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By Larry, October 23, 2016 10:17 am

Joe Hicks

Listen/Download – Joe Hicks – Home Sweet Home Part 2 MP3

Listen/Download – Joe Hicks – I’m Coming Home Part 1 MP3

Greetings all.

The new week is here and I come to you today with an old favorite of mine, that has been marinating in the ‘to-be-blogged” on deck circle for a long time.

Naturally, there’s no good reason for that, other than every now and then I circle a record warily, waiting for just the right moment (Tenacious D referred to it as ‘inspirado’), when the need to whip it on you and the right time to tell the story intersected perfectly.

Or, I might just have waited too long and it got too far back in the queue.

Today’s selection is kind of a “combination of the two”, which was also the name of a song by Big Brother and the Holding Company, who were from San Francisco, which is where this record was made, so kismet being a force that I am (usually) unwilling to go against, I finally got my shit together and added ‘Home Sweet Home Pt2’ by Joe Hicks to the line up.

It has been so long, in fact, since I first picked up the 45 that I have no solid recollection as to where I heard it first.

The time that it’s been recorded and in my crates suggests to me that I either heard it or heard about it from someone at the Asbury Park 45 Sessions, but I can’t say for sure.

When I mentioned kismet above, there really was something in the Jungian, collective unconscious/web of life that was nudging me toward this point.

Last summer, whilst the fam and I were grabbing a nosh in our local burrito joint, staffed largely by alternative/tattoo/music types, where they always have interesting music on the PA, I was about to shovel some spicy chicken mole into my maw when my ears perked up.

Though I was almost certain that I was listening to Jimi Hendrix/Band of Gypsys, I was also pretty sure that they were playing a medley of Sly Stone-related tunes, including the famous riff from ‘Sing a Simple Song’ and, very strangely, a piece of Joe Hicks ‘Home Sweet Home’, a tune written and produced by Sly, but light years more obscure than ‘Sing..”

Naturally, as soon as I got home I kept on Googlin’ (as opposed to chooglin’, vis a vis San Francisco) and what do I discover but A) That WAS the Band of Gypsys, with Buddy Miles on vocals and B) That WAS ‘Home Sweet Home’.

As is turns out, Jimi and band were paying tribute to Sly by working two of his tunes into a medley of sorts with ‘We Gotta Live Together’, credited the whole shebang to Buddy Miles (in a way that would never pass muster today) and that was that.

Joe Hicks was a San Fran Bay Area homeboy of Sly’s who had done some earlier recording with Pat Vegas (of …and Lolly/Redbone fame) and then a few singles with Sly, including a massive version of ‘Life and Death in G and A’, and then went on to record an LP in 1973 for the Enterprise subsidiary of Stax.

Hicks was also a songwriter, working with Bobby Womack and Delaney Bramlett, and having his tunes recorded by Delaney & Bonnie and Aretha Franklin.

Oddly enough, though listed as ‘Home Sweet Home Pt2’ on the label, the song is actually a continuation of ‘I’m Goin’ Home Pt1’ aka the other side of the record (‘Home Sweet Home’ actually starts at the end of the other side).

‘Home Sweet Home’ is the funkier side of the record, and as soon as the horns drop in there is no disputing that this is a Sly Stone joint.

The tune has the kind of funky punch of ‘Thank You Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin’ by the Family Stone, and Hicks has a powerful, raspy voice that matches the funk power of the instrumental backing.

There’s not much out there about Hicks. The Enterprise album seems to be the last time he recorded (there’s another side listed in Discogs but I think it was attributed in error) and in a later interview Sly mentions that he (Hicks) had eventually gotten strung out on, and killed by drugs.

As it is, he remains one of the more interesting Sly-related artists, with a short but solid discography that hints at the possibility of bigger things that were never delivered.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back 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.

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By Larry, October 20, 2016 11:27 am

Larry Bell

Listen/Download – Larry Bell and the Soul Pack – Experienced MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which comes to you each and every Friday with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the Stitcher and TuneIn apps, check it out on Mixcloud or grab an MP3 right here in Radio Show Archive at Funky16Corners.com

The 45 I bring you today is by Larry Bell, one of those artists that only recorded a few records in his career (in Larry Bell’s case, three singles between 1969 and 1978).

Bell, who appears to have been part of the Omaha, Nebraska music community (a surprisingly large and interesting hub including artists like Preston Love, Donald Harris of the Rhythm Machine, and Buddy Miles.

