(It’s been ages-and-ages-and-ages since I last posted something here. I doubt any of you remember me anymore. Or if you do, it’s like some hazy dream.)
About a year and a half ago, I discovered this huge bag of old 45s that my dad had neglected to tell me about. Most of them were rockabilly, country, girl-group, doowap, or teen-idol recordings. Many of them were warped and scratched and played like blippy techno remixes, but there was certainly a great mountain of gold in there too.
What I’m about to share is a fleck of that gold: a little self-titled EP by a band called the Soulmen. These Soulmen hail from what was then Czechoslovakia, and my dad picked up the EP when he was in that country in the late ’60s.
Trying to find biographical information about the Soulmen online is near-impossible, since I don’t speak Czech or Slovak (but if anyone reading this does, please respond with whatever you’re able to find out — I’m curious). I can tell you that the band consisted of a man named Dezo Ursiny (who seems to be the Important One–lead guy, main songwriter, etc), a man named Fedor Freso, and another man named Vlado Mally (who had a very cute smile). The EP is dated 1968, and the band (who sing in English) sound sort of Beatles/Soft Machine-ish. Dezo was apparently in a band called the Beatmen that was equally important in the 1960s Czechoslovakian music scene.
This post is thanks to my friend Sergio, who kindly ripped the EP onto CD for me. Check out the dude’s mixes and radio shows here. He’s a talent.
A Sample of Happiness, Wake Up, I Wish I Were and Baby, Do Not Cry - the Soulmen
comments
I hunt for just such tracks. Rare, foreign, promising…but I missed them? Tell me there’s only a glitch in the server, that I can come back and test these Czeck babies out…please
yo jakasso! in a few hours or so them files should be reachable again. enjoy………
I happen to know Soulmen a bit and speak Slovak, too. If you need anything to have translated to English, just send me a link.
Hi, I am Czech and understand Slovak perfectly. I´m quite interested in the history our rock´n´roll scene, so it would be a pleasure to translate some stuff for you. Well, just let me know if you´re interested. :-)