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By Larry, January 14, 2014 1:27 pm

The Flamingos circa 1967

Listen/Download The Flamingos – Heavy Hips

Greetings all

Welcome to the middle of the week.

I have always been a big fan of groups that got their start in the doowop/R&B era, and managed to hang on through the classic soul era, and sometimes (as in the case of today’s artist) on into funk.

The Flamingos would be worth your time if all they had ever done was record the timeless and amazing 1959 recording of ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’, one of the greatest records ever made, in any genre, by anyone.

Led by brothers Jake and Zeke Carey, the Flamingos were on the charts fairly regularly between 1956 and 1960, then came back for more starting in 1966 with the soul classic ‘Boogaloo Party’.

The tune I bring you today is one of the last things they did before joining the oldies circuit.

‘Heavy Hips’ (written by Zeke Carey), released in 1975 is manages to be funny without getting (too) silly, taking a ribald tack.

Opening with the cry ‘Lawd! Sho must be Bonanza, because that sure is a whole lotta Ponderosa!’, the band (dig the bass, especially) kicks into a funky groove. The horn section is cool (the trombonist gets to fool around a little bit) and there’s a nice drum breakdown about halfway through.

The late-era Flamingos recorded a couple of LPs for the Ronze label, with ‘Heavy Hips’ also appearing on the ‘In Touch With You’ album, alongside (of course) ‘Bump Your Buns Off’.

Though most of the original members are gone (both Carey brothers having passed on in the 90s) there is still a version of the Flamingos performing, led by early member (and songwriter) Terry Johnson.

I hope you dig the cut, 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.

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By Larry, December 31, 2013 1:56 pm

Miss Della Reese

 Listen/Download – Della Reese – It Was a Very Good Year MP3

NOTE: I had something else ready to go for today, but this morning someone posted Frank Sinatra’s version of ‘It Was a Very Good Year’ to mark the New Year, and I thought “Why not post the astoundingly good version by Miss Della Reese in the same spirit here at Funky16Corners!”

So that’s what I’m doing.

It has actually been a pretty good year here at base camp.

My wife’s health has continued to improve, the kids are healthy and happy, and I’m not doing too poorly myself. 

It already looks like 2014 will bring some opportunities to DJ, and of course the Funky16Corners blog and radio show will continue apace.

I hope all of you have had a good year,and if not, that 2014 has nothing but good things in store for you and yours.

That said, I’ll see you all on Friday.

Happy New Year!

Larry

Originally posted 3/27/11 

>>Greetings all.

How’s by you?

All is as well as can be expected on my end of the interwebs.

The weekend was relatively uneventful, and despite anything the calendar says, Spring has yet to arrive in any real way.

I should mention that I have a couple of very groovy DJ gigs in the pipe, details to follow soon.

I’m not going to be able to make it to the Allentown 45 show this year, but I don’t really mind.

The vinyl gods have been good to me these last few months, bringing in all manner of cool stuff, including a couple of longtime white whales, as well as a bunch of low priced, but uniformly excellent groovers.

I’ve also been edging up to the second big push in the reorganization of the Funky16Corners Record Vault and Podcasting Nerve Center, which always yields cool stuff from deep in the crates that had been unjustly neglected.

I just dug out a groovy Northern 45 last week that I had either forgotten about – or more likely – had not listened to closely the first time I found it. I like when stuff like that happens.

The tune I bring you today is one of the aforementioned white whales, which I chased like Ahab for a long time before finally landing it late last year.

When you mention the name Della Reese to folks, the reaction you get depends on generational variables.

Folks my parent’s age remember her career as a pop/jazz vocalist that produced a couple of big hits in the late 50s.

Younger folks will remember her mainly as a TV actress, on shows like ‘Touched By an Angel’.

Sit down with a couple of hip DJs, and you very well may hear tell of a lesser known, but truly interesting part of her career, when despite a lack of commercial success she managed to make some very soulful, very danceable records.

Back in the early days of the blog (2005) I featured one of these sides, Ms. Reese’s excellent take on Gene McDaniels’ soul jazz epic ‘Compared to What’, recorded for AVCO in 1969.

