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By Larry, December 15, 2016 2:02 pm

Ike and Tina with one of the various iterations of the Ikettes

Listen/Download – Ike and Tina Turner and the Ikettes – I Want To Take You Higher MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which arrives each and every Friday laden with the finest in soul, funk, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can (and should) subscribe to (and rate) the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device with Stitcher, TuneIn or Mixcloud, or grab yourselves an MP3 right out of the Radio Show Archive right here at Funky16Corners.com.

The discography of Ike and Tina Turner is a very deep well indeed, into which we have dipped (and will continue to dip) repeatedly over the years.
During their long marriage and musical collaboration (both tempestuous) Mr and Mrs Turner made some of the heaviest R&B, soul and funk created during the 60s and 70s.

Tina had (and has) one of the great soulful wails, and Ike had remarkable musical instincts, as a composer, bandleader and producer (so remarkable that he ought to be remembered for his music as much as hs is for his reckless personal life and habits).

Today’s selection is a 45 pulled from their 1970 LP (in which the Ikettes get co-billing) ‘Come Together’, which featured a number of Ike Turner originals alongside covers of the Rolling Stones (Honky Tonk Women), the Beatles (Come Together) and the song you see before you today, Sly and the Family Stone’s ‘I Want To Take You Higher’.

Ike and Tina, having already borrowed from Sly (the riff from ‘Bold Soul Sister’ having originated in Sly’s ‘Sing a Simple Song’), return to his catalog for a straight cover.

The Ike and Tina take on ‘…Higher’ is hard-hitting, with Tina trading lines with the Ikettes, a heavy bass, wah wah guitar and a well-placed horn section.

The arrangement isn’t much of a departure from the OG, but you get to hear Tina working it out in place of Sly, and a solid guitar solo from Ike.
I was surprised to discover that this 45 was actually something of a hit, grazing the R&B Top 20 and making it into the Pop Top 40 in the Summer of 1970.

It is further testament to the heaviness of Ike and Tina, collectively and as individual giants of soul.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 13, 2016 12:02 pm

The Glass House

Listen/Download – The Glass House – Crumbs Off The Table MP3

Greetings all.

One of the first funky records I really fell in love with back in the day was Laura Lee’s epic ‘Crumbs Off the Table’, a record that still holds firm place in my all-time Top 10.

It is one of the finest productions to emerge from the house of Invictus/Hot Wax, Holland/Dozier/Holland’s amazing, post-Motown operation.

It was a few years after digging that record that I happened upon the 45 you see before you today, a version of the very same song by a group called the Glass House.

The Glass House version is not only the original recording of the song (written by H/D/H under the Ronald Dunbar/Edith Wayne psuedonyms), predating Laura Lee’s release (on the Hot Wax label) by three years. It was also the very first 45 released on Invictus after H/D/H’s break with Berry Gordy and Motown.

The Glass House was composed of Scherrie Payne (sister of Freda), Ty Hunter (who had been in the Originals) , Pearl Jones (who had recorded as Barbara Mercer) and Larry Mitchell. They were formed in 1969 and recorded two albums and a grip of 45s for Invictus between then and 1972, and during that period placed five records in or near the R&B Top 40.

‘Crumbs Off the Table’ was their biggest hit, making it into the R&B Top 10 (Pop #60) in the late Summer of 1969.

Their version of the song is very cool, edging over into funkadelic territory with some twangy guitar and a funky groove. Things are taken at a more relaxed pace than the Laura Lee version, and it has a great lead vocal by Scherrie Payne.

Of the group, only Scherrie Payne recorded extensively after their dissolution.

Edsel Records in the UK did a very nice reissue of the group’s two albums (plus bonus tracks) in 2010 and there is a solid Best Of available in iTunes.

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

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 11, 2016 12:15 pm

Trudy Pitts looking badass!

Listen/Download – Trudy Pitts – Bucketful of Soul MP3

Greetings all.

I come to you today after a brief dip in my Hammond crates, after which I surfaced with the record you see before you clenched in my teeth (not really, but you dig, right?).

