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By Larry, October 9, 2011 11:05 am

Earth Wind Dashikis Afros and Fire

Listen/Download – Earth Wind and Fire – Moment of Truth

Listen/Download – Earth Wind and Fire – Bad Tune

Greetings all.

It is now time for all good men (and women, natch) to get themselves together and ease on into a brand new week.

Fall is in full swing, with the cool air, and the leaves and all that mess and I’m feeling productive.

I haven’t been doing much fieldwork (of the vinyl variety), but what I have managed to pick up has been excellent, not to mention the products of in-house excavation, in which yours truly gets down into the crates and spends some time with unjustly neglected records.

Today’s selections are the fruit of just such a search, and their neglect was decidedly unjust (undue/unfair?).

A while back when I was fortunate to be down spinning the records in Washington I was lucky enough to slip in some quality digging time alongside my man DJ Birdman. I brought home a grip of tasty stuff that trip (DC always treats my crates well) and among the haul were the first two albums by Earth Wind and Fire.

“Earth Wind and Fire!” you say. “I can get those at my local Goodwill for the cost of a shiny quarter!”

Not these you can’t my friends, because you’re probably thinking of their CBS stuff when they were having all of those big hits we all know so well (or maybe you can but you’ll need to give me the address of your local Goodwill).

However, did you know that they did two albums for Warner Brothers in the early 70s?

Neither did I (initially) but when I found out some years ago those records went on the old want list, because if you dig some EWF, you know that an earlier, grittier version thereof would very well kick some ass.

And it (they) did.

Maurice White and Wade Flemons (who had some collectible, pre-EWF 45s under his own name) had been working together in Chicago during the 60s, before relocating to Los Angeles near the end of the decade, where they were joined by Verdine White and a large crew of others to form the first version of Earth Wind and Fire.

Their first, self-titled album was recorded in 1970 and released in 1971, and while it does display tastes of the later EWF, there’s a heavier funk at work here, crossed with progressive elements.

The two tunes I bring you today illustrate both sides of that coin.

‘Moment of Truth’ is a serious mover, with some incredibly solid bass playing by Verdine (he’s so much more than just a fine and fancy head of hair) and a horn section that won’t quit.

‘Bad Tune’ has something of a flavor of the times, with a little bit of that Afrocentric hippy thing weaving in and out of the funk (electric kalimba anyone?), opening quietly, getting heavy and then dissolving into a trippy, jazzy sound with some nice guitar by Michael Beal, before picking up heat yet again with some fuzz bass.

And – this is the cool part – they manage to pack all that into less than five minutes, displaying a shocking economy for the time.

If you dig what you hear, while the individual albums are hard to come by, after their mid-70s success with CBS, WB reissued both of their EWF albums as a budget two-fer which is a little bit easier to find.

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, October 6, 2011 2:19 pm

Old school O’Jays!

Listen/Download – The O’Jays – Now That I Found You

Greetings all.

Welcome to the end of yet another week.

Please make a note in your datebook that this Friday – as all others – sees the return of the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio. We take to the air at 9PM on the East Coast (and in ensuing time zones) and can also be found in MP3 form here at the blog over the weekend.

It’s not often that I can say that I’m pleasantly surprised by anything I see on TV, but this was definitely the case when I happened upon the series ‘Unsung’ on TVOne.

Devoted to a wide variety of 60s, 70s and 80s era soul and R&B performers, ‘Unsung’ is composed of hour long documentary style features, many on artists I know only in passing. The first episode I saw was about Roger Troutman and Zapp (stay tuned for more on them) and after that I started watching the listings for episodes that interested me.

One of the better known groups they featured was the O’Jays.

Though the group’s 1970s hits were a big part of my AM radio consciousness as a kid, it was only as an adult soul collector that I had any inkling of their early, pre-Gamble/Huff work.

The first such record I encountered was their 1965 R&B Top 40 hit cover of Benny Spellman’s ‘Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)’. I had tuned into their Unsung episode in the hopes that it would include a vintage clip of the group performing this song and I was not disappointed.

Since I scored that 45, I have always been on the lookout for their Imperial and Bell label recordings, which included today’s selection, ‘Now That I’ve Found You’.

Released in 1968, and one of the few 45s the group recorded for Bell that didn’t chart at all (three of their records for the label made it into the R&B Top 40 as well as the Pop Top 100), ‘Now That I’ve Found You’ is a fantastic bit of sweet harmony soul.

