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By Larry, August 7, 2014 11:07 am

Listen/Download Artie Christopher – Stoned Soul

Greetings all

The week is coming to its conclusion (logical, or not) and that means that it’s Funky16Corners Radio Show time again. This and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, I bring you the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. If you can’t fall by at airtime, you can always keep up at your leisure by subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or by grabbing yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is a little bit of Memphis funk.

I can’t tell you much about Artie Christopher, aside from the fact that he seems to have laid down a pair of 45s for the Atlantic label in 1968 (at least one of them originally released on the 5-High imprint).

He was one of many similarly inclined soulful Caucasians operating in the south at around the same time (see South, Joe and White, Tony Joe for starters), and was the brother of guitarist/songwriter Johnnie Christopher, who co-wrote Elvis Presley’s smash ‘Always On My Mind’ (covered by many, many others).

That’s pretty much where the obtainable facts run out.

The tune you see before you today, the instrumental ‘Stoned Soul’ was released in 1968 as the flipside of Christopher’s version of ‘Hello LA, Bye Bye Birmingham’, the song that led me to seek out this 45 in the first place.

Interestingly enough, it’s ‘Stoned Soul’ for which most folks grab this disc, it having been included on Rhino’s ‘What It Is’ boxed set.

A funky, guitar and organ led instro, the tune features a great (Philly sounding) horn line, wild effects laden guitar (or keyboard, I’m not sure, but was eventually sampled by Method Man) and a very nice bass breakdown as well.

The groovy thing is, both of Christopher’s Atlantic 45s are relatively easy to find, and fairly inexpensive as well.

Unfortunately, according to Sir Shambling’s site, Christopher passed away some time ago.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, August 3, 2014 12:08 pm

Future Congressman Salvatore ‘Sonny’ Bono

Listen/Download Cookie Jackson – Uptown Jerk

Listen/Download BJ and the Profits – It’s Gonna Rain Outside

Greetings all

I thought we’d start the new week with something very groovy, and a little bit unusual.

If you follow Funky16Corners, you probably wouldn’t expect to see the name Sonny Bono pop up, but then again, to paraphrase an old Monty Python bit, ‘No one expects Sonny Bono!’

The cause for this appearance is – however – 100% soul 45 related, so rest easy.

The story starts many years ago when I fell in love with what is still my favorite New Orleans soul instrumental, Gentleman June Gardner’s ‘It’s Gonna Rain’.

If you’re not familiar, take a peek in the Funky16Corners mix and Radio Show archives, since it pops up in both more than once.

It is a swinging bit of dance floor heat, and for tha reason, sweated hard in 45 form by DJ types.

Though I can’t recall the exact interval, it was a little while before I discovered that the song was in fact a cover of a Sonny and Cher tune (?!?), which had appeared on the B-side of their hit ‘I Got You Babe’.

The groovy thing is, the Sonny and Cher OG is a KILLER record, working kind of a garage/soul-a-go-go thing.

The song became a fave of mine, so much so that when I saw that it had been covered by a group called BJ and the Profits, I snapped it up post haste.

What I discovered when I finally got my hands on it, was that it was produced by Mr. Bono (no slouch in that department) and, when I heard it, that ole Salvatore actually sings on it too!

As you’ll hear when you pull down the ones and zeros, the BJ and the Profits version is very cool indeed.

Using a new backing track, with what sounds like either a sitar or fuzz guitar, the lead vocal is taken by ‘BJ’, who unfortunately remains a mystery.

Despite the fact that Sonny was involved, and the record pops up in S&C discographies, I haven’t been able to track down the identity of the singer.

The flipside, ‘I Lost All Faith In You’ is a hard-edged number with a rolling New Orleans rhythm.

The second record we have today – also credited to York-Pala Productions, in fact Sonny & Cher’s managers Charlie Green and Brian Stone) is Cookie Jackson’s ‘Uptown Jerk’.

The very first record released on Capitol Records Uptown subsidiary (both of these records are from 1965), ‘Uptown Jerk’, is an upbeat dancer that has its fair share of fans on the Northern scene.

