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By Larry, August 15, 2013 11:37 am

Mr. Oscar Brown, Jr.

Listen/Download Oscar Brown, Jr. – Forty Acres and a Mule

Greetings all

The end of the week is here, and so I must remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will once again take to the airwaves this Friday at 9PM on Viva Radio.

If you cannot be there at airtime, you can keep up with the sounds by subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or by grabbing an MP3 here at the blog.

I thought I’d end the week with something very cool and a bit unusual.

I would assume that the jazzers and the Mods among you might already be familiar with the name, and music of the mighty Oscar Brown, Jr.

Brown was the kind of multi-faceted talent, singer, poet, composer, political activist that you don’t see too much these days.

In a career that lasted from his teens until his death at the age of 78 in 2005, Brown worked as a soul jazz singer, composer of music and lyrics, social activist and teacher.

The tune I bring you today is a fantastic introduction for those of you that don’t know him, and a reminder for those of you that do of how great he was.

’40 Acres and a Mule’, recorded in 1964 (released in 1965 on the LP ‘Mr Oscar Brown Jr Goes to Washington’), is simultaneously swinging, humorous, cutting and incisive.

Brown, who was one of the earliest proponents of putting lyrics to jazz instrumentals (you probably know Nina Simone’s version of his lyrics to ‘Work Song’), also wrote ‘The Snake’, which became a Northern Soul favorite when recorded by Al Wilson.

He was a master whose body of work ought to be much better known.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, August 11, 2013 3:32 pm

The Spencer Davis Group

Listen/Download The Spencer Davis Group – Trampoline

Greetings all

Welcome to another groovy week here at the Corners.

I thought I’d get things started this week by dipping into the Hammond crates for something cool.

Oddly enough, I dug up this German Fontana pressing of the Spencer Davis Group’s ‘Trampoline’ right around the corner from my crib here in Central NJ.

I was unfamiliar with either of the tunes on the 45, and since it was a dollar (and I really dig the SDG) I grabbed it and took it home.

Good thing too, because in addition to the cool ‘When I Come Home’ (co-written by Jackie Edwards and Stevie Winwood), you get the very swinging bit of Mod soul on the flip.

Released in 1966, ‘Trampoline’ sees our boy Stevie working it out on the organ and piano with enough groove grease for the dancers.

The 45 fell in between their big British hits ‘Somebody Help Me’ and ‘Gimme Some Lovin’ and grazed the UK Top 10.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, June 18, 2013 11:26 am

Mose Allison, chilling in his far out chair, in the woods…

Listen/Download Mose Allison – The Seventh Son

Listen/Download Mose Allison – Young Man (Blues)

Listen/Download Mose Allison – I’m Not Talking

Greetings all

Have you heard about Mose?

Allison, that is…aka the Sage of Tippo…aka the smoothest badass to ever prop himself up at a piano and lay it down.

If you – like me – has made a study of the roots of rock, especially the British Invasion, or just surveyed the history of coolness, then you have certainly crossed paths with the mighty Mose.

Mose Allison has the kind of voice/manner that immediately brings to mind the black-and-white, beatnik cool of the 1950s. Jack Kerouac’s America, in which one was free to roam the highways and back roads of this great country, partaking in, and becoming part of the great tableaux, digging and being dug in equal measures.

Mose Allison – born and raised in Mississippi – sat himself down at the piano and made his first record in 1957, and hasn’t stopped being one of the coolest of cats since then.

I don’t think I heard Mose until I was all but drowning in the British beat/R&B thing, up to and including the sounds of Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, which is important because if Mose Allison had never recorded a note, old Clive Powell would likely disappear from the face of the earth.

The first time I heard Mose, an overloaded socket in theback of my brain threw sparks and I realized how much Georgie idolized and emulated him, as well as all of the Brits who looked to him as a songwriter and interpreter of songs.

It was Mose that wrote ‘Parchman Farm’ (John Mayall and everyone else with a blues fetish), ‘Young Man Blues’ (the Who) and ‘I’m Not Talking’ (the Yardbirds) among many others, and laid down what I would consider to be the definitive interpretation of Willie Dixon’s ‘Seventh Son’.

I’m including the last three tunes here today, so that you might head out and dig for your own stack of Mose Allison records, that you can whip out and impress the ladies at your next soiree.

Both ‘Young Man Blues’ and ‘The Seventh Son’ hail from Allison’s landmark 1963 ‘Mose Allison Sings’ LP for Prestige.

‘Young Man Blues’ – clocking in at less than a minute and a half – is a laid back meditation, barely a whisper compared to the angry box of TNT that the Who detonated on ‘Live at Leeds’.

Mose’s take on ‘The Seventh Son’ is a masterpiece of relaxed, swinging Zen, every note perfectly placed, a wonder. He takes the Mississippi hoodoo boasts of the OG and delivers them in a matter-of-fact way that puts the text in boldface.

‘I’m Not Talking’, from 1964’s ‘The Word From Mose’ on Atlantic, is once again, the placid, almost dehumidified-it’s-so-dry foundation on which the mighty Yardbirds built a souped-up, nitro-fueled funny car with which they blew the doors off of the ‘For Your Love’ album in 1965.

