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By Larry, August 5, 2010 4:33 pm

Junior Murvin

Listen/Download – Junior Murvin – Police and Thieves

Greetings all.
How’s things on your end of the tin can and string device we know as the interwebs?
I’m feeling – in the words of the mighty Slim Gaillard – mellow as a cello, so I figured I’d dip into the reggae box and whip something a tasty on you.

Way back in the olden days, when things were different (and they were, I assure you) a band called the Clash appeared on the scene, and as was my style of the time, I missed the boat.

The only guys I knew in school who dug the band were a couple of prize maroons, whose previous band worship was devoted to KISS (another band I couldn’t stand when I was in high school), and since they were knee deep in their suburban misunderstanding of ‘punk’ as it was, I trusted them not a whit.

My loss…

Anyhoo, a few years later, having been hipped to heavier sounds than the power pop that I thrived on by some cats whose taste I trusted implicitly, I gave the Clash a second chance, and thanks in large part to their reggae stylings, started to dig them, especially an energetic little number called ‘Police and Thieves’.
A few more years down the pike, another, hipper friend informed me that the song I dug was in fact a cover, and the original was by a dude named Junior Murvin.

As soon as I heard the original ‘Police and Thieves’ my mind was good and truly blown.

Where the Clash sounded like a heard of goons hurtling down a rutted street in a rusty city bus, Junior Murvin, ably assisted by the mighty Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, delivered the cautionary tale of the legal yin and yang of street violence on a puffy cloud bank of ganja smoke.

I’ve gone into some detail in this space about my indoctrination into the world of Jamaican music, but one of things I don’t remember discussing, and this is relevant to many other ethnic sounds, is how one must in effect season their ears before some music can be fully appreciated.

Reggae is huge in that respect.

The first Jamaican sounds I heard, weren’t really from the island at all, but rather ska revival records from the US and the UK, which were generally delivered at a breakneck pace. The first time I picked up a copy of ’20 Reggae Classics’ it was like I was a strap-hanger in a subway that suddenly slammed on the brakes. The radical adjustment in tempo, not to mention hearing lyrics delivered in real Jamaican accents and patois was quite literally jarring.

Eventually, I found myself grooving on the real stuff, and while I still dug the Two Tone sound, I now preferred the originals.

Thanks to yet another hip dude, I found my way from ska directly to dub, which made the transition to pure reggae a lot easier, so when I finally heard Junior Murvin singing his original recording of ‘Police and Thieves’ it sounded ‘right’, if you know what I mean, and the Clash, despite all their good intentions, did not.

If you ever get the chance, grab the Lee Perry ‘Arkology’ boxed set that came out a while back, which – in addition to just packing a very substantial helping of his genius – also contains several versions of the ‘Police and Thieves’ riddim, some more dubbed out than others (including the flip side of this 45 ‘Soldier and Police War’ with toasting by Jah Lion).

No matter how groovy the riddim, the real feature here is the vocal by Murvin, who comes on like a Jamaican incarnation of Eddie Kendricks.

Murvin’s original, released in 1976 was a hit in both Jamaica and the UK (there’s a video out there somewhere of Murvin singing the tune on English TV). The Clash followed with their cover a year later, and though they rev it up a notch or two (or six or seven), they also strip away many, many layers of subtlety. Murvin wades into the song gently and his version is a lament, whereas the Clash stomp through the tune with a raised fist.
Reportedly, when Junior Murvin heard the Clash version, he said ‘They have destroyed Jah work!’

The liner notes to ‘Arkology’ include this passage about the creation of ‘Police and Thieves’:

“The vibe of Black Ark studio is like people gather ‘round, everyday it start like ten o’clock in the mornin’, a kerosene pan is on the fire bubblin’ with some dumplin’, an’ some dread over there pickin’ some ackee an’ ting. Everybody throw in a little much to buy whatever we need. A guy might be out there with his guitar, chantin’ and Scratch is inside smokin’ a spliff, tunin’ in to that guy, who doesn’t even know that Scratch is tunin’ in to him. All of a sudden Scratch jus’ come out an’ say ‘Come inside here’. He search an’ find a riddim an’ say: “I hear dat, an’ I hear it on dis riddim!’ That’s how we did ‘Police and Thieves’, Junior Murvin. He was jus’ playin’ it and Scratch immediately came out an’ say ‘Here’s a riddim, let’s do it!’ an’ he do it an’ that’s it.
We were jus’ messin’ around with lyrics and the melody. Scratch say ‘Sounds good.’ He come out an’ decided to record it right away. It was out on the street in a couple of days. That’s the vibe we had at Black Ark – you didn’t have to say tomorrow or nex’ week, you go right now, you sound good, let’s go. It was fun days.” – Max Romeo

Jah work, indeed!

See you next week.

Peace

Larry

PS Make sure to hit up the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva internet radio Friday night at 9PM. Your ears will thank you.

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PS Head over to Iron Leg for some psychey bluesy garagey stuff.

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By Larry, August 3, 2010 7:05 pm

George Semper, from the cover of ‘Makin’ Waves’

