Comments (3)

By Larry, April 19, 2012 5:01 pm

Miss Lyn Collins

Listen/Download Lyn Collins – We Want To Parrty, Parrty, Parrty

Greetings all.

Welcome once again to Funky16Corners.

I should start by letting you know that the Funky16Corners Radio Show train continues forward unabated, and can be boarded this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. As always, if you can’t be there in person you can always fall by the blog over the weekend to pick yourselves up an MP3 of the show (or of any of the more than 100 past episodes stored in the archive).

___________________________________________________________________________________

In other news, though circumstances prevent me from participating this time out, I do want to let you know that the HPRS will be open again on 4/21, Record Store Day. This will be the 6th anniversary of the HPRS collective and I can assure you that there is plenty of excellent vinyl to be had.  The sale runs from 11-5 at 960 Green Street in Iselin, NJ (not too far off of Rt1). There will be another guest dealer (bringing 45s!) so if you’re in the area and vinyl is something you dig, make sure you stop by.

___________________________________________________________________________________

You all know me, and how wherever possible I like to end the week on an up note with the kind of sounds that might convince you and your mates to slip on your dancing shoes, let loose with the juice and get down a bit.

Miss Lyn Collins – like so many members of the James Brown galaxy of stars – has been featured in this space before.

She had one of the more powerful voices of JB’s divas, and very rarely left the recording studio without laying down something heavy.

Today’s selection is the party (or more appropriately PAARTY) side of a very excellent two-sided killer on the People label from 1973 (the flip being a fantastic ballad that I simply must feature here sometime soon).

‘We Want to Parrty Parrty Parrty’ is marked not only by one of Miss Collins’ patented intros (she wasn’t called the Female Preacher for nothing) but a very tasty, heavy electric piano groove. The JBs line up for some of that razor sharp wah wah guitar, high stepping drums and perfectly arranged horns.

Things are a little bit slower than some of her better known 45s, but they are also without a doubt funky, extremely danceable and filled with head nodding goodness.

Interestingly, the rhythm track was recycled as the b-side of a JBs 45 (retitled ‘Crossover’) on Polydor in 1977.

So pull down the ones and zeros, slap this one on your pod-thingy and let’er rip.

Your party guests will thank you.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (13)

By Larry, April 8, 2012 9:20 am

Johnny Otis

Listen/Download Johnny Otis Show – Keep the Faith Pt1

Listen/Download Johnny Otis Show – Keep the Faith Pt2

Greetings all.

I’m going to get the week started with an update of the medical situation here at the Funky16Corners compound.

I do so not only because many of you have sent along your prayers and good wishes for my wife’s health, but also because the next steps we take will likely effect the weekly workings of the blog*.

Back just before last Halloween my wife was diagnosed with leukemia.

It was, and has been for the last 5+ months been a rather harrowing roller coaster ride for the whole family, but especially Jen.

She has been facing cancer with a remarkable amount of courage.

The next few months will see us moving on to the next, crucial stage in her treatment, a stem cell transplant.

This is not only time consuming (in the hospital for nearly a month and then a few months of frequent outpatient visits) but – as you might imagine – a very serious medical process.

We have been extraordinarily lucky that Jen was able to find a stem cell/bone marrow match in a fairly short period of time, unusual because she doesn’t have any siblings (the first place they generally look to for a transplant).

Jen will be getting her transplant from an unrelated donor.

The donor pool needs to grow so that when people are in need of transplants the doctors have a large and diverse field of samples in which to find a match.

Getting tested for inclusion in the pool is short and painless process.

The bigger (and more diverse) the donor pool is, the greater the likelihood that someone else will be able to find a match and survive leukemia.

If you have the time, watch the video for the Be The Match foundation and/or follow the link to their site.

Once there you can read up on your read ups, register to become a donor (they send you the kit) and increase the possibility that someone out there will find a match.

I’m telling you from personal experience, this is very important, and you can change someone’s life without any risk to your own.

Today’s selection is appropriate not only because the title of the song has become a motto of sort for Funky16Corners, but particularly because the last several months have been all about keeping the faith.

When we marked the passing of the mighty Johnny Otis back in January, I made mention of (but did not own, at the time) the 45 you see before you today.

An unusual omission, when you think of it, since the title is practically inscribed on the Funky16Corners coin of the realm, and it is undeniably an exceptionally groovy bit of soul.

Though Johnny Otis hit the charts consistently in the late 50s and then again a decade later, the period in between produced some remarkable sides.

