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By Larry, December 31, 2013 1:56 pm

Miss Della Reese

 Listen/Download – Della Reese – It Was a Very Good Year MP3

NOTE: I had something else ready to go for today, but this morning someone posted Frank Sinatra’s version of ‘It Was a Very Good Year’ to mark the New Year, and I thought “Why not post the astoundingly good version by Miss Della Reese in the same spirit here at Funky16Corners!”

So that’s what I’m doing.

It has actually been a pretty good year here at base camp.

My wife’s health has continued to improve, the kids are healthy and happy, and I’m not doing too poorly myself. 

It already looks like 2014 will bring some opportunities to DJ, and of course the Funky16Corners blog and radio show will continue apace.

I hope all of you have had a good year,and if not, that 2014 has nothing but good things in store for you and yours.

That said, I’ll see you all on Friday.

Happy New Year!

Larry

Originally posted 3/27/11 

>>Greetings all.

How’s by you?

All is as well as can be expected on my end of the interwebs.

The weekend was relatively uneventful, and despite anything the calendar says, Spring has yet to arrive in any real way.

I should mention that I have a couple of very groovy DJ gigs in the pipe, details to follow soon.

I’m not going to be able to make it to the Allentown 45 show this year, but I don’t really mind.

The vinyl gods have been good to me these last few months, bringing in all manner of cool stuff, including a couple of longtime white whales, as well as a bunch of low priced, but uniformly excellent groovers.

I’ve also been edging up to the second big push in the reorganization of the Funky16Corners Record Vault and Podcasting Nerve Center, which always yields cool stuff from deep in the crates that had been unjustly neglected.

I just dug out a groovy Northern 45 last week that I had either forgotten about – or more likely – had not listened to closely the first time I found it. I like when stuff like that happens.

The tune I bring you today is one of the aforementioned white whales, which I chased like Ahab for a long time before finally landing it late last year.

When you mention the name Della Reese to folks, the reaction you get depends on generational variables.

Folks my parent’s age remember her career as a pop/jazz vocalist that produced a couple of big hits in the late 50s.

Younger folks will remember her mainly as a TV actress, on shows like ‘Touched By an Angel’.

Sit down with a couple of hip DJs, and you very well may hear tell of a lesser known, but truly interesting part of her career, when despite a lack of commercial success she managed to make some very soulful, very danceable records.

Back in the early days of the blog (2005) I featured one of these sides, Ms. Reese’s excellent take on Gene McDaniels’ soul jazz epic ‘Compared to What’, recorded for AVCO in 1969.

The tune I bring you today hails from 1966, and like that session was made with jazz trumpeter Bobby Bryant (search the F16C Podcast Archive for some of his groovier tracks) and his band.

The tune ‘It Was a Very Good Year’, was written in 1961 by Ervin Drake. It was originally recorded by the Kingston Trio, but the song will forever be identified with Frank Sinatra, who recorded – and had a hit with the song – in 1966.

The Sinatra version is a doleful lament, sung by an old man looking back on his life.

Della Reese’s version is a radical reworking of the song, both lyrically (she embellishes the verses) and stylistically. Arranged by Bryant, the song is recast as a funky, hard charging cri de coeur, less wistful than the musical equivalent of a fist in the air. Reese sings the song like someone who despite a colorful past, is looking forward to bigger and better things.

Her vocal is powerful, often sounding as if she was testing the limits of the recording equipment.

The band is on fire, with a pumping Hammond and remarkable drums. The recording has a very hot sound, and the snare and kick drum are – next to Della – the loudest things on the record.

This is one of those records that would have languished in obscurity, had it not been revived by DJs on the jazz dance scene in the UK. It has become increasingly popular with funk and soul DJs, and was reissued by the Jazzman label (with a live version on the B-side).

As far as I can tell, this version is not in print on CD and the 45 can be quite expensive, so unless you need one to play out, slip the ones and zeros on your pod-like-thingy and dig.<<

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.

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By Larry, December 26, 2013 2:46 pm

Funky16Corners Radio v.62 – Hot Pants!! Under the Covers with James Brown

Playlist

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.

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By Larry, December 24, 2013 11:45 am

Ho Ho Hyeaahhh!

Listen/Download – James Brown – Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto

NOTE: This year – as in years past – the run up to Christmas will be filled with re-postings of some of my (and your) fave soulful and funky holiday tunes.

