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By Larry, November 25, 2015 4:02 pm

Mmmmmmmm!

Greetings all!

This collection of food-related mixes first dropped here on Thanksgiving 2011.

I’m going to get in some intensive family time this weekend, so I’ll offer these sounds to hold you over until Monday.

There’s even a turkey song!

Don’t forget to dig into the Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast, dropping this Friday (subscribe in iTunes, listen on TuneIn) , and then keep your ears open for the first Funky16Corners Radio Show on SoulGuyRadio.com coming next week!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, have a great weekend with your friends and family, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

 
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Funky16Corners Radio v.3 – Soul Food (That’s What I Like) Pt1

Track listing

Brother Jack McDuff – Hot Barbecue (Prestige)

 Soul Runners – Chittlin’ Salad Pt1 (MoSoul)

Lionel Hampton – Greasy Greens (GladHamp)

Albert Collins – Cookin’ Catfish (20th Century)

Andre Williams – Rib Tips (Avin)

Maurice Simon & The Pie Men – Sweet Potato Gravy (Carnival)

Mel Brown – Chicken Fat (Impulse)

Lonnie Youngblood – Soul Food (That’s What I Like) (Fairmount)

Prime Mates – Hot Tamales (Sansu)

Just Brothers – Sliced Tomatoes (Music Merchant)

Leon Haywood – Cornbread and Buttermilk (Decca)

Bobby Rush – Chicken Heads (Galaxy)

Booker T & The MGs – Jelly Bread (Stax)

Gentleman June Gardner – Mustard Greens (Blue Rock)

West Siders – Candy Yams (Infinity)

Hank Jacobs – Monkey Hips and Rice (Sue)

George Semper – Collard Greens (Imperial)

Billy Clark & His Orchestra – Hot Gravy (Dynamo)

Listen Download Mixed MP3

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Funky16Corners Radio v.9 – Soul Food Pt2

Playlist

1. Simtec Simmons – Tea Box (Maurci)

2. Johnny Barfield & The Men of S.O.U.L. – Soul Butter (SSS Intl)

3. Ronnie Woods – Sugar Pt2 (Everest)

4. Stan Hunter & Sonny Fortune – Corn Flakes (Prestige)

5. Fabulous Counts – Scrambled Eggs (Moira)

6. Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band – Spreadin Honey (Keymen)

7. Freddie Roach – Brown Sugar (Blue Note)

8. Albert Collins – Sno Cone Pt1 (TCF Hall)

9. Chuck Edwards – Chuck Roast (Rene)

10. Willie Mitchell – Mashed Potatoes (Hi)

11. Booker T & The MGs – Red Beans & Rice (Atlantic)

12. Righteous Brothers Band – Green Onions (Verve)

13. George Semper – Hog Maws & Collard Greens (Imperial)

14. Lee Dorsey – Candy Yam (Amy)

15. Roosevelt Fountain & his Pens of Rhythm – Red Pepper Pt1 (Prince Adams)

16. Bad Boys – Black Olives (Paula)

17. Willie Bobo – Spanish Grease (Verve)

18. American Group – Enchilada Soul (AGP)

DOWNLOAD – 39.3 MB Mixed MP3

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Funky16Corners Radio v.60 – Finger Lickin’ Good!

Funky16Corners Radio v.60 – Finger Lickin’ Good!

Playlist

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, July 9, 2013 2:56 pm

Stevie…

Listen/Download Stevie Wonder – My Cherie Amour

Greetings all

The last few weeks have been exceptionally busy, leading up to, and climaxing with the Grogan family reunion.

It has been many years – probably the two decades since my grandmother – the matriarch of the clan – passed – since I’d seen many of my cousins.

These were the kids that I grew up with, played with and loved, and seeing so many of them for the first time in a long time reminded me that some feelings are strengthened, not dimmed, by the passing of time.

The reunion was very large (we are a prolific and widespread lot) and as expected, very, very musical.

I have mentioned my father’s musical gifts in this space many times over the years, and some of the most potent memories of my childhood involve the various and sundry parts of our large family gathered around my grandparent’s piano, singing together.

The song selection was – until some of the cousins were old enough to make their own (more timely) contributions –  by and large the music of my grandparents young adulthood, the Tin Pan Alley gold (songs like ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’ and ‘Side By Side’) of the years starting just before WWI and leading up to WWII.

These were the songs that my father, my aunts and uncles (all six of them still kicking at ages stretching from 82 to 90!) and my sisters, brothers, cousins and their spouses and all of our children (many of whom are now adults) sang together this past Saturday.

There were also a number of family bands and singing groups put together for the occasion.

The gift of instrumental and vocal music that began with my grandmother playing her ancient upright piano (which still stands – well over 100 years old – at my sister’s house) has been carried on by all ensuing generations.

It was evident that many of them were overcome by the same wave of nostalgic reverie that I was.

My friend Jim Bartlett (he of the always excellent ‘The Hits Just Keep On Comin’ blog) just published a piece about the Proustian power of music, how it brings us back to places and times in the same way that Marcel’s madeleines did way back in the day.

This was in evidence all through the weekend, but it also spurred me on to a remembrance with a favorite cousin of mine.

I can’t recall if I’ve discussed it in this space before, but in the summer of 1969, I was lucky enough to extend a family vacation and stay behind with my Ohio cousins for a few weeks.

Though most of the Grogans are situated in the NY/NJ area (emanating from Eastchester, NY), at some time in the early 60s, my aunt and uncle relocated their brood to Dayton, Ohio.

This area took on a somewhat magical connotation with yours truly.

A round trip to Westchester County (for anything from a basic visit, to communions, graduations etc) could be achieved in a single day, but a voyage to Ohio, was a trip to a strange and magical land (I guess you had to be there…).

That I was able to remain in Ohio with my cousins – many of them older than me – was something special indeed.

Remembering those days is bittersweet, since my aunt and her two oldest sons have since passed, the boys long before their time.

They were – and their surviving siblings are – all adults, but in many ways, especially because of our geographical separation, they will always partially remain the teenagers of my memory.

