A lot of soul inspired songs were released in Czechoslovakia in the sixties. However, there was only one singer that could imbue his songs with such energy, vivacity and sadness – Jaromír Löffler. Unfortunately, not only the songs he sang may be characterized as sad – also the atmosphere of the late sixties in the country was sad and depressive and Löffler’s career ended before it had really started. Löffler emigrated to Switzerland. Thus many of the songs he recorded between the years 1967 and 1968 with the band Flamingo had to wait for decades to be released since the communist regime in Czechoslovakia at that time did not allow releases of music which was popular in the USA. One of the songs that had to remain unreleased for years was a Czech version of the James Brown’ s song It´s a Man’ s Man’s Man’s World that first came out under the Czech label Supraphon as part of Löffler’s compilation album first in 2017 though only in a digital version. This song appears on our 45 vinyl together with the Czech cover of the Otis Redding’s Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song) that was never released before and that was taken from an analog reel tape copy as the original master of the song had been lost. We released this 45 vinyl in December 2018 as a limited edition of 250 records and is already sold out.
We renew our collaboration with Löffler in 2022 and in early 2023 we released an LP Jaromír Löffler & Jeho Kapela. On this record you will find Czech versions of songs originally recorded by Bill Withers, Etta James, Gil Scott-Heron or Sixto Rodriguez. There is also a Czech version of I Put A Spell On You which was previously recorded by Löffler in the sixties with the band Flamingo. We pressed 500 copies of this album and 300 copies of a limited edition SP vinyl released in late 2022.
Nina & Její Kapela is a Memory Records Prague in-house (studio) band. They performed on the Czech cover version of My God Has A Telephone named Ach, Bože Zvedni Telefon. It is a project of renowned Cezch musicians drawn together by the idea of renewing the tradition of quality Czechoslovak soul covers. Adam Novotný (Hentai Corporation, Emma Smetana) playing the keys is the band leader who put the whole band together. Nina Marinová (Nina Rosa, Dub Artillery) is the main vocalist. She comes from the Slovak Republic, however you can hear her singing in Czech on the record. The rest of the band consists of the guitarist Daniel Novotný (Madhouse Express), bass player Přemysl Matějovic (Barbora Poláková) and dhe drummer Matouš Holienčin (Emma Smetana). You can be sure that Nina & Její Kapela know how soul music should sound on the 45 record that was released in the beginning 2020 in a limited edition of 300 copies.
Karol & Jeho Kapela is another Memory Records Prague studio band. They performed on the Czech cover version of Mayer Hawthorne‘s the Walk named Celodenní. We like to keep the Memory Records Prague sound unique – that is why we had the same musicians on this record as on the previous release (Ach, bože zvedni telefon). The band leader Adam Novotný (Hentai Corporation, Emma Smetana) is playing the keys. We had also the guitarist Daniel Novotný (Madhouse Express), bass player Přemysl Matějovic (Barbora Poláková) and dhe drummer Matouš Holienčin (Emma Smetana) in the studio. Karol Komenda (Ben Cristovao) was taking care of the main vocal. Celodenní (The Walk) was released on 7″ in spring 2021 in a limited edition of 500 copies.
Annamária & Její Kapela is a Memory Records Prague in-house (studio) band. They performed on the Czech cover version SP of Gregory Porter’s Liquid Spirit and Hey Laura. This band is taking up the torch left behind decades ago by the legends of Czechoslovak soul and rhythm & blues such as Marie Rottrová, Pavel Novák or Jaromír Löffler. Annamária and the boys are giving the tracks that specific Memory Records sound while keeping the vibe of the original recordings. Our 45 with two Gregory Porter’s covers was released in spring 2022 in a limited edition of 500 copies.