‘Keep the Faith Pts 1&2’ is one of those classic sounds that skirt the border that runs (and fluctuates) between soul and funk. It is also something that might to lesser ears be filed under ‘novelty’, solely on the basis of the numerous direct and indirect quotes (musical and lyrical) from the popular records of the day.

There are shouts to ‘Try a Little Tenderness’, ‘You Got Me Hummin’, ‘I’m Losing You’, ‘Knock On Wood’, ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor’, ‘Mustang Sally’ and in all likelihood a couple more I’m missing.

However – big however here – what you get on top of the references is a stellar vocal by Johnny himself (where a few years later you’d probably be hearing Delmar Evans), sweet female backing harmonies, some nice, hard drums and a delicious bed of greasy organ.

You also get (this starting to sound like a Ginsu knife commercial yet?) is a very groovy Part 2, in which the offering is mostly (but not entirely) instrumental, the bottom a little more audible and young Shuggie gets to drop a lick here and there.

This is one of those records I am honestly shocked is not a much bigger deal (Part 1 or 2) with the collectors, and the DJs and the dancers.

Eldo is an interesting label in that the bulk of its releases fall between 1960 and 1962, and the rest after it appears to have been reactivated by Otis for a short time in 1968 (when ‘Keep the Faith’ dropped) with a couple of sides by Johnny and a couple by Gene ‘The Mighty Flea’ Connors.

The later stuff isn’t terribly common or cheap, but their not crazy expensive either, falling into that gray area between your run of the mill collectors and (probably ignored by) the high-dollar ballers who think it beneath them to drop anything less than a fat wad on a 45.

It is exceedingly cool, hot enough for any soul night and anyone that says different is gonna get a poke in the eye.

There, I said it.

Dig it, and I’ll see you when I see you.

Peace

Larry

*Though I’m not 100% sure what I’m going to do yet (this is all a day to day process) I suspect that I may have to reduce the posting frequency for a time

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

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, April 5, 2012 4:24 pm

Bobby Byrd

Listen/Download Bobby Byrd – Back From the Dead

Greetings all.

The end of another week is here, and so is your weekly helping of soulful goodness in the form of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. We take to 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 fall by the blog and grab the show (or any of the previous 100 episodes) in MP3 form.

The tune I bring you today comes from late in the career of one of my favorite funky singers, Mr Bobby Byrd.

Though he is best known as a part of the James Brown galaxy of stars, Byrd recorded today’s selection under the auspices of Henry Stone’s Florida-based TK label.

Byrd recorded some of the finest non-James Brown JB-related 45s of the 60s and early 70s.

Among them was the epic, hard charging and undeniably ass-kicking ‘I Know You Got Soul’ (later flipped and reworked by no less than Eric B and Rakim) ‘Hot Pants – I’m Coming, I’m Coming’ as well as all manner of right-hand-man-isms alongside the Godfather himself (‘What you g’on play now? Bobby I don’t know, by whatsoever I play it’s got to be funky!).

Byrd was an original member of the Famous Flames, a pianist and a great, rough-edged singer.

It’s almost impossible to separate Bobby Byrd from the mighty James Brown, but that that’s what happened in 1973 when Byrd left the fold and went out on his own.

He recorded for a few different labels before ending up on the TK subsidiary International Brothers in 1974.

‘Back From the Dead’, co-written and produced by none other than Clarence Reid is a slightly slicker confection than folk used to his King sides might expect. It is a little jarring to hear Byrd working outside of the familiar James Brown aural landscape, but he works well with the proto-disco of the TK crew.

You also get to hear Bobby drop gems like

‘Like a vampire from a horror movie, girl you gave me something groovy!’
‘Brought me back from the dead!’

Whether or not the title of the song was supposed to be prophetic is tough to say. Byrd either entered or orbited near the Top 40 more than half a dozen times during the James Brown years. After leaving his last two charting singles (of which ‘Back From the Dead’ was the final one) hit #82 and #57 respectively.

Bobby Byrd (who was married to another JB stalwart, Vicki Anderson) passed away not long after Brown in September of 2007.

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, April 3, 2012 1:04 pm

Azie Mortimer

Listen/Download Azie Mortimer – Prove It

Greetings all.

How about a little sister funk to get you through the middle of the week?

I have my man Tony Crampton to thank for this very tasty slice of vinyl as he dropped it on me last year out of the goodness of his heart (along with a few other killers).

Always happy to pick up another 45 on the mighty Okeh label, I was also happy to finally hear the voice of Azie Mortimer.

