SLIP THE DRUMMER ONE

Specks Williams: We Gave the Drummer Some
From 7″ (Jax, 196?)

Little Hooks w/ Ray Nato and the Kings: Give the Drummer Some More
From 7″ (United Artists, 1972)

Nothing too elaborate here – I picked up this Specks Williams 45 recently and automatically thought of the Little Hooks song; thought the two made sense to pair together. As it turns out, there’s an interesting coincidence b/t the two, insofar as Baltimore’s Little Hooks w/ Ray Nato and the Kings were first signed, back in the 1950s, to the Jax imprint, same label as Newark’s Specks Williams put his single out on. The Little Hooks song, however, came out on the Hollywood label, Enjay before getting picked up for wider distro by United Artists.

Of the two, I’m actually more partial to the Williams single, 1) it has the better drum break and 2) I like how it opens loud but then slides into a slick little guitar jazz number; not what you’d quite expect from it. “Give the Drummer Some More” wins for the better intro though, no question.