The tune I bring you today hails from 1966, and like that session was made with jazz trumpeter Bobby Bryant (search the F16C Podcast Archive for some of his groovier tracks) and his band.

The tune ‘It Was a Very Good Year’, was written in 1961 by Ervin Drake. It was originally recorded by the Kingston Trio, but the song will forever be identified with Frank Sinatra, who recorded – and had a hit with the song – in 1966.

The Sinatra version is a doleful lament, sung by an old man looking back on his life.

Della Reese’s version is a radical reworking of the song, both lyrically (she embellishes the verses) and stylistically. Arranged by Bryant, the song is recast as a funky, hard charging cri de coeur, less wistful than the musical equivalent of a fist in the air. Reese sings the song like someone who despite a colorful past, is looking forward to bigger and better things.

Her vocal is powerful, often sounding as if she was testing the limits of the recording equipment.

The band is on fire, with a pumping Hammond and remarkable drums. The recording has a very hot sound, and the snare and kick drum are – next to Della – the loudest things on the record.

This is one of those records that would have languished in obscurity, had it not been revived by DJs on the jazz dance scene in the UK. It has become increasingly popular with funk and soul DJs, and was reissued by the Jazzman label (with a live version on the B-side).

As far as I can tell, this version is not in print on CD and the 45 can be quite expensive, so unless you need one to play out, slip the ones and zeros on your pod-like-thingy and dig.<<

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.

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By Larry, December 26, 2013 2:46 pm

Funky16Corners Radio v.62 – Hot Pants!! Under the Covers with James Brown

Playlist

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 24, 2013 11:45 am

Ho Ho Hyeaahhh!

Listen/Download – James Brown – Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto

NOTE: This year – as in years past – the run up to Christmas will be filled with re-postings of some of my (and your) fave soulful and funky holiday tunes.

This gives you all a chance to catch up on some soulful Christmas jams, and gives me time to rest my blogging muscles and enjoy the holiday.

This track is especially apropos since we lost the Godfather of Soul on Christmas day back in 2006.

I’ll be back on Friday with some more James Brown-related treats!

Enjoy!

Originally Posted 12/18/11

Greetings all.

The time has come, as it does once a year for yours truly to let loose with the Ho Ho Hos and the jingle bells and what not on account of the fact that Christmas is approaching rapidly.

As has been mentioned here before, this is a multi-religious household, with myself representing the (extremely) lapsed-Catholic and my wife repping the Jewish and the Little Corners an interfaith bouillabaisse, their eyes and hearts filled to bursting with the childhood wonder of the season.

Which is really what it’s all about, at least from my vantage point, where what I want is no more or less than their happiness, and my wife’s good health.

You know that I’ve mentioned here (every single Christmas since this blog has been extant) that I have never been a prodigious collector of holiday music. Whether this has to do with my acceptance (almost at the DNA level) of the cheesy/classic seasonal sounds of my childhood, to the point where I can sit back and take some comfort in the sound of the voices of Andy Williams or Jim Nabors (and surprisingly enough, I can), or that seeing limited appeal/value in holiday music, I’d rather spend my money on reg’lar old soul and funk is in the end meaningless, since there always seems to be something cool dropping in from the margins to satisfy the Funky Kringle in us all.

I bring you today’s selection in particular because it is a favorite of bot myself and my wife, and naturally because it is a very groovy, upbeat and cheerful Christmas offering from Mr Please Please Please (HO HO HO?) himself, James Brown.

When I listen to ‘Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto’, I realize that what we get with this record is both funky and danceable, but also poignant, especially in these days where there’s a tent city of homeless families not 10 miles from my warm, toasty house, and Mr Brown was thinking of how this, the most precious of holidays for children especially, could be rough for the poorest among us, and we should remember that while we listen to this song.

We should also remember that James Brown, who gave us such a great Christmas song, left us on that very day five years ago.

So dig the tune (there’ll be many old faves dropping as the week progresses) and remember that not everyone has the wherewithal to have a groovy holiday.

