Comments (1)

By Larry, June 9, 2014 10:59 am

DJ Prestige – Afro Rhythms of Today
Soul Jazz Orchestra – Celestial Blues
Bama and the Family – Don’t Think…Do
Hard Proof – Tere
Madlib – Jungle Shoundz
Peter King – Afro Funk
Polyrhythmics – Mr. Wasabi Rides Again
The Poets of Rhythm – Serengeti Stroke
Jungle Fire – Chalupa
The Lions – Jungle Struttin’
The Malcouns – Watou
Grace Jackson – Gonna Get U
Kelenkye – Mother Africa

Listen/Download Funky16Corners Presents: DJ Prestige – Afro Rhythms of Today

NOTE: Today’s mix is a new, killer mix by oneof my oldest and dearest friends in the record game, the mighty DJ Prestige. The man behind the Fleamarket Funk blog, and the founder of the Asbury Park 45 Sessions, Prestige has deep crates and knowledge for days.
The mix he has assembled for this year’s Allnighter/Pledge Drive focuses on the sounds of (and inspired by) Africa, with some very heavy stuff.
Prestige always comes correct, and I think you’ll dig this one (a lot).
See you tomorrow.
Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

Contest!

Anyone that donates today to the Allnighter/Pledge Drive will (in addition to getting the badge and stickers) be entered into a random drawing for a copy of the great Cultures of Soul comp ‘DJ Andy Smith’s Jam Up Twist – USA’. This CD features selections by legendary UK selector Andy Smith as well as Deano, with tracks by Big Mama Thornton, Gene Woodbury, Ray Sharpe and many more!

There will be more drawings over the next few weeks for CDs by Cultures of Soul, Light In the Attic and Secret Stash, and 45s from Lugnutbrand and Cultures of Soul!

____________________________________________________________________________

Greetings all

Welcome to the 2014 edition of the Funky16Corners Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

This is the ninth annual Pledge Drive, and the fifth Allnighter.

If you haven’t experienced the Allnighter/Pledge Drive, it can be explained as thus: once a year, the Funky16Corners Blog, your home for the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove vinyl for almost 10 years comes to you with hand outstretched, asking for donations to offset the operating expenses of the web site.

The Funky16Corners ‘operation’ (as it is) included the Funky16Corners and Iron Leg blogs, the mix archives for both (containing well over 200 mixes), and the Funky16Corners Radio Show/Podcast (another 200+ files available for download, or through subscription in iTunes).

The money raised during the pledge drive goes to pay for the server space and fees associated with hosting the whole megillah.

As has been attested to many times in the past, Funky16Corners has humble beginnings, starting out on the old (free) Blogger service, moving to WordPress, and then to self-hosted WordPress. The move to paid hosting was necessitated by increased bandwidth usage, as well as the need for a place to store all the mixes (and eventually the radio show episodes).

The Allnighter/Pledge Drive is a once-yearly occurrence, in which yours truly, and some of the finest selectors out there whip up new mixes for your delectation.

In past years, I have posted all of the mixes in a single post, and left it up for a week.

This year, the quality and quantity of the mixes spurred me on to try something a little different, i.e. posting a new mix each weekday for a period of just over two weeks. This way, each selector gets their moment in the spotlight, and the mixes get spaced out so that the listeners don’t suffer from mix-fatigue.

Each day, you’ll get a fantastic mix (there really are some amazing ones this year) from one of my favorite DJs, many of whom have participated in the Allnighter before, as well as a couple of great new contributors.

So, if you dig what we do here at Funky16Corners, click on the Paypal link and toss some cash into the barrel.

Contributors will receive a 2014 Allnighter badge, as well as some stickers from the archive (as long as they last).

This year I will also be drawing the names of contributors at random for groovy swag, including CDs and 45s from Cultures of Soul, and CDs from Light in the Attic and Secret Stash.

So, dig the sounds for the next couple of weeks, and make sure you stop back on a daily basis to pick up new mixes and contribute for a chance to win some cool stuff.