Lorraine ‘Cookie’ Jackson is a much better known performer, having recorded 10 45s between 1961 and 1970 for labels like Press, Uptown, Okeh and Kris.

The flipside, ‘(I’m Gonna) Go Shout It On the Mountain’ is a thinly disguised reworking of the old gospel tune ‘Go Tell It On the Mountain’.

As far as I can tell, though Sonny Bono did a fair amount of outside songwriting and production (he was an acolyte of Phil Spector’s) these are the only soul 45s he had anything to do with. They were released months apart in 1965 (the first and sixth singles in the Uptown catalog).

They are both cool, and worth picking up when you see them.

I hope you dig the sounds, 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.

Comments (1)

By Larry, July 31, 2014 11:58 am

Idris lays into the traps…

Listen/Download Idris Muhammad – Express Yourself

Listen/Download Idris Muhammad – Super Bad

Listen/Download Leon Spencer – Message From the Meters

Listen/Download Lou Donaldson – Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky From Now On

Listen/Download Lonnie Smith – See Saw

Listen/Download Melvin Sparks – Thank You Pt1

Listen/Download Melvin Sparks – Thank You Pt2

Listen/Download Bob James – Nautilus

Greetings all

I logged on to the interwebs last night only to be greeted by rumors of the passing of the mighty Idris Muhammad.

It wasn’t long before the rumors were confirmed by this obituary out of his home port of New Orleans.

Idris Muhammad was born Leo Morris in New Orleans in 1939.

He was childhood friends with the Neville brothers, and one of his first gigs was playing on Fats Domino’s 1956 smash ‘Blueberry Hill’ (he also played on the seminal Crescent City track, the Hawketts ‘Mardi Gras Mambo’).

Muhammad left New Orleans in the mid-60s and headed north to make his bones as a jazz drummer.

He soon became a fixture on a seemingly endless succession of heavy New York soul jazz dates, playing alongside a wide variety of organists, guitarists and others (dig the discography in his Wikipedia entry), eventually leading his own dates for Prestige starting in 1970.

Idris has appeared here at Funky16Corners many times over the years, both as leader and sideman.

His drumming style was steeped in the New Orleans second line, and was deeply funky, both in the wayback Ninth Ward way and also in the post-James Brown get down.

I’m posting a wide variety of tracks blessed with his beats, but that mixture of Big Easy and Good Foot was never more obvious than  in  the solo in his cover of Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band’s ‘Express Yourself, the opening track’ from his 1970 debut as a leader ‘Black Rhythm Revolution’. Listening to it is hearing a very groovy bunch of uptown jazzers suddenly morphing into a high-stepping, umbrella-waving parade.

It is bad-ass.

I’m including the flipside of that 45, his cover of JB’s ‘Super Bad’ (bringing it all back around, as it were) as well as a grip of sessions from the late 60s/early 70s that feature Muhammad. It’s worth noting that two of the best tracks hail from NOLA, Lou Donaldson covering Lee Dorsey and Leon Spencer, the Meters.

The last track, Bob James’ epic – heavily sampled, see below* –  1974 track ‘Nautilus’, in which Muhammad lays out one of the smoothest/tastiest breaks ever.

Idris Muhammad went on to play with a host of jazz greats, spending may years working with Ahmad Jamal, before retiring to his home town in 2011.

He was a master of the skins, who carried the beat in his heart and soul.

He will be missed.

