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By Larry, October 27, 2013 10:57 am

Harvey Mandel

Listen/Download Harvey Mandel – Wade In the Water Pt1

Listen/Download Harvey Mandel – Wade In the Water Pt2

Greetings all

We’re going to start off the week with something a little special.

We return – after a little more than a year – to the old Funky16Corners/Iron Leg Twin Spin.

I’m not sure why I haven’t done one of these in a while, since my brain is always making connections like this (not sure if it was working like that before I started writing about music or if it’s something that developed concurrently).

The song featured today is one of my all-time favorites, ‘Wade In the Water’ (featured here a few months back by the John Bishop Trio). ‘Wade In the Water’ is a spiritual that goes back well over a century, and has been interpreted countless times in both gospel and secular settings.

It was about a year ago that I was tuned in to my man Kris Holmes’s radio show and he dropped the mind-bending track you see before you today.

Upon first listen, I thought I was hearing an unreleased Soulful Strings cut, or at least something that had the involvement of Richard Evans. I immediately popped open a messaging window and asked Kris who I was hearing.

The answer was, Harvey Mandel.

If you’ve spent a large part of your life reading about, and listening to music, Harvey Mandel is one of those names that pops up frequently (especially in the late 60s) enough to make itself known, but never prominently enough to explain why.

After a little digging, I discovered that Mandel was – for a hot minute at the end of the 60s – one of those free-range, guitar gunslingers who seemed to be everywhere.

He got his start in Chicago, playing with Charlie Musselwhite, before findig his way (like so many others) out to San Francisco. He recorded his first solo album, ‘Cristo Redentor’ (which included ‘Wade In the Water’) in 1968, splitting his time between Los Angeles and Nashville.

Mandel’s version of ‘Wade In the Water’ kicks the door down with a big, fat drumbreak (‘Fast’ Eddie Hoh on the kit, Armando Peraza on congas) before the piano* and bass join in (in unison), paving the way for the strings and the many voices of Harvey’s guitar.

When Mandel starts playing, he layers on the fuzz, before switching to a clearer, more ringing tone.

The string arrangement is by Nick DeCaro, who worked in a wide variety of pop settings (Randy Newman, Lorraine Ellison, Little Feat) as an arranger and producer through the 60s and 70s.

Mandel’s ‘Wade In the Water’ manages to tap into a certain soul jazz feel and still be deeply psychedelic. Presenting it as an instrumental (certainly not the first, Ramsey Lewis had a fairly significant hit with his version in 1966 (R&B #3, Pop #19, and a big Northern side) illustrates how powerful the melody is.

If it seems simple it is only a mark of the perfection of its structure, which in turn allows an improviser like Mandel to run circles around it without ever losing sight of its core.

‘Wade In the Water’ is one of those songs that sounds like something deeper/elemental. That it has been around as long (longer) as recorded music, and is the very definition of ‘spiritual’, in the broadest, Joseph Campbell sense of the word makes versions like this (and the one I have posted over at Iron Leg) cut so deep.

‘Wade In the Water’ (pulled from the 45, so you get it in two, juicy parts) is a heavy, heavy record, great for your head (in a hippie stylee) or just for your ears.

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

Keep the faith

Larry  

*Note – Thanks to Monk1950 for letting me know that the piano player was NOT the famed guitarist but a different person entirely. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 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, October 22, 2013 11:52 am

Hank Marr

Listen/Download Hank Marr – White House Party

Greetings all

What say we all get over the hump with a certified, Hammond organ swinger?

Hank Marr was one of the great, exalted past masters of the greasy R&B/soul jazz organ 45.

He recorded a grip of sides (45s and lps) for Federal in early to mid 60s for Federal and King, before landing at Detroit’s storied Wingate label for one and a half 45s in 1966.

I remember the first time I was exposed to this little stick of dynamite, courtesy of my old friend Haim.

It took me a while to score myself a copy of this banger, but it has held a place of honor in my record box ever since.

Released in 1966, ‘White House Party’ (and its most excellent flip, ‘The Out Crowd’) is without question one of the finest, swingingest, slabs of Mod soul ever committed to vinyl.

While I have never been able to track down any detailed session information, my assumption has always been – spurred on by the sounds in the grooves – that this was a Detroit session (there are no production credits on the 45).