Her name was very familiar but I had never heard her music.

Mortimer’s discography (mostly 60s) was not extensive, and from what I can tell she spent a fair amount of time recording as a jazz singer, which makes ‘Prove It’ all the more surprising.

Hailing from the late end of the Okeh catalog (it was released in late 1969 or early 1970 and is the second to last single they issued) ‘Prove It’ is a funky mover (dig that thick and juicy wah wah guitar). Mortimer has a rich, sexy voice and the production by Don Clay is excellent.

Clay was a Chicago-based writer/producer that worked for a variety of local labels (including Chess) during the 60s. According to Robert Pruter’s excellent ‘Chicago Soul’ Clay worked as Azie Mortimer’s road manager and producer in the late 60s, taking what was basically a singer with a jazzy inclination and pushing her (wisely it seems) to do harder, more soulful material for his own Number One label (which also featured sides by Roy Hytower among others) and then for Okeh.

She only recorded two 45s for Okeh (and only one more after that that I’m aware of).

I’d love to know more about her.

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, March 20, 2012 10:12 am

Fugi hits the Top 30 in the Motor City!

Listen/Download Fugi – Mary Don’t Take Me On No Bad Trip

Greetings all.

I hope the middle of the week finds you all well.

The tune I bring you today is one that was a long time fave but a more recent acquisition.

I first heard Fugi’s ‘Mary Don’t Take Me On No Bad Trip’ back in the early 90s when Rhino included it on one of their ‘In Yo Face’ comps (the very same one that introduced me to Laura Lee’s ‘Crumbs Off the Table’, still a huge fave).

I had no idea who Fugi was, but the very groovy mixture of funk and psychedelic rock was amazing and I filed it away in the to-be-dug file.

Unfortunately, there it remained for a long-ass time.

It was only a few years ago that a reasonably priced copy popped up on a friend’s set-sale list and I grabbed it.

Fugi (or Fuji as he is sometimes billed) was in fact singer/somgwriter Ellington Jordan, co-composer of the Etta James classic ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’.

His backing band on the track was a Detroit group otherwise known as Black Merda (who also worked previously as the Soul Agents, backing Edwin Starr).

‘Mary Don’t Take Me On No Bad Trip’ was a regional hit in Detroit in the fall of 1969 (check out the survey below where no less an act than the mighty Funkadelic were nestled securely in the Top 10), never really breaking anywhere else, no doubt doomed by the fact that the record was so difficult to pin down stylistically.

The 45 definitely comes swirling out of the same musical zeitgeist as Hendrix and the Band of Gypsys, Funkadelic, Whitfield-era Temps and lesser known groups like Iron Knowledge (‘Showstopper’) and Curly Moore and the Kool Ones (‘Funky Yeah’).

That said, there is no denying that ‘Mary Don’t Take Me On No Bad Trip’ is a decidedly kick-ass affair.

Fugi also recorded an LP’s worth of material for Chess/Cadet that went unreleased at the time, but was later issued by Tuff City/Funky Delicacies.

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, March 15, 2012 2:48 pm

Leon Spencer 1945-2012

Listen/Download Leon Spencer – Message From the Meters

Listen/Download Leon Spencer – The Slide

Listen/Download Melvin Sparks (feat Leon Spencer) – Thank You Pt1

Listen/Download Melvin Sparks (feat Leon Spencer) – Thank You Pt2

Greetings all.

It is – as always – time to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the airwaves of the interwebs this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t join us at airtime, make sure to fall by the blog and pick yourself up an MP3 of the show (or dip into the extensive Radio Show archives with almost 100 past episodes).

I had something else planned for today, but last night word started to filer through the haze of the interwebs that one of my favorite past masters of the Hammond organ, the mighty Leon Spencer, had passed away.

I have yet to locate any real details, but when I do I will pass them on.

Spencer may not have been a household name (except for my house, maybe) but he was a very important figure of the crucial, funky, soul jazz years of the late 60s and early 70s.

He only recorded a few albums as a leader (between 1971 and 1974) but was a very prominent sideman on Prestige and Blue Note dates, backing cats like Lou Donaldson, Melvin Sparks, Rusty Bryant, Gene Ammons and others.

I’m posting four cuts for your listening pleasure today.

The first two (recorded 12/7/70) , Spencer’s cover of “Message From the Meters” and his original “The Slide” appeared on his Prestige LP, ‘Sneak Preview’. The all-star group, featuring Melvin Sparks, Idris Muhammad and Grover Washington Jr really bring the funk on the Meters tune, and get to settle into a more relaxed groove on ‘The Slide’.

