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By Larry, January 15, 2012 5:19 pm

Charly and the Bourbon Family

Listen/Download -Charly and the Bourbon Family – Boogachi

Greetings all.

Welcome to yet another week of funky and soulful goodness under the auspices of the Sixteen Funky Corners.

As has been demonstrated here many a time, sometimes you can find very funky things that have been produced by artists for whom funk was not a first (or functional) language.

Today’s selection is yet another of those examples.

I first heard ‘Boogachi’ by Charly and the Bourbon Family sometime last year and was shocked that I hadn’t heard it before.

Not that it is so wildly spectacular a 45 that it should have appeared on my radar screen (though it is quite groovy), but rather because it that rarest of funky nuggets, a Meters cover.

But how can this be Professor Grogan? I do not recall a Meters tune by the title of ‘Boogachi’.

That’s because there’s not one, says I.

However, once you pull down the ones and zeros and give the tune a spin you will realize in short order that what you are hearing is in fact a version of the Meters ‘Look Ka Py Py’.

A stolen version (i.e. with no credit whatsoever given to the writers, Messrs Nocentelli, Neville, Modeliste and Porter), to which lyrics have been appended.

Now, I’m not going to slip you the old rubber peach and try to tell you that they beat the Meters at their game, because they don’t.

‘Boogachi’ (the title derived from the chant at the beginning of the OG) lacks much of the subtle funkiness of ‘Look Ka Py Py’, but I will tell you that it makes up for it with a surprising amount of whatever the German word is for balls.

Charly and co bring a certain aggressive Euro vibe to the proceeding (the singer’s thick, occasionally impenetrable accent being a big part of that) and there’s also the novelty of hearing ‘Look Ka Py Py’ delivered with lyrics (even if it is hard to understand them all).

Charly and the Bourbon Family were a German show band that recorded some 45s and one album under a couple of different names (the Untouchables, Charly and the Diamonds) and in a few disparate styles.

One need only look at the song list from their album (which includes the tunes ‘Bobby the Flobby’ and ‘Who Stole the Keeshka’) to realize that they could charitably be described as ‘all over the place’.

There’s a video of the group on Youtube doing a cover of Buck Owens ‘Tiger By the Tail’ that has all the charm of one of the musical numbers from the old Benny Hill Show.

That said, ‘Boogachi’ is very cool indeed and would fit well in a set of funky 45s.

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

However…before I take my leave I should let you know that there is a very groovy show happening in NYC on Thursday night February 2nd at Southpaw in Brooklyn, with the mighty Impressions being back by Binky Griptite and the Dee-Kays (featuring members of the Dap Kings, natch). You also get to enjoy the DJ prowess of DJ Pari, Mr Robinson, Eli Paperboy Reed and DJ Honky, so you are assured a night of fine, soulful goodness.

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.

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By Larry, January 12, 2012 12:59 pm

Odetta

Listen/Download – Odetta – Hit or Miss

Greetings all.

I hope everyone is well, and that you’re all ready to end the week with something groovy.

If I might make a related detour, I will remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show hits the airwaves of the interwebs this (and every) Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. This week is another very greasy Hammond 45 special, with all manner of burners stacked up and set alight by yours truly. If you can’t be there when it airs, you can pick up the show on Saturday as an MP3, right here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is another bit of that rare but delicious subgenre known as folk-funk (funky folk, folky funk, what have you).

If you are my age or older, the name Odetta should be a familiar one.

Odetta (known almost exclusively by her first name for the duration of her career) was one of the queens of the American folk revival.

Though her earliest work was on the musical theater stage (she was involved briefly with the very interesting Turnabout Theatre in Los Angeles), she was working as a folk singer by the mid-50s and by the end of that decade was known as much for her powerful voice as she was for her work in support of the civil rights movement.

She is best remembered as part of the folk movement, but Odetta’s work was also influenced by jazz and the blues.

By the time the end of the 60s rolled around, there were very few standard bearers of the folk movement who hadn’t already branched out into the world of rock and pop to some degree, and Odetta was no exception.

The 1970 LP. ‘Odetta Sings’ was recorded in both Muscle Shoals (with support from the house band as well as cats like Eddie Hinton) and in Los Angeles with a group of studio heavies as well as Carole King on piano.

