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By Larry, September 14, 2014 12:47 pm

Cosimo Matassa 1926-2014

Willie Harper – But I Couldn’t (ALON)
Willie West – Hello Mama (Deesu)
Tim Whitsett and the Imperials – Monkey Man (Ace)
The Stokes – Young Man Old Man (ALON)
The Stokes – Whipped Cream (ALON)
Warren Lee – Star Revue (Deesu)
Eddie Lang – Something Withing Me (Seven B)
Oliver Morgan – Roll Call (Seven B)
G. Davis & R. Tyler – Hold On Help Is On the Way (Par-Lo)
Eddie Bo – Fence of Love (Seven B)
Guitar Ray – Patty Cake Shake (Hot Line)
James Rivers – Tighten Up (Eight Ball)
Lee Circle – Other Delights (ALON)
Robert Parker – In the Midnight Hour (NOLA)
Roger and the Gypsies – Pass the Hatchet Pts1&2 (Seven B)
Bobby Powell – Why Am I Treated So Bad (Whit)
Art Neville – Hook, Line and Sinker (Instant)
Chris Kenner – Fumigate Funky Broadway (Instant)
Skip Easterling – Keep the Fire Burning (ALON)
Willie West – Did You Have Fun (Deesu)
Eddie Bo – Skate It Out (Seven B)
Curley Moore – Soul Train (Hot Line)

Listen/Download The Master: A Cosimo Matassa Sampler

Greetings all

I hope the new week finds you well.

It was at the end of last week that news came down that the legendary Cosimo Matassa had slipped the surly bonds of earth at the age of 88.

If you are not familiar with the name, if you are a regular here at the Corners, you are most certainly hip to the sounds that he helped bring into the world.

Matassa was, from the early 1950s, the recording/mastering engineer of record for most (not much, MOST) of the music – rock’n’roll, R&B, soul and funk – laid down in the Crescent City, as well as  a label owner and record distributor.

I won’t go into much detail here, because the extremely long and complicated story has already been told (and is still being added to) at the mighty Cosimo Code website by cats like Davie Gordon, Red Kelly, John Broven, John ‘Sir Shambling’ Ridley and Peter Gibbon.

There, they have endeavored to compile a list of recordings recorded, or mastered by Matassa, using his unique coding system.

Your next stop should be the Cosimo Code site, where anyone with even a passing interest in New Orleans music could get lost for hours.

When I heard that Cosimo had passed, I went back through the chronological lists at Cosimo Code and started pulling recordings out of my own archive as I saw them on the list, so that I could put together a representative (though hardly comprehensive) sampling of the records he helped birth.

These are exclusively 1960s recordings (mostly 1965-1967) with a couple of surprises (as in, I was surprised to see them on the list) and a few unusual things you might not normally find here at Funky16Corners. There’s a just a touch over an hour of solid 45s (and one LP track).

So, click on the link, give the old ones and zeros a spin, and head on over to the Cosimo Code and try to digest the mind-boggling breadth of Mr Matassa’s portfolio.

Condolences to those that knew him, and props to the CC crew for their amazing work.

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, September 11, 2014 10:24 am

Carl Holmes and the Commanders on Italian TV

Listen/Download Carl Holmes and the Commanders – Mashed Potatoes Pt1

Listen/Download Carl Holmes and the Commanders – Mashed Potatoes Pt2

Greetings all

The end of the week is here, and before I blow your brain out through your ears, I thought it wise to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there to dig it at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 here at Funky16Corners.

That said, ka-boom.

That’s right.

How else can you describe a record like ‘Mashed Potatoes Pts 1&2’ by Carl Holmes and the Commanders?

Carl and the boys were one of the more interesting bands hovering on the outskirts of soul success in the 1960s.

They recorded an album and some 45s for Atlantic, as well as singles for Cameo, Verve and the local Philly labels Black Jack and CRS, included a young Jimi Hendrix in their performing line-up for a short time, and were – believe it or not – one of the models for Otis Day and the Knights in Animal House*. They even managed to make their way over to Italy and onto TV! (performing ‘Shout’ no less…)

The tune I bring you today, 1962’s ‘Mashed Potatoes Pts 1&2’ is a positively explosive, maniacal slice of R&B.