Thanks, and as always,

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 (4)

By Larry, June 8, 2014 11:03 am

Kris Holmes – Say You Love Me (A sweet soul primer)
Gene Chandler – River Of Tears
The Vanguards – Girl Go Away
Unnatural Funk Band – Living In the Past
Mike & The Censations – There Is Nothing I Can Do About It
The Kaldirons – To Love Someone
Darondo – Didn’t I
Timothy Wilson – Baby Baby Please
The Barons – Kid Stuff
Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr – You Can’t Blame Me
The Chi-Lites – Living In The Footsteps Of Another Man
Honey & The Bees – Please Have Mercy Baby
Wilmer & The Dukes – I Do Love You
Continental Four – Take A Little Time
The Emperors – I’ve Got To Have Her
The Miracles – Baby Don’t You Go
The Whispers – Seems Like I Gotta Do Wrong
Jackie Ross – Change Your Ways
The Lovelites – Oh My Love
Myron & E – If I Gave You My Love
The Impressions – Say You Love Me

Listen/Download Funky16Corners Presents: Kris Holmes – Say You Love Me (A Sweet Soul Primer)

A Note From Kris Holmes: Dedicating this mix to the late Bob Abrahamian:

I woke up on Saturday morning & grasped for my phone, casually checking emails, facebook etc before dragging myself out of bed to make a coffee. Only to see posts from mutual friends saying that our friend Bob had passed away. It stopped me in my tracks & tears began to fall from my eyes.

I couldn’t believe it was true, some sort of stupid joke, but messages to friends confirmed it. I’m typing this only a few hours after hearing the news. I first got acquainted with Bob in the late 2000s and since then we have spent a lot of time talking/dealing/researching 45s & just chatting about stupid stuff (always with the stupid stuff). Living way down here in Auckland, well, it’s kinda miles away from anywhere and let’s face it, makes my hobby of researching vintage Soul 45s a little bit tricky.

I try to get to the US as much as possible, but I also tend to rely on record friends I trust when getting them to help with research. Bob was one of those friends I always turned to & he always came through. Whether he was trying to call some artist I thought I had a lead on, or sending me additions for my Greenville & Beyond website just because he’d found one I didn’t have or even just sending me a New Orleans 45 he’d bought but knew that I’d appreciate more than him & since he didn’t get that sound so much he thought I should have it. Bob was one of our scene’s good guys.

No doubt about it.

We would tease each other mercilessly about stuff, I would tell him to get the hell off Ebay & go get some sunlight. He would threaten to fly to Australia (not the same place as New Zealand for all you geographically challenged Americans) and kick my ass for playing the wrong (uptempo/funk) sides of my 45s. When he knew I was going through tough times with relationships his motto to me was always “just remember Kris, tell yourself, she’s a skeezer & move on, we’ll laugh about this next time you’re in Chicago”.

I have so many great memories of fun exchanges with the guy, it’s ridiculous, like the time I trolled him under a fake name on Soul Source & he got all riled up & then figured out it was me (there followed another “ok, you got me good this time, but I’m still gonna fly to Australia & kick your ass”).

Although it was plain to see that Bob had a ferocious appetite for almost every group soul 45, we also shared a love of early 70s raw blues 45s & would swap info on those too. The guy just knew so much, he was like an encyclopedia, not only of groups & labels & the inter-relatedness of such things but also he seemed to have a finger of the sounds other would dig. The care-packages of 45s he would send me from time to time were always guaranteed to contain a few killers (and of course they were always packaged & cleaned superbly). He was like the rain man of record packing & 45 cleaning.

I buy a lot of 45s, but Bob, he bought A LOT of 45s. He is (was, fuck) one of the few people who could call me a lightweight & back that up. Didn’t stop me calling him a lightweight back, but he took it on the chin, hehehe.

I remember some of the conversations we had & it was like 4am Chicago time & I’d say “dude what are you doing still up?” & he’d say “checking ebay, buying 45s”. A great anecdote was that in his apartment building, he got so many 45s in the mail from the mailman that whenever someone else in the neighborhood ordered 45s the mailman delivered them to Bob also. I guess the mailman just didn’t even look at the address, just saw like-packages & dropped them all for Bob!

He had a passion for food, movies & arcade games too but Group Soul 45s were what’s what. I know his Sitting in the Park radio show hipped me to so much stuff, the interviews & time he spent tracking down forgotten soul singers, jaw-dropping.