The album was composed almost exclusively of cover material, by folks like James Taylor, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Randy Newman. There were only two originals on the album, and today’s selection was one of them.

‘Hit or Miss’ is heavily sweated by crate diggers because of the extra-sweet break that opens the tune (that would be Russ Kunkel on the drums) but I invite you to stick around for the rest of the song, which is excellent.

Odetta was possessed of a powerful, unique voice, perfectly suited for delivering heavy, “message” material, so it’s interesting to hear her put that same instrument to work in a more relaxed, soulful setting. There’s more than a touch of 1970-specific, laid back, quasi-hippie groove at work, which is not a bad thing at all.

The 45 of this cut can be kind of pricey, so do yourself a favor and grab the whole album, which ought to be much cheaper, and of course has eight more songs for your money.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Monday.

Peace

Larry

PS Thank you Leah…

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.

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By Larry, January 8, 2012 3:07 pm

Listen/Download – Lloyd W. Williams – Be Mine Tonight

Listen/Download – Lloyd W. Williams – I Need You Now

Greetings all.

I hope everyone had themselves a nice weekend.

The fam and I managed to get out of the house to commune with my sister and her kids, up from the distant South for a late bit of Christmas, which was very groovy indeed.

Last week’s Northern Soul fest was also quite interesting, with an extremely lengthy comments thread at the end of last Monday’s post. I really dig when something I post here generates interesting conversation and this really fit the bill.

The tune I bring you today is yet another testament to the coolness of my man Tony C over in the UK.

I have gone on at length in this space about the many times Tony has turned me on to something cool, and this record is another one of those.

Mr C and I were chatting and he mentioned that he had doubled up on a record and would be sending one of the copies my way.

I dipped into my trade box and sent him some goodness as well.

I’d never heard of Lloyd W. Williams before, so when the package fell through the mail slot and I got a chance to play the record, I was blown away.

‘Be Mine Tonight’ is proof that there is always something cool out there that I haven’t heard yet, which makes the searching all the more fun.

I haven’t been able to turn much up on Williams, other than the fact that the record was recorded in 1969, is of Detroit origin, and was originally released on the Soul Beat label before being picked up for national distribution by ABC.

‘Be Mine Tonight’ is high octane funk with a wailing vocal by Williams and red hot instrumental backing. Whoever was working it out on the organ did a superb job.

It should be mentioned that this record also has an outstanding flipside, the mid-tempo ‘I Need You Now’ which sounds like it was recorded a few years earlier.

I can’t find any indication that the talented Mr Williams ever made another record.

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

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 (14)

By Larry, December 27, 2011 7:58 pm

On the scene at Subway Soul

Willis Wooten – Your Love Is Indescribably Delicious (Virtue)
Bobby Doyle – River Deep Mountain High (WB)
Etta James and Sugar Pie DeSanto – In The Basement (Checker)
Barbara Lynn – Club a Go Go (Tribe)
Billy Butler – Right Track (Okeh)
Impacts – Thunder Chicken (Marmaduke)
Idris Muhammad – Express Yourself (Prestige)
Lavell Kamma and the Afro Soul Revue – Soft Soul (Tupelo Sound)
Sam Dees – Lonely For You Baby (Soul City)
Spellbinders – Help Me Get Myself Back Together Again (Columbia)
Jimmy Ruffin – 96 Tears (Soul)
Ella Fitzgerald – Savoy Truffle (Reprise)
Ray Bryant – Up Above the Rock (Cadet)
Mac Rebennack – The Point (AFO)
Della Reese – It Was a Very Good Year (ABC)
LaVern Baker – Batman to the Rescue (Brunswick)
Norman T Washington – Jumping Jack Flash (Pama)
Rivingtons – Pop Your Corn Pt1 (RCA)
Upsetters – Down Home (ABC)
Vernon Garrett and Marie Franklin – Second To None (Venture)
Curly Moore – Soul Train (Hot Line)
Dobie Gray – Out On the Floor (Charger)
Eyes of Blue – Heart Trouble (Deram)
Washington Smith – Fat Cat (Okeh)
Gene West – In the Ghetto (Original Sound)
Candido – Jingo (Salsoul)
Touch – Love Hangover (Breaking Down) (Brunswick)
Gene Ammons – Son of a Preacherman (Prestige)

Listen/Download – F16C Radio v.95 – 2011 Year In Review – 140MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the year is upon us, and so, as it has been in many years past, is the Funky16Corners Year In Review mix.