It features lead vocals by both Walter Williams (who co-wrote the song) and Eddie Levert, and the arrangement by Richard Tee is outstanding. The way it alternates between a basic rhythm section (dig the great guitar work) and the addition of strings and horns is great, and the O’Jay’s harmonies are wonderful.

During their tenure with the label the O’Jays released five singles, with one other (of similar, mid-60s vintage) being released in 1973 to capitalize on their success with Philadelphia International.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Monday with something groovy.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, October 4, 2011 2:10 pm

The one, the only, Jackie Wilson!

Listen/Download – Jackie Wilson – Soul Galore

Greetings all.

I hope all is well in your corner of the soulful universe.

As mentioned on Monday, the fam and I had ourselves a nice little vacation down in Washington, and while I did no digging whatsoever, I was lucky enough to have a buddy in the area who had done some for me, picking me up a nice stack of records (some at my specific request) which he was kind enough to pass along while we were visiting.

I got some of it digimatized already, and it will surely appear in this space, as well as on the Funky16Corners Radio Show in the near future.

That – in addition to the stuff that finds its way into the crates via the mailslot – makes for a grip of excellent material now aging in the ‘to-be-blogged’ folder, so stay tuned.

The tune I bring you today is another great example of how I sometimes need to grab my ears and aim them away from the more obscure things in my orbit and concentrate on the bedrock (as it were).

Jackie Wilson is one of the most important soul/R&B artists of the 60s, and while I have a fair amount of his 45s and LPs, I cannot honestly say that I’ve made a serious study of his oeuvre. This is certainly true of many big-name/big-talent, marquee artists of the classic soul era, but I feel especially bad about my neglect in this case, since so many people whose opinions I respect hold Jackie in such high esteem.

One such person, a good friend in records and otherwise is my man Tarik Thornton.

He was up in the hinterlands of Minnesota a while back sitting in with the Hot Pants crew, and I was listening in to his radio set remotely when I heard the tune I bring you today for the first time.

My ears are seasoned enough that I recognized Jackie Wilson’s voice instantly, yet it was immediately obvious that I had never heard the song – ‘Soul Galore’ – before.

I set out to find myself a copy post haste.

Though the tune was first issued in the US by Brunswick in 1966, my copy is a late 60s (1969?) issue from the UK, where it was pressed as a kind of ‘double A-side’ with ‘I Get the Sweetest Feeling’, where both cuts were big with the English soulies.

Where ‘I Get the Sweetest Feeling’ is one of the finest examples of stylish, finely honed Northern Soul (and a melodic masterpiece as well), ‘Soul Galore’ is a storming, dance floor explosion with a relentless drum beat and a powerful horn section, both of which just happen to pale in comparison to Wilson’s vocal.

What is particularly perplexing is the fact that ‘Soul Galore’ does not appear to have charted in either the US or the UK, which might explain why it escaped my notice for so long.

That said, it is without any shadow of a doubt and ass-kicker of the first order.

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, October 2, 2011 1:58 pm

An early incarnation of the mighty JBs

Listen/Download – The JBs – Damn Right I Am Somebody Pt1
Listen/Download – The JBs – Damn Right I Am Somebody Pt2

Greetings all.

Having just returned from a little end-of-summer/beginning-of-fall sojourn to our nation’s capital, I am exhaust-o-mified.

I remember back in the day where I wouldn’t think twice about packing 10 hours travel time into a long weekend. What better time to jam on some mix tapes and chill behind the wheel?

In two decades I’ve gone from that to becoming a mirror image of my (and anyone else’s) father, fielding inquiries from the back seat, struggling to keep my eyes on the road, my hands on the wheel and my brain in one piece. It’s a whole different proposition when you assume leadership of the family caravan.

That said, a good time was had by all, with the sightseeing, and the museums and the wealth of groovy ethnic cuisine available in and around DC.

The tune I bring you today is a prime bit of mid-period (1974) J.B.s.

I don’t know about you guys, but I have a tendency to pick up J.B.s 45s wherever I find them, which explains why I have doubles of several of them.

I mean, why on earth, when given the opportunity to take home a solid serving of funky grooves by one of the tightest bands that ever was, would you refrain from doing so?