‘White House Party’ is especially groovy for all of the vocal interjections on the record, which (for the younger folks out there) are references to the presidency of Texan Lyndon Johnson, thus the ‘meanwhile, back at the ranch’ and ‘champagne and barbecued ribs’ shout outs.

It is a dance floor killer of the first order, with an aggressive arrangement (dig the way the bass and the horns push the record along behind Marr’s Hammond).

Marr also split a 45 with Sonny Stitt (Marr’s Groove b/w Stitt’s Groove, which has the catalog number just before ‘White House Party’) but as far as I can tell never had the opportunity to expand (at the time) on the remarkable sounds on these 45s.

Marr continued to perform (as well as teach) and recorded through the 80s and 90s, passing away in 2004 at the age of 77.

‘White House Party’ is the rarest of Marr’s 45s (it’s also, at least in my opinion, his best) and seems to be trading hands for around a C-note these days.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, September 22, 2013 2:57 pm

Roy Ayers

Listen/Download Roy Ayers Ubiquity – Running Away

Greetings all

Things being what they are, with the air cooling and everyone finding their wayback into the post-summer groove, I thought I’d like to get the week started with something a little funky.

But before we get started, I have something very cool to share with you.

This past Saturday morning I was sitting on the sofa, still waking up and getting ready to post the link to the archive of Friday night’s Funky16Corners Radio Show (i.e. a routine Saturday…).

While I was on the Funky16Corners Facebook page, I noticed a message I hadn’t seen from a fan of the blog that contained the following text:

“I’m probably late to the party on this, but I just finished reading Telegraph Avenue and was psyched to see one of my favorite blogs listed in the acknowledgements!”

Well, this came as something of a shock, mainly because I had read Michael Chabon’s ‘Telegraph Avenue’ (excellent novel centered around a record store) and while I enjoyed it immensely, I never noticed the acknowledgements.

Fortunately for me, the book was sitting in a stack on the telephone table right next to me, so I excitedly pulled it from the pile and this is what I saw:

I had no idea.

If you haven’t read the book, you should really check it out (it’s in paperback now).

Not only is Chabon an excellent writer (The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union) but he really manages to capture what music lovers and vinyl fiends really love about record stores, all woven into a complex and satisfying story.

I’m glad I only found out about this after I read the book, because I probably would have approached it differently.

Anyway, that was my weekend, now, on to the music.

I think it’s probably a safe assumption that you al know who Roy Ayers is.

Whether you’re tuned in only to the later ish, like ‘Everybody Loves the Sunshine’ or you have a grasp on the deep, jazzier end of his catalog when he was vibing behind cats like Jack Wilson and Curtis Amy, you know that the man is nothing if not versatile.

I found my way into his discography from the bottom up, meaning the first time I ever heard him on the vibes was when I was lucky enough to find a copy of Jack Wilson’s early 60s ‘Ramblin’ LP, which quicklybecame one of my favorites.

From there, it was on to Ayers work as a sideman for Herbie Mann, as well as his own solo albums from that period, and then on into the heavily sampled 70s era.

It is from that latter period that I bring you today’s selction, ‘Running Away’.

Released in 1977 from his ‘Lifeline’ album, ‘Running Away’ is fast moving jazz-inflected funk that was catchy enough that it made it into the R&B Top 20 that year.

The bass line and percussion is especially sharp, and vocals by Edwin Birdsong keep things moving.

The tempo made the record perfect for disco dance floors, though you’d probably never think of it as disco.

The record was later sampled by Big Daddy Kane and A Tribe Called Quest.

It’s a groovy track, and I hope you dig it.

I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

PS Yes, I know it’s the “old” URL but I’m sure the whole package was put together more than a year and a half ago

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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, September 12, 2013 12:19 pm

Irene Reid

Listen/Download Irene Reid – Son of a Preacher Man

Greetings all

It’s almost Friday, so might I urge you once again to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grab yourself and MP3 at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is yet another great example of one of those singers that came from jazz roots, but was able (like Della Reese, Marlena Shaw, Amanda Ambrose and many more) to work successfully in a soul/funk style.

The singer of today’s selection is the late, great Irene Reid.

I first encountered Reid via her funky, late 60s recording of ‘Dirty Old Man’ and only became aware of her jazz background – albums for MGM and Verve – long after I started dropping that 45 in funk sets.

