Jerome Derradji’s Past Due Records is proud to announce the first part in a reissue series of Lee Moore’s rarest and meanest boogie funk tracks originally produced for his labels Score Records and LM Records, circa 1981-85.
Lee Moore produced the seminal soul stomper “Ain’t Gonna Spread Myself” in 1971 for Michigan-based label Tri-City. While this 7” is fantastic, nothing could have predicted what Lee Moore would unleash in the studio, out of his own frustration, a decade later.
Fast forward to 1979 in Memphis, Tennessee, Lee released the disco hit “Reachin’ Out (For Your Love),” a song he co-wrote with his then-wife Patricia Moore, on Source Records. Lee still claims the song inspired “Ring My Bell” after he played it to the TK Disco execs.
Obviously fed up with major labels and their shady biz, Lee then decided to work on new material with Patricia Moore. Lee hired Stax musicians, including guitarist Michael Toles, keyboard player Lester Snell, and drummer Willie Hall, all members of the Isaac Hayes Movement. He also hired bassist Ray Griffin who recorded numerous sessions for both Stax and Malaco Records.
Lee, his wife, and the studio band locked themselves in the legendary Sound Of Memphis studio with a bunch of forward thinking engineers, such as Paul Zaleski, and created the music that would soon be released on their own label, Score Records, supposedly named after scoring cocaine during a studio session in 1980.
Score records never achieved any commercial success as Lee, his team, and the studio crew were more focused on recording and producing music than selling records, wanting to get them played on the radio or live. They would, for example, spend “two weeks working on a snare drum sound”, just so it matched their vision of future funk.
As rare as can be, what came out of these sessions is now considered the holy grail of Memphis boogie funk, and its superior quality is undeniable. Original Score vinyl releases are so rare that only a handful of aficionados around the world own copies, and their prices are astronomical.
Jerome Derradji is thrilled to reissue the first four Score releases on vinyl & digitally for the first time since their release via Past Due Records as an introduction to a comprehensive Lee Moore Anthology that will be released later this year.
Now let’s focus on the sounds of Lee and Patricia Moore, Subway Featuring Wave, The First Family, and Alien. Four incredible records, way ahead of their time, finally available again.
Lee Moore produced the seminal soul stomper “Ain’t Gonna Spread Myself” in 1971 for Michigan-based label Tri-City. While this 7” is fantastic, nothing could have predicted what Lee Moore would unleash in the studio, out of his own frustration, a decade later.
Fast forward to 1979 in Memphis, Tennessee, Lee released the disco hit “Reachin’ Out (For Your Love),” a song he co-wrote with his then-wife Patricia Moore, on Source Records. Lee still claims the song inspired “Ring My Bell” after he played it to the TK Disco execs.
Obviously fed up with major labels and their shady biz, Lee then decided to work on new material with Patricia Moore. Lee hired Stax musicians, including guitarist Michael Toles, keyboard player Lester Snell, and drummer Willie Hall, all members of the Isaac Hayes Movement. He also hired bassist Ray Griffin who recorded numerous sessions for both Stax and Malaco Records.
Lee, his wife, and the studio band locked themselves in the legendary Sound Of Memphis studio with a bunch of forward thinking engineers, such as Paul Zaleski, and created the music that would soon be released on their own label, Score Records, supposedly named after scoring cocaine during a studio session in 1980.
Score records never achieved any commercial success as Lee, his team, and the studio crew were more focused on recording and producing music than selling records, wanting to get them played on the radio or live. They would, for example, spend “two weeks working on a snare drum sound”, just so it matched their vision of future funk.
As rare as can be, what came out of these sessions is now considered the holy grail of Memphis boogie funk, and its superior quality is undeniable. Original Score vinyl releases are so rare that only a handful of aficionados around the world own copies, and their prices are astronomical.
Jerome Derradji is thrilled to reissue the first four Score releases on vinyl & digitally for the first time since their release via Past Due Records as an introduction to a comprehensive Lee Moore Anthology that will be released later this year.
Now let’s focus on the sounds of Lee and Patricia Moore, Subway Featuring Wave, The First Family, and Alien. Four incredible records, way ahead of their time, finally available again.
TRACK LISTING
A1. Ten Toes Up Ten Down
A2. You Can Bet I'll Get You Yet
B1. What You Do For Love
B2. What's In The Dark (Will Come To Life)