Listen/Download – Love – That’s the Way It Is

Greetings all.
I come to you midweek with a somewhat mysterious 45.
I can’t even recall how or when I picked this one up, but my suspicions suggest to me that it was procured at a record show.
I think I pulled it out of a box of 45s because I recognized the label (I already had a Jimmy Reed 45 on RRG), but I’m sure I decided to buy it when I noticed that both sides were written, arranged and produced by George Semper.
If that name is not familiar, head over to the podcast archive and search for his name, which appears in no less than four different mixes in his capacity as a creator of Hammond grooves, which until I found this 45 was the only thing I knew about him.
Hammond heads will already be hip to his ‘Makin’ Waves’ LP, and the funky 45 version of ‘It’s Your Thing’ by the George Semper Rhythm Committee.
I’ll only go as far as to state that Semper was a West Coast cat, since I’ve seen references that base him in both San Diego and Oakland and have no way to be sure which one (or both) is the correct location.
The fact that the band was called Love – though it was immediately obvious that it was not the Arthur Lee organization – is unusual, since this 45 likely dates from the late 60s or very early 70s (or at least that’s the way it sounds to me) and the LA/Arthur Lee band was still a going concern, on a major label.
Of course they had their only hit in 1966, so it’s entirely possible they didn’t pop up on Semper’s radar, but the name of the band is a minor issue that only stands in the way of Google-based research.
The sound of ‘That’s the Way It Is’  is interesting and funky, with some electric piano and clavinet (no doubt provided by Semper), restrained strings and a cool lead vocal. I don’t really know who the singer is, and I’m reluctant to suggest that it’s George Semper, since all of his other work (that I’m aware of) is instrumental in nature.
As far as the provenance of the RRG label, it seems to have been a Wally Roker led imprint that existed for a brief time after the demise of the Canyon label. Roker was also involved in the Roker and Soul Clock labels around the same time. They released a handful of 45s by Jimmy Reed (then in his decline and trying all kinds of things to stay relevant) and at least one by Doris Duke and of course the Love 45.
As far as I can tell the RRG 45 was the first and last thing that this ‘Love’ recorded. That’s too bad since the tune is memorable and the record definitely had (unfulfilled) commercial potential.
I hope you dig it, and if you have any more info to fill in the blanks, please drop me a line.

Peace

Larry

NOTE: Thanks to commenter Piet who included a Popsike link to an issue of this same 45 on the Law-Ton label!

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Comments (7)

By Larry, August 1, 2010 3:37 pm

Ralfi Pagan

Listen/Download – Ralfi Pagan – Make It With You

Greetings all.
I hope everyone had themselves a sweet summer weekend.
Things were low key hereabouts, with my youngest son celebrating his fourth birthday, for which he got (and I assembled this morning) and old-school tricycle.
Right now, the sky is beginning to lighten after a torrential downpour, and Scooby Doo is on in the background, while my cup of iced coffee sweats next to the laptop…in other words, Sunday.
The tune I bring you today is another one of those records that I knew of for many, many years before I actually heard it, or owned a copy.
I am a big fan of Latin soul, especially mid-60s boogaloo, but every once in a while I get wind of something a little later in the game, maybe a little mellower, and it hits all the right pleasure centers in the brain (and then some), and Ralfi Pagan’s 1971 cover of ‘Make It With You’ is one of those records.
Pagan was a Bronx-born vocalist who recorded for Fania between 1969 and his untimely death in 1978*.
He specialized in ballads, delivered in a voice that sounded like a cross between Little Anthony and Smokey Robinson.
His version of Bread’s ‘Make It With You’, which was a Top 40 R&B hit in 1971 made Pagan a star with the Chicano audience, where the record remains something of a lowrider classic.
Though only three and a half minutes in length, ‘Make It With You’ manages to work as a minor epic. First and foremost is the arrangement (by Johnny Pacheco), which starts off sounding like an outtake from a Neil Young session, melts (with an odd key change) into a perfect bit of sweet soul.
Now, at the risk of sounding like a rube, I’ve always had a soft spot (how appropriate) for Bread’s early singles. David Gates had a real knack for crafting solid melodies. Unfortunately, he also had a real talent for matching them up with era-appropriate lyrics, thick with post-hippie, California sentimentality, always delivered with a completely straight face, which is probably why they were so successful.
Despite what any brigade of hipster douchebags might think, nobody was appreciating Bread, or the Carpenters ironically back when they first came out.
People loved those records because they took the earnest, heart-on-sleeve-ery of a Hallmark card and wrapped it up in just enough long hair and denim to make it palatable for “the kids”.
Ralfi Pagan took ‘Make It With You’ – which was Bread’s first hit (their only #1) in a long string of chart records that lasted until 1977 – and recast it, ever so slightly, arresting the tempo and delivering the lyrics in a soulful falsetto, that takes the ‘first wedding dance’ feel of the original and moves it into a back seat make out session.
The interesting thing is that the only real indicators that this is a ‘Latin’ record (aside from the Fania label** and its popularity with Latino audiences) is the very end of the record when Pagan starts singing in Spanish (echoed by the backing vocalists).
It’s a great record, and definitely worth a couple of close listens.
I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Wednesday.

Peace

Larry

PS This week’s edition of the Funky16Corners Radio Show is now available for download. Just click on the Radio Show tab in the header.

*Pagan was killed while on tour in South America

**This record was also issued on Wand

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By Larry, July 29, 2010 4:30 pm

Whatcha smokin’ George??

Listen/Download – The Magictones – Good Old Music

Greetings all.
The end of the week is here, and I just finished reading the autobiography of the mighty Grandmaster Flash, and I have breaks on my mind.
It might have something to do with the sad passing of Melvin Bliss, which has the Purdie break from ‘Synthetic Substitution’ running through my head in a loop, or reading how Flash and Kool Herc were cutting breaks way back when in the old school, or maybe because as an ex-drummer myself, I have those sounds ricocheting around my skull pretty much all the time.
Either way, there’s something undeniably magical about the isolated sounds of snares, rack toms and kick drums (and the occasional cymbal) whipped together in a syncopated stew that is really the heart and soul of funk, that secret ingredient that makes your head turn and your backbone slip and your eyes roll back in your head as you are compelled to say ‘UNH!’, the break – especially a really good one (on account of I have probably twice as many sloppy, poorly thought out breaks in my crates as I do the tight ones) is a mighty powerful thing.

So, how about a mighty powerful break?

One of my favorite breaks for years was the one that starts out the Parliaments’ 1968 ‘Good Old Music’. Snappy, powerful and tasteful (but not wasteful), the ‘Good Old Music’ break was not only groovy all by its lonesome, but led into a whole big pile of psychedelic funk that had even the most restrained among us taking off their clothes and running out onto the front lawn to hoist the freak flag.

