Category: East LA

El Chicano – Coming Home Baby

By , December 10, 2017 12:17 pm

Example

El Chicano

Example

Listen/Download – El Chicano – Coming Home Baby MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well.

I have been digging-econo of late, and so when I dipped into a Discogs store and found a grip of interesting looking one-dollar 45s, I thought I’d grab me some and see how it played out (if you will). Most of the things I picked up hardly amounted to ‘taking a chance’, seeing that they were either very cheap, or by reliably great artists (or both).

One of those purchases sits before you today, East LA giants El Chicano’s smoking version of Bob Dorough and Ben Tucker’s oft-recorded ‘Coming Home Baby’.

The group’s version of Gerald Wilson’s ‘Viva Tirado’ was a substantial hit in 1970, and though they continued to record/release music for the next decade, they never really had another big hit.

This is not to say that they weren’t making good music, as today’s selection will attest.

‘Coming Home Baby’ hit the charts a dozen different times between Mel Torme’s brilliant version in 1962 and 1971.

El Chicano’s version, a blazing, overmodulated Hammond feature only charted very briefly in a few California markets, but it is among the finest versions I have heard.

Cramming almost five and a half minutes onto one side of a 45, the El Chicano version has a hot, live sound with just enough Latin percussion in the mix to remind you who your listening to.

In addition to the general hotness of this 45, it should serve as a reminder that El Chicano’s stuff is uniformly excellent and as our friends in the UK are wont to say, ‘cheap as chips’, so go out and get you some.

See you next week.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

Example  

________________________________________________

If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

Example

_______________________________________________

Vicky Gomez – Boys Are a Dime a Dozen

By , November 5, 2017 10:58 am

Example

Vicky Gomez with Shivaree host Gene Weed

Example

Listen/Download – Vicky Gomez – Boys Are a Dime a Dozen MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s selection is one of those records that you’re going to be thanking me for years from now (just as I always thank the anonymous groover that turned me on to it way back when).

Unfortunatey there’s almost nothing out there about Vicky Gomez.

She appears to have been a Chicana from southern California who only ever made one 45 (the one you see before you today) in 1965.

‘Boys are a Dime a Dozen’ is a booming piece of Wall of Sound, dance floor soul that is every bit as amazing as it is obscure.

There are minute tendrils of information attached to it. The producers, Malkin-Hoffman worked in LA studios with the Wrecking Crew. One of the composers Raul Abeyta appears to have worked with Gary Usher through the 60s (including composing songs with Usher for the Super Stocks, Wayne Newton, the Neptunes, Bobby Sherman, as well as writing a couple of tracks on Usher’s ‘Astrology Album’). The other writer, Alonzo Willis penned a bunch of SoCal R&B, inclusing the Roach and Gator Tails & Monkey Ribs for Gene and Wendell, and tracks for the Crystals and Dick Dale. The best known person with a hand in the creation of the 45 is its arranger, the mighty Gene Page.

That said, it amazes me that ‘Boys Are a Dime a Dozen’ wasn’t a hit anywhere. The fact that Gomez appeared on the LA dance party show Shivaree in 1965 suggested to me that the song may have charted regionally, but I can’t even find a trace of that happening.

The record features crashing drums, multiple layers of percussion, horns and a throbbing bass guitar, all of which combine into the kind of sound that suggests Phil Spector as a touchstone.

If anyone out there knows anything else about Gomez, or the production, please let me know.

Until next week

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

Example  

________________________________________________

If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

Example

_______________________________________________

Cannibal and the Headhunters – Zulu King / Shotgun

By , March 5, 2017 11:42 am

Example

Cannibal and the Headhunters

Example

Listen/Download – Cannibal and the Headhunters – Zulu King MP3

Listen/Download – Cannibal and the Headhunters – Shotgun MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the dawning of a new week finds you all well.

Today’s selections are part of the continuum created by my ongoing obsession with the sounds of East LA/Chicano R&B, soul and funk.

