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By Larry, March 6, 2014 11:38 am

Betty Davis

Listen/Download Betty Davis – If I’m In Luck I Might Get Picked Up

Greetings all

The end of the week is here, and so the time is near for your weekly dose of the Funky16Corners Radio Show, coming to you via the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can always keep up with the show by subscribing as a podcast in iTunes.

The tune I bring you today is something a little hard and funky from which to launch yourselves into the weekend.

I suspect that many more people have heard of Betty Davis than have actually heard her (excellent) music.

Davis, a singer, songwriter, model and muse to the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis (to whom she was married) recorded three very cool, well-regarded (if not big selling) albums between 1973 and 1975 for the Just Sunshine and Island labels (as well as a fourth album that would remain in the can until 2009).

Davis had spent the 60s moving between music (where she worked with Lou Courtney and the Chambers Brothers) and modeling, recording a couple of rare 45s in the process.

She recorded her first, self-titled LP in 1973 with a cast of San Francisco-area heavies, including several members of Sly and the Family Stone (drummer Greg Errico produced the album), Santana,  Merl Saunders the Pointer Sisters and Sylvester.

Today’s selection, the hard-hitting ‘If I’m In Luck I Just Might Get Picked Up’ was Davis’s first charting single (R&B #66 in the summer of 1973) and is typical of her hard-edged, sexually frank vibe.

What is especially groovy is that the song rocks as much as it funks (if you will) thanks not only to the instrumental end of things but also to Miss Betty’s vocals.

Davis was a genre-bender, which helped to make her music intriguing, but also made it hard for the listening public to get with the program. This is not to say that other artists mixing and matching rock and soul weren’t embraced – the 70s were after all the decade of P-Funk – but rather that there was something about Davis’s particular recipe that didn’t gel with a wider audience.

Too bad for them, since the records she made are rightly regarded as classics today.

All of her 1970s recordings have been reissued by Light In the Attic and can be picked up in hard copy or digitally.

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 (4)

By Larry, March 4, 2014 6:53 pm

Nolan Porter

Listen/Download NF Porter – Keep On Keeping On

Greetings all

If you – like moi – spends an inordinate amount of time listening to, thinking about, researching and digging for music, it is easy to become jaded, or at least top have your senses dulled to a certain degree.

As a result, it’s easy to miss some of the subtler wonders out there, which is why you have to engage in periodic reappraisal.

That said, the other side of the coin is that the truly remarkable records cut through that fog in remarkable ways.

I first heard NF Porter’s ‘Keep On Keeping On’ years ago when it was included on a comp of favorites from the storied Golden Torch soul club in the UK.

That collecting included a lot of amazing records, but none stood out more starkly than ‘Keep on Keeping On’.

It’sone of those records that I have often found myself spinning repeatedly, letting the vibe sink in a little more deeply with each play.

Recorded in 1971 by Nolan Porter (billed at different times as Nolan, NF Porter, and Frederick II), the record made it into the R&B Top 40 at the end of 1971, Porter’s second such hit that year.

Porter came up in Southern California, getting his start as a classical singer, before meeting producer Gabriel Mekler’s sister while in college.

Mekler signed him to his Lizard label, where he would record the ‘No Apologies’ LP in 1971*.

Porter was backed in the studio by various and sundry members of the Mothers of Invention and Little Feat (Lowell George, Jimmy Carl Black and Roy Estrada) as well as Johnny Guitar Watson.

‘Keep On Keeping On’ – co-written by Porter and Richie Flowers but originally only credited to the latter – is a record of unique power.

Though Porter’s delivery is purely soulful, there is an underlying foundation of rock and even psychedelia to the song (dig the backward guitar) that imbues it with a certain darkness.

The ominous, propulsive rhythm guitar and the tom-toms create a thick, often thunderous platform from which Porter launches his high tenor into the stratosphere.

Its strong beat has made is a perennial favorite with the Northern Soul crowd, as is his (much rarer/more expensive/excellent) 1972 ABC single ‘If I Could Only Be Sure’ (a US R&B Top 30 hit).

Porter recently ended a long, self-imposed retirement to return to the stage in the US and the UK, and recent video demonstrates that he is still in fine voice.