This assemblage of the finest individual tracks from this space over the last calendar year has become a tradition in which we sweep up around the Funky16Corners Blogcasting Nerve Center and Record Vault (Funk and Soul Division) and piece together a puzzle of sorts that once assembled (correctly) should give a picture of where my head – and my crates – were at over the last year.

And what a year it’s been.

If you’d sat me down last December and laid out the coming year in front of me, I would have laughed, filled with excitement and then probably crawled under the nearest table in search of shelter.

The year got off to a great start with the beginning of my residency at Spindletop @ Botanica in NYC. Over the course of the next eight months I had the opportunity to spin pretty much whatever I felt like (within certain tasteful guidelines) and it was a blast.

Botanica was a very chill location, with some very cool people, and despite the whole thing crashing down in a somewhat bittersweet pile of ashes, I would say that it was on the whole a very positive experience.

You all know that there is nothing I love better than spinning the music I love for an appreciative audience, and I had many very groovy opportunities to do so this year.

In addition to Spindletop, I was honored to get a chance to participate in one of the last Subway Soul nights, alongside Phast Phreddie, Girlsoul and Jumpy. It was a serious gas, where I got to spin some of my Northern Soul faves and hear the other selectors whip some heat on the ones and twos (I left with a slightly inflated want list that night).

The real treat of the year, though was spinning at Elliott and Jonna’s wedding down in Philly, which was an amazing experience.

Great people into great music with the extra added benefit of some delicious food. I can think of no better way to spend a summer night.

There was also the ongoing pleasure of doing the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which has really been a gas this year. If you haven’t yet tuned in, you can join the party every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, or pick up the show as an MP3 over the weekend (they’re all archived here at the blog, too).

I also got to spin records at a couple of local autism fundraising events which was especially rewarding for reasons very close to my heart.

Speaking of things close to my heart, 2011 was also the year that my wife was diagnosed with leukemia, an event that has verily turned our world inside out.

Though some superficial things have remained on a somewhat even keel, the axis on which my family’s life spins was shaken to its core this fall, and we have all learned to look at the world through slightly different eyes.

Things are on a solid, progressive track as far as my wife’s health is concerned, and we have many reasons to be optimistic, which doesn’t change the fact that no matter how sunny things look ahead of us, there’s always that shadow in the rear view mirror.

I have to make note of the fact that the readers of this blog have been extraordinarily supportive during this crisis, and that has been heartwarming and very much appreciated.

When I take a look at this playlist, it occurs to me that although there are some old faves and some longtime want list items finally bagged, there are also many, many new discoveries that came into my ears and then my crates over the past year, and that is the main reason that the Funky16Corners train stays on the rails.

It has always been my hope that those of you that stop by here on the reg are discovering something new and groovy, but also that you realize that this is a journey of discovery for me as well.

Big ups go out to fellow selectors like Tony C, Tarik Thornton, M-Fasis, Agent 45 and Midnite Cowbwoy for hepping me to cool stuff that I hadn’t heard before, all of which I passed on to you good people through the blog.

I will continue to do so.

I have no idea what 2012 holds for me, since things have really taken on a day-to-day vibe these last few months.

My main hope is that everyone here at home base stays healthy and happy.

Aside from that, I only hope that the next year brings some new sounds my way, and hopefully the opportunity to spread the love, whether through the blog, or in person as a DJ.

Either way, the very least any of us can do is follow that basic prescription in the Funky16Corners logo:

Keep the Faith.

See you next week (make sure to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio for the Year End Funk and Soul Dance Party!)

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo), in regard to the April 2nd walk.

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 for some very tasty UK Folk Rock.

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By Larry, December 22, 2011 3:25 pm

Harvey Averne

Listen / Download – Harvey Averne Band – Let’s Get It Together This Christmas

Greetings all.

I’ve been dropping Christmas funk and soul all week, and when I got home today from running my various and sundry holiday and hospital-related errands it occurred to me that I had yet to repost this most excellent tune, and since I didn’t have a fifth cut ready to go, why not grab the old HTML, add a little contemporary verbiage and let fly.

So, here it is.