The record I bring you today was Bell’s first, recorded (as it seems all of his 45s were) in Los Angeles in 1969.

The A-side is a very cool, but oddly anachronistic version of Ray Charles’ ‘Mess Around’, but the flip, and the tune I bring you today is a very tasty, deep soul ballad called ‘Experienced’.

Opening with some very nice guitar (by Bell), ‘Experienced’ sounds like it could have come out of any of the great southern soul studios in Memphis, Atlanta, Muscle Shoals, Mississippi or Texas.

The backing (especially the horn chart) is very nice, and Bell’s vocal is excellent.

Perhaps, had the A-side had a more timely, radio friendly sound, ‘Experienced’ might be better remembered today.

Bell was inducted into the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame, and passed away in 2004.

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

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.

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By Larry, October 18, 2016 11:12 am

Charles Edward Anderson Berry of St Louis, Missouri…

Listen/Download – Chuck Berry – Back Too Memphis MP3

Greetings all.

I come to you today with a previously unscheduled communique on the occasion of the 90th (holy shit…) birthday of the mighty Chuck Berry.

It is tempting to say – considering what the initial response would be from most people who actually remember who Chuck Berry is – that Mr B has managed to outlive his greatness.

There is little disputing the fact that Chuck Berry hasn’t made a significant recording for more than 40 years. His last chart hit was in 1972, and ironically (considering what many people remember him for today) it was ‘My Ding-a-ling’ (it hurts to type that).

Chuck’s ding-a-ling having been the source of much of his troubles….

That said, it would be downright tragic if those of us that knew better, weren’t continuously engaged in reminding people how monumental and long-lasting Chuck Berry’s musical/cultural footprint was prior to 1972, and raising hell about how that mark has been minimized by an ugly combination of race, cultural appropriation, the simple passage of time (and the death of the American attention span) and decades of gross misunderstandings of rock’n’roll.

Chuck Berry was a goddamn genius.

His numerous peccadilloes aside (and frankly, aside from the demonstrably pervy stuff – and if that’s a sticking point Rock and Roll Penitentiary is going to be a very crowded place…Jimmy Page…COUGH) it would be very difficult for anyone without tin ears to make even a cursory survey of his oeuvre and not come out on the other side hail hail-ing Chuck Berry.

From the intial shot across the bow, ‘Maybelline’ in 1955, Chuck stomped into, and right through America’s consciousness (at least the consciousness of the emerging youth culture and Black America – he rode the R&B charts as aggressively as the Pop charts) laying a granite-strong musical foundation, without which little else of rock consequence would have been built in the rest of the 50s and all through the 60s.

Of course, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, and in a more elemental way (maybe they were in the quarry cutting out the granite in the first place) giants like John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed, were right there beside him, but Chuck is – at least in my opinion – the most important of all in a purely musical sense.

Though it seems like a painfully obvious thing to say now, Berry was black. He was physically black, which in the 1950s and early 1960s was clearly a huge pain in the ass for the person wearing the skin, especially if he managed to intrude upon the artificial quietude of White America, and it got old Chuck into all kinds of extra trouble he probably would have been spared had he been, say, as white as an Elvis or Jerry Lee, two other rockers with a taste for teenage girls.

The glaring hole in his chart history indicates the period (1960-1963) when Chuck Berry went to prison for violating the Mann Act. The story of how he ended up in prison is a complicated one, and undoubtedly the kind of thing that people before him and after him (mostly, but not exclusively white) walked away from. That Berry didn’t walk, but sat on ice for what should have been three of the most productive years at the peak of his career, and climbed right back onto the charts in 1964 with some of the best stuff he ever did is a testament to his greatness (and also to what might have been).

All of the great early figures of rock were synthesizers, of blues, gospel, jump blues/R&B, and most of them were explosive stylists in both sound and presentation, but Chuck Berry’s stew – even though it appeared seamless to the naked ear – was a much weirder, finer thing altogether.

Berry’s music blended R&B (as well as pure blues, and even jazz) with a huge dose of country (if he was a car he’d be running down rockabilly singers right and left) and it was all assembled with a songwriting talent as big as just about anyone who people take seriously as a songwriter, including everyone from Tin Pan Alley, Broadway or anywhere else.

He was an absolutely brilliant lyricist in a time when anything that appealed to teenagers was immediately dismissed by critics, and was a powerful enough performer, and record-maker (sometimes mutually exclusive pastimes) to drill those lyrics, many of them purely poetic, deep into the brains of a generation of Americans in a way that made them seem like they’d always been there, like the green grass and the blue sky.

