Category: Soul

Freddy – Henchi and the Soulsetters – Folsom Prison b/w Popcorn Baby

By , August 20, 2015 11:39 am

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Freddy – Henchi and the Soulsetters

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Listen/Download – Freddy – Henchi and the Soulsetters – Folsom Prison MP3

Listen/Download – Freddy – Henchi and the Soulsetters – Popcorn Baby MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, coming to you each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can listen live, subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 out of the archive here at the blog.

Freddy-Henchi and the Soulsetters were one of those bands – like Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers – that worked relentlessly, playing on the road and recording a string of 45s for a variety of labels (Onacrest, Tower, Bell, Reprise) for years, never really breaking through like they should have.

Formed in Phoenix, AZ in the mid 60s, they eventually moved to Los Angeles, then again to Colorado where they would continue to play, in one form or another well into the 80s.

Led by Freddie Gowdy and Marvin ‘Henchi’ Graves, the band recorded one 45 for Tower in 1969, and while it might not have made any impact on the charts at all, it is as solid as they come.

The A-side is a funk reworking of Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, and as insane as that concept sounds, Freddy-Henchi and the Soulsetters make it happen.

Opening with a false/country start, the band drops down into a heavy groove, transforming the song into a hard-hitting, minor-key work of genius. I mean, it WAS 1969, and people were doing all kinds of crazy things (musically and otherwise), and I can understand how the very idea of a funk take on a country classic might have been off-putting to some people, but this record is REALLY good.

I dig the haunting strings running underneath (they almost sound like a mellotron), and when the band breaks into a quote from ‘Hey Jude’, all bets – as they say – are off.

The flipside, the extremely heavy ‘Popcorn Baby’ owes a serious debt to Dyke and the Blazer’s hit from the previous year, ‘Funky Walk’. Built on a pounding drum beat, and some Hendrix-level wah wah guitar, the record is a killer.

The group would go on to have some local success with their cover of Major Lance’s ‘Um Um Um Um Um’ in 1970, and then to lay down the funk 45 classic ‘Funky To the Bone’ for Reprise in 1972.

I hope you dig this 45 as much as I do, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Brother Jack McDuff Quintet feat. David Newman – But It’s Alright

By , August 18, 2015 11:33 am

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Brother Jack McDuff and David Newman

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Listen/Download – Brother Jack McDuff Quintet feat. David Newman – But It’s Alright MP3

Greetings all.

I thought we’d get over the hump this week with some of that Hammond organ goodness bubbling up from my crates.

Brother Jack McDuff is one of the true greats of the classic era of soul jazz Hammond (mid-50s to early 70s). He is joined on today’s selection by legendary reedman David ‘Fathead’ Newman, with whom he recorded the 1968 LP ‘Double Barrelled Soul’.

Their version of JJ Jackson’s 1966 hit ‘But It’s Alright’ is – if not a complete deconstruction – a slightly avant garde approach to a familiar soul hit, with just enough edge to catch your ear, but not so much as to leave you shaking your head.

Opening with an odd organ fillagree, the fray is soon joined by the horn section, laying down an unusual, Thelonious Monk-esque riff, over which Brother Jack solos with confidence.

When the song starts out, it might take a new listener a second or two to wrap your ears around what’s going on, but once you do, there’s a funky drive shaft that keeps things moving forward.

While I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this enters Larry Young territory, there is some of that kind of thing at work here, which makes the record work as jazz, as well as a mod jazz groover.

I like it a lot, and I hope you do too.

See you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Gaylettes – Son of a Preacher Man

By , August 16, 2015 1:54 pm

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Judy Mowatt

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Listen/Download – Gaylettes – Son of a Preacher Man MP3

Greetings all.

Welcome to another week here at Funky16Corners as we all join together in the waning days of the summer to regret complaining about the heat one last time (before we start complaining about the cold, or at least that’s how it is for those of us here in New Jersey).

We’re going to get the week started with one of of my all-time favorite Jamaican covers of US soul, and another one of those 45s that I couldn’t believe that I already hadn’t written about.