This gives you all a chance to catch up on some soulful Christmas jams, and gives me time to rest my blogging muscles and enjoy the holiday.

This track is especially apropos since we lost the Godfather of Soul on Christmas day back in 2006.

I’ll be back on Friday with some more James Brown-related treats!

Enjoy!

Originally Posted 12/18/11

Greetings all.

The time has come, as it does once a year for yours truly to let loose with the Ho Ho Hos and the jingle bells and what not on account of the fact that Christmas is approaching rapidly.

As has been mentioned here before, this is a multi-religious household, with myself representing the (extremely) lapsed-Catholic and my wife repping the Jewish and the Little Corners an interfaith bouillabaisse, their eyes and hearts filled to bursting with the childhood wonder of the season.

Which is really what it’s all about, at least from my vantage point, where what I want is no more or less than their happiness, and my wife’s good health.

You know that I’ve mentioned here (every single Christmas since this blog has been extant) that I have never been a prodigious collector of holiday music. Whether this has to do with my acceptance (almost at the DNA level) of the cheesy/classic seasonal sounds of my childhood, to the point where I can sit back and take some comfort in the sound of the voices of Andy Williams or Jim Nabors (and surprisingly enough, I can), or that seeing limited appeal/value in holiday music, I’d rather spend my money on reg’lar old soul and funk is in the end meaningless, since there always seems to be something cool dropping in from the margins to satisfy the Funky Kringle in us all.

I bring you today’s selection in particular because it is a favorite of bot myself and my wife, and naturally because it is a very groovy, upbeat and cheerful Christmas offering from Mr Please Please Please (HO HO HO?) himself, James Brown.

When I listen to ‘Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto’, I realize that what we get with this record is both funky and danceable, but also poignant, especially in these days where there’s a tent city of homeless families not 10 miles from my warm, toasty house, and Mr Brown was thinking of how this, the most precious of holidays for children especially, could be rough for the poorest among us, and we should remember that while we listen to this song.

We should also remember that James Brown, who gave us such a great Christmas song, left us on that very day five years ago.

So dig the tune (there’ll be many old faves dropping as the week progresses) and remember that not everyone has the wherewithal to have a groovy holiday.

So try to remember that even if you are (like me) not a religious person, that the Christmas season can just be about brotherhood in the general ‘Family of Man’ sense, which is cool too, especially when times are tough (which they are for so many).

See you on tomorrow.

Peace

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.

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By Larry, December 22, 2013 12:26 pm

The LP (above), Miss Dorothy Ashby (below)

Listen/Download – The Soulful Strings – Jingle Bells

Listen / Download – The Soulful Strings featuring Dorothy Ashby – Merry Christmas Baby

NOTE: This year – as in years past – the run up to Christmas will be filled with re-postings of some of my (and your) fave soulful and funky holiday tunes.

This gives you all a chance to catch up on some soulful Christmas jams, and gives me time to rest my blogging muscles and enjoy the holiday.

Ho Ho Ho!

Originally posted 12/2007

Greetings all.

As I’ve stated repeatedly in the past, I’ve never been much of a holiday music collector. However, once in a while a personal obsession of mine also happens to have a Christmas record. In the case of Richard Evans and the Soulful Strings, their 1968 LP ‘The Magic of Christmas’ is a real gem.

The first tune I selected was the obvious choice (at least for me) because I can’t think of another version of ‘Jingle Bells’ that opens up with an honest to goodness drum break. I’m not sure who’s laying it down here (though I’m guessing that it is in fact Morris Jennings Jr.).

The second selection is a lush, sublime reading of Charles Brown’s classic ‘Merry Christmas Baby’ which features the brilliant Dorothy Ashby on harp. If you aren’t familiar with Ashby – I included her ‘Soul Vibrations’ on my collab with DJ Prestige ‘Beat Combination Pt2’ (check out the Flea Market Funk Mixes page)– she was one of the few harpists who could actually play jazz on the instrument, and the three albums she recorded for Cadet between 1968 and 1970 (in collaboration with Evans) are brilliant.

If your nerves are frayed (like mine) and the consumerist madness of the holiday season has you down, give this version of ‘Merry Christmas Baby’ a listen and all will (at least for a few minutes) be well, as it is positively sublime.

I’ll be taking the next week off to enjoy the holiday with my family and do a little visiting. I will most definitely be back with something for New Years Eve, so hang tight, enjoy your Christmas and I’ll see you all soon.<<

Peace

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.

