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By Larry, April 1, 2013 7:53 pm

Funky16Corners Presents: Light It Up for World Autism Awareness Day

Kool and the Gang – Who’s Gonna Take the Weight (Deelight)
Sir Joe Quaterman and Free Soul – I Got So Much Trouble In My Mind (GSF)
Aretha Franklin – Save Me (Atlantic)
Marvelettes – I’ll Keep Holding On (Tamla)
Ikettes – Don’t Feel Sorry For Me (Modern)
Donald Height- Life Is Free (You Can Be What You Wanna Be) (Hurdy Gurdy)
Lyn Collins – Things Got To Get Better (Get Together) (People)
Lee Dorsey – Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further (Polydor)
Johnny Otis Show – Keep the Faith Pt1 (Eldo)
James Brown – Get Up Get Into It Get Involved (King)
Isley Brothers – Fight the Power (T-Neck)
Billy Butler – Right Track (Okeh)
Etta James – I’m So Glad (Chess)
Gladys Knight and the Pips – Thank You (Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (Motown)

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents Light It Up for World Autism Awareness Day – 80MB Mixed MP3/256K

Greetings all.

The mix you see before you – though it contains music that should be familiar to readers of Funky16Corners – is a departure of sorts.

I’ve been writing the Funky16Corners blog for almost a decade. Over the years, in addition to the music and the history behind it, I’ve written (to varying degrees) about the events of my life.

Though I haven’t gone into great detail on the subject, I have made references in the past to that fact that autism has made an impact on our family (in case you were wondering about that link in the sidebar…).

Both of our sons – now 6 and 9 – have a diagnosis on the autism spectrum, and as a result, I have – for the last four years – been a stay-at-home-dad.

Even though being a single-income household comes with its own challenges, having a full-time parent at home to coordinate multiple therapies, meetings and the various and sundry unplanned/unexpected challenges that come with having children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) made a tremendous amount of sense.

Back in 2008, when our sons were initially diagnosed, we had already spent a considerable amount of time dealing with issues that we did not understand.

When we finally managed to weather the batteries of tests, doctor visits and paperwork, and identified the issues at hand, we found ourselves at the end of one journey and the beginning of much longer one.

A diagnosis of autism is a singularly difficult thing for any parent to deal with.

I recall at the time feeling a mixture of relief, in that we finally had a framework to deal with the problems our sons had been having, but also trepidation about finding ways to deal with them going forward.

What kinds of therapies would the boys need, and how would we arrange for them?

How would we work with the professionals in our local schools to make sure that they got the proper education?

As daunting as these questions might seem, they were just the beginning.

The next few years were like navigating an especially challenging maze, in which every turn could reveal either a new way forward – with opportunities to educate ourselves about how to do the best for our children – or another dead end where we would have to push aside our disappointment, regroup and reset the course.

The biggest challenge that every parent of an ASD child has to meet, is when you realize that there are no easy answers. This is the point when it becomes apparent that most progress will be incremental at best, and that you’re dealing with the “long game”.

It has always seemed appropriate to me that one of the public symbols of autism has been the puzzle piece.

Not only does it represent the unique nature of every child, but also that once a parent – or any family member – has begun to deal with the emotional and practical ramifications of an autism diagnosis (and there are many), they have to begin to assemble what amounts to a huge puzzle, laid out before them.

Aside from the obvious things like therapy and school, there are all of the underlying issues that have to be dealt with, such as insurance, work (and time away from it), socialization, and behavioral training inside and outside the home.

In many of these things our family has been extraordinarily lucky.

We were able to get both of our sons diagnosed fairly early – which in the case of our youngest, who was experiencing developmental delays, was incredibly important – and we were fortunate enough to have health insurance.

Though some families can take this kind of foundation for granted, many cannot.

Parents often struggle to find treatment for their children. If and when they do, they are often met with a new set of hurdles, whether complications with insurance, uncooperative/poorly prepared school districts, and/or friends and family that do not fully grasp the nature of the problem.

I mention all of this because April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day.

This is a day first set aside by the United Nations in 1989 to spread the word about Autism spectrum disorders, the children and families that deal with them every day, and the organizations that study them and work toward a cure.

The mix above is in my own small way an attempt to convey an impression of the struggles, joys and rewards of raising children with autism.