So, many years, and many records later I get hepped to the fact that there’s another Detroit-based, Clinton-produced version of the song by a group called the Magictones (from 1970), and I am assured that I need to hear it.

Now the OG is so good, I wasn’t exactly filled with anticipation that the cover was going to be anything special…until…yes, until I heard the break.

Holy fucking nutballs.

The break that opens the Magcitones’ version of ‘Good Old Music’ is about nineteen seconds of rock solid, laid back, ass-kick, seasoned with just a pinch of snapped fingers (with a couple of mumbled bits of encouragement) that is an absolute game changer. It goes on well past the pint when any sane person would expect the band to fall in, which is one of the reasons it rules.

When you go back in history, and take into account the greatest breaks of all, especially primordial, almost prehistoric jawns like Clyde Stubblefield’s break in James Brown’s ‘Cold Sweat’, you’re talking less about aggressive power, than you are about restraint and swing. This is not the sound of a hammer, but more the feeling of a series of deftly rendered brush strokes, engineered to make your head nod, while you try figure out if what you’re digging more are the drum hits or the space in between them.

The Magictones version of the song is not the same backing track as the Parliaments, though I’d venture a guess as to say that it’s almost definitely the same band (listen to the guitars and keys). The really cool thing is that the Magictones dial back the tempo just a hair, making the whole enterprise a little bit heavier, a little bit hippier, spreading it out like a swimming pool filled with molasses, into which you are invited to take a dive, off of the high board (in slow motion for the duration of the break) and into the funky goo, where you will proceed to roll, slowly, for just about three minutes and fifty seconds.

I mean honest to jumping Jiminy Jeebus, this is one motherfucking funky record in every possible sense of the word, and if you can get your bearings back after being knocked on your ass by those drums, you will surely have them unsettled in short order by the Magictones and what is undoubtedly a gang of Funkadelics getting down behind them.

I dare you not to listen to this over and over again, restarting the break in a loop, and them laying back and letting the whole thing wash over you a few times. How a record this good isn’t a major part of the funk 45 canon (on account of funk records don’t have to be fast, just funky) is an almost unspeakable omission, and I suggest that all you DJs out there that don’t already have one go out there and dig one up so that you can whip it on the people, wherein they will also be blown away and you will be hoisted upon their shoulders and paraded around the room, hands filled with free beer, like the god that you are.

Seriously.

Don’t forget to hit up the Funky16Corners Radio Show this Friday night over yonder at Viva Radio, 9PM EST for more of the good stuff you all know and love.

See you on Monday.

Peace

Larry

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PS Head over to Iron Leg for some pop-psyche from an unexpected source.

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By Larry, July 27, 2010 6:07 pm

The Exciters

Listen/Download – The Exciters – Do Wah Diddy

Greetings all.
Is every one all up in the Simon and Garfunkel, i.e. feeling groovy?
The heat continues unabated, which wouldn’t bear mentioning, except for the fact that I went outside on Sunday to do yard work and ended up like one of those sweat-soaked, sun stroked chain gang fools in a Cool hand Luke stylee and ended up with just enough strength to crawl into bed, slap on my iPod and pass out about halfway into the first song.
Honest to jeebus it’s been a brutal summer hereabouts, and with me all pale and as sun-phobic as the next Morlock, I’m not digging it too much.
Don’t get me wrong…I like it when it’s hot, but like 85-ish. Once you break the 90 degree line, every time you set foot out of doors you can almost hear the cliched snippet of Delta blues slide guitar they always play when some poor slob is about to get run out of some dusty backwoods burgh (or vanish forever, depending on the movie).
That said, I’m lucky enough to be able to step back inside to the refrigerated (as they used to say in the olden days) air of the house, where my records sit safely, unwarped by the heat, and the beer chills in the fridge-o-manator so that I may do the same on the davenport.
That said, I was wondering what to post this fine day, and thought that something, summery, yet upbeat, with just a soupcon of history might fit the bill.
Wanna hear it? Here it is…
I’ve made mention – and demonstrated via example – that I am an absolute fiend when it comes to hunting down original versions of famous tunes in the soul, funk, blues and rock oeuvres. In fact, some day I’m gonna have to get my shnizzle together and whip them on y’all in podcast form, or maybe over at the old Funky16Corners Radio thing.
Hunting these things down, mainly via the heavy blues explosion of the late 60s led me down into the sounds of the Delta, the Piedmont and into Texas where many of these tunes were born.
Of course, not every OG harkens back to the 20s and 30s, many of them were more recent creations, i.e. first committed to wax during the 50s or even the early 60s, with the R&B and soul, and electric blues performers that exerted a much more significant influence on the British Invaders of ‘64 and beyond.
One of these artifacts, that I’d known about for decades, but only scored a copy of earlier this year is the track I bring you today.
I’ll assume that literally everyone reading this has heard the version of ‘Do Wah Diddy Diddy’ by Manfred Mann, which was a huge hit in 1964, and has forever after been a staple of oldies radio. Featuring the voice of Paul Jones (one of the more soulful singers of his time) the Manfred’s version, like many of their storming covers of blues and soul material actually does justice to the original (and maybe exceeds it in some respects).
That original was recorded by the Exciters the year before. Their version only reached #78 on the Pop charts, quite a letdown after their biggest hit ‘Tell Him’ which was Top 20 earlier in 1963, and is also a cornerstone of oldies radio.
Written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, the Exciters’ original is still a slamming slice of soulful group action, with pounding drums, and a wild lead vocal by Brenda Reid. The production by the geniuses (and my idols) Leiber and Stoller is spot on, and a little rawer than you might expect from a group often thought of as a ‘girl group’ (even though there was a guy – Herb Rooney –  in their ranks).
The instrumentation is pretty basic, with drums and piano backing the singers, followed by a horn section. Things get a little more ornate in the bridge, but you’d never mistake it for a Phil Spector production, though the chimes in the instrumental break lean in that direction a tiny bit.
Give it a close listen and you can almost imagine you’re there watching Leiber and Stoller building it bit by bit.
Though they’re known mainly as songwriters, they deserve a lot of credit for their work producing and arranging records as well, especially in an era where the best of the Brill Building-related writers were all making strides in that regard.
The Exciters remained together into the early 70s, though their last chart record was a 1966 cover of the Jarmels’ ‘Little Bit of Soap’. You should also be on the lookout for their Northern Soul stormer ‘Blowing Up My Mind’ from 1969 (I know I’m still looking for a copy…).
It’s a great cut, and I hope you dig it.