The third features an example of Spencer’s work as a sideman (recorded 9/14/70*), backing Sparks (again with Muhammad) on his ‘Sparks’ LP, covering Sly and the Family Stone’s ‘Thank You (Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)’. I’m posting both halves of the 45 since you get to hear Spencer stretch out a little bot more on part two.

Leon Spencer had a fluid, economical style that always demonstrated an ability to weave in and out of the groove. His playing was clearly deep inside the soul jazz “thing” while also being consistently inventive, something that cannot be said of all organists active in the period.

He will be missed.

See you on Monday with some more soul.

Peace

Larry

*Trumpeter Virgil Jones appears on both dates as well

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, March 8, 2012 5:14 pm

Playlist

Jenny Misty – Nature Boy- Breakout
Earnest Jackson – Funky Blackman (Stone)
Bill Withers – Kissing My Love (Sussex)
Talmadge Armstrong – You’ve Got So Much Feeling (In Your Love) (Love Records)
Sir Wales Wallace- Whatever you Want (Innovations 2)
Big John Hamilton – Just Seeing You Again (Minaret)
Alex Williams & The Mustangs – Thrill Aint Gone ( Jewel)
Ernest Johnson – Old Man Blues (Steph and Lee)
Rickey Calloway – Paid My Dues Part. 1 (Super Records)
Fabulous Counts – Rhythm Changes (Westbound)
Jimmie (The Shiek) Green – Let Yourself Go (Stringer)
Stage Three- Don’t Ever Go Home (Zelia)
Wisdom – Nefertiti (Adelia)

Listen/Download -The Wiz – Mixed by Tarik Thornton – 48MB Mixed Mp3/160K

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here and I have a very special treat for you all.

But first – as is always the custom – I simply must remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be blowing up the intertubes this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. Or, should you be unable to attend at the time of broadcast, you can always drop by this very spot to grab yourselves an MP3 of this (or any of the previous ninety-some) week’s show.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Also, I don’t usually do a whole ot of plugs here, but I got word that the BBC is doing an hour-long radio documentary on one of my all-time faves, the mighty Wilson Pickett, featuring interviews with folks like Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, Bobby Eli, Willie Schofield, Eddie Floyd, Sir Mack Rice, Rick Hall, and Spooner Oldham and the whole thing is narrated by none other than Roger Daltrey.

It will be broadcast on BBC2 (for you good folks in the UK) on Monday March 12th at 10pm and will also be available on their listen again feature on their website for the following 7 days.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Now, back to the treats.

If you are a regular attendee of the festivities here at the Funky16Corners you will already be familiar with the mixing/digging prowess of my man Tarik Thornton.

Tarik has contributed to both of the previous Funky16Corners Soul Club Allnighters, as well as dropping one of his live sets from the Hip Drop.

Tarik is a very solid cat and it should go without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that I hold his musical taste in high esteem.

The mix he brings us today is his latest excursion, this in a down-to-mid-tempo style, entitled ‘The Wiz’.

I’m always down to listen to any of Tarik’s mixes, but this one is extra groovy.

Despite my obvious love for hard charging bangers (funk and/or soul) I have a highly developed taste for the somewhat more laid back side of funk (see ‘Easy Mover’ just added to the Guest Mix Archive), in the “it doesn’t have to crack you over the head to bring the funk” school of thought.

That is the vibe of ‘The Wiz’ with some stuff straight out of the old school, some of slightly later – how the kids say “modern soul’ bag – and some very tasty breaks as well.

He doesn’t belabor the point either, bringing the whole thing in at around a tight 40 minutes.

Give this one a spin with the lights down low.

I know you’ll dig it.

See you on Monday.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, February 28, 2012 1:59 pm

Adriano Celentano enjoys a snake and some poison for lunch.

Listen/Download -Adriano Celentano – L’Unica Chance

Greetings all.

I should begin today by saying that things around here have gotten especially hairy these last few weeks.

My interweb/tech travails will already be old news, and I’m happy to say that thanks to pushing my already rattled brain to the breaking point, we should be back on a fairly solid footing. We’re not at 100% yet, but getting closer every day.

On the home front, the treatment regimen for my wife seems to be headed in a new, slightly more convoluted direction. The part of this that affects us here – aside from my own ability to function under practical and emotional stress – is that the upcoming treatments are likely to occur at a remote location, some 90 minutes away from home, necessitating a great deal of travel.