I am always happy to come across a groovy organ 45, but a little more so when it turns out to be evidence of the small but very cool sorority of female Hammond slingers (which also included Shirley Scott, Bu Pleasant, Rhoda Scott, and Merritt Hemmingson).

Trudy Pitts was one of the finest members of that group, as well as being part of the slightly larger group of Philadelphia-based organists (Jimmys Smith & McGriff, Charlie Earland e.g.) , of which there are/were many.

Pitts was born in 1932 and started recording in the early 60s, often with her husband, Bill Carney (often billed as “Mr C”) on drums.

Today’s selection, a Bucketful of Soul’ originally appeared as on the 1968 album of the same name, on which Mr C gets equal billing, and the couple was joined by soul jazz guitar master Wilbert Longmire.

The tune is a groover, with Carney and Longmire providing a base on which Pitts was able to solo extensively (even though the track is only three minutes long, edited down to about a minute shorter than the LP version), and stylishly.

‘Bucketful of Soul’ is a great example of mid-60s Hammond, never getting too far out, but definitely packing a more modern punch than the more R&B, or straight jazz sounds of a few years earlier.

Pitts recorded four albums for Prestige in 1967 and 1968, went on to guest on a number of Rahsaan Roland Kirk LPs in the 70s, and continued to play and record until here death in 2010.

Her LPs can be difficult to come by, but are all worth picking up. There was a CD reissue of a bunch of her Prestige material with Pat Martino, but it appears to be out of print. Some of her later, self-released albums are available in iTunes.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 8, 2016 2:27 pm

Listen/Download – Ann Mason featuring Little Mac and the Boss Sounds – You Can’t Love Me (In the Midnight Hour) MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, and so is your weekly dose of the Funky16Corners Radio Show, coming to you with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via Stitcher, TuneIn and Mixcloud or grab an MP3 out of the archive right here at Funky16Corners.com

The tune I bring you today is one of those excellent 45s from the classic soul era that, despite having more than one international issue at its time of release, carries in its wake little to no information about the artists.

You have heard both sides of this 45 on the Funky16Corners Radio Show (and in various mixes here at the blog) over the years, both the groovy organ instro by Little Mac and the Boss Sounds (actually the A side of the record) and the side I bring you today, ‘You Can’t Love Me (In the Midnight Hour)’ by Ann Mason.

Released in 1965, it is in most ways an answer record to Wilson Pickett’s huge hit of that year, but is also basically just that song with new lyrics.

There is literally nothing out there about Ann Mason.

The assumption has always been that she was from the Carolinas, much like the backing band that was led by Little Mac, aka Billy Mack aka Billy McDougal, a blind organist and singer from Greensboro, NC.

That said, it would appear that she never made another record (as opposed to Mack/McDougal who made several).

Her performance is powerful and self assured, and the record has been a dance floor favorite in the UK and France, both countries that saw issues of this 45 (on Atco).

As I mentioned, Little Mac made a bunch of his own records (under a couple of names), one of which I will drop here in the near future.

Until then, if you have any information about Ann Mason, please drop me a line.

I hope you dig the tune and have yourself a great weekend.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 6, 2016 7:14 pm

Up All Night With Freddy King!

Listen/Download – Freddy King – Funky MP3

Greetings all.

Freddy (Freddie) King was a blues master.

At least that’s what the title of his 1969 album said.

But King was much more than that.

If you have been a reader of the Funky16Corners blog for a while, you will have seen Freddy King’s stuff posted on the blog and played on the radio show.

He is a big fave of mine, from his influential early hits like ‘San-Ho-Zay’ and ‘Hideaway’all the way up to his Shelter Records albums.

King was, like Albert Collins, much more than a straight “blues” player, delving into R&B, soul and rock, and on today’s record, funk.

Recorded in 1969, with King Curtis’s band (the King co-wrote the song as well) augmented with cats like David ‘Fathead’ Newman, James Booker and Melvin Lastie, ‘Funky’ is a hard-charging instrumental that sounds like someone covered ‘Memphis Soul Stew’ with rocket fuel and lit it up.

The drumming by NY sessioner Norman Pride is rock solid (listen to that bass drum!) and King’s guitar is razor sharp.