See you on Monday

Keep the faith

Larry

     *Songs that sample ‘Nautilus’ (from the-breaks.com)

     A Tribe Called Quest’s “Clap Your Hands”
     Alkaholiks’s “Daaam!”
     All Natural’s “Think Again”
     Basement Khemist’s “Correct Technique”
     Camp Lo’s “Black Nostaljack”
     Chubb Rock’s “Keep it Street”
     DJ Food’s “Spiral Dub”
     DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s “Jazzy’s Groove”
     Dream Warriors’s “Voyage Through the Multiverse”
     EPMD’s “Brothers on My Jock”
     Eric B and Rakim’s “Follow the Leader”
     Eric B and Rakim’s “Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em”
     Freestylers’s “Warning”
     Geto Boys’s “Snitches”
     Ghostface Killah’s “Daytona 500”
     Group Home’s “Inna Citi Life”
     Ice T’s “?”
     JCD and the Dawg lb’s “Over Pussy”
     Jeru’s “My Mind Spray”
     Joe Budden’s “Yo, Yo, Yo”
     Jungle Brothers’s “Book of Rhyme Pages”
     K-Solo’s “Everybody Knows Me”
     Keith Murray’s “The Rhyme”
     King Sun’s “Big Shots”
     Kruder & Dorfmeister’s “Original Bedroom Rockers”
     Large Professor ft Pete Rock’s “The Rap World”
     Leaders of the New School’s “Show Me a Hero”
     Lord Shafiyq’s “My Mic is on Fire”
     Lyrical Prophecy’s “You Can’t Swing This”
     Main Source’s “Live at the Barbecue”
     Mary J. Blige’s “Just Mary”
     Mary J. Blige ft Nas & DMX’s “Sincerity”
     Mekon’s “Phatty’s Lunch Box”
     Mike Zoot’s “Scene”
     Naughty by Nature’s “Cruddy Clique”
     Nice & Smooth’s “No Delayin’”
     Onyx’s “Black Vagina Finda”
     Onyx’s “Throw Ya Gunz”
     Organized Konfusion’s “Stray Bullet”
     Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “Take You There”
     Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “The Sun Won’t Come Out”
     Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “What’s Next on the Menu?”
     Poison Clan’s “Paper Chase”
     Poor Righteous Teachers’s “Word is Bond”
     Project M’s “The Place to Be”
     Public Enemy’s “Anti-N*gger Machine”
     Puff Daddy ft Busta Rhymes and Notorious BIG’s “Victory”
     Queen Mother Rage’s “Slippin’ into Darkness”
     Red Myers’s “Shoplifter”
     Run-DMC’s “Beats to the Rhyme”
     Run-DMC’s “Groove to the Sound”
     Salt-N-Pepa’s “Doper than Dope”
     Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story”
     Soul II Soul’s “Jazzie’s Groove”
     Tame One’s “Torture Chamber”
     The Roots ft Mos Def’s “Double Trouble”
     Threat’s “Bust One Fa Me”
     Tim Dog’s “Bronx Nigga”
     Tim Dog’s “I’ll Wax Anybody”
     Tim Dog’s “Low Down Nigg*”
     Ultramagnetic MCs’s “Ced Gee (Delta Force One)”
     Ultramagnetic MCs’s “Moe Love on the One & Two”
     Ultramagnetic MCs’s “Raise it Up”

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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, July 29, 2014 1:21 pm

William Bell and Mavis Staples

Listen/Download William Bell and Mavis Staples – I Thank You

Greetings all

A couple of weeks ago, not long after I finished reading Greg Kots’ most excellent ‘I’ll Take You There: Mavis Staples, the Staple Singers, and the March up Freedom’s Highway’, it just happened to be Ms. Mavis’ 75th birthday.

I have been listening to a LOT of Staple Singers ish the last few years – especially the Epic era gospel stuff – and consistently marveling at the pure, soulful power of Mavis Staples’ voice.

It just so happens that a few months before (I’ve been reading a lot, you see) I had read Robert Palmer’s also excellent ‘Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion’.

Palmer’s book is an indispensable guidebook to the history of that mighty soul label, especially his coverage of Stax’s late 60s rebirth.

Having been left in the lurch thanks to a shady deal with Atlantic Records, which cost the label their masters (and one of their top-selling acts, Sam and Dave), Stax, led by Al Bell, regrouped with the intention of reestablishing their market presence/dominance.

Part of Bell’s ambitious plan was a huge wave of new releases, which brought the label’s talent to the very edge of exhaustion.