I only mention this because there may soon come a day when the posting schedule at Funky16Corners is curtailed while we take care of more important things.

So that’s where that’s at…

_______________________________________________________________________________

One of the great by products of Facebook is that I get to experience the excellent musical taste of many of my friends (many of whom are also DJs/collectors and/or bloggers).

One day last year one of these friends (I wish I could remember who) posted a clip of a black and white Italian TV show from the 70s that featured Lola Falana (hubba hubba) and a cat by the name of Adriano Celentano.

I had no idea who Celentano was (though he looked like the kind of guy that would play an early 70s TV mobster), nor was I aware that Lola had herself a whole second career in Italy as a TV personality.

So, Lola and Adriano start off in a comedic sketch of sorts (I don’t speak Italian, but the audience was laughing) then all of a sudden a very funky bass line starts and their dancing and lip-synching to a very funky track.

I initially assumed that this was someone else’s tune that they were dancing to, but after a littler research discovered that it was in fact Celentano’s record, and that it was called ‘L’Unica Chance’.

Of course I wanted my own copy, but assumed that I’d never find one here in the US, and previous interactions with the Italian post office did not bode well for an international purchase.

Fortunately for me I ended up finding a copy at a shockingly low price (and in wonderful condition) from a seller here in the US.

Celentano – as it turns out – was a huge star in Italy, recording music since the 50s in a wide variety of styles.

He was also a successful film and TV actor and director.

I have no idea how something as groovy as ‘L’Unica Chance’ got made, but I’m glad that it did.

Released in 1973, it features that fat, funky bass, some very cool wah-wah guitar and organ.

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, February 26, 2012 4:02 pm

The People’s Choice

Listen/Download -The People’s Choice – Do It Any Way You Wanna

Greetings all.

Welcome to another week at the Funky16Corners!

First, a very brief technical note, it occurred to me that if you use the RSS feed you’ll have to reset the link you use, as the feed has changed.

The tune I bring you today is one of those records that should have been glaringly obvious (or at least it seemed so when I finally heard it) but I managed (in classic Larry Grogan fashion) to find my way there by the most circuitous route possible.

I first knew the People’s Choice via their early 70s 45s for the Phil-LA of Soul label (‘I Likes To Do It’ was R&B Top 10 in 1971), which were very early digging scores of mine during the first days of my Philly obsession.

Then, a few years later my man Tony C dropped a mix with a track that blew my mind, which opened up with a stunning version of this song (later featured in this very space after I managed to get my grubby little fingers on a copy of my own) by Louie Ramirez on Cotique (which can be heard in this past Friday’s Funky16Corners Radio Show).

It was only after that, that during a bit of dusty, outdoor, flea market digging that I happened upon a copy of the record you see before you today, which is of course the original (hit) version of the song by the People’s Choice.

As soon as I gave it a spin it was obvious that I had indeed heard it before, which spurred me to dig out my Billboard R&B chart book, which confirmed that ‘Do It Any Way You Wanna’ was a number one R&B hit and Top Ten pop hit in the summer of 1975, right smack in the middle of my AM radio listening years.

This is of course indicative of one variety of the diggers disease, wherein the obvious seems to get washed away in a torrent of obscurity, which happens to us all but still shames me when I manage to step in it (I really ought to know better).

That all said, the People’s Choice version of ‘Do It Any Way You Wanna’ is a prime piece of funky disco (disco-y funk?) with enough heat for the dance floor and enough edge for the ears, which goes a long way in explaining why it was such a big hit.

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (10)

By Larry, February 19, 2012 3:15 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 had some other things planned for today, then while I was out running errands I drove past a church with a sign up about Ash Wednesday, which meant only one thing to my deeply lapsed, heathen, ex-Catholic self (I’m so far gone I usually don’t catch on until I see people walking around with ashes on their foreheads), that being that Mardi Gras was at hand.

Despite my obvious affinity for and devotion to the music of New Orleans, for some reason I have a fairly consistent mental block when it comes to remembering Mardi Gras.

It seems that every single year it comes into my sightline either on the day of or after and I end up sitting here like a schmo wondering why I couldn’t get it together to commemorate that most significant of New Orleans-based festivities.

Fortunately, this year fate stepped in, I saw that sign and mixed you up a nice, spicy bowl of New Orleans funk and soul gumbo.

I don’t think there’s anything in this mix that hasn’t appeared in this space at least once over the years, but that shouldn’t stop you from digging in.