Peace

Larry

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PS Head over to Iron Leg for some great instrumental pop.

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By Larry, July 25, 2010 1:57 pm

Donnie Burks

Listen/Download – Donnie Burks – The Gopher

Listen/Download – Donnie Burks – Funky Funky Woman

Greetings all.
I come to you, secure in the refrigerated Funky16Corners Record Vault and Podcast Nerve Center, where I’m currently hiding from the near 100 degree weather outside.
I’ve spent the afternoon, digimatizing vinyl, ripping old CDs onto the new iPod and trying to refile records.
I was going to write about something else today, but I decided to do a little more research on that particular selection, so today’s numbers moved to the front of the line.
I found this record last Record Store Day in Asbury Park, and despite the fact that the artist was unknown to me, I grabbed it as it was both cheap, and intriguing.
I’d never heard of Donnie Burks before, but he looked vaguely familiar, and the record appeared to be American soul recorded (or at least released) in Europe, so I slapped a couple of semolians on the barrelhead and took the record home.
As soon as I set to Googling, I discovered a couple of very interesting things.
Donnie Burks, though fairly obscure as a singer, had a multi-layered career in his lifetime, starting out as a college basketball star, and moving on to appear in movies and on the Broadway stage.
When he passed away in 2008 at the age of 66, his glory days were long behind him.
It turns out that the reason he was familiar to me was that he had appeared as the grapes in a famous string of Fruit of the Loom underwear commercials (in which a group of dudes in fruit costumes touted the brand as a facsimile of the cornucopia in its logo).
Burks first came to prominence playing basketball for St John’s University in the late 50s and early 60s. He went on to appear in movies (The Pawnbroker, Shaft, Without a Trace*) and TV, as well as in a number of Broadway musicals (Hair, the Tap Dance Kid).
I have no idea how he came to record the album that gives us today’s track, but I have seen listings that suggest that he recorded at least two other 45s  for the Decca and Metromedia labels.
The tunes I bring you today, ‘The Gopher’ and ‘Funky Funky Woman’ come from the ‘Swingin’ Sounds of Soul’ LP. ‘The Gopher’ a cool, uptempo soul dancer. The production isn’t the best, but Burkes was a more than able singer and I’d be interested to hear his other 45s.
‘Funky Funky Woman’ carries the DNA of ‘Funky Broadway’, but it sounds as if it were strained through ‘Boogaloo Down Broadway’ first. Not terribly funky, but if I had a nickel for every record I’ve seen with ‘funky’ in the title, that isn’t (funky, that is), I’d have a huge, shiny pile of nickels.
I’d also love to know how Burks ended up recording (or at least releasing) an album in Germany. He was in the original Broadway cast of ‘Hair’ and the likely vintage of these recordings makes me wonder if he didn’t record it while overseas with a touring cast of the show. If anyone knows, please drop me a line.
I hope you dig the tunes, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Peace

Larry

*He’s a little hard to nail down via IMDB since he appears to be listed under a few different spellings of his name.

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By Larry, July 22, 2010 12:13 pm

Miss Betty Lavette

Listen/Download – Betty Lavette – I Feel Good (All Over)

Greetings all.
I hope the end of the week finds you all well.
There was no mid-week post, mainly so that the post honoring Gene Ludwig could remain in place.
I’ll be featuring one of his rarer sides in the coming weeks.
The tune I bring you today is one of those records that I chased for a long time.
I first heard Betty Lavette’s ‘I Feel Good (All Over)’ in a most unexpected place, that being a European compilation album devoted to releases from the Pama label. I picked it up years ago to get my hands on a couple of Mohawks tracks (and some reggae) and was surprised when a number of the tracks turned out to be UK issues of US soul 45s, none of which I’d heard before (this was maybe ten years ago).
The one track that really flipped my wig was ‘I Feel Good (All Over)’.
Over the course of the last decade, on and off, I made several attempts to get myself a copy, being outbid every single time.
This time, the copy in question had a poor grade, but since the opening bid was low, I figured I’d try to grab it. It ended up going for around 20 bucks, but I thought that I could live with having spent a Jackson on a filler copy until I had an opportunity to mint up in the future. With any luck it wouldn’t take another ten years.
So, the record shows up, and once again, the chance taken paid off in spades in that as soon as I played the record I realized that no upgrade would be necessary.
If you haven’t heard ‘I Feel Good All Over’ before, give it a spin and you’ll see why I coveted it for so long.
It is a rock solid, Detroit soul dancer with a dynamite vocal by Lavette and a blazing horn chart. This is 100%, guaranteed dance floor fire.
Give it a close listen, and once you get past Betty’s amazing singing, check out that guitar running underneath things (especially near the beginning of the record). It’s an ever so slightly rough, almost Southern touch to a slamming Motor City side (I’d love to know who it is…).
The flipside, ‘Only Your Love Can Save Me’ is less aggressive, but also excellent.
Lavette, a native Michigander recorded for a variety of labels during the 60s, releasing her first 45 in 1962 (on Atlantic) when she was just 16 years old. She went on (at some point changing the spelling of her first name to ‘Bettye’)  to record for Calla, Karen, Silver Fox, SSS Intl, Atco and a few other labels into the mid-70s, when she took a break from recording.
She recorded an album for Motown in 1982, after which she didn’t go back into the studio until making a serious comeback in the 2000s.
Her most recent album, ‘Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook’ found her covering the Who, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Traffic among others.

