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By Larry, March 6, 2011 3:01 pm

My copy of the 45 (above) and two more variations (below)

Listen/Download – The Touch – Pick and Shovel

Listen/Download – The Touch – Blue On Green

Greetings all.

I hope everyone had themselves an exceptionally groovy weekend.

I just want to take a second to mention that I took some time this weekend to clean up the blogroll. There were a number of blogs that had either gone dark (for a variety of reasons), including a few faves, as well as a number of others that hadn’t had a new post in six months or more. There was also one that appeared to have been compromised with malware, so that got the axe too.

If your blog was taken off in error, i.e. I caught you during a temporary break (I don’t get to go through the whole list all that often), please let me know.

I figured I’d get things started this week with something funky, that’s also a bit of an intriguing mystery record.

I grabbed ‘Pick and Shovel’ by the Touch off of a set sale list a while back, mainly because it’s one of those meat and potatoes funk 45s that always seems to turn up on DJ playlists as well as the various and sundry places where groovy labels get posted for perusal on the interwebs.

Unfortunately the copy I got had the exceptionally dull-looking Atlantic-distributed version of the 45. The original local issue on the Lecasver label is very cool (seen above).

I mentioned intrigue because, though it is omitted on my version of the 45, the OG indicates that LeCasVer (an amalgam of the label owners names, Leanzo, Castellano and Verrico) bears an address in Cedar Grove, New Jersey.

There’s also the matter of the creativity-associated names on the labels (the flip is a cover of Booker T and the MGs ‘Blue On Green’), including John Frangipane and Vinnie Corrao.

Both of those gentlemen were NY-area session players, Frangipane on keyboards, and Corrao on guitar.

The tune itself is a wild, off kilter Meters-esque affair with lots of wailing organ, choppy guitar, unusually animated bass and hard hitting drums.

The flip, ‘Blue On Green’ is very faithful to its source material, with Frangipane approximating the Booker T organ sound very well. I actually dig the Touch’s version more than I do the original. It has a warmer, more relaxed feel.

As far as I can tell ‘The Touch’ wasn’t a measurable hit anywhere, but I do know for a fact that there are at least three different pressings of this 45, i.e. the one I have, the one with the groovy lettering, and another one with a dark blue label and very simple lettering, so it was clearly getting around.

I wish I knew more about the band, especially if they (like the label) were NJ-based, and whether or not they were merely a studio project or actually played out.

The world may never know.

However, there’s a fair amount of funk packed into the grooves, so I hope you dig it.

I’ll be back on Wednesday.

Peace

Larry

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PS Head over to Iron Leg for some interesting late 60s pop.

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By Larry, March 1, 2011 1:09 pm

Callen Radcliffe Tjader

Listen/Download – Cal Tjader – Gimme Shelter

Greetings all.

I hope all is well in your neck of the interwebs.

I mentioned in Monday’s post that I had a rather interesting weekend (or more specifically, Saturday) and that I’d fill you all in today.

This is the kind of tale that some would be tempted to refer to as a comedy of errors, but since it was all error and extremely light on the funny, I will refrain from doing so.

The day started out on an optimistic note when my lovely wife informed me that instead of taking my son to a birthday party, I could instead head up to Jersey City for the Record Riot.

This was very groovy, so I got my record bag and some crumpled up dollars, hopped in the Funky16Corners-mobile (a major player in this story)  and hit the road.

Now, I haven’t spent a great deal of time in Jersey City since the days of visiting my brother there when he lived there almost a decade ago*, but I know some folks who live in the area, and was expecting to see some of them at the show (hey, Pat).

I got up there (about a 90 minute trek) and the first thing I noticed was that seemingly every other street sign in the city had been removed, making it extremely hard to locate the record show.

When I finally got there (the show was being held in a studio space behind a big shopping center) I ended up circling the area looking for what ended up being a non-existent parking space, eventually deciding to park in a lot that appeared to be shared by the shopping center and the light rail station (I should note here that not being a complete numbskull, I did survey the area for anything that would indicate that parking was prohibited. I did not see anything, and the proximity to the rail station now leads me to invite both the city of Jersey City, and the fine people at BJ’s Wholesale Club to go fuck themselves**).

There were no yellow curbs, no fire hydrants and the car was parked between two painted white lines, a tableaux that immediately brought to mind the time worn phrase, “parking space”.

I went into the show, which though not spectacular (very short on 45s) managed to yield some cool stuff.

I figure I was in there for about an hour, at which time I decided that I’d spent enough money and headed back to my car.

What I soon discovered was that I was in fact walking back not to my car, but rather to the spot where my car HAD ONCE BEEN.

Now I’m a big dude, but I am not too big to admit that my initial reaction came perilously close to tears.

I’m not sure how long I stood in the empty, oblong spot that once harbored my car, but it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes before a tow track came tearing into the lot and started backing up to the car in the spot next to mine, preparing to take it away.

I banged on the window of the truck and discovered in short order that he had just finished taking my car to the impound lot. He also pointed out the small sign that I had missed that not only indicated this was an area where parking was prohibited (unless of course you were a customer of the warehouse store, and given the opportunity, I would have gladly gone inside and purchased a palette of toilet paper in order to bypass the towing nightmare), but was also courteous enough to include a schedule of penalties as well.

I was momentarily relieved that my car had not (technically) been stolen.

That didn’t last long.

He agreed to take me to the lot, and informed me that I would have to cough up 225USD, but there was an ATM machine right by the place.

Now, when I tell you that the further we got from the record show, the more bleak the landscape got***, I am not exaggerating.

When we got to the block where the lot was he instructed me that I’d have to walk a few blocks to the bodega where the ATM was located.