I hope you dig this amazing record, and I’ll see you all on Friday

Keep the faith

Larry

*Porter would also compose ‘Funky LA’ for labelmates Paul Humphrey and the Cool Aid Chemists

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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 (2)

By Larry, March 2, 2014 1:18 pm

Roger and the Gypsies – Pass the Hatchet Pt1 (Seven B)
Professor Longhair – Big Chief Pt2 (Watch)
Bobby Marchan – Shake Your Tambourine (Cameo/Parkway)
Diamond Joe – Gossip Gossip (Sansu)
Eddie Bo – Hook and Sling Pt1 (Scram)
Lee Dorsey – Four Corners Pt1 (Amy)
Dixie Cups – Two Way Poc A Way (ABC)
Earl King – Street Parade (Kansu)
Meters – Cardova (Josie)
David Batiste and the Gladiators – Funky Soul Pt2 (Instant)
Bobby Williams – Boogaloo Mardi Gras Pt2 (Capitol)
Curly Moore – Sophisticated Cissy (Instant)
Ernie K Doe – Here Come the Girls (Janus)
Larry Darnell – Son of a Son of a Slave (Instant)
Explosions – Hip Drop Pt1 (Gold Cup)
Rubaiyats – Omar Khayyam (Sansu)
Warren Lee – Funky Belly (Wand)
Willie Tee – Sweet Thing (Gatur)
Danny White – Natural Soul Brother (SSS Intl)
Lee Dorsey – Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further (Polydor)
Oliver Morgan – Roll Call (Seven B)
Eddie Bo – Can You Handle It (Bo Sound)

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents Boogaloo Mardi Gras! – 85MB Mixed Mp3/192K

Greetings all.

Hey everybody!

Guess who paid attention to the calendar and was prepared for Mardi Gras this year?

That’s right, ME!

As a result I dipped back into the archives and resurrected one of my fave mixes, ‘Funky16Corners: Boogaloo Mardi Gras!’

This one is packed from start to finish with a grip of Crescent city killers, including a number of second line favorites. There is a LOT of heat in this one, and if you are inclined to crack open a brew or two  and get your New Orleans-style party on, this should provide a more than adequate soundtrack.

I hope you dig it, 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 (3)

By Larry, February 27, 2014 1:06 pm

Joe Thomas and his lady friends…

Listen/Download Joe Thomas – Chitlins and Cuchifritos

Greetings all

The end of the week is here, so it’s time for our regularly scheduled announcement that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be return to the airwaves of the interwebs Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you cannot join me at airtime, you can keep up with the show by subscribing to it as a podcast in iTunes.

The record I bring you today is another one from way back when I first started getting my fingers dusty in the crates of the hinterlands.

Of course, back then I was digging without a portable, and depended on my as yet undeveloped Spidey-sense, as well as a grab bag of visual/verbal clues to lead me down the funky path.

Working with even that somewhat spare tool-kit, it was nigh impossible to pass up a record like Joe Thomas’s ‘Chitlins and Cuchifritos’.

First of all, that title, y’know?

Second, there’s that very groovy Today records label with the big peace sign on it.

How could I pass it up?

Good thing I didn’t, because when I got it home and slipped it under the needle I discovered that the record in question combined some of my favorite flavors.

Number one, it’s funky.

Number two, funky flute! You all know I dig some funky flute, and Joe Thomas (an artist with whom I would become much better acquainted over the years) was one of the best.

‘Chitlins and Cuchifritos’ is a delightful bit of atmospheric Latin-influenced funk, with all of the above listed ingredients wrapped inside a very funky bass line, as well as a chorus singing the title over and over again.

It is, like the Willie Bobo number we opened with this week, very nice for the ears and the feet (should you choose to dance) as well.

I’ve had this record in my crates for a long, long time and I still dig it the most.

I hope you do too, and I’ll see you all next week.

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 (2)

By Larry, February 25, 2014 2:21 pm

Listen/Download Chet Poison Ivey and his Fabulous Avengers – The Poo Poo Man

UPDATE: DC Soul authority Kevin Coombe informs me that Bee & Cee was a Washington, DC label, and evidence points to Chet Ivey having operated out of the DC area during the 60s

Greetings all

Welcome to the middle of another soulful week.

The track I bring you today is not just very groovy, but part of a larger, as yet unsolved (at least to me) puzzle.

I first encountered the dulcet tones of Chet Poison Ivey and his Fabulous Avengers back in the early days of my funk 45 safari when I picked up a copy of their 1968 Tangerine 45, ‘Shake a Poo Poo’.

Now, you can be forgiven if the title of the song gave you pause (as it certainly has to many others over the years), but my mind finds its way to the gutter easily, so much so that a record with the phrase ‘poo poo’ is a good thing.

That the record was – a good thing, that is – is the truth.