Don’t forget to tune in this Friday night at 9PM EST for the latest edition of the Funky16Corners Radio Show at Viva internet radio.
I hope you dig this cut as much as I do, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Peace

Larry

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PS Head over to Iron Leg for some great UK Psyche Pop!

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By Larry, July 18, 2010 2:03 pm

The painting of Gene from the cover of ‘Organ Out Loud’ by Jack Lonshein

Gene Ludwig at the organ (Circa 1965)

Listen/Download – Gene Ludwig -Sticks and Stones

Listen/Download – Gene Ludwig – The Vamp

Listen/Download – Gene Ludwig – Blues For Mr Fink

Listen/Download – Gene Ludwig – House of the Rising Sun

Listen/Download – Gene Ludwig – Comin’ Home Baby

Listen/Download – Gene Ludwig – Moanin’

Greetings all.
As I mentioned in Friday’s post, I got the very sad news last week that Hammond master Gene Ludwig had passed away at the age of 72.
If you’re one of the rare few that’s been on the Funky16Corners tip since the web zine days, you know I ride for the Hammond organ in a big way, from the greasiest R&B, to pure soul, soul jazz and funk, I have never been able to get enough of the Hammond sound.
Gene Ludwig was one of the last of what I would call the accepted past masters of the jazz organ. He was a contemporary of Brother Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Dr Lonnie Smith, Seleno Clarke and pretty much everyone else that was part of the jazz organ explosion of the 50s and 60s.
What Gene was also a part of was the great – mostly unexplored – Pennsylvania organ tradition. One of the really interesting things I picked up out of years of collecting and researching Hammond records was how many great players hailed from the Keystone State (and not just Philly). The man that launched a thousand organ combos, the mighty Jimmy Smith as well as Jimmy McGriff, Charles Earland, Richie Varola, Greg Hatza, Papa John and Joey DeFrancesco, Shirley Scott and of course Gene Ludwig all got their start in the bars and nightclubs of Pennsylvania, in both the big cities and out in the hinterlands. Was it something in the water? An abundance of organs (or bars/lounges with organs in them)?
In his obit Gene was quoted as saying that he turned on to R&B (and organ players) by listening to Pittsburgh radio legend Porky Chedwick. Pittsburgh has a long history as a kind of isolated Shangri La for R&B and soul fans where any number of brilliant but obscure records are worshipped by the locals because they were circulated on the radio and at dances.
Whether this had anything to do with spawning organists, as opposed to just fans of the sound, I have no idea, but it is intriguing.
Gene Ludwig – a native of the wester PA town of Twin Rocks started out as a pianist, and had his ‘road to Damascus’ moment when he saw Jimmy Smith perform at a Pittsburgh club called the Hurricane in 1957.
Ludwig went on to have a 50 year career as one of the great proponents of the Hammond, recording locally as well as on national labels like Mainstream and Atlantic.
He was really what I would consider (at least for my taste) the consummate organist in that he approached the instrument from a jazz perspective (with serious chops to match) yet was not afraid to cut loose and burn on the keyboard, expanding into the realms of R&B and soul.
I’ve consumed a lot of virtual ink rambling on about this or that ultra-raw organ 45, but the best Hammond players, no matter how soulful or funky all came to the instrument from the jazz roots.
Gene Ludwig was old enough to hear the early rumblings of the Hammond sound from the jazz/jump/R&B nexus of cats like Wild Bill Davis, Bill Doggett and Milt Buckner, and mastered the instrument in the wake of the mid-50s scene when Jimmy Smith rewrote the book on jazz organ.
The ensuing expansion of the electronic organ, as both a performance platform and recorded instrument was wide ranging on both established jazz labels like Blue Note, Prestige, Riverside and Atlantic, but as my crates will attest, on countless tiny local labels eager for a piece of the action. It’s not at all hard to imagine walking into a bar in 1965, strolling up to the jukebox and seeing the organ stylings of a regional favorite among records from out of town.
Gene Ludwig was both a regional player (probably half of his discography is rooted locally) and an internationally known master of his instrument who headlined and worked as a sideman (replacing Don Patterson in Sony Stitt’s late 60s band).
Gene remained devoted to the Hammond, and a glimpse at his web site will reveal that he was playing, recording and above all staying relevant right up until his unexpected and tragic passing.
He was a musician of great taste with an ear for that perfect soul jazz vibe, yet was also conversant in standards (which any organist working the clubs in the 60s would have had to have been) and was by all accounts an unfailingly generous soul when it came to mentoring younger players.
Though I never got to meet Gene or his wife Pattye in person, I was lucky enough to correspond with them over the years (Gene had no bigger booster than Pattye), including an interview I did with the master back in 2005.

The Gene Ludwig Trio in the 1960s (above) and reunited in 2004 (below)