So try to remember that even if you are (like me) not a religious person, that the Christmas season can just be about brotherhood in the general ‘Family of Man’ sense, which is cool too, especially when times are tough (which they are for so many).

See you on tomorrow.

Peace

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, December 17, 2013 1:09 pm

Listen/Download – Bobby Holloway – Funky Little Drummer Boy

NOTE: This year – as in years past – the run up to Christmas will be filled with re-postings of some of my (and your) fave soulful and funky holiday tunes.

This gives you all a chance to catch up on some soulful Christmas jams, and gives me time to rest my blogging muscles and enjoy the holiday.

This year’s Christmas show airs on Friday night 12/2o at 9PM on Viva Radio.

Enjoy!

Originally posted 12/16/12

Greetings all

I should get things started by noting that the next week or so will be filled with soulful and funky Christmas music.

I will be posting new stuff (like you see today) interspersed some old faves.

Here’s hoping that you dig it all, and that those that celebrate have themselves a groovy Christmas.

It was way back in February of this year that I featured the absolutely incendiary flipside of this biscuit – ‘Cornbread, Hog Maw and Chitterlins’ – in this very space.

Funny thing is, the record was first recommended to me (by the mighty Midnight Cowbwoy) for the side you see before you today.

I was in search of some groovy, soulful Christmas ish, and he suggested that Bobby Hollaway’s ‘Funky Little Drummer Boy’ could be had for not much scratch. So, off I went in search of said 45, found it, coughed up my ten smackers and eagerly awaited it’s arrival here at the crib.

Well, when it fell through the mail slot, I played the Christmas side, dug it and thought “Well, that was ten bucks well spent!”

Then I flipped it over.

The next thing I remember is waking up in a body cast (not really).

However, the ‘Cornbread…’ side is as deadly a bit of organ driven instro-soul as has ever rolled down the pike.

The Christmas side is a cover of a song thathas never really done much for me in its original form.

However, it seems to be the kind of song that lends itself to particularly interesting soul and funk interpretations, like the George Conedy and Lenox Ave versions you have seen/heard in this space previously.

Mr Hollaway does yet another stupendous take on ‘The Little Drummer Boy’, picking up the tempo considerably and laying a whole lot of soul on what started out as a decidedly un-soulful tune.

I have yet to discover anything about Bobby Hollaway – what little I was able to glean can be picked up in the earlier post – and I wish I knew more.

If anyone has anything to add to the story, please drop me a line.

Until then, I hope you dig the tune, and Merry Christmas.

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, December 12, 2013 12:34 pm

The Fabulous Counts

Listen/Download The Fabulous Counts – Lunar Funk

Greetings all

It’s almost Friday, which is why I will remind you once again that the Funky16Corners Radio Show is on its way, taking to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also keep up with the show by subscribing to it as a podcast in iTunes, or by grabbing an MP3 at the blog.

The Funky16Corners Radio Show Christmas Special will be dropping next Friday, 12/20 at the usual time, so make sure to pencil that into your datebooks! Also, the next two weeks will be devoted to Christmas music, with some old faves making their yearly appearances, as well as some new finds from this year which I think you’ll dig. _____________________________________________________________________________________

I thought we’d finish off the week with something funky.

I have long been a fan of the Fabulous Counts. Their 1969 hit ‘Jan Jan’ (just skirting the R&B Top 40) was one of the first funk 45s I heard (or owned) and I did my level best to amass all of their stuff as quickly as possible.

They recorded three excellent of 45s for Ollie McLaughlin’s Moira label (his Detroit labels Carla, Karen and Moira all named after his daughters) and an LP for the Cotillion label (produced by McLaughlin), all in 1969.

Led by organist Mose Davis, the Fabulous Counts laid down a jazzy style of funk that broke from the James Brown mold, with their sound much closer in spirit to a group like Kool and the Gang.

Today’s selection, ‘Lunar Funk’ was the flipside of their biggest hit, 1970’s ‘Get Down People’ (R&B #32, Pop #88).

Featuring fuzz bass, wah wah guitar by Leroy Emmanuel and some groovy clavinet by Davis, the tune is a fast moving number with a great horn section.

