Brian Owens
Soul of Cash LP
scum stats: black vinyl version with different cover seems widely available, smoke version (this) limited to 100 copies, black/white insanity version limited to 20 copies (someone send me this one!)
Right around the two year anniversary of these record of the week missives, so it seems appropriate to go and revisit Soul Step, the label that released the first record I ever wrote about here (“Lemonade” by the Gills, FYI)
Melvin over at Soul Step is relentless, he just keeps on putting out stuff faster than I can listen to it. This one, with Daru Jones production/drum work on it along with Robert Randolph contributions AND the theme (soul covers of Johnny Cash) made it stick out from the rest.
And it’s solid here. Songs that are buried in the fiber of your being reinterpreted respectfully. The feeling where you know the lyrics to a tune but can’t place why, because the arrangement/instrumentation are totally unconnected to your ingrained memory…that makes your brain stronger.
In my opinion, labels like Soul Step are what actually keep the world of music interesting and exciting. On the front lines, exploring and discovering and sharing. Doing it for the LOVE of it all. I’ve seen folks come and go in this world, looking to MAKE MONIE$$$$$$ and you learn to be able to sniff ‘em out the moment they set foot in the pressing plant.
This isn’t something you do because you want to get rich. That’s what banking and the stock market are for. You get involved with music because you can’t stop yourself from doing it…whether it’s performance, running a label, whatever.
The feeling I get when ever a Soul Step package arrives, is “Damn right, keep it up.” I fully encourage you to support them (and ANY independent labels) in any way you can. They are what keeps new, young, creative talent moving. They are necessary. Your life would be a much worse place without them.
I’ve got a spare copy of the smoke vinyl version here, and it goes to the commenter here who tells the best true story about how they lost or found cash. I once found a $20 bill in the water at Metro Beach in Michigan. Went and bought some packs of Upper Deck hockey cards with it. Clearly you have a story better than that, right?
PS. I know the two year anniversary is actually next week, but with baby #3 due to arrive any minute, I’m not planning on a write-up then, so we’ve got an amazing piece of nostalgia lined up from TMR distro champion Cam Sarrett. Stay tuned.
I completely agree with your write-up. Soul Step has put out some amazing music! I have much of their catalogue, including this gem. p.s. -I can help you out with the insanity. ;)
I’m listening to the smoke version right now. It is pretty sweet. Perfect on a Sunday afternoon.
And congrats on baby #3!!!
As a teenager I worked briefly for a state road crew. Nothing greater than spending one of your valuable youthful summers picking up trash on the highway in 100+ degree heat. I probably built a lot of character that summer, but the real character was one of my coworkers. He had a knack for finding the oddest things, like a VHS of some granny porn and a DVD of Smokey and the Bandit which I happened to miss. Oh well. The only worthwhile thing I found was a triple switchblade decorated with ornate dragons (this was immediately confiscated) and one raggedy dollar caught in the fence at a truck stop. Everyone was envious of my dollar, despite the fact that we all made several an hour, and on my way home I bought a soda from the hardware store with my barely-intact dollar. I wish I could say I traded it for my first guitar, or spent it on a winning lottery ticket, but all I can say is that under the blazing sun and in all the sweat, that soda sure tasted good.
Back when I was scraping by as a just-out-of -high-school skinny little guy with a bad late 80s haicut, I used to work graveyard shift for 7-Eleven in a small rural California town. Always strange people showing up in the middle of the night wanting the swill we passed off as coffee and greasy hotdogs. I remember some dude tried to rob me with a steak knife. I stupidly laughed and stared at the knife weirdly and long enough he ended up just being a bit freaked and then left. When it was slow, it would be kinda creepy. Not much around where the store was located. So the dark outside seemed otherworldly dark. Especially out by the cracked road. I had to go out every night and sweep the entire parking lot. One time while doing that I found a rolled up wad of cash, $200 plus, I think. What was odd about it is that it wasn’t near the entrance parking. Instead it was close to that otherworldly dark road. Odd place to find money. I always wondered about it. Maybe it was leftovers from some country drug deal in a hurry. Emplyees were supposed to report if money was found, but I spent it on records and comics instead. I was fired the next week.