The tunes I bring you today represent a cross-section of the sound of Gene Ludwig through the 1960s. As far as I can tell all of these cuts feature his classic 60s-era trio which featured Randy Gelispie (or Gillespie, I’ve seen it spelled both ways) on drums and Jerry Byrd on guitar.
A few of these cuts have been featured here in the past, but they deserve to be heard again.
The first track is the Ludwig’s trio’s smoking version of the Henry Glover/Titus Turner classic ‘Sticks and Stones’, which appeared as a two-part 45 in 1963 (I’ve spliced the two parts together). The trio’s playing is spot on, relaxed yet generating a considerable amount of heat, and Gene is in rare form. I’ve heard there’s at least one other unissued side from that date, a version of ‘High Heel Sneakers’.
Next up is a track discussed here in the past, the brilliant ‘The Vamp’, which appeared as a 45 and on the LP ‘The Educated Sound of Gene Ludwig’ in 1965. If you haven’t heard ‘The Vamp’ strap yourself in because it’s a killer. Improvised in the studio by the trio, it featured Gene on the organ, Byrd on guitar and Gelispie on tambourine only. It has the feeling of an after-hours session gone wild, and is probably my favorite moment in Gene’s discography.
‘Blues For Mr. Fink’ and ‘House of the Rising Sun’ are both culled from an oddball 1960s compilation called ‘The Keyboards’ on the Time label, which features Gene Ludwig, and five other players performing in a wide variety of disparate styles. None of the album’s 20 tracks are attributed to anyone specific, but I knew of the Ludwig tracks from other sources (which is why I picked it up).
My suspicion has always been that all of the Gene Ludwig material on that record came from his time with the Mainstream label, since Bob Shad is credited with A&R on the jacket, and a few of the tracks also appear on the 1964 Mainstream LP ‘Organ Out Loud’.
The last two tracks appeared on what I would consider to be one of the great soul jazz organ sessions of the classic era, the aforementioned ‘Organ Out Loud’. Here Gene and the trio work it out on two classics of the genre (the LP also included wonderful versions of Cannonball Adderley’s ‘Sermonette’ and Horace Silver’s ‘The Preacher’), Bob Dorough and Ben Tucker’s ‘Comin’ Home Baby’ and Bobby Timmons’ ‘Moanin’.
‘Comin’ Home Baby’ is taken at a touch more relaxed pace than you usually hear, but the group keeps it moving and grooving, and Gene takes a wild solo.
‘Moanin’ on the other hand takes off like a rocket and never slows down. It’s the kind of performance that makes me want to step into the WABAC machine and hear the group in some smoky lounge. Gene’s fingers fly over the keys while the rhythm section provides a rock solid bottom.
If you ever get a chance to get your hands on any of his 60s albums or 45s (and there’s still a couple of things I have yet to track down) do yourself a favor and do it.
You still have the chance to hear his more recent recordings, which are uniformly excellent.
That all said, it’s so sad to have to talk about this great music in light of Gene’s passing.
He was a great musician, and by all accounts as solid a human being as has passed this way.
He will be missed.
My sincere condolences go out to his wife Pattye.
See you later in the week.

Peace

Larry

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Comments (4)

By Larry, July 15, 2010 5:53 pm

Wardell Quezerque – ‘The Creole Beethoven’

Listen/Download – Willie Harper – A Certain Girl

Greetings all.
Before we get started I should note that I heard the sad news this morning that one of my all time faves, Gene Ludwig,  – master of the Hammond organ –  has passed away. I wanted to put together a suitable tribute, so I’ll be pulling some records from the crates and digimatizing them for a tribute post on Monday. Please keep his wife Pattye in your thoughts.
The tune I bring you today is a cut by one of my favorite New Orleans singers.
Oddly enough, as obscure as he is, Willie Harper is one of the first NOLA vocalists I had in my crates, via the fairly common and extremely cool ‘But I Couldn’t’ on ALON records. This was the very first single released on Allen Toussaint and Joe Banashak’s ALON imprint and the flipside ‘A New Kind of Love’ was a local hit. He would go on to record five singles for ALON.
I don’t know anything about Harper’s life, but as a huge fan of both New Orleans music and Allen Toussaint his voice has been a familiar one for years.
Harper recorded on and off through the 60s, like many other singers, almost exclusively with Allen Toussaint. He recorded under his own name for ALON and Sansu (two 45s under his own name, ‘You You‘ and ‘Here Comes The Hurt‘) , and as one half (with Toussaint) of Willie and Allen (’I Don‘t Need No One‘) , as part of the Rubaiyats (the storming ‘Omar Khayyam’, also basically Willie and Allen) and as a backing singer on a number of Toussaint productions for Benny Spellman and Ernie K Doe.
Speaking of K Doe, it was he that first recorded Toussaint’s ‘A Certain Girl’ in 1961. It went on to be a British Invasion favorite, with covers by the Yardbirds, the Animals, the First Gear, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders and the Paramounts (featuring Gary Brooker and Robin Trower, later of Procol Harum).
Willie Harper recorded ‘A Certain Girl’ for Tou-Sea in 1968, and it’s turned into one of my favorite, purely soul sides out of the Crescent City.
I’ve always found the Tou-Sea (that’s Toussaint & Marshal Seahorn) label to be an interesting footnote in late 60s New Orleans music. As far as I can tell the label’s discography isn’t very lengthy*, and the releases I’ve come across are all on the grittier side. How they decided to place these particular sides (including 45s by Warren Lee, Harper and Gus ‘The Groove’ Lewis), I don’t know, but as Dan Phillips of the mighty Home of the Groove blog has noted, some of the Tou-Sea sides were not specifically Toussaint projects. Some of them, including today’s selection, were produced and arranged by none other than Wardell Quezerque (billed here as both ‘Big Q’ and ‘DC Wardell’.
It is a constant source of regret that I haven’t made a closer study of Quezerque’s production and arranging work (god knows my crates are filled with his work).
He was prolific, and probably, among the “Big Three’ in New Orleans – Toussaint, Eddie Bo and himself – the biggest hitmaker. He was the man behind NOLA records, and produced and arranged for just about anyone who was anyone in the Crescent City, hitting the charts with Professor Longhair, Earl King, Tami Lynn, Robert Parker, King Floyd and Jean Knight among many others. He also worked as a producer and arranger for many non-New Orleans artists like the Pointer Sisters, BB King, and Ruth Brown.
Harper’s version of the tune features a prominent horn section, with just a touch of that relaxed, New Orleans tempo. Harper is – as always – in fine voice (improvising new lyrics here and there) , backed by a female chorus.
It’s a great 45, and maybe proof that someone out there ought to collect the stuff that Harper recorded during the 60s (and early 70s) into a comp.
I hope you dig it and I’ll be back on Monday.