I should remind you once again that we have a very special Funky16Corners Radio Show Christmas Special dropping tomorrow (Friday) at 9PM on Viva Radio, and popping up in this very space as an MP3 on Christmas Eve, just in time  to fire it up while you’re torching the Yule log at home.

I will not be posting again until next week, so if you’re in the midst of Hannukah, or anticipating Christmas, or just chilling awash in the wonder of the season(s), our best to you and yours.

Peace

Larry

Originally posted 12/21/10

>>Christmas week has finally arrived, and so, as is the custom, have some funky and soulful holiday 45s.

I managed to get in a nice dig/hang this weekend down at the world famous Asbury Lanes where I managed to grab some excellent records (both the 45 and LP varieties) and meet up with some of my old mod scene compadres (Mr Luther and Mick) as well as AP45 Sessions’ very own DJ Prime Mundo. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I’ve made mention of the fact that I have never been a big collector of holiday music, Don’t get me wrong – I dig the jingle bells and the ho ho ho and what not – but with rare exception (generally the records that I feature here around Christmas time) I don’t go out of my way to add this kind of stuff to my record box.

Occasionally – as is the case with the Soulful Strings Christmas LP – such a record dovetails nicely with an existing obsession. Sometimes, as was the case with Clarence Carter’s ‘Backdoor Santa’, we might be talking about a record that kicks ass solidly despite the fact that it’s aimed at a Yuletide audience.

This week I’ll be bringing you two great holiday selections (Monday and Wednesday) and then taking the rest of the week off to enjoy the holiday with the fam.

I wouldn’t leave you hanging though, so make sure you tune into the Funky16Corners Radio Show this Friday at 9PM, Christmas Eve for the first annual Funky16Corners Radio Christmas Special, for an hour of the coolest funk and soul sounds for the holiday. You’ll hear the Soulful Strings, Clarence Carter, James Brown and many, many more.

The tune I bring you today is nice but of funky Latin soul by the mighty Harvey Averne.

Averne was – like his bandmate and fellow Latin music legend Larry Harlow – a non-Hispanic (both men were Jewish) who played a big role in the history of the storied Fania label.

Averne, a vibraphonist, got his start under the name Arvito and his Latin Orchestra, playing during the 50s mambo craze, eventually taking over a band that included Harlow on piano.

He had a great deal of success as a musician (and in the construction business) but had probably his most important role as the mad behind the day to day operations of Fania.

Hired by label owner Jerry Masucci, Averne worked at Fania as musician, producer (of Ray Barretto’s ‘Acid’ LP among many other classics) and A&R man.

Oddly enough, his first record, among them the boogaloo classics ‘The Micro Mini’ and ‘You’re No Good’ were released on the Atlantic label, with Averne eventually having a bunch if stuff released on Fania and its Uptite subsidiary.

The tune I bring you today ‘Let’s Get It Together This Christmas’ is a funky mover, with the punchy bass, the jingling jingle bells, and an upbeat message for the season.

I haven’t been able to nail down a release date, but the catalog number would suggest something in the area of 1969 or 1970.

The flip side is a an otherwise groovy version of ‘The Christmas Song’, marred by the ‘contributions’ of a barking dog (who gets credit on the label!).

‘Let’s Get It Together This Christmas’ was also included on the excellent ‘In The Christmas Groove’ comp.

I hope you dig the tune.<<

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

Comments (3)

By Larry, December 21, 2011 8:21 pm

The LP (above), Miss Dorothy Ashby (below)

Listen/Download – The Soulful Strings – Jingle Bells

Listen/Download – The Soulful Strings feat. Dorothy Ashby – Merry Christmas Baby

Greetings all.

Today’s Christmas presents were originally posted back in 2007.

You know I’m a HUGE Richard Evans/Soulful Strings fan, and their version of ‘Merry Christmas Baby’ is in a dead heat for the title of my all-time fave Christmas record.

Don’t forget to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show Christmas Special, this Friday at 9PM where you’ll hear many of the old favorites and some newly discovered goodies as well.

If you celebrate, have a great Christmas, if not, have a great weekend all the same.

See you next week. – Larry

>>As I’ve stated repeatedly in the past, I’ve never been much of a holiday music collector. However, once in a while a personal obsession of mine also happens to have a Christmas record. In the case of Richard Evans and the Soulful Strings, their 1968 LP ‘The Magic of Christmas’ is a real gem.

