If you enjoy late sixties/early seventies soul, R&B, or funk, you absolutely, positively must acquire a copy of this CD. Compiled by my friend Alec Palao for the BGP label, Get Your Lie Straight collects almost two dozen tracks released by Oakland's Galaxy label. I'd been familiar with the sides Little Johnny Taylor cut for Galaxy, but was woefully under-informed about the rest of the label's output.
Turns out Galaxy was run out of a warehouse at 1281 30th St, in the heart of historic West Oakland. Owned by Fantasy Records bigwig Saul Zaentz (I bet he still can't dance!), the label leased records from outside the Bay Area but also released plenty of local stuff, including amazing cuts by Rodger Collins, future Tower of Power vocalist Lenny Williams, and Richmond's Debonaires.
I've been searching for a copy of Collins classic single, Foxy Girls in Oakland, for a while--I'm especially keen on acquiring the French picture sleeve, which features a remarkable snap of the man himself in best JB-style action pose.
The song is as good as you'd expect and an essential part of any good collection of Oaktown sounds, and can now be acquired for a reasonable price as part of this compilation. It's taken me far too long to discover Get Your Lie Straight--the disc was issued in 2004!--but it's going to be a turntable favourite (so to speak) from here on out.