Today, I woke up to the news that my friend Bob is gone, I miss him, I wish I had said more in our last conversation (instead of just some throwaway chat about an obscure Cadet 45). When I recorded this Sweet Soul Primer Mix last month, I told him he’d be proud of me for finally playing the right side of the 45s for once (he said “finally”, but that he’d still kick my ass).

Rest in Peace my friend. I am gutted you won’t be there waiting for me in Chicago & I’m also gutted you will never get to fly to Australia & try to find me in Auckland there.

– Kris Holmes

________________________________________________________________________________________

Kris is one of my favorite selectors, with a serious collection and outstanding taste. I always come away with new records added to my want list after listening to his radio show. I’m so happy that he was able to contribute a mix to the Allnighter this year.

See you tomorrow.
Larry

Greetings all

Welcome to the 2014 edition of the Funky16Corners Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

This is the ninth annual Pledge Drive, and the fifth Allnighter.

If you haven’t experienced the Allnighter/Pledge Drive, it can be explained as thus: once a year, the Funky16Corners Blog, your home for the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove vinyl for almost 10 years comes to you with hand outstretched, asking for donations to offset the operating expenses of the web site.

The Funky16Corners ‘operation’ (as it is) included the Funky16Corners and Iron Leg blogs, the mix archives for both (containing well over 200 mixes), and the Funky16Corners Radio Show/Podcast (another 200+ files available for download, or through subscription in iTunes).

The money raised during the pledge drive goes to pay for the server space and fees associated with hosting the whole megillah.

As has been attested to many times in the past, Funky16Corners has humble beginnings, starting out on the old (free) Blogger service, moving to WordPress, and then to self-hosted WordPress. The move to paid hosting was necessitated by increased bandwidth usage, as well as the need for a place to store all the mixes (and eventually the radio show episodes).

The Allnighter/Pledge Drive is a once-yearly occurrence, in which yours truly, and some of the finest selectors out there whip up new mixes for your delectation.

In past years, I have posted all of the mixes in a single post, and left it up for a week.

This year, the quality and quantity of the mixes spurred me on to try something a little different, i.e. posting a new mix each weekday for a period of just over two weeks. This way, each selector gets their moment in the spotlight, and the mixes get spaced out so that the listeners don’t suffer from mix-fatigue.

Each day, you’ll get a fantastic mix (there really are some amazing ones this year) from one of my favorite DJs, many of whom have participated in the Allnighter before, as well as a couple of great new contributors.

So, if you dig what we do here at Funky16Corners, click on the Paypal link and toss some cash into the barrel.

Contributors will receive a 2014 Allnighter badge, as well as some stickers from the archive (as long as they last).

This year I will also be drawing the names of contributors at random for groovy swag, including CDs and 45s from Cultures of Soul, and CDs from Light in the Attic and Secret Stash.

So, dig the sounds for the next couple of weeks, and make sure you stop back on a daily basis to pick up new mixes and contribute for a chance to win some cool stuff.

Thanks, and as always,

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, June 3, 2014 11:11 am

The Esquires

Listen/Download The Esquires – Things Won’t Be The Same

Greetings all

Hey kids!
The Funky16Corners 2014 Allnighter/Pledge Drive arrives this Friday!
This year is going to be an exceptional one, with a slight change in format. There are so many groovy mixes this year, instead of posting them all at once, I’ll be posting up a new mix every single day, starting this Friday 6/6, with the final mix coming two weeks later on Friday 6/20.
This year will feature mixes by Tarik Thornton, DJ Prestige, M-Fasis, Tony C, Kris Holmes, DJ Prime Mundo, Fundefy, new selectors HeavySoulBrutha Dave B and Vincent the Soul Chef, and two new mixes by yours truly, Funky16Corners.
There are some heavy, heavy mixes this year, which I think you’ll dig.
So get ready, dig today’s selection, and I’ll see you all on Friday.
Larry
______________________________________________________________________________________
Welcome to the mid-week thing.

I have to start this post by sending out thanks to my man Jeff Ash at the stellar ‘AM Then FM’ blog, who was kind enough to pass this album onto me, replacing my own long-lost copy.

The Esquires are best known to most soul fans for their 1967 hit ‘Get On Up’, which made it to R&B #3 and just grazed the Pop Top 10.

Formed in Milwaukee, WI, the Esquires got their start in the late 1950s and their line-up evolved until settling in with Gilbert Moorer, Alvis Moorer, Sam Pace, and Shawn Taylor.