While there aren’t – as far as I know – any soul or funk songs that deal directly with issues of autism, there are certainly a wide variety of tunes that deal with the palette of emotions that children with ASD and their families encounter every single day.

One need only look to the titles of the songs in the playlist above to get a feeling for what kinds of things we go through in our lives.

Parents need to deal with assessment (Who’s Gonna Take the Weight), emotional turmoil (I Got So Much Trouble In My Mind), self pity (Save Me), perseverance (I’ll Keep On Holding On), strength (Don’t Feel Sorry For Me), possibility (Life Is Free You Can Be What You Want To Be), optimism (Things Got To Get Better), reaching out for help (Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further), steadfastness (Keep The Faith), doing what you can to spread the word (Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved), taking on the system when necessary (Fight the Power), assuring yourself that you’re doing the right things (Right Track), taking the time to cherish your kids in their uniqueness (I’m So Glad) and in the end, being thankful for what you’ve got (Thank You Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).

I became a fan of soul music so many years ago, and eventually started writing about it because I find it to be uniquely powerful and transcendent. Though it’s true about any good music, soul music has touched me, and many of the people that read Funky16Corners deeply.

My feelings about great records, and spinning them, are that the best of them carry in their grooves a sort of magic.

Whether it’s that a song effects the listener specifically, i.e. connects them to a memory, or in a general sense where their emotions are stirred and they feel compelled to get up and dance, when I dip into my record box and pull out a particularly powerful 45 (or post one here at the blog, or on the radio show) I get to facilitate that process.

Having children is one of the most amazing, challenging, sometimes frustrating, but always rewarding experiences I can imagine.

Raising children with ASD is all of that amplified significantly.

And, oddly enough, this experience has given me (and continues to give me) a deeper appreciation for the power of music, in how it affects me, and my children as well.

I hope you take the time to follow the link to Autism Speaks, and if this is all unfamiliar to you, maybe take a little time to read up on your read ups.

If you know someone with ASD in their family, see what you can do to help.

Until we meet again

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 (5)

By Larry, March 21, 2013 11:42 am

Funky16Corners Presents: Soul Version

Jackie Mittoo – Hip Hug (Coxsone) – Booker T & The MGs
Gaylettes – Son of a Preacherman (Steady) – Dusty Springfield
Dobby Dobson – Don’t Make Me Over (Pama Supreme) – Dionne Warwicke
Federalman – Soul Serenade (Steady) – King Curtis
Ken Boothe – Gonna Take a Miracle/Version (Hulk) – Royalettes
Winston Wright – Heads or Tails (Green Door) – Booker T & the MGs
Lorna Bennett – Breakfast In Bed (Harry J) – Dusty Springfield
Byron Lee – Who Done It (Dynamic) – Monk Higgins
Pioneers – Papa Was a Rolling Stone (Trojan) – Temptations
Horace Andy – Show and Tell (Money Disc) – Al Wilson
Pat Rhoden – Living For the City (Attack) – Stevie Wonder
Byron Lee – Shaft (Dynamic) – Isaac Hayes
Winston Samuels and the Cintones – Let’s Get It On (Clintone) – Marvin Gaye
Byron Lee – Hot Reggay (Dynamic) – James Brown
Shark Wilson and the Basement Heaters – Make It Reggay(version) (Ashanti) – James Brown
Pat Rhoden – Boogie On Reggae Woman (Horse) – Stevie Wonder
Alton Ellis – La La Means I Love You (Mr Tipsy) – Delfonics
Tomorrows Children – Sister Big Stuff (London) – Jean Knight

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents Soul Version – 109MB 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.

The fam and I are taking some time off to chill in the coming weeks (which will be filled with specially selected reposts of some of my fave tunes from the archives) so I figured I’d leave you with something special until I’m back behind the keyboard again.

The mix you see before you is the fruit of what I like to call one of my “special boxes”.

The Funky16Corners record vault is lined, floor to ceiling (in some places) with crates of LPs and boxes of 45s, and sprinkled liberally with a grip of those old-timey, pasteboard, 45 carrying cases.

As pretty much any collector does, I grab those cases wherever I find them, first and foremost because they’re cool looking, but because – and I’m pretty sure you figured this out already – I’ve got lots and lots of 45s that need a place to stay.

I mentioned the “boxes” before, those being the purpose-made 45 storage boxes that hold over 100 discs each. There are lots of those.