This is not to say that I prefer the work of the J.B.s minus the vocalizations of the mighty man for whom they were named, but rather that sometimes an instrumental will hit the spot where a vocal might just get in the way (aside from the fact that Mr Brown is all over these records anyhoo).

Today’s selection, ‘Damn Right I Am Somebody Pts 1&2’ was the title track on the album of the same name, billed as Fred Wesley and the J.B.s, since every once in a while you have to give props to the man burning up the trombone.

Not only is ‘Damn Right…’ one of the tightest grooves ever laid down by this storied ensemble, but it carries in it just a taste of jazz, as well as one of the finest horn charts to grace a JBs record, as well as a tasty percussion breakdown in part 2.

We’ve discussed the clockwork wonders of the James Brown style in this space before, but it bears mentioning yet again. Take yourself a minute and slap on the headphones and listen to the way the warp and weft of the JBs intersect without ever colliding. The lead guitar shoots around the bass, which itself winds around the horns and the rhythm guitar and the drums, providing a deceptively simple base for the soloists (mainly Fred and Maceo) to do their thing.

It is indeed a wonder to behold.

God bless the JBs and all who sailed with them.

See you on Wednesday.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, September 29, 2011 5:27 pm

Bloodstone, in the Bloodstonemobile…

Listen/Download – Bloodstone – Peter’s Jones

Greetings all.

And so we come to the end of yet another interesting week, having one and all managed to remain on the surface of the earth despite all of the forces trying to send us flying off into space.

Since it is approaching Friday, I have to step to the side and remind you all that should your ears be available at 9PM on the day in question, you should aim them at the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio, where they will dine at a sumptuous buffet of funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all divined from shiny, black vinyl. If you cannot attend at the time of broadcast, you can always stop by the blogover the weekend and pick up the show (and all of the previous broadcasts) in MP3 form.

I knew of Bloodstone (by name only) and their first big hit, ‘Natural High’ for many years before I actually laid my hands on the album including that track.

What I didn’t know, until I sat down to write this post was that Bloodstone had a fairly nice run on the R&B and Pop charts for a little over a decade, from 1973 to 1984.

The band formed in Kansas City, MO, and consisted of a group of high school friends that had been playing and singing together since the early 60s.

I’ve posted some tracks over the last few months (and the many-yeared course of this blog) of rock bands that liked to dip their toes into funk and soul, but it’s also important to mention (and I have from time to time) that that gate swung both ways, with soul and funk groups getting their rock on as well.

This had a lot to do with the musical osmosis that was unlocked by cats like Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone and George Clinton in the 60s when the freak scene was opening actual and figurative (mental, musical) doors in every direction.

Bloodstone had that vibe going strong in 1973 when they recorded today’s selection ‘Peter’s Jones’ (which also appeared as the b-side on the 45 of Natural High).

The tune – which starts out quietly – works its way into a very heavy groove, with wailing guitars, organ and gospel-inflected vocals, building a sonic bridge between Hendrix and folks like the Brothers Johnson.

It is a very heavy cut indeed and I hope it injects a little groove into your weekend.

See you on Monday.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, September 27, 2011 10:10 am

The Originator: Babatunde Olatunji

Carlos Santana, wailing at Woodstock

Candido Camero on the congas…

Listen/Download – Michael Olatunji – Gin-Go-Lo-Ba

Listen/Download – Santana – Jin-Go-Lo-Bah (Jingo)

Listen/Download – Candido – Jingo

Greetings all.

I have something very special indeed for your ears this fine day.

Early last year I ran a series of posts under the ‘Disco/Not Disco’ banner celebrating the sounds played by pioneering DJ David Mancuso at his legendary Loft parties in NYC in the early 70s.

Mancuso had become something of an idol/guiding force for me, in so far as I have tried to emulate his DJing ethos as it were during my own sets.

He was a trailblazing record wrangler because he always kept one specific thing in mind, that being the dance and played anything that kept things moving. His Loft sets were filled with unusual sounds, including in his sets music from the worlds of rock, soul, funk, world music and anywhere else he could find the groove.

The Loft predated and strongly influenced the ‘disco’ scene and Mancuso’s eclecticism was carried out into the clubs by the other DJs that attended and had their minds blown at his parties.

