Comments (0)

By Larry, January 10, 2016 2:47 pm

Chuck Brooks

Listen/Download – Chuck Brooks – Baa Baa Black Sheep MP3

Greetings all.

How about some nice, funky Memphis soul?

I forget where I first heard this 45 (I’m guessing on Facebook somewhere) but when I did, I knew I had to find myself a copy.

Chuck Brooks was a Memphis-based singer/songwriter who waxed 45s for AGP, Volt, Mercury, Chimneyville, and Malaco between 1969 and 1977.

Today’s selection, ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ was recorded/released in 1969, recorded in Memphis and produced by Tommy Cogbill.

It was also released in the UK that year on Dave Godin’s Soul City imprint.

A tough, funky number with some hard-hitting guitar, and organ, as well as a strong vocal by Brooks, ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ failed to hit the charts, though it certainly should have (his 1970 45 for Volt got some play in Philadelphia).

Interestingly enough, after his recording career, Brooks went into business with none other than Homer Banks, forming the Sound Town label, and co-writing, producing early 80s hits for J Blackfoot.

I hope you dig the 45, 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, December 27, 2015 11:22 am

King Solomon

Listen/Download – King Solomon with the Lad Teens Band – Louisiana Groove MP3

Listen/Download – King Solomon with the Lad Teens Band – My Dream MP3

Greetings all.

I wouldn’t normally whip something this heavy on you at the beginning of the week (being that most of us need a little bit of lead time to get the gears turning) but I figured if I held onto it any longer I might get burned, so…

I have to shout out to my man Kris Holmes how turned me on to this 45 a while back. It was one of those instances where I was blown away from the first listen, and set out immediately to find my self a copy for my play box.

It took a little while, but I finally landed a nice, clean copy of King Solomon’s ‘Louisiana Groove’, and I pass it on to you today.

Billed as ‘King Solomon with the Lad Teens Band’, ‘Louisiana Groove’ is an explosive slab of soul-on-the-way-to-funk, propelled by a churning, relentless rhythm guitar and a cascading horn line that pushes the tune to another level..

There appear to have been (at least) a couple of musicians operating with the ‘King Solomon’ handle during the 60s. The one on this record recorded for a number of labels during the decade, including Checker, Don J, and Cadillac.

The common thread on all of these 45s seems to be a writer/producer named Frank Wedlaw.

King Solomon appears to have been a cat named King Sylvester Lee Melicious Solomon, who got his start in Louisiana, moved to Chicago and ended up out west in LA.

I haven’t been able to nail the date on ‘Louisiana Groove’ but it sounds like 67/68-ish to me.

This Cadillac Records (another instance of multiple labels with the same name) seems to have been a Los Angeles imprint, with its only other release being a 45 by the Lad Teens (no apparent relation to the NY boogaloo group, the Lat-Teens on Cotique).

All of that taken into consideration, ‘Louisiana Groove’ is a uniquely powerful disc, guaranteed to light up the dance floor, and your ears (of course).

I’m also posting the flipside, ‘My Dream’ only because it’s really weird and a severe contrast to ‘Louisiana Groove’.

Tuff City’s Night Train label issued a King Solomon comp back in 2005 (though neither of these songs was included).

I hope you dig the sounds 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 (4)

By Larry, December 24, 2015 9:50 am

Funky16Corners Christmas Party!
Ike and Tina Turner – Merry Christmas Baby (WB)
Otis Redding – White Christmas (Atco)
Soulful Strings – Jingle Bells (Cadet)
Albert King – Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’ (Stax)
Felice Taylor – It May Be Winter Outside (But In My Heart It’s Spring) (Mustang)
Honey and the Bees – Jing Jing a Ling (Chess)
The Gems – Love For Christmas (Chess)
James Brown – Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto (King)
Charles Brown – Merry Christmas Baby (Jewel)
Count Sidney and the Dukes – Soul Christmas (Goldband)
Donny Hathaway – This Christmas (Atco)
Bobby Holloway – Funky Little Drummer Boy (Smash)
Clarence Carter – Backdoor Santa (Atlantic)
Harvey Averne Band – Let’s Get It Together This Christmas (Fania)
J Hines and the Boys – A Funky X-Mas To You (Nation-Wide)
Freddy King – I Hear Jingle Bells (Federal)
Dee Irwin and Mamie Galore – All I Want For Christmas Is Your Love (Imperial)
Johnny and Jon – Christmas in Viet Nam (Jewel)
John Lee Hooker – Blues For Christmas (Elmor)
George Conedy – El Nino Del Tambor (Kent Gospel)
Soulful Strings (feat Dorothy Ashby) – Merry Christmas Baby (Cadet)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Christmas Party 124MB MP3

Greetings all.

