Beatrice X - Salaam Alaikum 1976 Salim 45rpm 7" Private Gospel Soul Jazz RARE NM

$

225

Welcome to our fall 2025 Modern Soul / Boogie / Gospel / AOR / Electro / 80's synth jazz auction! WE COMBINE SHIPPING! :)
This week features dozens of rare Gospel Funk/Soul/Boogie lp's, Modern Soul / Boogie, AOR Yacht Rock, Fusion / Synth Jazz lp's, as well as four specially curated 45's, and three 12" singles. We'll begin with three lp's before the 9 singles to give a taste of the rest of the lp's that follow, Kenneth McEastland on Morada, 1977 Street Feet on baby grand, and the extremely rare private Leston Paul - Keys To The City 1987 Electro Jazz from Trinidad! Items within will also include the Howard Lemon Singers 1978 Seasons Gospel grail, a minty fresh D.J. Rogers 1982 on Hope Songs, J.J. Farley and The Original Soul Stirrers masterpiece on HSE "I Try To Get Home", several unknown and obscure Gospel Boogie / Funk lp's, rare tax scam Funk/Disco/Modern Soul / Boogie lp's Tomorrow's Edition 1982 on Atlantic lp, Glenn Jones killer 1983 Everybody Loves A Winner, Guy's "Guy" 1988 New Jack swing masterpiece, 808 State promo lp, a few rare Gospel 45's, Rick DePerro's rare amazing 1980 private lp "Mellow Haze", among others, :) **Records beginning with Gospel lp's, start in roughly chronological order of year released, then same for Modern Soul / Boogie / AOR / Jazz, so "ending soonest" will be earliest year, "newly listed" will be latest year, approximately!"**

Approximately 60 curated items, all originals, many have soundclips from the actual record!

* After this week's auction, we'll need about 3-5 weeks to begin our biggest auction yet, our highest end sales with an even greater quantity of listings, lots of grail pieces:  Extremely rare Jazz-Funk / Spiritual Jazz / Soul Jazz / Fusion, nearing a thousand alone,  so stay tuned, we'd be honored if you saved us as a favorite seller, we a couple thousand items coming down the pipeline in total!* 
All soundclips used are unedited directly from the item up for sale :). See below for detailed grading!
All records are vintage, originals, in extraordinary exceptions, it will be noted if it is a reissue multiple times. Feel free to message any questions!
**For 7" / 12" singles, we don't grade generic sleeves, or company generic sleeves, but we will grade any picture sleeve, sleeve specific to the exact release :)

**Note: for items with multiple soundclips, the title of track is above each soundclip** Also, clips allow to scroll backwards, forwards :)

Soundclip info: Side B: Beatrice X - As-Salaam Alaikum, Side A: Bus Brown - Do You Thank Allah (God), side a beings at 1:36  
Soundclip:  Update your internet browser to latest version in order to play audio clip.