Cannibal and the Headhunters are one of the best known of the East LA bands by virtue of their memorable name, and the fact that they had one of the signature hits of the scene, that being their 1965 version of Chris Kenner’s ‘Land of 1,000 Dances’, in which the famous ‘Na Na Na Na Na’ chant was added to the song forever more.

I picked up the group’s 1965 LP of the same title a while back, and posted their cover of James Brown’s ‘Out of Sight’ here in 2007.

A few years ago, I was out digging and happened upon another (previously unknown to me) Cannibal LP on the Date label. I recognized some of the same songs from the first LP, but there were a bunch of new tracks as well, so I took the plunge.

When I got the album home and started digitizing the contents, it was obvious that some of the tracks were the same, but a several of them were new.
It looks like after their success with the local Rampart label, Date (specifically Richard Gottehrer of the Strangeloves) decided to take a run at getting Cannibal and the boys a bigger piece of the market. They reassembled the ‘Land of 1,000 Dances’ album, omitting a couple of tunes and recording a few new ones.

The two tracks I bring you today include one track from the original iteration, and one from the new one (though they both appear on the Date LP).

The new track is a cool, midtempo R&B number called ‘Zulu King’. Written by East LA scene fixture Chick Carlton (a black Kansas City transplant who sang with the integrated group the Majestics, as well as writing material for a number of other groups), ‘Zulu King’ runs with a booming bass line, drums and well placed horns, with Cannibal and the Headunters laying some sweet harmonies on top of things.

A few years later, the group Free Movement (‘I’ve Found Someone Of My Own’) re-recorded the song as ‘Son of the Zulu King’.

The second track should be much more familiar, that being a stomping cover of Junior Walker and the All Stars ‘Shotgun’. It features some groovy rhythm guitar and combo organ, as well as excellent group harmonies.

As far as I can tell the Date-session tunes are not currently available in reissue. The iTunes version of the Rampart ‘Land of 1,000 Dances’ includes the original album and tacks on some Rampart 45-only tracks.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

Example  

____________________________________________________________________________

 

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.

Rulie Garcia and the East LA Congregation – Que Pasa (What’s Happening?)

By , July 28, 2016 11:53 am

Example

Rulie Garcia

Example

Listen/Download – Rulie Garcia and the East LA Congregation – Que Pasa (What’s Happening) MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is nigh, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops 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 TuneIn app, check it out on Mixcloud, or grab yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

If you follow Funky16Corners, Iron Leg or the podcasts associated with either blog, you have probabky heard me going on about my love for the East LA Chicano music scene of the 60s and 70s.

The most famous proponents of the sound, groups like Cannibal and the Headhunters, Thee Midniters, the Premiers, El Chicano and the Village Callers, are known for their mixing of Latino music, rock, R&B and soul and making some extremely cool records.

I have made chasing down and collecting these records a minor sideline (minor, since some of these 45s and LPs are extremely rare) and try to discover as much as I can about the musicians.

Today’s selection is a record by one of the busiest, yet more mysterious characters on the East LA scene, Rulie Garcia, aka Johnny Chingas, aka The Brown Brothers of Soul.

You can Google him all you like, but aside from the records his made, there’s not a lot of info out there about him.

It would appear that his real name was Raul Garcia, and that he was recording – at least as a sideman – as early as the late 1950s.

He recorded music under all of the names listed above (including the East LA Hammond classic ‘Cholo’ on Specialty in 1971) and was especially active in the 80s (he died in 1992, only 52 years old).

The record I bring you today is the last of three singles he recorded for United Artists in 1972 and 1973 as Rulie Garcia and the East LA Congregation.

‘Que Pasa (What’s Happening)’ is – like much of his other work – a celebration of low rider culture.

The song features a funky beat, fuzz guitar, lots of Latin percussion and Garcia’s raspy growl.

Though none of his records made the national charts, there is evidence that he had a significant following in Southern California, selling tons of records locally, some on his own Billionaire label.

That all said, if you head on over to Youtube and seek out the sounds associated with his various and sundry aliases, you will discover that he played all kinds of music.

