Category: Library

Keith Mansfield and His Orchestra – Soul Confusion

By , May 16, 2017 1:02 pm

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Keith Mansfield (left) and Alan Hawkshaw

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Listen/Download – Keith Mansfield and His Orchestra – Soul Confusion MP3

Greetings all.

Before we get started, just a reminder about some important news.

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Starting this Wednesday, 5/17 from 10PM to 12, and every Wednesday going forward at that time I will be doing a new weekly show on the WFMU Give the Drummer Radio stream called Testify! This show (which had a couple of dry runs elsewhere, earlier on) will see yours truly in a more free-form bag, taking the worlds of Funky16Corners and Iron Leg and mashing them together, with soul, rock, funk, pop, garage, psyche, R&B, Now Sound, jazz and anything else I think sounds good. The show will originate live from the Funky16Corners Subterranean Blogcasting Nerve Center and Record Vault, and will be archived thereafter.

So if your ears are free Wednesday night, turn them toward WFMU.org, click on the Give The Drummer stream and dig what it is that I am putting down.
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The track I bring you today is an old favorite, the flipside of which (the amazing ‘Boogaloo’ appeared in the eareliest incarnation of the blog 12 years ago!).

I have no idea why I waited so long to serve up the flip, but here it is.

Keith Mansfield was one of the great library masters on the UK scene, recording a grip of stuff for the storied KPM label as well as a number of mainstream releases under his own name.

Today’s selection has kind of an odd history.

‘Soul Confusion’ is a 45-only track, and was only released in the for you see today here in the US on an Epic promo.

In the UK the (same) track was billed under the name ‘Sugar with the Keith Mansfield Orchestra (Sugar being the vocalist, Sugar Simone who does not appear on the track) under a different title altogether, ‘11AM Tuesday Morning Taxi’ on CBS/UK. I have no idea why.

The other side of the US 45, ‘Boogaloo’ had appeared the year before on the excellent ‘All You Need Is Keith Mansfield’ LP, alongside the very groovy, breakbeat version of Mansfield’s oft covered ‘Soul Thing’.

‘Soul Confusion’, featuring (naturally) Hammond master Alan Hakshaw, is a funky, brassy groover with great rhythm guitar trading lines with the organ and hard hitting drums. There is a small drum break as well.

The 45 has gone up in price considerably since I found my copy (in the field, and on the cheap, luckily). Decent copies pull in between 75 and 100 dollars.

You can still get the LP (but no ‘Soul Confusion’, though the RPM/Retrodisc reissue from 2008 includes the track) at a much more reasonable price.

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

And, while you’re at it, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

F16C 2016 Allnighter/Pledge Drive – Chris Lujan – The Adrian Younge Instrumentals

By , June 14, 2016 11:54 am

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Chris Lujan / Dirty Dirty Podcast: Adrian Younge (the instrumentals)
K-NOW Intro
Life Of A Hustler
Una Chiamata Inattesa
King Of New York
Sittin’ By The Radio
1969 Organ
Sirens
Sandrine
Black Dynamite Theme
Hear My Love
Ghetto Superhero
Gloria (Zodiac Lovers)
Return Of The Savage
Rafelli Chase
Sangue Sull’Acciottolato
K-NOW Interlude
First Step On The Moon
Blackout
All You Got Is Your Word
Anna May
L’Aumento Dell’Abito Nero
Panic Struck
Shot Me In The Heart
K-NOW Outro

All tracks from vinyl.

Listen/Download – Chris Lujan/Dirty Dirty Podcast – Adrian Younge (the Instrumentals) 86MB Mixed MP3

 

Greetings all 

Welcome back to the Funky16Corners 2016, Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

Today I have the great pleasure of bringing you a very special mix from Chris Lujan, of the mighty M-Tet and the Dirty Dirty Podcast.

Chris has put together a very cool mix of Adrian Younge instrumentals.

A word from Chris:

“It is of my opinion that Adrian Younge will go down as one of the great American composers. Here we have my Dirty Dirty Podcast’s take on Adrian Younge (the instrumentals) for Larry Grogan’s Funky16Corners. Heavy on the deep soul/Italian horror/Ennio Morricone influence. 