Now, scatological assumptions aside, I am inclined to believe that the ‘poo poo’ in question has something to do with a dance, or at least the movement of a shapely posterior in the execution thereof.

I choose to believe this because I can’t imagine a legitimate record label (Tangerine was after all Ray Charles’s operation) releasing a record about actual ‘poo poo’, but then again it was the late 60s and everyone was getting freaky and letting it all hang out, so anything is possible.

On the other hand, I have evidence in hand – that being the record you see before you – that Chet was in fact trying to create a dance craze.

There’s not much information out there about Chet Ivey, aside from the obvious discographical stuff, indicating that he started recording R&B in the late 50s, jumping from label to label (ATCO, Arock, ABC/Paramount, Bee & Cee, Tangerine, Fretone and Sylvia) over the course of the next decade and a half.

Though I haven’t been able to date his Bee & Cee sides definitively, there are clues in ‘The Poo Poo Man’ to suggest that it was a follow up/continuation of ‘Shake a Poo Poo’, which would place it at the end of the 60s.

There is some evidence (that being Maurice McKinnies and the Champions ‘Sock a Poo Poo ‘69’) that Chet and the Avengers were not alone.

That said, the records I have (and have heard) indicate that Ivey was a more than capable soul singer/songwriter (the flipside of this 45, ‘Soul Is My Game’ is very groovy indeed) and the band was tight.

Like many journeyman artists, he seemed to have followed the artistic flow of the day, from R&B, to soul and on through funk, departing from the world of vinyl sometime in the mid 70s.

There are also some clues (label info and a recorded tribute to Jerry ‘The Geator’ Blavat) that old Chet may have been a Philly-area cat.*

So, dig the sounds, fire this up on your coffee break, and, you know, shake your poo poo.

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.

Comments (0)

By Larry, February 20, 2014 1:09 pm

Wilbur Bascomb, with bass and pitchfork…

Listen/Download Wilbur Bascomb and the Zodiact – Just a Groove In G

Greetings all

The end of the week is upon us, so I must remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can always keep up by subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes.

Today’s selection is an old breakbeat favorite that I picked up a few years ago down in Washington, DC.

Wilbur Bascomb and the Zodiact’s ‘Just a Groove In G’ which was released on the Carnival label in 1970, opens with a big, fat drumbreak and moves on into a funky dancefloor jam. It’s the kind of 45 that was being created and cranked out frequently at the time, when the charts were thick with the sounds of James Brown, the Meters and Kool and the Gang.

Bascomb was a bass player who would go on to add his talents to recordings by folks like Jeff Beck, Jack McDuff, Rusty Bryant, Grace Jones and Idris Muhammad.

The tune itself is groovy indeed, with stellar playing from Bascomb, the drummer, organist and the horn section.

The only weak link is the lead guitarist, who sounds like they were either intoxicated, incompetent or just the tiniest bit tone deaf.

It’s not the tightest groove ever laid down, but sometimes a little joie de vivre (which this record has in surplus) makes up for a multitude of sins (including bad guitar playing).

Someone at Carnival must have dug the sounds, since ‘Just a Groove In G’ was issued twice, once on a Bascomb 45 (in 1970), and then again as the b-side of the Three Reasons sweet soul outing ‘Take Me Back’ (the 45 you see above, in 1971).

The song went on to be sampled by both DJ Shadow and the Roots.

I hope you dig it, 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 (1)

By Larry, February 13, 2014 12:09 pm

Miss Yvonne Fair

Listen/Download Yvonne Fair – Say Yeah Yeah

Greetings all

The end of the week is upon is, so it is once again time to run the flag up the pole and send out the soul signal to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be taking to the airwaves of the interwebs this (and every) Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you cannot be there at airtime you can always keep up with the show by subscribing to it as a podcast in iTunes.

I thought I’d end the week with a bang.

The 45 you see before you is one that I picked up many (many) years ago, out in the field for a pittance. If memory serves, I wasn’t even able to give it a listen at the time, having to wait until I got home.

When I did, I could scarcely believe my ears.

The record in question, ‘Say Yeah Yeah’ by Yvonne Fair was a funky, ever so slightly lo-fi banger, and if that was as far as things got, then I’d still be a happy boy.

But wait, there’s more…

When I started to dig around a little, I discovered, much to my surprise that ‘Say Yeah Yeah’ was not only a James Brown production, but it was recorded and released in 1963!?!

You read it right, Nineteen Hundred and Sixty Three, the very same year that the Godfather hit with ‘Prisoner of Love’.

Not even James Brown was this funky that early.