The first tune I selected was the obvious choice (at least for me) because I can’t think of another version of ‘Jingle Bells’ that opens up with an honest to goodness drum break. I’m not sure who’s laying it down here (though I’m guessing that it is in fact Morris Jennings Jr.).

The second selection is a lush, sublime reading of Charles Brown’s classic ‘Merry Christmas Baby’ which features the brilliant Dorothy Ashby on harp. If you aren’t familiar with Ashby – I included her ‘Soul Vibrations’ on my collab with DJ Prestige ‘Beat Combination Pt2’ (check out the Flea Market Funk Mixes page)– she was one of the few harpists who could actually play jazz on the instrument, and the three albums she recorded for Cadet between 1968 and 1970 (in collaboration with Evans) are brilliant.

If your nerves are frayed (like mine) and the consumerist madness of the holiday season has you down, give this version of ‘Merry Christmas Baby’ a listen and all will (at least for a few minutes) be well, as it is positively sublime.

I’ll be taking the next week off to enjoy the holiday with my family and do a little visiting. I will most definitely be back with something for New Years Eve, so hang tight, enjoy your Christmas and I’ll see you all soon.<<

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, December 20, 2011 8:10 pm

West Coast/East Coast

Listen/Download – George Conedy – El Nino Del Tambor

Listen/Download – Lenox Avenue – Little Drummer Boy

Greetings all.

Today’s Christmas goodies appeared here at Funky16Corners at different times over the last five years (or so). They are both extremely cool versions of a song that I’m not particularly fond of in it’s natural incarnation, so you know they must be good for me to post them.

Dig – if you will – and stay tuned for more on the morrow.

First – George Conedy and ‘El Nino Del Tambor’

>>On the flippity flop, I bring you the result of a happy accident (referring not to the recording of the record, but rather the circumstances by which it landed in my Crate du Hammonde).

The record in question popped up a while back on the sale list of a pal of mine, who’s taste in music I hold in very high regard (howdy Agent 45…).

So, on this list I see a record with the brief (but wholly sufficient description of “funky Hammond version”), directly adjacent to a very reasonable price, which was at the end of a line that began with a Spanish song title (which I didn’t bother to translate). So, I pay my money, some time elapses and the record in question pops through the mail slot at Funky16Corners headquarters. I whipped it on the turntable, and in a few short seconds (about as long as I suspect it will take you) it became apparent that the title was in fact ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ en Espanol.

I have to say that even as a tike, when they still showed the animated special of the same title, this was far from my favorite Christmas tune, certainly not the kind of thing I thought capable of funk-a-fi-zation. Little did I know that sometime in the late 60’s or early 70’s an organist named George Conedylaid down an LP of Christmas tunes for the gospel subsidiary of the Kent label, which I am assuming was the source of the music on this very 45**.

All I have to say is that George took an overly solemn carol and turned it into a slow, funky jam that sounds like it dropped out of the long lost (so long lost as to never have existed..) Santa-sploitation classic “Superfly Santa the Hard Way” aka “Hell Up in the North Pole”, in which our hero, Saint Nicky, wearing a red (of course) velvet suit, and driving a red and white Caddy brings Christmas joy to all the poor kids (and a few of the better looking women) on his route.

I’ve gone a-Googling, and as far as I can tell Mr. Conedy has vanished into the ether.

Well, wherever you be I say Huzzah! And Merry Christmas to you George!<<

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Second – Lenox Avenue and ‘ Little Drummer Boy’ (originally posted 12/09)

>>The tune I bring you today is something I picked up this year (and oddly enough I can’t remember the circumstances of its arrival in my crates). It’s a funky take on that old holiday chestnut ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ by a group called Lenox Avenue. This, their sole 45 was released on Chess in 1970.

Though I haven’t been able to find any info on the group, the names on the label suggest to me that this may in fact be an early incarnation of the group that recorded an album a few years later under the name the Chuck Rainey Coalition (on the Skye label).

Bassist Rainey and his cohorts – including keyboardist Richard Tee – were major hired hands in the New York (and elsewhere, natch) studio scene, showing up on all kinds of records from the late 60s onward.

Lenox Avenue’s take on ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ is taken a slow, but funky pace with some groovy female backing voices. As I mentioned a while back when I posted the equally cool George Conedy version of the tune, this has never been one of my fave Christmas carols, yet when someone injects it with a dose of funk, I really dig it. <<

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, December 19, 2011 7:29 pm

Clarence Carter

Listen/Download – Clarence Carter – Back Door Santa

Greetings all.