When I got my hands on their album, I started needle-dropping to see what LP cuts I had missed the first time around, and was blown away by the cut ‘Things Won’t Be the Same’.

A fantastic piece of mid-tempo harmony, ‘Things Won’t Be The Same’ is one of those records that probably should have been released as a single.

The really interesting this is, it was, but not by the Esquires.

As it turns out, the original release of ‘Things Won’t Be the Same’ was in 1965, on Chicago’s storied Constellation label by singer Mill Evans (Millard Edwards), produced by the Esquires mentor, Bill ‘Bunky’ Sheppard.

At some point, Evans was absorbed into the Esquires (he sings bass on ‘Get On Up’), and his original recording of ‘Things Won’t Be the Same’ was included on the ‘Get On Up and Get Away’ album!

For some reason (no doubt financial) the writing credits on the 45 and the LP are different (see Keith Rylatt’s excellent post about the record at his Groovesville, USA blog (companion piece to his indispensable book of the same name).

The Esquires went on to have a string of hits going on into the mid-70s.

I hope you dig the tune, 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, June 1, 2014 3:25 pm

Clockwise from top left, Thor Baldursson, Tom Moulton, the Salsoul Orchestra

Listen/Download Salsoul Orchestra – Burning Spear

Listen/Download Salsoul Orchestra – Zambesi

Greetings all

The Funky16Corners 2014 Allnighter and Pledge Drive is arriving Friday, June 6th!

We have a stellar line up of selectors contributing mixes this year, and the mixes are killer.

The format will be slightly different this year, with a new mix being added each weekday from June 6 to June 20.

All donors this year will receive the new 2014 Funky16Corners badge (see the left side of the banner, above), as well as stickers from the archive (while they last). There will also be prizes every day (drawn at random) including CDs and 45s from Cultures of Soul, CDs from Light in the Attic and more!

It’s sure to be a gas, so stay tuned for more details in the coming week.

___________________________________________________________________________

Today I thought we’d take a trip back to the waning days of the disco revolution for a very interesting bit of crossover.

A while back I was listening to the Studio 54 channel on Sirius/XM and heard a very cool dance track, ‘212 N. 12th’ by the Salsoul Orchestra.

I set to Googling, and was shocked to discover that the album that spawned that song also included not one but two Soulful Strings covers!

I set out in search of my own copy (which didn’t take long or cost much).

As it turns out, the LP in question, 1979’s ‘Street Sense’ was an important transitional album for the Salsoul Orchestra.

Most of the group’s driving forces, most importantly Vince Montana, had left, and were replaced (for this album only) by uber-producer/mixmaster Tom Moulton and musician Thor Baldursson.

Baldursson was an Icelandic keyboardist, arranger and composer who had worked with Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer, Loleatta Holloway and Grace Jones among others.

Moulton and Baldursson went into the studio with a radically different line-up, with most of the Philly all-stars (with the noted exception of drummer Earl Young) gone.

The LP is composed of two Baldursson/Moulton originals (including ‘212 N. 12th’), the two Soulful Strings songs, a cover of the Jefferson Airplane’s ‘Somebody To Love’ (?!?) and tune by Silvetti.

The two Soulful Strings tunes lend themselves to the disco sound quite well.

‘Burning Spear’, without a doubt the best known Soulful Strings/Richard Evans tune had become something of a soul/soul jazz standard in the 60s. The Salsoul take on the tune features a pounding dance beat, pulsing strings and lots of keyboards. The late-70s-specific synth sounds haven’t worn well, but the arrangement and mix are top shelf Moulton.

‘Zambesi’ (co-written by Evans and Donny Hathaway) has long been one of my favorite Soulful Strings tunes. First appearing on the 1969 ‘String Fever’ LP (a lost classic deserving of reissue/reappraisal), the slinky funk of the original translates well into a disco treatment. The counterpoint between the bass and the string section is preserved from the original and there’s a very nice acoustic piano breakdown about halfway through the song.

This appears to have been Baldursson’s sole outing with Salsoul. Disco was on the decline and despite its quality, the album did not make it onto the charts.

As I said before, the LP is neither expensive nor hard to find, but if digital is your thing, you can pick it up cheaply in iTunes.

