Eccentric Soul The Nickel & Penny Labels

Nickel and Penny are twin sides of the same eccentric coin, and in the ’60s and ’70s that coin was being flipped by Chicago’s #1 Dusties DJ Richard Pegue. When he wasn’t busy as a mobile DJ, a jingles writer, or an enduring on-air personality at WVON, Pegue could be found in the studio working out the epic songs swirling around in his head. Wood block, castanets, and timbale are layered over thin-as-carrot-shavings strings and girl group “aahs”—a signature found on each of the 24 songs compiled here (26 on the 2LP). On order are rare and previously unissued sides by Jerry Townes, the Voices, the Norvells, Little Ben & The Cheers, South Shore Commission, Joyce Williams, the Halleluiah Chorus, Brothers & Sisters, Sidney Pinchback, Matta Baby, Sidney Barnes, the Extensions, and Pegue’s own Richard Terry & Company concoction. A photographer and diligent archivist himself, Richard Pegue’s own archives, preserved in our lengthy liner notes, give this compilation an incomparable level of intimacy and provide crucial links in the chain that connects Chicago’s smalltime soul imprints.