One of the records that was a cornerstone of his sets, and has on its own a very interesting history, was a cut by the name of ‘Gin-Go-Lo-Ba’ by Michael ‘Babatunde’ Olatunji.

Olatunji was a Nigerian drummer and educator who emigrated to the United States as a student to attend Morehouse College.

He eventually moved to New York City to attend NYU where he put together his own percussion group and drew the attention of two especially influential figures, the mighty John Coltrane and record impresario John Hammond.

Olatunji recorded the LP ‘Drums of Passion’ in 1960, which included the track ‘Gin-Go-Lo-Bah’*, as well as the less influential (but also important) ‘Akiwawa’.

I first heard of Olatunji back in 1990 when I read Mickey Hart’s remarkable book ‘Drumming at the Edge of Magic: A Journey into the Spirit of Percussion’** which led me to Olatunji’s 1988 recording ‘Drums of Passion: The Invocation’. It was many years later when I first read about David Mancuso that I made the Loft connection.

Mancuso would make the Olatunji version of the song a cornerstone of his Loft sets for obvious reasons. It has a driving rhythmic force and the accompanying chanting that would no doubt grab and shake any mass of dancers, and would also mix well with any number of more ‘conventional’ dance records.

It was at the end of the 1960s that Carlos Santana and his band would adapt and record the tune under the title ‘Jingo’ (which is the version that most people have heard). I’m including that version (the 45 edit at least) here for reference, and because it kicks all kinds of ass. Interestingly, the Santana 45 uses an approximation of the Olatunji title, though the album (and subsequent 45 releases) truncates it to ‘Jingo’. It’s amazing to listen to how a pack of electrified (in all senses), racially integrated hippies get deep inside the rhythm and blow it up.

A full decade after the Santana recording, the song would be resurrected yet again by another fixture of Mancuso’s Loft sets, Cuban conguero Candido (born Candido Camero), also under the title ‘Jingo’.

Candido’s version of the song takes the African percussion and chant of the original and recasts it inside an electric/disco setting and despite the fact that the edges may have been smoothed a little, the cut loses none of its propulsive power. Even after almost two decades, the song was still dance floor gold.

The mix here is the 45 edit, which clocks in at only 3:17. I wish I had a copy of the 12”, which goes for almost six more minutes.

‘Jingo’ was later redone for the dancefloors yet again in 1987 by Jellybean.

Babatunde Olatunji passed away in 2003 after a lifetime of teaching, social activism, and above all, drumming.

I hope you dig the tune (and maybe dance a little) , and the drums and I’ll be back on Friday.

Peace

Larry

*Oddly, the catalog number of the Olatunji 45 suggests that it was released sometime in 1967, long after the LP released but before the Santana cover

** If you have any interest at all in the power of drums and rhythm and the way they can propel human consciousness through the dance ritual I recommend Hart’s book highly.

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, September 25, 2011 3:15 pm

The Four Tops, featuring Levi Stubbs and his bad-ass tam’o’shanter…

Listen/Download – The Four Tops – Turn On the Light of Your Love

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well.

The tune I bring you today was the fruit of a trip to a recently discovered digging spot this summer.

The way things are going these days, finding a new place to look for actual, vinyl records is always a welcome surprise.

Now, you know I’m a big fan of the Four Tops (they were last seen in this space back in May), considering Levi Stubbs to be one of the greatest voices of the classic soul era.

However, until recently my vinyl stock had only included material from their Motown era.

The Four Tops were among the contingent that opted not to follow Motown on the label’s move to Los Angeles in 1972.

They moved to ABC-Dunhill, and hit gold almost immediately.

Their first album for the label, ‘Keeper of the Castle’ yielded a couple of hits, including the smash ‘Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I Got)’.

So, I’m out digging and I happen upon a copy of said album, and while I’ve heard ‘Ain’t No Woman…’ more than enough times (including when it was repurposed as a lottery ad) I had also heard that ‘Keeper of the Castle’ displayed a funkier side of the Tops, so I threw it on the keeper pile and took it home.

When I finally got to needle-dropping, I discovered that the rumors of funk were indeed true, but especially so with the tune I bring you today ‘Turn On the Light of Your Love’.

Opening with some tastefully rendered synthesizer, which is soon joined by wah wah guitar and drums, the Tops fall in with the chorus before the full band kicks in.