When I got there (after being yelled at by a guy across the street who apparently didn’t think I belonged in the neighborhood) I discovered that the door to the bodega was locked. The gentlemen at the gas pumps – after initially ignoring me  – eventually let on that their benefactor was likely indisposed on the bowl and would be returning in a few minutes.

He materialized shortly and let me into the store where I immediately withdrew cash from the machine, all the time wondering if I was going to be able to make it back to the garage without getting robbed.

The fact that I’m writing this now should indicate that I did in fact get my car back and made it out of the city in one piece.

I was shaken, but not because Jersey City was any more dangerous than any other city but because it was utterly unfamiliar.

Having Google Maps at your disposal makes it much easier to get to a destination, but is no help at all in granting egress once someone has made off with your vehicle.

I’ve spent a lot of time in New York City over the last 30 years, and were the same situation to occur there, it wouldn’t bring with it the immediate sense of disorientation I felt in JC. I also suspect that it would be much more difficult (and expensive) to get my car back in NYC, but that’s neither here nor there.

Needless to say, I will not be returning to Jersey City any time soon, unless of course one of you good sports offers to drive, in which case I’ll be glad to wait at the record show while you retrieve your vehicle from the impound lot.

That all said, I was planning on posting today’s selection long before the above events transpired, but once again, a more superstitious individual would see this song choice as the hand of fate at work.

I on the other hand am more inclined to attribute the whole clusterfuck to Murphy’s Law, and the coincidental song selection to its inherent high quality.

I can’t recall where I first heard Cal Tjader’s amazing cover of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Gimme Shelter’ but I do remember digging it immediately.

Getting my hands on my own copy wasn’t quite so easy, but as is often the case time, luck and a little bit of money took care of that.

If you’ve spent any amount of time here (or more specifically in the Funky16Corners Radio Podcast Archive) you already know that I am a huge fan of the vibes in general, but most especially Mr. Tjader.

He was a master of Latin jazz, branching out into exotica and what would become known as rare groove.

Tjader’s version of ‘Gimme Shelter’ appeared on his 1971 ‘Agua Dulce’ LP, during a period where electric instrumentation (aside from his own vibes, natch) were taking a more prominent place in his band. Here you get synthesizers (employed tastefully), electric piano and the master himself working it out.

I think a few years ago if you’d suggested to me that a song like ‘Gimme Shelter’ would have worked within Tjader’s style I would have reacted with suspicion, but as the cats in the powdered wigs liked to say, the proof is in the pudding.

While much of the chaos and menace of the Stones**** version are missing, Tjader’s interpretation still has a certain something that comes on almost like a distant echo of the original.

Groovy indeed, and I hope you dig it.

With any luck I will avoid tragedy until I return on Friday.

Peace

Larry

* A time when his car was stolen from in front of his apartment.

** Though I’m sure there are those among the towing service sector who like to think of themselves as providing some kind of public service, I prefer to think of their business as a unique combination of car theft and extortion. The fact that the tow truck driver was a creep on a whole other level didn’t do anything to change this opionion.

*** Aside from travelling down one street where I had a perfect, almost poetic vista of the Statue of Liberty

**** Or Merry Clayton’s

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By Larry, February 15, 2011 3:15 pm

The Dixie Cups on TV = Groovy…

Listen/Download – Dixie Cups – Two-Way-Poc-A-Way

Greetings all.

I don’t know about you, but I unwisely spent my Sunday evening staring at the TV set while the ‘music industry’ took a hot steaming dump.

I understand that ranting about this brings with it the possibility of being branded as old and out of touch, but honest to god, what a lot of shit.

Oh, by the way, I’m talking about the Grammy Awards.

It’s not like this is a new development, because what manifested itself on the screen this week was only the latest incremental step in a decades-long slide to the bottom.

It has been years since popular music ceased worrying about sounding good and began obsessing with spectacle, i.e. how many pyrotechnics, backup dancers and how much postmodern filigree could be wrapped around a song (and I use the term loosely) to keep the saucer-eyed worker ants tossing their hard earned money into the wood chipper, but the blending of the tabloid sensibility with what passes for music these days is scraping the street like a damaged muffler, throwing up sparks and shrapnel while revealing the finely tuned engine of commerce for the loud, greasy beast that it really is.

The really revealing thing is how much of this can be laid at the feet of old-schoolers, who allow their egos to be over-inflated by essentially empty (publicist driven) idolatry from their descendants while phoning it in in the laziest possible way.

There, on the stage next to the current crop of freshly wrapped, forgettable crap (nothing new there, just the latest version of the oily film that has always floated atop the music industry) were folks like Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger (who in paying “tribute” to Brother Solomon Burke, got the first line of ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’ WRONG), Aretha Franklin and Kris Kristofferson (among many others) who really ought to have known better, basically tossing dirt on top of their own caskets.

It wouldn’t be so bad if they were performing something new, of their own creation, but they allow themselves to be wrapped around all manner of contemporary awfulness, like juicy slices of bacon embracing a succession of turds (anti-Rumaki?) , while we all sit by like waterboarding subjects, gasping thankfully for that brief respite from a musical drowning like our torturers are doing us a favor.

Just awful on every conceivable level, ultimately more about the ‘red carpet’, the iconography of crass stupidity and commerce than anything that might be mistaken for art and soul.

Of course I sat there like Statler and/or Waldorf (OG Muppets represent), sneering at my TV set when the off-button was always in reach, which makes me a special brand of rube, but I was also e-commiserating with others of my ilk on the social network that will remain unnamed, so I guess it was a kind of digital anti-focus group, in which we all bonded together in hatred for those that would presume that we were stupid enough to find any of this appetizing, which is where things are in the 21st century (where’s my jet car and Martian vacation home???).

It’s the ultimate manifestation of everything bad about post-modernization (not the conceptual po-mo but what the powers of commerce have done with it).

