Genre: soul
Rating: **** (4 stars)
Title: Twine Time
Company: Mar-V-Lus
Catalog: MLP 1827
Year: 1966
Country/State: St. Louis, Missouri
Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+
Comments: minor ring wear and minor stains; mono pressing
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 298
Price: $90.00
Cost: $1.00
Alvin Cash's professional career began in 1960 when he and brothers Arthur, George and Robert formed a dance troupe and began performing at St. Louis clubs as 'The Steps'. In 1963 the brothers relocated to Chicago where they continued to work as dancers under the name 'The Crawlers'. Cash's big break came in late 1964 when One-derful/Mar-V- Lus/M-Pac Records owner/producer Andre Williams saw the group's act and asked Cash to provide some nonsense vocals for a track he was working on. Hoping to capitalize on the public's current interest in various dances, including The Twine, Williams had Cash record 'Twine Time' with support from his own backup band The Nitelighters. Released by One-der-ful's Mar-V-lus subsidiary and credited to Alvin Cash and the Crawlers, the single became a national hit eventually selling close to a million copies ('Twin Time' b/w 'Big Bump' (Mar-V-Lus catalog number 6002))..
More than anxious to capitalize on the unexpected hit, the label rushed Cash
into the studio to cut a supporting album. Released as the cleverly titled
"Twine Time" the set
offered up a hastily recorded set of sound-alikes ('Twine Awhile'
and 'Bump'), supported by isolated covers (Sam Cooke's 'Shake' - the credits listing 'Sam Cook' as the writer), and a
couple of throwaway instrumentals ('Do It One More Time' and 'Burn Just a Hair'
(the latter sporting a hysterically inept
attempt to edit in after-the-fact audience sounds). As a singer Cash wasn't
a major presence; most of his performances limited to groans and screeches,
brief spoken word segments and call and response sections with a female
backing chorus - check out 'You Shot Me Thru the Grease' for a
perfect example. The whole affair had a loose, throwaway feel sounding
something akin to a hybrid of Archie Bells and the Drells meet Junior
Walker. Actually, on hearing the LP one of my friends told me he
hadn't known that Eddie Murphy had recorded an album as his character
Buckwheat. Listening to the set again, I can see the comparison.
Released as a single,1965's 'The Barracuda' b/w 'Do
It One More Time' (Mar-V-Lus catalog number 6005) saw Cash repeat his earlier success, though on a much
smaller basis. All told, it wasn't something that would drastically change
your life, but made for an interesting addition to the mid-1960s Chicago
music catalog. It's also increasingly hard to find though for the life of me
I've never been able to figure out how or why Hans Pokora included it in one
of his Record Collector Dreams books.
"Twine Time" track listing:
(side
1)
1.) Shake a Tail
Feather (Andre Williams - O. Hayes - Verlie Rice) - 2:27
2.) Twine Awhile (Andre Williams) - 1:42
3.) Hawk Eye (Monk Higgins - Harold Burrage) - 2:38
4.) Bump (Alvin Cash - Verlie Rice) - 2:22
5.) Twine Time (Andre Williams - W. Rice) - 2:35
6.) Fool That I Am (Monk Higgins - Harold Burrage) - 2:25
(side 2)
1.) Barracuda
(B.
Williams) - 2:19
2.) You Shot Me Thru the Grease (O. Hayes - Monk Higgins) 2:55
3.) In Need of Love (Monk Higgins - Harold Burrage) - 2:40
4.) Burn Just a Hair (instrumental) (Monk Higgins) - 2:30
5.) Shake (Sam Cook) - 2:30
6.) Do It One More Time (instrumental) (Monk Higgins) - 2:33
Essentially pegged as a novelty act, Cash subsequently ended his dancing
career; releasing a string of mid-1960s dance oriented efforts, including
"The Philly Freeze", "Funky Washing Machine" and
"Alvin's Boo-Ga-Loo". Hoping to spur yet another dance craze, with
the release of 1967's "Doin' the Ali Shuffle" Cash became one of
the first acts to record a Muhammed Ali tribute. Unfortunately, shortly
thereafter One-der-ful collapsed, leaving Cash to switch to the newly formed
Toddlin' Town label. Although Cash quickly scored a minor hit with another
dance novelty, "Keep On Dancing", his affiliation with the label
was brief and by the end of the year he was gone.
Throughout the next decade Cash continued to write and tour, particularly in
Europe where he retained a small but loyal following. Throughout the 1970s he
also sporadically recorded, working for a slew of labels, including Chess,
Seventy Seven, and Dakar. Efforts to start a film career met with limited
success; a handful of bit parts in blaxploitation films. By the early-1980s
Cash was trying to survive as an A&R man for the small Triple T label.
Cash died in November 1999. Only 60, the cause of death was listed as
'stomach problems'.
I've tried to cobble together an Alvin Cash discography from various sources. It's probably incomplete, but this is the best I could do:
as Alvin Cash and the Crawlers:
- 1964's 'Twine Time' b/w 'The Bump' (Mar-V-Lus catalog number 6002)
- 1965's 'The Barracuda' b/w 'Do It One More Time' (instrumental) (Mar-V-Lus catalog number 6005)
- 1965's 'The Penguin (Tuxedo Bird)' b/w 'Unwind the Twine' (Mar-V-Lus catalog number 6006)
as Alvin Cash and the Registers
- 1965's 'The Boston Monkey' b/w 'Unwind the Twine' (Mar-V-Lus catalog number 6008)
- 1966's 'The Philly Freeze' b/w 'No Deposit, No Return' (Mar-V-Lus catalog number 6012)
- 1966's 'Alvin's Boo-ga-loo' b/w 'Let's Do Some Good Timing' (Mar-V-Lus catalog number 6014)
- 1967's 'Doing the Ali Shuffle' b/w Feel So Good' (Mar-V-Lus catalog number 6016)
- 1967's 'The Charge' b/w 'Diff'rent Strokes For Diff'rent Folks' (Mar-V-Lus catalog number 6018)
as Alvin Cash
- 196? 'Alvin's Bag' b/w ''Whip It On Me' (Toddlin' Town catalog number TT-104)
- 1968's 'Keep On Dancing' b/w 'Keep On Dancing (instrumental) (Toddlin' Town catalog number 111)
- 1969 'Funky '69' b/w Moaning and Groaning' (Toddlin' Town catalog number 119)
-
'I Don't Want It' b/w 'I Don't Want It' (Sound Stage 7 catalog number 1509)
- 1976's 'Doing the Feeling' b/w 'The Ali Shuffle' (Dakar catalog number DK
4559)
US, UK and Turkish (!) picture sleeves
- 'Alvin's Doin' His Thing' b/w 'It's Party' (Seventy 7 catalog number 112)
- 'Doin' The Creep' b/w 'Doin' the Creep' (Seventy 7 catalog number 118)
-
1970's 'Stone Thing' b/w 'Stone Thing (Part 2)' (Westbound catalog number
159)