A Jimmy Drake Rarity On a Tiny Label

Okay, so I'm not going to claim any greatness for today's record, but it is historically important for those of us in song-poem fandom (and I'm definitely in that number) who are fascinated by the story of Singing Jimmy Drake, AKA Nervous Norvus.

And here we have a Jimmy Drake record which is mentioned on the AS/PMA website, but which has not been previously heard by the song-poem faithful. As explained at that site, this record was referenced in an ad, hence its inclusion on (and the very existence of) the Claudra Records page. That it is a song-poem record (since Drake made non-song-poem records as well) was only confirmed by the presence of Roger Smith on the flip side.

So here's the record, "Gambling Fury", in all it's low-fi glory. This record is beat to hell. It sounds like maybe it skips right into the start of the record, but I've tried playing it on a couple of turntables, and manipulating the needle, etc. It seems like it really does start the way that you'll hear it here. There is a skip a few moments later, which I have tried to correct, without success. If I succeed later, I will update the file.

Download: Singing Jimmy Drake - Gambling Fury
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As mentioned, the flip side features Roger Smith. And, for the very first time, I am underwhelmed by a Roger Smith performance. The song, "Golden Yellow Moon" (which seems a redundant phrase to me, by the way) doesn't help. It's pretty uninspired ("Every year has June, that's just for a while" - really?), and the midtempo, vaguely western setting is equally bland - the sax solo seems totally out of place, too. I much prefer my Roger Smith singing in an unhinged fashion, over careening music.

Download: Roger Smith - Golden Yellow Moon
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