The band takes off like a buffalo stampede as soon as the record starts going, with a wild vocal, but things really get going in Part 2, where the singer (Pervis Herder, I think) loses his mind and starts scatting like a madman.

It is not hard at all to imagine a basement full of completely polluted undergrads rolling in their own filth as the band sets fire to the stage (just like in the movie, see?).

Carl Holmes went on to form the funky Sherlock Holmes Investigation and recorded the ‘Investigation #1’ LP in the early 70s.

I hope you dig the track, and give it a spin or three (or five) after you’ve gotten mellow as a cello.

See you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

*See the movie’s co-writer Chris Miller’s 2007 book The Real Animal House: The Awesomely Depraved Saga of the Fraternity That Inspired the Movie where he namechecks Carl Holmes and the Commanders and Lonnie Youngblood as among the frequent bands at the frat that inspired Delta House during his early 60s time at Dartmouth.
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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, September 9, 2014 11:10 am

Otis Redding

Listen/Download Otis Redding – Good To Me

Greetings all

Seventy-three years ago today, the greatest soul singer that ever was, Otis Redding, was born in Dawson, Georgia.

I have previously recounted in this space the story of how Otis was my gateway into the world of soul almost 40 years ago, and have reiterated many times that I hold no singer (soul or otherwise) in higher esteem.

Though his career only lasted for six years, it spanned most of the classic soul era, and influenced countless performers.

Redding was possessed of a mighty voice, a dynamic stage presence and was also a gifted songwriter.

I came to today’s selection the long way ‘round, as it were.

The first version I picked up was by Irma Thomas* (recorded in Muscle Shoals in 1968), and it was a while before I realized that it had been co-written (with Julius Green of the Mad Lads) and originally recorded by Otis in 1966.

The arrangement on Redding’s original is fairly spare, fitting since the structure of the songs is deceptively simple. The verse builds slowly, shifting ever so much when he states:

I’m going to keep loving you woman
For 20 more years
After that I’m going for 40
‘Cause I’ve got my will to try

The song has an almost gospel feel to it, a song of praise, not to God, but rather to a woman.

It moves at an almost glacial pace, but that’s the kind of environment where Otis redding thrived.

Unlike so many that came after him, he was able to fill what would seem like an insurmountably empty space, not with theatrics, but with concise, perfectly delivered emotion.

That’s why he was the man.

Happy Birthday Otis.

Keep the faith

Larry

* There’s also a very nice instrumental version by Odell Brown 

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, September 4, 2014 4:00 pm

Ray Barretto

Listen/Download Ray Barretto – Mercy Mercy Baby

Listen/Download Urban Dance Squad – A Deeper Shade of Soul

Greetings all

The end of the week is finally here, so that means it’s time to hoist your antenna, fire up the radiola and twist the knobs until the dulcet tones of the Funky16Corners Radio Show come spilling out of the speakers. This can be experienced every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, and you can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab and MP3 here at Funky16Corners.

I have posted many a tune by the mighty Ray Barretto in this space over the years, including a couple from the album you see before you today.

You could ascribe this to laziness or lack of imagination on my part, or you could come correct and deal with the fact that Barretto’s 1968 opus ‘Acid’ is one of the greatest albums in the history not only of Latin soul, but music in general.

I mean, honestly…’Soul Drummers’, ‘A Deeper Shade of Soul’ and today’s selection, ‘Mercy Mercy Baby’ on the same LP??

Barretto was on fire, laying down ‘Hard Hands’, ‘Acid’, ‘Together’ and ‘Barretto Power’ all between 1968 and 1971, working the boogaloo/Latin soul/funk vibe as well as crafting more traditional sounds.

‘Mercy Mercy Baby’ opens with rolling bass and piano, before a tasty horn section joins in, along with the master’s congas, and vocals by Jimmy Sabater and Willie Torres.

