Third Man Records and Numero Group are likely partners in the world of thoughtful, beautifully designed vinyl focused-records that oftentimes trumpet the forgotten or unheralded troubadours and instrumentalists of the twentieth century. So it’s quite a happy moment where they can collaborate on three limited edition titles to highlight Numero’s pop-up shop taking place inside TMR’s Cass Corridor space in Detroit on April 15th.
The Burnette Sisters “I Meant Every Word” b/w “Teenage Widow” is a moving, soulful arrangement featuring sparkling vocals, with significant contributions from Detroit soul legend Dave Hamilton. Originally released in conjunction with the Rapa House (a combination performance space, finishing school and site for a Guinness Book contending longest drum solo ever of 48 hours and 3 minutes), there’s a fragile beauty to these recordings, rife with emotion, bursting with reality.
Flying Wedge was the brain child of Greg Corbin, a bon vivant polymath of underground Detroit artistic legend. With his brother Matt and a revolving cast of others (including Vic Hill who would later spend time in both Black Merda and The Detroit Cobras) the lone released evidence of their existence is the painfully rare pairing of “Come to My Casbah” and “I Can’t Believe” on the band’s very own imprint, Brown Whole Jams. Inarguably one of the best label names and logos of all-time, the brothers would later team up and release two singles under the Miraculous moniker. For more in-depth insight into the band, please do search out Madonnaland and Other Detours Into Fame and Fandom by Alina Simone.
Lavice and Company’s LP Two Sisters From Bagdad is an odd entry into the world of Detroit deep funk lore. The LP showcases music from a play of the same name, produced by Lavice Hendricks and his brother-in-law Ernest Garrison and sponsored by Detroit’s Bethel A.M.E. church. Performed in the church basement in the early 1970s, the musical drew inspiration from biblical angels and demons tales, ending with the heavenly coup of a demon’s convention. “Thoughs Were the Days” (sic) declares hell as a “swinging place” with equal parts novelty, sermon and Parliament/Funkadelic, replete with Calvin Floyd proto rapping over rapid-fire congas. Paired with the soulful “Yes I Do” (reissued here for the first time ever) this single is a no-brainer in light of the $4000 price tag the original LP commands.
Three important Detroit records, deserving of wider recognition, co-released by Numero Group and Third Man Records in the spirit of spreading the word. One day only, April 15th, during the storefront's hours 10-6, limited quantities available.