It isn’t often that a popular musical figure has an impact like that, but Chuck Berry did.

Bo Diddley and Little Richard were elemental, as was Chuck Berry, but his contributions were further reaching, making their way into the DNA of culture and stringing themselves up on the double helix like a set of Christmas lights.

He was a 30 year old man preaching (and converting) legions of teenagers by speaking to them in their own language and making them dance, which as far as pearl-clutching Middle America was concerned was pure corruption. Cultural miscegenation.

And they were right.

Too bad.

So sad.

Sometimes things have to die for a reason and McCarthyite American needed stake driven through its ugly heart, and Chuck was – along with a bunch of others- right there, hammering away.

If you don’t already, see if you can get your hands on the compilation ‘Chuck Berry – The Anthology’, released in 2000 by Chess/MCA.

Though old Chuck has been anthologized, rehashed and repackaged dozens of times over the years, this 2-CD set (which you can still get in iTunes) is as fine a distillation of his catalog as you’re likely to find.

Clocking in at just over two hours (even if you omit the 4:18 of ‘My Ding-A-Ling’) it manages to present a solid picture of why I said everything I just said about Berry, as well as why he was an idol at his peak, why the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Pretty Things (among many others) worshiped at his altar, and why you should ignore every stupid thing Chuck Berry has done in his life (or has had done to him) and listen to his music.

Because the music is what’s important here, and it is VERY IMPORTANT.

And for those of you who think all Chuck Berry songs sound the same, you are wrong, because Chuck Berry’s songs don’t sound the same any more than Mozart does, and the only way you’re going to figure it out is to stop treating it all like wallpaper and use your ears like a vault instead of a kitchen junk drawer.

It’s all there.

So go get it – or head to a decent record store, or to Amazon, or anywhere they stock fine Chuck Berry music – and set aside two hours to listen to it. And when you’re done (unless you’re already hip and have been shaking your head in assent the whole time you were reading this) see if you don’t think differently about him.

I think you will.

The song I bring you today isn’t on that comp, because it comes from the chart desert that stretched from the end of 1964 to the arrival of ‘My Ding-A-Ling’ in 1972.

That period, when Chuck was recording for Mercury and Chess alternates between treading water and making some of the most interesting and neglected music of his career.

It would be a lie to say that these years were as significant as 1955-1964, but to hear Chuck whipping a little soul into the mix, and keeping his eyes on the prize, hands on the wheel before colliding with (and climbing onto) the Nostalgia Express is a thing of beauty.

Today’s selection, ‘Back To Memphis’ was recorded in Memphis (on the album, titled, unsurprisingly, ‘Chuck Berry In Memphis) with the American Studios band, and produced by Roy Dea and Boo Frazier.

‘Back To Memphis’ has something unusual in Chuck Berry records, that being a big, fat bottom, with the bass and drums pushing the record along like a kick in the ass, with the horn section and Chuck’s guitar at the wheel. It is a dance floor killer, and a reminder that Berry was a force to be reckoned with.

Unfortunately, nobody was listening here in the US, though ‘Back To Memphis’ was a Top 40 hit on the pirate station Radio London, in the UK (1966’s ‘Club Nitty Gritty’ had also been a hit on the pirates, charting on Radio London, and Radio City, both).

So go home tonight and play some Chuck Berry. Open the windows, turn the speakers toward the street and crank it up until your neighbors start dancing, or hammering on your front door, in which case turn it up more.

Happy Birthday Chuck.

Keep the faith

Larry

*Thank you, Jim Bartlett

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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.

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By Larry, October 16, 2016 12:06 pm

Buddy McKnight

Listen/Download – Buddy McKnight – Everytime Pt1 MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well.

For today’s tune, please turn to page 245 in your hymnal to “Always Make Sure To Turn Over Your 45s’.

I originally picked up the 45 you see before you today after hearing it’s flipside, ‘Everytime Pt2’ on the essential ‘Vital Organs’ comp back in the day.

I think I probably had it for a year or two before I bothered to flip it over, and when I did I was stunned (and then very pleased) to discover a very groovy vocal!

As far as I can tell Buddy McKnight recorded a few 45s for the Florida-based Pine Hills Recording label, including an early version of ‘Everytime’.