It’s a great one for the dance floor, and ought to have folks singing along with the band.

I also have a bit of a bonus track for you today.

I have to be honest when I tell you that the first time I ever heard Ray Barretto, wasn’t on one of his records, but through a sample.

Back in 1989, I picked up the first album by the Dutch group Urban Dance Squad, having heard and dug the cut ‘Deeper Shade of Soul’ (probably via MTV, so there’s that…).

It was an early days mixture of live band, rap and turntablism, with a mellow, stoner vibe that I dug then, and still dig today.

It wasn’t until a few years later, when my man Haim passed on the CD reissue of ‘Acid’ that I realized that ‘Deeper Shade of Soul’ was built on a Barretto sample, and having dug the source and the source-erer, I dug it all the more.

Flash forward to earlier this year, and while out a-digging, what do I find but a 45 issue of the UDS tune, and I figured, since I was whipping a little Barretto on you to close out the week, I’d toss the Urban Dance Squad into the pot to thicken the stew, as it were.

So, dig that, 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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, September 2, 2014 11:39 am

James Ray

Listen/Download James Ray – I’ve Got My Mind Set On You

Greetings all

The middle of the week is upon us, so I felt it only fitting that I dip into the crates and whip a little history (and a groovy song) on all of you.

It ought to be obvious by now that my record collector spidey sense is often set a-tingling by original versions of popular songs.

This is often the case because the originals are often much better, especially when the source material is R&B/soul/funk based.

If you had your ears pointed at a radio (or MTV) in 1987, you most certainly heard George Harrison working it out on a song called ‘I’ve Got My Mind Set On You’.

It was one of his biggest solo hits, and as it turns out, a cover of an obscure 1962 R&B tune by a singer named James Ray.

Now, I heard Ray’s OG years before I laid my hands on a copy (thanks to one of those ‘Who Played It First’ type comps), but only set out to get myself an original after my memory was jogged by none other than the mighty Mr Finewine, when he graciously invited me to share the decks during his long-running Wednesday night thing at Botanic in NYC.

Since the 45 was more expensive/elusive, I ended up getting a copy of James Ray’s self-titled 1962 LP.

In addition to today’s selection, the disc also includes his minor hits ‘If You Gotta Make a Fool Out Of Somebody’ (later covered by Freddie and the Dreamers) and ‘Itty Bitty Pieces’.

Produced and arranged by Hutch Davie, and largely composed by Rudy Clark (who also wrote ‘It’s In His Kiss (the Shoop Shoop Song)’ and ‘Good Lovin’), the LP runs the gamut from R&B to fairly mainstream pop.

The arrangements, including on ‘I’ve Got My Mind Set On You’ tend to be oddly ornate (dig, if you will, the chorus and the banjo…), though not at all out of character for 1962.

Ray had a high, slightly raspy tenor that has touches of Ray Charles in it.

Sadly, he passed away only a few years after recording this, victim of a drug overdose, still in his early 20s.

I hope you dig the track, 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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, August 31, 2014 11:41 am

Alvin Robinson

Listen/Download Alvin Robinson – Let the Good Times Roll

Greetings all

Since the summer is rolling slowly to its conclusion, I thought I’d post something hot and sweaty out of the Crescent City (in more ways than one, son).

If you have rolled with the Funky16Corners thing for any length of time, you will already be familiar with the fact that I hold the mighty Alvin Robinson in very high esteem.

One of my favorite singers (soul or otherwise), Robinson was also a guitarist, who recorded several excellent 45s under his own name between 1961 and 1969 for a variety of labels.

The best stuff he ever did was during his association with the Leiber and Stoller machine on the Red Bird, Blue Cat and Tiger labels in 1964 and 1965.

Robinson’s best known track (to those that even know) is his original recording of the classic ‘Down Home Girl’, later covered by the Rolling Stones and the Coasters (among others).

It is an epic 45, and ought to be much better known.