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By Larry, December 17, 2013 1:09 pm

Listen/Download – Bobby Holloway – Funky Little Drummer Boy

NOTE: This year – as in years past – the run up to Christmas will be filled with re-postings of some of my (and your) fave soulful and funky holiday tunes.

This gives you all a chance to catch up on some soulful Christmas jams, and gives me time to rest my blogging muscles and enjoy the holiday.

This year’s Christmas show airs on Friday night 12/2o at 9PM on Viva Radio.

Enjoy!

Originally posted 12/16/12

Greetings all

I should get things started by noting that the next week or so will be filled with soulful and funky Christmas music.

I will be posting new stuff (like you see today) interspersed some old faves.

Here’s hoping that you dig it all, and that those that celebrate have themselves a groovy Christmas.

It was way back in February of this year that I featured the absolutely incendiary flipside of this biscuit – ‘Cornbread, Hog Maw and Chitterlins’ – in this very space.

Funny thing is, the record was first recommended to me (by the mighty Midnight Cowbwoy) for the side you see before you today.

I was in search of some groovy, soulful Christmas ish, and he suggested that Bobby Hollaway’s ‘Funky Little Drummer Boy’ could be had for not much scratch. So, off I went in search of said 45, found it, coughed up my ten smackers and eagerly awaited it’s arrival here at the crib.

Well, when it fell through the mail slot, I played the Christmas side, dug it and thought “Well, that was ten bucks well spent!”

Then I flipped it over.

The next thing I remember is waking up in a body cast (not really).

However, the ‘Cornbread…’ side is as deadly a bit of organ driven instro-soul as has ever rolled down the pike.

The Christmas side is a cover of a song thathas never really done much for me in its original form.

However, it seems to be the kind of song that lends itself to particularly interesting soul and funk interpretations, like the George Conedy and Lenox Ave versions you have seen/heard in this space previously.

Mr Hollaway does yet another stupendous take on ‘The Little Drummer Boy’, picking up the tempo considerably and laying a whole lot of soul on what started out as a decidedly un-soulful tune.

I have yet to discover anything about Bobby Hollaway – what little I was able to glean can be picked up in the earlier post – and I wish I knew more.

If anyone has anything to add to the story, please drop me a line.

Until then, I hope you dig the tune, and Merry Christmas.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 7, 2013 8:27 pm

The Royalettes

Listen/Download – The Royalettes – River of Tears

Greetings all.

The next couple of weeks will be jam packed with events here at Funky16Corners central, so I’ll be republishing some of my favorite tunes from the Funky16Corners Archives. I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back soon.

Larry

Originally Posted 12/06/2009

>>Greetings all.

Here’s hoping that everyone had themselves a nice weekend.

I’m trying to get enthusiastic about the multi-holiday season (we celebrate both Chanukah and Christmas here at the Funky16Corners ranch), but I’m having a hard time. I think that the older I get, the more I become like Charlie Brown, feeling assaulted by the rampant commercialism associated with the holidays and wishing that things could be dialed back a few notches.

Fortunately I have two small children who really do get excited when this time of year rolls around, so I can still appreciate it vicariously.

The tune I bring you today was the big score from my DC digs this past summer. Though it’s not a terribly rare record, the fact that it’s an ass kicker of superior quality placed it miles ahead of everything else I grabbed that weekend.

As posted here last year, Barbara Banks’ ‘River of Tears’ is one of my all time favorite soul 45s, and a record that I chased for a long time, finally bringing it down by throwing a large wad of cash at it. It was a classic because in addition to the fact that it’s a killer performance, it’s an even better song (co-written by Banks herself).

Back in the day when I was first looking for that 45, I discovered in my research that the tune had been covered by the Royalettes. My interest was piqued, but for some reason I never went in search of their version.

The Royalettes, who hailed from Baltimore recorded several singles for Chancellor and MGM between 1963 and 1966, eventually waxing two full LPs for the latter label.

Fast forward a few years to this past summer, when DJ Birdman was kind enough to take to around to his DC/Maryland digging spots, and while flipping through a box of soul 45s, what do I find but a copy of the Royalettes’ version of ‘River of Tears’. I was surprised to learn that like Barbara Banks original, the Royalettes’ cover was produced and arranged by Herb Bernstein. I put the record in my keeper stack and continued to dig, pulling out a handful of nice funk and soul stuff.