However, my collection has its niches, certain sub-genres, not collected as aggressively as others (for a variety of reasons, though usually boiled down to issues of availability), and many of these niches get packed away in those smaller boxes.

There’s one for disco 45s, one for rockabilly/instro 45s, and the one that gave up today’s sounds, the reggae and ska 45s.

I’ve been a huge fan of ska and reggae since I was in high school, when the Two-Tone revival was in full swing and I was led by bands like the Specials to investigate the first-wave of ska, going back to the mid-60s.

It would be fair to say that the bulk of the ska and reggae in my hands is on CD, especially old comps and the later (excellent) Trojan mini-box sets.

However, I’m always on the lookout for Jamaican vinyl, often seeking out favorite records (some of which – Winston Wright, Pioneers, Shark Wilson – are in this mix) and grabbing cool stuff whenever I encounter it in the field.

As the contents of this mix show, I’m a big fan of reggae covers of American soul tunes, of which there are many.

The groovy  thing – and something I’ve discussed in this space before – is that despite the stylistic delineation, what you’re hearing is still demonstrably soul music (albeit with a reggae beat).

The influence of American R&B and soul on Jamaican music is undeniable, with many powerhouse AM radio stations, in cities like New Orleans and Miami sending out American pop to the islands.

What you hear isn’t mere “coverage”, if you will, but rather some truly great singers like Ken Boothe and Alton Ellis, and instrumentalists like Winston Wright, Jackie Mittoo and Byron Lee, interpreting some of the finest material available at the time.

Soul Version is composed of just about an hour of my favorites, running (like my personal tastes) from sweet soul, to organ instrumentals, to funk and just a touch of dub.

Many of these records have appeared here at Funky16Corners over the years, either by themselves or in mixes.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

PS I just realized I took a picture of the wrong Pioneers 45…sorry ’bout that.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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, March 19, 2013 11:14 am

Nu Sound Express Ltd

Listen/Download Nu Sound Express Ltd – I’ve Been Trying

Greetings all

The tune I bring you today is both a very groovy cover, as well as a neglected b-side.

Back in the day, when I was first tracking and bagging soul and funk 45s, the Nu-Sound Express Ltd were one of the first big scores.

This is not to say that any of their records are big-money hustlas (to borrow a term from our insane friends) but rather that at the time, they were a group both obscure and excellent when my crates were not heavily burdened with same.

There isn’t a lot of information out there on the group, but what is available suggests that they were from New Jersey, and were associated with Jersey City impresario Paul Kyser.

Kyser had produced acts like Jimmy Briscoe and the Little Beavers, Sound Generation, the Super Disco Band, Calender and the band that Nu Sound Express would morph into a few years later, Rhyze.

Nu Sound Express Ltd recorded two cool 45s, both for the Silver Dollar label (at least one of which was issued in Europe – with a cool picture sleeve – on the Discophon label) in the early 70s.

The a-sides of their 45s, ‘Ain’t It Good Enough’ and ‘One More Time You All’ were both cool examples of uptempo early 70s funk (the second being a ‘sequel’ of sorts to the first).

The tune I bring you today is the flipside of ‘Ain’t It Good Enough’, and if you didn’t recognize the title, also a cover of the Impressions 1965 Top 40 R&B hit ‘I’ve Been Trying’.

It took me a few years to warm to this side, first and foremost because back then I wasn’t grooving to too many ballads, but also because it has a certain loose, almost lo-fi feel to it.

The impression I get is that Kyser blew most of the budget on the A-side, leaving the group with a much sparer palette with which to work.

What you get is a touch of street corner harmony, with a spoken intro and low key instrumental backing (with a slightly out of tune piano). The cool thing is that the singing is very nice indeed, with a refreshing lack of slickness that sets it apart from almost everything else that was happening at the time.

‘I’ve Been Trying’ is a throwback to an earlier time and an interesting contrast to the funk of its flip.

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 (1)

By Larry, March 10, 2013 11:25 am

Mr Maceo Parker (above) and his book and music (below)

Listen/Download Maceo and All the King’s Men – Got To Getcha

Listen/Download Maceo and the Macks – Parrty Pt1

Listen/Download Maceo and the Macks – Parrty Pt2

Greetings all

I hope the day finds you all well.