I hope you dig the track, and keep your eyes (and ears) peeled for more East LA stuff in the future.

See you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

Example  

____________________________________________________________________________

 

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.

Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals – Out Of Sight / I Wanna Do the Jerk

By , May 29, 2016 11:52 am

Example

Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals (Charlie Lett, center)

Example

Listen/Download – Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals – Out of Sight MP3

Listen/Download – Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals – I Wanna Do the Jerk MP3

Greetings all.

Ever since digging into the history of ‘land of 1,000 Dances’ back in the day I have had an interest in the East LA/Chicano music scene of the 1960s.

Southern California was a hotbed of Chicano bands that specialized in a a very groovy mixture of R&B, rock and soul. Groups like Thee Midniters, Cannibal and the Headhunters, the Atlantics and the Blendells laid down some of the hottest 45s (and a couple of excellent LPs) of the day.

Among their ranks was a multi-racial powerhouse by the name of Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals.

Led by guitarist Ronnie Duran, the band included his brother Jimmy on sax, lead singer Charlie Lett, drummer Philip Duran (not a brother), organist Robert Arroyo, bassist Ryan O’Brien and baritone saxophonist Bob Foley, the Casuals met and formed in high school.

They were managed by Billy Cardenas (who also produced their LP) who also handled a lot of the bigger area bands.

They recorded their album for Bob Keane’s Donna records in 1965, with none other than Arthur Lee (pre-Love) assisting on songwriting and backing vocals.

The album is a great example of the kind of blend that the East LA bands were so good at, with mostly R&B/soul material played with an exuberant, rocking feel.

The tunes I bring you today are the group’s ‘I Wanna Do The Jerk’ (rumored to have been written by Arthur Lee), and their cover of James Brown’s ‘Out of Sight’.

‘I Wanna Do the Jerk’ is one of those records where you can just picture a gym full of sweaty kids getting down while the band works it out on stage.

Their take on ‘Out of Sight’ (also covered by Cannibal and the Headhunters) has the same ragged but right feel of the rest of the record (I have no doubt that these guys played their own instruments in the studio) and the vocal by Lett is excellent.

The liner notes on the LP were written by DJ Gene Weed, who was also the host of Shivaree, one of the coolest 60s ‘dance party’ shows, which featured a lot of interesting pop, soul and R&B acts.

In addition to their LP, the Pomona Casuals recorded a handful of 45s for Donna and Mustang, and continued playing into the 1970s.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

Example  

____________________________________________________________________________

 

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: Go Go Shoes

By , March 24, 2016 11:49 am

Example

Funky16Corners Presents Go Go Shoes – Mix for Night Train Radio Show
The La Salles – La La La La La (VIP)
Jimmie Preacher Ellis and the Odd Fellows – (C’Mon) Let’s Dance to the Drum Beat (Kris)
Tina Britt – The Real Thing (Eastern)
Johnny Jay and the Gangbusters – Gangbusters Blues (Josie)
Gene Waiters – Shake and Shingaling Pt2 (Fairmount)
Cannibal and the Headhunters – Shotgun (Date)
Dottie Cambridge – He’s About a Mover (MGM)
Gravities (Bobby Newton’s Band) – Do the Whip (Instrumental Version) (Mercury)
Lonnie Youngblood – Go Go Shoes (Fairmount)
Ronnie Rae and the Dynamics – Funky Shuffle (RJR)
Soul Continentals – Bowlegs (Sound Stage Seven)
Big Maybelle – 96 Tears (Rojac)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Presents: Go Go Shoes MP3

Greetings all.

A while back Steve and Paul of the Night Train radio show (92.3 Sheffield Live in the UK) asked if I’d put together a guest mix for their show.

That mix airs this Thursday, (3/24 11pm GST/ 7pm EST), and you can pick yourselves up a download right here at the blog.

The Night Train guys requested a tight half hour, and that’s what you get, with soul, R&B and Northern sides mixed together for your dancing (and listening) pleasure.