The 45 in question is the Gaylettes 1969 version of ‘Son of a Preacher Man’.

Though Dusty Springfield had the biggest/best known hit with the song in 1968, in the next couple of years Aretha Franklin, the Carnival and even the Gaylettes made some inroads into the US charts with versions of the tune.

The Gaylettes were a Jamaican trio (recording in the UK) featuring Judy Mowatt (later a solo star and member of Bob Marley’s backing singers the I-Threes) Beryl Lawson and Merle Clemenson. The group recorded a bunch of singles in the late 60s, including one of my favorite rock steady 45s, their reworking of Brenda Lee’s ‘Here’s Comes That Feeling’.

The Gaylettes version of ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ features some very groovy organ and guitar and breaks from the laid back funk of Springfield’s hit, opting instead for a brisk, dance floor-friendly pace.

Their version was a minor hit in the Northeast (New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts) in the end of the summer of 1969, which goes a long way to explaining why the single got two US pressings, on Hourglass and Steady.

The US was getting its first real taste for reggae sounds in 1969*, with substantial hits by Jimmy Cliff (Wonderful World,Beautiful People) and Desmond Dekker and the Aces (Israelites) that year, which may have primed the pump as it were for the sound of the Gaylettes.

It is a groovy record indeed, and I hope you dig it.

Keep the faith

Larry

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*Though both Millie Small and Prince Buster had gotten US airplay in 1964 and 1967 respectively
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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Rodger Collins – She’s Looking Good

By , August 13, 2015 2:46 pm

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Rodger Collins

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Listen/Download – Rodger Collins – She’s Looking Good MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is nigh, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show. We come to you every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or listen in on your mobile device via the TuneIn app.

I thought we’d close out the week with some tasty West Coast soul from the man Rodger Collins.

Collins recorded for Galaxy and Fantasy from 1963 to 1973, and then spottily for a few other labels after that.

‘She’s Looking Good’ is one of those weird instances of a solid, sock soul 45 that did better on the Pop charts than on the R&B charts.

Released in 1966, ‘She’s Looking Good’ made it to #44 R&B, but went well into the Top 20 in a wide range of Pop markets (especially on the West Coast), which is probably why it’s so well-remembered these days.

That, and the fact that it smokes from start (please forgive a couple of seconds of cue burn) to finish. Collins lays down a smoking vocal over a tight, heavy backing track (the guitar is especially nice).

Interestingly enough, the Wicked Pickett would take the song back into the charts (R&B Top 10 and Pop Top 20!) in 1968.

Collins later converted to Islam, but continued to play and record in the Bay Area.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Teddy and the Fingerpoppers – Soul Groove Pt1

By , August 9, 2015 10:11 am

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Jimmy Bishop

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Listen/Download – Teddy and the Fingerpoppers – Soul Groove Pt1 MP3

Greetings all.

What better way to start the week than some certified, Phila-ma-delphia heat?

Back in the olden days, I was hoovering up everything Philly-related that I could get my hooks into. I ended up with a lot of great music, a fair amount of dreck, and some absolutely brilliant things as well.

‘Soul Groove’ by Teddy and the Fingerpoppers falls into the last category.

The crazy thing is, I can’t tell you who they were.

As far as I can tell, this is the only 45 they ever did. My instinct is to attribute the cut to the Philly “house band” that played on so many 45s – often pseudonymously – and ended up forming the core of MFSB. However, I have no firm evidence in that direction.

That said, the track, credited to Jesse James and Jimmy Bishop got around. The original came out on Arctic in 1968.

The following year the tune (which I’m pretty sure is a rerecording) formed the basis for the Cliff Nobles & Co side ‘Gettin’ Away’ on Phil LA of Soul.

There was also – and I will forever kick myself for not writing down the info when I had it in front of me – a Jamaican 45 that lifts the backing track as well. If any of you good folks know what that particular record was, please let me know.