In the universe of funk, especially the swirling nebulae of James Brown and Parliament Funkadelic, there exists a supernova of the saxomophone known by a single name, one that represents cool, funk, swagger and the cutting sound of brass.

That name is Maceo.

Known more fully to his mother and the folks at the motor vehicle bureau as the mighty Maceo Parker, he was one of the brightest lights of the James Brown Band, the JBs, Maceo and the Macks, Maceo and All the King’s Men, Parliament Funkadelic and various and sundry permutations therein.

Devotees of funk probably wake up in the night with the sound of James Brown calling his name, requesting a saxophone solo or directions to the bridge.

Mr Parker is a master musician, and icon of the classic era of funk, and now (happily) the author of an autobiography covering all of the above called ‘98% Funky Stuff: My Life In Music’.

Truth be told, I was a lot more excited to see this fall through the mail slot than I was when RJ Smith’s (excellent and thorough) biography of the Godfather came out last year.

While there is probably very little about James Brown that has not at some time been driven deep into my brain, there hasn’t been nearly enough out there that explores the lives of the men that helped to make his amazing music a reality.

’98% Funky Stuff’ is a brisk read, with time spent on Maceo’s early years, his first connection with the James Brown band and its (temporary) interruption by the draft.

What I found most interesting about the book – other than getting to know Parker himself – were his contrasting impressions of working as part of the James Brown organization through the 60s and early 70s, and his transition into the world of George Clinton and P-Funk.

The feeling I get is that Brown didn’t value his sidemen nearly as much as they deserved, and as straight and disciplined a player as Parker was, he found the chaotic world of Parliament Funkadelic a refreshing environment in which to express himself.

The book doesn’t contain the kind of trainspotter’s detail that I might have liked (though I don’t know what book would, outside of an encyclopedia), but if you’re eager for a look at the life of one of the really important funk and soul musicians of the last 50 years, ‘98% Funky Stuff’ is a treat indeed.

I took this review of the book as an opportunity to dip into my crates and pull out some prime Maceo vinyl.

The first track hails from one of the periodic acrimonious episodes when Maceo (and pretty much the rest of the Godfather’s band) took off and did their own thing.

‘Got To Getcha’ (R&B Top 40 in 1970)is a dynamite piece of funk, with vocals by Maceo, a heavy groove (that manages to step outside of the JB feel) a groovy sax solo and some crazy lyrics (also courtesy of Mr Parker). It was recorded in 1970 for Lelan Rogers’ House of the Fox label. It also appears on the excellent ‘Doing Their Own Thing’ LP.

The second track  is one of the finest examples of Maceo working within the JB-context, that being the 1973 R&B Top 40 hit ‘Parrty Pts 1&2’. Built on a classic JBs groove, with a churning riff, band (and James Brown) chants and Maceo himself soloing over the whole thing, ‘Parrty’ is a killer..

If you want to dig deeper into the soundof Maceo Parker, you can pick up any of the many James Brown, JBs, Maceo and the Macks (or any of the other variations) 45s easily located, or if digital is your thing, iTunes has most of that, as well as his many solo albums available.

I hope you dig the tunes (and grab the book) and I’ll see you soon.

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, March 8, 2013 11:27 am

Originally posted July 2006

1. Thelma Jones – The House That Jack Built (Barry) 2. Gladys Knight & The Pips – The Nitty Gritty (Soul) 3. Ike & Tina Turner – Bold Soul Sister (Blue Thumb) 4. Tina Britt – Sookie Sookie (Veep) 5. Ann Sexton – You’re Losing Me (Seventy Seven) 6. Viola Wills – Sweetback (Supreme) 7. Martha Turner – Dirty Old Man (Royal American) 8. Shirley Vaughn – Escape (Columbia) 9. Ruby Andrews – You Made a Believer Out Of Me (Zodiac) 10. Helena Hollins – Baby You’re Right (Stonegood) 11. Monica – I Don’t Know Nothing Else To Tell You But I Love You (Toxsan) 12. Lyn Collins – Mama Feelgood (People) 13. Gi Gi – Daddy Love (Sweet) 14. Erma Franklin – Baby What You Want Me To Do (Shout) 15. Yvonne Fair – Say Yeah Yeah (Dade) 16. Brenda & The Tabulations – Scuze Uz Y’All (Top & Bottom) 17. Cold Blood – You Got Me Hummin’ (San Francisco)

Listen/Download Funky16Corners Radio V.6 – Bold Soul Sisters

Greetings all

This is a little bit of an impromptu groove.