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

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, May 29, 2014 11:18 am

Listen/Download The Other Brothers – It’s Been a Long Time Baby

Greetings all

The Funky16Corners 2014 Allnighter and Pledge Drive is arriving Friday, June 6th!

We have a stellar line up of selectors contributing mixes this year, and the mixes are killer.

The format will be slightly different this year, with a new mix being added each weekday from June 6 to June 20.

All donors this year will receive the new 2014 Funky16Corners badge (see the left side of the banner, above), as well as stickers from the archive (while they last). There will also be prizes every day (drawn at random) including CDs and 45s from Cultures of Soul, CDs from Light in the Attic and more!

It’s sure to be a gas, so stay tuned for more details in the coming week.

___________________________________________________________________________

As the weekend is approaching rapidly, I should take a moment to remind you to lend an ear to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which hits the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grab yourselves an MP3 here at the blog.

The record I bring you today was one of those happy little b-side discoveries.

I originally picked up this 45 for the very cool vocal version of ‘Hole In the Wall’ by the Other Brothers.

Released in 1966 – covering the Packers OG from 1965 – the Other Brothers take on the tune was groovy indeed (and covered in this space backin 2009).

Fortunately, I remembered to flip the record over when I was recording it, and discovered much to my delight that the b-side was also quite good, in an entirely different bag.

‘It’s Been a Long Time Baby’ is one of those melodic, hard charging tunes that should have found its way onto the radio, or at the very least, onto a Northern Soul playlist or two.

I’ve never been able to nail down any information on the Other Brothers.

There appears to have been a few different groups operating under than name during the 1960s, and the names on the 45 have not provided any leads.

That said, if your intention is to acquire 45s with the maximum amount of heat for dollar value, you could do a lot worse than adding this one to your record box.

I hope you dig it, 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 (1)

By Larry, May 27, 2014 12:08 pm

Jimmy Wisner, tickling the ivories

Listen/Download Mr. Jim and the Rhythm Machine – Mrs. Robinson

Greetings all

The tune I bring you today is a very groovy bit of swinging soul jazz, with an interesting pedigree.

If you are a casual music fan, I wouldn’t expect the name Jimmy Wisner to raise any eyebrows.

However, if – like me – you are one of those obsessives that peruse the label of every record that comes into your possession, then Wisner’s name should be a familiar one indeed.

Based out of Philadelpia – thus his presence on so many local records – Wisner was a pianist, composer, arranger and producer for a very wide variety of artists during the 1960s and 1970s.

He was also a successful recording artist, though he rarely used his own name.

His first success came with the reworked version of Edvard Grieg’s ‘Piano Concerto in A Minor’, released as ‘Asia Minor’ under the artist name of ‘Kokomo’, which was a hit in 1961. Wisner released the record under a pseudonym so as not to compromise his career as a jazz pianist.

He also recorded the Northern Soul sleeper ‘Choppin’ Around’ (itself another classical adaptation, this time of a Chopin piece, thus the pun in the title) under his own name in 1966.

When I first happened upon the version of ‘Mrs. Robinson’ you see before you today, recorded as Mr. Jim and the Rhythm Machine, my first impression was that it was a successful attempt at hopping onto the Ramsey Lewis train and taking it for a ride.

Basically a piano trio record, with some very tasteful strings added in the background, the Mr. Jim version of the Simon and Garfunkel tune is a solid swinger, which I wouldn’t hesitate to whip on the dancers.

Interestingly, this predates the version by Booker T and the MGs (a Top 40 R&B hit) by a year and was competing for airtime with covers by Chet Atkins and bandleader Don Costa.

As far as I can tell it didn’t chart anywhere, which is a shame because it’s quite good, but Wisner had so much on his plate (he was just about to take over A&R at Columbia Records) I think he probably just kept on rolling.

I hope you dig the cut, 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 (1)

By Larry, May 25, 2014 11:33 am

Miss Dorothy Moore

Listen/Download Dorothy Moore – Here It Is

Greetings all

I hope the new week finds you all well.

Before we get started, hop on over to the Peace & Rhythm blog and check out the interview I did with DJ Andujar.

I thought we’d get the week started with something funky, along with a reminder on the benefits of cooperative digging.

Following the old axiom of giving credit where credit is due, I try to give props to my musical influences whenever appropriate.