He did a new version of the record for the LA-based Renfro label (which has a long and interesting discography in the 60s and 70s) in 1968.

That version of the 45 includes the groovy organ instro on the one side, and the stellar vocal version of the song (that you see before you today) on the other.

The tune opens with an oddly shambolic guitar line, before McKnight, who has a cool, raspy voice, and the band drop in.

The bass is way up front, the horns slightly out of tune (in a charming way) and the rhythm guitar and snare drum are locked in sync with each other.

The tune is a popular dancer on the UK scene, but the Renfro issue of the 45 is still a 30-50 dollar record, which, considering its quality, is a bargain.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, October 13, 2016 10:11 am

Slim Harpo

Listen/Download – Slim Harpo – I’ve Got My Finger On Your Trigger MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is nigh, so I beseech you to keep your eyes and ears peeled for the weekly arrival of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. The podcast drops each and every Friday with the best in soul, funk, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn and Stitcher apps, check it out on Mixcloud, or grab yourselves a download right here at Funky16Corners.com

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Before we get started, take a moment to head on over to Mixcloud (by clicking on the graphic above) and vote for the Funky16Corners Radio Show as best funk/soul radio show!

When prompted for an example of the show, just click on this link and select the address of the page as an example.

Thanks very much, and now, on with the post….
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We close out the week here with something funky by the mighty Slim Harpo.

Slim, aka James Moore has been a huge favorite of mine since wayyyyy back in the day when my man Johnny Bluesman passed me a tape of Slim’s best stuff which good and flipped my wig.

Slim was one of those guys who is associated with the blues, but is something a little different, mixing sounds and styles in his own way, with a unique singing style.

He is best known for his earlier classics, like ‘Shake Your Hips’, ‘I’m a King Bee’, and ‘Baby Scratch My Back’, all of which became standards of the rock era.

By 1968 Slim was stretching out a little and working a little funk into the mix.

The funkiest of these tracks is ‘I’ve Got My Finger On Your Trigger’ (spelled ‘TRIGER’ on the label).

Written by Ben Keith, Billy Cox (of Hendrix’s ‘Band of Gypsys’) and Bob Wilson (all Nashville-associated music cats), ‘I’ve Got My Finger…’ combines a wah wah guitar, some very funky bass (Cox??) and a tight horn section.

Though it didn’t chart anywhere (though Slim was still having hits in 1968) is is one of his finest, and ought to be better known.

If you don’t have any Slim Harpo in your record box, go out and grab some. There’s plenty available in reissue, and it’s all good (really).

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

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.

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By Larry, October 11, 2016 10:25 am

The Vibrations

Listen/Download – The Vibrations – Soul A-Go-Go MP3

Greetings all.

Before we get started, take a moment to head on over to Mixcloud (by clicking on the graphic below) and vote for the Funky16Corners Radio Show as best funk/soul radio show!

When prompted for an example of the show, just click on this link and select the address of the page  as an example.

Thanks very much, and now, on with the post….

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Heart not started right?

Coffee not doing the trick?

Down in the dumps?

Well, my friends, prepare to get your wagon fixed, because the 45 I am about to lay on you is one of the pumpingest, slammingest, four on the (dance) floor moving, soul grooving, blood pressure elevating burners ever committed to wax.

The Vibrations are one o the truly great groups of the classic soul era, and have appeared here before (and will again).

Though they never had a lot of crossover success in the pop market, they did manage to make the R&B Top 40 half a dozen times between 1961 and 1968, making great records in Los Angeles, Chicago, and later on in Philadelphia.

‘Soul a Go Go’ was released in 1966, arranged by the great Teacho Wiltshire and produced by a cat named Manny Kellem who seems to have spent most of his time recording mainstream/adult pop by people like Mike Douglas, and Jane Morgan with the occasional soul or rock artist in the mix.

The song was written by Del Shahr (aka Vibrations member Carl Fisher, who wrote a bunch of amazing soul tunes), Ricky Castel and Roscoe Johnson.

Opening with a powerful drum roll, and joined by a blazing horn section, bass, and guitar, ‘Soul a Go Go’ is one of those records guaranteed to get people out of their seats and on to the dance floor.

The propulsive energy of the song is just about relentless and it kind of boggle my mind that it wasn’t a hit on the R&B or Pop charts (though the other side of the 45, a version of the Beatles ‘And I Love Her’ was a hit in Chicago.