I picked up the album you see before you today (1971’s ‘The World Needs What I Need’) a few years back while digging in Philly, picking it up on the strength of Reid’s voice, but also because of the presence of a couple of interesting cover versions.

Reid’s big, brassy take on Dusty Springfield’s ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ is a great vehicle for Reid’s sharp, powerful voice and the arrangement manages to be fairly funky, with the strings used sparingly enough that the guitar, bass and drums lead prominently.

Reid continued to record her R&B-inflected jazz for a variety of labels into the early 2000s.

She passed away in 2008.

As always, Ihope you dig the sounds, 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 (4)

By Larry, September 1, 2013 10:53 am

John Bishop and his guitar, looking badass.

Listen/Download John Bishop Trio – Wade In the Water

Greetings all

I hope the new week finds you well.

The summer is finally at and end, at least the part of the summer marked by the invasion of the great horde, which tends to recede right around Labor Day, leaving the beaches to us locals for a few precious weeks.

The fam and I had the opportunity to vacate in the latter half of August, during which the wife and I had our own little getaway.

Naturally, that included a little bit of record digging (doesn’t it always) which resulted in a nice fat stack of new additions to my crates, here and over at Iron Leg.

I always enjoy stepping out of my own little vinyl ecosystem and into a new one, where the ebb and flow of wax is different, the stock is new (at least to me) and not quite as picked over as what I’m used to.

There aren’t too many opportunities of that nature where I live, so it’s a gas when I get my mitts on some stuff that I haven’t seen/heard before.

Keep your eyes peeled for the results of said excavations in these pages.

The tune I bring you today is one of those great intersections of a song I love and a particularly hot performance.

‘Wade In the Water’ is a spiritual that goes back well over a century, which is why the writing credits on this version – to Sam Cooke and JW Alexander – are odd, but that is neither here nor there, especially when you consider how often people were slapping their names on public domain compositions in order to pick up a little scratch.

It has long been one of my favorite songs and I’ve gotten into the habit of picking up records with versions of it (like I do with ’Soul Makossa’) wherever I find them.

I had been on the lookout for the record you see before you today – ‘Bishop’s Whirl’ by the John Bishop Trio – for years. While it’s not particularly scarce, it eluded me nonetheless so I was happy to score a copy at a nice price.

John Bishop (born Gregory Ceurvorst) was a Chicago-based guitarist who ended up touring with Ray Charles (thus the Tangerine label) in the late 60s. He also played with Donny Hathaway, Ramsey Lewis and the Staple Singers among others.

His version of ‘Wade In the Water’ – the full album edit is included here, there is a much shorter version on 45 – is smoking, with exceptional work by Bishop on guitar and organist Newell Burton, Jr. Bishop goes into a blazing solo around the three-minute mark that explodes around 4:15.

It is an exceptional bit of hard-charging soul jazz, generating enough heat for the dancers (the 45 has a minor following with the Northern Soul crowd).

I haven’t been able to nail down whether or not this was Bishop’s touring band, or a group put together for the date. Burton was a Sacramento-based organist, and the bassist on the record, Jerry Scheff is a renowned session player who started a long stint touring with Elvis Presley around the time that this album was recorded.

That said, the rest of the album – with the exception of the soulful ‘Way Out Back’ – is fairly straight ahead jazz.

Bishop settled in Chicago, where he played with his wife in the Georgia Frances Orchestra, until his passing in 2011 at the age of 65.

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 (0)

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 (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 (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

________________________________________________________________________________

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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Comments (5)

By Larry, May 14, 2013 11:30 am

Artee Duke Payne (left) and Curtis Prince (top) with Odell Brown and the Organizers

Listen/Download Duke Payne – The Bottom

Listen/Download Duke Payne – Reaction

Greetings all

Welcome to the midweek festivities.

I thought it might be a good time to dip into the pantry and bring out something on a groovy soul jazz tip.

It was a while back, whilst doing some of what the record hounds refer to as “e-digging” that I happened upon a 45 that piqued my interest.

The name Duke Payne rang a bell, and after racking my brain for a few minutes I recalled that I was used to hearing it with the name ‘Artee’ in front of it, as in Artee Duke Payne, saxophonist with Odell Brown and the Organizers.

I did a little bit of research, discovered that ‘M and M’ was in fact a Chicago-based imprint, and then (once the record fell through the mail slot) saw the name ‘C. Prince’ (as in Odell Brown’s drummer Curtis Prince) credited as the writer on today’s selection and the cipher was complete.

