Tuff City Records

05/10/2024

https://open.substack.com/pub/microchop/p/45-king-grooves-for-a-quiet-storm?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

John Morrison looks back at a seminal, forgotten Instrumental hip-hop album.

03/19/2024

Belated birthday wishes in heaven to Lloyd Price .Why then am I posting a photo of James Booker ?Because the central tenet of price’s career was his exploitation of New Orleans culture for personal gain and in the early 70s price had an exciting big band stocked with new Orleans players that most of all featured Booker on organ. (It is chronicled on the This Is My Band album on Double LL)and for those like myself who love to dig beneath the G rated retelling of music history the Price Booker relationship was legendarily combustible. Price was a no nonsense player who learned quickly upon his arrival in New York that if you were a small black music entity ,the more muscle you played with the better off you were and Price did just that . Booker by contrast was a free spirit, who was ,under the best of circumstances, was erratic about his professional responsibilities and prone to missing gigs .according to lore Prices solution to this problem was to keep Booker literally handcuffed to his hotel bed during tour stops . I was in Jazz fest in New Orleans in 1979 and Booker , his local star shining ,had a solo keyboard gig at the Sanger Playhouse, where he played outside in the street .There the crowds were so thin, thst you literally stand 5 feet away from him and as Igot that close I was powerfully struck by his fragile, effete stateliness ..I felt like if I poked him with a stick he would crumble .For some reason. I acted off that impulse and face-to-face with just a touch of wiseass, I said “ so how’s Lloyd Price ?Without missing a beat Booker looked back at me with all his effete dignity , and said resolutely “Lloyd Price knows how to reach me.”

Found on Google from spectator.co.uk

02/02/2024

Yesterday 2/1 marked the 84th birthday of "That Certain Someone, " legendary New Orleans drummer James Black, who passed in 1988 at the age of 48.

Provided to YouTube by Night Train InternationalThat Certain Someone (Full Mix) · James Black(I Need) Altitude℗ 2002 TufAmericaReleased on: 2002-01-01Main A...

10/19/2023

RIP Mark The 45 King ...posted earlier by Aaron: "RIP mark James; the 45 king .sadly this most masterful maker of beats didn’t make it out of the coma he’d long been in. The too young passing of this warm witty talented man is truly a gut punch"

Provided to YouTube by Tuff City RecordsThe 900 Number · The 45 KingThe 900 Number℗ 1988 Tuff CityReleased on: 1991-12-27Main Artist: The 45 KingAuto-genera...

10/12/2023

RIP Freddy Barton /Freddy B .H ip-hop ,from its inception, was hard street music, but by the time it got deeper into the 80s the lure of radios acceptance softened the musics edges so that the making of a hard Street record became less a given than a matter of conscious decision making. Consciously making such a record was in fact the vibe surrounding the making of the Main Event the signature record by Freddy and his crew the Mighty Mic Masters,Brooklyns first mc crew .They came to throw down on this session and it felt that way in the studio . The production process reached a turning point when the iconic beat maker Pumpkin , who really produced this record,turned to me and said I” don’t want to do this on the Linn drum any longer. We’ve got to do this live”; as he moved behind the drum kit the result became one of the hiphops great beats and rhymes records. ( and of the last hurrahs of the iconic best maker) , But as ferocious as the record was,that’s how nice a guy Freddy was .He was the kind of guy you wanted to be an ambassador for your label. We were just talking a couple weeks ago about going thru Tuff city’s vaults and seeing what we could find to reissue, so his passing really took me by surprise. I can only say rest in peace.gentle sir.

Explore the discography of Frederick Barton. Shop for vinyl, CDs, and more from Frederick Barton on Discogs.

10/06/2023

Tuff City Salutes Hip Hop 50. The Solo MC's, The MC Crews, The DJ's & The Female MC's. LP plus 7" bonus half on Red vinyl and half a dedicated color. Watch our Reels for Tracks!

coming as part of RSD Black Friday!

Find more info and a participating indie record store near you at recordstoreday.com

05/26/2023

It's hard to believe Tina Turner has passed. This Ike Turner double we issued has many great tracks with Tina all over it. Available on both double vinyl and CD and is absolutely worth checking out.

17 track album

05/25/2023

Tina Turner 11/26/39-5/24/23

05/07/2023

Belated birthday wishes to the late great Johnnie Taylor. maybe like me you had to be in one of these miserable gulf coast casinos to appreciate the godawful truth of this record . but to these ears,this is the best blues song of the 21st century!

03/02/2023

In light of today's passing of legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter at 89, we pay tribute with the Soul Rebel version of "Footprints."

Provided to YouTube by Tuff City RecordsFootprints · Soul RebelNo More Parades℗ 1998 TufAmericaReleased on: 1998-01-01Main Artist: Soul RebelComposer: Derri...

