Thompson. Confused? I am. Beyond that, my Johnny McCall is the same as your scan, and Drake and the En-Solids appears to be the same the partial scan you posted.

On your scan the words "Way above - Way out in front" sit underneath the "A" in Al-teen. On mine, those words sit to the left of the much larger "A". Also, the fonts used on "Way above - Way out in front" are not the same. Additionally, it could be the scans, but I suggest that on yours, "Recorded at Al-Teen Studios - Chicago" is in a different type size with the font being more compressed, ie, the character height is smaller. It also looks as if those words are in a bolder font style. But again, it could just be the scans. Subtle, but very definitely different.

Make that five variations as my copy doesn't seem to correlate with your scans.

Very insightful and excellently put together. Congratulations!

And to prove that point... Comma butterfly: pic taken in 2011 with a Nikon D80 and a 200mm lens. Not being able to get right up close, I did have to crop the image.

Very cosy, but a week of overcast and rainy days ahead. Must enjoy it while I can!

The weather might have taken a turn, but we’re well prepared for life outdoors on the balcony.

Thank you - lovely bird.

I'm still waiting on a package of umpteen 45s that were posted to me by Colemine on 18 March. The last entry in the tracking information is "In transit to next facility" - that was 23 March. Where is it stuck? Chicago.

Please do let Mark know that both songs - Today's man/Don't come around here anymore - are very popular with soul fans/collectors all over Europe, and they are often played at soul music events, even in the year 2020.

Three spoonbills overhead this evening. By the time they were close enough for me to identify, it was too late to take a quick pic. Damn!

Our ‘garden’...

Off topic, but did you take those pics of Lou at the 100 Club, and if so, is this you with the camera in the pic below? The position would be about right as I can just make out myself in your 2nd pic (white shirt and spectacles with face obscured by the mic stand), just as I can see the photographer opposite in my pic! Just curious...

Terrible news. I'll never forget seeing Lou perform at the 100 Club - I presume 1990, from what you've said about dates. He was, I thought, a bit nervous and hesitant at first - perhaps he was just unsure about how the crowd would react to him. But he quickly settled down, everybody loved him, and he performed magnificently. What a star! It's a night I'll never forget, that's for sure! Here's a photo I took of him that night. I wish you peaceful and pain-free days in the difficult times ahead.

Sorry - seem to have run out of "likes" today, but take them as given!

Sitting on the balcony when the sun is out doesn't give much chance to take pics. We face south-west, so the sun is shining directly at us from about 2pm until it gets dark, which means anything in front of us is usually silhouetted unless it's far left or right. I did get this close-up of a jackdaw sitting above us on the railings of our building... Silhouetted ring-necked parakeets... Silhouetted collared dove on top of a chimney. The sun was going down by now, as you can tell. Silhouetted crow heading home to roost...

Here you go - a pretty meaningless pic of a newly arrived swift that only shows that it's actually here. But what a welcome sight!

A swift spotted in the skies of Noord-Holland. Heard it first. Long-distance pic of a very tiny object to follow. More swallows in the sky as well.

Happy to oblige, and absolutely my pleasure!

Oh, you're in for a treat!

Not this one. Maybe you're confusing it with Lieutenant Pigeon.

On the subject of birdsong... There's a wood pigeon around us somewhere that coos "That ol' man river". Noticed it last year and have heard a number of times again when sat on the balcony these last couple of weeks.

You can listen to the Yellowhammer’s song here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/yellowhammer/

Thanks, Timmy. Looked a bit further but still can't find any reference to a Canadian vocal release. No idea what made me think it was re-pressed.

Well, I might just be talking nonsense. I've always taken it as fact that the vocal tracks did get a Canadian release, but now I can't find anything to prove that. Discogs has 38 listed, but only one Canadian - the instrumental. Can anyone confirm if there was actually a Canadian release of the vocal tracks?