When I was done digging, I walked over to the store’s turntable, put on the headphones, dropped the needle on the record and just about blew my mind.

DRUMS?!?!

As you’ll hear when you pull down the ones and zeros, the Royalettes version opens with a huge, monstrous drum break that sounds like it was recorded inside Carlsbad Caverns! The Royalettes drop in with some tight harmonies, and the rest of the arrangement mirrors the Banks OG fairly closely (bass, vibes etc) but the pounding drums remain fairly high in the mix for the entire record.

It’s interesting to hear the song (what a fantastic melody!) delivered by a group as opposed to a solo voice, but the production on the Royalettes version of the song is a drastic departure from the original. Where the OG is a masterpiece of subtlety, with all the disparate layers sharing the sonic space evenly, the Royalettes cover is explosive. Taken at a slightly more deliberate pace, Bernstein tooks the opportunity to open the record up, adding all kinds of space between the instruments and voices and layering on just a touch of funk.

Recorded in 1967, ‘River of Tears’ was the Royalettes sole 45 for Roulette, and their last 45 overall.

It’s a really incredible record, and I hope you like it as much as I do.

I’ll be back on Wednesday with something cool.<<

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 4, 2013 10:59 am

James Young (left), Bobby Patterson (right)

Listen/Download – James Young and the Housewreckers – Barking Up the Wrong Tree

Listen/Download – Bobby Patterson – My Thing Is Your Thing

Greetings all.

The next couple of weeks will be jam packed with events here at Funky16Corners central, so I’ll be republishing some of my favorite tunes from the Funky16Corners Archives. I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back soon.

Don’t forget to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio!

Larry

Originally posted 03/17/2006

>>At last, it’s Friday.

I couldn’t be more pleased. It’s St Patrick’s Day, and as an American of Irish descent I’m proud to say that I will once again refrain from participating in the huge, pulsing public nuisance that has come to mark this holiday.

I’ve been to Ireland, and it’s a lovely place, filled with equally lovely people.

It in no way resembles the St Paddy’s day crowd at TJ McDrunken-fucks, spilling green vomit on each others shoes while U2 plays in the background.

Do yourself a favor. Grab a corned beef sandwich (a wonderful reflection of the Irish/Jewish concord in my own marriage), a bottle of Guinness (or Harp, or Smithwicks, or the delicious hard cider of your choice), rent a copy of ‘The Commitments’ and realize that the Irish really do have soul (literal and figurative).

It’s also the good ole end of the week, which of course signifies that we have two days of leisure before us in which to catch up on lost sleep, family time, old movies, reading or whatever it is you like to do to relax.

A hearty HUZZAH to the inventor of the weekend! In celebration of this time honored institution, it’s time to whip out – as I am prone to do – a couple of bangers worthy of a celebratory Friday.

Today’s selection both hail from the once great state of Texas, now home to all manner of insane, Bible-banging, creationist shit-heels.

I know that there are still plenty of good folk in the Lone Star state, but really folks, it’s time to either get the crackpots under control or move to higher (philosophical) ground.

That said, no amount of religious hysteria can mask the fact that Texas has produced a very impressive musical lineage, running from the days of the territory bands, western swing, a grip of wailing “Texas Tenors” (running from Arnett Cobb, to Illinois Jacquet, to the mighty Booker Ervin), blues giants like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lightnin’ Hopkins, right up to giants like Sir Doug Sahm and the 13th Floor Elevators.

On the soul side of things, you can’t do better than Bobby Patterson and James Young & The Housewreckers.

My first encounter with the music of Bobby Patterson was back in my early 80’s college days and heard the Fabulous Thunderbirds cover ‘How Do You Spell Love’.

I didn’t know it was a Bobby Patterson tune for years, but when I found out, and started digging for more I realized that ‘How Do You Spell Love’ was only the tip of the iceberg.

A few years ago, when someone (I don’t recall who) hepped me to ‘My Thing Is Your Thing’, I was blown away. After a few moments of chimp-like marvelling at the clear yellow vinyl, I managed to get the disc on the turntable, and things really started smoking.

Opening with a wobbly, phlanged sounding guitar, the horn section punches its way into the tune and gets the ball rolling.

Bobby drops in with a wailing vocal, dropping funky “UHNN”s here and there, right up into the anthemic chorus. The wah-wah guitar, and snapping drums move things along nicely, making ‘My Thing Is Your Thing’ a hot slice of Dallas funk.

