3.12.2007
Stroke My Yoke
Willie Tomlin Stroke My Yoke b/w Check Me Baby 45 (Peacock, 1968)
The tag "fly" was invented for guys like Willie Tomlin. Two blues based blasts of style and raunch are what this Peacock record is all about. Check Me Baby is not only a great rundown of Aesthetic According to Willie Tomlin, it contains a geographical recitation, something that always thrills record geeks. As far as Stroke My Yoke goes, I think we can all agree that Willie is not singing about laying your hands on a "shaped wooden crosspice bound to the necks of oxen."
Peacock being, more or less, a Texas label, I assume that Willie was one of the many blues cum R&B singers that the Lone Star State turned out. More than that I can't tell you.