It’s nothing less than a killer, and ought to have a home in the playbox of any self-respecting DJ.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, October 9, 2016 9:04 am

“Doctah Jawwwn, known as the Night Trippah…”

Listen/Download – Dr John – Big Chief MP3

Greetings all.

If you checked in to the recent (10/6) edition of the Funky16Corners Radio Show, in which I went into one of my musical obsessions, that being the New Orleans/LA Connection – of which our hero Mr Rebennack was a HUGE part – you will have heard me refer to the good Doctor as close to a genuine national treasure as we have.

He is a towering sequoia in the world of modern music (generally) and one of the last links to the old school of New Orleans giants (specifically), and the piano tradition therein (very specifically).

He has been playing and recording since the 1950s, and has also inhabited the guise of the Night Tripper since the late 60s.

He has appeared in this space (and on the podcast) many times, as leader and sideman, and today’s selection sees him returning to his roots and giving props to another giant.

Another king of the New Orleans sound, Roy Byrd, aka Professor Longhair, aka Fess, is the man who among other things, went into the studio with Earl King in 1964 and laid down one of the greatest pieces of music ever to explode from the grooves of 45RPM record, ‘Big Chief’.

When Dr John whipped out ‘Dr John’s Gumbo’ in 1972, with a cast of NOLA runnin’ pardners, working it out on a grip of Crescent City classics, ‘Big Chief’ is one of the songs he chose to do.

Dr John’s version of the song takes the piano of the original and moves it over onto the organ, and while he slows the pace somewhat, that second line swing is still there in all its glory.

Featuring some groovy rhythm guitar by none other than Alvin Robinson, an arrangement by Harold Battiste (with Dr John) and production by Battiste and Jerry Wexler, this version of ‘Big Chief’ has a sort of early 70s, smoked out vibe to it, which is cool, and it presents a nice, relaxed counterpoint to the piano-led atomic bomb of the original.

That said, if’n you don’t got you no Dr John, go and git you some.

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.

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By Larry, October 6, 2016 11:00 am

The High Keys featuring Troy Keyes

Listen/Download – Troy Keyes – Love Explosions MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here and so is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops a brand new episode each and every Friday with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can subsribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via Stitcher and the TuneIn app, check it out on Mixcloud or grab a download out of the archive here at Funky16Corners.

This week’s show is a very special edition of the podcast, about the New Orleans/L.A. Connection, in which a bunch of NOLA expats, including Mac Rebennack, Jessie Hill, Harold Battiste, Alvin Robinson and King Floyd head out to California in the mid-60s and worked on a grip of amazing records. It’s almost two full hours of music and information, so make sure to check it out.

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We end the week with a very groovy bit of stylish, Northern Soul by Troy Keyes.

Keyes is an interesting performer in that he goes back to the doowop era with the Velours, moves on into the classic soul era as the lead vocalist in the High Keys/Keyes (‘Living a Lie’ is a stone classic) who recorded for Atco and Verve between 1963 and 1966, and then went on to record under his own name.

The High Keys managed to record with both the duo of Bob Crewe and Charlie Calello (famous for working with the Four Seasons) who produced the group’s 1963 hit version of ‘Que Sera Sera’ and then George Kerr (who would also produce Troy Keyes solo 45s).

Though it has East Coast fingerprints all over it (Kerr, Richard Tee) ‘Love Explosions’ has the sound of a Detroit joint (specifically something out of the Four Tops oeuvre).

Opening with a female backing chorus, and waves of harp over a pulsing rhythm section, Keyes joins in, sounding like a more tightly wound Levi Stubbs.

The song (written by Kerr and Gerald Harris) has enough push for the dance floor, and a great, anthemic chorus.

Though the record made it into the Top 20 in a bunch of Mid-Atlantic/Northeast markets, it didn’t break through nationally.

It did however catch on with the soulies in the UK, where it was issued in 1968 and the reissued a year later to satisfy demand.

Keyes went on to have a local New York hit with ‘If I Had My Way’ in 1971, and has performed in the UK at Northern Soul shows.

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

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.

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By Larry, October 4, 2016 10:04 am

Johnny Gibson

Listen/Download – Johnny Gibson Trio – Beachcomber MP3

Greetings all.

I have a very cool one today, that goes way, way back in my crates, yet took me years to kind of figure out.