The grooviest thing of all is that for all of the influence he pushed out, Mose himself was always more like a shadow, hanging back, just being, than anyone who took their marching orders from his records. He spent the last 50-plus years making music of high quality, crossing the border back and forth between the blues and jazz, always being more himself than anything else and that was all he ever needed to be.

If you’re not hip to Mose, get there.

That is all.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, June 16, 2013 10:39 am

The Turtles/Fabulous Dawgs

Listen/Download The Turtles – Buzz Saw

Greetings all

Welcome to another waxy week here at the intersection of sixteen funky corners.

The 45 I bring you today is an old. OLD favorite of mine, banging around in my ears since I was a teenager.

The day I grabbed myself a copy of ‘The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands’ at the old Englishtown Auction Sales (the needlessly fancy name for a dirthole full of dented, previously ownd merch) was a momentous one indeed.

If memory serves, I grabbed the record because it included ‘You Showed Me’ and ‘Elenore’, but when I got it home and gave it a spin, I arched an eyebrow and started dropping and re-dropping the needle all over the record.

The conceit of the record was that the Turtles had taken on the guises of several different groups, performing in several different styles, one of which was the Fabulous Dawgs.

The song they did was the brain bending ‘Buzz Saw’.

Years later, when the old Hammond organ monkey had climbed up and taken residence on my back, ‘Buzz Saw’ found a place of honor in my crates.

To say that ‘Buzz Saw’ is an anomaly in the Turtles oeuvre would be an understatement.

A band best known for jangly folk rock and pure pop, the Turtles made some of the finest sounds along those lines in 1960s LA.

‘Buzz Saw’, a deadly cross between Hammond grease and stripper pole grind is the kind of record you whip out when you want to blow somebody’s mind (like some of the garage stuff on the first Grateful Dead album).

That they released it as the B-side to the exceedingly placid ‘You Showed Me’ illustrates a twisted sense of humor that Flo and Eddie would display going forward.

One can only imagine how many synapses were fried trying to reconcile ‘Buzz Saw’ with ‘Happy Together’, some happily, some maybe not so much.

I have always wondered who played the organ on this track.

The references I’ve been able to locate with session details seem to indicate that the only people listed playing keyboards on the album were members of the Turtles, i.e. Howard Kaylan, Al Nichol and replacement drummer John Seiter (who had come from Spanky and Our Gang). I’d be pleasantly surprised to discover that it was one of those guys playing the organ on ‘Buzz Saw’, since it sounds to me like someone with more than a casual proficiency with the instrument (like someone outside the band).

If any of you know for sure who’s playing, please let me know.

Until then, I suggest that you get good and hammered and put ‘Buzz Saw’ on repeat until you pass out.

See you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, June 6, 2013 11:07 am

Ben Tucker (Left) & Bob Dorough (Right) & Mel Torme (Bottom)

Listen/Download Mel Torme – Comin’ Home Baby

Greetings all

It’s almost that time, by which I mean the time when the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs on Viva Radio. This and every Friday night at 9PM you get to hear my dulcet tones rapping about/alongside the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. If you can’t be there at the time of broadcast, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

I had something else planned for today’s post, but had to push the rest button when one of my jazz inclined Facebook friends (hey, Nick) noted in a post that bassist Ben Tucker had passed away.

I realize that most of you will have no idea who Ben Tucker was, so bear with me.

Tucker was a well-traveled sideman on a wide variety of jazz sessions through the 50s and 60s, working the arco and the pizzicato beside heavies like Grant Green, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, Art Pepper and a busload of others.

That, despite the obvious quality of his work, is all largely beside the point, because it was as a composer – of one particular song – that has Ben Tucker’s name chiseled into the wall at the Hall of Fame.

That song – which you see before you was written by Tucker and first recorded by the Donald Bailey Quartet in 1961, but really took off the following year after the mighty Bob Dorough (yes, the coolest cat to ever turn the times tables into groovy music) added some lyrics to the tune, and it was recorded by the old Velvet Fog, Mr Mel Torme.

That version of the song (oddly enough, recorded almost exactly a week after my birth) was a hit for Mel, and went on to become a cornerstone of the swinging vibe (as well as a Mod jazz fave).

The song itself became a soul jazz/jazz standard, bipped, bopped, and rearranged countless times by many, many people, in many different guises.  ‘Comin’ Home Baby’ is – along with songs like ‘Listen Here’, ‘Sack’O’Woe’ and ‘Work Song’ – one of the building blocks of the classic era of soul jazz.

No matter how many times you hear it done, though, nobody, but NOBODY dropped it like old Mel.

With a foundation of piano, bass, drums and the insistent chank of a rhythm guitar, you soon get Mr Torme (and some ladies in the background) showing you all how you can be super smooth and cutting in the same breath.

‘Comin’ Home Baby’ is especially groovy, and enduring because along with your jazz (Torme is one of the most respected jazz voices of his time) you get an undercurrent of R&B, in a Ray Charles stylee that gives the record an extra, propulsive kick that never lets up.

It’s one of those 45s that literally pulls people up out of their seats, on account of the groove is so deep and wide that even the moldiest fig can’t help but shake a leg.

When he died, Ben Tucker had long since relocated to Savannah, GA where he became a fixture of the local scene as both a musician and businessman.