What we need is something solid with a direct line to the soul, and what you get is Justin Beiber, dancing ninjas with fireworks shooting out of their asses and a “song of the year” (really? Bad year…) largely cribbed from a thirty year old pop song. It’s as if the recording industry, already choking to death on its own spew (and lack of foresight) decided that insulting the intelligence of its audience was a waste of time since there was no longer anything there to be insulted so why not serve up the contents of their dumpster and make believe it’s caviar and lobster?

That said, when I decided I was going to fill this space with gripe, I realized that I couldn’t very well do that without countering the suck with something especially good, representative of the kind of musical kick in the sack required to cleanse the palate in a case like this.

I have my man Dan at the Home of the Groove to thank for turning me on to today’s selection a few years back.

I – like anyone else with a radio or a seat at a wedding – was already aware of the Dixie Cups, with the ‘Chapel of Love’, and ‘People Say’ and that tip of the feathered headdress to their home in the Crescent City ‘Iko Iko’, but when I first heard ‘Two-Way-Poc-A-Way’ my hair (and my prominent ears) stood on end, as they should when presented with something so powerful.

Recorded in 1965 after they moved from Red Bird to ABC/Paramount, and produced by none other than Joe Jones, ‘Two-Way-Poc-A-Way’ is the Wild Indian chant of ‘Iko Iko’ taken to a whole ‘nother extreme, removed from the pop element and placed firmly in the Mardi Gras parade as if you were cakewalking alongside the Big Chief with a head full of spirits (liquid and deceased).

Not much more than the Dixie Cups and a grip of percussion (more than enough if you ask me) ‘Two-Way-Poc-A-Way’ was – even for 1965 when things were really starting to change – an awfully strange record to toss at AM radio – but that’s one of the many reasons (maybe the main one) why it’s so cool.

I’ve dropped this one at funk 45 fests (and in a previous mix) but I figured that in a situation like this, it deserved to be put up where it might be savored on its own.

Real stuff for an increasingly unreal world.

Peace

Larry

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PS Head over to Iron Leg for some prime UK psyche/prog.

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By Larry, February 13, 2011 1:08 pm

Phil Upchurch

Listen/Download – Phil Upchurch – I Don’t Know

Listen/Download – Phil Upchurch – Bacn’ Chips

Greetings all.

I hope the dawn of a new week finds you all well and in a soulful groove.

I spent the better part of the weekend configuring a new workstation after the old (original) Funky16Corners laptop, that I had passed on to the kids, went belly up. Fortunately the transition from Vista to Windows 7 was a lot easier (and much less expensive) that that from XP to Vista, where a lot of the software I use for blogging and podcasts was suddenly rendered obsolete.

As we speak, I have completed the Monday posts for Funky16Corners and Iron Leg, and started work on next week’s Funky16Corners Radio Show, so it appears that we’re up to speed.

I should let you know that next Monday (2/21) I will be returning to Spindletop @ Botanica in NYC. It’s a very cool bar, and I assure you I’ll be bringing some very groovy records with me, so if you’re in the neighborhood, and feel like a cocktail and some soul might hit the spot, drop by.

The tunes I bring you today hail from the discography of one of the truly great and innovative labels of the 60s, Cadet.

They also come to you courtesy of the plectrum of one of the label’s greatest session musicians, Mr. Phil Upchurch.

If his name is familiar, it may be because he had a genuine hit in 1961, with the Phil Upchurch Combo and ‘You Can’t Sit Down’.

It’s more likely you’ve seen his name on the backs of (and the fronts of some) countless albums, where he contributed his talents on the guitar.

Upchurch was born in Chicago, and it was to that city he returned after his stint in the Army.

If you’re a devotee of the Cadet sound, you’ve heard Upchurch’s playing on productions by both Richard Evans and Charles Stepney (who produced/arranged this session), including albums by the Soulful Strings, Ramsey Lewis, Odell Brown, the Rotary Connection, Jack McDuff and even Woody Herman’s sessions for the label.

Upchurch also had the opportunity to record a few albums of his own for Cadet, including ‘Upchurch’ in 1969, and the album that includes today’s selections ‘The Way I Feel’ in 1970.

The two tracks I bring you today give you a flavor not only for Upchurch’s prodigious skill as a guitarist, but also for the way the Cadet sound synthesized the various and sundry musical threads coursing through the atmosphere at the time.

Both ‘Bac’n Chips’ and ‘I Don’t Know’ are both soulful, occasionally funky, with touches of rock (I hear bits and pieces of Hendrix) as well as the smooth, stylish, even artsy feel of Stepney’s best work.

Like Richard Evans, Stepney was nothing less than a visionary, instilling the records he worked on with imagination and style.

Upchurch would go on to record sought out sessions for Blue Thumb, as well as decades of making the records of other artists better than they might have been.

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

Peace

Larry

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 prime UK psyche/prog.

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By Larry, February 8, 2011 3:28 pm

Listen/Download -Sebastian – Living In Depression

Greetings all.

I hope you are all well.

This has been a busy week, but what might be described as ‘good’ busy, as opposed to up to your ass in hungry, snapping alligators i.e. ‘bad’ busy. I have a lot on my plate but it’s the kind of stuff that keep things moving forward in a positive (if incremental) way, so I think I can dig it.

Everyone has their own pile of responsibilities, some more pressing than others, and naturally the quest is always to find a way to balance it all, keep your life in between the lines and maybe, just maybe squeeze a little enjoyment out of the process.

So far, so good.

The tune I bring you today is something that I happened upon (as is often the case) via another collectors ‘finds’s list. The collector in question was someone who’s taste I hold in very high regard, and his description of the disc was so intriguing I set out to find myself a copy.

The acquisition thereof was both rapid and financially painless, which is more than I can say for the quest for information that followed.