The safe assessment is that ‘Say Yeah Yeah’ was an outlier, a freak occurrence if you will.

Yvonne Fair’s vocal wasn’t in and of itself that odd, even though it was admirably heavy and raw.

Where things get crazy is the drums.

KA-BOOM.

Whoever was playing the drums was beating them like they stole his lunch money, and syncopating the bejeebus out of them as well.

Only the slightly old-timey organ, and the smoother, R&B horn section anchor it in 1963 at all.

Fair recorded with the James Brown organization (recording for King, Dade and Smash) until the mid-60s, after which she resurfaces at Motown in 1969.

She would record with Motown (working with Norman Whitfield for a time) through the 70s, having a string of R&B hits in 1974 and 1975.

She passed away in 1994, only 51 years of age.

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 (0)

By Larry, February 11, 2014 2:18 pm

Eddy G Giles

Listen/Download Eddy G Giles – Eddy’s Go Go Train

Greetings all

Hows about getting your heart started like a gallon of espresso?

I have no earthly idea where I first heard/heard of Eddy G Giles ‘Eddy’s Go Go Train’, but I am more than positive that when I did, my wig was good and flipped.

This, my friends is the good stuff.

Eddy Giles was a Louisiana cat who did most of his recording for the Shreveport, LA-based Murco concern between 1966 and 1969.

He recorded in the standard variety of styles (deep ballads, uptempo soul and proto-funk) from the classic era, and while there is a lot to like in his catalog (see Sir Shambling’s overview) there is nothing quite as explosive as ‘Go Go Train’.

Now, I have to start by saying that this song was recorded elsewhere (slightly differently, see Jackie Paine’s ‘Go Go Train’ on Jetstream and Little Royal’s ‘Soul Train’ on Trius), and it would seem to trace back to James Brown and the Famous Flames mighty take on ‘Night Train’.

I am not sure of the date order of the ‘Go Go Train’ variations, but I have seen references that place Jackie Paine’s version in 1965, and Eddy G Giles in 1967.

The Eddy G Giles take (backed by the Jive 5, clearly not THE Jive Five…) is a hot little stick of dynamite. You have to slap on the headphones (or crank up the volume) and listen to the guitar and (especially) bass winding in and out of each other’s path, along with the drums and organ, and of course Eddy wailing on top of the show.

It is one of those truly great 45s that manages to carry with it the obvious influence of the mighty JB without passing over into mimicry.

Very solid, indeed.

Following his time with Murco, Eddy went on to record a couple of sides for Silver Fox, Stax, Alarm and Custom, with the last one coming out in 1977. He returned to his gospel roots, working as a pastor and gospel DJ in Louisiana.

I hope you dig the sounds 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.

Comments (2)

By Larry, February 4, 2014 1:01 pm

Promo badge for Duke Williams and the Extremes

Listen/Download Duke Williams and the Extremes – Chinese Chicken

Greetings all

The tune I bring you today is one of those 45s that – in a manner of speaking – unfolds like the petals of the storied lotus.

I was familiar with Duke Williams and the Extremes’ ‘Chinese Chicken’ as a breakbeat/sample favorite from its inclusion on the ‘Ultimate Breaks and Beats’ series.

When I finally got my hands on the 45, I assumed (remember what Felix Unger said about assuming?) that they were part of the Southern Rock scene, due to their presence on Phil Walden’s Capricorn label, home to the Allman Brothers Band, Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie, Captain Beyond and others.

It was only when I started digging for information that I discovered that Duke Williams and the Extremes were not Macon, GA homeboys of Gregg and Duane, but rather originated in that funky burgh, Trenton, NJ!

Duke Williams (born Chris Holmes) had been a member of NJ garage faves the Galaxies IV (‘Let Me Hear You Say Yeah’, ‘Don’t Lose Your Mind’) back in the 60s, and had been working in and around Trenton and Philadelphia for years when he put together the Extremes.

The group recorded two albums for Capricorn, ‘A Monkey In a Silk Suit Is Still a Monkey’ (1973) and ‘Fantastic Fedora’ (1974).

‘Chinese Chicken’ appeared on the first LP as well as being issued as a (now sought after) 45.

The Extremes played a funk/rock hybrid, mixing their originals with a fair amount of soul cover material (‘Funky Broadway’, ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now’) with the group being joined in the studio by a who’s who of Philly sessions heads.

‘Chinese Chicken’ opens with a funky guitar before the band (with a wailing organ) drops in. The tune is funky enough, but turns a corner at 1:39 when that drum beat drops.