Levi, Lawrence, Duke and Obie are in rare form, and the band – featuring a bunch of west coast heavies like Larry Carlton and Paul Humphreys – come correct.

The horn section is especially cool.

The Four Tops would remain a chart fixture through the 70s, leaving ABC for Casablanca in 1980 and having another R&B#1 in 1981 with “When She Was My Girl”.

They would find their way back to Motown a few years later.

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, September 22, 2011 11:20 am

The Platters

Listen/Download – The Platters – Shing-a-Ling-a-Loo

Greetings all.

The weekend is almost here, and I don’t know about you, but I am in a groovy place (geographic and spiritual).

I should remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this (and every) Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also pick it up as an MP3 right here at the blog over the weekend.

Like soulful records by blues cats, I’ve always had a special place in my heart for classic-era soul by R&B performers that you would normally file in an earlier era.

I’ve posted sides before by groups like the Rivingtons, Flamingos, and Little Anthony and the Imperials, and a few times previous, by today’s performers, the Platters.

One of the great hitmaking vocal groups of the doowop era, the Platters had their last big hit in 1960.

Their producer/songwriter Buck Ram carried the group on into the mid-60s, where, reconstituted (Herb Reed being the only original Platter) they recorded a couple of (excellent) albums and some 45s for the Musicor label between 1965 and 1971.

It was during this period that they waxed some brilliant Northern Soul floor fillers like ‘With This Ring’, ‘Sweet Sweet Loving’, ‘Washed Ashore (On a Lonely Island In the Sea)’ and ‘Get a Hold of Yourself’.

Today’s selection ‘Shing-a-Ling-a-Loo’’ was included on the group’s 1967 LP ‘Going Back to Detroit’. It is by no means a dense arrangement, basically a rhythm section augmented by saxophone, with the group’s vocals providing most of the rhythmic punch.

I always find it surprising that a group with this much name recognition, and material this strong was unable to make much of a dent on the charts (‘With This Ring’ was their only Top 40 hit during this time), but then I remember that it was 1966 and 1967, the charts were densely packed with quality, and lots of performers found themselves making brilliant (and unjustly ignored) records.

That said, this stuff isn’t very expensive or hard to find, so get yourself some and whip it on your pals at your next soiree.

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, September 20, 2011 12:10 pm

T-Bone Walker

Listen/Download – T-Bone Walker – She’s a Hit

Greetings all.

Here we all are, burrowed deep inside the week, so far in fact that we can neither turn around nor be entirely sure we’ll find our way out.

What better time for some gritty Texas blues with soul?

The name T-Bone Walker should be a familiar one, by which I am not suggesting that you do know who he is, but rather that you should, on account of he is justly legendary in the lineage of the electric blues.

Born in 1910 (as Aaron Thibeaux Walker in Linden, TX) he made his first record in 1929 for Columbia, billed as ‘Oak Cliff T-Bone’.

It was in the early 1940s, after spending the previous 15 or so years as a working musician (crossing paths with both Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charlie Christian) , and experimenting with electric guitars that T-Bone returned to wax and, in the words of the great philosophers, blew that shit wide open.

The T-Bone Walker of the 40s and 50s was in many ways the very model of the modern blues guitarist (though his sound was much more sophisticated than that, incorporating R&B and jazz) , that being a singing soloist. Walker wrote and recorded the original of one of the genre’s greatest classics, ‘Stormy Monday’, as well as groundbreaking instrumentals like ‘T-Bone Shuffle’. One of the first great lead guitar soloists, Walker was also a showman supreme, introducing sounds and stage moves that would emerge years later in the repertoire of none other than Chuck Berry, and via osmosis, one James Marshall Hendrix.

That said, by the 1960s, T-Bone was in the very same boat of many of the players of his era that being one full of holes and in immediate danger of sinking into the unforgiving brine of obscurity.

We’ve addressed the issue of blues performers stirring some soul and funk into their cauldrons, and T-Bone Walker was no exception.

By the mid-60s he had intersected with Huey P Meaux, and recorded at least an album’s worth of material, and two singles for the Crazy Cajun’s Jetstream label.

The tune I bring you today, ‘She’s a Hit’ (written by Meaux) was released in 1966 and sees Walker with his feet still planted firmly in the blues, yet managing to soul things up just enough. The song wouldn’t sound out of place coming out of Doug Sahm’s mouth at around the same time, and it manages to give T-Bone a little of the 1966 appeal without tossing out his past like so much moldy bread.