The record, which dates to sometime in the late 60s, is sought after for the slightly funky bagpipe feature ‘The Bottom’ on the A-side. That track features Payne working it out on the bagpipe – much less irritating than you might think – with vibes and some far out wah-wah guitar.

If you dig into the catalog of Odell Brown and the Organizers, it’s Duke Payne, sometimes treading the border between in and out that gave the group its edge.

Though the late 60s saw a lot of jazzers getting loose and trippy, the results were rarely this cool.

The flipside, ‘Reaction’ is a brilliant bit of soul jazz, with electric saxophone, vibes, organ (doesn’t sound like Odell Brown to me, but who knows?) and guitar, all cranking double time in a groovy modal bag.

The M&M label started out in the mid-50s, releasing all manner of R&B, blues and jazz and seems to have continued at least until the early 80s.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, April 25, 2013 11:16 am

Bob Theile, Steve Allen and Oliver Nelson

Listen/Download Steve Allen/Oliver Nelson – Son of Preacher Man

Greetings all

The end of the week is coming up fast, which means that the Funky16Corners Radio Show is too. You can tune in this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, or subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 at the blog.

Now,I hope that those of you old enough to remember who Steve Allen was are still here. Any familiarity with the late funnyman might have been enough to scare you away, but I assure that once you pull down the ones and zeros, you’ll be happy you stayed.

Steve Allen was a funny dude, in many ways the precursor to guys like David Letterman.

He was also an accomplished songwriter and musician.

Along with arranger Oliver Nelson (who can probably be credited with any musical power herein), Allen recorded three volumes of ‘Soulful Brass’ LPs for Bob Theile’s Flying Dutchman label, with the initial volume being the first LP released by the label.

I sought out ‘Soulful Brass Volume 2’ because I’d heard that it contained a groovy version of ‘California Soul’ (which it did) but was also very pleased to see that it also included covers of ‘Soulful Strut’ and today’s selection, ‘Son of a Preacher Man’.

Allen’s main contribution to the efforts here seem to be a combination of (mostly) name recognition and the occasional electric piano solo.

‘Son of a Preacher Man’ is an excellent, funky, brass-driven take on the Dusty Springfield hit, with hard-hitting drums by Jim Gordon, funky bass by Max Bennett and guitar by David Cohen.

The brass arrangements by Nelson are – of course – top notch.

The combined results make this the only Steve Allen record you ever need to buy.

I hope you dig it, and that you have a great weekend.

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, April 23, 2013 11:50 am

Gary McFarland

Listen/Download Gary McFarland – Fried Bananas (45 edit)

Greetings all

It has – by and large – been a chilly, gray Spring so far.

It has always been thus here in NJ, but you can’t blame me for hoping that the door into summer would swing wide, just this once.

It is in that spirit that I bring you a 45 that is the very essence of summery warmth.

Gary McFarland was one of the preeminent vibists and arrangers of the 1960s working extensively with others as well as building a fairly substantial catalog of his own work.

He was, with Gabor Szabo and Cal Tjader one of the founders of the short-lived (but excellent) Skye label, and died, not yet 40, when someone mysteriously poisoned his drink in a New York bar.

As a performer, McFarland had a style that seemed light on the surface, but always had a lot of complexity running underneath.

He also had some idiosyncratic tendencies as a performer, that were occasionally transcendently groovy, and sometimes annoying.

The track I bring you today falls on the groovy side of things.

Released on his 1966 ‘The In Sound’ LP, ‘Fried Bananas’ is a laid back, sexy Latin groove, featuring a nice guitar solo by Szabo, trombone by the great Bob Brookmeyer, and flute by Sadao Watanabe.

What it also features is McFarland’s wordless singing (a weakness on some of his other records).

The version heard here is the slightly truncated single edit, with the LP version running about 90 seconds longer.

If you get a chance to grab a copy of the original album, do so. It features a number of excellent tracks, but also one of the coolest pop-art covers of the era.

Cal Tjader covered ‘Fried Bananas’ on his 1968 ‘Solar Heat’ album, which featured arrangements by McFarland.

As far as I can tell none of McFarland’s Verve LPs are available in reissue, though much of the Skye catalog can be purchased on iTunes.

I hope you dig the tune (and warm up a bit) and I’ll see you 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.