Peace

Larry

*I’ve seen listings for – but largely haven’t heard – releases on Tou-Sea by Mill Evans, Jay Roy, Ray Algere, Zilla Mayes and Johnny Green (Algere being the only one of those I’m familiar with)

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Comments (6)

By Larry, July 13, 2010 4:18 pm

The Mighty Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley

Greetings all.
I hope that the middle of the week finds you all in a soul jazz kind of mood.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time over the course of the life of this blog discussing, compiling, exploring and above all digging soul jazz.
One of the elements of that discussion (though if I’m doing all the talking is it really a discussion?) is the issue of pure soul jazz, that being music that meets the definition of soul(ful) jazz, blending R&B, soul and or funk with a post-hard-bop base in a manner that creates something new that displays, yet transcends the listed ingredients.
There are a number of artists for whom soul jazz was a specialty, and of those, a few who created enduring ‘standards’ of the genre like Bobby Timmons, Freddie McCoy, Eddie Harris and the man who composed the tune I bring you (served four different ways) today, the mighty Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley.
Adderley composed and first recorded the tune ‘Sack O’Woe’ in 1960. Of the countless soul jazz songs that I have collected over the years, ‘Sack O’ Woe’ is probably my favorite. It is propulsive enough to be danceable (Adderley was great at stuff like that) , soulful, spare but not too spare, and a great launching point for soloists.
It’s one of those songs that when I find a new version I try to add it to my stack because in hands of almost any competent musician it releases something special, and every once in a while I like to post multiple versions of a great song so you can get a feeling for the breadth of sounds that covers of a classic can yield.
The four versions of the song I bring you today date from the 60s, 70s and 90s (?!?)

The Omega Men

Listen/Download – The Omega Men – Sack O’Woe (Live 1997)

My all-time favorite version is by a band of fairly modern vintage called the Omega Men. Featuring a number of veterans of the Pennsylvania end of the garage/mod revival (from the Cellar Dwellars and Stump Wizards) , the Omega Men, featuring the organ work of the sole non-male member of the band Susan Mackey, really set fire to Adderly’s classic. You can catch it on iTunes as part of a comp called ‘Rock Don’t Run Vol 3’, or you can track down their 1997 CD ‘The Spy Fi Sound of the Omega Men’. The version included here has been digimatized from a video of the band performing live in 1997. The fidelity is pretty good and the playing is first-rate. It isn’t much of a stretch to imagine the sound of the Omega Men as a close approximation of what you might have heard on-stage in the UK circa 1965, where the organ combos of masters like Georgie Fame, Brian Auger and Graham Bond were re-imagining the US soul jazz and R&B that gave them inspiration.

The Mar-Keys horn section (Packy Axton, right)

Listen/Download – The Mar-Keys – Sack O’Woe (1961)

As I said before, Adderley’s original dated from 1960. The Mar-Key’s smoking Memphis version is from a year later. It has that solid Stax sound and I really dig the organ solo. If my chronology is correct this also features a pre-MGs Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn on guitar and bass, as well as Packy Axton, later of the many mysterious incarnations of the Packers on sax. Note the horn intro that approximates the band’s only hit, ‘Last Night’.

The legendary Les McCann

Listen/Download – Les McCann – Sack O’Woe (1963)

The version by the equally mighty Les McCann is from 1963, and features McCann on piano and a fantastic guitar solo by Joe Pass. It’s by far the jazziest version of the tune here. Les McCann is a true giant of the soul jazz genre, having had bona fide hits (like ‘Compared to What’ with Eddie Harris) and can be counted on to give this classic a righteous reading.

Julian Tharpe

Listen/Download – Julian Tharpe – Sack O’Woe (197?)

The fourth and last version of ‘Sack O’ Woe’ is (as far as I can tell) and early-to-mid 70s recording by a Nashville cat named Julian Tharpe.
Tharpe was a Music City sessioner and touring player who often worked with guitar legend Jimmy Bryant and was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 2008. His LP ‘Jet Age’ featured Tharpe playing a variety of styles, covering pop, rock, country and the soul jazz of ‘Sack O’ Woe’. I picked up this album specifically for the version of today’s selection, and it proved to be an interesting one.
I always dig hearing pedal steel guitar used outside of a strictly country context, especially on soul records like Peggy Scott and Jo Jo Benson’s ‘Soulshake’, which featured another Nashville steel legend, Pete Drake.
Tharpe’s version of ‘Sack O’Woe’ is very cool, and it’s worth it if only to hear the Adderley classic interpreted on such an unusual instrument.
I hope you dig all four versions, and if you’re not familiar with Cannonball Adderley’s work, start looking because he laid down decades of fantastic music in straight jazz and funky sessions.
See you on Friday.

Peace

Larry

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PS Head over to Iron Leg for a remembrance of the late Tuli Kupferberg of the Fugs and some Canadian sunshine pop

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By Larry, July 11, 2010 1:58 pm

Today’s selection (above)
The mighty Fame Studio (below)
There’s soul between those bricks…

Listen/Download – The Inclines – Pressure Cooker Pt 1

Listen/Download – The Inclines – Pressure Cooker Pt2

Greetings all.
I hope the new week finds you all well.
The heat (in measure of actual temperature) has seen a decline. Unfortunately this was met with an incline in the humidity, so while it is not technically as hot as it was last week, it is just as uncomfortable, so, instead of catching fire when you step out of the house, you merely start to melt.
The 45 I bring you today is something that was initially passed on to me years ago by my man Haim, who had a spare copy of the 45, which although it was in rough condition, since it cost me exactly nothing I was (and still am) grateful, and placed it in the crates as what we record nerds refer to as a space-holder/keeper copy.
I dug ‘Pressure Cooker Pts 1&2’ by the Inclines, and kept my eyes peeled for an opportunity to upgrade.
Just such an opportunity was encountered at this year’s All-45 Show in Allentown.
I’d already pretty much emptied my wallet when I happened upon a dealer I did not know, and started digging in what soon turned out to be a box full of excellent funk and soul 45s.
There was only one problem…
Not a single one of these gems was priced, and there was no indicator anywhere on the table as to how much this fine gentleman might be asking for his stock.
This is rarely a good thing, since such discoveries are often met with a stock playlet, inevitably leading to my disappointment.
It kind of goes like this (with me trying to find a satisfying middle ground between looking like a rube and/or a shark):

Me: Um, how much for the 45s?
Dealer: Oh, let me take a look at those..hmmmmm…that’s a good one….so’s that…
Me: Oh, uh, I don’t know those…they looked cool.
Dealer: How about $200 for the lot?
Me: Gulp…

Aaaand scene!