Do yourself a favor and slap on the headphones for this one and listen to the way that kick drums hits.

Very groovy, indeed.

Though the Extremes didn’t record after 1974, they continued to play into the early 80s, at one time including a young, pre-Bon Jovi Richie Sambora in their ranks.

I hope you dig it, 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, January 23, 2014 2:08 pm

Mister Rufus Is Back!

Listen/Download Rufus Thomas – (Do The) Push and Pull Pt1

Listen/Download Rufus Thomas – (Do The) Push and Pull Pt2

Greetings all

The week is coming to a close, so it’s time to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will take to the airwaves of the interwebs Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can keep up with the show by subscribing as a podcast in iTunes, or by grabbing an MP3 at the blog.

Since the weekend is approaching, and you may – like so many of us – wish to toss back a few cocktails and get your party on, how about something funky to help get you started?

Rufus Thomas was a very solid cat.

He was one of the cornerstones of the Stax organization, a successful Memphis DJ, as well as the being billed (justifiably) as the ‘World’s Oldest Teenager’.

He made some of the most energetic, hard hitting soul and funk sides of the 60s, and it always amazes me that he was well into middle age when he did so (54 when he laid down today’s selection!).

Though many of his best remembered tunes are your basic, dance craze numbers, Rufus never let that stop him from delivering an inspired performance and ‘(Do the) Push and Pull Pt1’ was no exception.

The groove, with the bass drum hitting like a punch in the nose, pushed along by the horns, bass guitar and a chugging clavinet, is funky indeed.

The record was an R&B Number One hit in 1970 (grazing the Pop Top 20), and I was shocked to discover that it was the only time Rufus ever topped the charts! Though he made it into the Top 5 five different times between his first hit in 1953 (‘Bear Cat’) and his last in 1976 (‘If There Were No Music’) ‘(Do the) Push and Pull Pt1’ was his only Number One.

It went on to be sampled by Eazy E and Jurassic Five among others.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all next week.

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, January 21, 2014 3:56 pm

Listen/Download Soul East – Funky Lady Pt1

Listen/Download Soul East – Funky Lady Pt2

Greetings all

The tune I bring you today is an almost complete mystery to me.

Before I scored a copy last year, I had heard of Soul East, and heard the tune ‘Funky Lady’ in a mix somewhere, but never really knew anything about the group.

Actually getting my hands on a copy of the record hasn’t done anything to improve that situation.

A quick look at the label shows that the band was barely credited (the speed of the disc and the catalog number are both in a bigger font).

It seems that the co-writer and producer, listed as ‘Bud Scott’ may in fact have been NY-based producer Buddy Scott who wrote and produced a number of records for Pat Lundy.

Whether or not Soul East were also working out of NY, or if they were anything more than a studio concoction, I cannot say.

What I can say with certainty is that ‘Funky Lady’ was released in 1969, and appears to be the only record released by the group.

The tune features chicken scratch lead guitar (cool leads on Part 1), some punchy horns and rolling piano underneath it all.

‘Funky Lady’ does not appear to have charted anywhere, but it is a very tasty, very funky side.

I hope you dig it, 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.

Comments (0)

By Larry, January 16, 2014 12:08 pm

Miss Tina Britt

Listen/Download Tina Britt – Who Was That

Greetings all

The end of the week is nigh, so I will once again inform you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you have a previous engagement, you can always keep up with the show by subscribing to it as a podcast in iTunes, or by grabbing and MP3 here at the blog.

The song I bring you today is the second and last hit that Tina Britt placed in the R&B charts.

Though she was fairly well-recorded – a half dozen 45s and an LP – there isn’t much information out there on Miss Tina.

I first found my way to her mighty voice via her powerful 1969 cover of Don Covay’s ‘Sookie Sookie’, a funky classic.

Britt, who first hit the charts with the Ashford/Simpson/Jo Armstead penned ‘The Real Thing’ in 1965 (also recorded by the Chiffons and Betty Everett), seems to have hailed from Florida. Her singing had a bluesy edge to it, displayed to fine effect on ‘Who Was That’.

An R&B Top 40 hit in November of 1968, is a funky blues, with some tasty guitar (perhaps composer James Peterson?) and a punchy drum/bass sound.

There’s an interview with Britt where she mentions that she really considered herself a blues singer, she didn’t like ‘The Real Thing’, and that Juggy Murray wasn’t forthcoming with the royalties for her hits.

Though I’m not sure when the interview was from, Britt mentions recording some new music, so be on the lookout for that.

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.

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.