I picked up ‘Beachcomber’ by the Johnny Gibson Trio years ago in one of periodic Hammond 45 sweeps. As soon as I got it, and slipped it under the needle I discovered that it had been mis-identified (as an organ instro) by the seller. I was bummed, but it wasn’t expensive enough to make an issue of it (and buyer beware and all that) so into storage it went, forgotten for years.

Flash forward a few after that and I find myself in possession of a 1967 45 by the Semi-Colons? (question mark part of the name, stick with me) performing a song of the same name.

I really dug it, and discovered in short order that the Semi-Colons? Were actually Question Mark and the Mysterians performing under an alias.

What was also cool was that the song ‘Beachcomber’ was originally written and recorded by none other than Bobby Darin in 1960.

It was only much later (after I had already written by the Semi-Colons? 45 over at Iron Leg) that I dug the Johnny Gibson Trio 45 out of a box and realized that it was a cover of the very same song.

I flipped it back onto the turntable, and it kind of blew my mind.

I have often described the experience of a kind of seasoning/maturing of the ear, in which experience allows you to understand/appreciate a piece of music much more deeply because of all that you have heard/learned between the first time you heard it and the present.

Johnny Gibson Trio in a Billboard listing, 1964

When I finally gave the Johnny Gibson version of ‘Beachcomber’ a listen I wasn’t sitting there with visions of Hammond organs wailing in my imagination. My ears were wide open, and as soon as I heard that slightly distorted electric piano, and the relaxed, yet still deep in the groove tempo, all was well with the world.

Then (yes, it gets better) when I started to dig into the history of the Johnny Gibson Trio, another chapter in the small but interesting story was revealed.

Pianist Johnny Gibson, his brother Dwight (on drums) and bassist Ron Haste (an integrated trio, the Gibsons were African American and Haste was white) were a Toledo, Ohio group that recorded ‘Beachcomber’ for the local Twirl label in 1964, which became a local hit and was picked up for national distribution by the Laurie label. The group went on to record a few more singles for the Big Top label before breaking up.

‘Beachcomber’ was a Top 20 hit in Ohio and Detroit, which is where the Mysterians (natives of Saginaw, MI) first heard it and added it to their repertoire.

The Johnny Gibson Trio version of ‘Beachcomber’ has built up a following over the years, eventually becoming a favorite on the dance floors in the UK.

Though the Trio broke up, Gibson continued to work as a musician, eventually relocating to Europe.

I hope you dig the track, 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, October 2, 2016 11:03 am

Tommy Ridgley

Listen/Download – Tommy Ridgley – In the Same Old Way MP3

Greetings all.

Long time followers of the Funky16Corners thing will be aware of my deep and abiding love for the music of the mighty Eddie Bo.

In the annals of New Orleans R&B/soul auteurs, Bo resides in the pantheon with giants like Allen Toussaint and Wardell Quezerge.

His career stretched from the 1950s up until his death in 2009, and he was a prolific songwriter, recording artist and producer.

It was in my pursuit of anything and everything Bo-related that I dug up this 45 more than a decade ago.

Though I only knew the name Tommy Ridgley in passing, the presence of an Eddie Bo writing credit made me put the 45 in my keeper pile and bring it home.

The extent of Bo’s career is often difficult to pin down because like many of his contemporaries, he was at the mercy of the whims of the independent record industry, label owners, wrangling over publishing and restrictive contracts (like Toussaint, Bo often wrote pseudonymously).

That said, Bo was a busy man, on his own records, and crafting the records of others as a composer, arranger, producer, musician or any combination of the above.

Tommy Ridgley was a similarly situated, journeyman recording artist (though mainly as a singer), having started his recording career in the early 50s as a vocalist with Dave Bartholemew and then under his own name for a variety of national (Atlantic, Herald) and local (Ric, Cinderella, Hep’Me, Sans, Blue Jay, White Cliffs among others) labels up into the late 80s.

‘In the Same Old Way’ was released in 1969 but has a somewhat earlier sound.

Opening with a solid, basic rhythm section and a wonderful horn arrangement, Ridgely comes in (with female backing singers deep in the mix) with a great vocal.

The record was produced by local New Orleans DJ Bob Robin, aka Robert Echols who produced a wide range of NOLA artists through the 60s, including Gerri Hall, Senator Jones, Robert Parker and Van Broussard, as well as working as a New Orleans distributor/A&R guy for Stax records. Robin also produced Ridgley’s 1966 International City 45 ‘My Love Gets Stronger’.

Ridgley had a smooth tenor, with just a hint of a New Orleans twang to it, and though his chart success was minimal, it’s easy to understand why people kept taking him into the studio.