I was almost seven years old that summer, and my musical experiences had been largely limited to the jazz and classical music in my Dad’s record collection, the light pop of the day (I still have a space in my head devoted to the sounds of Bert Kaempfert, Al Hirt and the like) and every once in a blue moon, the occasional Top 40 song that would catch my parent’s fancy.

That summer visit – if memory serves it was in July – changed everything.

This weekend, as my cousin Gerry and I were sitting out on the patio enjoying a beer (or two) he mentioned that the last time we had visited in person (almost 20 years ago) I had turned him on to some cool music.

I countered with the fact that the few weeks I had spent with he and his family in 1969 had broken my musical pathways wide open.

There are a number of songs I long associated with that trip to Ohio, all of which were confirmed – and then some – when I finally tracked down some radio charts from that summer a few years ago.

For a few brief weeks, I was in the presence of teenagers, who spent a lot of time listening to the radio, and suddenly the pleasure centers in my brain devoted to music were lit up like a Christmas tree.

A look at the chart below reveals so many tunes that, like Proust’s cookies, carry me back to another time, not only special to me because I was young, but because they welded my ears to the radio, and set me on a lifelong devotion to and appreciation of music.

A few from the list that loom large are ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’ by Tommy James and the Shondells, ‘Spinning Wheel’ by Blood Sweat and Tears, ‘Good Morning Starshine’ by Oliver, and most importantly, Stevie Wonder’s ‘My Cherie Amour’.
That song in particular became a favorite that summer, and is in all likelihood the very first “soul” song I ever loved.

A chart from that time in 1969 from WSAI in Cincinnatti, OH. While I’m not 100% sure that this was THE station, it’s proximity to Dayton suggests that it might have been.

I spent a lot of this past weekend choked up, happy that I was surrounded by my family, but also sad for those that were no longer there with us to share the joy.

I’m riding that very same emotional roller coaster while writing this, longing for that taste of my youth again, with my youngest son the same age now as I was 44 years ago.

My years on this earth have taught me a few things of value, one of which is that not everyone is lucky enough to have the kind of big, loving family that we do.

This family reunion – hopefully the first of many – was a reminder of how strong that metaphoric fabric is, and how much more beautiful and long-lasting it is because of music.

That is something remarkable.

Enjoy the music.

See you on Friday.

And as always…

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, June 26, 2013 11:38 am

Jackie Shane on ‘Night Train’

Listen/Download – Jackie Shane – Any Other Way

Listen/Download – Jackie Shane – Sticks and Stones

NOTE: This is a very special edition of ‘The Best of Funky16Corners.

Word came down this morning that the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act.

This is a MAJOR move in the right direction for our LGBT brothers and sisters.

Though there’s still a LOT of work to be done, and there are bound to be fights all over the country as the forces of regression fight to turn back the clock on human rights across the board, this is still a great day.

The post i’m restoring (with the addition of the flip-side ‘Sticks and Stones’, because, figure it out) is a 45 by a pioneering gay/trans artist, the mighty Jackie Shane.

As I say in the post, there is much more Jackie Shane music out there to be heard, and it is outstanding.

My hope is that today’s SCOTUS decision will go a long way to making the lives of any future Jackie Shanes a much easier thing.

Dig the sounds, and I’ll be back on Friday.

Keep the Faith (and keep on keeping on)

Larry

PS Dig the cool art by Shepard Fairey!

Originally posted 10/28/12

>>Greetings all

Welcome to another week here at the home of digital soul.

We are under threat of what promises to be a nasty storm. Our hatches are battened, our larders filled with supplies, so keep your fingers crossed that the folks here on the East Coast make it to the other side of this one intact.

The tune I ring you today is one of those great discoveries that happens when you flip over a record expecting nothing and realize that what you’re hearing is the real “top” side of the disc.

If memory serves, my initial encounter with the story of Jackie Shane was a lucky accident.

Before I was fortunate enough to pick up the record you see before you today, I had only heard his voice via a single, blurry performance clip from the TV show ‘Night Train’.

Shane was, during the 1960s a popular club singer and recording artist, who was an out, gay man who in many ways, lived and performed as a woman.

He was nothing if not enigmatic.

Born and raised in Nashville, but with the bulk of his career spent North of the border in Canada, Shane had a life seemingly lifted from a screenplay.

Starting in the early 60s Shane recorded and performed R&B and soul based out of Toronto, CA . He layed down sides for a few different labels, often backed by Frank Motley (also an American) and the Hitchhikers (who went on to record some sought after funk records).

Shane performed in drag – though what little biographical information I’ve been able to turn up suggests that this was more than a drag persona, leaning more in the direction of a full time transgender life. That he was also openly gay (or as open as the times allowed) was – as my friend Jason Stone aka the Stepfather of Soul said in a 2007 post – unusual, but not unheard of, considering the careers of Little Richard, Esquerita and Sylvester.

His cover of William Bell’s 1962 hit ‘Any Other Way’ – a significant Canadian hit, almost reaching Number One – was a fairly dramatic re-casting of the original.

Shane’s delivers the song’s lyrics – full of regret – in a much more melancholic setting. Where Bell’s approach is aggressive and upbeat (at least as far as the tempo is concerned) Shane’s is almost elegiac.

Though he delivers the song in its original gender, it’s hard not to read something into it (and I’m hardly the first to make note of this) when Shane sings:

Tell her that I’m happy
Tell her that I’m gay
Tell her I wouldn’t have it any other way

…the line seems to take on more meaning.

I initially grabbed this record for the version of ‘Sticks and Stones’ on the flip, but soon fell in love with this cut.

Shane’s discography is spare. His 1963 recording of ‘In My Tenement’ (recorded a year before Roosevelt Grier’s version) is sought after by soul fans, as is a fantastic live record, which, though dated “Live ‘63” on the cover was clearly recorded a few years later, since it includes covers of songs that wouldn’t be released until 1966.

Once you’ve listened to his relatively small – yet undeniably powerful – catalog, it becomes obvious that Shane was a versatile and dynamic vocalist and performer.

He was a powerful soul shouter, but was also capable of something approaching fragility when working a ballad.