Media Grade:  NM  
Sleeve Grade:  Includes original rare paper bag release with track commentary by Brother Yusef Salim (the producer), and #8 stamp referring to "8th copy sold" as Durham's NOI Mosque was #34. See photos, 45 itself will be housed in a brand new acid free archival paper sleeve along with rare original "sleeve"
Year / Label / Catalogue #:   1976  /  Salim Records (Private Press)  /  12-4124 Stereo
Brief Comments: Rare doesn't even begin. To start with, Black Muslim Nation Of Islam movement post-Elijah Muhammad, and pre Louis Farrakhan (that very small window between 1975 after Wallace Muhammad took over after his father's death, and before the schism in 1979, which would see Wallace Muhammad continuing on with Sunni Orthodox Islam, and Farrakhan undoing Wallace Muhammad's reforms to it's current form). Wallace Muhammad had been close friends with Malcolm X, and has taught in Cairo, Egypt, when his father passed away, he was finally able to move the NOI from what Orthodox Islam called blasphemy, heresy, into a more inclusive, Sunni Islam direction. Farrakhan from the beginning hated Wallace Muhammad as much as he had hated Malcolm X, he agreed to serve as Wallace's minister for the 3 1/2 years, biding his time, finally splitting with his launch of the newsletter "The Final Call" in 1979, Farrakhan had began publicly distancing himself in the preceding year, from Wallace Muhammad's "World Community of al-Islam In The West" (the 1976 rechristened name for the Nation of Islam), Wallace Muhammad agreed to allow Farrakhan and his followers split off, use the name "Nation Of Islam" in 1979, they had privately agreed not to be critical of one another's organizations, which was quickly broken by Farrakhan decrying Wallace Muhammad's movement. Wallace Muhammad in 1979 had been operating under certain assumptions, one which was A: Conditions in America are becoming better for African-Americans than say in 1962, that Farrakhan would lose ammunition therefore to recruit, B: Given Saudi Arabia, Orthodox Islam considered the Nation of Islam, it's teachings to be false, blasphemous, heretical, and does not allow Nation Of Islam members to undertake the Hajj (Malcolm X was an exception, having split from Elijah Muhammad, and willingly embraced orthodox Sunni Islam in his last years), of course members of the NOI have made the Hajj under false pretenses claiming they aren't apart of the NOI...... Wallace Muhammad also couldn't see what 1980 would bring, the election of Ronald Regan, the southern strategy of Lee Atwater, the introduction of crack cocaine, wildly disproportionate incarceration, a police state that devastated ghettos in America...Louis Farrakhan had predicted in part, that the gains would erode sooner than later (even if he didn't know how, but few benefited more from Ronald Regan than Farrakhan personally, using the devastation, stalling/eroding of African-American human rights in America to recruit), also important to consider is Wallace Muhammad was a quiet person, he envisioned much more community oriented goals, first on his mind was reforming to Sunni Islam, whereas Louis Farrakhan hated (yes hated) Malcolm X* (*Whose own daughter has publicly accused Farrakhan of being the leader behind her father's assassination in 1965), Farrakhan was jealous, envious of Malcolm (El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz), but also studied, learned, charisma, methods of leadership, and so Farrakhan (sadly having accurately anticipated the tragic revanchism of Whites, so white folks, if the NOI and all six members somehow trouble you, remember it was 1980's southern conservatism of the ol' Gipper that allowed the water to be poisoned) with a charismatic, outspoken, divisive, attention-grabbing persona, fell into the socio-political circumstances that allowed the NOI to regrow, and Wallace Muhammad's movement to be much smaller, localized...... Now Wallace Muhammad and Louis Farrakhan in 1975 both agreed on something salient to this item; the ban on music was lifted (the NOI had allowed Farrakhan to make a small handful of 45rpm 7" recordings in 1960 under the "A Muslim Speaks" private label, but much to Farrakhan's hurt, Elijah Muhammad attributed this to Malcolm, which is technically true, and no more musical recordings were permissible). Farrakhan, born Louis Walcott, had been a calypso, jazz singer, of small micro label 45 releases in the late 50's before joining the NOI. Wallace Muhammad in fact would later help sponsor in his organization, the "Hijrah - Truly Free" 1981 lp (sublime, I know!). 
This 45 was the only post-Elijah, pre-Louis release to the best of my knowledge, coming out of Mosque #34 in Durham, North Carolina. Brother Yusef Salim had embraced Wallace Muhammad's new direction, (in fact Mosque #34 would remain Orthodox Sunni, and not move to Farrakhan's revitalized NOI), being a quiet fan of music, especially jazz, it was common even during Elijah's reign that many local Mosques outside of Chicago or Phoenix, would have gospel, spiritual hymns, many who joined came from a long tradition, heritage of Gospel Music, and Elijah Muhammad quietly tolerated it (knowing he couldn't stop it, and as long as it was done locally, not at any events or publicly for press attention). Many of these localized NOI pre-1975 Gospel Hymns were given a title of "entrance call", to disguise on paper that they were Gospel tunes for Islam. In fact, sister Beatrice X at Mosque #34 had been performing "As-Salaam Alaikum" her own uniquely composed, performed hymn by her back in the 60's! (Shukran Brother Yusef for writing this amazing historical information on the release bag notes!). Durham sufficiently far away enough from the less musically tolerant Northern NOI Mosques, and Chicago especially, allowing a more relaxed degree of freedom within.... "As-Salaam Alaikum" is the traditional Islamic greeting (Peace of God be Upon You, which in turn is responded with Alaikum Salaam, which means and onto you as well), likely being completely untainted by NOI cosmology, and rather fittingly apt for Orthodox Islam, not to mention it's beauty clearly woven through countless times of Sister Beatrice X singing this entrance hymn at Mosque #34 for over a decade (also her reputation as an upstanding member, and mother), was why this was chosen, perhaps meant to become a new hymn for the American Muslims of Wallace Muhammad's movement, a gospel song of orthodoxy, a call of peace be upon you....truly sublime, vocal spiritual jazz gospel, and there's nothing like it, rooted in traditions but also in something quite new, a glimpse at the sacred.......
Woodrow "Bus" Brown, had been a jazz player, likely still played jazz around the area before 1975, a man of well known high moral integrity, making his character reputation unimpeachable (he did not consume alcohol, pork, didn't chase women, didn't gamble, known to be dignified, kindly, and devout, Brown's jazz playing had been quietly permitted by the Mosque #34 minister), so naturally Brown, who along with Yusef Salim (who was known to join Brown in these jazz performances) composed at some unknown date (likely also going back to the late 60's) "Do You Thank Allah (God)", even in 1976, to be extremely careful, considering the reputation jazz had with the wider movement, especially those who had been members devoted to Elijah, refer to it as "this composition envelops a spiritual message portrayed with a "Jazz" feeling", a way of sidestepping the old prejudices, instead of simply calling it jazz. Beautiful, it is a swinging groove, that is also beautifully contemplative, a call perhaps to remember to be thankful for all we have been given....
Extremely rare, (Nyuricon was my old Discogs, I got locked out of, EnfieldRecords is the one I also use as partial member, there's only two known owners of this, it's only come up twice ever, to each respected known holder, me being one of two), only 50 copies were made, fewer than that even sold, it was pressed wrong, as Beatrice X was supposed to be the A-Side, not the B-Side, one was sent to Wallace Muhammad, likely a few other musically minded ministers were sent copies as well (It's almost certain Louis Farrakhan received a copy as well, predating the schism), the paper bags also doubled as linear notes, having them printed onto them (there's never been another that has shown up, only a Museum in North Carolina has another known one, and it's been in their storage archives, for rotational display), the #8 stamp means it was the eighth copy sold, or at least "packaged". Not even our dear friend, inspiration CarolinaSoul has had a copy up. 
This is one you won't see again, the last copy to show up, was this one!! (a very kind buyer on Discogs, who ultimately couldn't pay, but admirably let us know, somehow it got catalogued as a sale). 
It does belong in a Museum, with someone who will cherish this, it's not just an extremely rare sublime gospel 45 of such unique circumstance, it's also a historical artifact, a sacred one given the motive was born of sacred intent. It is timeless, and truly beautiful, moving, serene, and potent. 
Thank you sister Beatrice, brother Yusef, and brother Woodrow, may peace upon you always (the Peaceful Three Productions!), you have blessed humanity with musical gifts of spiritual gold, that enrich our souls ever deeper :)





