Mordicai Jones
Encyclopedia
Mordicai Jones is the 1971 album by pioneer Rock & Roll guitarist, and Shawnee
Indian Link Wray
. The music is a blend of Blues
, Country, and Folk rock
. The standout tracks are "Walkin' in the Arizona Sun", "All Because of a Woman", "Son of a Simple Man", and "Days Before Custer".
Gene Johnson, not Bobby Howard, is "Mordicai Jones", and sings lead vocals.
The rhythm tracks were recorded in 1971 in an old chicken shack on Wray's Maryland
farm. The vocals were recorded in New York City.
Bobby Howard, an original member of the 1960s DC club band The British Walkers, invited Gene Johnson, then of the DC club band Billy Budd, (with whom both Howard and Johnson and session guitarist Lance Quinn had played in '69 at DC's legendary Bayou nite club)to come to New York to sing back-up on Link Wray's "comeback" album on Polydor. After the Wray album was completed, the production team set out to produce an album for Howard, for which rhythm tracks had been recorded at Wrays Shack. Howard, always temperamental, got mad and walked out, and Gene Johnson became the voice of Mordicai Jones. Howard never laid down a single vocal track for the Mordicai Jones album.
Johnson was at the time performing with the DC recording band Tractor, which had just finished an album with Gamble and Huff
, an R&B production team out of Phillie. Johnson would not sign a contract with the Link Wray production team and thus was asked to give up all rights to being Mordicai Jones. He took the money offered and ran.
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
Indian Link Wray
Link Wray
Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr was an American rock and roll guitarist, songwriter and occasional singer....
. The music is a blend of Blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, Country, and Folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
. The standout tracks are "Walkin' in the Arizona Sun", "All Because of a Woman", "Son of a Simple Man", and "Days Before Custer".
Gene Johnson, not Bobby Howard, is "Mordicai Jones", and sings lead vocals.
The rhythm tracks were recorded in 1971 in an old chicken shack on Wray's Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
farm. The vocals were recorded in New York City.
Bobby Howard, an original member of the 1960s DC club band The British Walkers, invited Gene Johnson, then of the DC club band Billy Budd, (with whom both Howard and Johnson and session guitarist Lance Quinn had played in '69 at DC's legendary Bayou nite club)to come to New York to sing back-up on Link Wray's "comeback" album on Polydor. After the Wray album was completed, the production team set out to produce an album for Howard, for which rhythm tracks had been recorded at Wrays Shack. Howard, always temperamental, got mad and walked out, and Gene Johnson became the voice of Mordicai Jones. Howard never laid down a single vocal track for the Mordicai Jones album.
Johnson was at the time performing with the DC recording band Tractor, which had just finished an album with Gamble and Huff
Gamble and Huff
Kenneth Gamble and Leon A. Huff are an American songwriting and record production team who have written and produced over 170 gold and platinum records. They were pioneers of Philadelphia soul and the in-house creative team for the Philadelphia International record label...
, an R&B production team out of Phillie. Johnson would not sign a contract with the Link Wray production team and thus was asked to give up all rights to being Mordicai Jones. He took the money offered and ran.
Track listing
- "Walkin' in the Arizona Sun" (Link Wray/Steve Verroca) - 2:53
- "Scorpio Woman" (Link Wray/Steve Verroca) - 3:47
- "The Coca Cola Sign Blinds My Eye" (Link Wray/Bobby Howard/Steve Verroca) - 6:24
- "All I Want to Say" (Link Wray/Steve Verroca/Gene Johnson) - 3:12
- "All Because of a Woman" (Link Wray/Steve Verroca) - 3:20
- "On the Run" (Link Wray/Bobby Howard/Steve Verroca) - 5:45
- "Son of a Simple Man" (Link Wray/Steve Verroca) - 4:22
- "Precious Jewel" (Roy AcuffRoy AcuffRoy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...
) - 2:14 - "Days Before Custer" (Link Wray/Steve Verroca) - 4:01
- "Gandy DancerGandy dancerGandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers who laid and maintained railroad tracks in the years before the work was done by machines....
" (Link Wray/Bobby Howard/Steve Verroca) - 3:30
Personnel
- Link WrayLink WrayFred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr was an American rock and roll guitarist, songwriter and occasional singer....
- electric guitar, steel guitar, bass - Doug Wray - rhythm guitar, background vocals
- Bobby Howard - keyboards,
- Bill Hodges - organ, piano, harmonica, background vocals
- Steve Verroca - drums, percussion, background vocals
- John Grummere - electric guitar, background vocals
- Norman Sue - bass, background vocals
- Ned Levin - background vocals
- Gene Johnson - lead & back-up vocals
Production
- Producer: Steve Verroca
- Recording Engineer: Chuck Irwin
- Mixing: Chuck Irwin
- Photography: unknown
- Art Design: unknown