The Teddy and the Fingerpoppers 45 is largely instrumental (some interjections aside), with a jangling guitar setting the pace, and the bass and drums laying down hard, so hard indeed that the record has attracted the ears of some on the Northern scene.

This is one of those records that I have had in my crates for-freaking-EVER, and had to go back and check to make sure that I hadn’t already written about it.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

F16C Soul Club Presents: M-Fasis – Funk’s a Helluva Drug

By , August 6, 2015 2:24 pm

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M-Fasis – Funk’s a Helluva Drug
1)intro-Ray Scott-cocaine skit
2)the rock-atomic rooster (union crest)
3)public service message-Kenny rankin (atlantic)
4)don’t down me people-memphis soul (AR)
5)funkadelic sound-little beaver (CAT)
6)you keep me hanging on-hugh masekela (chisa)
7)i’d like to see more of you-the mob (colossus)
8)give me a happy day-heart (king)
9)yolanda-bobby bland (abc)
10)midnight snack-mystic moods (sound bird)
11)papa was too-joe tex (dial)
12)macumba-titanic (epic)
13)i wanna be-zuelma (rca)
14)ain’t no love-bobby bland (dunhill)
15)there’s a dj-samson & Delilah (indigo)
16)tuck’s theme-Bill Deal & the rhondells (mgm)
17)hot pants-norma & the heartaches (marmaduke)
18)what do you want-natural gas (firebird)
19)if i could make…-rance allen (stax)
20)natural carbonation-utica club (rca)
21)i get off on you-lydia pense & cold blood (abc)
22)yellow sunshine-yellow sunshine (tsop)
23)tierras lejanas (basillo) 24)football-mickey & the soul generation (maxwell)
25)gotta keep you dancing-ken willis (quicksilver)
26)y te quiero y te adoro-kico mindoza (lumi)
27)mr. starlight-Jonny barfield (ss international)

Listen/Download – M-Fasis – Funk’s a Hell of a Drug MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us once again, so I will remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will hit the airwaves of the interwebs this Friday night at 9pM on Viva Radio. If you cannot be there at airtime, you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

What you see before you is a brand spanking new mix from my old-school Asbury Park 45 Sessions compadre, M-Fasis.

As has been stated in this space many times in the past, M-Fasis is a master crate digger. I always looked forward to see what heat he would drop in his sets. He has great, wide-ranging taste and a fantastic ear for hidden beats and breaks that most people would miss.

His new mix – ‘Funk’s a Helluva Drug’ – is a great collection of grooves. I dig it a lot, and I think you will, too.

So pull down the ones and zeros, and get your listen on.

I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

James Duncan and the Duncan Trio – I’ll Be Gone

By , August 4, 2015 2:30 pm

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Listen/Download – James Duncan and the Duncan Trio – I’ll Be Gone MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s selection comes from the ‘Songs I Learned from Mr Finewine’ file.

A couple of years back I had the honor of spinning next to the master at his long-running residency at Botanica in NYC.

As is often the case when spinning with a serious collector, I left the bar that night with a longer want list than I brought with me.

One of the newly added items on that list is the record you see before you today, ‘I’ll Be Gone’ by James Duncan and the Duncan Trio.

Duncan was a Georgia singer who recorded for a variety of labels in the 60s and early 70s, but mostly for King and Federal.

The raving soul of ‘I’ll Be Gone’ was recorded in 1964, but sounds as if it could have been waxed at any time in the previous five years.

I’ve kind of found 1964 to be an unofficial boundary line where the transition from old-school R&B to out and out soul finally set in completely, and ‘I’ll Be Gone’ is a great example of the remainders of the earlier sound.

Duncan sounds like a slightly deeper-voiced Little Richard, backed by group harmonies, walking bass and some well-placed organ.

It’s a wild, dance-floor-packing side.

Duncan went on to make some funkier sides in the late 60s, one of which will surely make it into this space in the future.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez – The Question (Do You Love Me)

By , August 2, 2015 3:08 pm

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Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez

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Listen/Download – Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez – The Question (Do You Love Me) MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well.