There are a few Mardi Gras-specific numbers here, including the record that gives the mix it’s title by Bobby Williams, the mighty Professor Longhair and ‘Big Chief’, the Dixie Cups and their Mardi Gras Indian chant Two Way Poc A Way’ and Earl King’s ‘Street Parade’.

There are also a grip of drum-heavy, NOLA party burners as well, powerful enough to get you up out of your seat and on to the floor.

I hope you dig the sounds and I’ll be back on Wednesday with something cool.

Also, don’t forget to check out the latest episode of the Funky16Corners Radio Show via the Flash player in the sidebar.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, February 5, 2012 1:23 pm

Listen/Download -Jesse Gresham Plus Three – Bust Out

Greetings all.

Welcome to another week here at the Corners.

The tune I bring you today is something I’ve had warming up my crates for many years, that I knew almost nothing about.

I picked up my first Jesse Gresham Plus Three 45, ‘Shootin’ the Grease’ way back in the way back, and dug it for its organ groove grease, but also because it was on a strange label (Head) with a Robert Parker hit (‘Barefootin’) inexplicably placed on its flip side.

A few years after that score, I happened upon today’s selection, ‘Bust Out’ and then later heard (but have yet to score a copy of) ‘The Penguin’.

‘Bust Out’ has always tickled my fancy because, in the late period Merl Saunders/Toussaint McCall stylee,  it features the keyboard player doing double duty on the organ and the electric piano.

I had been unable to find any information about Gresham, until I recently set to Googling and happened upon a page on the Mississippi Blues Trail site, where in an article about the Staple Singers, they happened to mention several other musicians who worked out of the Drew, Mississippi area, one of whom was Jesse Gresham.

The site mentioned that Gresham was a keyboard player, who also worked as a school teacher and who had become a minister.

I adjusted my search criteria, and found a comment on the mighty Home of the Groove blog from the researcher who had written the Blues Trail page, who fleshed out the Jesse Gresham Plus Three story somewhat.

Apparently Gresham and his band worked out of the Clarksdale, MS area and recorded their one session in Memphis, TN. The group featured Gresham on keys, Johnny Agnew on guitar, Larry Haggans on bass and Nathaniel Jefferson on drums (Agnew and Haggans get writing credit on this cut).

That the group’s entire output was limited to a single session isn’t surprising, since all that appears to exist is the two sides of today’s 45, plus two different edits of the song that appeared first as ‘Shootin’ the Grease’ and later as ‘The Penguin Pts 1&2’.

All told, for a three-song run, they were pretty much batting .1000.

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back on Wednesday with something cool.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, February 1, 2012 2:09 pm

Mr Don Cornelius

Listen/Download -The Ramrods – Soul Train Pts 1&2

Listen/Download -The Rimshots – Soultrain Pts 1&2

Greetings all.

I come to you on what would normally be a ‘between-posts’ day because the news came down today that the great Don Cornelius had died.

Cornelius was the host of the long-running ‘Soul Train’, the premiere showcase for black music on national TV in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

I spent many a Saturday morning watching the best dancers in America groove on the Soul Train line and listening to his deep, rich voice end every show with the phrase “You can bet your last money it’ll be a stone gas honey!”

Cornelius got his start as an insurance salesman, but moved into entertainment as a DJ on Chicago’s legendary WVON in 1966.

Soul Train started as a local Chicago show on 1970, moving into national syndication in 1971 (Cornelius was the host until 1993).

Though the theme that most people associate with the show is ‘TSOP’ by MFSB and the Three Degrees, which was the show’s theme from 1973 to 1975, the original theme was an unusual, very groovy, and totally recycled record.

The original ‘Soul Train’, as credited by the Ramrods was used as the theme to the show from 1971 to 1973. It may very well have sounded familiar to some of the older heads in the audience, because it had originally been released almost ten years before as recorded by the Rinky Dinks (actually a group led by King Curtis on guitar) under the title ‘Hot Potato’.

I had never heard this ‘version’ of the Soul Train theme until a few years after I picked up a copy of the Ramrods 45, when I saw a clip from the early years of the show and heard it playing in the background.

When it was released on Rampage records in 1972 under the Ramrods name, it grazed the R&B Top 40, remaining on the charts for several weeks.

That same year, the Rimshots covered the song and released their version on the All Platinum subsidiary A-1 records.

I present both two-part versions in full today in remembrance of the mighty Don Cornelius, and because they both represent a good, greasy, soulful groove.

He will be missed and we wish him love, peace and soul.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.