Robinson sounds to me, what Chris Kenner might have sounded like had he a slightly better voice and a more sober disposition.

It’s all gravel and soul with a gift for phrasing that boggles the mind.

Today’s selection is Robinson’s 1965 cover of his New Orleans homeboy Earl King’s classic ‘Come On’.

King’s original came out in 1960 on Imperial, and is itself an R&B landmark.

Robinson’s cover rolls at roughly the same speed (hewing closer to the OG than the Jimi Hendrix Experience would a few years later), with some tasty horns and distorted guitar (Alvin, himself).

The production is credited to Leiber and Stoller, with arranging credit going to yet another New Orleans-ian (who first brought Robinson to L&S’s attention), Joe Jones.

Though Alvin Robinson would continue to record as a session guitarist, as far as I can tell he didn’t record another vocal after the 1960s.

He passed away in 1989, only 51 years of age.

I hope you dig the tune, 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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, August 28, 2014 12:18 pm

Funky16Corners Radio v.60 – Finger Lickin’ Good!

Playlist

Greetings all

What you see before you is the last of this week’s mixes from the archive.

It’s a ‘themed’ mix, originally posted back in 2008. It’s a whole bucket-full of chicken songs (with a couple of turkeys thrown into the pot as well).

Funky16Corners Radio v.60 Finger Lickin’ Good, is funky enough for Friday night, so dig in, stuff yourself with the good stuff 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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, August 21, 2014 4:01 pm

Listen/Download The Trends – Soul Clap

Greetings all

The end of the week is approaching so I will remind you once again to twist the dials on your interwebs radiola to tune in the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You’ll get an earful of 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 grab yourself an MP3 out of the archive here at the blog (where more than 200 episodes are stored!).

The record I have selected to close out the week is a tasty little disc I picked up last year while hunting for wax out in the New York hinterlands.

I was rifling through the crates in the basement of a groovy little record store, and making myself a nice bigstack of 45s to take home when I happened upon ‘Soul Clap’ by the Trends.

I had never heard of thr group or the song, but who am I to pass up a record with a title like that?

Fortunately the store had a turntable on which to preview platters, and I gave it a spin.

What I got was a very nice dancer, brought to you by the production skills (and pen) of the mighty Johnny Pate.

Naturally, the record has plenty of soul clapping, punchy bass and rhythm guitar, and some of those tasteful Chitown strings.

The flipside, ‘The Big Parade’ is a nice, sweet group harmony side.

As it turns out, the Trends (Eddie Dunn, Emmett Garner Jr., Ralph O’Neill and Jerome Johnson) had a string of 45s, first on Smash, and then on ABC between 1964 and 1968.

They didn’t have much commercial success – aside from some airplay in Chicago – but their 45s are cool and worth picking up.

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, August 19, 2014 10:52 am

Label owner and producer Bill Moss

Listen/Download Soul Partners – Walk On Judge

Greetings all

The tune I bring you today is a great bit of late 60s Ohio funk.

The Soul Partners were a Columbus, Ohio band that recorded for Bill Moss’s Holiday imprint.

Moss, a successful Columbus soul DJ ran the Holiday, Loren and Capsoul labels, featuring artists like the Soul Partners, The Four Mints and Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum and Durr.

Moss also recorded the most excellent ‘Sock It To Em Soul Brother’ which also appeared as an instrumental on Capsoul by Elijah and the Ebonies.

The Soul Partners recorded ‘Walk On Judge’ for Holiday in 1968 and it was picked up for national distribution by the Bell label.

The tune is a great, rolling, funky guitar instrumental with a great horn section, sounding like a not too distant cousin of Cliff Nobles’ ‘Horse’.

The flipside, ‘Lose the One You Love’ (which appears on the Numero Group comp ‘Capitol City Soul’) is a very cool vocal number.

The Soul Partners also recorded another cool instro 45, ‘Spead’ b/w ‘Boo Boo’ for Bell in 1969.