*Tariffs aren't going to impact used vinyl records / music media, we wish they were never in place at all, so for international buyers, don't worry on that account!
For our record grading, we stand by the merits outlined in the scale below, anything VG or below will have a detailed explanation in brackets next to the grade.
For sleeves, we will mention anytime there is split, or defect not visible in the photos in brackets next to the grade, otherwise we refer to the photos for the merit of the grade. Of course any questions, concerns, are always welcome :) 
Our media grading scale is as follows: [*Quick note, our VPI is still in storage on the other side of the US, we do brush clean many  items carefully, but we have to prioritize, we won't leave anyone stranded with a filthy record, only "filthy" good! We don't factor dust particles into the grading]
NM = Essentially a pristine album, like new, rarely used.
EX = Under bright light if there is any scuffs or mark, which will be inaudible, most collectors and sellers would tend to consider it closer to NM, EX is also the grade others might call VG++ under the same level of conservative scrutiny.
VG+ = More then a small handful of scuffs, light marks, nothing feelable, will have high-gloss, a thoroughly enjoyable copy that may only have tiny moments of barely perceptible surface noise overpowered by the music. Our VG+ will satisfy the vast majority of collectors as a nice keeper copy, as collector's ourselves for nearly two decades, this grade is aimed to be a great keeper. Note if say the record has a light DNAP warp, but otherwise is NM, we will automatically put it to VG+ and detail that. Another scenario is if a copy plays at a solid EX, but visually is VG, the composite grade will be VG+, and detailed as such.
VG = More hairlines, more marks, maybe a few visible scratches, no more then two feelable scratches (which automatically lowers to VG-), there likely will be surface noise, but will play through, still being an enjoyable copy, the audio quality will satisfy most collector's (the golden rule: if it doesn't satisfy us, it won't be VG), if a record is otherwise EX, but has a slight momentary skip, where 99% of the record is EX, we will note that, and put it at VG. Usually will retain a nice gloss.
VG- = More Scratches than VG, surface noise will jump out more, it be overpowered for longer stretches, or compete with the music in places, it will likely play all the way through on most turntables, a copy that you can still get a decent play enjoyment from.
G+ = Lots of scratches, deeper ones, surface noise now mostly overpowers or competes with the music. It may skip in some places. We don't tend to sell G+ copies, unless the rarity is so great, and that will be precisely detailed.
Thrashed = Pretty much a "Theoretical Grade" for us, it be for all intents & purposes virtually unplayable, it would be for display purposes, or perhaps if you needed the cover but not the record. It's "theoretical" because so far we haven't sold or identified anything intended to sell at this bottom level.
Every item is guaranteed to YOUR satisfaction, no questions asked, 100% refund. We stand by our integrity, our goal is to make sure you are absolutely delighted with your purchase, to deliver a cherished album to your collection :). On the slightest chance of human error, if we make a mistake, we take accountability for that, we don't anyone to have a record they aren't happy with! Bid with confidence :)
If you have multiple items, please wait for us to combine shipping for you! We can combine up to 4 items for the standard shipping rate, and save you $ on additional items. We don't charge a single penny over what the shipping costs, so you are paying only the amount the postal service receives!
Default shipping is USPS media mail, USPS International mail. If you prefer a different carrier, or expedited shipping, please message us before payment, so we can set up the invoice for you :)
We have it set to 5 day shipping / handling time, as a just in case, typically about 98.7% of our orders are shipped out the day of payment (first day the post office is open), with the vast majority being the second day. We'll message on the extraordinary off-chance if doesn't go out on Tuesday (our auctions mostly ending on Saturdays, Sundays), with the reason and day it will go out, so far that's only happened once on a giant order, and all was well.
Thank you from EnfieldVinyl, a family business, and the auction venture of EnfieldRecords :)
Kindly,
-Alec :D
&
-Ellie :)