The groovy thing – once the record fell through the mail slot – was that it was immediately apparent that ‘Living In Depression’ was in fact a vocal laid over the top of Little Royal and the Swingmasters funk 45 classic ‘Razor Blade’.

I set off in search of info, and found almost nothing, except for an intriguing scrap of info that placed Sebastian in Virginia.

That was months ago, and I found nothing else, so I moved the track to the back of the line and went on about my bid’ness.

So, I was dipping back into the reservoir and decided that I’d make another run at this track, and lo and behold I discover that the fine folks at the Funky Virginia blog had laid out the whole story in detail, so allow me to direct you over there for all of the pertinent info.

The track does suffer a little bit from a bad mix (especially in the beginning), but if you dig ‘Razor Blade’ as much as I do, I think you’ll enjoy hearing it laid down as a vocal.

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

Peace

Larry

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 late-60s LA rock.

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By Larry, February 3, 2011 2:52 pm

Gene Ammons

Listen/Download – Gene Ammons – Son of a Preacher Man

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, and so I must pause here to share a few important programming notes.

First, I was supposed to do a guest spot at the After the Laughter Soul Club at Lulu’s in Greenpoint this Friday night, but received word on Wednesday that the gig was cancelled. I was really looking forward to this one (had some especially hot 45s ready to go) but sometimes these things happen.

I’ll make sure to let you all know when it gets rescheduled.

Of course, you can always tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva radio, this Friday at 9PM, where I will be spinning lots of great sounds, including some cool new acquisitions and some old favorites, followed of course by the posting of the show in MP3/Podcast form at the blog over the weekend.

That all said, how about some jazz funk?

I grabbed this 45 as part of a two-fer deal with a buddy of mine, and ended up getting them both for nothing in return for a previous, record related good deed on my part. I hadn’t heard this particular 45 before, but since I knew Gene Ammons, and am constitutionally incapable of passing by a cover of ‘Son of a Preacher Man’, I grabbed it.

Good thing too.

The other 45 (the one I knew) is a groover, and will be featured in this space soon enough, but this is one I needed to share with you as soon as possible.

There is, at least in the world of jazz and jazz-related, a long tradition of covering songs in what we shall call a unique manner. This often has something to do with advanced concepts of harmony and music theory, since we’re dealing not with back alley guitar smashers, but rather a somewhat more elevated class of instrument wranglers who made their mark applying sophisticated musical concepts to the popular song.

This is sometimes displayed in subtle shifts in key where a song is rebuilt on a new frame and is still kind of floating in the background for those with more sophisticated (or receptive) ears (any of the headier bop or post bop sounds) , and other times shows up as the end result of free-wheeling jamming, wherein the musicians allow themselves to be swept up in and carried away by the creative currents.

I would suggest that Gene Ammons version of ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ is a little bit of both.

Recorded in 1970 for his Prestige LP ‘Brother Jug’ (his first after a long stretch in prison), with support from organist Sonny Phillips, guitarist Billy Butler and drummer Bernard Purdie (among others), Ammon’s take on ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ is, until late in the side, barely recognizable as said song.

It is undeniably funky, with the tight drums, and the wah wah, and the overall groove, but if you showed up expecting any taste of the famous Dusty Springfield hit, you would have to listen long and hard, with exceptionally wide open ears, and it’s not until almost two minutes into the song that Ammons states the familiar theme, and even then it’s a little bit off the track.

This is not meant as a criticism of Ammons or the 45, since he was one of the great tenor players of his day, and the 45 is certainly tasty, but rather a caveat for those expecting something a little bit closer to the original source.

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

Peace

Larry

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PS Head over to Iron Leg for some psychedelia.

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By Larry, January 30, 2011 2:33 pm

Funky16Corners Radio v.92 – Regular Funk

Playlist

Listen/Download 115MB/256kb Mixed MP3

Download 93MB Zip File

I hope you’re all ready to step into a week.

I should let you know that this coming Friday (2/4) I’ll be guesting at the After the Laughter Soul Club at Lulu’s, 113 Franklin St., Greenpoint, NY. I’ll be joining DJ Hambone and Ben Carey for a night of funk, soul and R&B, all on 45. Things get going at 10PM and go into the wee hours of the morning, so make sure you fall by for some beer, pizza and hot wax.

That said, who wants to pull down the ones and zeros for some of what we record collectors refer to as ‘the funk’?

This is not to say that Funky16Corners Radio v.92 – Regular Funk is all one kind of thing, since it was assembled and mixed under a somewhat larger umbrella than some of you might be accustomed to.

You get some funky soul, some in the regular funk 45 stylee, and some jazz funk as well. I think it all fits together nicely, and hopefully once you stuff it into your ears, you will too.

Things get started with a little taste of Memphis groove, with the Bar-Kays and ‘Don’t Do That’. The flipside of 1967’s ‘Give Everybody Some’, ‘Don’t Do That’ is positively dripping with that Stax/Volt sound, including some very twangy gitbox, which comes to the fore when the horns aren’t blazing.

Buddy Miles is one of those groovy artists who kind of dwell in a gray area between soul and rock, working ably on both sides of the line, and mixing the two together whenever he got the opportunity. ‘Easy Greasy’ is an instrumental from his 1970 ‘We Got to Live Together’ album, and it carries with it much of the horn heavy vibe of the time, with the BST’s and the Chicago’s and naturally the Electric Flag’s, and Buddy manages to whip it all into a nice swaggering groove, that when you least expect it drops in a little bit of a quote (today’s kids might think of it as a sample) from Led Zeppelin’s ‘Bring It On Home’. Things even manage to get a tiny bit psychedelic – which was the style of the time – so settle in and dig it.

The mighty Syl Johnson appeared in this very spot but a few short weeks ago. He was – as has been stated previously – 100% badass – and his take on the Temptation’s ‘Get Ready’ has a lot of grit in its groove.