The flip, ‘T-Bone’s Back’ is a much more conventional blues shuffle.

I hope you dig the sounds, and if you have a taste for the blues, and don’t know T-Bone’s classic material, get yourself out and find some, as I can assure you that you will not regret it.

See you on Friday.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, September 18, 2011 1:56 pm

.

Sweetwater

Listen/Download – Sweetwater – Compared to What

Greetings all.

The new week is here, and so am I (for what it’s worth).

There quite a chill in the air, and taking the little Corners out to the bus is getting to be a brisk undertaking.

I need to adjust my brain so that I begin to appreciate the onset of fall, which is a season that I usually dig quite a bit, but I’m having an especially hard time letting go of summer this year.

Not sure why that is, but as is often the case, if I feed my ears enough groovy music, all paths will be clearer, roads smoothed, thoughts more productive and positive.

That said I had a great time this past Saturday DJ-ing at the JT Foundation for Autism Awareness 5K Run in Pt. Pleasant Beach, NJ.

This was by far the earliest (first record went under the needle at 7:30am) and chilliest (temps hovering in the mid-50s) DJ gig I’ve ever done, but the high spirits of all the people gathered to raise money and awareness of autism more than made up for the hour.

There were lots of familiar faces from the local autism community, and the setting (right by the water) couldn’t have been nicer.

I even got the now familiar “You actually spin vinyl?” comments which seem to pop up every single time I DJ outside of a club setting. It’s a little strange to hear, but it is a bracing reminder of how deep and insular the world of record collecting is. Each time this happens, without fail, there’s a brief moment of “Who’s crazy? Me or them?” followed immediately by the realization that it is  – without question –  me.

The whole Funky16Corners fam was there as yours truly dropped a wide variety of funk, soul and disco classics for about three hours.

Yours truly (not all sixteen corners visible) selecting something cool.

The crowd as seen from my perch in the band shell.

Cueing up a little Stevie Wonder to take the chill out of the air.

So, let’s get the week started with what Slim Gaillard would refer to as a very mellow groove.

If you have in fact heard of Sweetwater, it might very well be as one of the little known artists to have graced the stage at Woodstock.

They released a couple of albums for Reprise in the late 60s and early 70s before their lead singer Nancy Nevins was badly injured in a car accident and forced out of the lineup.

I’m tempted to describe Sweetwater as an archetypal hippy band, but the reality was that in everything except the broadest sense the only thing most of the bands of the era had in common (aside from an interesting fashion sense) was their diversity in all things.

Sweetwater was integrated, both racially and musically, with a sound that exemplified the melting pot aesthetic, a little rock, a little soul, some baroque touches all served up with a garnish of freak scene freedom.

Naturally, across the musical spectrum, this tie-dyed bouillabaisse wasn’t always entirely successful or coherent, but that is almost always the case when a lot of free thinkers decide to get loose, and thankfully when their fusions were successful, they were often exceptional.

Gene McDaniel’s epic testament ‘Compared to What’ is one of those soul jazz evergreens (like Cannonball Adderley’s ‘Sack’O’Woe’) that managed to expand beyond its original bailiwick into the world of rock.

Sweetwater manage to keep the built-in groove of the song, but ease off the gas a little, creating a very groovy, somewhat restrained, yet still soulful feel. The basic groove is constructed with bass, drums and electric piano, with the flute and cello (yes, cello) weaving in and out of things tastefully.

This is also one of those records where I’m shocked no one has chopped or looped either the bass or flute lines, both ripe for the audio harvest.

I hope you dig it.

Make sure you stop over at Iron Leg and pull down the ones and zeros on the fifth episode of the Iron Leg Radio Show.

See you on Wednesday.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, September 15, 2011 2:09 pm

(Clockwise from the top) Sarah, Patti, Nona & Cindy

Listen/Download – Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles – Always Something There To Remind Me

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and I have dipped into the archive to pull out a supreme bit of soul singing for you all to savor.

But first, I should remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this (and every) Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also pick it up as an MP3 right here at the blog over the weekend.

It’s been a few years since the mighty voice of Patti LaBelle graced this page.