He will be missed, but the mighty song he penned will live on.

Have a great weekend.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (10)

By Larry, May 26, 2013 1:01 pm

Greetings all.

Welcome to the 2013 Funky16Corners Allnighter and Pledge Drive.

Those of you that fall by F16C on the reg will already be familiar with our yearly do, in which I ask some of the finest selectors I know to dip into their crates and put together mixes (from a wide variety of styles, but always soulful) for your listening pleasure.

This being the interwebs, with the selectors coming to you from points all over the map (NJ, New Zealand, NY, UK, Ohio, Minnesota), and all of you good people spread even further afield, we get together for this virtual “Allnighter” (in the tradition of the great soul clubs the world over) once a year.

There are two basic reasons for this, both equally important.

First and foremost, we try to raise some dough (via Paypal donation, see links below) to fund the server costs associated with keeping Funky16Corners (and Iron Leg) up and running. This includes the regular, thrice-weekly blog posts, as well as the Podcast, Soul Club, Guest Mix and Radio Show Archives (collectively holding well over 200 mixes of all kinds).

Second, is of course the fact that music – to paraphrase Willie the Shake – is the food of life, and so we assemble here to play on.

Blogging is for many – creators and readers alike – a transitory thing, but for the selectors here, and for many of the people that stop by here on a regular basis, music, especially soul, funk and jazz is life. These are no mere “collectors’. The mix-makers that you see here (and in all the previous years) have devoted a tremendous amount of time (not to mention,resources) to studying the sounds you will soon hear pouring out of your speakers.

Just the other day I saw someone bemoaning the overuse of the word “curating”, but I assure you that it applies to the work of every one of the people involved in this enterprise.

We all collect these sounds because we love them, but we have also all spent time sharing them, on blogs, and more importantly in live venues because we want to spread the word.

When I approach my fellow DJs to put together mixes for the Allnighter, I do so with complete confidence that they will select to impress, and impress they have.

What you here is roughly eight-and-a-half hours (in nine mixes) of the finest in funk, soul, latin, rocksteady, blues, disco, and Northern, put together by some of the best in the biz.

Funky16Corners is – and always has been – a not-for-profit enterprise. I have never taken ads here at the site and hopefully never will.

What I ask, is that if you dig what we do here, and you have the resources to do so, please throw a couple of bucks our way to keep the machine running for another year.

Everyone that donates five dollars or more will receive a Funky16Corners 2013 Allnighter Badge, F16C sticker, and one of our Keep Calm and Stay Funky stickers as well.

The Funky16Corners Blog will enter its 10th year of existence this year and though I’d probably still be at it if no one was paying attention, it’s much cooler doing it for folks like you!

So, I’ll offer you my thanks once again, and hopefully we’ll all be together again this time next year for more of the same.

Keep the Faith
Larry

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Click here to donate to Funky16Corners!

NOTE: It has been brought to my attention that the donation button has been experiencing technical difficulties. If you can’t get it to work, you can always log into Paypal and send the money to this address:

funky16corners@lycos.com

Thanks

Larry

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The Soul City – Everybody Dance Now (Goodtime)
Ross D Wyllie – Do the Uptight (A&M)
Popular Five – Little Bitty Pretty One (Minit)
Chuck Jackson and Maxine Brown – Can’t Let You Out of My Sight (Wand)
The Naked Truth – The Shingaling Thing (RCA)
Brenda Lee – Time and Time Again (Decca)
Derek Martin – Sly Girl (Tuba)
Shirelles – No Doubt About It (Scepter)
Robert Walker and the Soul Strings – The Blizzard (RCA)
The Trends – The Soul Clap (ABC)
The Tempests – Would You Believe (Smash)
Robert John – Raindrops, Love and Sunshine (A&M)
Kim Weston – Helpless (Gordy)
Earl Cosby – Ooh Honey Baby (Mirwood)
Four Pennies – You’re a Gas With Your Trash (Brunswick)
Ray Charles – I Don’t Need No Doctor (ABC)
Jo Armstead – I Feel an Urge (Giant)
Soul Sisters – Good Time Tonight (Sue)
OV Wright – Baby Mine (Goldwax)
The Velvelettes – He Was Really Saying Something (VIP)
Ronnie Love – Chills and Fever (Dot)
Little Caesar and the Empires – Everybody Dance Now (Inst) (Cameo/Parkway)

‘Everybody Dance Now’ is just under an hour of top shelf, hard charging Northern Soul, including some old faves as well as a grip of recently excavated heat that I think you’ll dig (and a couple of surprises too!).