Despite a bit of searching, I haven’t been able to nail down Nate Turner, but Venetta Fields (big time backup singer of the day) and the Mirettes were familiar. The tune ‘Rap, Run It On Down’ is a cut from the soundtrack to the 1969 Sidney Poitier vehicle ‘The Lost Man’. I dig the vibe on this one (co-written by Quincy Jones, Dick Cooper and Ernie Shelby*), and the flip side (on which Venetta sits out), ‘Sweet Soul Sister’ is also cool, in a more downtempo way.

I always assumed that the Toddlin’ Town Sounds were an anonymous amalgamation of Chitown sessioners, or perhaps an instro track that someone leased to the label. Either way, their funky stomper ‘The Dud’ (flip of their better known cover of the Isleys ‘It’s Your Thing’) is a killer (dig that chopping rhythm guitar).

‘Funky Tambourine’ by C and the Shells has always been a fave of mine, simply because it defies narrow categorization. It is funky, but it also has an odd, fast moving time signature, as well as some stinging fuzz guitar. There might even be a little bit of gospel flavor weaving in and out of this one as well.

The Crusaders, once a tight soul jazz outfit (as the Jazz Crusaders) evolved into the funky R&B band that hit the charts in the 70s. Led by keyboardist Joe Sample (lots of tasty electric piano here), drummer Stix Hooper and saxophonist Wilton Felder (all three of whom did a lot of work on other people’s records in the 60s and 70s) lay down a very tasty groove indeed on 1973s ‘Gotta Get It On’.

‘Sams Funck’ is blues legend Magic Sam’s entry into the blues guys get funky sweepstakes. Based loosely on the ‘It’s Your Thing’ template, recorded in the lowest of fi’s (as it were) you still get to hear some of the guitar action that made the man a legend. If you find yourself a copy of this one, flip it over, since the vocal version ‘I’ll Pay You Back’ is quite nice indeed.

The Backyard Heavies got their start as a North Carolina show band called the Tempests. ‘Expo 83’, one of the funkiest piano driven 45s in my crates was sampled by Pete Rock for ‘The Basement Intro’.

Does Bobby Byrd need and introduction to the likes of you? Since you’re one of the fine folks that falls by Funky16Corners I’d say no. Mr. Byrd was for years James Brown’s on-stage wing man, but also stepped out to make some hot as hell 45s under his own name. ‘Back From the Dead’ is from a period when Byrd had separated from the Brown organization and found his way to Henry Stone’s Florida-based TK label subsidiary International Brothers. Bobby is in fine form, and lays down a solid bit of dance floor funk.

Eddie Harris has appeared in this space many times. He was one of the true giants of soul jazz, and as 1974’s ‘Get On Down’ illustrates, he could also be quite funky. The cool thing is that you get to hear Eddie double on keys and sax (which he also did on earlier albums like ‘Mean Greens’).

The Fame Gang was the house band at the storied Alabama studio of the same name. Their cover of the Isley Brothers ‘It’s Your Thing’ is another groovy cover of that funky classic. Much like Archie Bell and the Drells ‘Tighten Up’, ‘It’s Your Thing’ is one of those records that was not only had scores of straightforward covers, but was also (see Magic Sam above) ripped off, reprocessed and renamed countless times.

From the funk 45 column comes Pt2 of the Showmen Inc.’s ’Tramp (from Funky Broadway)’, working one of my favorite vibes, that being an intertwining of two separate dance crazes in the same record. The famed break is on the other side, but I’ll make sure to get that one up onto the blog sometime soon.

Jr. Walker and the All Stars are one of those Motown groups that had a huge, omnipresent radio hit in the 60s (Shotgun) that is so much a standard on oldies radio that it tends to make you take them for granted. Well, get yourself out and grab some of their records, because they’re filled with solid, hard hitting gems like ‘Baby You Ain’t Right’.

Now Andre Williams is a dude that has yet to get his props. Williams, acting as performer, writer and producer had his hand in some incredibly good records out of Chicago and Detroit in the 60s. He was an OG badass, with that gangsta lean, lots of greasy soul and attitude for weeks. ‘It’s Gonna Be Fine in ‘69’ is another one of his masterpieces for the Chess/Checker/Cadet family of labels. It features some wild guitar, snapping drums, and of course Mr Williams on the vocal.

Wilbur Bascomb and the Zodiact recorded under their own name, as well as backing other artists. ‘Just a Groove in G’ features a classic drum break, some wailing organ, and some imspired if spasmodic guitar action.

Billy Cobham is one of the great drummers of the jazz fusion era. His 1974 ‘Crosswind’ (also covered, very nicely by Woody Herman!) is a funky killer, with tight drumming by Billy, grooving electric piano and tasty horns. Sampled by Gang Starr among others.

Another jazz hero with funky tendencies was the mighty Grant Green. A seriously talented hard bopper who contributed to countless classic Blue Note sessions as a sideman, also had quite the discography under his own name. As the 60s rolled to a close, he got progressively more funky, so much so that his albums from that period are crate digger faves and his 1971 set ‘Shades of Green’ is no exception. His ‘James Brown Medley’ is a laid back, funky, extended take on the Godfather.

This edition of Funky16Corners Radio closes out with a cool bit of Motor City funk, ‘Tick Tock Baby (It’s a Quarter To Love)’ by the Quickest Way Out. Groovy because it shares a backing track with Reggie Milner’s raging ‘Soul Machine’. The Quickest Way Out take on the tune is a little more laid back, and the break is open, so what’s not to like.

I hope you dig the mix, and I’ll be back later in the week with something cool.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, January 23, 2011 4:01 pm

Gene West (aka Barry White)

Listen/Download – Gene West – In the Ghetto

Greetings all.

I hope the world is treating you all well at the dawn of a brand new week.