The cool thing is, though Shane’s records run from moderately rare right on into wallet-wrecking hen’s teethery, you can go on iTunes and grab a fairly comprehensive collection of his 45s and the ‘Live ‘63’ album for about six bucks each! I assure you in advance that this will be money well spent.

The singles are all excellent, and the live album is a revelation.

Shane was a bold, uncompromising stage performer, strong in voice and persona, and the Hitchhikers were an extra-tight backing band.

The album deserves to be much better known, and is worth having if only for the extended monologue during his cover of Barrett Strong’s ‘Money’.

Apparently Shane was still alive (though seemingly inactive as a performer) as late as 2010, having returned to his birthplace of Nashville, TN.

Make sure you check out the CBC radio documentary about Jackie Shane ‘I Got Mine: The Story of Jackie Shane’ over at Soundcloud.

I hope you dig the record, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday with some Halloween goodness.<<

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, November 12, 2012 11:51 am

You may have noticed that the front page of the blog has a different look.

I have been having difficulties with my web space provider reporting excessive CPU usage for the blog.

I have discovered that WordPress apparently has some inherent issues/glitches that cause problems like this and I am scrambling to optimize the blog (the parts visible to you, the reader, and the parts only visible to me, the admin).

As a result, there will be fewer posts visible on the front page (not really an issue since all you need to do  to see more is click on the “older posts” link at the bottom of the page).

I have also removed an unnecessary graphics from the front page, including some of the icons in the links column. The text links themselves remain, but if you’re used to clicking on the graphics there may be a period of adjustment for you.

Other than than, the Funky16Corners experience should be seamless, for now.

This is an ongoing process, and my limitations working with code may force me to make radical readjustments sometime in the future.

I will try to keep you apprised of the changes in advance.

If anyone has any expertise with this specific problem, please let me know.

Thanks

Larry

Comments (1)

By Larry, November 3, 2012 10:23 am

The Funky16Corners Blogcasting Mobile Unit!!

Hi folks!

As you may or may not know, the Funky16Corners Nerve Center and Record Vault are currently without either electricity or interwebs connectivity.

This has made the process of keeping this vast technological enterprise up and running.

Right now I’m parked outside of a McDonalds, sucking up some wifi and making updates (internal and external) to Funky16Corners.

I recently got a message from my web space provider that the site was experiencing traffic issues that were in turn causing trouble on their end.

If this was legitimate traffic I would be overjoyed but it appears that what’s going on has more to do with web crawling “bots” with generally hostile intent, re spam and intrusion into the site.

I have installed a few security programs to help alleviate these problems, most of which should be invisible to users.

The one thing I did install which you will have to deal with is a comment “capcha” system, which makes sure that when someone (or something) is trying to leave a comment, they have to prove that they are real/sentient by taking a small, additional step when leaving said comment.

The one I chose uses a visual system, drag and drop and should work on all mobile devices (ipads, iphones etc) as well as full fledged desktops.

If you run into any problems with this (or find anything else weird going on) please let me know.

Right now, I have about a week’s worth of prepared posts ready to roll, so there’s a little bit of a content “cushion” in place while we wait for electricity/interwebs to return.

In the event that the wait exceeds the backlog, I will make arrangements to work elsewhere (on a somewhat truncated schedule) until things are once again copacetic.

So, please bear with me (and the technology) and hopefully before too long this too shall pass.

Until then (and I will see you on Monday)…

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, February 21, 2012 1:39 pm

Updated 4:00PM EST

Greetings all

Due to a change in the domain for the Funky16Corners Blog and Web Zine, the incoming link has changed to:

funky16corners.com

You don’t have to use the WWW….

As a result there have been countless background changes, the most serious of which being that all of the URLs (web addresses) for pictures, MP3 files etc have to be changed. I fixed the links in all of the mix and radio show archive
pages, and have updated the graphics for all posts going back to before Halloween 2011.

The rest of the links will be restored as time allows.

If you find any broken sound files, please let me know.
Please bear with me.

Thanks

Larry

Comments (3)

By Larry, September 7, 2011 4:00 pm

The Mighty Wardell Quezergue

Listen/Download – Earl King – Trick Bag (Imperial)

Listen/Download – Professor Longhair – Big Chief Pt2 (Watch)

Listen/Download – Marie Boubarere – I’m Going Home (NOLA)

Listen/Download – Robert Parker – Everybody’s Hip Huggin'(NOLA)

Listen/Download – Willie Tee – Walking Up a One Way Street (Atlantic)

Listen/Download – Willie Harper – A Certain Girl (Tou-Sea)

Greetings all.

I hope that everyone is in a groovy place nearing the end of the week.

It behooves me to remind you all (as it always does) that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be hitting the airwaves of the interwebs this Friday evening at 9PM at Viva Radio. This week we have an interesting one, with half the show devoted to the funky side of disco, and the other half to the sounds of classic-era soul. I know you’ll dig it, and if you can’t bet there to hear it, you can always drop by on Saturday to pick up the show in MP3 form here at the blog.

Also, if you have yet to check out the DJ Forty Fivan mix from earlier this week, please do so. It is excellent and really worth your time.

It was with great sadness that I heard the news this week of the passing of one of the last giants of New Orleans soul, Mr. Wardell Quezergue.

Working mostly as an arranger (but also in the producers and composers chairs) Wardell was instrumental (pun fully intended) in grafting the New Orleans sound onto the brains of the listening public. It has been said that he created every record he touched from the ground up, applying his talents to best fit the song, and the individual artist, giving his catalog a tremendous amount of stylistic breadth.

Known as the ‘Creole Beethoven’, WQ (his last name was often misspelled – at times by yours truly –  as Quezerque) was born in 1930. He served as a musician in military bands during the Korean War, and rejoined Dave Bartholomew’s band upon his return to the Crescent City.

He really started to make his mark in the early 60s, with his work on classic 45s by Earl King (‘Trick Bag’ is included above) and the formation of the storied NOLA label where he would arrange some of the finest R&B, soul and funk to come out of the city in the 1960s.

His first big hit was Robert Parker’s ‘Barefootin’ in 1965 (he arranged all of Parker’s sides for the label), still one of the biggest hits to come out of New Orleans.

