Lou Johnson – Unsatisfied from the Big Top 45

Well I am praying that this weekend is a dry one, as I’ve definitely got my mind set on getting in a good dig this weekend. Sorry for the short post on Wednesday, but life does get in the way sometimes, and I think that One G Plus Three really laid down some proper Latin Soul Jazz heat, and the side spoke for itself. Before I get into this post fully, let me remind you all that the next installment of the Asbury Park 45 Sessions is coming up on Sept. 14th. We have two really great guests, and I’d advise anyone who is within driving distance to come check it out. Those of you who are not, well, I’m hoping this special treat will bring the FMF family a little closer. Asbury Lanes has been working on a live broadcast via the internet, complete with archives. That’s right folks, you will be able to listen (fingers crossed!) to the 45 sessions live or at your leisure, basically any time you want. I’m hoping it’s all sorted out by then, but I figured I’d give all you the heads up. I’m very excited about this one, because it will give people a chance to hear the great DJs and music we have here in Asbury Park. It’s not all Bruce Springsteen people, there are some great things happening in the ghetto by the seashore.

It’s Friday, and I was listening to a bunch of Soul this week. I took this record out of my Soul pile, and thought, man this tune is so good, I have to push it to the top of the review que. When I bought it, I didn’t realize that it was kind of expensive ( I think I might have paid about $2 or $3 bucks), but then again, I don’t spend big money on records anyway. I’m not a Northern Soul expert, and I’m told that this record in particular was a Northern Soul favorite. Either way, it’s a great side. Let’s get into “Unsatisfied” by Lou Johnson on Big Top from 1965.

Born in 1941, and eventually becoming a member of the Zionettes, Johnson broke out and went solo in 1963. Signing to the New York record Label Big Top, a label owned by Julian and Jean Aberbach as a subsidiary of Hill and Range Music. Big Top was primarily Pop, rock, and evn some Comedy. There were some Mad Magazine records issued on the label, all Alfred E. Neuman style. His label mates were artists like Del Shannon, Cliff Richard, O.C. Smith, Johnny & the Hurricanes and Don Covay among others. Johnson would go on to record sides by the writing team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. As a whole, Johnson was most likely just and unsatisfied with his career as the title of this song, the single really didn’t do much commercially. To top it off, most of the other songs he sang written by Bacharach & David went on to be hits for other artists at a later time (Dionne Warwick, Sandie Shaw, Adam Faith). This is not to say he didn’t have a bit of cult success before he moved from Big Top to Atlantic subsidiary Cotillion, with a B-side entitled “The Last One To Be Loved”. His “Sweet Southern Soul” album recorded on Cotillion after he was recruited by A & R genius/ nut Jerry Wrexler, is an interesting batch of Sweet and Country influenced Soul. Again, nothing to write home about, but a decent Soul record as Soul records go. He moved on to Volt label in 1971 and put out “With You In Mind”. A record can’t be bad if Allan Touissant is involved with it. The song “Rock Me Baby” was an underground groover, but Johnson eventually ended up playing the night club circuit in Los Angeles as opposed to a further career recording.

Starting off with some great horns, the tune is Sweet Soul through and through: sweet harmonies, upbeat (but not too fast), and a Love lost. I can definitely see 70’s haircuts, polyester pants, karate kicks, and pre-break dancing moves at some Soul All Nighter, all to this tune. It breaks down several times where Johnson just pours his heart out before hitting that final series of high notes, and fading out, unfortunately much like his career did. There is even a YouTube video of this song, with an older looking Johnson lip syncing to the song. See if you can search it out. I’ll be back tomorrow with more flea market characters and digging stories. Keep Diggin’!