One of Stax’s recent acquisitions, was the Staple Singers.

Having departed Epic records, the Staples came to Stax, already having loosened up a little bit.

Their catalog had already started to include non-religious (yet still inspirational) material, like their 1967 cover of the Buffalo Springfield’s ‘For What It’s Worth’, and their original songs, like ‘Why Am I Treated So Bad’ had been covered by the likes of the Sweet Inspirations, Bobby Powell and Brian Auger and the Trinity.

One of the cornerstones of Stax/Bell’s big push was a two-LP set composed of duets, mixing and matching the label’s male talent, like Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Johnnie Taylor and Pervis Staples, with its female stars like Carla Thomas, and Mavis and Cleotha Staples.

Composed of 22 tracks, the ‘Boy Meets Girl’ collection is, despite the daunting size (and the fact that these were all new recordings) actually quite good.

With the recording spread between Memphis, Detroit and Muscle Shoals, and a number of arrangers and writers, the resulting tracks are not consistently ‘Stax-like’ – there are a number of cuts that sound Motown-ish – but there’s lots to dig.

My favorite track from the collection is William Bell and Mavis Staples funky duet on ‘I Thank You’.

Originally recorded the previous year by Sam and Dave, the 1969 recording – produced by Al Bell and Isaac Hayes – is a something of a lost classic.

The arrangement is unusual – the first 45 seconds consist of Bell and Staples trading lines over just congas and tambourines – but when the band kicks in things get funky.

The clavinet from the OG is still there, but it gets some company from fuzz guitar, and the drums keep up the heat through the whole record.

Bell sounds great, and it’s cool to hear Mavis in one of her earliest purely soulful outings.

The power of her voice was always a revelation, but especially so here. She never soars, or showboats, choosing instead to add subtle but perfectly chosen turns here and there.

She really is a singer that demands your attention, and her performance here ought to be better known.

Unfortunately – though Stax released six singles from the collection – ‘I Thank You’ was not among them.

It doesn’t help that the reissues (including the version currently on iTunes) of the ‘Boy Meets Girl’ collection have often been changed to exclude some of the original tracks and add new ones.

Fortunately for those of you with turntables, the original vinyl version of the set seems to be in plentiful supply and can usually be scored for less than twenty bucks.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 22, 2014 12:50 pm

Ike and Tina Turner

Listen/Download Ike and Tina Turner – Somebody Needs You

Greetings all

I hope the middle of the week finds you all well.

The song I bring you today is one of those anomalies that piques my curiosity and sends me off on a search.

A while back I was listening to the two volumes of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue recorded live, released in 1965 on Loma and Warner Brothers.

If you get a chance to pick up either volume, they are both outstanding, presenting the group in fine form delivering a wide variety of material, including great covers of songs by the Impressions, Etta James, the Soul Sisters, the Five Dutones and more.

The one track (on Volume 2) that stuck out like a sore thumb was ‘Somebody (Somewhere) Needs You’.

Clearly a studio track with audience overdubs (where every other track was live), the song was also a stylistic departure.

Whereas Ike and Tina and the Ikettes always had a harder, R&B inflected edge to their recordings, ‘Somebody (Somewhere) Needs You’ was stylish, Detroit-style Northern Soul.

I hit the reference books and discovered that the song had been released as a single in 1965, and that it was fairly scarce, and a little bit expensive.

It took me a little while, but I finally tracked down a copy.

Even a single listen should be enough to convince you that ‘Somebody Needs You’ (as the track is listed on the Loma 45) is unlike anything else in the Ike and Tina discography.

As it turns out, the song has an interesting history.

Written by Frank Wilson (the man that brought you ‘Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)’), ‘Somebody (Somewhere) Needs You’ was also recorded by Darrell Banks (Revilot 1966).

The backing track from the Ike and Tina version was recycled several times.

First as Larry Laster’s ‘Go For Yourself’ (with new lyrics by, and credited to Leon Sylvers) on Loma in 1966, a year later by Herb and Doris on the HIP label, as ‘Lighten Up’ by Larry Atkins on the Highland label, and by Ty Karim as ‘Lighten Up Baby’ on Car-A-Mel!