The group would eventually leave Moira for the Westbound label, recording one more 45 as the Fabulous Counts, before shortening their name to the Counts.

I hope you dig the track, 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, November 28, 2013 6:56 pm

J. Hines and his guitar.

Listen/Download J. Hines and the Fellows – Camelot Time

Greetings all

The week is rapidly coming to a conclusion, so I must remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be hitting the airwaves of the interwebs this (and every) Friday night at 9pM on Viva Radio. If you are unable to fall by the house party at airtime, you can keep up by subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes.

The tune I bring you today is a prime example of the kind of bow-legged, wobbly, Mr Natural funk that I really dig.
It is neither fast, nor hard hitting, yet it is as funky as they come.

‘Camelot Time’ by J. Hines and the Boys (billed on other records as J. Hines and the Fellows) made it to #73 on the R&B charts in the summer of 1973 (sounds earlier, right?), and was Mr. Hines only chart hit.

I will not go into the long and convoluted J. Hines story, deferring to the amazingly comprehensive post at Red Kelly’s Soul Detective site instead. That said, James Hines was a guitarist of some skill, laying down the chank, and the groove grease in equal measure with remarkable, head-nod-inducing skill.

I verily dare you not to slap on your plaid flares and platforms and get up to move with ‘Camelot Time’.

There’s an old Porky Pig cartoon where he goes to Wackyland, and sees (among other amazing things) a “rubber band”, which was in fact a band composed of rubber bands, if you dig, and this record sounds to me what that band would sound like were it transplanted to the funky side of the tracks.

Am I making any sense at all?

Just listen to the track a few dozen times, read up on your read ups over at Red’s site and I’ll see you 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, November 24, 2013 1:07 pm

Cover of the Jackson Sisters LP

Listen/Download The Jackson Sisters – I Believe In Miracles

Greetings all

The new week is upon us, and in the spirit of getting things off to a banging start, I thought I’d whip a little dynamite on you.

Last year, whilst I was nearing the end of a very fruitful vinyl dig out in Pittsburgh, I realized that the store in question had a box of pricier items propped up on the front counter.

Not one to let an opportunity such as this pass me by, I set my stack o’wax down, and started digging anew.

I ended up pulling another dozen or so discs out of that box, including the gem you see before you this very day.

I do not recall where I first encountered the Jackson Sisters ‘I Believe In Miracles’ but I can almost say with certainty that I knew the record’s label before I ever heard the song.

Back when I used to frequent a certain funk/soul/hip hop oriented message board, ‘finds’ lists used to be be one of my favorite things to peruse, always with amix of wonder and jealousy.

The Jackson Sisters 45 of ‘I Believe In Miracles’ used to pop up now and then (it is not a common 45) and the very groovy Prophesy Records label found itself a niche in my memory.

When I finally got around to actually hearing the record, I was blown away.

‘I Believe In Miracles’ is that perfect mixture of funk and disco, combined with an actual, catchy song (as opposed to the stand-alone groove of so many discs of the era).

First recorded by Mark Capanni, and co-written by Capanni and Bobby Taylor, ‘I Believe In Miracles’ was a much mellower affair in it’s original form.

The Jackson Sisters – Jacqueline, Lyn, Pat, Rae and Gennie – who hailed from Compton, CA but operated out of Detroit recorded one album (for the Tiger Lily label) and a few 45s in the early 70s.

‘I Believe In Miracles’ made it inside the R&B Top 100 in September of 1973, but dropped off the charts, and that was all she wrote for the Jackson Sisters….

Until the mid-80s, when ‘I Believe In Miracles’ was rescucitated as an anthem on the UK Rare Groove scene and made it back onto the UK charts.

The record, arranged by Gene Page is a masterpiece of dance floor engineering, with some hard-hitting drums (listen to those snare hits!), clavinet, and just enough horns and strings to class up the joint (but not too much).

‘I Believe In Miracles’ has a remarkable amount of kick to it (I’m posting the slightly more muscular mono version) and it’s hard to imagine anyone managing to stay in their seat when the needle hits the grooves (check out the way the song – another version – was used in the film ‘Cemetery Junction’).