These are all (with a few exceptions) fairly new additions to the Funky16Corners crates, so aside from a play or two in the podcast, they haven’t appeared here before.

So tune into the Night Train, pull down the ones and zeros, and have yourselves a great weekend.

I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

Example  

____________________________________________________________________________

 

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.

One G Plus Three – Poquito Soul

By , February 14, 2016 12:57 pm

Example

Listen/Download – One G Plus Three – Poquito Soul MP3

Greetings all.

While browsing through the great, digital repository of records that I have converted from grooves into ones and zeros in furtherance of this here blog, I stumbled over this 45, which I picked up a long time ago and for some unknown reason – now lost to time – forgot to offer up to you.

The disc in question is a tasty slice of East LA Hammond action, courtesy of the group calling themselves One G Plus Three, or as is explained on the label, ‘Mas Chicano + One Gringo’).

Though both sides of this disc are very cool (the flip being a groovy reworking of Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’) I will stick with the A-side, ‘Poquito Soul’.

I do so, since ‘Poquito Soul’ was a minor hit in Southern California (and a few other markets) in 1970, but also because it’s popularity can probably be ascribed to its sailing in the wake of a much bigger hit by another band of Chicanos.

If you give ‘Poquito Soul’ a couple of listens, another languid groover might start to come to mind, that being El Chicano’s version of Gerald Wilson’s ‘Viva Tirado’, which was a substantial hit in the Spring of 1970, all over the country, but especially in SoCal.

Their hit spawned a bunch of covers, and it would seem a few imitators, of which I would venture to say, ‘Poquito Soul’ (which hit the charts in the late Summer of 1970) is one.

The group, Randy Thomas (the ‘Gringo’) on organ, Rudy Salas on guitar, Max Garduno on percussion and Manny Mosqueda on drums, recorded only this one 45, released first on Eddie Davis’s Gordo label, then picked up for national distribution by Paramount.

It is a very groovy side, indeed, and I hope you dig it.

I’ll be back on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

Example  

____________________________________________________________________________

 

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.

The Souljers – Chinese Checkers

By , April 19, 2015 10:39 am

Example

The Souljers (above), The Mixtures (below)

Example

Example

 

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well.

Today’s selection is a bit of mystery record.

Not that we don’t know who it is – that would be the Souljers (aka the Soul-Jers) – but that the story attached to the group is composed of little more than loose ends.

What we do know is this, the song ‘Chinese Checkers’ was originally recorded by none other than Booker T and the MGs in 1963 and appeared as the flipside to ‘Plum Nellie’.

The Souljers version of the song was released on the legendary East LA Rampart label in 1966.

As to who the Souljers/Soul-Jers were, I think the cats in the picture above are Delbert Franklin and Phil Tucker, who recorded the ‘Soul-Jers’ 45 ‘Gonna Be a Big Man’ and ‘Crazy Little Things’, which is a soul vocal.

If you do a little digging, it appears that the Souljers ‘Chinese Checkers’ is in fact a re-release of the Mixtures (another Rampart/East LA group) 1963 recording of the song from a few years earlier. In fact, both ‘Chinese Checkers’ and its b-side ‘Poochum’ appeared on two different Mixtures 45s on the Linda label!

Even weirder, is the fact that the label of the Souljers 45 indicates that both tracks were from an album called ‘Move Over Ramsey’, which never appears to have been issued.

How the Mixtures tracks ended up being reissued on Rampart as the Souljers is something of a mystery, though their Linda 45s are listed as Faro productions, and Faro and Rampart were both owned by impresario Eddie Davis, and Delbert Franklin appears to have been a member of both groups as the sax player.

That said, ‘Chinese Checkers’ is a groovy track, following the mellow electric piano groove of the original, and adding in some vocal interjections and handclaps, giving it that ‘live in the studio’ feel.

I hope you dig it, and if you have any info to add that will help unravel the mystery, please let me know.

See you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

Example  

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________

 

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).

 

Example Example

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Panorama Theme by Themocracy