As far as the public knows, Adrian Younge got his start doing the soundtrack to the independent, modern, blaxploitation, comedy-action film, Black Dynamite. He was also tasked with editing the film. 
After that, his band, the Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra, started playing out and doing some small tours. They have since been renamed Venice Dawn and have two albums out under that name. 
He has also worked with some elite hip-hop acts, releasing two albums with Wu-Tang’s Ghost-Face Killa and an album with the Bay Area group, Souls Of Mischief. Also, he has an album out with William Hart of The Delfonics. 
All of those albums (minus The Delfonics record) have also been issued in their instrumental forms. I’ve compiled what I believe to be the best of those and believe that they stand as instrumentals just as well, if not better, than their vocal alternates. 
Dig!”

Don’t forget to click the Paypal button and donate, and we’ll be back tomorrow with a brand new mix from Tarik Thornton!

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Your donations help to keep Funky16Corners up and running, with the blog, Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast and hundreds of hours of archived mixes.

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Everyone that donates will get the new 2016 Funky16Corners badge and bumpersticker, with which you can adorn the garment and flat surface of your choosing.

Also, everyone that donates will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of the new 45 by the M-Tet!

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So pull down the ones and zeros, dig deep and Keep the Faith!

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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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Funky16Corners Presents: Funky Music Is the Thing

By , March 6, 2016 11:33 am

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Funky16Corners Presents – Funky Music Is the Thing
Harvey Scales – Dancing Room Only (Casablanca)
Alvin Cash – Twine Time (XL)
Eddie Drennon and BBS Unlimited – Get Down Do the Latin Hustle (Friends and Co)
United Image – African Bump (Branding Iron)
Cookie Jarr and His Krums – Ain’t No Use Pt1 (Roulette)
Willie Henderson and the Soul Explosions – Is it Something You’ve Got (Brunswick)
Robert Parker – Get To Steppin’ (Island)
Seven Seas – Pat’s Jam (Glades)
Dave Richmond – Phase Out (KPM)
Frankie Gee – Date With the Rain (Claridge)
Hack Bartholomew – La La You (CTI)
Lyn Collins – Give It Up or Turnit A Loose (People)
Rimshots – Do What You Feel Pt2 (Stang)
Jr Walker and the All Stars – Gimme That Beat Pt2 (Soul)
The Brothers – Fire (RCA)
Dynamic Corvettes- Funky Music Is the Thing (Abet)
Maceo and the Kings Men – Thank You Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin Pt2 (House of the Fox)
Bobby Keys – Gimme the Key (Ring’O)
Jimmy Bo Horne – Dance Across the Floor (Sunshine Sound)
ST4 – Funky (Scepter)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Presents: Funky Music Is the Thing 113MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well, at least well enough to get out on the floor.

A while back, I took my son out for a long-promised digging session at one of the few decent local record stores. He grabbed himself a bunch of LPs, while I scoured the 45 bins, picking up mostly disco 45s.

Most of the stuff I found fell on the funky side of things, and while listening to them, I started to work up  the mix you see before you today, in which that kind of thing is mixed in with more of the same, some slightly later, danceable funk, as well as a couple of unusual things that sounded right to me.

The hour-long mix is (with three exceptions) culled exclusively from 45s, heavy on the drums (there are a couple of nice breaks in there) and all right, tight and outtasite for the dance floor.

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

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Clive Hicks – Look Hear

By , January 13, 2015 10:39 am

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Greetings all.

The middle of the week is upon us, so I thought I’d smooth us all over the hump with some tasty library/sample source sounds.

I don’t recall when I became aware of guitarist Clive Hicks’ ‘Look Hear’, but when I did it immediately lit up multiple pleasure centers in the brain.

The first thing – is that ‘Look Hear’ is the sample source for one ofmy favorite hip hop joints, ‘What’s Golden’ by Jurassic 5 from their 2002 LP ‘Power In Numbers’. There’s something special about hearing a sample well-flipped, that also manages to stand on its own.

‘Look Hear’ is such a sample.

I haven’t been able to track down much info on Clive Hicks, other than that he was a UK-based studio guitarist who recorded a number of sessions for the KPM and Bruton library music houses, as well as sessions for the likes of Elton John.