Ridgley continued to record into the mid-1990s, and kept performing until his death in 1999.

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

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By Larry, September 29, 2016 11:36 am

Buddy Guy

Listen/Download – Buddy Guy – Buddy’s Groove MP3

Greetings all.

Since the end of the week is approaching, I will remind you once again that the Funky16Corners Radio Show drops each and every Friday with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You cans ubscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, check it out on Mixcloud, or grab yourself an MP3 right here in the Radio Show archive.

We close out the week with something very groovy, and very soulful (and even a little bit funky) from the mighty guitar slinger Buddy Guy.

If you have even a passing familiarity with modern blues you know the name Buddy Guy, on his own, or in partnership with harp burner Junior Wells.

Though Guy is often associated with Chicago, he came up in Louisiana, before moving to Chitown in 1957.

Guy is younger than the first wave of Chicago bluesmen (he was born in 1936 and laid down his first sides in the late 50s for Artistic.

He worked as a solo, with Junior Wells and as a sideman for a wide variety of people including Muddy Waters, Koko Taylor, and Big Mama Thornton.

He was also respected by, and a big influence on several generations of blues and rock guitarists, including Hendrix, Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

‘Buddy’s Groove’, which was originally included on the 1968 Chess LP ‘I Left My Blues in San Francisco’ sees Buddy stretching out a little bit, crossing over to the soul side of the street.

The tune, written and produced by Gene Barge has Buddy wailing on vocals and guitar, with backing from piano, saxophone, bass and drums. The drummer (not sure who) even gets to work it out with a nice long drumbreak!

What I find especially cool about this record is that while it appears to be a shot at hitting the pop charts (which, sadly it did not) it works 100%. At no point do I find myself rolling my eyes at any obvious sell-out moves. Buddy is on point the whole time and there’s nothing here that doesn’t sound completely organic.

There are other soulful tracks (though nothing quite this funky) on the album, right alongside plenty of straight blues, and there is plenty of evidence on his Vanguard and Chess sides that he was capable of that and much more (even jazz, check out his version of Bobby Timmons ‘Moanin’).

Buddy Guy was also an excellent singer, as evidenced by smoking, soulful R&B like ‘I Dig Your Wig’.

Guy is an artist that is considered a giant of the blues today, but I suspect that most people have little knowledge of his 1960s recording, which are essential. There is a great two-disc collection of his Chess studio recording that ought to be a part of everyone’s library.

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

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.

Comments (0)

By Larry, September 27, 2016 10:42 am

Ronnie Marks (today)

Listen/Download – Ronnie Marks – Some Lonely Heart MP3

Greetings all.

The tune I bring you today made its way into my playbox via the generosity and knowledge of a friend, which is always a groovy thing.

Many, many years ago my man Haim and I were out digging at a record show when he passed a Fania 45 to me, saying ‘You need this. Soul 45 on Fania.’ Naturally that sounded like a tasty proposition, so I tossed the 45 on my stack, paid up and took it home.

Good thing I did, since not only is it a very cool 45, but Ronnie Marks has a very cool story.

I have always been fascinated by non-Latinos that made their mark in the boogaloo era, especially guys like Harvey Averne and Larry Harlow.

Something that also grabbed me, was how many great Latin soul records are credited to the bandleader, while someone else is actually handling the vocals (very, very common in boogaloo).

Today’s selection is an intersection of those two threads.

Ronnie Marks worked as a singer with Latin bands for relatively brief, bit important and particularly productive time in the late 60s and early 70s. He worked with both Mongo and Monguito Santamaria, as well as Johnny Pacheco.

Marks was the singer on Monguito’s ‘Juicy’ and ‘Hey Sister’, as well as Mongo pere’s classic ‘We Got Latin Soul’.

‘Some Lonely Heart’, released in 1971 and produced by Jerry Masucci and Harvey Averne is prime, blaxplo-era funky soul. There is a little bit of Latin percussion helping to keep the beat, but this tune could have appeared on an LP by the Four Tops or the Temptations without a single alteration.

It contrasts the funky backing with a nice string arrangement and interlude, and Marks’ vocals are top shelf.

As far as I can tell ‘Some Lonely Heart’ didn’t chart anywhere, which is a damn shame.

Ronnie Marks is still around today, and working on a comeback. Dig this interview with Antonio Caez.

I hope you dig the tune, 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.