It was a groovy – if frigid – weekend, with me and the little corners having a boys day on Saturday, and then on Sunday Miles and I went out for some digging and Vietnamese food.

We headed over to the once great Record Store That Shall Not Be Named (even though it’s near a major NJ Ivy League university…) and much to my surprise I scored some cool LPs, despite the fact that whoever is pricing the new arrivals section appears to also be sniffing glue. The place really is a huge crapshoot these days, which – when you have to drive almost an hour to get there – makes it difficult to get motivated, but sometimes it’s actually worth the trip.

I don’t know about you all, but I’m sure that if they ever lock me up in a padded cell, it will have something to do with my obsession with cover songs, who was being covered and who was doing the covering.

The tune I bring you today is something I knew nothing at all about until stumbling over it recently, the musical equivalent of finding a twenty dollar bill in the street.

What caught my eye was not the song title (I was still unaware that this was the same song that Elvis made famous), but the mention that the artist in question, a certain Gene West, was in actuality the master of sexy, soulful sounds, Mr. Barry White.

Once I got my hands on the record (at what turned out to be a very nice price, always cool) it was immediately apparent that this was the same ‘In the Ghetto’, written by Mac Davis and taken onto the charts by Elvis.

The voice delivering the tune was unmistakably that of Barry White.

As it turns out, in the short time between the end of his tenure working with Bronco/Mustang records, and the launch of his extremely successful solo career, Barry White was at loose ends. During this time (1967 – 1970) White did a lot of studio work, as well as writing lost gems like ‘Doin’ the Banana Splits’ for – of course – the Banana Splits. And recording today’s selection.

Why he (or the folks at Original Sound) thought that ‘Gene West’ sounded better than Barry White I do not know (perhaps contractual entanglements, though his real name appears on the label as arranger), but the record, released in the summer of 1970 is a lost classic.

Despite any fondness one might have for Elvis’s version (I haven’t got much…), White takes the tune from a dark, almost maudlin place and funks it up, adding a layer of defiance to the lyrics that are completely absent in the earlier recording.

Oddly, White was a big Presley fan. I’ve read anecdotes that state that when a teenaged White, just having finished a jail sentence for stealing $30,000 worth of tires, heard Presley’s ‘It’s Now Or Never’ he decided to devote himself to a career on music, for which I will say for the first and last time in my life, ‘Thanks Elvis!’

I hope you dig the tune.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, January 16, 2011 1:42 pm

Willis ‘Gator Tail’ Jackson

Listen/Download – Willis ‘Gator Tail’ Jackson – Bow Legged Daddy

Greetings all.

I don’t know about how things are where you reside, but I am good and freaking sick of snow. We got clobbered right after Christmas with 34 inches, and got almost another foot the other night. The landscape around here is getting crazy, with the rivers of snow, edged with piles of dirty snow (up against even dirtier snow), which just get dirtier every single day. I keep hoping for a thaw, but I know when that comes it’s just going to uncover stuff that needs to be fixed or cleaned up.

No fun…

That said, I still have my records to keep me warm!

The tune I bring you today is something that I acquired passively, i.e. as part of a big lot of 45s. I originally made the purchase to get one particular single (a psyche thing I’d been after for years) and managed to get about 200 other records in the deal.

Aside from the whole thing being packed in what appeared to be shredded newspaper (which I was cleaning up for a couple of weeks afterward) there were about two dozen keepers in the bunch, bringing the per-record cost (after junking most of them) to about 50 cents per, which is not bad at all when you consider that the record I bought the lot for was worth about three times what I paid for the whole thing.

It was a nice grab bag, with some groovy 60s pop, a couple of cool soul 45s, and a few funky things as well, which included today’s selection.

When I pulled out a 45 by Willis ‘Gator Tail’ Jackson my interest was piqued, Jackson – a tenor saxophonist – was one of the OG soul jazzers, having recorded a string of dates for Prestige, Verve and even Muse in the 70s.

The second point of interest on the 45 was that it was on Paul Winley Records.

Winley was a New York based label owner who issued a bunch of doo wop and early rock in the 50s and early 60s, before moving into funk and soul in the early 70s, and then on into the early days of hip hop.

This 45 features vocal and instrumental versions of the song ‘Bow Legged Daddy’, the vocal credited to Paul’s daughter Ann Winley (uninspired) and the instro (which we feature today) to Willis ‘Gator Tail’ Jackson.

Though the tune seems to have it’s roots in standard R&B/blues, it’s a shuffle, laid down in a funky style with some groovy organ.

The interesting thing seems to be that this may very well be the group otherwise known as the Harlem Underground Band.

Sometime in the early-to-mid 70s Winley recorded a session that was rumored to include George Benson, Willis Jackson, Ann Winley, Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez and/or Reuben Wilson on organ and released the session under the name ‘Harlem Underground Band’. That album included the track ‘Smoking Cheeba Cheeba’ which went on to have its break harvested for a number of rap records.

That session was issued under a few different names/covers, one clearly meant to capitalize on the success of Benson, whose picture was displayed prominently on the cover of the later version. Benson had recorded with Jackson years earlier. There’s also a record on the Upfront label (a notorious recycler/re-labeler of sessions) that appears to be the same group (if not the same exact session).

I can’t say for sure if this is the exact same group, but since Winley and Jackson were part of the original recording, and the organist on this session sounds like he has some chops, I wouldn’t be surprised.

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

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, January 13, 2011 4:37 pm

Funky16Corners @ Spindletop – Early Set 1/10/11

Playlist

Listen/Download 80MB/256kb Mixed MP3

The end of another week is upon us, and as promised I have recreated part of my three-hours worth of soul jazz from this past Monday’s Spindletop night at Botanica in NYC.

When I was pulling 45s to bring with me last week I started to build my set and decided that I’d get things started with a slower, moodier set than I normally do, kind of easing my way onto the burning Hammond groovers.

