Birdlegs - LP (1964) Cuca Records - Birdlegs & Pauline - Expanded Edition Digital (2022) Numero - Rare R&B/Soul (FLAC 470MB)

A superb album released via digital platform as well as vinyl but no CD, with my old LP scratched beyond beliefe it,s a very welcome addition. As i previously stated many record companys seem to be going down this route and distancing themselves from the CD format with selective companys still issuing vinyl as well as CD,s, but this seems to be the future in music as streaming is also the number one format and here to stay. I have no problem with this, and digital drops are a lot cheaper, except not many are providing back covers which is ridiculous as we (older collectors0 do like a back cover to browse for tracks info etc.....So more work for me unfortunatley..............Tucked deep into the wilds of Wisconsin, Cuca Records was the custom recording and pressing outfit for the Badger state. From its opening in 1959 until its closing in 1973, Jim Kirchstein recorded nearly 2,000 sides, ranging from polka and gospel to country and R&B and issued over 1,000 45s on his Cuca, Sara, Age of Aquarius, Night Owl, Citation, Psalms, Top Gun, and Jolly Dutchman labels. Though the studio was located in rural Sauk City, Cuca quickly became a go-to destination for black artists looking to cut on the cheap. “Black musicians, especially the young R&B bands, loved to come to this little town, since there were treated as royalty,” Kirchstein said in an interview. “Often I would hear, ‘Hey, there ain’t no black people here!’ My folks’ grocery store next door was always opened for bread and bologna before the late seasons started, with a quick trip downtown for wine. One could buy carry-out liquor up to midnight in those days. It really was a lot of fun then, not work, even, though the sessions were long.”.....Sidney “Birdlegs” Banks and his wife Pauline made the trek from nearby Rockford, Illinois, in early 1963. Backed by brothers Mack and Floyd Murphy as The Versatility Birds, the couple cut the bluesy shuffler “Spring” b/w “So Many Ways” issued on Cuca that February and eventually climbing to #18 on the R&B chart and later reissued by a near bankruptcy Vee Jay. “Pauline was one of the finest vocalists I’ve ever heard,” Kirchstein said. “Could have been a lot of money if [Vee Jay] had stayed in business. We did an album on them shortly after.” That album came and went with the season, and by the end of the decade the Banks,s had split up. Former Mrs. Banks Pauline Shivers cut a handful of records under her maiden name for Chicago’s Expo and Opex concerns. Birdlegs never recorded again, a rare one and done hit artist. From the initial album session came all these other tracks never issued till 2018. The Expanded tracks are listed below the album back cover. Eveything they recorded is here & rare NORTHERN.

AMM

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    Expanded Tracks

   13 In So Many Ways
   14 Hey Birdlegs
   15 Just Can't Help Myself
   16 Please Don't Cry
   17 Too Much At Stake
   18 I Love My Baby
   19 Spring
   20 Guilty
   21 Poverty
   22 Buttercup
   23 Untitled Instrumental 1
   24 Untitled Instrumental 2