Listen/Download Funky16Corners – Everybody Dance Now!
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Tony C: Feeling Good F16C Pledge drive 2013
Jean Dushon-Feeling good-Cadet
Merced Blue Notes-Whole lotta nothing-Tri Phi
Junior Wells-I’m gonna cramp your style-Bright Star
The Marvels-Forget about that mess-Sensation
Buddy Ace-Baby please don’t go-Duke
Buddy Greco-Twistin’ to the blues-Coronet
JJ Barnes-Won’t you let me in-Rich
The Charmaines-I idolise you-Kent
Joe Simon-Troubles-Hush
The Young Holt Trio-Ain’t there something that money can’t buy-Brunswick
Sonny Raye-Whip it on me-Jetstream
Pearl Woods-Sippin’ sorrow-Charge
BB King-16 tons-Crown
Ricardo Ray-Nitty Gritty-Alegre
Jack Constanzo-Evil ways-Discomoda
Willie Bobo-Be’s that way-Tico
Charlie Palmieri-Uptight-Atlantic
Tito Ramos-Big T-Cotique
The Beginning Of The End-Come down baby-Alston
The Soul Creations-Funky jive-GES
Tommy Wills-KC drive-Juke
Spanky Wilson-You-Mothers
Big Ella-It takes a lot of loving-Lo Lo
Eddie Parker-I need a true love-Triple ‘B’ Records

Tony Crampton is a UK based DJ/Collector whose mixes should be immediately familiar to readers of Funky16Corners. He has excellent taste, and gets frequent shout-outs here at F16C for records that he first put me onto.

Listen/Download Tony C: Feeling Good
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Kris Holmes – Greenville and Beyond

Slim Willis – I Say That
Little Eddie – There’ll Be A Day
Virgil Griffin – If You Can’t Go
The Trademarques – I Can Set You Free
Chick Willis – My Bowlegged Woman
Heavenly Kings Singers – If You Wake Up In The Morning
Vikki Styles – Mark My Words
The Premiers – Funky Monkey
The Perails – Boss Walk
The Cherries – You Know You Gonna Need Me
Vicki Williams – Your Love Makes Me Stay
L. Johnson Jr. – You Gotta Have Soul
W. Williams & Sonny Wash – Don’t Lie To Me Lover
Spencer Jackson Family – Bring Back Peace To The World
Johnny Littlejohn – Can’t Be Still
Johnny Nix – Matchbox
Pops Porter – Baby Put Your Legs Upside The Wall
Willie Buck – Get Down & Disco To The Blues
Bobby Williams – Soul Party
Ervin Little – Teach Me How To Boogaloo

Kris Holmes ‘Greenville and Beyond’ mix is an extension of the website he created to track the wide variety of records associated with several Greenville, Mississippi labels and their Chicago connections. Kris is one of the premier DJ/Collectors in New Zealand, rocking it in live venues and on his show the Sunday Shuffle on Radio Ponsonby (which can be heard Saturday nights here in the US). He has exquisite taste, and has been a big influence on new additions to the crates here at Funky16Corners.

Listen/Download Kris Holmes – Greenville and Beyond
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Reaching Onward – A FleamarketFunk.com All 45 Excursion
Studio G’s Beat Group – Hi Bird/ Licorice Soul
Quantic and His Combo Barbaro – Enyere Kumbara/ Tru Thoughts
Lonnie liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes – Goddess of Love/ Flying Dutchman
Big Pimp Jones – The Smokeout/ Recordbreakin’
Hard Proof – Dragon/ Kept Records
The Jive Turkeys – No Answer/ Colemine
Yambu – Sunny/ Motuno
The T.M.G.’s – Agravation/ Funk 45
The DT6 – Don’t Doubt Me/ Starla
East L.A. Carpool – Linda Chicana/ GRC
Victor Green – The Ghetto/ Rejoint
Sir Ali Bengal – ABX (Instrumental)/ Our Label Records
Banda União Black – Yeah Yeah Yeah/ Vampi Soul

A Word from DJ Prestige

“Once again I’m honored to put together a guest mix for Larry at Funky 16 Corners. Today I’ve dug into my collection of 45s and pulled out a bunch of sides that I built around the intro from Sun-Ra. For the most part, these 45s represent a lot of the future of Funk, Soul, and who will be carrying on the torch of funky music in general in the years to come playing right along side a few older tracks that lend themselves nicely to this mix. Record labels like Colemine, who offer up The Jive Turkeys, Kept, who give us the Afro Beat of Hard Proof out of Austin, TX, The DT6 on Starla coming out of Scotland, Big Pimp Jones from Philly on Recordbreakin’, Our Records Label and Sir Ali Bengal out of Germany, and Quantic out of the UK represent a small amount of artists doing it like they did in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Some of these limited edition 7″s will be the sought after 45s in years to come. They’re recorded in the same manner as the originators, and each band lends it unique sound to the time line of music. I’ve also included some older sides such as Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes, a Disco Soul cover of “Sunny” by Yambu, a Latin influenced Donnie Hathaway cover from Victor Green, some Psychedelic Library Hammond Funk from Studio G’s Beat Group, as well as some West Coast Lowrider Soul with East L.A. Carpool. Each one of these bands, no matter if it the present day or the past has been reaching outward to put out good music, and that’s what I want to do with this mix. Please enjoy. DJ Prestige, Flea Market Funk 2013″

