Ike White’s Incredible “Changing Times” 45

• Listen to this song in a Spotify playlist here (though note, spotify doesn’t have all / many of the songs featured on the site so some playlists may be incomplete or feature slightly different versions than the original 45s I’m referring to here).
• Listen to the song on Youtube: Changin’ Times
• Download the songs here: Changin’ Times

Welcome back everyone, I hope you’re holding up alright among all the difficulty and struggle and finding small triumphs and moments of respite to keep your fires burning.

Today we’ll look at an incredible 45 by Ike White taken from his LP of the same name, Changin’ Times. Ike White was imprisoned in California when he was discovered by the producer Jerry Goldstein, the man behind LAX Records who had shepherded and managed the career of Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, and War through his Far Out Productions, all musical elements that are very much present in Ike White’s sound.

Goldstein and founding member of Sly and The Family Stone, drummer Greg Errico produced the record which was recorded in the jail where Ike was serving time. I’ve seen people write this was the first time this had happened and a record charted which overlooks The Escorts wonderful All We Need Is Another Chance from 1973 along with a history of other performers being recorded in jails including Edge of Daybreak, The Prisonaires, never mind Leadbelly to name a few. Regardless of that fact, that this absolutely incredible record was made within the dehumanizing and destructive walls of a prison is nothing short of a miracle.

Ike White and Goldstein had a falling out which was one of the many things that got in the way of the album reaching the heights it deserved. Despite the break with Goldstein and Co. White’s talent didn’t go unnoticed and Stevie Wonder used his position to help secure White’s release from prison in 1978.

Though White was released he did not lean into the album or a career that followed that arc instead choosing to move on, changing his name and removing himself from what public eye may have been looking for him.

He spent time in Las Vegas performing under the name David Maestro until 2014 when he passed. There’s a forthcoming documentary The Changin’ Times of Ike White which isn’t available in the United States yet but follow along here.

We’ll be back Friday with an hour of early James Brown 45s, until then, stay safe and healthy.

Peace,
George / Snack Attack

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