I hope you dig the tunes, 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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, August 17, 2014 10:51 am

Sweet Linda Divine aka Linda Tillery

Listen/Download Sweet Linda Divine – Same Time, Same Place

Listen/Download Mable John – Same Time, Same Place

Greetings all

Every once in a great while, I wrap my ears around a record that genuinely blows me away. One of those records that you automatically want to share with anyone that’ll listen (which is why we’re here, right?).

Less than a month ago, a friend on Facebook posted Taj Mahal’s cover of Homer Banks ‘A Lot of Love’ (not the record we’re here to talk about, but stay tuned).

I had no idea that the cover  – of one of my favorite records – existed, and thought it was very cool, indeed.

I was unable to (immediately) put my hands on a copy of the 45 (it tends to change hands for a couple of bucks), but I discovered that the song had been included on an old CBS loss-leader/record club release called ‘Somethin’ Else Again’.

The very definition of ‘budget’ – with two LPs jammed into a single sleeve – the set consisted of Columbia and associated acts from 1969/1970, many familiar names, as well as a couple I’d never heard of (always the ones to check out).

So, after recording the Taj Mahal tune, I moved on to ‘Same Time, Same Place’ by Sweet Linda Divine (actually listed on the jacket as ‘Linda Divine’).

To say that I was knocked back on my heels would be an understatement.

Here we had a masterful soul ballad performance, with a stunning, elegant arrangement (no credits provided…).

I slapped the tune on my iPod and listened to it at least dozen times that first night.

The next day, I set out into the wilds of the interwebs to see what I could discover about Linda Divine.

As it turns out, I already knew the singer, but under a different name.

‘Linda Divine’ was in fact Linda Tillery, the former lead singer of the late 60s San Francisco Bay-area band the Loading Zone!

Tillery recorded one album for Columbia in 1970, billed as ‘Sweet Linda Divine’, produced by Al Kooper and arranged by Kooper and Charlie Calello.

Not only that, but the song was also a cover of a tune written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, and originally recorded in 1967 by Mable John on the mighty Stax label (I’m also posting her version, to compare and contrast, and because you can never hear too much Mable John).

Fortunately, I was able to score a copy of the Sweet Linda Divine 45, and discovering (happily) that the 45 edit of the song was almost a minute-and-a-half longer than the version included on ‘Somethin’ Else Again’.

Though the Mable John original is a solid slice of Memphis soul, the Sweet Linda Divine version is a remarkable re-imagining of the song.

This has to do with two important differences, the first being Tillery’s voice, and the second the arrangement by Kooper and Calello.

You all know that I already hold Mable John in high esteem, her original recording of ‘Your Good Thing (Is About To End)’ being one of my favorite soul 45s.

That said, Linda Tillery uses her mighty instrument to take the embers of the original build them into a soulful blaze.

Starting with the bare bones of the original Stax arrangement (see the descending guitar line, and the way, later in the song it’s doubled by the harp), Kooper and Calello add dramatic string accents, along with Kooper’s gospel-flavored piano, the organ and horns.

The part that gets me every time, and it’s something of a subtle stroke of genius, is the addition of a sweeping chord change in the transition to the chorus that doesn’t exist in the original. It gives the song a striking lift, in a way that affects me physically.

I find myself going back to the recording over and over again, just to hear it take that one specific turn, which goes right to the pleasure centers of my brain.

It is a moment that takes an already powerful and sublime exercise in soul, and elevates it even further.

Tillery takes the lyric – one of the great backstreet cheating songs, up there with ‘Dark End of the Street’ – and delivers it as if she’s telling you her own story. The point where things drop down, and Tillery delivers her soliloquy, it feels as if you’ve become party to an intimate communication. It’s also yet another testament to the power of the Hayes/Porter collaboration.

After Tillery says ‘Now listen to this…’ there’s a moment of pure silence that is in itself a master stroke. It’s almost as if you can imagine the singer holding up her hand to the crowd to bring things to a halt, and then continuing once she has the floor.

