Shreveport Songs: ABRAHAM – Funky Spider And b/w Scared Fly (HySign, 1973)

Friday, April 13, 2012

ABRAHAM – Funky Spider And b/w Scared Fly (HySign, 1973)

ABRAHAM - Funky Spider And (HySign, 1973)

ABRAHAM - Scared Fly (HySign, 1973)

“‘Funky Spider’! You haven’t heard ‘Funky Spider’? Here, have one of my extra copies.” I remember Dee Marais exclaiming this when we conducted a series of interviews back in 2007. After excitedly yelling “Funky Spider,” his voice dropped down and he slowly said, “and the scared fly.” Then, he grinned and started laughing. Such was my introduction to this record.

About five years before I met Harding Guyon DesMarais (aka Dee Marais), Shreveport Southern Soul served as my primer to his record labels. Though the CD doesn’t include “Funky Spider” or its flipside, it does feature other songs culled from 45s released by Dee and Dick Martin on three of their labels -- Murco, Peermont, and HySign Records. These labels served a crucial role in capturing Shreveport’s soul, funk, and rhythm and blues music scene during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

As for those responsible for “Funky Spider And” b/w "Scared Fly," Abraham Ester had previously recorded a few 45s issued on Murco, Peermont, and HySign. In fact, he was the only musician to have releases on all three of these labels. Released in 1973, “Funky Spider” turned out to be Ester’s last record. Dee’s master tape of the recording contains a couple interesting clues . The tape box has a Sound/City Recording Corporation label, and it lists George Clinton as the re-mix engineer. For more information on the recently deceased George Clinton, visit “The Music Is a Little Quieter Today: Sad News from Nashville” on the And So It Goes in Shreveport blog. Dee passed away on October 23, 2008, and I’ve been missing him ever since.