I was posting a couple of tracks over on Facebook to commemorate International Women’s Day and it occurred to me that I really ought to dip back into the archives and whip this mix on you (in furtherance of the same idea).

Here you get a mix dynamite sister funk (and soul) that ought to serve as a reminder of some of the many strong and talented female voices in those realms.

So click on the link, or pull down the ones and zeros and let the music play.

See you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

PS Don’t forget to tune into the Funky16Corners Radio Show, tonight at 9PM on Viva Radio!
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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 28, 2013 12:46 pm

The Fantoms

Listen/Download The Fantoms – Junk

Greetings all

I hope everyone’s ready for the weekend.

Since it is almost Friday, I should remind you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show comes on this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio with the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on OG vinyl. If you can’t be there for the broadcast you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or you can grab an MP3 here at the blog.

The record I bring you today is an old fave of mine out of my NOLA crates, which would have been posted a long time ago if I hadn’t lost it.

The thing is, I didn’t know I’d lost it, until I had to move some old computer equipment in my record room and happened upon a handful of 45s that had apparently slipped down between an old CPU and the desk where my turntable coffin is perched.

My heart sank when I saw the 45s (especially when I saw which ones they were…there were a couple of valuable discs there), but fortunately they were sitting straight up and down, and nowhere near a heat vent, so they were for all intents and purposes, unscathed (no cracks either, Thank you vinyl Jeebus!).

The 45 in question, the Fantoms’ ‘Junk’ is something I picked up years ago, after their earlier disc, the completely mental ‘Mau Mau’ (which you can hear in Funky16Corners Radio v.10 – Funky Nawlins Vol. 2) flipped my wig.

‘Junk’ is a very groovy, is much more sedate affair, with the band settled into an early 70s groove, with the funky flute (a big fave of mine), the organ and percussion in a bag that reminds me a little of a more far out version of Traffic’s ‘Rock’n’Roll Stew’.

The Fantoms (originally the Fabulous Fantoms) were together from the late 60s into the late 70s, and were contemporaries of groups like the Meters and David Batiste and the Gladiators.

They recorded for Marty Lewis’s Big Deal label (also home to Anthony Butler and the Invaders and Jimmy Hicks) and released 45s on that label and Power Funksion.

The Fantoms apparently found a great deal of success on the local scene, but never broke through nationally.

It’s a groovy little disc, and I hope you dig it.

Have a great weekend 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 24, 2013 2:55 pm

Funky16Corners Presents: No Bad Trip – Black Wah-Wah 1969-1974

Magictones – Good Old Music (Westbound)
Doug Anderson – Hey Mama Here Comes the Preacher (Janus)
Earth Wind and Fire – Bad Tune (WB)
Bloodstone – Bo Diddley (London)
Bo Diddley – Pollution (Chess)
Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers – Searching for Soul Pt2 (Mutt)
Nat Turner Rebellion – Plastic People (DelValiant)
Fantastic Epics – Fun and Funk Pts 1&2 (Tories)
Jackson 5 – I’ll Bet You (Motown)
Eddie Bo and the Soul Finders – The Rubber Band Pt1 (Knight)
Young-Holt Unlimited – The Devil Made Me Do Dat (Cotillion)
Joe Simon Band – Oon-Guela Pt2 (SS7)
Jimmie Preacher Ellis – I Gotta See My Baby (Round)
The Eight Minutes – Here’s Some Dances (Jay Pee)
Fugi – Mary Don’t Take Me On No Bad Trip Pts1&2 (Cadet)
E. Rodney Jones, Larry and the Hippies Band – Right On Right On (Sex machine) (Westbound)
Brothers of Hope – Nickol Nickol (Gamble)

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents No Bad Trip – 109MB Mixed Mp3/256K

Greetings all.

The mix you see before you is another one of those jams that I previewed on Mixcloud for a while before whipping it on you here at the Corners.

Though you may recognize a couple of the tracks as things you’ve seen here in the past, No Bad Trip is one of those things that was bouncing around in my head for a good long time, taking form gradually,adding tracks here and there as I remembered something groovy that fit just right. It was revised and reworked a few times until I thought I had happened upon the perfect admixture.

