John W. Anderson Presents Kasandra(1968)Capitol - Rare Soul

John Kasandra is a bit of an enigma,not a lot of info on this man who i confess to completely ignoring in the past.Recently i,ve had a few requests for his albums and only having a couple that i,ve played maybe once and dismissed due to my young(then)years and intolerance to this type of material(then) ...If that makes sense ?  I put a shout out and some of you guys kindly stepped up. I know he recorded 6 albums between 1968 and 1974....then nothing ?  He was a member of 2 other bands The Cherokees & The Cuff Links...Born John W Anderson he has a son who is also a performer.Apart from that very little!  He grew up in Florida and was picking cotton.peanuts,sugarcane at a tender age,so we know he had a tough early life.Around 14 he was into barbering and went into the U.S.Air Force for 4 years, i presume when he was in his late teens. He traveled extensively throughout the States,Germany,Spain,& Africa selling other peoples records(again no info to say if he was in the Air Force Whilst doing this).He seems a very private guy and uses his real name for everyday living and the name John Kasandra for performing. What i have found out about him is this first album is all his own compositions and tells a story about a man called Mose and his life experiences(I suspect his own ?).He,s backed up by the Shortnin Rogers & Lightnin Gordon Blues band on this and his next album "Higher Plateau". He,s a raw black performer who feels strongly about the injustices of life and expresses his frustrations through his songs..reminds me a little of Bobby Womack in the way he writes. I dont know whether the man is living or dead or what his current situation is ?..If anyone knows better please let me know.Totally different and an acquired taste for the listener...but never boring!...having listened to all his albums i find myself shocked and surprised i never got into him before as he is/was a truly very gifted performer! there,s very little on youtube and TBH the tracks i wanted to include as tasters are not available....so quite  rare albums indeed..something else i have learned!...Also All 6 Albums were Vinyl LP Releases Only..None On CD!..no wonder they are  rare and not much on youtube for tasters! 

AMM

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