It is the end of the week, and so I will remind you to grab this week’s edition of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. This year, instead of a Christmas-themed show, you get the third and final part of the

History of Allen Toussaint. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile devicevia the TuneIn app, or grab yourself an MP3 at the blog.

_________________________________________________________

Since this week’s Friday post falls on Christmas Day, I thought I’d gather together a selection of favorites from Christmases past, and whip together a Funky16Corners holiday mix.

These should all be familiar, and there are a couple tunes that show up twice (vocal and instrumental), but they should provide a festive accompaniment  to the burning of the Yule log.

I hope you dig it, and whether you celebrate Christmas or not, that you have a fantastic day!

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, December 6, 2015 10:41 am

Bobby Keys

Listen/Download – Bobby Keys – Gimmie The Key MP3

Greetings all.

The track I bring you today is a record that I was after for a long time, and as is often the case, it kept slipping from my grasp until recently.

The rockers among you will likely be familiar with Bobby Keys as the sax player with the Rolling Stones and Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen (among many others).

The Texas-born Keys was a prolific sideman and studio head (check out his Wiki for an idea of the depth of his discography), and a frequent presence until his death last year at the age of 71.

In 1975 keys went into the studio and recorded a one-off 45 for Ringo Starr’s short-lived custom label, Ring’O records.

‘Gimme the Key’ is a testament to the popularity and influence of the Average White Band’s 1974 ‘Pick Up the Pieces’, to which this song is a not too distant cousin (keeping in mind that no less than James Brown felt the need to crank out an answer record with the JBs in disguise as the Above Average Black Band).

The tune opens with funky guitar and clavinet, chants of ‘Gimme the Key!’ followed of course by Keys’ instantly recognizable tenor saxophone.

It’s slick – but not too slick – funky, and danceable enough that one might suspect that it had its share of spins in the discotheques of the time.

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

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 (2)

By Larry, November 29, 2015 11:17 am

Skip Easterling

Listen/Download – Skip Easterling= I’m Your Hoochie Koochie Man MP3

Listen/Download – Skip Easterling – Ooh Poo Pah Do MP3

Listen/Download – Skip Easterling – Too Weak To Break the Chains MP3

Listen/Download – Skip Easterling – I’m Your Man MP3

Greetings all.

Late last week, while I was checking an old e-mail account and found a notification of a comment on the oldest version of the blog.

The comment itself was semi-cryptic, but when I followed it to the original post I realized that the commenter was telling me that James ‘Skip’ Easterling, one of the great blue-eyed soul singers out of New Orleans had passed away.

Oddly enough, initial searches turned up a death notice, but no mention in any of the local New Orleans papers (since remedied).

Easterling, long a favorite of mine had a recording career that lasted from 1961 into the mid 70s, making a string of 45s for New Orleans labels like Ron, Alon and Instant (he also had at least one self-released 45 that I’ve never heard).

Easterling got his start wavering between R&B and pop sounds, but by the time he went into the studio with Eddie Bo in 1967, he was firmly in the soul camp.

The record he made with Bo, ‘Keep the Fire Burning’ b/w ‘The Grass Is Greener’ is one of the finest mid-decade 45s to come out of the Crescent City, with a smoking dancer on one side and a heartfelt ballad on the flip.

Easterling’s sojourn with Bo was brief, and by 1970, he was in the studio with Huey Piano Smith, recording for Instant.

Smith’s late-period work for Instant is consistently good, and largely unheralded since so many of the post-3300 (catalog numbers, when Smith was doing most of his work for the label) 45s are very scarce (there are a bunch I’m still looking for).

Easterling’s first two 45s for Instant are his best, and oddly enough still fairly easy to track down.

His version of the old Willie Dixon standard ‘I’m Your Hoochie Koochie Man’ is a wild, smoothly funky reworking of the song that owes a debt to King Floyd’s ‘Groove Me’. The arrangement, with electric piano and tastefully applied horns (and flute!) is a subtle masterpiece.