Listen/Download DJ Prestige: Reaching Onward
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Tarik Thornton: TCB
James Black and the Southern University Stage Band- Ole Wine ( Intro)- Whit
Oliver Morgan- Roll Call- Seven B
Gene Chandler- Soul Hootenany Part 1- Constellation
Temptations- Girl, Why You Wanna Make Me Blue- Gordy
Little Eva- Get Ready/Uptight- Spring
Seven Souls – I Still Love You- Okeh
Natural Four-I Thought you Were Mine – ABC
Claude Huey- Drifting – M.I.O.B
Richard Brown- Sweet & Kind- SteeleTown
Gino Washington- What Can A Man Do- Washpan
Charles Brimmer- This Feeling in My Heart- Broadmoor
The Pearls – Shooting High- Lamp
The Symphonic Four- Who Do You Think Your Fooling Part II- Sudan
Bob & Gene- It’s Not What You Know It’s Who You Know
Aaron Neville- Hercules- Mercury
Willie Joe – Funny Thing- Pure Black Soul
Detroit Emeralds- You’re Getting Too Smart- Westbound
Eddie Floyd- Stealing Love- Stax
The 13th Amendment – The Stretch – Slave
James Brown – I’ll Go Crazy – King

Tarik Thornton is a New Orleans native who has relocated to the Midwest. He has worked as part of a number of top DJ crews, and guested at some of the hottest nights around the country. He is always digging, and never fails to bring the heat.

Listen/Download Tarik Thornton – TCB
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Prime Mundo: Positive/Negative – A Live Mixtape
alzo & udine – c’mon and join us (mercury)
jim ford – i wanta make her love me (sundown)
truth – i can’t go on (roulette)
southside movement – i’ve been watching you (20th century)
stevie wonder – i was made to love her (tamla)
trapeze – what is a woman’s role (threshold)
bo diddley – go for broke (chess)
yardbirds – baby what’s wrong (sire)
fiesta dance party – summertime (fiesta)
jesse morrison – tell me, can you feel it (a-bet)
edwin starr – easin’ in (motown)
charles spurling – popcorn charlie (king)
the watts 103rd street rhythm band – 65 bars and a taste of soul (warner bros)
gilberto sextet – yes i will part 1 (tico)
albert collins – thaw out (blue thumb)
jerry maccain – juicy lucy (jewel)
charlie earland – sing a simple song (prestige)
aluar horns (nonesuch)
mongo santamaria – fingers (vaya)

DJ Prime Mundo is one of the OG Asbury Park 45 Sessions crew. He’s got a spectacular ear for the finest in funk, soul and jazz his turntable skills are next level. No matter how much you think you know, you will always find  something new to dig in his mixes.

Listen/Download DJ Prime Mundo – Positive/Negative
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DJ Bluewater Presents: Turn To This Sound
The Vibrators – I’m Depending On You
Alton Ellis – The Preacher
Roland Alphonso – How Soon
The Fugitives – Cantelope Rock
The Maytals – Bim Today Bam Tomorrow
Roy Shirley – The Prophet
Prince Buster’s All Stars – All In My Mind
The Gaylads – Joy In The Morning
The Uniques – My Woman’s Love
The Modifies – Death In The Arena
Slim Smith – Burning Desire
Glen Adams – Mighty Organ
The Dee Set – I Know A Place
Max Romeo – She’s But A Little Girl
Roy Shirley – Don’t Be Afraid
The Gladiators – Fling It Gimme
Sound Dimension – More Scorcher
Tony Brevett – Don’t Get Weary
The Ethiopians – Selah
The Rulers – Let My People Go
Lee Perry – Whup Whop Man
Teddy King & Prince Buster – Mexican Divorce
Derrick Morgan – Too Bad
The Soul Brothers – Windell
Ken Boothe & Norma Frazer – Give Me The Right

DJ Bluewater is another member of the Asbury Park 45 Sessions crew. He is as deep into the rocksteady 45 game as he is with funk and soul. He has been contributing mixes to the Funky16Corners Pledge Drives since the beginning.

Listen/Download DJ Bluewater – Turn To This Sound

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Funkdefy: Take Time To Know Her
Roy “C” – I Found-A-Man In My Bed – Pan Records
The Esquires – Listen To Me – Bunky Records
Tony Fox – Do It To It – Calla Records
The Soul Sisters – Think About The Good Times – Sue Records
Bobby Lewis – Tossin’ and Turnin’ – Beltone
Charles Spurling – Popcorn Charlie – King
William Alexander, Jr. and the Dukes – Give Me One More Chance – Aphrodisiac
Mary Jane Hooper – That’s How Strong Love Is – World Pacific Audition Records
Harvey Scales – What’s Good For You (Don’t Have to be Good to You) – Stax Records
Jay Dee Bryant – Get It (Come On and Get It) – Enjoy Records
Johnnie Taylor – Take Care Of Your Homework – Stax
J. J. Jackson – But It’s Alright – Calla Records
Otis Redding – Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag (Live) – ATCO Records
Tony Clarke – Ghetto Man – Chicory Records
Don Gardner – My Baby Likes To Boogaloo – Tru-Glo-Town
Dyke And The Blazers – Funky Bull Pt. 1 – Original Sound
George Torrence & The Naturals – Lickin’ Stick – Shout
Billy Stewart – Summertime – Chess
Percy Sledge – Take Time To Know Her – Atlantic

A Word from DJ RP

FUNKDEFY, located in Columbus Ohio, is the longest running Funk-N-Soul dance party of Central Ohio. Founded in 2004, the Crew is an ensemble group of crate diggers and beat battlers. Not only have they been throwing monthly all vinyl dance parties, but in years past introduced live Soul to Columbus, heating up the city with their combination of dance parties on wax mixed with some incredible live bands, including The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker, The Budos Band and Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves. The following contribution was put together by founder DJ RP for your audio pleasure. You can hear other mixes of theirs on Soundcloud and see updates about them on Facebook. The crew hopes you will become part of, and a friend of, the funky collective.