The overall feel – as it were – is one of the time after psychedelia and all of its practical trappings – wah wah pedals, echoplex and freak flags of all varieties hoisted high – began to make their way into black music.

Though there were other people of color getting heavy at the time, much of this can be traced directly to the dayglo doorstep of Jimi Hendrix – with the Experience and Band of Gypsys – as well as Sly Stone,  Funkadelic, Norman Whitfield and any other artist during that time period liberally mixing psychedelics into their funk and vice versa.

This is really a story of “gates swinging both ways”, with all manner of “you got your funk in my rock”, “but you got your rock in my funk” going on, as well as an expression of the general eclecticism of the time, with African sounds making themselves heard with Joe Simon and Earth Wind and Fire, the evolution of Bo Diddley from old-school charger into fairly convincing new-style far outness and the explicit psyche out of Fugi.

As your physician I strongly recommend that you ingest this mix through headphones of some kind, so that you don’t miss any of the sonic goodness.

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 (1)

By Larry, February 12, 2013 3:38 pm

Frank Wilson – Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)
Charlie Rich – Dance Of Love
Darrell Banks – Our Love Is In the Pocket
Jackie Wilson – I Get the Sweetest Feeling
Eddie Bo and Inez Cheatham – Lover and a Friend
Charlie Earlands Erector Set – Cherie Amour
JJ Barnes – Hold On To It
Spinners – Sweet Thing
Sand Pebbles – Love Power
Platters – Sweet Sweet Loving
Lee Dorsey and Betty Harris – Love Lots of Lovin’
Len Barry – I Struck It Rich
Producers – Love Is Amazing
Lee Williams and the Cymbals – It’s Everything About You That I Love
Broadways – You Just Don’t Know Good You Make Me Feel
Velvelettes – Since You’ve Been Loving Me
Soul Brothers Six – Your Love Is Such a Wonderful Love
Wilson Pickett – Everybody Needs Somebody To Love

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Valentine’s Mix: Dance of Love – 86MB Mixed Mp3/256K

Greetings all.

What you see before you is a mix i put together last year at this time in celebration of love, especially mine for my wife, who was going through an especially rough time in regard to her health.

I am very happy to say that this Valentine’s Day her health has improved dramatically, thanks to a stem cell transplant she received last Spring (make sure to click on the Be The Match link at the end of any F16C post for more information about how you can help).

This mix is filled with dynamite soul including a couple of huge faves of mine (and yours, I hope).

Give it a spin and tell someone you love them.

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, February 10, 2013 1:20 pm

Miss Amanda Ambrose

Listen/Download Amanda Ambrose – Gimme Shelter

Greetings all

Welcome to another week in the land of vinyl.

I drop those three genres because they all have a hand in the tune I bring you today.

Anyone fairly deep (or maybe not so deep) into the soul/funk record collecting ‘thing’ will have crossed paths with singers who (like Amanda Ambrose) made their bread and butter in the world of jazz, but crossed over (for whatever reason) into a grittier sound.

Here at Funky16Corners I’ve featured music by artists like Nina Simone, Irene Reid, Gloria Lynne, and others who felt the need – whether artistically, commercially or both – at some point in their career to step outside of the world of jazz (or bring it with them into another context).

More often than not – as long as the material and delivery were on point – the results ended up being quite groovy.

This is not suggest that singing jazz and soul are interchangeable disciplines (they are not) but rather that one would expect a jazz singer to at the very least bring a level of technical facility to the table.

Whether or not they were able to deliver the goods once they got there was another question entirely.

Someone like Nina Simone – though often thought of as a jazz singer – spent her entire career moving fluidly between genres.

Others – like Amanda Ambrose – had common gospel roots with most soul singers of the classic era, and that tied things together on another level.

Born in St Louis in 1925, Ambrose spent the early part of her career recording jazz for small labels (though she did an album for Dunwich in the mid-60s).

Her storming take on the Rolling Stones ‘Gimme Shelter’ was recorded for Bee Gee records in 1973.

I know little about the label, other than that it seemed to specialize in funk and soul.

Where Merry Clayton’s better known cover of the song remains in the stylistic orbit of the original, Ambrose’s take on the tune has the feel of a Leon Russell session, with a pounding rhythm section (especially the piano) and powerful horns.

Ambrose’s vocals are equally powerful and it’s a shame that this record didn’t catch on with a wider audience, though by 1973 this sound was on its way out.