King’s (who was also an outstanding singer) guitar playing was powerful, economical, and imaginative, and his influence on a generation of white (mosty English) guitar players cannot be overstated.

He even gets a namecheck in Grand Funk Railroad’s ‘We’re An American Band’!

Sadly, king passed away at the age of 42 in 1976, by all accounts having worked/partied himself to death (working 300+ dates a year and consuming more alcohol than food).

His work is pretty easy to put your hands on, on vinyl and digitally (his Federal/King, Cotillion and Shelter stuff is available in iTunes) , and if you’re not hip, you should get so, ASAP.

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

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 1, 2016 11:29 am

Cody Black

Listen/Download – Cody Black – Stop Trying To Do What You See Your Neighbor Do MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is nigh, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops each and every Friday (on iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, Mixcloud and Funky16Corners.com) with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl.

We end the week with a later side from one of those singers beloved by the Detroit aficionados on the UK soul scene (yet barely here in the US).

Cody Black came up in Ohio (not far from King Records) , but did the bulk of his recording for a variety of Detroit labels from 1961 into the mid-70s.

His work is of a consistently high quality, yet he never really had more than regional success (in and around Detroit) until he was discovered by the Soulies in the UK.

Today’s selection ‘Stop Trying To Do What You See Your Neighbor Do’ was released in 1970 on Capitol, produced by Ted White (the former Mr Aretha Franklin) and co-written by Black and Tony Johnson (of Tony and Tyrone).

‘Stop Trying…’ was recorded in the Motor City yet has many of the hallmarks of Southern soul from around the same time.

The relaxed, yet slightly funky beat, the piano, bass and guitar are all very cool, and the female backing singers drop in at all the right times.

Black has a cool, slightly raspy and very flexible voice.

The flipside, ‘Ain’t No Love Like Your Love’ has more of a gospel flavor to it (so much so that I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a reworking of an actual gospel song).

He recorded a series of singles with White’s Stone’Roc outfit in 1969 and 1970, and doesn’t seem to have entered the studio again until the late 70s.

Black’s 45s from this era are fairly cheap and easy to find, unlike his earlier Northern sides, many of which are very rare, and very, very expensive.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, November 29, 2016 1:05 pm

Jackie’s back!

Listen/Download – Jackie Lee – African Boogaloo MP3

Greetings all.

Jackie Lee should be a very familiar name to those of you that hit Funky16Corners on the reg, considering how many times his sounds have appeared in this space, in mixes or on the podcast.

He was one of the truly great figures of the Los Angeles 60s soul scene, on his own, as half of Bob and Earl, and under a variety of pseudonyms.
You can brush up on his history here and here.

That all said, today’s selection is one of the very first Jackie Lee 45s that I ever popped into my crates, and it is one of his funkiest.

‘African Boo-ga-loo’ was released in 1968, and bears the fine pedigree of having been written by Earl Nelson (aka Jackie Lee himself), produced by Fred Smith (one of the signature producers on the LA scene) and arranged by James Carmichael (right up there with Fred Smith).

It was also one of his bigger hits, having grazed the R&B Top 40 in the Spring of 1968 as well as finding some regional Pop success in New York and New Orleans.

It has that patented, stylish LA sound, with a very heavy bass line, some groovy organ, sax and harmonica, and some cool female backing vocals.
Jackie is – of course – in fine shape, and he delivers the Jerry-O-esque lyrics with verve.

He would duplicate his success a few years later with the funky ‘The Chicken’ on UNI (which made a similar shot at the R&B charts and strangely enough more regional success in New York).

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

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, November 27, 2016 12:24 pm

The Queen and the King: Richard and Jimi, on stage

Listen/Download – Little Richard – I Don’t Know What You’ve Got, But It’s Got Me Pt1 MP3

Listen/Download – Little Richard – I Don’t Know What You’ve Got, But It’s Got Me Pt2 MP3

Greetings all.

It occurred to me that today (11/27) was the birthday of none other than Jimi Hendrix.