As promised, I’ve returned early this week (and will continue to do so) to bring you some of my favorite tunes from Funky16Corners Christmases past.

First up is probably my fave soulful holiday tune, Clarence Carter’s ‘Back Door Santa’, first posted here back in December of 2006.

>>As I’ve gone over a few different times, I’ve never been a big collector of (any) holiday themed funk and soul. I may pick up a piece here and there – when it turns up – but I don’t generally seek it out. This is the main reason it may take a decade or so before you see me post a Christmas edition of Funky16Corners Radio. I just don’t have the raw material at my disposal.

That is not to say that I would ever let the time of year go by unnoticed, and this time out I have a couple of excellent funky yule logs for ye, one you may have heard, and another that you almost certainly haven’t.

The former may very well be my all time favorite funk/soul Christmas record, by one of the truly great voices of 60’s and 70’s soul. The singer, Mr. Clarence Carter, the song, ‘Back Door Santa’.

First off, I suspect that someone, somewhere in the funky blog-o-sphere will be dropping this chestnut, and I don’t care, on account of I love this record, and you should too, and much like spinach and yams, more than one serving will only serve to improve your overall well being.

That said, Clarence rips it up here, whipping every last bit of funk they had hidden at Fame studios on you (as well as jingle bells and egg nog), with all the good Santa-related double (hardly) entendres money can buy. Get this on thy-Pod post haste, so that over the weekend, when some wet blanket tries to throw ‘Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer’ (or, God forbid that thing where the dogs bark out ‘Jingle Bells’) on at the Christmas gathering, you can parry (and thrust) with this big, jangling set of Christmas balls and really get the party started.

I mean, seriously…how can your ears suck up this groovy gravy, and your butt fail to respond– in the words of the great Lee Dorsey (without whom everything you do can’t be funky) – with the make-a-shake-a-make-a-hula, or however it is you likes to shake it (but don’t break it).

By the way, if some youngster starts tugging on your scarf when this starts playing, it’s because he heard this songs very essence sampled by none other than Run DMC (It’s Christmas in Hollis Queens! Etc etc).<<

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 (8)

By Larry, December 18, 2011 2:41 pm

Ho Ho Hyeaahhh!

Listen/Download – James Brown – Santa Claus Go Straight To the Ghetto

Greetings all.

The time has come, as it does once a year for yours truly to let loose with the Ho Ho Hos and the jingle bells and what not on account of the fact that Christmas is approaching rapidly.

As has been mentioned here before, this is a multi-religious household, with myself representing the (extremely) lapsed-Catholic and my wife repping the Jewish and the Little Corners an interfaith bouillabaisse, their eyes and hearts filled to bursting with the childhood wonder of the season.

Which is really what it’s all about, at least from my vantage point, where what I want is no more or less than their happiness, and my wife’s good health.

You know that I’ve mentioned here (every single Christmas since this blog has been extant) that I have never been a prodigious collector of holiday music. Whether this has to do with my acceptance (almost at the DNA level) of the cheesy/classic seasonal sounds of my childhood, to the point where I can sit back and take some comfort in the sound of the voices of Andy Williams or Jim Nabors (and surprisingly enough, I can), or that seeing limited appeal/value in holiday music, I’d rather spend my money on reg’lar old soul and funk is in the end meaningless, since there always seems to be something cool dropping in from the margins to satisfy the Funky Kringle in us all.

I bring you today’s selection in particular because it is a favorite of bot myself and my wife, and naturally because it is a very groovy, upbeat and cheerful Christmas offering from Mr Please Please Please (HO HO HO?) himself, James Brown.

When I listen to ‘Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto’, I realize that what we get with this record is both funky and danceable, but also poignant, especially in these days where there’s a tent city of homeless families not 10 miles from my warm, toasty house, and Mr Brown was thinking of how this, the most precious of holidays for children especially, could be rough for the poorest among us, and we should remember that while we listen to this song.

We should also remember that James Brown, who gave us such a great Christmas song, left us on that very day five years ago.

So dig the tune (there’ll be many old faves dropping as the week progresses) and remember that not everyone has the wherewithal to have a groovy holiday.