Listen/Download Funkdefy – Take Time To Know Her
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F16C Presents: Are You Ready For This
Jackson Sisters – I Believe In Miracles (Prophecy)
Brothers – Are You Ready For This (RCA)
Papa John Creach – Joyce (Tom Moulton Mix) (Buddah)
Johnny Hammond Smith – Los Conquistadores Chocolates (Milestone)
Eddie Kendricks – Going Up In Smoke (Tamla)
Muscle Shoals Horns – Breakdown (Bang)
Charles Mann – Do It Again (ABC)
Touch – Love Hangover (Breaking Down) (Brunswick)
Lyn Collins – Rock Me Again & Again & Again & Again & Again & Again (People)
JBs – All Aboard the Funky Soul Train (Polydor)
Silvetti – Spring Rain (Salsoul)
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes – Bad Luck (Tom Moulton Remix) (Philadelphia International)
Ray Charles – Compared to What (Atlantic)

‘Are You Ready For This’ includes all manner of funky disco, disco-y funk, and even a couple of similarly inclined tunes from the Northern Soul canon. Mostly 45s, a couple of 12’s and an LP track here and there.

Listen/Download Funky16Corners – Are You Ready For This?
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By Larry, May 19, 2013 12:51 pm

Tommy Tucker

Listen/Download Tommy Tucker – Long Tall Shorty

Listen/Download Tommy Tucker – Mo’ Shorty

Greetings all

Welcome once again into the inner sanctum of all things soulful.

Welcome to another groovy week here at Funky16Corners.

I thought we’d get things started with one of the truly great slabs of R&B/soul.

‘Long Tall Shorty’ is one of the UR documents of the mod/beat sound, having been covered by both the Kinks and the Graham Bond Organization and holding a place of honor on many a sweaty basement club turntable during the early 60s.

Tommy Tucker had already had a hit with ‘High Heel Sneakers’ in 1963, before laying down ‘Long Tall Shorty’ (co-written by none other than Don Covay) the following year.

Tucker, born Robert Higginbotham in 1933 was a singer, pianist/organist who recorded in a variety of settings (groups and solo) between 1951 and 1967.

‘Long Tall Shorty’ is an especially interesting cut. It – like ‘High Heel Sneakers’ is built on a pretty standard, uncomplicated, Jimmy Reed-esque frame, but thanks to a sly build up and some very tasty guitar turns into something else entirely by the time its 2:23 are done.

Though Tucker worked extensively with guitarist Welton ‘Dean’ Young, it would seem that the guitarist on this 45 is in fact Timmy Oliver, as Young was on the road performing as one half of Dean and Jean.

The song starts off chugging amiably, but gathers steam gradually, almost imperceptibly until the band is running at top speed. It’s not hard to imagine a cellar full of pilled up modernists moving and grooving to this one.

Though the record has obvious roots in a slightly earlier bag, by the time the organ kicks in it’s obvious that Tucker is operating in a fully modern context. Aside from a couple of Bo Diddley sides, I can hardly think of an artist dragging quite so much old school R&B into a soulful setting this late in the game (though I have full confidence that one of you fine souls will provide an example or two that blows that thesis out of the water).

If you can get your hands on a copy of this 45 – which shouldn’t be too terribly difficult – you need to get to the end of ‘Long Tall Shorty’ and continue on to the b-side, the instrumental take thereon, entitled ‘Mo’ Shorty’. The guitar work is outstanding, and if anyone out there knows anything about Timmy Oliver (I haven’t been able to find anything) please let me know.

So roll back the rug, throw back a pint or two and get to dancing.

I’ll see you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 2, 2013 10:40 am

Richie Barrett

Listen/Download Richie Barrett – Some Other Guy

Greetings all

The weekend is once again upon us, and so is the Funky16Corners Radio Show. Coming to you this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, we bring you the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. If’n you cannot dig at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab yourself an MP3 copy out of the archive here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is without question one of my all-time favorites, and a 45 that eluded me for quite a while.

This is odd, because Richie Barrett’s ‘Some Other Guy’ is not a crazy expensive disc (between 50 and 100 USD on a good day), but it is in demand, so when copies pop up, the get knocked down rather quickly with a certain amount of competition in the bidding and so forth.

I was lucky enough to get my copy on the cheap side of things, and have probably given it a spin (or a digital play) every day since then.

Thing is, this record is one that loomed large in my musical tutelage for many years, thanks in large part to the fact that ‘Some Other Guy’ became one of the go-to covers for Liverpool bands of certain vintage, that being the heart of the beat era, and naturally, the Beatles.

The song was part of the playlist of the Fabs (it is the song they were playing when they were first filmed playing at the Cavern Club) and it was also recorded by bands like the Big Three, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates and a bit later on by ex-Beatle Pete Best.

It was the killer version by the Big Three that caught my ear first and made me want to track down the original.