Though I have always been a huge fan of Jimi’s post-Blue Flames work (i.e. Experience/Band of Gypsys), this being the Funky16Corners blog, we have dedicated ourselves to the soulful side of things, and Jimi had himself some experience (pun intended) on that side of the stylistic fence as well.

So much so, that I dedicated an entire episode of the Funky16Corners Radio Show to Jimi’s early work (and his influence on the soul and funk world) this June.

Of the early records included in that broadcast, my favorite – because it represents an intersection of two of the great musical forces of the second half of the 20th century – is Little Richard’s 1965 ‘I Don’t Know What You’ve Got, But It’s Got Me Pts 1&2’.

Recorded in a NYC session with Hendrix, Don Covay (the author of the tune), Billy Preston, and Bernard Purdie, ‘I Don’t Know What You’ve Got, But It’s Got Me’ is a beautiful, gospel-inflected slice of deep soul, showing a side of Little Richard you don’t get to hear too often.

Little Richard represents something deeper than mere music for me. He is an elemental force, tying together rock, soul, R&B and gospel and his cultural impact was immeasurable.

He is best known as a screamer and a shouter (of which there were none better), but to hear him open up and get deep like he does in ‘I Don’t Know What You’ve Got, But It’s Got Me’ is something special indeed.

Though Hendrix plays on the tune, this is in no way a guitar tour de force, which is cool because he would do plenty of that later on, but the way the guitar winds in and out of the fairly spare mix, and the almost funereal horn section is wonderful.

Richard spends the first half of the record delivering a straight up ballad (with someone, maybe Covay, singing backup deep in the mix). The second half opens with a monologue by Richard, which gets melodramatic, and edges right up to the border of hysterical, yet gets reined in before dropping back into the song.

It’s another one of those records that demands repeated listens.

I love it.

I’m also including the link to the entire episode, where there are a number of other early  45s where you can hear Jimi clearly.

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Show #319. Originally broadcast 06/10/2016

The Soul Roots of Jimi Hendrix

Don Covay – Mercy Mercy (Rosemart)
Isley Brothers – Testify Pts 1&2 (T-Neck)
Little Richard – Dance a Go Go (Vee Jay)
Little Richard – I Don’t Know What You’ve Got (But It’s Got Me) Pts 1&2 (Vee Jay)

Ray Sharpe – Help Me (Get The Feeling) Pts 1&2 (Atco)
Billy LaMont – Sweet Thang (20th Century Fox)
Lonnie Youngblood – Go Go Shoes/Go Go Place (Fairmount)
Lonnie Youngblood – Soul Food (That’s What I Like) (Fairmount)
Lonnie Youngblood – Goodbye Bessie Mae (Fairmount)

Johnny Jones and the King Casuals – Purple Haze (Brunswick)
Booker T and the MGs – Foxy Lady (Stax)
Kossie Gardner – Fire (Dot)
Phil Upchurch – Crosstown Traffic (Cadet)
Rotary Connection – Burning of the Midnight Lamp (Cadet Concept)
Ellen McIlwaine – Up From the Skies (Polydor)
Idris Muhammad – The Power of Soul (Kudu)

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, November 24, 2016 9:11 am

Mmmmmmmm!

Greetings all!

This collection of food-related mixes first dropped here on Thanksgiving 2011.

It’s been such a harrowing couple of weeks, that I thought I’d re-post something fun to go along with your Thanksgiving feast!

Don’t forget to dig into the Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast, dropping this Friday (subscribe in iTunes, listen on Stitcher, Mixcloud or TuneIn)!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, have a great weekend with your friends and family, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

 
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Funky16Corners Radio v.3 – Soul Food (That’s What I Like) Pt1

Track listing

Brother Jack McDuff – Hot Barbecue (Prestige)

 Soul Runners – Chittlin’ Salad Pt1 (MoSoul)

Lionel Hampton – Greasy Greens (GladHamp)

Albert Collins – Cookin’ Catfish (20th Century)

Andre Williams – Rib Tips (Avin)

Maurice Simon & The Pie Men – Sweet Potato Gravy (Carnival)

Mel Brown – Chicken Fat (Impulse)

Lonnie Youngblood – Soul Food (That’s What I Like) (Fairmount)