She passed away in 2007 at the age of 82.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

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

Click here to go to the ordering page.
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 3, 2013 1:56 pm

Ace Cannon and his sax-o-ma-phone

Listen/Download Ace Cannon – Drunk

Greetings all

Welcome to another week here at the Corners.

I do not recall where I first heard today’s selection, but I do remember my surprise when I heard it.

The name Ace Cannon was already a very familiar one.

Cannon had a string of saxophone instrumental hits beginning in 1961 with ‘Tuff’ (#3 R&B #17 Pop) and continuing through the 60s and 70s. he recorded more than three dozen singles and several albums for the Hi label.

Though his best known numbers were in a blues/R&B vein, he recorded a wide variety of pop material through his career, but as far as I can tell, nothing else like ‘Drunk’.

Released as a single in 1971 (it also appeared on the ‘Blowing Wild’ LP that same year) ‘Drunk’ is an outlier in the Cannon oeuvre.

I would not hesitate for a second to classify ‘Drunk’ as funk, with the drums, bass, the chanky guitar and the organ, and of course Ace, “singing” the song and chanting the title over and over again.

A cover (and radical reworking) of Jimmy Liggins 1953 jump blues tune, ‘Drunk’ is the kind of record that ought to be better known, not only as an anomaly in the catalog of an otherwise well known performer, but also as a solid funk outing.

I have no idea who’s backing Ace on this one, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of the Hodges brothers were in the house.

That said, as far as I can tell, ‘Drunk’ made no impact whatsoever (I can’t find any evidence of Cannon charting after the mid-60s).

I hope you dig the tune, and maybe find one for your own record box.

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, January 31, 2013 1:17 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.

I hope you all are well.

I should start by reminding you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will air (as it does every week) Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grab yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

The mix you see before you is something I put together last year to commemorate Mardi Gras, and in a rare show of foresight on my part I got it up and ready to go on time this year.

It is packed with old faves including some stellar Mardi Gras-specific numbers with which you can second line to your heart’s content.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back with some more groovy stuff 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, January 27, 2013 12:33 pm

The Ohio Players: Sugarfoot at top left (sporting that awesome conk)

Listen/Download -Ohio Players – Find Someone To Love

Greetings all.

I had something else lined up for today, but then word came down that the mighty Leroy ‘Sugarfoot’ Bonner, guitarist and singer of the Ohio Players had passed away.

Though details are scarce at this time, Bonner was in his early 70s and had previously suffered one or more strokes.

He joined the Ohio Players in the mid-60s after the group’s initial incarnation as the Ohio Untouchables and recorded with them during their time with Compass, Capitol and their peak years on Westbound.

I first posted today’s selection a little less than two years ago, and it’s a great window into the kind of thing the group was doing in their early years.

I hope you dig it, and raise a glass in tribute to one of the true icons of 70s funk.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Originally posted 3/17/11

The tune I bring you today is a bit of instrumental genius from the early days of the mighty Ohio Players.

With a lineage that goes back to 1959 (when the group came together as the Ohio Untouchables), on into their mid-decade rebirth as the Ohio Players, after which they worked in New York as the house band for Compass Records (releasing two singles for the label in 1967 and 1968).

They were working with producer Johnny Brantley’s Vidalia productions when they hooked up (for one album) with Capitol Records.

The tune I bring you today comes from that partnership.

Interestingly, their recording from this period, for both Compass and Capitol had been recirculated on the exploit/ripoff label Trip/Upfront as the album ‘First Impressions’, which is where I first heard ‘Find Someone To Love’. Their Capitol LP, ‘Observations In Time’ isn’t incredibly rare, or expensive (copies go for between 40 and 100 bucks) but it doesn’t show up that often.

The group’s vocal material from this period has always reminded me of the Parliaments stuff from the mid-60s, with a slightly more raucous edge.

‘Find Someone To Love’ features Sugarfoot Bonner’s wobbly, deeply funky guitar prominently, as well as hard hitting drums, droning organ and the band’s horn section. It’s a much deeper, grittier groove than the flashy, fonky stuff they’d hit the charts with a few years later.

Not exactly the Love Rollercoaster, more like the funhouse on the way there.

I dig it a lot, and I hope you do too.

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PS Head over to Iron Leg for some insane surf instros.