02/17/2023

RIP Jerome Jenkins AKA Double J of the Flavor Unit
https://rockthebells.com/articles/flavor-unit-mc-double-j-has-died/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI-LlV8gWrY

Provided to YouTube by Ol' Skool FlavaFlavor Unit Assassination Squad (45 King Remix) · Queen Latifah · Apache · Lakim Shabazz · Lord Alibaski · Double JQuee...

02/17/2023

Huey "Piano" Smith 1/26/34-2/13/23
https://youtu.be/JqcB1uLkixY
https://www.offbeat.com/news/huey-piano-smith-has-died/

Provided to YouTube by Night Train InternationalWhy Did I Do (Wa-Do-Do) · Huey "Piano" Smith & His ClownsSnag-A-Tooth Jeanie℗ 1996 Night Train InternationalR...

01/26/2023

Tuff City's President Aaron Fuchs interview tonight 6PM EST and streaming thereafter on Crashing The Party

Doo-Wop & Vocal Group killers with co-hosts Marc n' Miriam Linna of Norton Records.

12/28/2022

We are saddened to hear of the passing of New Orleans guitar player Walter "Wolfman" Washington last Thursday 12/22 at age 79 from cancer. We just got to see him play in fine form just last August. He was on the bill with Don Bryant at the Blues BBQ Festival on Manhattan's Pier 76. https://youtu.be/LphNsznq5lQ https://conta.cc/3C5LKyG

He and his band the Roadmasters were fixtures of New Orleans nightclubs for decades

12/23/2022

12/14/2022

J. J. Barnes passed last Saturday. We have been planning an anthology, including restoration of the Revilot tapes from the late 60's for later next year and are saddened to hear this news.

Detroit born and raised artist J.J. Barnes, passed away earlier Saturday morning.

12/02/2022

The Gaturs "Yeah You're Right" is sampled on the new Nas featuring 21 Savage track "One Mic, One Gun." We have plenty of LP's & CD's in stock of the album it is on entitled Wasted.

15 track album

11/07/2022

We reissued Raymond Myles New Orleans Gospel Genius LP a few years back on the Night Train International imprint.

Leo Sacks’ life changed when he walked into the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival’s Gospel Tent in 1982 and discovered the glorious force that was Raymond Anthony Myles.

09/30/2022

In memoriam of Coolio, we wanted to share our copy of “Yaw Mama’s Bichass” credited to Julio as “Wanksta’s Paradox.” It’s an early mix of “Gangsta’s Paradise” with The Gaturs “Concentrate” used as a sample. This was one of the finalists for official release and remains desirous with listeners.
We have 5 copies of this pressing up on our Bandcamp for your enjoyment.
tuffcity.com

09/22/2022

It is with great sadness that Tuff City has learned of the passing of Henry "Pucho" Brown on Wednesday, September 21, 2022.
He will be remembered as the Father of Latin Boogaloo. What's special about Pucho was his knack for discovering legendary musicians. Chick Corea, Hubert Laws, Willie Allen and Sonny Henry all played with Pucho.
To hear the master timbale player himself, you can check out Pucho's Descarga, issued on our ¡Andale! imprint at https://tuffcity.com/album/puchos-descarga

09/15/2022

Very exciting news! Tuff City just released “When I Needed An Angel” recorded by legendary Arnell Carmichael. This record was released in 1989 under our one off label called “Black Tie Records” Vinyl is available for purchase on our website, tuffcity.com.

Arnell is still touring with Raydio on their “Back In The Groove Tour.” View the second slide for current tour information!

09/15/2022

Very exciting news! Tuff City just released “When I Needed An Angel” recorded by legendary Arnell Carmichael. This record was released in 1989 under our one off label called “Black Tie Records” Vinyl is available for purchase on our website, tuffcity.com.

Arnell is still touring with Raydio, view the second slide for current tour information!

09/15/2022

Very exciting news! Tuff City just released “When I Needed An Angel” recorded by legendary Arnell Carmichael. This record was released in 1989 under our one off label called “Black Tie Records” Vinyl is available for purchase on our website, tuffcity.com.

Arnell is still touring with Raydio, view the second slide for current tour information!

09/01/2022

RIP Pumpkin; the King of the Beat. No company other than Tuff City provided him with a lifeline when Profile put him in an illegal chokehold contractually. Here for the first time is the only recording that reflects a collaboration between two giants, Pumpkin and Marley Marl.
https://tuffcity.com/track/the-man-marley-marl-pumpkin-remix

08/30/2022

RIP Pumpkin; the King of the Beat. No company other than Tuff City provided him with a lifeline when Profile put him in a chokehold contractually. Here for the first time is the only recording that contains a collaboration between two giants, Pumpkin and Marley Marl. https://tuffcity.com/track/the-man-marley-marl-pumpkin-remix