Richie Barrett is a particularly interesting figure in the history of R&B and soul in that he was not first and foremost a recording artist.

Barrett made his mark as a producer and songwriter for groups like the Chantels, and hadn’t done a ton of recording before he found himself in the studio alongside the mighty Leiber and Stoller in 1962.

The record they made, ‘Some Other Guy’ is a brilliant bit of R&B well on the way to soul, with rumbling bass, electric piano and even a groovy organ solo.

Those widely separated opening notes on the electric piano build a tremendous amount of drama, especially considering what follows.

What ‘Some Other Guy’  also is, is one of the most blatant bits of imitation Ray Charles as has ever been impressed on a lump of vinyl.

‘Some Other Guy’ sounds like Leiber, Stoller and Barrett took a pile of Brother Ray’s late-period Atlantic ish, tossed it into a blender and poured the resulting slop into a microphone.

Not only do you get the rolling electric piano rhythm of ‘What’d I Say’, but Barrett is all but channeling Charles’s voice in every possible way.

It’s positively shocking that they didn’t try to release it under some name like ‘Charles Ray’, or ‘Brother Ray’ or some such tomfoolery.

Of course we are talking about Leiber and Stoller, who managed to kick ass just about every time they entered a studio, so despite any similarities to records living or dead, ‘Some Other Guy’ is epic.

Oddly enough, despite the obvious greatness of this record, L&S didn’t bother to mention it in their autobiography.

Slap this on at your next ripple and potato chip party and watch every last soul tear their way out onto the floor fighting over which part of the rug they get to slice.

In fact, I suggest that you go get lubricated, pop this one on at high volume and tear up the joint yourself, as best you can.

It is – after all – almost the weekend.

Capisce??

Groovy.

See you cats on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, February 26, 2013 1:06 pm

Cal Tjader

Listen/Download Cal Tjader – Evil Ways

Listen/Download Cal Tjader – You Keep Me Hangin’ On

Greetings all

Though you have most certainy seen his name and heard his music in this space many times before, like Jello, there is always room for Cal Tjader.

Tjader, master of the Latin vibes (does it get any better than ‘Soul Sauce’?) is one of those artists that is an automatic pick-up, as in I’m out in the field flipping through albums and I see see a Tjader LP that I don’t already have, it goes right onto the keeper stack.

At this point, there aren’t too many from his Verve era and after that I don’t have.

That said, a few years back I was down in DC and I managed to score two longtime Tjader wants, i.e. ‘Cal Tjader Plugs In’ (gotta have that groovy cover of the Banana Splits theme) and the disc you see before you today, entitled simply ‘Tjader’.

At first glance, Tjader’s Fantasy catalog can get a little confusing, since it bookends his time with Verve and the short-lived Skye era. You get all of the early, mambo grooves, and then some later, extremely rare groovy ish like his cover of ‘Gimme Shelter’ and the album from which we draw today’s selections.

The two cuts I bring you today are a very tasty version of the Willie Bobo (though known to most by Santana) tune ‘Evil Ways’ and a trippy excursion into the Supremes ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’.

‘Evil Ways’ is a smooth groover, with some organ and horns stating the theme, before Cal drops in with vibes, handclaps and timbales (a breakdown very much like the one in ‘Soul Sauce’) and goes to town. There’s also a nice organ solo.

‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’ gets a pretty straight ahead dancefloor treatment, until about halfway in, when things suddenly fade out and then back in again with some far out synthesizer, back out again and then right back into the original groove. It’s an odd arrangement for Tjader, and a little late in the game in 1971 (as are some of the other covers on the album, including two Donovan songs), but I can’t complain.

It’s a strong album, and surprisingly hard to come by.

I hope you dig the sounds.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, February 17, 2013 1:17 pm

Dig the groovy promo shot of Louis Chachere that I picked up a few years ago!

Listen/Download Louis Chachere – A Soulful Bag

Greetings all

I hope the day finds you well, and ready for some solid Hammond grooves.

Regular visitors to Funky16Corners as well as Hammond aficionados will already be familiar with the name Louis Chachere via his mighty slice of funky jazz, ‘The Hen’.

That 45 is just this side of brutal and unrelenting, packed not only with Chachere’s blazing organ, but also the guitar and drums, both of which (though the players are unknown to me) brilliant.

‘The Hen’ is both danceable and satisfying on a purely musical level, which is why it is sought after by DJs the world over.

I though for many years (erroneously as it turns out) that ‘The Hen’ was a one-off bit of genius, and that Chachere, having made his mark, vanished into the ether.

The fact is, that while his discography cannot in any way be described as extensive, what he did put his hands on was first rate.

In addition to his own recordings (which you see before you today), Chachere also produced the legendary ‘Remember Me’ b/w ‘Black Is Beautiful’ 45 by the Trinikas.

I first found out about ‘Soulful Bag’ b/w ‘Shout Down’ when it popped up in an auction years ago.

The thought of a Louis Chachere 45 that was not already inside my Hammond crates drove me nuts, so I followed the auction, tossed a little long green in that direction and within a week that very record was mine.

As far as I can tell, ‘Soulful Bag’ predates ‘The Hen’ (1968/1969) by a year or two. The only other 45 I’ve been able to track down on this label is a rockabilly 45 (Max Brown) from 1964 with a lower catalog number.