The record was a hit in New Orleans and some other southern markets, but was sadly the high water mark of Easterling’s chart success.

The flip is a very nice version of Jesse Hill’s ‘Ooh Poo Pah Do’, which features a great vocal by Easterling and great playing by the band (listen to the electric piano ooze up through the mix).

His next 45 is one of those records that is painfully obscure, but ought to be regarded as one of the finest records to come out of New Orleans in the early 70s.

‘To Weak to Break the Chains’ (written by Huey Smith) combines, R&B, soul, funk and even a touch of timely psychedelia (dig that backwards guitar!), all wrapped in a stellar vocal performance by Easterling. The tune has an off-kilter, purely New Orleans rhythm to it, with some remarkable interplay between the drums, horns and rhythm guitar.

That record’s flipside, ‘I’m Your Man’ rolls in a slower groove, with some nice flute and vibes accents.

All told, Easterling laid down 15 (maybe 16) 45s in his career, and like so many great singers in New Orleans never really broke through outside the city limits despite the quality of his catalog.

He did continue to perform, appearing at at least one of the Ponderosa Stomp shows.

There was a UK compilation of his recordings that came out in the late 80s on the Charly label, but as far as I can tell, aside from some shady looking comps in iTunes, his work is almost completely out of print.

So dig these tunes, watch for a tribute on the Funky16Corners Radio Show in the new year, and raise a glass to a really groovy singer.

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 (4)

By Larry, November 8, 2015 10:49 am

Grant Green

Listen/Download – Grant Green – Sookie Sookie (45 Edit) MP3

Greetings all.

If you haven’t yet ingested your morning coffee, I’d hold off until after you’ve given today’s selection a spin.

I issue such a warning, because the record you see before you, Grant Green’s version of Don Covay’s soul classic ‘Sookie Sookie’ is one of the deepest, funkiest, dancingest, soul jazz grooves ever committed to vinyl.

Grant Green was of course one of the greatest jazz/soul jazz axemen of the 50s, 60s and 70s. He made a grip of classics for Blue Note as both a leader and as one of the label’s more flexible sidemen, and was hip enough that when jazzers started to whip a little soul and funk into the mix, he did it extraordinarily well. So much so that he has appeared here at Funky16Corners a number of times over the years.

‘Sookie Sookie’ – a 45 edit of the 11 minute plus track from the ‘Alive!’ LP, which was recorded in Newark, NJ in 1970 – is one of those records, like the Village Callers’ ‘Hector’ that is just about impossible to listen to without moving in some way, shape or form.

Naturally, any sane person would get up and dance, but head-nodding and foot tapping are also acceptable substitutes.

Featuring Ronnie Foster on organ (just listen to him pumping out the bass on his pedals) , Joseph Armstrong on congas and the mighty Idris Muhammad on drums, ‘Sookie Sookie’ is funky right out of the gate, and only gets funkier as it goes on.

Green plays around a little with the verse, but as soon as the chorus comes up, with a wave of Hammond organ, you know what song it is you’re digging.

The transition from the chorus into Green’s guitar solo (with some nice accents in the background by Willie Bivvens on the vibes) is tasty indeed.

Back in the early 90s, Us3 had themselves a hit when they pretty much lifted the whole song (I think would be unfair to call what they used a “sample”) and rebuilt it as ‘Tukka Yoot’s Riddim’ with toasting by Tukka Yoot (naturally…) over the top.

It is a heavy record, indeed. So get up on your desk and dance.

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, November 5, 2015 4:33 pm

Listen/Download – The Relations – Soul Train – Funky Monkey MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is rapidly approaching, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops into your ears (via the interwebs) every Friday (and – starting in December- once a month at SoulGuyRadio.com ). You can soak up the goodness by subscribing to the the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device through the TuneIn app, or grab yourself an MP3 out of the archive.

The tune I bring you today is one of those records that found its way into my crates via one of my many, odd collector obsessions, this one being “soul train” records, of which there are MANY.

The thing is, while many of these have something to do with, or were attempting to capitalize on the popularity of the TV show of the same name, many of them pre-date that show.

The concept of a train delivering the faithful to a better life/world has its roots (like much of soul music) in the gospel repertoire.

Through the 1960s and early 70s there were a bunch of “soul train” themed discs, many of which (including today’s selection) I collected in ‘Funky16Corners Radio v.24 Funky Soul Train’.