Prime Mates – Hot Tamales (Sansu)

Just Brothers – Sliced Tomatoes (Music Merchant)

Leon Haywood – Cornbread and Buttermilk (Decca)

Bobby Rush – Chicken Heads (Galaxy)

Booker T & The MGs – Jelly Bread (Stax)

Gentleman June Gardner – Mustard Greens (Blue Rock)

West Siders – Candy Yams (Infinity)

Hank Jacobs – Monkey Hips and Rice (Sue)

George Semper – Collard Greens (Imperial)

Billy Clark & His Orchestra – Hot Gravy (Dynamo)

Listen Download Mixed MP3

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Funky16Corners Radio v.9 – Soul Food Pt2

Playlist

1. Simtec Simmons – Tea Box (Maurci)

2. Johnny Barfield & The Men of S.O.U.L. – Soul Butter (SSS Intl)

3. Ronnie Woods – Sugar Pt2 (Everest)

4. Stan Hunter & Sonny Fortune – Corn Flakes (Prestige)

5. Fabulous Counts – Scrambled Eggs (Moira)

6. Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band – Spreadin Honey (Keymen)

7. Freddie Roach – Brown Sugar (Blue Note)

8. Albert Collins – Sno Cone Pt1 (TCF Hall)

9. Chuck Edwards – Chuck Roast (Rene)

10. Willie Mitchell – Mashed Potatoes (Hi)

11. Booker T & The MGs – Red Beans & Rice (Atlantic)

12. Righteous Brothers Band – Green Onions (Verve)

13. George Semper – Hog Maws & Collard Greens (Imperial)

14. Lee Dorsey – Candy Yam (Amy)

15. Roosevelt Fountain & his Pens of Rhythm – Red Pepper Pt1 (Prince Adams)

16. Bad Boys – Black Olives (Paula)

17. Willie Bobo – Spanish Grease (Verve)

18. American Group – Enchilada Soul (AGP)

DOWNLOAD – 39.3 MB Mixed MP3

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Funky16Corners Radio v.60 – Finger Lickin’ Good!

Funky16Corners Radio v.60 – Finger Lickin’ Good!

Playlist

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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.

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By Larry, November 22, 2016 10:17 am

Miss Sharon Jones

Listen/Download – Sharon Jones – Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In MP3

Listen/Download – Sharon Jones, Lee Fields and the Dap-Kings – Stranded In Your Love MP3

Greetings all.

This has been an exceptionally tough couple of weeks (this is the fourth memorial post in a row).

Sometimes it feels like the universe is out to get us.

Among the many losses, and in many ways the most painful, was the passing of Miss Sharon Jones.

Jones, the brightest light of the modern funk/soul world, and front woman for the mighty Dap-Kings lost a long battle with cancer at the age of 60.

Jones, who only really got to start climbing the ladder of musical success at the age of 40, had worked as a corrections office in Rikers Island in NYC and an armed guard, before joining up with Daptone.

She was born in Augusta, GA (There was a time…) and sang her entire life, fronting wedding bands and wailing in choir lofts, all the while stretching and honing her powerful voice.

Starting in 1996 she recorded a hot string of 45s and LPs, and became the most famous proponent of the classic soul revival (I’m sure there’s a better term, but I have neither the time nor the energy to hash that out right now), working her way up from the clubs to worldwide fame, backed by the hottest band in the land.

My feelings about the various and sundry modern acts working the classic style have wavered between indifference and pure joy, but I can assure that Miss Sharon Jones brought nothing but the latter.

I was never fortunate enough to see her and the Dap-Kings live, but their recorded work has brought me much pleasure over the years.

The two tracks I bring you today are longtime favorites of mine.

The first is Jones reworking of Bettye Lavette’s 1968 arrangement of Mickey Newbury’s ‘Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)’*.

Released in 2004, it is a smoking take on the song (taking it just a touch faster than Lavette) , with Jones singing beautifully all the way through.

The second is a duet with another soul survivor, Lee Fields (Jones was discovered singing backup on a Fields session), and as a perfect example of ‘revivalist’ soul that meets and exceeds the quality of the music from the classic era.