I have been very luck to have friends over the years that have been generous with their taste, time and knowledge, especially in regard to records.

There is nothing quite like digging alongside someone with complementary tastes, sharing finds and turning each other on to new sounds.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in the record ‘game’, collectors and dealers who subscribe to some variety of the old alpha male secret squirrel bullshit, wherein they share nothing, lest they miss an opportunity to profit, in cash, knowledge or both.

I have always taken the zen approach, in which knowledge given out always finds its way back in some form, building up my vinyl karma whenever possible.

This includes giving up spots (where one might procure said records) as well as facts, so that one’s friends might take off on musical tangents of their own.

It was in that spirit that my man DJ Prestige handed me the record you see before you today, suggesting that I look past the hit ballad on the top-side, and dig the funky goodness on the flip.

‘Here It Is’, recorded in 1975 by Dorothy Moore (and written by none other than King Floyd) appeared on the b-side of her massive hit ‘Misty Blue’, a Top 5 R&B and Pop hit in 1976.

Moore had herself a fairly substantial career before her breakthrough, having recorded as part of the Poppies (who recorded several 45s for Epic in 1966) as well as waxing a couple of excellent and sought after singles (including ‘He’s About a Mover’) for MGM in 1967 and 1968 under the name Dottie Cambridge.

There were a couple of dry years in the late 60s and early 70s, before Moore returned to recording for Avco and then Malaco/Chimneyville.

Her first major hit was ‘Misty Blue’, followed by a string of hits that lasted from 1976 to 1982.

‘Here It Is’ is a great bit of mid-tempo, southern funk with a great horn section and clavinet chugging underneath.

Though she was largely absent from the charts, Moore continued to record LPs for Malaco, and then her own Farish Street label through the 80s, 90s and 2000s.

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

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 (2)

By Larry, May 22, 2014 11:59 am

The Mighty Esquerita!

Listen/Download Eskew Reeder – Green Door

Greetings all

The end of the week is upon us, so that means that it’s also Funky16Corners Radio Show time! You can pile it all into your ears each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, or you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 at the Radio Show Archive here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is a very solid sender indeed, brought to you by the mighty Eskew Reeder (aka Esquerita, aka SQ Reeder).

I remember first hearing about Esquerita back in the 80s via the mighty Kicks magazine (the greatest zine that ever was and a HUGE influence on yours truly).

Esquerita was one of the legendary madmen of R&B and rock’n’roll, an influence on none other than Little Richard, and a cat who made some very groovy music of his own over the years.

The song ‘Green Door’ was first recorded in 1956 as a novelty tune by DJ Jim Lowe.

The Eskew Reeder version was waxed way down yonder in New Orleans with the assistance of none other than the mighty Allen Toussaint.

Reeder’s version is largely an organ instrumental. He was mainly a pianist but displays a solid facility on the organ, even if he appears to begin soloing with his elbows about halfway through the record.

You also get a couple of vocal interjections by Eskew along the way.

This version is (like the Wynder K Frog cover from a few years later that leans heavily on it for inspiration) a dance floor banger, and if this doesn’t get the folks twisting and shaking, you need to check them for a pulse.

Esquerita’s career and discography were pretty spotty after the mid-60s, and by the time he was rediscovered in NYC in the 80s he was parking cars and playing in dives.

Sadly, he passed away from AIDS complications in 1986.

His spirit is carried on by the folks at Norton (it’s Esquerita’s mug that greets you when you hit their website) in the form of much music and ephemera.

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.

Comments (1)

By Larry, May 18, 2014 1:00 pm

Miss Helene Smith

Listen/Download Helene Smith – Like a Baby

Greetings all

Welcome to a new week from my outpost in the rapidly warming Northeast.

The record I bring you today was the first indicator I had – back in the day – that not everything on the Phil LA of Soul imprint was from Philadelphia.

I first heard of Helene Smith because of her heavily sweated ‘You Got To Be a Man’,which a certain Mr Prince Rogers Nelson borrowed from to create the song ‘Kiss’.

Smith was a Florida-based singer who worked with Willie Clarke and Clarence Reid and got her start recording as a backing vocalist for Betty Wright (in the early days of that singer’s career).