I can’t tell you much about the Relations ‘Soul Train-Funky Monkey’, other than it was put out by a record company in Queens, NY (Hollis in particular) in 1972.

It works in the patented recitation of various and sundry dance steps, led by a female singer and male backing singers.

The band is funky,with a piano and organ trading licks, and bass and drums laying the foundation.

As far as I can tell, this record went nowhere in particular, and is still a relatively easy pull for under $20.00.

So dig it – download that mix – and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, November 3, 2015 11:55 am

Listen/Download – The JC Band – Jim Jam MP3

Listen/Download – Jimmy Chandler – I Can’t Turn You Loose MP3

Greetings all.

The record I bring you today is one of those tunes that has a penumbra of information around it, i.e. plenty of circumstantial evidence as to its provenance, but very little that points to the identity of the band.

What I can tell you is that this track by the JC Band, appears on the flipside to a vocal by Jimmy Chandler, and appears on the Jersey City-based J-City label, any of which could hve provided the “JC”.

The record dates to sometime in the early 70s, and was written and produced by Paul Kyser and Tom Vetri, who worked with a bunch of acts out of Jersey City, NJ in the 60s and 70s, including the Nu Sound Express, Ltd., Jimmy Briscoe and the Little Beavers, the Ultimate Truth, Calender and Eight Miles High.

The J-City discography only runs for half a dozen 45s all in and around the same time period.

‘Jim Jam’ is a mid-tempo, funky instrumental with a tasty guitar lead, plenty of piano, bass and drums.

The flip sees Jimmy Chandler (another artist that didn’t leave much of a trail) laying down a nice version of Otis Redding’s ‘I Can’t Turn You Loose’, marred only by some weird, effects-laden guitar.

I hope you dig the track, and if any of you have any more info, please drop me a line.

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 (2)

By Larry, October 29, 2015 10:38 am

Eumir Deodato & Airto Moreira

Listen/Download – Deodato/Airto – Do It Again MP3

Greetings all.

An important programming note!

The end of the week approacheth, and changes are afoot!

The Funky16Corners Radio Show had a home on Viva Radio for nearly seven years. As of this week, that relationship is coming to an end, I will be leaving Viva, and the show will exist purely as a podcast.

I make this change reluctantly, but due to a string of unfortunate technical difficulties the show did not air in its time slot at least twice in a month, and my requests for explanations or guarantees that these problems would be fixed going forward have gone ignored.

As a result, the Funky16Corners Radio Show will continue to drop every week, on Friday. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or click on the link here at the blog and stream or download the episodes.

So stay tuned, keep digging the show, and I will keep you informed of any further developments.

___________________________________________________________

As a big Steely Dan fan, I can never get enough of cover versions of their songs (a few of which have appeared here before), and the one I bring you today is especially cool.

What you see before you is a 3:30 edit of the original 6:29 track recorded live by Eumir Deodato and Airto Moreira for the 1974 ‘Deodato/Airto In Concert’ LP.

This cut is yet more proof that if you aren’t down with the CTI sound, you are missing out some some of the grooviest, funky (and often smooth) jazz of the early 70s.

The arrangement (aside from its lack of voice) isn’t too far removed from the Steely Dan OG, with an extra layer of Fender Rhodes, plenty of percussion (Rubens Bassini and Gilmore Degap) and nice, heavy horn section.

The hot lead guitar is provided by John Tropea.

Interestingly, though they are billed equally on the cover, Deodato and Airto do not perform together on the record. Airto opened for Deodato at the Felt Forum date from which the performances were taken, and although their tracks are both included on the LP, there is no crossover.

That said, I dig Deodato’s stuff from the period, and this is a great example thereof.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, October 6, 2015 3:34 pm

Listen/Download – Larry Foster – Funky Belly Pt1 MP3

Listen/Download – Larry Foster – Funky Belly Pt2 MP3

Greetings all.

How about some tasty funk to get us all through the middle of the week?

I first happened upon Larry Foster’s ‘Funky Belly’ after picking up Warren Lee’s New Orleans-made, Meters-backed record of the same name from 1970.

In fact, Foster’s was the third ‘Funky Belly’ I added to my crates, following OD Williams song on the Bar-Bare label.