What I ended up with was a very interesting mix of soul jazz, soul instros and even laid back funk, all of which seemed to stick together when all was said and done.

I mentioned on Wednesday that we were unable to get a signal out of the mixer to my digital recorder, so I had to re-record this selection on my decks at home. I was originally thinking of re-recording the whole night, but then I realized that I’d played no less than 60 45s and I just didn’t have the time to do it.

I enjoy presenting the live mixes here at the blog, so hopefully next time I hit Botanica we’ll have figured the problem out.

At the request of a number of people who were at the gig, I have included the entire set list below.

The mix features some old faves and some stuff that hasn’t been heard in this space before. As I mentioned above, it’s a mellow affair, so pour yourself a snifter of brandy (or a mug of cocoa, whichever), dim the lights, sit back and let the sounds flow gently into your ears.

If you’re close to the interwebs this Friday at 9PM, make sure to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio. This week we have an hour of funky 45s from New Orleans to get the party started. The show will of course be archived and ready to download at the blog over the weekend.

I’ll be back next week with more of the funk and soul you love.

Have a great weekend.

Peace

Larry

The rest of the evening’s music:
Harry J All Stars – Liquidator (Harry J)
Winston Wright – Heads or Tails (Green Door)
Gary McFarland – Fried Bananas (Verve)
Cal Tjader – Moneypenny (Skye)
Dave Davani Four – The Jupe (Capitol)
Sonny Knight Quartette – Let’s Get It On Pt1 (Aura)
Odell Brown and the Organizers – No More Water In the Well (Cadet)
Freddie Roach – One Track Mind (Prestige)
Merl Saunders – Soul Groving (Galaxy)
Alan Price Set – Iechyd Da (Decca)
Hank Marr – White House Party (Wingate)
Georgie Fame – El Bandido (Imperial)
Brown Brothers of Soul – Cholo (Specialty)
Mel Brown – Chicken Fat (Impulse)
Federalmen – Soul Serenade (Steady)
Freddy McCoy – Funk Drops (Prestige)
Afro Blues Quintet Plus One – La La La La La (Mira)
Benny Poole – Pearl Baby Pearl (Solid Hit)
Cha Cha Hogan – Grit Gitter (Soulville)
Perry and the Harmonics – Do the Monkey With James (Mercury)
Gentelman June Gardner – It’s Gonna Rain (Emarcy)

Lionel Hampton – Greasy Greens (Glad Hamp)
Fabulous Counts – Jan Jan (Moira)
Boogaloo Joe Jones – Right On (Prestige)
Fred Ramirez – Hold On I’m Coming (WB)
Dee Felice Trio – There Was a Time (Bethlehem)
Louis Chachere – The Hen Pt1 (Paula)
Toussaint McCall – Shimmy (Ronn)
Lou Garno Trio – Chicken In The Basket (Giovanni)
Albert Collins – Cookin’ Catfish (20th Century Fox)
Andre Brasseur – The Duck (Palette)
Memphis Black – Why Don’t You Play the Organ Man (Ascot)
Cal Tjader – Soul Sauce (Verve)
Soulful Strings – Burning Spear (Cadet)
Keith Mansfield – Boogaloo (Epic)
Mohawks – The Champ (Philips)
Wynder K Frog – I’m a Man (UA)
Goldie & the Gingerbreads – The Skip (Decca)
Tony Newman – Soul Thing (Parrot)
John Philip Soul and His Stone Marching Band – That Memphis Thing (Pepper)
La Bert Ellis – Batman Theme (A&M)
James Brown – Shhhhhhhh For a Little While (King)
The Impacts – Thunder Chicken (Marmaduke)
Dave Baby Cortez – Getting’ To the Point (Chess)
RD Stokes – My Sandra’s Jump (II Bros)

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By Larry, January 11, 2011 3:56 pm

Quincy Jones

Listen/Download – Quincy Jones – Money Runner

Greetings all.

The middle of the week is here, and while I should be exhausted, I am oddly energized. I suspect a serious crash is on the way, but I’m gonna keep plowing ahead until it arrives.

You see, I was out last night spinning 45s at Spindletop @ Botanica in NYC and did not arrive home until well past my normal hour for commencement of slumber. However, since I got to spin 45s for nearly three straight hours to a very groovy and appreciative crowd (special thanks to the Funky16Corners readers who came by!) and I had a blast.

Botanica is very cool spot (home base for no less than the mighty Mr Finewine!), and my man Perry Lane has a very cool thing going with Spindletop.

I’ve rattled on in this space a few times about how I like stepping outside of my DJ comfort zone to stretch a little, and last night was the perfect opportunity. Spindletop is all about Hammond grooves and soul/Mod jazz with just a touch of international flavour, and I spent a lot of time and care pulling records and formulating my sets.

The only downer of the night was that we were unable to negotiate a line out of the mixer to my digital recorder, so I was unable to do a live recording. However, as I type this I am spinning the identical stuff and mixing it live here in the Funky16Corners Record Vault and Podcasting Nerve Center so that you can check it out.

Right now I plan on doing only the early set, which was a mellow affair, which I’ll drop on Friday, along with a full set list of the night (60 45s!).

I’ll be back in NYC on February 4th at After the Laughter Soul Club at Lulus, 113 Franklin St in Greenpoint (Brooklyn) and I’ll be returning to Spindletop February 21st, so if you like what you hear, head on over.

When we last discussed the mighty Quincy Jones, it was almost a year ago and his groovy theme to the Ironside TV show.

The tune I bring you today is another theme, but sees Le Q jumping from the small screen to the silver one.

The tune in question, ‘Money Runner’ appeared in the 1971 film ‘$’ (often listed, for obvious reasons as ‘DOLLAR$’).

