Two Sides of Hard Hitting, Funky Miami Soul!

• Listen to these songs on youtube: They Don’t Know Part 1, Part 2
• Listen to these 45s in a Spotify playlist here with other 45s from the blog (though note, spotify doesn’t have all / many of the songs featured on the site so some playlists may be incomplete or feature slightly different versions than the original 45s I’m referring to here.
• Download the songs by clicking the titles above

Welcome back to Musical Episode, today we have another couple sides of hard hitting soul from Miami.

Broken into two parts, Mona Lisa and his Orchestra deliver a sweat soaked side of upbeat southern soul with Part 1 being a more standard vocal led performance while side two stretches out the track with some great vamping, solos and still more sweat. As much as I love a good B-Side to a record it’s great to have the extended session available on the flip. Here’s where my bud DJ Cashman would yell at me for sticking to 45′s “the 12″ wouldn’t get cut off!”

We’ve discussed Dade Records on the blog a while back with a couple great James Brown covers (speaking of putting part 2, 3, 4, 11 and 12 on the B-side!) if you want a little more context on the label, check it here. 

I initially hesitated to post this record since my last Bettye Scott post was also without much biographical info but heck, it’s gonna happen, this is just too good not to post! I don’t have much about Mona Lisa and his Orchestra except Mr Mackwaters had another 45 around the same time on Dade, I Can’t Stand Myself which ALSO is a take on James Brown.

If you have any more info on Mona Lisa – I’m guessing it’s an alias or he was a club performer because he clearly has the energy, presence and chops that would move a crowd- please let me know!

Until then, enjoy this wild 45rpm romp from the Sunshine State.

See you next go-round,
-George / Snack Attack

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