Welcome to another edition of relatively unknown 7″ singles from Texas. I thought I’d bring it on back home this week and bring some funky soul fury from the southeasterly quarters of Houston, TX. To be precise, The Insight cut their single “Out Of Sight” out of Pasadena, TX at Pasadena Sound Studios, but I tend to lump artists and labels from this area within the Houston circuit because of its proximity to the city limits. That being so, this is the only known documented single from this Texas group, and the only record I know of from this label. It’s as ‘one-off’ as you can get, all told. Though facts of this record are few and far between, I do know that this is one of the first known recordings from Texas’ legendary albino bluesman, Johnny Winter. Johnny Winter was active throughout the Houston and Beaumont area (now known to music historians to be within ‘The Golden Triangle’ in Texas) throughout the 1960s, and subsequently released various singles under an arrangement of groups and recording names. If I was to estimate, I’d put this record somewhere around ‘65 or ‘66 due to its near-matched arrangement qualities shared with James Brown’s “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”, originally released in 1965. Just as The Beatles inspired a generation of garage rock kids to create rock and roll movements across the world, James Brown’s widely credited introduction of funk and soul rhythm in pop music inspired soulers across the world to ‘do the James Brown’ their own way.
Now, to add to the obscurity of this recording, we have a cover of this single from San Antonio’s Gilbert and his Blue Notes, recorded and distributed out of San Marcos, TX. I personally find it fascinating because of the scale of obscurity and relative unknown original version to then be covered by a chicano soul group out of San Antonio, TX. Gilbert’s rendition of the original has a decidedly rougher recording element to the original version, with a loose horn section and gritty lo-fi guitar and bass arrangement. Overall, the recording lacks the luster of The Insight’s original, but it’s a noteworthy cover, especially for Texas latin soul. Nevertheless, hope these tracks get you through the day, these are some of my favorite recent additions to my collection and I am more than happy to share!
LISTEN: The Insight-Out Of Sight
LISTEN: Gilbert and his Blue Notes-Out of Sight