‘Look Hear’ was released in 1973 on KPM 1121/Fusion, alongside pieces by Brian Bennett and Alan Hawkshaw among others.

The tune seems to be aiming for Zep-like heaviness, but also manages to work in some of that band’s underlying funk as well.

The guitar takes the lead but this one is all about the organ and the drums.

It is a very groovy one indeed. I hope you dig it, 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).

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Bob’s Band – Score

By , July 6, 2014 12:23 pm

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Charles Fox (2nd from left) with co-writer Norman Gimbel,
Lily Tomlin, Roberta Flack and Isaac Hayes

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Listen/Download Bob’s Band – Score

Greetings all

Here’s a very groovy one for you to start the week.

Groovy, and somewhat sonically deceptive, if you have your ears attuned to the library.

If memory serves I grabbed this 45 while digging through the interwebs for Hammond sounds.

When I first heard a clip of the song, the first thing that went through my head was ‘UK Library’.

‘Score’ has all the hallmarks of late 60s/early 70’s UK library composers like Alan Hawkshaw and Alan Moorhouse, with it’s groovy, fast moving organ and drums action.

Once I got my hands on the 45, the first thing I noticed was that the song was composed by Charles Fox.

If you don’t know, Fox, who got his start arranging for Latin bandleaders in New York, was a major hitmaking composer of the 70s, writing/co-writing songs like Robert Flack’s ‘Killing Me Softly’, ‘I Got a Name’ by Jim Croce and the themes to tons of sitcoms and game shows.

Fox was also writing incidental music for the NFL and ABC’s Wide World of Sports, which is where ‘Score’ comes in.

Composed as the theme music for ‘Monday Night Football’* in 1972, ‘Score’ was produced by Bob Israel (the ‘Bob’ in ‘Bob’s Band’ no doubt…) the man in charge of the company Score Productions, which was an American ‘library’ music house.

Formed in 1963 to compose TV themes and background music, Score (where Fox had worked) created original music for new programs, game shows, TV movies and sitcoms, and is still active today.

The funky ‘Score’ was used as the theme to ‘Monday Night Football’ from 1972 to 1975.

It is very groovy indeed, and one of my favorite recent finds.

I hope you dig it too.

Keep the faith

Larry

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*Coincidentally, one of the best known pieces of Monday Night Football music  – Johnny Pearson’s ‘HeavyAction’ was from the KPM Library in the UK.

 

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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).

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Gulf Stream – Sophisticated Soul

By , November 19, 2013 12:44 pm

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Listen/Download Gulf Stream – Sophisticated Soul

Greetings all

The day of the hump is upon us, and I have something groovy lined up for you.

I’m a big fan of the UK library sound, especially where it intersects with the Hammond.

Today’s selection popped into my ears whilst I was casting my net on the interwebs.

I had never heard of Gulf Stream, nor the tune ‘Sophisticated Soul’ but I liked what heard, so I pulled the trigger.

As it turns out, Gulf Stream was (as far as I can tell) a one-off project for UK library maestro Alan Moorhouse.

Moorhouse was a trumpeter, composer and arranger who collaborated with no less a light than the mighty Keith Mansfield and put together his own stuff for the KPM music library.

The track I bring you today is the very groovy ‘Gulf Stream’, released on the Paramount label (at least here in the US) in 1969.

‘Sophisticated Soul’ is a reworking/rebuilding of the track ‘Boss Man’ that Moorhouse composed and arranged for KPM around the same time (you can find it on iTunes on ‘The Big Beat Volume Two’).

The track opens with an acoustic guitar riff, before the drums and organ (wish I knew who that was) come in. You get a very groovy organ solo starting around the :52 second mark, with the guitar joining in soon after.

The tune has the feel of a piece of soundtrack music, reminding me of a slightly more laid back version of the kind of stuff Barry Gray was writing for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson shows like ‘UFO’.

Paramount Records had – at that time – a strange catalog, packed with middle of the road singers past their sell-by date, easy listening stuff, a grip of pop and rock bands that were never heard from again, and the occasional gem.

As far as I can tell this is the only release under the Gulf Stream name.

Moorhouse continued to write and record for KPM, as well as releasing his own albums of mood music in the UK.

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

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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