While Bobby was steaming things up on the Jetstar label, James Young & The House Wreckers were, uh, wrecking the house on it’s sister label (both Huey P Meaux related) Jetstream.

Originally known as “Big Sambo” & The House Wreckers (there are pressings of ‘Barking…’ that list him as ‘Big Sambo’), the band originally came to prominence with the original version of ‘The Rains Came’, later a hit for the Sir Douglas Quintet.

This later 45 is a funk classic.

Featuring Young’s screaming sax and wild vocals, the drummer is in the pocket, and the guitar is bluesy.

A very tasty groove indeed.

If you happen upon a copy (not cheap, mind you), flip it over to hear the band rip off Jean Knight’s ‘Mr. Big Stuff’ with an instrumental version entitled ‘Funky Butt’.<<

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, June 30, 2013 11:01 am

Ray Charles

Listen/Download – Ray Charles – Sticks and Stones

Greetings all.

The next couple of weeks will be jam packed with events here at Funky16Corners central, so I’ll be republishing some of my favorite tunes from the Funky16Corners Archives. I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back soon.

Larry

Originally Posted 12/01/2009

>>Greetings all.

The week is well underway, and I am currently immersed in an object lesson on how no schedule ever goes un-F’ed-with, ever.

Not that I had a lot on my plate anyway (nothing hard and fast) but I sit here with not one but two sick children, and I have just been informed by the plumber that the existing shower apparatus needs to be replaced (not a small job).

I had a nice hot cup of coffee, and peeled a couple of delicious clementines, but not even those gustatory wonders have proven powerful enough to set things right.

It is in that spirit that I bring you not the song I was planning on posting today, but rather something I was listening to on the MP3 delivery device last night as I was struggling to get back to sleep (sick child related). The song in question is something I digimatized last year, and promptly forgot about. I tend to record vinyl in lots (as they are amassed in the wholly disorganized “new arrivals” pile) and then transfer them onto the iPod, organized in playlists. Once they’re in place, I listen to them as much as possible to “explore” the music, deciding what I want to post and when.

So, last night I’m prowling around inside some older playlists to see if there was anything I had neglected, and lo and behold Brother Ray pops his head up, admonishes me for passing him over and giving me a (figurative, and soulful) smack upside the head.

The odd thing is – and this has happened before – Ray Charles is a musician that I pretty much worship, and the likelihood is that I failed to post ‘Sticks and Stones’ sooner, not out of neglect but because I was waiting for a slot to open that would do a record like this justice. I over-thought the matter, and forgot all about it (until last night).

It bears mentioning that the first time I heard ‘Sticks and Stones’, it was not as performed by Ray Charles, but rather as a cover by the great mod revivalists the Secret Service sometime around 1985/86, not doubt on the stage of the legendary Dive in New York City.

Unlike some of their more Jam-influenced brethren, the Secret Service drew heavily from the sounds of soul and R&B as previously recycled by the first wave British Invasion acts. It was via their playlists that I first heard Rodge Martin’s ‘Lovin’ Machine’ (which they picked up from an Easybeats video), and today’s selection, which they no doubt heard via the 1964 cover by the Zombies.

‘Sticks and Stones’, written by Titus Turner and Henry Glover (though only Turner is credited on this 45) is a classic, and a stellar example of how Ray Charles – seldom thought of as an out and out soul singer –  was one of the (maybe THE) most important transitional/formative figures bridging R&B and soul. Released in 1960, his version of ‘Sticks and Stones’ is a powerhouse, with a rolling quasi-latin beat (see ‘What’d I Say’) and an electric piano solo that sounds like so much lightning shooting from the master’s fingers.

It’s a brilliant performance, and proof once again that any self respecting fan of music (any genre) needs to get some Ray Charles in their life (and ears).

I hope you dig it and I’ll be back on Friday with some funk.<<

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, June 27, 2013 12:01 pm

Shuggie Otis, Delmar Evans, Johnny Otis

Listen/Download – The Johnny Otis Show – Country Girl

Greetings all.

The next couple of weeks will be jam packed with events here at Funky16Corners central, so I’ll be republishing some of my favorite tunes from the Funky16Corners Archives. I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back soon.

Don’t forget to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio!

Larry

Originally Posted 12/08/2009

>>Greetings all.