His biggest success however would come half a decade later with his work for the Chimneyville/Malaco labels and huge hits like King Floyd’s ‘Groove Me’ and Jean Knight’s ‘Mr Big Stuff’ – both recorded on the same day in 1970 – and Dorothy Moore’s ‘Misty Blue’ in 1976.

The tunes included here are a random sampling of Wardell Quezergue’s work that I’ve covered here at Funky16Corners over the years, whether as individual tracks, or in various and sundry mixes. I’ve tried not to duplicate what I’ve seen in other tributes (make sure to check out Soul Sides).

I mentioned Earl King’s ‘Trick Bag’, but I’ve also included Part Two of Professor Longhair’s 1964 landmark ‘Big Chief’, which was written by King and features his vocal.

There are also two tracks from WQ’s extensive NOLA discography, including Marie Boubarere’s Eddie Bo-penned ‘I’m Going Home’ (a live session) from 1967, and Robert Parker’s funky ‘Everybody’s Hip Huggin’ from 1968.

One of the more interesting, and testimony to WQ’s considerable talent as an arranger (dig the way the trumpets and the saxes play off of each other in the horn chart), is Willie Tee’s ‘Walking Up a One Way Street’.

The last track is one that appeared here last summer, and remains one of my favorite Quezergue-related sides, especially since he produced and arranged it. The record in question is Willie Harper’s version of Ernie K Doe’s (written by Allen Toussaint) ‘A Certain Girl’.

Unlike most covers of the tune, Harper and Quezergue take the song at a slow, New Orleans roll, in one of the great examples of bridging the old-school NOLA feel and then contemporary (1968) soul music. It’s also interesting because it has WQ producing an artist who had worked almost exclusively with Toussaint, on one of Toussaint’s labels, as he also did with Warren Lee’s ‘Underdog Backstreet’, also on Tou-Sea.

I’ve never gotten the whole story on why Toussaint seemed to loosen the reins a bit during this period, but the records that came out of it (including another WQ production/arrangement with Gus ‘The Groove’ Lewis’s ‘Let the Groove Move You’) were consistently excellent.

Unfortunately Wardell Quezergue was stricken in his later years by poor physical health, as well as the being victimized by the  destruction of forces natural (Hurricane Katrina) and otherwise (the record industry).

He will always be remembered by fans of the New Orleans sound as one of its greatest geniuses.

He will be missed.

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Don’t forget that I’ll be spinning some tunes during the annual Point Pleasant Lions Seafood 5K and 1 Mile FUN Run/Walk on Saturday, September 17th in Pt Pleasant Beach, NJ. The run benefits the JT Foundation for Autism Awareness and runs right before the Seafood Fest (which starts at 10AM). I’ll be spinning all of the funk soul and disco you’d expect, so if you’re in the area, come on down and run, sit and watch people run while listening to music, or get your groove on before hunting down some delicious seafood. It’s a great cause and there’ll be good music, good people and good food, so what else do you need to know?

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See you on Monday

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, February 27, 2011 12:02 pm

Tony Clarke

Listen/Download – Timmy Thomas – Have Some Boogaloo

Greetings all.

I hope all is groovy, and that you’ve all had a chance to marinate in last week’s Northern Soul bouillabaisse.

I had a bizarre weekend (that involved records) but since this piece was largely written prior to the ‘festivities”, I’ll save the tale for Wednesday.

When I was assembling this week’s line-up, I had a couple of things set aside, when all of a sudden the last piece of a puzzle fell into place, thus moving today’s selection to the front of the line.

Our story begins about six years ago when someone posted Timmy Thomas’s ‘Have Some Boogaloo’ on a message board I frequent as an example of what those of us in the game refer to as a ‘Hammond burner’.

As soon as I pulled down the ones and zeros, my wig was well and truly flipped.

Then, for some reason now buried by the sands of time, I did not actively seek this record out, nor did it occupy that nagging spot in my consciousness where records go when I’m jonesing for a copy.

Then, a few years later, my man DJ Prestige and I were on our little vinyl invasion of the greater Virginia area. We were spinning at Mercy! In Richmond, VA when Troy of the Scorpio Brothers slipped this very 45 under the needle and whipped it on the crowd and as they say on the streets, shit was ON.

As discussed in this space many times, there’s something special about hearing a powerful record blasting at high volume on a good PA system. It’s kind of like cranking something in your headphones (where all detail is amplified and you can get up inside the nooks and crannies of a record) except in addition to the sound of a 45 you get to witness its effect on a room full of dancers.

That effect was – as far as I can remember because I was scrambling over to the decks to investigate, and in the midst of my own reverie – setting the room afire.

Holy crap…though things were already going very well (they know how to party to soul down in RVA) the assemble masses just about lost their shit, as did Timmy in the grooves of the 45 where he was apparently hammering the keyboard of his organ with his elbows while screaming stuff like ‘SOOKIE!!’ and ‘PHILLY PHILLY PHILLY FOR MEEEE!’ right before rolling up his sleeves and going to town.

It was at that moment that I knew I HAD TO HAVE THAT RECORD.

This is the point in the story where we rediscover that old saw about “easier said than done”.

I searched high and low and soon discovered that ‘Have Some Boogaloo’ is record that while not extremely expensive appears to have very few copies in circulation. It’s like I used to say of a favorite author who’s work was largely out of print: Once someone gets their hands on a copy they did not soon let it go.

That said, the next few years followed the well-worn path wherein I create a saved Ebay search, the record in question pops up for auction every few months and I am unfailingly outbid.

However, the cool thing about the saved search, is every once in a great while, someone posts the record you want as a ‘Buy It Now’ and you (meaning ME) gets to it before anyone else and zippity-do-dah you have yourself a copy of that very record.

That is exactly what happened last November, when ‘Have Some Boogaloo’ popped up as a BIN, at a price that was not cheap but well under what I would consider to be market value, and though the seller was overseas he had impeccable feedback, so I pulled the trigger.

Then, like one of those old movies where they mark the passage of time by showing the pages of a calendar falling away, I waited, and waited, and waited some more until more than a month had passed without my prize arriving in my mailbox.

