line up 1 (1965-66)

- Nonnie Bost -- bass 

- Jimmy Brawler -- sax, keyboards 

- Bobby Ennis -- drums, percussion

- J.B. Gamble -- vocals 

- Jimmy Kincade -- lead guitar 

- David Poteat -- rhythm guitar

- none known

Genre: garage

Rating: 3 stars ***

Title:  Dig em Up!

Company: Justice

Catalog: J-LP-112

Year: 1966

Country/State: North Carolina

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: signed by band on cover

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 1396

Price: $500.00

Yes, another addition to my strange desire to hear (and own) most releases by the small North Carolina-based Justice label ...  Here's one of the rarer entries in the company's catalog.  Reflecting the company's first and only foray into color cover art, I'll readily admit that categorizing The Variations as a garage band is somewhat of a stretch.  In the interests of full disclosure they're probably better described as being a pop band, or perhaps purveyors of blue-eyed soul.  Not that it mattered since the chances were that if you were looking at this one you already knew what to expect. Note that the Hearse shown on the cover actually billed them as 'The Variations Combo'. 

As was standard practice for Justice, the liner notes on 1966's "Dig em Up!" shed little information on the group.  Their customized Hearse carried North Carolina plates and the line up was credited as bassist Nonnie Bost, sax player Jimmy Brawler, drummer Bob Ennis, singer  J.B. Gamble, lead guitarist Jimmy Kincade and rhythm guitarist David Poteat.  Ennis was the band front man.  In addition to being the senior member (he was twenty-six while the rest of the band members were between eighteen and twenty, though most looked fourteen.  Musically this was fairly standard Justice material.  Sporting the label's typical low tech sound, these guys at least made up for the technical limitations with surprisingly energetic performances.  For a nineteen year old Gamble proved a more than decent singer, his gruff delivery well suited for the band's mix of garage, R&B and soul covers. Lead guitarist Kincade didn't get a lot of time in the spotlight, but as reflected on their cover of the blues chestnut "Summertime" he was quite good.  In contrast sax player Brawler got quite a few solo sports and seldom added much to the proceedings.  True, nothing here was liable to blow you away and side one was far stronger than the flip side, but about half of the tracks were worth hearing a couple of times - the band's modest competence and earnestness going a long way to explain at least part of the set's weird charm for me.  Highlights including "Out Of Sight", the rocking closer "Shake A Tail Feather" and a surprisingly smoking cover of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour".  The color cover and the goofy costumes were almost enough to get them a fourth star on my rating scale ...  Sounds odd, but the color cover (let alone one in good shape). makes this one of most collectable of the Justice releases.

"Dig em Up!" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Night Train (Jimmy Forrest) - 2:55

2.) Out Of Sight (Ted Wright) - 1:55  rating: ** stars

Well at least they had the common sense to keep their James Brown cover (Brown wrote the song under the pseudonym "Ted Wright") short.

3.) In The Midnight Hour (Wilson Pickett - Steve Cropper) - 2:26

4.) Summertime (George Gershwin - Ira Gershwin - DuBose Heyward) - 4:07 rating: *** stars

Reminding me of an early Solomon Burke performance, their cover of the classic "Summertime" opened with some Jimmy Brawler "church" organ.  Not that it was ever a dance tune, but their arrangement slowed the tune down to a dirge, reinforced by J.B. Gamble's laconic, slightly shrill vocals.  Nah, you weren't going to forget versions of the tune by Ella Fitzgerald, or Biliie Holliday, but for a bunch of white teenagers, it wasn't half bad.

6.) Laugh It Off - 2:42

7.) Something's Got A Hold On Me (Etta James - Leroy Kirkland - Pearl Woods) - 3:06 rating: ** stars

Give them credit for their gumption.  Most garage bands would look at a soul classic like "Something's Got A Hold On Me" and just say "no way".  If you've ever heard Etta James' version then Gamble's stab at a come-to-Jesus vocal was almost funny.  You also had to wonder if Brawler was going to make it through his sax solo.

(side 2)
1.) Watermelon Man (instrumental) (Herbie Hancock) - 2:10

2.) You've Lost That Loving Feeling (Barry Mann - Phil Spector - Cynthia Weil) - 3:32

4.) Under The Boardwalk (Arthur Resnick - Kenny Young) - 2:37

5.) Crying (Roy Orbison - Joe Melson) - 2:37

6.) Come A Little Closer (Tommy Boyce - Bobby Hart) - 2:45

7.) Shake A Tail Feather (Otha Hayes - Verlie Rice - Andre Williams) - 2:18

© Scott R. Blackerby August 2022