I hope the middle of he week finds you well.

It finds me cold (what the hell?!?) but happy, since I hit the Allentown record show this past Sunday and grabbed some heat of the 45RPM variety. Bagged me some funk, Northern Soul and other good stuff, all of which will be appearing in this space, as is the custom here in the Funky16Corners organization.

I’m also hard at work on a couple of new mixes for the Funky16Corners Radio thang.

The tune I bring you today is a funky, crunchy, and greasy like a truckload of sizzling bacon. If’n you’re not already hip to the sounds of the might Johnny Otis (and his many compadres) may I suggest you read up on your read ups, since he was involved in some of the finest R&B, soul and funk to come out of the West Coast for the last half a century. On his own, with his son – the legendary Shuggie, of course – and working with folks like Preston Love, Johnny Otis really knew his shit (as the kids say).

Today’s selection is of a 1969 vintage, and like the equally awesome ‘Watts Breakaway’ (featured here three years back) it is a cooperative effort between Johnny, Shuggie and Delmar ‘Mighty Mouth ‘ Evans. ‘Country Girl’ is easily identifiable as part of the ‘Tramp continuum’, started by Mr. Lowell Fulsom, and carried on through Otis and Carla, Brian and Jools, the Mohawks and countless others.

The tune features vocals interplay between Johnny and Delmar (and booming guitar courtesy of Shuggie) in which they rhapsodize about the outstanding physical attributes of the titular woman (“great big ole healthy country girl”). As songs written in tribute to big butts, ‘Country Girl’ is the ne plus ultra (apologies to Sir Mix-A-Lot).

It’s easy to get lost inside a groove this heavy, but make sure to pay attention to the lyrics, especially the warning that ‘You can take foxes out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of foxes’.

Bing, bang, and of course, boom.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back to close out the week with something tasty.<<

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 23, 2013 10:37 am

Mr. Toussaint McCall

Listen/Download – Toussaint McCall – Shimmy

Greetings all.

The next couple of weeks will be jam packed with events here at Funky16Corners central, so I’ll be republishing some of my favorite tunes from the Funky16Corners Archives, mixed in with some new posts. I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back soon.

Larry

Originally posted 01/11/2006

>>Are you ready?

No you’re not… It’s Wednesday, the middle of the work week.

You sit there, your coffee getting cold and you wonder how a stylish, intelligent cat like yourself ended up but one thin cubicle wall away from the herd of glassy-eyed apple polishers that are clogging up your office like so many beached whales. Maybe you are ready. I ‘m only hesitant to drop today’s selection, because I know how you feel, and if I were sitting there, my nerves shredded like evidence at the Republican National Committee offices, I might prefer to be massaged gently back into sanity, as opposed to shaken violently like a can in a paint mixer.

If you want a gentle massage, tune it to Oprah. If you want to get with the program, and restore your late lamented self-respect and inner H-bomb, you need only click on the link above.

Because my friends, by doing so you will release into your MP3 player a slice of gritty, paint peeling, ass-shaking funky soul so brutal, so elemental, so….so…cool, that you will never be the same (unless you’ve already heard this song, in which case you already know what I’m talking about).

The cut I speak of is “Shimmy” by the mighty Toussaint McCall.

It was several years ago when I first heard ‘Shimmy’. It had been reissued on a couple of different compilations around the same time, but the one that sticks in my mind is the absolutely essential ‘Vital Organs’ comp. There, on one unassuming disc were packed some of the finest Hammond funk and soul 45s ever issued, all gathered together by the soul mavens soul maven, Matt “Mr. Finewine” Weingarden of WFMU.

Displaying outstanding taste, ‘Vital Organs’ included everything from ultra-rarities like “The Hatch” by the TMGs, semi-rarities like Louis Chachere’s “The Hen”, to “Shimmy” which is comparatively a very common record. How it got to be so common is an interesting story.

To the few people that know who Toussaint McCall is, he is remembered not as a purveyor of slamming organ instrumentals, but rather as a deeply soulful balladeer.

His biggest success (and only hit) was 1967’s ‘Nothing Takes the Place of You’ which was a Top 10 hit in the spring of 1967. A slow, heartbreaking plea that can stand proudly with the best Southern soul of the era, “Nothing Takes the Place of You” later appeared on the soundtrack to John Waters’ movie ‘Hairspray’ (in which McCall himself has a cameo role). Aside from its own merits as a great record, “Nothing Takes the Place of You” was also a kind of Trojan horse, as it carried “Shimmy” on its flip side.