I contacted the seller, who assured me that the package was en route.

Unfortunately I started to notice that some other items from across the pond were also delayed, and I mentioned this on the aforementioned message board where I was assured that one government or other had instituted new security measures, which in combination with the busiest postal season of the year, as well as horrible weather on both sides of the Atlantic was slowing the passage of mail in a major way.

I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to wait, stomped my feet, tore out a hair or two, but then got back to my regular schedule.

Then, over the course of the next few weeks, the items coming from the UK (which had all been purchased/mailed well after the record in question) began to arrive and my hopes for ever seeing my long lost 45 faded.

Eventually, after about two months I gave up all hope and started to whine about it to my Facebook friends.

One morning I got a message from one of them who had spotted a copy at a record show (and asked if I wanted it), only to find out later that one of his friends had decided to buy it.

Then, another friend mentioned that he had a copy he might be willing to trade, and after a few exchanges in which certain other records were offered up, said trade was enacted and in a few days he had his record and I finally had a copy of mine.

Oh happy day, when I unboxed that 45 and played it over, and over, and over again, after which I digimatized it, slipped it onto the iPod and started playing it anew.

I was happy, if still a little bugged that I had pretty much flushed about 50 smackers down the international toilet with the first copy, which had apparently jumped overboard on its way to the States.

Flash forward a few weeks and I’m sitting in the Funky16Corners Blogcasting Nerve Center and Record Cave, when who should I see pull up outside but my trusty mail carrier Gary who stepped out of his truck, which usually means I have to sign for something.

I jumped up out of my seat and ran out the door.

I saw the orange slip in his hand and gingerly inquired if the item in question might have originated in Spain?

He indicated that it had, and couldn’t believe it when I told him that it had been shipped almost three months before (to the day).

Now at this point, although relieved that the 45 had arrived, I had resigned myself to the idea that it was probably either broken or warped.

45s are delicate things, and I didn’t think that one would be able to survive a three-month-long trek without sustaining some damage, but I am here to tell you brothers and sisters that when I took a razor to the poorly packed 45 and released it from its prison of cardboard and tape, it was as if the gods had carried it across the sea, protecting it from what seemed like inevitable damage.

There before me was a fully intact, completely playable VG+ copy of Timmy Thomas’s ‘Have Some Boogaloo’, now qualified for its starring role in what might be described as an embarrassment of riches.

The next part of the story is the one that I come to now and again where, despite my general agnosticism I am tempted to assign the workings of the universe – at least as they apply to me – as having some kind of consciousness, whether it be the Tao, kismet or the knowing hand of some greater (yet invisible) being.

When I mentioned (on Facebook, again) that the prodigal 45 had in fact arrived at my door, another friend – eager to get his hands on a copy of said record – asked if I might be up for a sale or trade. I said sure (not needing doubles, since I hadn’t planned on a beat-juggling turntable display) and asked what he might have to trade.

A few hours later, he returned, offering me a copy of another prominent, long-time resident of my want list (this being a Northern Soul record) and the trade was underway.

Huzzah! My suffering (if anything here can truly be described as thus) was not for naught.

In the words of the mighty Chuck Jackson, good things come to those who wait, and then some.

That all said, the record itself is a banger of the first order, carrying with it not only absolutely smoking Hammond action but an action packed party vibe.

It often surprises people when they hear ‘Have Some Boogaloo’ that it was recorded by the same guy who a few years later would have an international mega-hit with the meditative ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’. They do not in any way sound like the work of the same person, one being a plea for brotherhood with minimalist organ accompanied by a beatbox, and the other sounding like an insane organist had been tossed into the Large Hadron Collider.

Go ahead, give it a spin….I’ll wait.

There, see?

Feel like you’ve been shaken, stirred, smacked in the face and otherwise intoxicated?

That’s what it feels like when you’ve encountered a truly powerful record.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Wednesday.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, December 5, 2010 3:28 pm

The Isley Brothers

Listen/Download – Isley Brothers – Get Into Something Pt1
Listen/Download – Isley Brothers – Get Into Something Pt2

Greetings all.

Welcome back to the Funky16Corners Blogradiowebadelicament thang, where we have now convened for another week wherein all things funky and soulful are massaged, perused and digested.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

The tune I bring you today is one that I am utterly ashamed to admit that I was unaware of until a night last year, when I was sharing the DJ booth at Marvin in Washington DC with the mighty DJ Birdman.

He was in the midst of a typically smoking set, when I hear some voices that I recognize as the Isley Brothers, and then, like stepping off of a curb and in front of a crosstown bus, got smacked square in the face with a lengthy drum break.

Naturally I approached the bench and inquired as to the identity and provenance of said record, only to be informed that it was in fact the Isley Brothers, and the tune in question was ‘Get Into Something’.

As luck would have it, the following day we set out into DC and the surrounding areas to do a little digging, and I was lucky enough to pick myself up a copy of that very same 45.

Released in 1970, as a single and as part of the album of the same name (which, if you’re keeping score also includes the monster ‘Keep On Doin’’) ‘Get Into Something’ is a fast moving number with a chugging guitar line and prominent piano backing (which I dig a lot).

It’s fast enough for the dance floor, but things get really interesting when you flip the record over for part two. Things fade in from what is obviously a quick edit from side one, and then after about 30 seconds, you get a proper invitation to give the drummer some (and a guitar riff lifted from King Curtis’s ‘Memphis Soul Stew’) after which he takes some (drums) and keeps taking for another 40 seconds, after which, for reasons I cannot explain the whole things slows down to a plodding pace.

I mean it was 1970, and people were letting their freak flag fly, and it’s entirely possible that the Isleys, having provided the dancers with almost five minutes of moving and grooving, decided to get a little far out. The horns stretch out, the reverb gets turned up a little, and the band settles down into a jam of sorts, from which they do not emerge for the rest of side two.

This is not necessarily a bad thing either, since the Isleys were an honest to goodness band, and if they wanted to take a break from the get down to work it out a little bit, I can’t complain. If you’re going to DJ with the record you can stick to side one, but if you have the headphones on, and a snifter of brandy in your hand, you can let the whole thing unravel in your ears so that you might get the benefit of the whole Isley Brothers experience.