So try to remember that even if you are (like me) not a religious person, that the Christmas season can just be about brotherhood in the general ‘Family of Man’ sense, which is cool too, especially when times are tough (which they are for so many).

See you on tomorrow.

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 (2)

By Larry, December 15, 2011 12:45 pm

James Rivers

Listen/Download – James Rivers – Fonky Flute

Greetings all.

The end of another week is upon us, and so I must remind you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be hitting the airwaves of the interwebs this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. This week we have Part 2 of our international excursion, with stops in Africa, the West Indies and the UK, so make sure to stop by and dig it. If you are unable to do so, but still wish to hear the show you can fall by here and pick up the ones and zeros on Saturday when I post the show as an MP3 here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is a groovy one that I’ve been holding out of the spotlight for a while (though it did drop in a mix about four years ago).

The artist in question, James Rivers is a cat that I’ve been following ever since I started to get deep into the sounds of New Orleans.

Rivers was a multi-instrumentalist (equally adept on sax and flute) who recorded a number of excellent 45s under his own name for labels like Instant, Eight Ball, Kon-Ti and J.B.’s, as well as at least one album. He was also a busy sideman in the studios of New Orleans, working for cats like Eddie Bo.

Rivers recorded several 45s for Lionel Worthy’s Kon-Ti label in the late 60s and early 70s (see Dan Phillips article on Rivers’ Kon-Ti sides at the always excellent Home of the Groove) and the catalog number seems to place today’s selection in the vicinity of 1969 or 1970.

I picked up my copy of ‘Fonky Flute’ in an auction years ago, and have never seen another copy since then (which is why I’ve never had the opportunity to ‘mint up’).

The record starts out innocently enough, with a pleasant melody being stated by the band (organ, piano, drums and bass) and River’s flute lead.

The flute soloing begins to get gradually more intense, until about the 1:30 mark at which point Rivers goes absolutely batshit with the overblowing and the vocalizing, eventually closing out the passage with a whistle (?!?), in the Rahsaan Roland Kirk stylee.

The song then pops back into the groove, with Rivers getting just a little bit crazy again before the run out groove.

You know I’m a huge jazz flute fan, and the first time I heard this record I just about flipped my wig.

Rivers was a versatile instrumentalist – which is probably made him such a popular studio hand – and this can be seen in his own recordings. He was capable of playing blues, jazz, New Orleans second line parade sounds, soul and funk.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all 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, December 13, 2011 4:07 pm

Dizzy Gillespie

Listen/Download – Dizzy Gillespie – Soul Kiss Pt1

Greetings all.

I hope the middle of the week, aka dio del humpo finds you all well.

If you fall by Funky16Corners on the reg, you already know that I often find myself in a jazz bag, but even the most devoted might be surprised on how deep that bag really is.

Thanks to my father, a musician and a fan, I’ve been hearing jazz my entire life, from Dixieland, to Chicago style, West Coast cool, and hard bop (in my parents house) and adding post bop, fusion and free jazz in my adulthood.

There was even a period in my late 20s to my early 30s where I listened to little else.

There are often jazz and jazz-related features here on Funky16Corners (and on the radio show) but those are generally restricted to the groove-based and the funky.

I’m not here to tell you that I’m going to start rhapsodizing about my deep and abiding love for Clifford Brown and Thelonious Monk, or that I’m going to start another blog, because I’m not (insane), but rather to preface the inclusion of another groovy, funky track, that happens to have been made by one of the most prominent innovators in the history of jazz.

It has been discussed here before, but to reprise briefly, there are two kinds of jazzers you will find here at Funky16Corners, those who’s career is rooted almost exclusively in soul jazz/groove, in that those sounds were their figurative bread and butter, and old school players who found themselves on the margin as the 60s arrived and took a detour into a more contemporary sound in an effort to stay current.

John Birks ‘Dizzy’ Gillespie found himself in 1971 teetering on the border between those two groups.

It was Gillespie, who along with Monk, Charlie Parker, Kenny Clarke and many others verily gave birth to Bebop in the 1940s.

Dizzy had the extra added benefit of also being a hepcat supreme, becoming in essence the face of the movement with his beret, goatee and hip lingo. People might have heard of Parker or later (much later) Monk, but they knew what Dizzy looked like, and in the earliest days of the spread of electronic media, that meant that for many, he was THE face of modern jazz.