December 2009, Las Vegas, NV
Planet Hollywood
My wife and I went to Las Vegas for our wedding anniversary. It was our first time in Vegas and I didn’t plan the finances well. By night two we were getting low on funds but most of the trip was pre paid. We were there to see Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds on the day of our anniversary. We had tickets for the third of three shows but not for the first two. If you can believe it, while debating on how we could scalp tickets for night 2 (December 11, we skipped night one but don’t worry about us we lived it up in Vegas on December 10th) we found $160 dollars while strolling down the Strip!! We couldn’t believe it. We actually felt guilty and waited in the exact spot hoping the rightful owner of the one-six-oh would appear. That was interesting, by the way, I was making eye contact with anyone in the area. Needless to say, I made a few strange friends during that waiting period. But I digress, we wound up being a little late to the show (we missed the first two songs) and the money we found exactly covered the cost of tickets and two beverages each! We had an unforgettable time that night and the next night was so good it was officially released as a two CD set! It’s always special when the show you were at gets released!!! Thank you all for your time and indulgence. I look forward to reading all of the stories posted here.
Yours truly
kharnick – Vault member for life!
In 1996 me & my girlfriend(still together after all these years!)went to see the Sex Pistols at axion Beach Rock festival(Belgium). We went by train. We were so busy talking that we almost missed the right station to get off the train.We had been spending some money on drinking in a pub before we got on the train, so when in the train we put our money together on the table to count what we had left.Suddenly my girlfriend notices we are at our station & she pulls me out just before the traindoors close and the train leaves.As the train is leaving we see this guy smiling at us from the seat we were sitting before and then we realize we had forgotten our money on that table.But to late, the train had left. So kinda bummed we go on to the festival, but still excited to see the Pistols…sober wich was not cool for a couple of 17 year old partyanimals. So we walk around on the festival, score a beer here and there, see Lou Reed play(who was also on the bill!) and got out on the beach for a little walk while we talked about how we can’t afford a beer or buy some food.Hungry & sober we sit down in the sand, I look between my legs and there is a nice chunk of hash there! Happy as can be we smoked that chunk, got really stoned, forgot about our hunger(wich is normaly not the case when you smoke that stuff) , went back to the festival and had the time of our lives!The gods had mercy on our punkrock souls!
Congrats on #3 – I’ve got my second baby girl coming in early December!
I was at a local food festival at the beer booth. A gentleman tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I had dropped this as he was holding a $50 bill. I told him no as I knew I didn’t have a 50 on me. He said “I’ll tell you what. If you can name the president on this bill it is yours.” Luckily I know Grant is on the 50 as somehow my family is related to U.S. Grant. The gentleman responded “good job young man,” and handed me the $50. The good news was that all of our beer was now paid for just because I knew who was on the $50 bill.
Congratulations on baby number 3 as you know Three’s a pretty important number. Go Notre Dame High School
Wow. I love this! I’ve got to get myself a copy. I really appreciate this ROTW recommendation.
I was the closing manager at a huge theme park in the summers during college. My very last night, I was alone and short exactly $200. It was after 2am, I was the only one left around, and I had to get my cash drops to the vault. I was sure they’d come after me for this missing money. Who loses exactly $200, and on their last day at the job? I knew it looked like obvious theft.
Got back to the locker rooms and found two one-hundred-dollar bills in my breast pocket while getting changed. ??♀️ I got dressed, called security, and spent another hour (unpaid, I’d already clocked out) figuring out how to get the $200 added to my drops and properly accounted for, because I’m a compulsively honest person. That’s my only lost/found money story. Such a dumb night.
Early congrats on Baby 3. Good luck and good wishes to your family!
Ben- with all respect to Melvin and Soulstep…
Trade my Soul of Cash Black and White Insanity version for your cream colored version of Leon Redbone’s Long Way from Home and that sweet unreleased Margo Price / Shovels and Rope Luck Mansion 45?