I hope you dig both sides, and I’ll be back on Wednesday.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, October 24, 2010 3:55 pm

Weldon McDougal III

Luther Randolph & Johnny Stiles

Listen/Download – Four Larks – Groovin’ at the Go Go

Listen/Download – Cooperettes – Shingaling

Listen/Download – Lee Garrett – I Can’t Break the Habit

Listen/Download – Bernard Williams and the Blue Notes – It’s Needless to Say

Listen/Download – Volcanos – It’s Gotta Be a False Alarm

Listen/Download – Eddie Holman – Stay Mine for Heaven’s Sake

Listen/Download – Eddie Holman – Eddie’s My Name

Listen/Download – Eddie Holman – I’ll Cry 1,000 Tears

Greetings all.

I hope all is well on your end.

Over the weekend I found out via Colin Dilnot of In Dangerous Rhythm that the legendary producer, performer, songwriter and promoter Weldon McDougal III had passed away.

If the name isn’t familiar, the music he helped create in Philadelphia during the 1960s should be.

McDougal was one of the co-founders (with Luther Randolph and Johnny Stiles) of the legendary Harthon production house.

In addition to the Harthon label, home to many brilliant (and rare) soul 45s, they created, and farmed out to a number of other labels, many equally excellent sides.

If memory serves, I first became aware of Harthon via an old comp of their best stuff (issued and unissued) that turned me on to a wide variety of records that I would hunt breathlessly for the next decade.

The tough thing is, for all the undeniable greatness of the records that McDougal made with Harthon, very little has been published about the label’s history.

Randolph (an organist) and Stiles (sometimes listed as ‘Styles’, guitar) had worked in and around Philadelphia before joining together and recording what would be the first Harthon 45s (one being released on Cameo).

They eventually joined up with McDougal, who was performing with his group the Larks (no relation to the Don Julian group on the West Coast) and the Harthon powerhouse was soon up to full speed.

They eventually brought local group Jo-Ann Jackson and the Dreams into the studio and recorded ‘Georgie Porgie’ (no doubt aimed at garnering airplay from local radio giant Georgie Woods), the first 45 on the label that wasn’t a Randolph/Styles instrumental.

In Tony Cummings rare – and indispensable – tome The Sound of Philadelphia (the source for most of what I know about the partnership), Stiles was quoted as to the source of the Harthon sound:

“The sound we were trying to get was that Motown sound. The Detroit thing was what was happening so we just tried to get as near to it as we could. Our things were done in a small time kinda studio but we got the sound we wanted.”

Stiles was basically getting to the root of the Northern Soul equation, i.e. reaching back to the Motor City and trying to recreate/expand on the sound in places like Philadelphia, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

The music that McDougal, Randolph and Stiles would create over the next few years, with the help of the famed Philly rhythm section (Bobby Eli, Norman Harris, Earl Young, Ronnie Baker), writers and producers like Thom Bell, Eddie Holman and many others, created a number of records that are worshiped to this day on the Northern scene, and have also become some of my favorites, making Harthon my all-time favorite soul label.

Over the years I’ve been tracking down Harthon records (It was years before I scored an OG with the famous black and orange logo see above) I ended up following all kinds of leads and discovering a number of things I hadn’t expected.

The tunes I’m featuring today – I’ll be posting Harthon stuff all week – are in many ways the cream of the Harthon crop (at least to my ears) all bearing the marks of the label’s sound, i.e. solid, hook-laden songwriting, sparkling production and most important of all, fantastic singers.

The first of these is what is probably the best known of all Harthon productions, the Four Larks (McDougal’s group with a ‘Four’ added to distinguish them with the LA group) ‘Groovin’ at the Go Go. Written and arranged by Thom Bell, ‘Groovin’ at the Go Go’ is a record that I chased for a long time, often being outbid (when it showed up for auction) and bemoaning my failure to procure it – in this very space – often.

Then, in what must surely be one of the great moments of vinyl related altruism, a reader found a copy and sent it to me, gratis.

Needless to say my mind was good and truly blown (this is not a cheap record) and the 45 has held a place of honor in my record box ever since then.

Leased to the Capitol Records subsidiary Tower, ‘Groovin’ at the Go Go’ is one of those records that in a just world would have been a huge hit.

The record featured Irma Jackson on lead vocals, and has a great repeated riff played on piano and vibes, backed by a throbbing bass and drums, as well as wonderful, atmospheric backing vocals and a horn chart that won’t quit.

I don’t know much about the Cooperettes other than the music I’ve heard on their Brunswick and ABC 45s. They were a Philly-based girl group, and their ‘Shingaling’ is an absolutely stunning Northern-styled pounder. This track would later be recycled as the unreleased (but heavily bootlegged) ‘You Need Love’ by Irma and the Fascinators. I’ll post a recording of my bootleg 45 later this week.

The next two cuts were also lifted from bootleg 45s (there was a brisk trade in bootlegs on the Northern Soul scene in the 70s) , and are among the finest things to come out of Harthon (if only I’d been able to score original copies, but alas…).

The first is by Lee Garrett, who would later move to Detroit, recording his own records as well as co-writing the Spinners hit ‘It’s a Shame’. ‘I Can’t Break the Habit’ is a killer with a great vocal by Garrett and a very cool piano interlude in the second half of the record.

The other bootleg-sourced cut is in my Top 3 Harthon sides, Bernard Williams and the Blue Notes ‘It’s Needless To Say’. I know I’m repeating myself, but this record really, REALLY should have been a hit. It has it all, great songwriting, performance, production and arrangement. This is the group that was formed when the original Blue Notes split up, with Williams forming his group and Harold Melvin forming the other.

The next cut is the A-side from one of the two 45s the mighty Volcanos recorded during their brief sojourn with Harthon. Aside from a typically solid lead vocal by Gene Faith, the record features a pounding instrumental backing, which would later be bootlegged in the UK with the vocals stripped off (credited to the Body Motions). I’ve never been able to nail down the chronology of the Volcanos time with Harthon, but a number of clues (including the funkier b-sides on the 45s) lead me to believe that they were recorded after the group’s Arctic period but before the sides released on Virtue, which are basically Gene Faith solo records (the remainder of the group moving on to record as the Moods and the Trammps).