Though I haven’t ever found any specific information in this regard, the presence of three geographically close 45s with the same title around the same time, makes me think that there was in fact a dance called the “funky belly”, and that funky people on the Gulf Coast of the USA (specifically Mississippi and Louisiana) were doing it.

Foster’s ‘Funky Belly’ features some funky bass, wah wah guitar and pumping combo organ, and a high-tenor vocal by Foster.

Interestingly – and you should jet on over to my man Kris Holmes’ ‘Greenville and Beyond’ site – the Big Beat label was part of a Mississippi-to-Chicago connection covering blues, soul and funk.

While my guess would be that Larry Foster was in fact working in the Miss/LA area, and tapping into the ‘Funky Belly’ thing in the region, it would certainly be interesting if the dance craze (albeit on a very small scale) made its way up to Chitown.

That said, it’s a groovy little record, and I hope you dig it.

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 (1)

By Larry, September 13, 2015 11:22 am

Freddie Roulette

Listen/Download – Jackie & Tut – Hawaiian Punch MP3

Listen/Download – Jackie & Tut (feat. Herb Kent) – 10-2 Double Plus MP3

Greetings all.

I thought we’d start the week with a rather recent acquisition, one so groovy that I felt the need to bump it right up to the front of the line.

A while back someone posted Jackie and Tut’s ‘Hawaiian Punch’ on Facebook and I just about fell in love with it.

There’s a Latin phrase (which has popped up in this space before) ‘sui generis’, which is used to describe something that is unique, or in a class by itself.

‘Hawaiian Punch’ is mos def sui generis.

The first thing that grabbed me, aside from the steady groove, was the wobble-legged steel guitar lead, something I’m not accustomed to hearing on a funky record.

Sure, there are a handful of very groovy soul sides out there with pedal steel woven into the fabric, but this is the first one I’ve ever heard where it (though this is lap steel) used as a lead instrument.

The man behind the steel wasa Chitown cat named Freddie Roulette, who played locally (with Earl Hooker among others), eventually recording an album of his own – ‘Sweet Funky Steel’ – for Janus in 1973.

‘Hawaiian Punch’ was recorded in 1967 (you have to wonder if Robbie Krieger heard it before the Doors did ‘Moonlight Drive’) and released with a vocal, provided by none other than Chicago radio legend Herb Kent, on the flip called ’10-2 Double Plus’ (with Kent basically rapping over ‘Hawaiian Punch’). I tend to prefer the pure instrumental, but both sides are worth hearing.

The track is funky (thanks in large part to an absolutely titanic bass sound) and incredibly infectious. Put this one on at your next stein hoist and just try to keep the people from dancing.

Roulette continued to record in a wide variety of bands over the years, and is still active today.

I hope you dig the track, 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 (1)

By Larry, September 6, 2015 11:05 am

Little Charles and the Sidewinders

Listen/Download – Little Charles and the Sidewinders – Shanty Town MP3

Greetings all.

I thought we’d get the week off to a start with an old fave of mine.

Back in the day, my man Haim turned me on to all kinds of groovy records. We had very similar tastes so he was a fantastic digging partner.

One of the groups he put me on to was Little Charles and the Sidewinders.

Ironically, the song that first grabbed me is the one I’m still looking for, probably the group’s rarest side ‘A Taste of the Good Life’ on Decca from 1967.

The record I bring you today is yet another disc from the extremely brief discography of the Botanic label (seen here a few weeks back with Gary US Bonds).

Little Charles was Nashville-born singer Charles Walker, who got his start touring with JC Davis’s band, before taking some of the guys with him and forming the Sidewinders in 1966.

The group recorded a series of discs for Decca, Drum, Botanic and Red Sands between 1966 and 1971.

The funky ‘Shanty Town’ was released in 1970. Powered along by a pulsing bass line and a wailing vocal by Little Charles, ‘Shanty Town’ is a very groovy number. It was – like everything else on Botanic – produced by Jerry ‘Swamp Dogg’ Williams.

Though it didn’t make any impact, it’s flipside ‘Please Open Up Your Door’ (which was issued again on Red Sands in 1971) was a minor regional hit in the St Louis, MO area.

Little Charles took much of the 70s and 80s off, running an art gallery,before returning to musicin the late 90s, first under his real name Charles Walker, and then with Charles Walker and the Dynamites.

I hope you dig the sounds, and if you have a reasonably priced copy of ‘Taste of the Good Life’ laying around, please drop me a line.

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.