‘Stranded In Your Love’ (which appeared on the 2005 album ‘Naturally’), is an epic (nearing 6 minutes) duet that starts out with a little spoken back and forth between Jones and Fields, but then drops down into a deep, deep number.

The singing, playing (by the Dap-Kings) and the song itself (beautifully written by Gabriel Roth) are simply remarkable. Had this record come out in 1968 in a limited run of 500 copies, modern day collectors would be killing each other to get a copy.

It’s one of those records that I absolutely need to listen to more than once when I put it on. It hits all of those pleasure centers in the brain, and is a reminder of just how good soul music can be.

There is so much painful irony in the fact that Sharon Jones was taken from us just when she was reaching her peak, but sometimes that’s how it is.

We can be thankful that she left behind so much great music.

She will be missed.

See you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

*Listed on Newbury’s album as ‘Just Dropped In’, Lavette’s 45 as ‘What Condition My Condition Was In’, on the First Edition hit with the parenthetical phrase, and on the Sharon Jones 45 without parentheses…

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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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, November 17, 2016 11:56 am

Esquerita aka the Magnificent Malochi

Listen/Download – The Magnificent Malochi – Mama Your Daddy’s Come Home MP3

Listen/Download – The Magnificent Malochi – As Time Goes By MP3

Greetings all.

I will begin, as I always do on Friday by reminding you to twist the dials of your Radiola to tune in the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops each and every Friday with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl.

This week’s show is a very special (and special format) tribute to David Mancuso, so make sure to subscribe in iTunes, or listen on TuneIn, Stitcher, Mixcloud or grab and MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com

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Billy and Miriam in their natural environment
(photo by Eilon Paz from the mighty Dust & Grooves book) and Kicks (inset)

This has been an exceptionally harsh week for music fans, losing Leon Russell, Leonard Cohen, Mose Allison, and Norton/Kicks co-founder Billy Miller, who passed away after a heartbreaking battle with diabetes and cancer.

It pains me to have to write these memorials, but if you what I do you kind of have to. We  pay tribute to our fallen heroes in the hopes that by putting it out into the universe, someone, somewhere will come to know them, or know them better.

While I wouldn’t say that I knew Billy very well, he was a presence in my life for close to 30 years, and via the work he and his wife Miriam Linna did in the greatest zine that ever was, Kicks, he was a huge influence on my writing, musical/cultural sensibilities and continuous devotion to the DIY cause.

Back in the early 80s, when I was first discovering music in the realms of garage punk, rockabilly and R&B, fanzines were a major part of that discovery, and none was more important than Kicks.

Billy and Miriam created a road map to the forgotten wildmen and women of music and pop culture, infusing a trainspotter’s knack for arcana with a healthy dose of humor and boundless enthusiasm.

Though it should be clear to anyone that hits up either of my blogs or podcasts that this kind of stuff runs through my veins, back in the 80s that love was multiplied exponentially because it was infused with the excitement that comes from discovery and insatiable appetite for same.

Kicks was a bible for my friends and I, and as I started my own zines – which I have been doing on and off, on paper and on the interwebs for 32 years now – the style that Billy and Miriam created was a consistent touchstone. If you ever see me lapsing into the patois of a an early 60s overnight hepcat DJ (which I often do) that is 150% Kicks right there.

They were coolness personified, and a constant reminder that no matter how deep, or obsessed I would get about some things, I was never within a thousand miles of their level of devotion, knowledge or their reach when talking about it.

I only knew Billy in passing, having spoken to him briefly (and shared a bill once when our bands played together) a number of times over the years (including once, a million years ago in the Court Tavern where I broached the subject of what was – in retrospect – some painfully obvious rockabilly 45 that I had found, and Billy was kind enough to humor me, saying “Oh yeah, that’s a rare one.” without rolling his eyes), but because we connected on Facebook, and had a large number of mutual friends, I followed the progress of his illness, always hoping that he would turn a corner, level off and spend another 25 years filling the world with great music.

Sadly that turn never came, and he went on to join the departed heroes he sang the praises of in the great beyond.