Interestingly enough, the Darrell Banks recording uses a completely different track/arrangement.

It’s an amazing record, and a real departure for Ike and Tina. It leaves me wishing that they’d done more like it.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, July 20, 2014 11:45 am

Sam and Dave

Listen/Download Sam and Dave – I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down

Greetings all

The summer is in full swing.

The thickness of the air does however force one to slow down a bit, and in times like these I develop a taste for deep soul.

Earlier this year I had the great honor to meet and DJ for the mighty David Porter.

Alongside Isaac Hayes, Porter was part of one of the great songwriting teams of the classic soul era.

As it happens, not long after that night, I got my hands on Robert Gordon’s ‘Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion’ (highly recommended).

The combination of these two things had me digging deep in my own crates and doing some intense listening to all things Stax and Stax-related.

Aside from the pure pleasure of digging all that amazing music, I came out of it with a new, deeper appreciation for Sam Moore.

I have always had a pet peeve of sorts in regard to amazing soul singers – Levi Stubbs especially – who ought to be placed in the pantheon of the greats, alongside Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett, yet seem trapped withing the group identity.

No matter how great he was, Levi Stubbs will forever be ‘Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops’, and Sam Moore, will always be ‘Sam’ of Sam and Dave.

This is not to cast aspersions on Dave Prater, a great singer in his own right, but rather to focus on the fact that Sam Moore was possessed of a voice that had few equals, at Stax or anywhere else.

The fact that what we consider to be soul music would not exist without deep and strong gospel roots is something that a lot of people need to be reminded of.

Though gospel music is in the midst of a collector’s renaissance, the average listener rarely makes the connections between the amen corner and the soulful sounds they hear on their favorite oldies station.

Both Sam Moore and Dave Prater got their start singing in church, and their vocal stylings, as individuals and in their interplay as a duo, brought that training to the fore.

The record I bring you today is a tune that I first came to know via the (much faster) 1980 cover by Elvis Costello and the Attractions.

The first time I heard the original 1967 version by Sam and Dave, the radical difference in presentation gave me pause.

Co-written by the mighty Homer Banks and Allen Jones, the song is the deep, gospel confessional channeled through romantic regret. Instead of confessing their sins before the congregation, Sam and Dave deliver a sermon about broken hearts.

‘I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down’ is a great window into the duo’s technique, both individually and in tandem.

Moore takes the opening verse, with its amazing line ‘I’ve tasted the bitterness of my own tears’ and his clear, high tenor soars into the rafters.

Prater follows in the second verse, his grittier voice (punctuated by Moore’s cries) coming from another place entirely.

The singers join together on the chorus, and then in the bridge, where the record finds its only odd note, with Moore taking the line ‘But that won’t stop me from loving you’ and changing it to ‘But that can’t stop Sam and Dave from loving you.’*

‘I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down’ is hardly the only great performance in the Sam and Dave discography, but it is one of the finest, as well as one of the greatest ballads in the entirety of the Stax catalog.

If you haven’t given them a good listen lately, take your Sam and Dave 45s out, dust them off and dig in.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

*Listen, it’s none of my business what Sam and Dave did in their free time…

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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, July 17, 2014 7:01 pm

Clarence Curvan

Listen/Download Clarence Curvan – Feeling Nice

Greetings all

The end of the week is at hand, and so I will remind you once again that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs each and every 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, or grab yourself an MP3 out of the Archive here at the blog.

The song I bring you today is one of those ‘white whale’ 45s that I chased (fruitlessly) for years.

I first heard Clarence Curvan’s ‘Feeling Nice’ many years ago when the esteemed Dave Withers did a guest set at the Asbury Park 45 Sessions.

As soon as the needle hit the record I was running up to the decks to see what the song was.

I plugged the info into my (old) phone, and started looking.

It bears mentioning that that was two phones ago.