(Magnify the discomfort in the above situation when LPs are involved)

However, once in a great while, an unpriced box of 45s is just what it seems, i.e. a random collection of stock that a dealer wants to move.
That was the deal this time, and I minted up on two faves (the Emperors ‘Mumble Shingaling’ and today’s selection) at the extremely beneficial price of two US dollars per, which was more than amenable. I took my records and skulked away.
Now I haven’t been able to nail down a whole lot of info on the Inclines. They seem to have released two 45s on Atco, one as the Inclines and one under the name of group member Tyrone McCollum.
They seem to have hailed from either northern Georgia or southern Tennessee, having recorded a few records for the Chattanooga based Gil label.
‘Pressure Cooker Pts 1&2’ was originally released on the Hawk label (I have no idea where that label was based but wouldn’t be surprised if it was from the same region).
Today’s selection was recorded at the storied Fame studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1969 and is a fantastic, mid-tempo slice of southern instrumental funk. The first part is dominated by the horns, with a repeated riff which drops out for a saxophone solo. The bass, drums and electric piano form a thick, muddy bottom that gives the relaxed, slightly jazzy tune a funky kick.
The flip side (make sure to download side 2) sees the keyboards come to the front, with the electric piano and organ both getting time to shine.
It’s a very cool record precisely because it’s so laid back. It has a kind of ‘nighttime’ vibe to it, not quite as spooky as a side like ‘Nickol Nickol’ by the Brothers of Hope, but moving in that direction.
I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Wednesday.

Peace

Larry

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PS Head over to Iron Leg for some Canadian sunshine pop

Comments (4)

By Larry, July 8, 2010 8:28 pm

Clay Tyson

Listen/Download – Clay Tyson – If You See a Ring Around Your Bathtub (Baby You Know I’ve Left You Clean)

Greetings all.
I hope you’ve all avoided melting in the ungodly heat. I’m still solvent but on the verge of liquefaction should I spend more than my allotted time in the sun. Like my ancestors before me, I am a pale man, with white-blond hair and my love for sunshine is decidedly one-sided. My childhood is filled with repeated, drastic episodes of sunburn, only repeated in adulthood during simultaneous bouts of alcohol consumption (as in ‘Oh come on, a little sun never hurt anyone!’, except – of course – me, who spent the next week clutching a bottle of aloe and praying for death).
I fear that my Irish/Viking genes have been passed on to both of my sons, who look like Casper and any one of the ghostly trio. They cannot head to the beach without shirts, sunscreen and hats lest they burst into flames.
It’s that bad.
There was a very brief window, right after I moved into my first apartment (which was a block from the beach) where I spent time at the beach every day, rationing my time in the sun where I developed something like a mid tan, but decided that the discomfort of sand in my pants outweighed any ‘healthy glow’, so I never tried again.
That said, I sit here now, ensconced in conditioned air, tapping away at yon laptop in an effort to get the blogging done before I nod off.
Before I start, make sure to check out the Funky16Corners Radio Show this Friday night at 9PM EST at Viva internet radio. This week – as in all weeks – what you’ll be hearing is the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, brought to you in living, crackling color, harvested from original vinyl sources and mixed live for your delectation.
You should also fall by the Gentleman’s Guide to Midnite Cinema podcast to dig the filmic discussion, and to sample my inaugural contribution of a weekly, funky track (see episode #89).
Also, stop by Iron Leg where I go on at length in reflection about 25 years of zine (paper and web) production by yours truly.
The tune I bring you today is something I picked up a while back, mainly on the strength of the Identify label. For those of you that aren’t familiar, it was a James Brown-related imprint, and until I found this 45, the only one I’d ever seen in person was the A.A.B.B. 45 ‘Pick Up the Pieces One By One’, featured here many moons ago.
The disc was cheap (probably because of a noticeable edge warp, but since it was so unusual I decided to risk the dough and take it home.
Good thing too, because when I finally got to give it a spin, I realized that what I had was not only funky, but also funny, making it yet another entry in the soulful comedy sweepstakes (wherein I have a bunch of similar sides and ought to get down to making a mix).
The performer was a cat named Clay Tyson, who according to what little I’ve been able to find was a ‘chitlin circuit’ comic who hooked up with the Godfather of Soul and released a couple of 45s; one on King, and the one you see before you today (in addition to a number of other records on other labels).
When I was researching this record I happened upon a previous post over at the mighty Stepfather of Soul blog (and if you are not familiar, you should get…familiar that is) where my man Jason says that the King 45 (which I do not own) is pretty much the same two routines on the Identify disc, redone with different backing tracks.

What you get here with ‘If You See a Ring Around Your Bathtub…’ , is James, jiving alongside Mr. Tyson (with the JB’s I’ll assume) with a tight funk groove. Oddly enough, it’s pretty much like any James Brown record of a similar vintage, only you get a series of so-so jokes (which James seemed to think were HILARIOUS) instead of the HYEEAAHH!s and YOWW!s and whatnot. I’m not suggesting that this is as good as a James Brown or JBs 45 (though in a lot of ways, that’s what it is), but that the funk is right, tight and naturally, out of sight, and since the tune is co-credited to the mighty Fred ‘Trombonicus Rex’ Wesley, you know it’s a quality sound.
I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Monday.

Peace

Larry

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PS Head over to Iron Leg for thoughts about 25 years of DIY/zine work by yours truly…