I had noted that there were a couple Paul Black And The Flip Kings tracks that I didn’t have that I knew of…

https://auralretentive.wordpress.com/2014/06/16/still-more-paul-black-wanted-do-you-own-these/

and was hoping to run across one day. That day has come!

“Z104 Presents… The Beat Of The City II LIVE!”

Woo hoo! There are 2 Paul Black And The Flip Kings on this CD that claims to have been recorded September 20th 1987 at the Wisconsin Field house.

First of all, that Paul Black would be on a Z104 CD is surprising to me. Of course I don’t know what kind of music was being played on Z104 back in 1987, but these days it’s top 40 dance music. Perhaps they just collected bands in Madison that were hot at the time, not necessarily those that they played on the station.

Second, though the Paul Black songs are clearly Live recordings, some of the others, like the Ziggy Marley track “Tomorrow People” are not. I cued up the track on YouTube and ran the CD along with it. Aside from a slowly creeping speed mismatch, the tracks are identical. So, not ALL Live at any rate.

The Paul Black tracks were what I was after however, and they did not disappoint.

“Money” is a cover of the J Bradford and B. Gordy Jr. tune. It’s fast and gritty but not much slide in it. It’s a great cover. It rocks from beginning to end and there is a snippet of Paul talking to the crowd at the end saying “Now wasn’t that silly.” Hardly. Great track.

The other track, “Red Rooster” is worth whatever you pay for this CD. It starts with a glorious 2 minutes and 40 seconds of Paul alone and brandishing the slide that was missing from “Money”. It is fantastic. Reminds me of “Dead Shrimp Blues” on “King Dollar”. The guitar is sizzling. Then the rest of the band kicks in and the song rolls on.

There is a picture of Paul and the boys that I have not seen before.

Is that Mel Ford lower right?! There are no band credits listed. Maybe someone will let me know.

I was ecstatic to get a copy of this and it was well worth it. These 2 songs are great.

If you can find a copy of this, get it. You will not regret it.