I had the record plugged into an E-Bay saved search, which continually came up snake eyes.

I had all but given up hope that I would ever get my hands on a copy of the 45 (It popped up once but got bid out of my grasp pretty quickly), when it finally showed up early this year.

This time (thanks to a healthier bid..cough..) I prevailed, and in a few short weeks ‘Feeling Nice’ was heating up my play box.

Clarence Curvan was a Trinidadian drummer/bandleader who recorded traditional island sounds and calypso as well as soul and funk over the years.

He and his band migrated to the United States in the early 70s, where they recorded ‘Feeling Nice’ for Brooklyn-based Charlies Records.

‘Feeling Nice’ is as aggressive an ode to the wonders of the kind bud as has ever been laid down (maybe a little too aggressive for most folks smoking it…), but one shouldn’t let that get in the way of a good party, and this party is GOOD.

The bass (especially groovy), organ and guitar chug alongside the drums with a wailing vocal, all over a funky rhythm with a distinct island flavor.

So slip this one onto your podlike thingy, make yourself up a nice, fruity tropical drink and start dancing.

Have a great weekend.

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 (1)

By Larry, July 15, 2014 12:10 pm

Joe Williams

Listen/Download Joe Williams and the Jazz Orchestra – Get Out of My Life

Greetings all

I thought I’d whip something as smooth and delicious as a snifter of cognac on you this fine day.

Years ago I remember watching a documentary in which someone was talking about Burt Bacharach, and remarking on how when he arranged a song, they were so important to the structure of a number, that the elements of the arrangement often remained in plce when the song was covered.

Such is the case with renditions of Lee Dorsey’s (written by the mighty Allen Toussaint) 1966 hit (R&B Top 5, Pop Top50) hit ‘Get Out of My Life, Woman’.

No matter who decided to cover it, from rock bands like the Leaves/Q65, soul artists like Solomon Burke/Wilmer and the Dukes, to jazzers like Jimmy Smith and George Semper, you always seem to get that funky, loping, New Orleans drum figure kicking open the door at the beginning.

The version I bring you today is very groovy, and in the words of Slim Gaillard, mellow as a cello.

Performed by legendary jazz singer Joe Williams, backed by the Thad Jones big band, ‘Get Out of My Life’ (‘Woman’ symbolically, our of his life, and the title) was recorded in 1966 for the Solid State label.

Taken at a relaxed, yet solid pace, with an outstanding vocal by Williams, the recording also features (at around six seconds in) one of the tastiest, choppable/loopable bits of sound ever laid down.

So tasty, that it was sampled more than a dozen times* by cats like Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Doug E Fresh and Pete Nice, which is why when copies turn up, they change hands for a few dollars more than your average Solid State 45.

As soul jazz 45s go, it’s one of those biscuits that you can just put on repeat and soak in it like a tub of warm water.

I hope you dig it (I know I do).

Keep the faith

Larry

 *Songs that sampled Joe Williams ‘Get Out of My Life’:
    Big Daddy Kane’s “Very Special”
     Biz Markie’s “Funk is Back”
     Double XX Posse’s “Ruffneck”
     Doug E Fresh’s “Bounce”
     Funkdoobiest’s “I’m Shittin’ on ‘Em”
     Jill Scott’s “Brotha”
     Kool G Rap’s “Ill Street Blues”
     Main Source’s “How My Man Went Down in the Game”
     Pete Nice’s “Outta My Way Baby”
     Queen Latifah’s “Latifah’s Had it up 2 Here”
     Shabazz the Disciple’s “Party with a Tec”
     Skoolbeats’s “Outta My Way”
     UMC’s “Woman Be Out”

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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 (1)

By Larry, July 13, 2014 1:01 pm

Boz Scaggs

Listen/Download Boz Scaggs – Hercules

Greetings all

When I was picking through tracks trying to decide on something to start the week, my natural inclination was to go back into the dark recesses of the archives, yet I was met time and time again by the siren song of something brand new.

Not long ago, while searching for something else entirely (as is often the case)I happened upon a completely unexpected cover version of a familiar song.

