Browsing late-night online looking for music like I usually do I happened to come across an EP that I was blown away from what I was hearing which happened to be the sounds of Wayne Carter & (The) Organ Twisters a group so funky that only the most hardcore of vinyl collectors who seek the rarest of rare funk 45s for their collection happen to know of these recordings. Through the power of the internet though, this album has been re-issued by Tramp Records located in Germany who were able to pull these recordings from the depths of the obscure and resurrect them and bring them forth for people to find online.
Wayne Carter was born 1936 where he was raised in Carol County, Tennessee he first started playing music when his family bought a piano where he would teach himself songs he heard off of the radio and by the time he was 15 he was playing and touring in various bands. by the 1960s Wayne and family moved to Illinois where he bought an A-100 Hammond Organ and started up his own band Wayne Carter & The Organ Twisters.
Only putting out a couple of 45s before being forgotten Wayne Carter & The Organ Twisters.
After a trip back from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Wayne Carter picked up a phone book and called a local studio to arrange a cooking session of funk music. This session was at Mootrey’s studio which was a studio that made custom recordings that was owned and operated by Chet Mootrey. These recordings were Peter In Or Out, Let’s Run Away From The World, and presumably, That’s Cancer and Trock-Rock but he would later record the songs Wahoo, Wahoo, Wahoo, and Mad Mouth Woman sometime in the 70s.
The Album opens up with the song Wahoo, Wahoo, Wahoo an organ and sax funk filled song about a man who came home from work and found his wife cheating on him with another man so he sits down and cries and says they have to part. This song is filled with a fantastic saxophone and organ solo which really shines the playing of Wayne Carter and his band.
The next song Mad Mouth Woman is one of my favorites of the EP which is about a woman who won’t talk to her man anymore and keeps saying bad things about him to other people like the neighbors as stated in the song. The song has this dirty sounding guitar being played through a wah-wah pedal, a nice drum beat with matching bass playing and a nice organ solo from Wayne which really adds to the song itself.
Let’s Run Away From the World is also another favorite of mine off the EP a song about feeling free without having to worry about anything or problems that they have faced and have had in the past where they can start anew in a new place. This song really shows how great they were during this recording with excellent Organ playing, funky drums, guitar, bass and a killer backing from a brass section.
Peter In or Out is one of the recordings done with a similar fashion as Let’s Run Away From the World that highlights the sessions funkiness with all of the instruments really showing on the track but with a more gritty song which fits the tone of the track as it matches up with the lyrics to the song which is about people facing their problems and showing that they’re wrong.
That’s Cancer is a laid back type track where the people in this session were just jamming around and making it up as they were going with this track though it is not as great as the other tracks it’s really laid back and groovy which makes up for the lack of playing on it overall a good song to listen to.
The last and final song Trock Rock also just a laid back song where he is really jamming on the organ soloing throughout the whole song as the backing rhythm just plays along with it and keeps the track going along not really doing anything different throughout the song.
After the making of this session, Wayne Carter would continue playing in his band but was barred from selling his albums as he would work in supper clubs which would not allow funk music to be played as it did not fit the mood of the club making it fall into the obscure with him never selling any copies and just giving it to friends and family. He remained in the music business playing with many other acts and bands where today he plays with a group called the Dan Rivero Band.
Overall this short little EP is a really great funky groovy recording that I would recommend with the highlights of the EP being the tracks Wahoo, Wahoo, Wahoo, Mad Mouth Woman, Peter In or Out, and Trock Rock. I also urge anyone who reads this that if they like it so much that they should buy the vinyl or the recordings on Bandcamp!