It was released on the Kansas City, MO label Central (two of the three 45 issues of ‘The Hen’ came out on other KC labels, MJC and Forte) and has an earlier, soulful but not yet funky sound.

There’s a definite groove going on, and while I haven’t been able to date it, my educated guess is that it sounds like a mid-60s release (and if anyone knows for sure, please do not hesitate to let me know).

Chachere opens strong, playing in unison with a sax, repeating the theme until he gets to open up a little on the organ. The sax player takes his turn, then the guitarist, then Chachere gets to solo extensively (at least as extensively as you can on a 45).

It’s got enough get up and go for the dancefloor, so if you’re lucky enough to find yourself a copy, don’t hesitate to whip it out at your next shindig.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you soon.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, November 11, 2012 12:01 pm

Billy Preston

Listen/Download Billy Preston – Billy’s Bag

Greetings all

I hope that all is well in your corner of the world and that you’re all ready to hit the ground running this week.

The mighty Billy Preston has appeared in this space a few times before, including earlier this year with his Hammond instrumental ‘Greazee Pts 1&2’.

The track Ibring you today has dropped here as part of mix, but I only managed to score a copy of the 45 a few weeks back.

When I posted a list of my finds from the Allentown all-45 show, a friend requested that I post ‘Billy’s Bag’, so here it is.

Released in 1965 on the VeeJay label, ‘Billy’s Bag’ didn’t hit the charts in the US or the UK (where it was released on Sue) but it was a seminal record on the Mod Soul scene in the UK.

‘Mod Soul’ may be – from the outside – an amorphous concept, but I wouldn’t by lying if I said it was the driving force behind my listening for a long time.

As an collective genre,it encompassed soul jazz, R&B, uptempo blues, soul (of all varieties), and especially Hammond groovers (which fall inside all of the previously mentioned subgenres).

The sound was a huge part of the Mod lifestyle, as well as going on to inform much of the finest music to come out of the UK in the mid-60s.

Thanks to my own exposure to the Mod aesthetic – of which I was mostly an observer – Mod soul had a huge influence on the way I dig music, and I enjoy nothing better that spinning records for a crowd that shares that appreciation.

Preston spent the mid-60s as part of Ray Charles’s roadshow, and the flipsides of both of his VeeJay 45s were instrumental versions of Charles tunes (Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying and Drown In My Own Tears).

Without a doubt my all-time favorite cut by Preston, ‘Billy’s Bag’ is fast enough for the dance floor and has more than enough Hammond organ heat for the organ groove fan in me. The conga/cowbell percussion breaks are especially cool.

I really dig how Preston works the piano in the background as well.

‘Billy’s Bag’ made its mark on the Northern scene as well.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, October 25, 2012 12:14 pm

Chris Farlowe

Listen/Download Chris Farlowe – We’re Doing Fine

Greetings all

The end of another week has finally arrived, and I have some very groovy mod soul lined up for you today.

But first, I simply must remind you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the airwaves this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. As always, if you are unable to join us at the time of broadcast, you can pick up the shows by subscribing as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 download right here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is a very recent acquisition, that came as a very nice surprise.

I have known (some of) the music of Chris Farlowe since back in the mod/garage days of yore (three decades past).

The biggie – the one that got this album released here in the States – was his 1966 cover of the Rolling Stones ‘Out of Time’. Farlowe’s version was – at least in my opinion – far superior to the original, and, thanks to the fact that a lot of folks in the UK agreed, it was a Number One hit in that country in June of 1966.

Along with his band the Thunderbirds (which when he recorded ‘Paint It Farlowe’ included both Albert Lee and Carl Palmer) Farlowe started out recording blues, R&B and soul in the early 60s as part of the Mod scene.

Farlowe would eventually be signed to the Immediate label, where he would record at least two albums and a grip of singles, a half dozen of which would hit the UK charts in 1966 and 1967.

The ‘Paint It Farlowe’ LP – released in the UK, with additional tracks as ‘The Art of Chris Farlowe’ – was produced by no less a light than Mick Jagger.

The album was packed with interesting material, including a number of covers of Rolling Stones, Small Faces and Twice as Much tunes, as well as some very cool soul material.

Farlowe had an unusual voice, especially in the far reaches of his range, which was perfectly suited for rough edged R&B material.

‘Paint It Farlowe’ includes his versions of tunes by American artists like the Four Tops, Jimmy Ruffin, Garnet Mimms and with the tune I bring you today, Dee Dee Warwick.

The younger sister of Dionne, Dee Dee had a respectable chart career between 1965 and 1971, for labels like Blue Rock, Mercury and Atco.

‘We’re Doing Fine’, written and arranged by Horace Ott, was her first hit, making it into the R&B Top 30 (and the Pop Top 100) in August of 1965.

Farlowe would record his version of the song a year later, and acquits himself quite nicely indeed.

He takes a slightly more aggressive tack with the tune – almost to a Northern-style tempo – and the end result is up there with the finest covers of US soul material by white UK singers.

Farlowe would go on to sing lead with both Colisseum and Atomic Rooster during the 70s, and is still in fine voice today.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

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.