James Brown - Live at the Apollo
"Our whole thing was based on James Brown. We listened toLive at the Apollo endlessly on acid." - Wayne Kramer of MC5
Here you have another classic selection from the vaults of the Little Tandem record collection. This record was originally gifted to me by a friend after I was heard saying something like "I should probably listen to more James Brown". Only after listening to more James Brown did I realize how right I was! We should all listen to more James Brown. Recorded on October 24, 1962 and released the following May, the album was reluctantly released due to the fact that the record company didn’t think anyone would buy an album without any new songs on it. Ha! Live at the Apollo spent 66 weeks on the Billboard Top 200 and peaked at #2. Record stores couldn’t keep it on the shelf! Shows what the establishment knows, huh? Anyway, this album was on the first list we ever made of potential albums to share with our Good Thing members. I have no idea what took us so long to get this into your hands but now that it is here, let's pretend you were never without.
- Will Pratt
Ivan Molano - Tolima, Colombia
Fresh Colombias are just so great, and getting to taste a bunch of new offerings is always a highlight when the season arrives. We have a bunch of producers we love working with, but Ivan Molano is up near the top. He's an incredibly passionate and kind coffee producer from Planadas, Tolima. What strikes us most about Ivan is his deep love for his work and his family and his infectious excitement about the future. Ivan is stoked about the potential of the specialty coffee industry and is eager to plant new varietals and experiment with his coffee in order to keep raising the quality, which couldn't be more apparent than in this lot of Tabi. Of the fresh crop offerings from Colombia, this one was among the most memorable. At the end of last summer, Ivan suffered an accident that resulted in the loss of his thumb, but is persevering despite the injury and remaining true to his passion for coffee production.