I first heard Aaron Neville’s original version of ‘Hercules’ (written by Allen Toussaint) close to 15 years ago on an old Charly Records CD comp of New Orleans soul and funk.

The song –a very tasty groove indeed – lodged in my consciousness soon after when I realized that the original 45 – of which there are very few – had become a sought after disc among collectors of my ilk.

While I have never encountered a copy myself, I remain on the lookout.

That said, while seeking something else Toussaint-related, I came across a listing for a cover of ‘Hercules’, by none other than Boz Scaggs.

Now, if you grew up in the 70s (like me, for instance) the sounds of Mr Scaggs were inescapable. He had a number of big hits in the decade, including groovers like ‘Lowdown’ and ‘Lido Shuffle’.

It was only many years later that I discovered that he had a much deeper history, having recorded his first solo records in the 60s, and spent time as a sideman with the early Steve Miller Band.

When I discovered that Scaggs had covered ‘Hercules’, I set out in search of a copy of the record, which proved both easy and cheap.

Appearing on his 1974 LP ‘Slow Dancer’, Scaggs’ version of ‘Hercules’ is very groovy indeed.

Though it lacks some of the heat of the NOLA-based OG, it comes awfully close.

Produced by Johnny Bristol with arrangements by HB Barnum, this version of ‘Hercules’ is a funky, slow burner.

Scaggs takes the song at a slightly slower pace than Neville, but the groove here is deep indeed. The addition of strings gives this version a slightly smoother, nighttime vibe.

As far as I can tell, Boz Scaggs’ ‘Hercules’ has remained largely unnoticed for the last 40 years, instead of heating up dance floors, where it should have been. I suspect that this has something to do with Scaggs’ (somewhat undeserved) reputation as a middle-of-the-road pop artist.

Give this one a spin and then pass it on to someone who will dig it.

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 (0)

By Larry, July 10, 2014 1:07 pm

Roosevelt Grier (L), Clyde McPhatter (R)

Listen/Download Roosevelt Grier – In My Tenement

Listen/Download Clyde McPhatter – In My Tenement

Greetings all

The end of the week is approaching, so I thought I’d remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you prefer to do the pod-thing, you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 out of the archive here at Funky16Corners.

The tune(s) I bring you today are one of the interesting intersections of artist and song that I’ve come across in the last few years.

I first heard of the song ‘In My Tenement’ (written by Bobby Scott and Artie Resnick) when I started researching the singer Jackie Shane (more here).

Not long after that I picked up a copy of Roosevelt Grier’s 1964 LP on the RIK label.

Grier, best known as a professional football player and TV personality had a very groovy sideline as a soul singer during the 60s. Many of the records he made during that period are quite good and I pick them up whenever I find them.

So, what turns up on Rosie’s LP but another version of ‘In My Tenement’, which as it turns out is also sought after in 45 form, often pulling in a couple of hundred bucks.

Then, a few months ago, while chasing down some of Clyde McPhatter’s later recordings, what do I encounter but his version of ‘In My Tenement’, also recorded and released in 1964.

The weird thing is, none of these recordings were hits, nor were they connected in any other way.

As far as I can tell Shane recorded in New York (with Juggy Murray), Grier in LA (with Bobby Darin!) and McPhatter somewhere (Nashville?) with Shelby Singleton.

The Shane and Grier versions are taken at a similar pace, with enough backbeat for the dancers (thus the cost of the 45s!), with McPhatter (more on his mid-60s recordings coming soon) taking things at a brisk pace.

I’m very curious about how the song got around so much.

There were always publisher’s demos circulating, so it’s possible that an aggressive song plugger got the tune to the right people.

Both Scott and Resnick were both successful songwriters (Scott had composed the music to ‘A Taste of Honey’, and Resnick would go on to be a mover in the the bubblegum sound later in the 60s).

The song was also covered by a group called the Lovers on the Agon label.

If anyone has any information on the history of the song (or any other versions) please let me know.