Eddie Holman

The last three cuts are two of the finest soul sides produced by any label, let alone Harthon.

If you mention the name Eddie Holman to most people, the record that comes to mind is ‘Hey There Lonely Girl’ the Ruby and the Romantics* cover that Holman took into the Top 10 in 1970. However, one of my earliest Philly soul related obsessions was tracking down and reveling in the spectacular nature of the 45s that Holman recorded with Harthon for Cameo/Parkway and Bell during the mid-60s.

Often working with his writing partner James Solomon, Holman, possessor of one of the mightiest singing voices ever committed to vinyl, recorded several remarkable 45s that were largely ignored by radio. Aside from 1966s ‘This Can’t Be True’ (to be posted later this week) Holman was absent from the Top 40 until he hit with ‘Lonely Girl’.

The first of these is ‘Stay Mine for Heaven’s Sake’. Written by Holman and Solomon, and arranged by Luther Randolph, ‘Stay Mine…’ is yet another record that seemingly had every prerequisite for chart success, pop hooks, solid arrangement and above all Holman’s voice.

The second of the Holman sides featured today is the Northern Soul favorite (and a record I’m proud to say I scored digging within the Philadelphia city limits) ‘Eddie’s My Name’. Propelled by a speedy dancers beat, handclaps and sharp snare drum shots, ‘Eddie’s My Name’, with production credited to ‘Randolph, Stiles and McDougal’ is a big fave with the soulies and has been comped a bunch of times.

The final record for today is Holman’s epic ballad performance ‘I’ll Cry 1,000 Tears’. Released on the Bell label, this is the Eddie Holman 45 that eluded me the longest. With a melody that occasionally touches on Jimmy Ruffin’s ‘What Becomes of the Broken Hearted’, ‘I’ll Cry…’ is really Holman’s vocal tour de force. The chorus sees him soaring to almost operatic heights against an amazing arrangement. This was his last 45 with Harthon (in 1968), before moving to ABC.

The end of Holman’s tenure with Harthon coincided with the end of the partnership. McDougal would leave Philadelphia to go work in promotions for Motown, where he stayed until returning to Philly in 1972 to work with Gamble and Huff at Philly International.

The news of McDougal’s unfortunate passing led me back into the crates where I dug out a couple of Harthon rarities, which I’ll be posting later in the week.

I hope you dig the sounds.

Peace

Larry

*Originally recorded as ‘Hey There Lonely Boy’

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By Larry, October 10, 2010 12:32 pm

The Mighty Brother Solomon Burke 1940 – 2010

Listen/Download – Solomon Burke – Keep Looking

Listen/Download – The Soul Clan – Soul Meeting

Listen/Download – Solomon Burke – Proud Mary

Listen/Download – Solomon Burke – Uptight Good Woman

Listen/Download – Solomon Burke – These Arms of Mine

Listen/Download – Solomon Burke – Generation of Revelations

Listen/Download – Betty Harris – Cry To Me

Listen/Download – Wilson Pickett – Everybody Needs Somebody To Love

NOTE: Though a few of these tracks have appeared on the blog in the , these were all freshly recorded this morning, so hopefully the sound is a little better.

Greetings all.
I come to you this fine, crisp fall day with a suddenly heavy heart.

I rolled out of bed this morning, and as I usually do, grabbed the old smart phone and checked my e-mail.
There, hanging in my inbox was a message that one of the greatest soul singers of the classic era had passed on into the great hearafter.

I’m talking about Brother Solomon Burke, you all know him dontcha???

Man, what a kick in the ass.

Burke was still recording and performing at the age of 70, and since he was a presence on Facebook, I got to see his comings and goings, and sadly this morning, word of his death.

No matter what I had planned for this week, as soon as the news sunk in, I did exactly what I did when I heard about Wilson Pickett’s passing, I dove directly into the crates to pull out some examples of Burke’s greatness that I might pass on to you all in commemoration of his life and music.

But then I was faced with a huge problem, that being thousands of largely unsorted 45s.
I knew exactly what I was looking for, but no idea where it was.

I was certain that the records in question were in the Funky16Corners Record Vault….somewhere. Some of them are among my all-time favorites, and I was sure that I wouldn’t have parted ways with them, but they were buried deep, deep in the vinyl cavern of my record room.

I went through box, after box, and it was almost as if the spirit of Brother Solomon was standing over my shoulder, nodding with a raised eyebrow as if to say,

“You haven’t given me the respect I deserve, son.”

And he’d be right.

I first heard Solomon Burke by virtue of the aforementioned Wicked Pickett, who’s anthemic version of ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’ led me to the source.

When I picked up a budget Atlantic Records Best of LP, probably at the old Tower Records in NYC, sometime in the early 80s, I was a bit taken aback by what I heard.

Where Pickett took ‘Everybody…’ and laid into it like a house on fire, there was Burke, with a voice like the worn velvet seat of a church pew, mixing gospel, R&B and country in a sound that I was not yet accustomed to hearing.

It was the country that surprised me the most. My ears were still young and unseasoned, and I had yet to discover for myself the cross pollination between country and soul that was one of the great musical innovations of the 60s.

‘Just Out of Reach (Of My Empty Arms)’, one of Burkes first hits,  was in fact a popular country song, having been recorded by Patsy Cline and Faron Young among others. Burke’s stylistic crossover was every bit as vital, if not as well known as Ray Charles’ efforts from around the same time.

Not long after that, I filed Solomon Burke away on the shelf with other artists acknowledged as seminal, yet not a big part of my listening.

That was until a few years later when, in the midst of the garage/mod revival I encountered a recording by a UK R&B group called the Artwoods called ‘Keep Looking’. I fell in love with this record (as did most of my contemporaries, with the Artwoods reissue comp being required listening), and was blown away when I found out that it was a cover of a record by none other than Solomon Burke.