One can only imagine the surprise when people that bought the 45 for the hit, flipped it over, and soon flipped their wigs. “Shimmy” is a brilliant piece of minimalist soul power. Featuring (as far as I can tell) only McCall’s Hammond organ and a drummer, it manages to deliver an entire soul revue’s worth of energy. Opening with pounding drums and an unrelenting organ chord, McCall soon begins to solo over the top.

The second run through the melody contains one of the great, surreal moments is all of Hammond-dom. In comedy, there’s a concept (which I’m sure has a name, but I don’t know it) where a gag is played out past its logical conclusion, and then even further, until it passes right through unfunny, all the way into hilarious. By pounding the gag into the ground, it takes on a new level of power*.

One minute and two seconds into “Shimmy”, Toussaint McCall dispenses with elaborate soloing, and holds down a single key on the organ for 19 seconds. Now 19 seconds doesn’t sound like a long time, but play the track and count it out to yourself. It’s INSANE. You can almost picture Toussaint in the studio, depressing the key on the organ for a few seconds, until he’s transported into a reverie that only 19 continuous seconds of the exact same note can satisfy.

Of course it’s entirely possible that he was merely bored/distracted and was using his other hand to eat a sandwich or dial the phone, but the power of the track makes that scenario seem unlikely. Either way, it starts out cool, rolls into the realm of the absurd, and passes right on through into genius. That one-note solo is the axis on which this powerful instrumental turns.

Played side by side with “Nothing Takes the Place of You”, it makes you wonder if McCall was in some way suppressing a dark side to his talent that he only released on the b-sides of his 45s. If you take a listen to all the 45s he recorded for Ronn, it becomes evident that the “Nothing Takes the Place of You” / “Shimmy” 45 was some kind of an aberration, presenting on its two sides the extreme light and dark, yin and yang of his sound.

He recorded other organ instrumentals, but while they were cool, none of them even remotely approach the sonic brutality of “Shimmy”. His vocal recordings, many with a rocking edge also show that “Nothing Takes the Place of You” was also unusual in his oeuvre. No matter how you frame it, it’s a great 45, and as a result of its popularity oughtn’t be too hard to find.

I remember once my pal Haim said that “Shimmy” was the kind of record that was so good it should be worth a lot more than it was, but was in essence damned by its “common-ness”. Don’t let its easy availability lull you into complacence. Go out and dig up your own copy now. You will not regret it.

*One such comedic example is on the episode of the Simpsons where the family is sent into witness protection, only to be pursued by Sideshow Bob. At one point Bob steps on a rake – in classic slapstick style – and gets whacked in the face. He proceeds to repeat his mistake at least a dozen times, until the shot pulls back and the viewer realizes that he’s completely surrounded by discarded rakes.<<

Keep the faith

Larry

PS This was posted so long ago that I couldn’t find the original file, so I dug out the 45 and re-recorded it
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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, March 31, 2013 12:50 pm

The Mighty Eldridge Holmes

Listen/Download Eldridge Holmes – A Love Problem

Greetings all

For the next week or so, while the F16C fam get in a well deserved bit of rest and relaxation, I’ll be republishing some of my favorite tunes from the Funky16Corners Archives. I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back soon.

Larry

Originally posted 2/11/2005

Eldridge Holmes is a name that most people outside of old-time New Orleans residents and record collectors will fail to recognize.

This is a shame because Holmes (in partnership with songwriter/producer/arranger Allen Toussaint) made some of the most memorable funk and soul sides to come out of the Crescent City in the 60’s.

For the full story on Eldridge Holmes click here…

‘A Love Problem’ was released in 1967 as the flip side to his cover of Lee Dorsey’s ‘Working In A Coal Mine’ (not one of Holmes’ best records and an otherwise unnecessary remake). It’s a slow ballad, highlighted throughout by Toussaint’s piano.

Holmes, best known for his storming funk sides like ‘Pop Popcorn Children’ and ‘The Book’ was a great soul shouter, but for a glimpse of the truly sublime, one needs to check out his ballad performances.

Opening with a horn section (featuring a decidedly uncharacteristic muted trumpet) and settling into a slow tempo ‘A Love Problem’ sees Holmes addressing his woman, who’s parents think they’re too young to be in love. Unfolding like some French Quarter Romeo and Juliet story (ending short of the twin suicides of the Bard), Holmes pleading vocal is one of the finest examples of Southern soul balladry from the era.