The Jackson Sisters recording went on to be sampled a number of times, and the song was covered in 1992 by the UK group The Pasadenas.

The Mark Capanni 45 is exceedingly rare and sells for several hundred (sometimes over 1,000) dollars. It has been reissued by Jazzman in the UK and even that 45 can be pricey.

The Jackson Sisters OG runs around 200USD, especially version you see above, the vinyl promo issue with the stereo and mono mixes.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

  ___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, November 19, 2013 12:44 pm

Listen/Download Gulf Stream – Sophisticated Soul

Greetings all

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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, November 7, 2013 2:00 pm

Mr Andre Williams

Listen/Download Jomo – Uhuru (African Twist)

Greetings all

The end of the week is approaching, and that means that it will soon be Funky16Corners Radio Show time again. Each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, I endeavor to bring you the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can keep up by subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or by grabbing an MP3 here at the blog.

I pulled today’s selection out of the crates a while back and I was shocked to discover that I had never posted it here at Funky16Corners.

‘Uhuru (African Twist)’ was an early funk 45 find of mine, which has appeared in many live sets over the years.

I first picked it up on the strength of the name (artist and song) but as soon as I dropped the needle into the grooves, it went straight into the keeper pile.

There was no real ‘Jomo’ to speak of, with the 45 being the pseudonymous work of the mighty Andre Williams, who co-wrote the song with the assistance of none other than Sidney Barnes.

‘Uhuru (African Twist)’ is a powerful mover, packed with hard-hitting drums, chanting and soul clapping (which gave it a minor following on the Northern Soul scene).

Recorded and released in 1968, the “group” takes its name from Kenyan president Jomo Kenyatta and (coincidentally, I think) bears the name of his son, Uhuru (also the Swahili word for ‘freedom’), who would later ascend to the same position).

As far as I can tell, despite its undeniable quality, the record failed to chart (even locally) and is the only thing released under this name.

Andre Williams, of course had a long history as an artist, producer, songwriter and A&R man and continues to perform today at the age of 77.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (6)

By Larry, November 3, 2013 1:06 pm

Zap Pow

Listen/Download Zap Pow – Soul Revival (45)

Greetings all

Before we get rolling today/this week, I should take a moment to note that today marks the ninth anniversary of the Funky16Corners Blog (as well as the entrance into our tenth year!).

While I don’t want to go into any ‘state of the blog’ nonsense, I did want to take a sec to thank everyone that comes around to partake in the musical goodness.

Blogs come and go, and traffic is not what it once was.

Some of that has to do with the series of problems/moves that beset Funky16Corners over the years (especially the domain change) which threw a lot of people off the scent as it were, but there’s no denying that music blogging is not as popular as it once was, for both the fans and the proprietors.

The interwebs are a huge, fickle beast, and the intellectual property/copyright wars of the last few years have scared off a lot of bloggers. While blogs as a construct are often short-lived (I’d love to see the percentage of blogs that are abandoned in the first six months), DMCA attacks (some of them valid, many of them not) have chilled the world of music blogging considerably.

That said, I’m not going anywhere.

I (obviously) dig doing Funky16Corners, and the Funky16Corners Radio Show, and (though opportunities have been slim to none of late) getting out and spinning records for the peeps.

As long as I have something to say, and sounds to share, you can depend on Funky16Corners.

So thanks for stopping by.

______________________________________________________________________________

I thought we might get the week off to a hot start with something tasty from the island of Jamaica.

It would be safe to say that I am not – by and large – a consumer of reissues, with most of my music-relates dollars devoted to the pursuit and capture of the OG.

Economically it doesn’t make a tremendous amount of sense, but that’s just how I’m wired.

However, every once in a while someone turns me on to a comp where the originals in question are (at least for me) especially hard to get my mitts on, and the music is incredibly hot.

Such was the case with the ‘Funky Kingston’ comp that came out about ten years ago.