When I finally tracked down a copy of the original 45 I was blown away.

Where the gospel influence on soul music is a given, with many of the greats having started out in the amen corner, Solomon Burke was the real thing times ten.

He was a child preacher in his family’s church in Philadelphia, as well as hosting his own gospel radio show.

‘Keep Looking’, in addition to being one of the greatest of all mod soul 45s, is also a brilliant flip of the sacred to the secular, with Burke quite literally preaching, delivering a message that wasn’t that far removed from something he might have done in church.

Burke’s intro…

I’m so happy to be here today
And for all of you who are searching for the answers to your problems in life
If you’re ready right now, we’re gonna solve’em
And this is alllllll you got to do….

Burke’s original version of ‘Keep Looking’ was no less than a revelation. It was a remarkable, life affirming, soul storming, dance floor bit of genius and while treasured by the soulies, ought to be much better known, i.e. an accepted 60s soul classic.

Another big fave of mine is the 1966 45 by the Soul Clan, i.e. Burke, Don Covay, Joe Tex, Arthur Conley and Ben E. King. The song ‘Soul Meeting’ is three and a half minutes of soul brilliance, with every member of the esteemed group delivering as if their lives depended on it.

In the late 60s Burke left Atlantic and moved on to the Bell label where he went down to Muscle Shoals and recorded one of the greatest albums of his career, ‘Proud Mary’. Backed by the famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Burke settled into a deep soul groove, scoring a hit with the title tune, as well as covering a couple of Dan Penn classics (including ‘Uptight Good Woman’), and a deeply felt reading of Otis Redding’s ‘These Arms of Mine’. It’s a great album, and I recommend it highly.
The 1969 single ‘Generation of Revelations’ is another great one from the same period with Burke once again building a timely statement on a gospel foundation.

I’ve also included two covers of Burke classics that are worth hearing on their own, as well as an indicator of his influence.

The first is Betty Harris’ first hit, her 1963 cover of Burke’s classic ‘Cry To Me’, taken at a slow, sultry pace. It’s a great showcase for Harris’ mighty voice, and recasts the song with a slightly deeper R&B edge. While it was not written by Burke, it is most certainly “his” song.

The second is probably one of the five or ten greatest soul records ever made, that being the aforementioned Wilson Pickett recording of ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’. That this record is positively epic in every possible sense of the word almost goes without saying.

So why am I saying it?

Because one cannot approach a record like this without paying due tribute.

‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’ is soul music gone to church, left church to go to a party and back again. It’s lyrics are beautiful, simple and above all true, and when Pickett stepped onto the launching pad and lit up his rockets (taking the song at a pace about five times as fast) the very first thing he did was give props to brother Solomon Burke.

I have it playing in the background while I write this and I’ve already had to stop twice to wipe the tears from my eyes, but what I have to tell you brothers and sisters is that these are not tears of sadness because Brother Burke is not with us anymore, but tears of joy that come to me almost every time I hear this song because it is without question, and in every way, perfect.

In the years before I met my wife, and we had our kids, and I was all but alone in the wilderness of life it was records like this that kept my spirit lifted, and filled me with the passion that is always there with me whenever I post to the blog, or more importantly enter a DJ booth with my records to spread the love.

Without Solomon Burke, and Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett, and Howard Tate, and James Carr, and Sam and Dave and Eldridge Holmes and Diamond Joe and any number of brilliant soul singers none of this would be possible.

I leave you today with the thought that while I am not a religious man, whenever I put on a soul record I am filled with the spirit, and Solomon Burke is a part of that.

Everybody does need somebody to love.

Go in peace Solomon.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, August 19, 2010 6:44 pm

Ivan Joseph Jones aka Boogaloo Joe

Listen/Download – Boogaloo Joe Jones – Right On

Greetings all.
I hope everyone has had themselves a nice Funky16Corners Radio kind of week, filled with the dulcet, flute-y tones of this weeks mix.

I was going to double down on the flute-stravaganza and post a funky flute 45, but I couldn’t find the label pic, so it’ll have to keep.

Instead, may I request that you all get your hot pants on and your get-down shoes zipped up, because the track I’m going to whip on you today requires both.

I don’t suspect that those among you not enrolled in the crate digging or jazz collecting fraternities know the name Ivan ‘Boogaloo Joe’ Jones (how could you forget a name like that if you had?) but once you pull down the ones and zeroes on this one you shant soon forget it.

One might assume that he attached the ‘Boogaloo’ to his extremely common name merely to separate himself from the drummers Papa Jo and Philly Joe (both prominent Joneses) and that’s probably true to an extent, but if anyone ever deserved to be referred to as ‘Boogaloo’-anything, Ivan Joseph Jones was the man.

‘Right On’, one of my favorite Prestige jazz funk 45s (and they are legion) is as close to an all-star session as you’ll find with these things, plus you get that bad-ass, iconic Prestige blue-label 45 to stare at.

It’d be all groovy gravy if it was just Boogaloo Joe burning it up on the gee-tar, but you also get Charlie Earland on the Hammond, Pretty Purdie socking the shit out of his drums, Rusty Bryant on the sax and Jimmy Lewis on the bass.

And you REALLY have to dig the guitar. Boogaloo Joe winds his way in and out of the rhythm like a Ferrari on a race course.

All star-power aside, ‘Right On’ is an ass-whooper of the first order, with the head nod, and the hip slip, and all the rest of the involuntary anatomical expressions that go along with records that are this funky.

Funky, right, tight and outta sight, with enough chops for the jazzers and enough groove for the dancers, ‘Right On’ is a frequent flier in my DJ box, and though it’s a little on the crackly side (I tried to diminish the sound of sizzling bacon fat  as much as I could), this record is so hot you forget about it pretty quickly, unless you’re some kind of Hi-Fi hobbit nestled in the shire alongside a million dollars worth of audio equipment, in which case this isn’t for you anyway, so go have an herbal tea and come back when you’re feeling funky.

I know you’ll dig it, so do so, and I’ll see you all next week.

Peace

Larry

PS Make sure to hit up the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva internet radio Friday night at 9PM. Your ears will thank you.

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