Via Kicks and Norton, I was exposed to countless artists that I had never heard of (Hasil Adkins, Ronnie Dawson, and thanks to them the name Groovey Joe Poovey has been bouncing around in my brain for 30 years) and filled in the blanks of others that I knew but not well (especially Bobby Fuller and Andre Williams). But of the musicians that they championed and introduced to me, none looms larger than Esquerita.

Esquerita, aka Eskew Reeder was not only musically explosive/flamboyant, but visually as well, demonstrated by the fact that he became a kind of pictorial mascot for Kicks and Billy and Miriam’s monumental record/books label Norton (especially after their brush with destruction in Hurricane Sandy).

The connection is so deep for me, that I am unable to see a picture of Esquerita or play one of his records without thinking of Kicks/Norton.

The record I offer up today as a sort of New Orleans second line tribute to Billy (on the day of his homegoing) is an unusual, one-off (further) pseudonymous 45 by Esquerita, released under the name The Magnificent Malochi* (in a Kicks-ian coincidence, sounding like an old school, UHF-TV wrestler) in 1968, recorded in Los Angeles with Mac Rebennack and Harold Battiste (you can hear more about it in Funky16Corners Radio Show Episode #336, the New Orleans/LA Connection).

The first side, ‘Mama Your Daddy’s Come Home’ (written oddly enough by James Weatherly of the sunshine pop group the Gordian Knot?!?) is a stomping, gospel infused soul shouter.

The flipside is a deep, deep cover of the old standard ‘As Time Goes By’ (long associated with Dooley Wilson’s performance as Sam in the film ‘Casablanca’), which is delivered in an unforgettable style by Esquerita, sounding like he’d taken over the choir loft in a church for a little inebriated fun.

And what better way to pay tribute to a man that made it his life’s work to turn the world on to records like this?

So pull down the ones and zeros, and raise a glass tonight in honor of one of the great musical forces of late 20th (and 21st) century America. Send his wife and friends your sympathy, and know that he made the world a infinitely wilder, more fun, more musical place.

Adios, Billy.

See you on Monday

Keep the faith

Larry

• PS Thanks to my man Tarik Thornton for introducing me to the Magnificent Malochi 45

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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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, November 13, 2016 9:16 am

G.L. Crockett

Listen/Download – G.L. Crockett – Every Hour, Every Day MP3

Greetings all.

I hope that the new week finds you all well.

The record you see before you this fine day is something I picked up at a record show a long time ago, thanks to the presence of ‘It’s a Man Down There’, a Top 10 R&B hit in 1965 and an iteration of the Sonny Boy Williamson song ‘One Way Out’ that was redone to great success by the Allman Brothers a few years later.

While that particular track is a very groovy, very mellow Jimmy Reed-esque number with that juke joint drive, it is the flipside of the 45 that we gather to discuss.

‘Every Hour, Every Day’ is one of those records, like Tommy Tucker’s ‘Long Tall Shorty’ that takes a little time before it hits its stride, but when it does it is something else indeed.

‘Every Hour, Every Day’, which makes the most of a spare, almost rudimentary backing and rough hewn (very live sounding) production almost sounds like it’s being cranked to life like an old jalopy, but when it gets rolling it is a thing of beauty.

G.L. Crockett’s history is short, and comes to a sudden end a few years after his very short discography. He came to Chicago from Mississippi, and apparently had himself a hard-driving/hard drinking lifestyle, and he died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1967.

‘Every Hour, Every Day’ resides in the rarified zone where blues, R&B and soul dwell together, never settling firmly in any of them, yet transcending all of them.

Though the production style is similar to the A side, the feel of the record is marked by an unusual beauty. The backing vocals (sounding like one bass and one falsetto) complement Crockett’s voice which comes across like a very fine grade of sandpaper. The band, guitar, bass, drums and a very prominent tambourine, is stellar and the combination of instruments and voice is very nearly hypnotic.

I can imagine you might be tempted to slip this into a mid-tempo set, but I think that everyone would eventually stop dancing so they could concentrate on the music.

I think you’ll find yourself giving this one repeated listens.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.