She originally recorded the tune ‘Like a Baby’ as her first 45 for the Miami label Deep City in 1966.

The song was licensed by Phil LA of Soul and released there in 1967.

‘Like a Baby’ is a superb bit of sweet soul. Taken at a slow pace, with relatively spare bass, piano, guitar and drums, the coed backup vocals provide contrast to Smith’s high voice.

The song didn’t make a dent in the charts, though its flipside, the ballad ‘A Woman Will Do Wrong’ was an R&B Top 20 hit in 1967.

Smith went on to record a couple of 45s for Phil LA of Soul between 1967 and 1969, and then two more for the TK subsidiary Dash in 1971 and 1972.

After that the trail goes cold.

You can pick up a number of her tracks on the Numero Group’s comp Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label, available on iTunes or on CD.

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.

Comments (9)

By Larry, May 15, 2014 11:41 am

Aretha Franklin

Listen/Download Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)

NOTE: Our web host has been experiencing major tech problems since yesterday (5/14). This caused Funky16Corners to be offline completely for several hours last night and this morning.

Though the site is currently up there is no ETA on full restoration of services, so the possibility of another outage is still there.

Please bear with me and hopefully everything will be ok soon.

Thanks

Larry

Greetings all

The end of the week is nigh, so I will take this opportunity to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show hits the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also keep up with the show by subscribing to it as a podcast in iTunes, or by grabbing an MP3 in the archive here at the blog.

I should also let you know that the Funky16Corners 2014 Allnighter and Pledge Drive will be arriving in a few weeks. Once again we’ll have a stellar line up of DJs and mixes, including many of the regulars from past Allnighters and some new blood as well. I’m getting a new Funky16Corners badge made for donors, and there will be some prize giveaways as well. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more details coming soon!

I recently had the opportunity to check out the ‘Muscle Shoals’ documentary. I had missed it in the theaters, thought I’d catch it on Netflix, but lo and behold it popped up on PBS a few weeks back.

I’d heard a lot about the film – some good, some bad – but so much of the music I love was created in those environs I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to check it out.

There were parts of the film that were genuinely moving, and there was a lot of exciting music, but by the time the movie was over, and I’d survived the idiotic rambling of Bono (can we have some kind of a moratorium on his pontificating in documentaries?), I was left oddly unsatisfied.

The film seems based on a kind of ‘producer as auteur’ approach, focusing on Rick Hall, which is all well and good until you discover that it is to the detriment of the musicians that worked for him and were largely responsible for anything you might consider a Muscle Shoals sound.

I found the fact that Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham and the Swampers were left floating in Hall’s wake galling.

That, and the fact that my recent reading of Joel Selvin’s ‘Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues’ and Robert Gordon’s ‘Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion’ had done nothing but lower my already poor opinion of Jerry Wexler (a prominent voice in the history of Muscle Shoals, and the film) gnawed at me through the viewing.

That, and the fact that the later part of the film spends too much time focusing on the birth of Southern rock ended up leaving me cold.

This is not to say that the film is without merit, nor would I suggest you avoid it (there’s too much good stuff in there to dismiss it outright).

What I would do, is suggest that you go out and get yourself a copy of Peter Guralnick’s indispensable ‘Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom’, which is not only the finest book I’ve ever read about Southern soul (or soul music in general), but would serve as an important companion piece to ‘Muscle Shoals’.

Guralnick’s book spends a decent amount of time explaining how these white musicians, especially Penn and Oldham, got to the point where they were so important to the creation of some of the finest rhythm and blues and soul music of the classic era.

The same can be said about Gordon’s tome, though in that case specifically about the same phenomenon at Stax in Memphis.

That all said, one of my favorite moments in the film concerned Wexler taking Aretha Franklin down to Muscle Shoals. Franklin had recorded several albums for Columbia following her transition from gospel to secular music.

She left that label for Atlantic in 1967 and Wexler, who had already had success recording Wilson Pickett at Muscle Shoals, thought that Franklin would flourish in the same environment.

He had no idea.

The album she recorded there (and also at Atlantic’s NYC studio) – her first for Atlantic – was both an artistic and commercial breakthrough.

‘I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You’ provided Aretha with dynamite material (the LP included her epic reading of Otis Redding’s ‘Respect’, her reworking of Ray Sharpe’s ‘Help Me’ as ‘Save Me’) and a remarkably sympatico backing group.

