Amsterdam Russ

Had a search for info about the pic and found this brief description in a press release put out by the organisers of the competition... Source: https://www.calacademy.org/press/releases/winning-images-from-the-academys-annual-bigpicture-photography-competition-announced

Having spent some time digging for information, I've come to the conclusion that the Bayou Blues Band never actually recorded together. Possibly it was just an idea that came to nothing. Cathy Chemi (mentioned as featuring with Randy Hart in the group) is a jazz vocals with a long history and a very respected reputation. However, I can find no reference to her and the group at all. In fact, there seems to be no mention of the group beyond the mention in the Record World article (groups have existed with the name Bayou Blues Band, but these don't appear to contemporary with Magid's announcement. I did find an archived text listing of an ad that appeared in Cash Box magazine 03/07/1971. That clearly associated Hart with his Cajun nickname. I tried to see if I could find out any more info by checking out people Hart had collaborated with. The only thing of interest that I found was a snippet in a publication produced by The American Federation of Musicians and called Report of Officers to the Annual Convention (Volume 70, parts 1967-1972). Ray Rachaels was a member of the group The M-3's, which comprised Rachaels, Hart and Bob Bryant. Just to confuse matters further, entries for Randy Hart in the Catalogue of Copyright (3rd edition) state that Randy Hart is a pseudonym for Gerald Randolph Hard (Hard is a typo as other entries show the name as Hart). But is this the same Randy Hart with the Cajun nickname or a different one? Searching for Gerald Randolph Hart brings up records of a person, aged 80, living in Florida. Could it be the same songwriter? On the other hand, the court case snippet shows that Lee Magid's Randy Hart was a member of the musicians union in Columbia, South Carolina - a completely different part of the country. Mind you, people do move... Anyone got anything else?

From the entry guidelines for the competition... Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vG07USON6Bvo_Z4wfAnbYDfh5sRNYyt1/view

Interesting, but I wonder if this is a different person. Biographical info on Randy Hart seems hard to come by, but it appears he came from Louisiana (hence the "Cajun" nickname) and played in a group called the Bayou Blues Boys. Article below from Record World 02/09/1966. However, in a Billboard magazine article dated 13/09/1975, Lee Magid states that Cajun Hart comes from Atlanta. Confused? I still am!

The Discogs page for Randy Hart states: No idea who provided that information or whether they they know it as fact rather than speculation. Source: https://www.discogs.com/artist/3466168-Randy-Hart-2 Of the three tracks from YouTube, it's only in "When the party's over" that I think there's any possible indication that the singer just might have supplied the vocals to "Got to find a way..."

A real stunner. Would love to know the story of how the photographer captured the shot.

Absolutely stunning photos to be seen in the California Academy of Sciences’ Natural World photography competition. Definitely well worth a look, and the Grand Prize winner is just brilliant! Check them out here... https://www.bigpicturecompetition.org/2019-winners

From Baby Washington - an early soul gem for the price of a couple of pints!

An early gem written by Van McCoy and also recorded by Nancy Wilson, of course.

Absolutely - very handy indeed.

They do. If you have a Discogs account and create a 'Collection', it'll provide you with the minimum, median and maximum prices records have sold for. Minimum prices can be inaccurate as they often reflect the price of a disc when it was first listed on the site, and as we all know, prices have rocketed during the last couple of years. But it can also be the case that the disc has only been listed for sale once some time back and the price from then no longer reflects the market value today. What it all means is that the min and max prices can vary wildly. At the same time, the median price for individual items can be out of date relative to current market price. In my case, the difference between the minimum and maximum sales value of the few 45s I've added to my Discogs 'collection' is greater than 100%!

I see a fatal flaw in your thinking!

Blue moon - autographed by Bobby Bland after the Malaco Review at the Hammersmith Odeon, 1989. Other 45s autographed by Bobby Bland's guitarist Wayne Bennett, whom I had the great fortune to chat with for a good while at the cocktail party the evening before the concert.

Looking forward to this! 👍

Feeding turtles in a clear water stream.

Two unreleased Charmaines Fraternity tracks here. Not sure why Ace aren’t interested in them still. It’s a shame they don’t get the wider exposure they deserve.

Black-winged stilt nesting

Keb used to play it in the 80s as “The dance of the butterflies”.

I'm friends with Liz on Facebook (as I am with Jo Wallace), so we're able to keep in touch. Graham and Liz moved from the Medway down to Whitstable a few years back and Graham's semi-retired (he was 70 last year), although they both still organise occasional record fairs around the Kent area. I used to go to Graham's record shop every Friday when I lived in Maidstone - it was my day off when I worked in John Colliers soon after leaving school. That would have been 83-84, before I moved to London. Bogarts was the first regular soul club I ever went to - jumping the trains from Maidstone Barracks to Strood and doing the same on the way back every Sunday. Happy days! Back to Doris Troy, I saw her perform in her musical "Mama, I want to sing' in London's West End. Chaka Khan played the young Doris, and Doris took the role of her own mother. Got her autograph on the theatre programme that night.

I asked Graham Sage's wife about the banner. Neither can recall it and intend to ask around. But, she did say Graham did see Doris at a pub in Rochester - that was 1996, though. She sent me an image of the flyer. It's rather small, but you can still make out the details.

In the early 80s, at an alldayer at Bogarts in Strood (just down the road from Chatham), the organisers - Keith Rylatt and Graham Sage - held a competition. One of the prizes was a large banner promoting a gig by Doris. I wonder if that was for the event you mention.

With a drizzle of local olive oil and a bottle of Ouzo on the side!

There are no sizeable predators on the island, and I suspect humans found them to be not worth the trouble - especially when there are so many alternatives. Mind you, somebody has got to have given them a go at some point.