He manages to move from an almost conversational tone to moments when his voice soars over the rest of the song. As earthy and soulful as it is, the arrangement at times takes on a kind of “prettiness”, especially when Toussaint lays in piano accents alongside Holmes’ voice.

Together (along with the anonymous musicians and background singers) Holmes and Toussaint managed to create something of great beauty (something they did again the following year with Holmes spellbinding cover of Tim Hardin’s ‘If I Were A Carpenter’).

One of the things you hope for when listening to good (dare I say great) music, are those moments when all the elements (writers, performers, lyrics) that make up the little three and a half minute dramas blend into something transcendent.

One of those moments comes at the beginning of the second verse where Holmes sings (in a pas de deux with Toussaint’s bluesy piano):

‘Something tells me, your Mom and your Daddy they don’t like me. But what they fail to realize baby, is whatever will be will be.’

Holmes becomes the boy in the song. The listener gets the feeling that this isn’t just another poetic anthem to heartbreak but a brief window into someone else’s pained memories. The fact that Holmes himself wrote this song (his collaboration with Toussaint was fairly unusual in that he composed many of the songs they recorded together) suggests that pure autobiography is a possibility.

On the other hand, I like to think that a truly great singer is an actor of a sort – bringing the story in a song to life with their performance – and even though Holmes may be “method acting” in bringing to life his own memories in the composition and performance of ‘A Love Problem’, he does so in a way that is supremely evocative.

For a brief moment he makes the listener forget that they are witnessing an artistic conceit, and instead appear to be privy to a real confession, as if you were sitting next to Holmes on a New Orleans bar stool listening to his tale of woe.

Whether or not this record effects you as deeply as it does me, it deserves a listen (or four or five), if only to bring back to life this great, but largely forgotten performer.

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, March 28, 2013 10:30 pm

The Spellbinders

Listen/Download – Spellbinders – Help Me (Get Myself Back Together Again)

Greetings all.

For the next week or so, while the F16C fam get in a well deserved bit of rest and relaxation, I’ll be republishing some of my favorite tunes from the Funky16Corners Archives. I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back soon.

Don’t forget to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio!

Larry

Originally posted 04/14/2011

My acquisition of the Spellbinders ‘Help Me (Get Myself Back Together Again)’ is yet another one of those twisted tales that winds its way back to the big mountain of 45s that came into my life lo these many years ago.

I’ve gone on about it many times, so I’ll keep it short. My father-in-law, while out scouting for antiques happened upon a huge stash of 45s, called and asked if I wanted them (naturally I said yes) and then brought them down to our house.

When they got here I was stunned by the sheer quantity (several thousand), and my wife and I spent the better part of a summer going through them, pulling out the stuff I knew was good, culling the stuff I knew was bad, and trying to figure out the difference on everything else.

Thanks to the huge amount of records, this proved to be an inexact science, and in addition to several boxes of the good stuff, I ended up with a couple of hundred things that at least looked interesting (or too interesting to throw out) and I’ve been picking at those ever since.

Every once in a while, when I have a little time on my hands I head back into those boxes, and recently such a trip resulted in one of the great ‘how the hell did I miss this?’ moments.

I must have given the Spellbinders 45 a spin at some point (since I had it filed as ‘soul’) but I suspect that I only listened to the other side (‘Danny Boy’), since it did not make a significant impression on me, which, had I listened to today’s selection, would not have been the case (am I making any sense here?).

That said, when I did drop the needle on ‘Help Me (Get Myself back Together Again)’ I was immediately drawn in by the wonderful intro, with the bass, vibes and percussion, followed immediately by the drums bringing in the pounding four on the floor beat. The rest of the record is pure Northern Soul genius, combining a great song, stellar arrangement and production (by Van McCoy) and fantastic vocals by the group.

What little I’ve been able to find out about the Spellbinders is that they were only together for a few years, recording a handful of 45s and an LP for Columbia (and one 45 for Date), with ‘Help Me…’ being issued as a non-LP 45 in 1966.

The group also had New Jersey roots, which is always a cool thing (for me) to find out.

I’m just thankful now that this 45 didn’t languish for another few years, or get sucked back into the vinyl maelstrom forever.

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.