At the beginning of 2019, I purchased around 1,000 45s from a lady who was moving. She had a jukebox for years and even though she had since sold it, she kept moving the boxes of 45s with her to each new location. Now she was ready to let them go.
One of the first 45s that jumped out to me had a green label with Alston written across the top and the song title Funky Nassau by The Beginning of the End. That quickly became a favorite in my 45 collection and now I keep my eye open for Alston 45s whenever I’m out shopping.
As I mentioned last week, I bought over 200 hundred 45s at a local record store for .50 cents each. There were boxes and boxes of 45s and at some point I simply set any aside with familiar labels to gamble on.
The above 45 by J.P. Robinson on Alston was one of those gambles.
J.P. was from West Palm Beach, Florida, where he recorded for Miami based, Alston Records. Alston was formed in the mid 1960s by Henry Stone and Steve Alaimo and was most known for the above mentioned 1971 release of Funky Nassau by The Beginning of the End.
J.P.’s discography of singles on Discogs is limited to less than 20 and I cannot find any information on his career beyond these singles and a few compilation CDs. His obscurity makes the 45 listening experience that much better.
This 45 release is actually for his hit single, You Got Your Thing On A String, but I enjoy the B-side, Love Is Not A Stranger, even more.
Love Is Not A Stranger was written by producer Willie Clarke and fellow Floridian soul singer, Clarence Reid.
The song is a soulful ballad starting with an organ intro before introducing J.P.’s vocals, immediately followed by a group of female background vocalists. Despite the solemn lyrics like “There was a time I felt like dying”, J.P. acknowledges the newfound love as what has saved him and makes him “stand up like a natural man”, among many other things.
Not a bad addition to my collection for just 50 cents!
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