The Magnificent Goldberg Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 Bob Belden's sleeve note to Grant Green's "Live at Club Mozambique" refers to the writer of "Jan Jan" as "the mysterious M Davis (not Miles Davis)". Nope, it was Moses Davis. It looks as if the folks at Blue Note don't know who they should be paying royalties for the two recordings GG made of this tune. I doubt that there's an organist anywhere in America that someone on this board doesn't know. So here's what I know about the Mad Professor, none of whose recordings are listed in Lord's Jazz discography. In the early '60s - probably '62 or '63 - under the name of Moses Davis, he made a 45 single "Moses' groove"/"For dancers only" (the Sy Oliver tune). The single was issued on the Tollie label (dunno the number - my mate has a copy buried under about a million records), which was a subsidiary of Vee-Jay. That implies that Moses may have been living or working in Chicago in those days. But equally, he may not, because the instrumentation was tenor sax, organ, guitar and drums and the sax player was the same man who, in 1960, had played the tenor solo on Paul Gayten's "The hunch", recorded in Detroit by Anna records (Berry Gordy's first label). I don't know who the saxman was (and I'd like to). Anyway, Moses next turned up in Detroit. He was a member of a funk/jazz band called, initially, "The Fabulous Counts". In the late '60s, The Fabulous Counts made some singles for the Detroit label Moira, and got two hit singles out of the deal. The first hit was "Jan Jan", an instrumental which made #42 on the R&B chart in early 1969. The band did even better with "Get down people", the following year. That one got to #32 on the R&B chart and #88 on the Hot Hundred. Atlantic released the Moira material on an LP, "Jan Jan" Cotillion 9011, which, as far as I know, hasn't been reissued on CD. The LP wasn't a hit. The Fabulous Counts decided to drop the hype from their name and became simply "The Counts". As the Counts, they recorded an album in Detroit in 1971/72. This was "What's upfront that-Counts" Westbound 2011. This was a hit, reaching 35 on the R&B albums chart and 193 on the Pop albums chart. Westbound were a bit too involved in pushing Funkadelic and the Ohio Players in those days, so the Counts got little attention. This one has been reissued in the UK on Westbound CDSEWM063. It's OK, but not as good as the other stuff. They left Detroit, and Westbound, and headed for Atlanta and signed up for Aware records, an Atlanta outfit. Two more albums followed. In 1973, there was "Love sign" Aware 2002, which made #45 on the R&B album chart and in 1975, the great "Funk pump". (Now, isn't that an album you wished you had?) "Funk Pump" was issued on Aware 2006 and made #58 on the R&B album chart. The two Aware LPs (plus a few bonus cuts) have been reissued on one CD in the UK - "It's what's in the groove" Southbound CDSEWD109. All tracks from "Love sign" and about half from "Funk pump" have been reissued in the US on Collectables. The UK issue is the one to get. The Counts comprised tenor, organ, guitar, drums. Moses Davis, in addition to organ, held down the vocal chair. Demetrius Cates was the sax man (sometimes soprano) and a wailer. Moses was a wailer on organ, too. He was a bit lke John Patton sometimes. And sometimes he was real weird. The Counts was a pretty sucessful band. Every recording contract they had produced hit records. And yet they faded away. I find that strange. OK, so two questions: does anyone know this guy? does anyone know who at Blue Note should be told the correct identity of the writer of "Jan Jan"? MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 Micheal Cuscuna should be told, or Tom Evered. Bertrand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 I've never heard of Moses Davis, but he sounds fascinating! I'd like to hear some of this stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted July 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 Micheal Cuscuna should be told, or Tom Evered. Bertrand. Do you know how to get in touch with either? PM me with an e-mail address; or send the thread to them, if you'd prefer. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted July 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 I've never heard of Moses Davis, but he sounds fascinating! I'd like to hear some of this stuff. The tiny samples on Amazon.com don't seem to be working, at the moment. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DatDere Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 I have that "What's up front that counts" album on cd. I like it, kind of reminds me of the early Ohio Players albums on Westbound. Other than that, I don't know anything about Moses Davis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted July 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 I have that "What's up front that counts" album on cd. I like it, kind of reminds me of the early Ohio Players albums on Westbound. Other than that, I don't know anything about Moses Davis. If you like that one, you'll probably like "It's what's in the groove" even better. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.