‘Money Runner’ was released as a 45 in 1972 and actually hit the charts, working its way into the R&B Top 50 and hovering just outside of the same listing on the Pop side of things.

The only other tune I’ve heard from the soundtrack is Little Richard’s ‘Money Is’*, which is cool, on account of it’s Mr. Penniman, but if you want something funky, ‘Money Runner’ is the way to go.

The soundtrack album features a grip of West Coast jazz/studio cats, but the group also included Billy Preston, Paul Humphrey and David T Walker, so it probably wouldn’t be much of a stretch to attribute some of the funk quotient herein to them.

‘Money Runner’ starts out fast, with what sounds like clavinet and guitar, then electric piano and more guitar (of the wah wah persuasion) before the clavinet moves out in front for most of the song. It sounds like a more aggressive cousin to Isaac Hayes ‘Theme From Shaft’ (especially the guitar interludes), but goes off in an odd and especially interesting direction in the last minute of the record, with a shift in tempo, the addition of an ominous chorus, and eventually a bizarre shattering sound.

The tune was covered later the same year by the John Schroeder Orchestra.

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

Peace

Larry

*There’s another version of this 45 with the Little Richard tune on the A-side

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By Larry, January 9, 2011 1:11 pm

Syl Johnson

Listen/Download – Syl Johnson – Different Strokes

Greetings all.

How’s by you?

I had a groovy weekend hanging with the extended family (some of whom had to truck up from South Crackalack for late Christmas) and doing my level best to chill (as opposed to freeze, which is what I’ve been doing lately).

If anyone hasn’t already been hipped to the fact by my constant mentions, I will be spinning many groovy rackords this Monday with the one Perry Lane at Spindletop at Botanica in NYC. If you are in the neighborhood, you really ought to fall by and soak up some of the groove grease. I will be bringing much Hammond goodness, some groovy vibes and some au go go swingers and the vinyl will start to cook at 10PM. I hope to see some of you there.

That said, who feels like getting a good swift kick in the ass?

I have paid tribute to the mighty Syl Johnson in this space a number of times over the years.

He is perhaps the greatest of the cats who started out working the blues and made the passage into soul and funk, and thanks to a swanky – and comprehensive – set by the Numero Group, Mr. Johnson is as they used to say, the man of the hour.

It should go without saying – though you already know I’m gonna go ahead and say it anyway – that Syl was badass, never bringing just 100 percent when 200 would do, and that was never more obvious than with today’s selection.

Syl Johnson is very close to the top of the list of soul singers that, whenever I see one of his 45s in the field, if I don’t have it, I grab it, and if I’m not sure (and with someone of my advanced vintage and declining mental capacity, this happens more than I like) I grab it anyway, because there’s just no such thing as too much Syl.

However, as long as I’ve been prowling the crates, I never happened upon a copy of ‘Different Strokes’, and there’s a good reason for that.

Thanks to the age hip hop and turntablism, even if a record is a killer all by its own bad self, should it contain a drum break, loop, ill horn stab or other sample bait, it ends up on the want lists not only of regular old record collectors, but also of beatheads and producers, who hope to emulate those that have found success slicing and dicing before them, or maybe just to say that they pack all the tastiest breaks and beats in their record box (or on their laptop, or whatever).

‘Different Strokes’ is one such record. It is unquestionably what Slim Gaillard would anoint a ‘killer diller’ on it’s own, but since it has been sampled a few dozen times (see the list below*) it is sweated by many, and as a result, it is harder to nail than many other Syl Johnson 45s.

Fortunately for me (and now you all) I was eventually able to scoop up a nice, clean copy, which I will whip on you presently.

‘Different Strokes’ isn’t quite what I’d call pure funk. It is undeniably funky, but it’s really a hard charging bit of high octane sock soul with enough groove to put a dip in your hip. It’s like an angry bear showing up on funk’s front stoop, clawing at the door, but never really busting into the house.

This is not to say that I would for a minute hesitate to drop it during a funk set, on account of if you can’t get your dance on to this record you need a soul transplant (or at least a few more drinks).

That all said, if you were not hip to Syl, you are now, and you should either run out onto the intertubes and score that Numero set, or hunker down into the crates and find you some 45s.

See you all on Wednesday.

Peace

Larry

*Songs sampling ‘Different Strokes (from the Breaks.com)
Boogie Down Productions’s “Criminal Minded”
Boss’s “Recipe of a Hoe”
Brand Nubian’s “Try to Do Me”
Compton’s Most Wanted’s “Give it Up”
De la Soul’s “The Magic Number”
DOC’s “Beautiful But Deadly”
Dr. Octagon’s “Bear Witness (Extended Mix)”
EPMD’s “It’s My Thing”
Fear of a Black Hat’s “Fuck the Security Guard”
Ice Cube’s “Robbin’ Hood (Cause It ain’t All Good)”
King T’s “At Your Own Risk”
Kool G Rap’s “F U Man”
Kool G Rap’s “Talk Like Sex”
Kwame’s “Ownlee Eue (Reprise)”
Louise’s “Beautiful Inside”
Michael Jackson’s “Blood on the Dancefloor”
Mr. X & Mr. Z’s “Respect”
NWA’s “Real Niggaz Don’t Die”
Poison Clan’s “Jeri Curl”
Public Enemy’s “Fear of a Black Planet”
Rodney O & Joe Cooley’s “Wake up New York”
Scarface’s “Mr. Scarface”
Style’s “The Assassinator”
TLC’s “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg”
Tupac’s “Nuthin’ But Love”
West Coast Rap All Stars’s “We’re All in the Same Gang”
Whodini’s “Funky Beat”
Wu-Tang Clan’s “Shame on a Nigga”
Yomo & Maulkie’s “Mockingbird”
Young Black Teenagers’s “Sweatin’ Me”
Zhigge’s “Toss it Up”

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