‘Same Time, Same Place’, really is a remarkable, ‘lost’ classic*. It is the kind of record that ought to be held up as a brilliant example of the power of soul to transmit authentic emotion.

Tillery went on to be an important force in women’s music, working as a session musician (she is also an accomplished drummer/percussionist) and with the Olivia label through the 70s.

She is still active today playing jazz and blues, and working with her group the Cultural Heritage Choir.

I hope that this one hits you the way it does me, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

*Props once again to Sir Shambling, one of the few instances I was able to locate where someone had already tapped into the majesty of this record.

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, August 12, 2014 12:58 pm

Darrow Fletcher

Listen/Download Darrow Fletcher – The Pain Gets a Little Deeper

Greetings all

Here we all are, knee-deep in the middle of the week.

What better, then, than some refreshing, upbeat Chicago soul?

Darrow Fletcher’s debut 45, 1966’s ‘The Pain Gets a Little Deeper’ is one of those records that I chased after for quite a while before I finally landed one for my play box.

It’s not a crazy expensive 45, but it is popular and in demand, so you kind of have to fight a little bit to put your hands on one.

It’s also quite good.

Recorded when Fletcher was 14 years old (?!?), and co-written by the singer, ‘The Pain Gets a Little Deeper’ is a snappy bit of dance floor soul, with a superb, raspy vocal and a very tasty horn arrangement.

The record was produced by Fletcher’s stepfather Johnny Haygood, and grazed the R&B Top 20 in January of 1966.

Fletcher recorded 18 singles between 1966 and 1978 for labels like Groovy, Jacklyn, Revue, Congress, UNI and ATCO.

He had two more minor R&B hits in 1970, and 1976, but never got any higher than his debut despite the consistent high quality of his material.

There’s a great Kent comp of his 1966-1971 records called ‘The Pain Gets a Little Deeper’ which can be had on CD or through iTunes.

I hope you dig the sounds, 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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, August 10, 2014 10:05 am

Jo Ann Campbell and Troy Seals

Listen/Download Jo Ann and Troy – Who Do You Love

Greetings all

One of the great pleasures of my lifelong music collecting (if I may be so bold) odyssey, is the thrill of discovering a record that is both groovy, and manages to carry with it an interesting story.

Today’s selection is just such a disc.

A while back, I was wandering around the vinyl depositories of the interwebs and happened upon the record you see before you today.

The names Jo Ann and Troy meant nothing to me, but as soon as I saw that they were covering one of my favorite Bo Diddley songs, my curiosity was piqued.

I threw down a couple of bucks, took a chance and was very happy indeed when I finally put the needle on the record.

The Jo Ann and Troy version of ‘Who Do You Love’ was a slamming, uptempo raver with some very tasty guitar and some crazy duet action between the singers.

What blew my mind, was when I started doing some digging and discovered that Jo Ann and Troy were not only white, but had roots in the rockabilly/country side of things.

Jo Ann was Jo Ann Campbell, who had herself quite a little career as a rocker/rockabilly in the late 50s and early 60s, her biggest hit being the answer record ‘I’m the Girl From Wolverton Mountain’ in 1961. Campbell also appeared in a few rock’n’roll movies.

Troy was Troy Seals, cousin to Jim and Dan Seals (of Seals & Crofts and the Southwest F.O.B.) was a guitarist, and at the time Campbell’s husband.

They recorded over a dozen tracks in 1964 for Atlantic in an R&B/soul style, with the A-side of ‘Who Do You Love’, ‘I Found a Love, Oh What a Love’ making a minor hit at the end of 1964.

The record was successful enough that the duo became regulars on ‘Where the Action is’ in 1965.

They also recorded a fantastic version of the Ashford/Simpson/Armstead tune, ‘Same Old Feeling’.

A few years later, Seals went on to play guitar in the Dapps, recording with none other than James Brown.

Troy Seals later had a very successful career as a country songwriter, penning hits for Ronnie Milsap (‘Lost In the Fifties Tonight’) and George Jones (‘Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes’) among others.

I hope you dig the tune, 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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.