The track I bring you today is one of the more interesting b-sides I’ve come across in the last few years.
As a serious Hammond-hound, it should come as no surprise that I have a grip of Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez records in my crates.

Starting with ‘The Happy Organ’ in 1959, Cortez had a number of hits on the Pop and R&B charts into the early 60s.
The cool thing is, despite a lack of chart success later on, he continued to record for a variety of labels, including Chess, Okeh, Roulette and T-Neck well into the 70s.

Today’s selection comes from his 1964 Okeh 45 with the organ instro ‘Popping Popcorn’ on the a-side.

‘The Question (Do You Love Me)’ co-written by Cortez (under his real name, Dave Clowney) and producer Teddy Vann, displays Cortez in the unusual role of vocalist.

His singing on record was not unheard of, but hardly common, and the really groovy thing is that he does a fantastic job.

The song is a pleading ballad, with Cortez trading lines with a female chorus. The backing is fairly simple, with piano, bass and some very cool twangy guitar, and there’s a great, uptempo gospel breakdown in the middle of the song.

It’s a very cool record, and proof once again that you simply must flip over those 45s.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Alex Williams and the Mustangs – Soul Strut Pts 1&2

By , July 30, 2015 3:09 pm

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Alex Williams (left, found in an old issue of Billboard)

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Listen/Download – Alex Williams and the Mustangs – Soul Strut Pt1 MP3

Listen/Download – Alex Williams and the Mustangs – Soul Strut Pt2 MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week os upon us, and so I will remind you once again that Friday nights at 9PM is Funky16Corners Radio Show time. You can listen on Viva Radio, or you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

The record I bring you today is one of those funk 45s that I knew about for a long time, finally bagged a copy and was dismayed to discover that there was almost no info out there about it.

What I can tell you is that Alex Williams and the Mustangs hailed from the vicinity of Atlanta, GA, and they recorded several 45s (for Rose, Soultrack and Jewel), usually in a bluesy funk style between the late 60s and the early 70s.

‘Soul Strut Pts 1&2’ is an interesting study in contrasts.

Part two, the instrumental half of the record, is a groovy, fairly standard (if a little muddy and abruptly ended) bit of funky southern soul.

Part one, the vocal half of things, contains one of the most stunningly off-key, inept and possibly intoxicated sounding vocals I’ve ever heard. The band is in good shape, but the singer sounds as if he was too wasted to set foot in the studio, so they locked him out in the alley and hung the microphone out the window. It’s that wild.

Either way, it’s a cool 45, and I hope you dig it.

See you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Larry Williams – Boss Lovin’

By , July 28, 2015 10:51 am

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Larry Williams

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Listen/Download – Larry Williams – Boss Lovin’ MP3

Greetings all.

What we have here, ready to usher you all over the hump, is something very groovy from our man Larry Williams.

If you’ve ever heard me talk about Larry on the Funky16Corners Radio Show, you know that I not only dig his music, but think that he is an artist who’s work ought to be much better known.

He was not only a serious early R&B/rocker, writing and performing tunes like ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’, ‘Bony Maronie’, ‘Bad Boy’ and ‘She Said Yeah’ (all of which made his work a cornerstone of the British Invasion in covers by the Beatles and the Stones), but he went on to write and record some fine soul music on his own, in partnership with Johnny Guitar Watson, and producing for acts like Little Richard and the Staple Singers.

All that, and he also lived a life as a colorful figure on the fringes of the law, running through pimping, drugs and guns.

The tune I bring you today is a favorite of mine, and has an interesting history of its own.

As far as I can tell, ‘Boss Lovin’’ was released no less than three times, first on El Bam, then again on Smash (both 1965) and lastly on Okeh (1967). I only own the Okeh version, but I have heard the other two 45s and they appear to be at the very least different mixes (if not completely different tracks). I hear Johnny Watson on the background on all of them, but Larry’s lead vocal is different, especially on the Okeh issue, which I would venture to say is the most confident of them all.