You know I dig reggae, and funk, and whenever someone gets their musical chocolate in my peanut butter, i.e. reggae funk, I am, by virtue of the calculus, exponentially more down.

This, and it’s sequel volume, ‘Soul Power: Funky Kingston 2’ were both a heavy part of the rotation, and – as is often the case – added a number of records to my want list.

Some of these weren’t terribly hard to track down, some were EXTREMELY hard to find, but they were more than worth the trouble.

You see one example of the latter category before you today.

The first time I heard ‘Soul Revival’ by Zap Pow, the pleasure/acquisition center of my brain was activated and I set out to find myself a copy of this gem for my record box.

The thing is, it took YEARS.

If you follow things around here you’ve heard the stories of records that pop up frequently and get bid out of my reach every time.

‘Soul Revival’ was not one of those.

Truth be told, it wasn’t until last year that my searches yielded any results at all, and (ironically) when they did, I ended up with a copy of the 45 AND the LP both within weeks of each other (funny how that works, isn’t it??).

Here we have a tight, funky band, combining intertwined guitar and bass lines, hard hitting drums and a hot horn section in an almost James Brown-y way (with some Kool and the Gang thrown in), with precious little (at least on this record) to let you know that the whole thing originated in Jamaica.

It’s got a real “get up and dance” kick to it (thanks to that Harry J production).

Their 1976 ‘Revolution’ LP features more ‘straight’ reggae, including a nice version of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’ (featuring their vocalist at the time,none other than Beres Hammond) as well as touches of rock and Afrobeat.

The group had a huge hit in the UK and Jamaica in 1972 with ‘This Is Reggae Music’.

I hope you dig the track as much as I do, and I’ll see you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, October 24, 2013 9:18 am

Funky16Corners Presents:It’s Gonna Be Good!

Johnny Jones and the King Casuals – It’s Gonna Be Good (Brunswick)
Albert Collins – Cookin’ Catfish (20th Century Fox)
Chuck Berry – Club Nitty Gritty (Mercury)
Atlantics – Beaver Shot (Rampart)
Little Richard – Soul Train (Brunswick)
Bobby Hollaway – Corn Bread, Hog Maws and Chitterlins (Smash)
The Turtles – Buzz Saw (White Whale)
The Vibrations – Soul a Go Go (Okeh)
Benny Scott – Soul Beat (Brunswick)
Junior and the Classics – Mix Up a Go Go (Magic Touch)
Jon Lee Group – Pork Chops (Sparton)
Ricky Allen – Cut You a Loose (AGE)
El Dorados – The New Breed (Port)
Danny White – Cracked Up Over You (Decca)
Louis Chachere – A Soulful Bag (Forte)
Timmy Thomas – Have Some Boogaloo (Goldwax)
Toussaint McCall – Shimmy (Ronn)
Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers – I Gotta Go Now (Up On the Floor) (Like)

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents: It’s Gonna Be Good – 75MB Mixed MP3/256K

Greetings all.

I hope all is well on your side of the universe, and that you’re all ready for the weekend.

Don’t forget that the Funky16Corners Radio Show hits the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at the time of broadcast, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 (or two, or 100) out of the archive here at the blog.

A while back my man DJ Trick over in St. Petersburg, RU asked if I would be amenable to doing an interview and whipping up a mix that they could post in their ‘Grooves’ project*.

As someone who is always down with the cause of spreading the sounds of soul and funk all over the globe, I agreed and set to work.

As you will hear as soon as you pull the trigger on this one, I was in a particularly raucous mood that day, packing just about 40 minutes worth of sonic nitroglycerin into mix form and setting the fuse.

What you get here, is some of my favorite, high-octane soul shouters, organ burners, hardcore R&B and dance party starters, stitched together so that the assembled multitudes might cut themselves a slice of rug (and maybe spill a little beer, too).

If you haven’t sussed it out over the long haul, this is a pretty good approximation of the kind of set I’d throw down were I spinning in a live setting.

That said, this is perfect weekend stuff, so get your download on, and have yourself a party, Artie.

Have a great weekend, and i’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

PS They’re posting the interview over there, but it’s in Russian…
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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.