That said, have yourselves a groovy weekend, and I’ll see you all next week.

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, July 8, 2014 1:19 pm

The Olympics

Listen/Download The Olympics – Mine Exclusively

Greetings all

The mid-week doldrums were creeping up on me, so I felt the need for some hard-charging Northern Soul.

The mighty Olympics were one of those lucky groups to straddle the eras of 50s R&B and 60s soul.

They had their first string of hits from 1958 to 1960 with tunes like ‘Western Movies’, ‘Big Boy Pete’ and ‘Baby (Hully Gully)’, all working a Coasters-type groove.

They continued to record for labels like Tri-Disc and Loma (where they waxed the original version of ‘Good Lovin’ in 1965) eventually landing at the storied LA soul label Mirwood.

It was with Mirwood that they would place two records in the R&B Top 30 in 1966, one of which is he record you see before you today, ‘Mine Exclusively’.

Co-written by Bob Relf and Sherlie Matthews, ‘Mine Exclusively’ is one of the finest soul dancers to come out of Los Angeles in the 60s.

Oddly enough, I first encountered the song in a long-lost 1988 film called ‘The In Crowd’.

The story of Philadelphia teens from opposite sides of the tracks meeting on a dance party show (with a host that bore an uncanny resemblance to Jerry ‘The Geator’ Blavat*).

The flick has lots of high energy dance scenes, and a surprisingly good soundtrack, featuring the Olympics, Tina Britt, the Marvelows, Five Du-Tones, Dobie Gray (of course), Wilson Pickett and more.

It’s a lot of fun, but doesn’t turn up much these days. It was never released on DVD and doesn’t make it onto TV too often.

That said, ‘Mine Exclusively’ opens with a powerful drum/handclaps combo and never lets up until the needle hits the run out groove. It’s a fine example of the kind of top notch records that Fred Smith and James Carmichael were making for Mirwood at the time.

I pick up Mirwood 45s wherever I find them, but if you’re not a wax-hound, you can grab the two excellent volumes of the The Mirwood Soul Story on CD or on iTunes. You will not be disappointed.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

*A resemblance so close that it was rumored to have resulted in legal action….

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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 (1)

By Larry, July 1, 2014 12:53 pm

Miss Barbara Lynn

Listen/Download Barbara Lynn – I’m a Good Woman

Greetings all

Hows about traversing the middle of the week with something deep?

The record you see before you is one of those 45s that I chased for a long, long (loooong) time before I finally tackled it and tossed it into my record box.

‘I’m a Good Woman’ by Barbara Lynn is a popular side with DJs and collectors, and as a result it can be a little pricey and there’s a fair amount of competition when copies show up for sale.

This can be attributed 100 percent to the undeniable bad-ass-ness of the song/performance.

Barbara Lynn is one of the most underrated performers of the 60s and 70s, having had her biggest hit (‘You’ll Lose a Good Thing’) right out of the gate in 1962.

She wrote and recorded ‘I’m a Good Woman’ for the Tribe label in 1966,and despite its brilliance, it went exactly nowhere.

This might have something to do with the fact that ‘I’m a Good Woman’is something of a slow burner/builder.

It opens with a spellbinding (largely) a capella segment, and then starts stomping right away.

The rhythm section and the horns hit hard, and get harder as the song moves on.

I like to compare ‘I’m a Good Woman’ to a record like Tommy Tucker’s ‘Long Tall Shorty’, which starts off like a blues shuffle and turns into a buffalo stampede before you know it.

‘I’m a Good Woman’ is a solid dancer, which is why the DJs sweat it so hard.

All of that, and the fact that the song is a stone solid feminist statement.

Does it get any more plain spoken than ‘I’m a good woman, so don’t treat me like dirt!’ ?

No, it does not.

‘I’m a Good Woman’ has been covered over the years by artists like Cold Blood (very nice reading by Lydia Pense) and El Chicano, and there’s a very tasty modern cover by a UK group called Hannah Williams and the Tastemakers.

It is a killer.

Dig it 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.