LaBelle has always been an exceptionally powerful singer, but with the exception of some of the funky LaBelle (group) stuff, it is this writer’s opinion that her superior instrument was never put to better use than the time she and the Bluebelles were recording for Atlantic (1965-1970).

Today’s selection is an epic reading of the Bacharach/David classic, ‘There’s Always Something There To Remind Me’.
Famous in disparate versions, my personal fave was always the original recording by Lou Johnson, but as a fan of the UK Beat era, I always dug Sandie Shaw’s as well.

I think once you’ve heard the LaBelle version (recorded in 1966) all others will fade into the background.

Produced by Bob Finiz and Richie Rome (two names that show up on a lot of Philly records) the cut is a study in dynamics, opening quietly and then literally exploding in the chorus, eventually downshifting (but not quite all the way) in the following verses.

While I think it’s safe to say that nobody (sane) is going to try to dance to this one (I really dig the rhythmic change-up at the ‘Always be a part of me’ section at the end of the chorus), it’s fantastic to listen to.

Finiz and Rome (the arrangement isn’t credited) have built themselves their very own section of the Wall of Sound, except they managed to leave just enough space between the layers (Cake of Sound?) so that individual elements – lead vocal, backing voices, drums, strings, horns – all get to be heard properly.

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

And don’t forget…

______________________________________________________________________________

Don’t forget that I’ll be spinning some tunes during the annual Point Pleasant Lions Seafood 5K and 1 Mile FUN Run/Walk on this Saturday, September 17th in Pt Pleasant Beach, NJ. The run benefits the JT Foundation for Autism Awareness and runs right before the Seafood Fest (which starts at 10AM). I’ll be spinning all of the funk soul and disco you’d expect, so if you’re in the area, come on down and run, sit and watch people run while listening to music, or get your groove on before hunting down some delicious seafood. It’s a great cause and there’ll be good music, good people and good food, so what else do you need to know?

____________________________________________________________________________________

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, September 13, 2011 11:16 am

The mighty Swamp Dogg astride Sparky the Funky Rat

Listen/Download – Swamp Dogg – Sal-A-Faster

Greetings all.

How’s by you?

I’m still not reconciled to the loss of summer, and while we still have a little taste of it to savor here at the shore, it has been an especially brisk week. It’s like Labor Day happened and someone threw a switch somewhere, sucking all the “hot” out of the air.

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not done sweating yet, so how about something hot and sassy for the middle of the week?

Swamp Dogg is one of those cats who’s name I’ve known forever, but who’s music had evaded me almost completely.

The first time I heard one of his songs it was via a cover version of ‘Total Destruction To Your Mind’ by Eric Ambel of the Del-Lords, which got some airplay on our local alternative station about 20 years ago.

Dogg, who hailed from southern Virginia, recorded for years under his given name, Jerry Williams (and as Little Jerry Williams) for a wide variety of labels through the 60s, including Calla, Loma and Musicor before mutating into Swamp Dogg at the end of the decade.

As Swamp Dogg he recorded for the Canyon label, and wrote songs with another Virginia Tidewater native, Gary US Bonds, for artists like Doris Duke (and Swamp Dogg himself).

Today’s selection, the wild and somewhat incomprehensible ‘Sal-A-Faster’ has a serious New Orleans vibe (with no real connection to the region other than any of the Crescent City zeitgeist that might have taken root in Swamp Dogg’s fevered brain).

The magical substance of the title is recommended for the self, the disobedient wife and the dog that has fits, and the rabbit “that only sits”. Whether ‘sal-a-faster’ is a relation to the contents of a trick bag, or just something that Swamp Dogg pull out of, um, thin air, remains a mystery.

What is not mysterious is the groove of the record, which is, without question, heavy.

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

______________________________________________________________________________

Don’t forget that I’ll be spinning some tunes during the annual Point Pleasant Lions Seafood 5K and 1 Mile FUN Run/Walk on Saturday, September 17th in Pt Pleasant Beach, NJ. The run benefits the JT Foundation for Autism Awareness and runs right before the Seafood Fest (which starts at 10AM). I’ll be spinning all of the funk soul and disco you’d expect, so if you’re in the area, come on down and run, sit and watch people run while listening to music, or get your groove on before hunting down some delicious seafood. It’s a great cause and there’ll be good music, good people and good food, so what else do you need to know?

____________________________________________________________________________________

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.