I was lucky enough to see him twice in the late 70s and early 80s.

The tune I bring you today was recorded in 1971, when keyboardist Mike Longo was working in Dizzy’s band.

While there were old school boppers like James Moody on the session, you also had Longo, Bernard Purdie and Phil Upchurch as well.

The sound of ‘Soul Kiss’ is about soul jazzy as Dizzy ever got, and it’s not hard to see cuts like this as his bid to stay in the rapidly evolving game.

The groove is hard, the organ wails, and the only indication the listener gets that Gillespie was involved are the short, sharp trumpet bursts in the chorus.

The album that it comes from ‘The Real Thing’ is a very funky affair, especially for Gillespie, and as a result it is sweated heavily by the crate digging set.

I have yet to find a vinyl copy of the LP, but the 45 I bring you today will do for now.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all on Friday.

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 (5)

By Larry, December 1, 2011 2:08 pm

The Village Callers LP

Listen/Download – The Village Callers – Hector

Greetings all.

I hope the end of the week finds things in your corner of the world settled, mellow and wonderful.

Things here are fairly groovy, with my lovely wife nestled in the warmth of home.

She’s doing well, considering the hell she’s been through, but her prognosis is good. She goes back in for round two of chemo next week, and while we’d all rather she be home, as the old saying goes, you gotta do what you gotta do, and right now that involves doctors and medicine and all that goes along and while it’s tough now we’ll have the rest of our lives to sit back and hoist our collective middle finger toward cancer as it disappears in the rear view mirror.

This has been a real awakening into the capricious nature of life, or at least what can happen to “our” life and how quickly it can be rearranged whether we like it or not. You can’t really waste a lot of time carping about why it is thus (though we’ve done that too), and in the long run the only sane thing to do is kind of stare down the beast with all the technology and mental strength you can muster, value the good things you still have (and that is a lot) and soldier on.

I won’t lie and tell you that I haven’t spilled a few tears, whether the product of fear, sadness or frustration, but I will tell you that you find real, solid comfort from all corners (sometimes in places you didn’t expect), and that is always a pleasant surprise.

Our friends – here in our immediate sphere, and out in the wilds of the interwebs – have been singularly uplifting, and in my own case, being able to retreat into the blog has been of immense value.

I should stop here and remind you that Friday night at 9PM sees the return of the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio. This week is a survey of international funk and soul, with stops in Sweden, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Japan and Jamaica. If you can’t be there at the time of broadcast, you can always pick the show up as an MP3 on Saturday, right here at the blog.

That said, while I had a couple of articles stockpiled, I found myself straightening the record vault this week and while I was digging for a few records that I had neglected to scan, I pulled out my 45 of the Village Callers ‘Hector’ and realized, much to my surprise, that in the seven years the Funky16Corners blog has been up and running I have never (outside of inclusion in a mix or two) put the spotlight on this incredible record.

I think the first time I ever heard ‘Hector’ was wayyyy back in the day on one of the old UK ‘Sound of Funk’ comps (I think on the same volume that introduced me to ‘Iron Leg’ by Mickey and the Soul Generation) and it was a classic case of love at first listen.

It took me a few years before I got my hands on an original copy of the 45, but it has always held a special place of honor in my record box.

‘Hector’ is one of those records that has a secure place in my personal all-time Top Ten, and I always dig getting the chance to light it up on a big, loud sound system.

It has the kind of groove that builds so organically, with the drums, bass, congas, hand-claps, guitar and above all Hammond organ, that you’re up and out of your seat before you know it.

‘Hector’ has something that a lot of funk 45s don’t, that being it swings and the overall effect is nothing less than life affirming, and not on some corny, message-y way, unless you’re willing to take your message as delivered within the groove, in which case it’s super heavy and profound in the same way that sunlight, or a smile can be.

The Village Callers (borrowing their name from the Johnny Lytle soul jazz classic of the same name) were an East LA club band that mixed the soul hits of the day with Latin soul and jazz for funky stew. You can read more about their history here.

‘Hector’ is an uplifting, happy record that elevates my spirits whenever I play it, and I know that’s something I need now, and something all of you can benefit from as well, on account of the weekend is almost here.

So pull down the ones and zeros and then get up and shake to the sound of the Village Callers.

I’ll see you all 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.