While I wouldn’t describe Williams as a ‘great’ singer, he was certainly capable of bringing the heat, whether in the early days as a Little Richard soundalike, or later on when his voice was a little deeper and had some growl to it.

‘Boss Lovin’’ is a great example of a ‘shout-out’ track (for lack of a better term), filled with references to other songs/artists, along the lines of Johnny Otis’s ‘Keep the Faith’.

It’s got enough kick for the dance floor, and the inside jokes ought to keep the anoraks in the crowd busy.

I dig it a lot and I hope you do, too.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Ricardo Ray – Cool Jerk

By , July 21, 2015 12:55 pm

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Ricardo Ray

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Listen/Download – Ricardo Ray – Cool Jerk MP3

Greetings all.

It was not all that long ago, whilst browsing through the crates looking for something cool to blog about, that I pulled out an old fave, ‘Let’s Get Down To the Real Nitty Gritty’ by Ricardo Ray.

Ray was one of the first line boogaloo exponents during the classic mid-to-late 60s era, waxing heat for the Alegre label on his own and in partnership with Bobby Cruz.

The 45 version of his cover of Shirley Ellis’s ‘Nitty Gritty’ (which was a regional hit in 1968) has been a staple of my playbox for close to 20 years, so when I happened upon a copy of the LP from whence it came, I had to have it.

As boogaloo LPs go, ‘Let’s Get Down to the Real Nitty Gritty’ is very solid stuff indeed. Composed almost entirely of soul and R&B cover material, and played by Ray’s extra-hot band, it packs a punch from beginning to end.

The versions of ‘Nitty Gritty’ and Don Covay’s ‘Sookie Sookie’ are especially hot, but the one I’m here to preach about today sees Ricardo heading to Detroit.

When he covered the Capitols’ ‘Cool Jerk’ the tune was only a few years old, and a significant hit. Ray and band really lay into the song, with a heavy bass line, latin percussion and some very heavy drums (please to dig the breakdown at around 1:25).

In other hands, covering the song may have seemed a fools errand (why mess with perfection?) but Ray and his orchestra really bring something new and hot to the tune.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

 

Example Example

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Willie Henderson and the Soul Explosions – Funky Chicken Pts 1&2

By , July 16, 2015 1:20 pm

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Willie Henderson

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Listen/Download – Willie Henderson and the Soul Explosions – Funky Chicken Pt1 MP3

Listen/Download – Willie Henderson and the Soul Explosions – Funky Chicken Pt2 MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so I will remind you to tune into the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can follow the show by subscribing to it as a podcast in iTunes, listening on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grabbing an MP3 here at the blog.

I thought we’d close out the week with something funky (and coincidentally, ‘chickeny’ as well).

Though I certainly knew of the ‘funky chicken’ dance as a kid, I don’t ever remember hearing Willie Henderson’s ‘Funky Chicken’, though, since I was 7, and not listening to black radio at the time (it barely made it into the Pop Hot 100) it was pretty easy for a white, suburban child to miss.

That said, thirty years hence, I grabbed myself a copy of the 45 and dug in with gusto.

If you area devotee of Chicago soul, the name Willie Henderson ought to be a familiar one. Starting in the late 60s, Henderson was a significant presence as a session musician (baritone sax), composer, arranger and producer, especially for Brunswick and Dakar.

He wrote for and produced a wide variety of Chicago-based artists, like Mamie Galore, Syl Johnson, the Chi-Lites, Artistics, Gene Chandler, Major Lance and many others.

Released as by Willie Henderson and the Soul Explosions, ‘Funky Chicken Pts 1&2’ was an R&B Top 20 hit early in 1970. Packed with heavy drums, chiming guitars, and of course, chicken sound effects, the song (produced by the legendary Carl Davis) is a dance floor mover, with a very tasty drum breakdown in Part 2.

Though the LP might set you back a few bucks, you should be able to file a copy of this most excellent 45 in your play box for less than ten dollars.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

 

Example Example

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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