I had been scrolling through Instagram and noticed a post by my man Jon Cleary, the great New Orleans piano player. He said, "My song 'Big Greazy' found its way into the new Jennifer Lawrence film, 'Causeway.'"
This movie was not on my radar but I decided to watch it, as it took place in New Orleans and I happen to like Jennifer Lawrence. I enjoyed it very much. But that's not why I'm here.
There was plenty of good music throughout, but it was the song over the closing credits that made me pay attention.
Harry Krapsho.
Who?
Harry Krapsho.
I first headed to Discogs and saw very little. No bio. No picture. Two appearances on a couple of shakey looking deep soul compilations and one 8 song compilation of his own from 2016 that was only available to stream.
Google returned this from the Marmoset Music webstite.
Who?
Marmoset Music.
"Harry Krapsho personifies the confidence and feel good sounds of early soul and 60s R&B. Marmoset is proud to represent this vintage artist for advertising, branded content and video game sync licensing."
Google also returned this from Fervor Records.
Who?
Fervor Records.
"Fervor Records is proud to present the the ultra funky jams of Mr. Harry Krapsho. The label dropped 'Harry Krapsho Has Got That Feeling' worldwide 06.17.16, and this amazing collection contains 8 Funk rarities recorded between 1968 – 1970, showcasing Mr. Krapsho’s incredibly down and dirty soul filled vocals, stellar songwriting chops, and his band of some of the funkiest cats around in NYC. Remarkably, these recordings flew under the radar for decades until Fervor Records, in their relentless pursuit to unearth the musical treasures of yesteryear, brought them to light. Hollywood’s top music insiders have already featured many of these tracks in hit TV series including The Good Wife (CBS) and Vinyl (HBO). Harry Krapsho Got That Feeling in 1968, now it’s your turn!"
This whole thing stinks of something.
One theory? Some musician working behind the scenes at "The Good Wife" recorded some demos in 2016, played them for his co-workers, and all decided to create this singer and pass him off as some long lost soul man who had not yet been discovered and they'd look like A&R geniuses.
It was a crapshoot, but... HEY! That's it! Harry Krapshoot! No, they'll never buy it.
How about Harry Krapsho?
Maybe my imagination has gotten away from me, but I am just not accepting what is being told as the real story.
That being said, the producers of "Causeway" got hold of the track "Gotta Get Away" and it was incredibly effective over the closing credits. I listened to the rest of Krapsho's stuff, and it is typically hit and miss like most of these long, lost soul records. But they are available to stream and it wouldn't be a waste of time to check out Harry Krapsho, whoever he is.
3 comments:
https://albumsiwishexisted2.blogspot.com/2022/10/monk-monk-1971.html
Similarly, this album doesn't have much to find on discogs or elsewhere, but if it is a genuine fake as you suggest with Mr. Krapsho, it also does a good job of being what it looks like by the label on the tin.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ff90dSCAMEHktxcce5eKmO02DF6iTGYS?usp=share_link
I'm totally down with this being a good-natured fraud.
I did some double-naught sleuthing on Marmoset's site. I went through five pages of their "Male" artists, didn't recognize one. The music is every style out there. They're focused on marketing their music for soundtracks, commercials, and the like. It's a good business model, and can bring in more money for the artists than they'll make touring small clubs.
I suspect that Harry Krapsho was some obscure R&B band or singer whose licensing rights, or even copyrights, were purchased cheaply, then the music may have been enhanced and overdubbed by Marmoset's team of artists, who might include studio musicians. Whoever he is, I'd like to hear more. There were a few "vintage" singers I'd like to hear more from too.
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