The Nitty Gritty

We kick off with Lee Dorsey's 'Working in the Coal Mine'. Terry Timmons, who used to sing with Memphis Slim's band, is up next followed by another great Lee Dorsey track. Etta James is up next, followed by the Paragons, who famously wrote 'The Tide is High'. A mystery cut next followed by three great twist tracks, my favourite being the seedy 'Sloppy Twist'. The first of the two Johnny and the Hurricanes tracks could be lifted straight from a Tarantino movie. Sidewinder, tops off the instrumental run before Betty Harris' great version of Ride the Pony, originally written by Allen Toussaint who also wrote 'Working in the Coal Mine'. The Nitty Gritty is up next by the great Shirley Ellis, I think I favour this over 'The Clapping Song'. More dance craze soul to follow with Smokey. A great early track from James Brown and the Famous Flames follows. We have a couple of guitar heavier tracks next including a rather annoying skip! We finish of with Big Maybelle, Tiny Topsy and Tony Bruce.