The tune I bring you today was one of two big hits for Franklin written by Ronnie Shannon (the second being ‘Baby I Love You’).

One of the pivotal scenes in ‘Muscle Shoals’ describes the recording of ‘I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)’. Franklin and the band had apparently been struggling to find the right vibe, until Spooner Oldham sat down at the electric piano and whipped out the riff that opens the record.

If you need proof that the essence of an entire sound can be distilled into one particular moment, one need only listen to the slow rolling piano riff at the beginning of this record. Oldham’s piano, paired with the bass drum, snare and closed hi-hat is pure soul, with one foot firmly in the amen corner.

When Aretha comes in – pure perfection – followed by the organ (very subtle) and eventually the acoustic piano and the horn section shifting gears, what you’re hearing is pure brilliance.

Though it’s less than three minutes long, the combination of the artful layering of the instruments, coupled with Franklin’s powerful, authoritative reading of the lyric gives ‘I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)’ an epic depth that places it among the finest recordings of the classic soul era.

So dig it, educate yourself (or someone who needs it) with a good music book (and maybe a movie) and I’ll 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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 11, 2014 10:42 am

Dave says, ‘Keep wearing sweaters like this and some day you’ll be funky, too!’

Listen/Download Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez – Twang Taang

Greetings all

Welcome to another week of musical stuff here at Rancho Del Funky16Corners.

The tune I bring you today is something from a little bit later in the discography of one David Clowney, better known to one and all as Dave ‘Baby Cortez’.

Cortez, who had his first hit in 1959 with ‘The Happy Organ’ was one of the most interesting performers associated with organ sounds in the classic era.

He was at ease working in the gray area between pop and soul, often bouncing between R&B (like the savage ‘Hurricane’ from 1960) to soul (like ‘Countdown’ from 1965) to funk (like ‘I Turned You On’ from 1970).

He was mainly an organist, but also recorded as a vocalist from time to time, having gotten his start singing doowop in the 50s.

Cortez spent the early part of his career recording for Clock Records, then spending most of the 1960s bouncing between Mercury, Chess, and Roulette before a short period working under the aegis of the Isley Brothers on T-Neck.

The tune I bring you today is from a brief, two-single run Cortez did with the Sound Pak label in 1971.

Sound Pak was, like Clock Records the brainchild of James J. Kriegsmann (who is listed on many Cortez tunes – perhaps dubiously – as co-writer). If that name is familiar it is because he is better known as one of the premier promo photographers of performing artists in the 50s, 60s and 70s, his famous logo appearing on countless glossy photos.

‘Twang Taang’ is a funky vocal, heavily influenced by his time in proximity to the Isley’s organization. The tune is marked by heavy bass, horns and a great vocal by Cortez. I also dig the guitar solo, with just the right amount of fuzz dialed up.

Cortez went on to record for All Platinum through the mid-70s,before going off the grid.

He returned in 2011 to record an LP for Norton, backed by none other than Lonnie Youngblood.

I hope you dig the track, and Ill 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.

Comments (2)

By Larry, May 8, 2014 12:08 pm

Lonnie Youngblood

Listen/Download Lonnie Youngblood – African Twist Pt1

Greetings all

The end of the week is here, so I must remind you to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can keep upby subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grabbing yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is an old favorite of mine.

The name Lonnie Youngblood should be a very familiar one to fans of funk and soul.

The vocalist/saxophonist recorded some excellent 45s under his own name – while working as a backing musician for many soul and blues artists – during the 1960s.

Some of these – in particular the 45s he recorded for Fairmount, ‘Go Go Shoes’ and ‘Soul Food’ – are, in addition to their own excellence, sweated by fans of the back up guitarist on the sessions, a certain James Marshall Hendrix.

Today’s selection, ‘African Twist Pt1’ was recorded for the Loma label in 1967. It was the first of Youngblood’s two 45s for the label (the second being 1968’s ‘Roll With the Punches’) and is a wild bit of funky soul.

Layered with fake crowd noises, ‘African Twist Pt1’ features a crazed lead vocal by Youngblood, some excellent guitar and percussion and a wailing horn section.

Youngblood went to to record several albums in the 1970s, and continues to perform today.

I hope you dig the track, 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.