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By Larry, January 8, 2015 4:47 pm

The Glories being interviewed in 1967

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, in its regular Friday night 9PM bag on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there to listen at airtime, make sure you subscribe to the show as a podcast on iTunes, listen on you mobile device through the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

Today’s selection is one of those records that I first encountered on what can only be called an internal safari through my crates.

I was looking for something else, and happened upon an old UK comp of the Direction label (CBS and sub-labels in the UK).

When I realized that there were a few songs on the LP that I was not familiar with, I unsleeved it, slipped it under the needle and gave them a listen.

The one that really grabbed me is today’s selection, ‘(I Love You Babe But) Give Me My Freedom’ by the Glories.

Never having heard of the group before, I set out in search of information and (naturally) a copy of the 45.

The Glories, led by Florida-born singer Frankie Gearing recorded a handful of singles for the Date label in 1967 and 1968, of which ‘Give Me My Freedom’ was the first.

The group never had much success, with ‘Give Me My Freedom’ becoming a minor regional hit in the Northeast in the Summer of 1967.

Opening with a short, spoken intro, the song is soon off to the races with a fast, four on the floor dance beat in the Motown stylee.

Gearing lays down a very solid lead vocal, with some very nice harmonies by the rest of the group.

This is yet another record that should have been a hit, but it appeared in a crowded field, with no less than five female-led soul singles competing with it for chart space.

One of their last 45s was a cover of ‘Dark End of the Street’, recorded in Memphis with Chips Moman at the board.

The Glories eventually morphed into the group Quiet Elegance, who recorded eight singles for Hi between 1972 and 1977.

‘Give Me My Freedom’ is both excellent, and inexpensive (unlike their Northern fave ‘I Worship You Baby’ which can be quite costly), so grab yourself a copy for your box and start dancing.

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.

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By Larry, January 6, 2015 1:05 pm

Richard ‘Popcorn’ Wylie

Greetings all.

The record I bring to you this fine day is one of those elusive 45s that I knew about and dug long before I was ever able to lay my hands on a copy.

‘Maybe So, Maybe No’ by the New Holidays was the fifth of six 45s (seven but one was issued twice) on Tony Hester and Richard ‘Popcorn’ Wylie’s Soulhawk imprint.

Released in 1969, it was the first of two 45s (the second issued on Westbound in 1970) by the New Holidays, James and Jack Holland, Maurice Wise and (at least on this track) ex-Contour Joe Billingslea.

Almost all of the tracks recorded on the label were Wylie/Hester compositions, with artists like Jimmy ‘Soul’ Clark, Eric and the Vikings, The Mighty Lovers and Third Party.

Wylie had gotten his start at Motown, as part of Popcorn and the Mohawks, also working as a songwriter and session musician. After parting with Motown, he went on to found his own labels, one of which was Soulhawk.

‘Maybe So, Maybe No’ is one of records that immediately seems like it must have been a hit, yet the luminous, imaginatively arranged slice of sweet soul made no noticeable impact outside of Detroit where it was a minor local hit in late 1969/early 1970.

The song makes an impact from the very start, opening with piano glissandos, and heavily reverbed (and slightly off-key) wordless vocals. The band, featuring bright rhythm guitar accents and a tastefully restrained horn section lays down a solid foundation under wave after wave of group harmony.

I especially dig when the group starts chiming like a bell, before returning to the verse.

The flipside, ‘If I Only Knew’ is pretty cool as well, on a more upbeat tip, though it doesn’t approach the trtranscendent nature of the A-side.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 4, 2015 2:15 pm

Messrs Baker, Bruce, Bond and Heckstall-Smith

 NOTE/UPDATE 01/05/15 – Thanks go out to Nick Rossi for hepping me to the fact that the version of ‘Wade In the Water’ released in the US by the GBO was recorded just after Jack Bruce had departed the group (Jan ’66) for greener musical pastures. The version of the group featured on this 45 includes Graham Bond (covering the bass with his left hand) , Ginger Baker, Dick Heckstall-Smith, and new member Mike Falana on trumpet. Nick  also pointed me in the direction of this excellent Graham Bond discography.

Greetings all.

I thought I’d start the new week with some hot and heavy Hammond action.

The Graham Bond Organization’s version of ‘Wade in the Water’ had been on my want list for years, and I only managed to score a copy a few months ago.

I’ll go ahead and assume that many of you are unfamiliar with Bond, one of the key figures of the 1960s UK R&B movement.

He got his start on saxophone (much like Charles Earland in the US) eventually moving onto the organ, which became his signature axe.

The Graham Bond Organization is not only worth knowing for the music they made during their relatively short time together, but because of those that made it. Joining Bond, and saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith were two youngsters who would go on to (much) bigger things, Jack Bruce on bass, and Ginger Baker on drums.

That rhythm section would have a tumultuous relationship from their earliest collaborations, on through Cream and that band’s reunion in the 2000s.

‘Wade In the Water’, the oft-covered spiritual was recorded by the Organization in 1964 and released in the US on the Ascot label in 1965.

Opening and closing with organ work by Bond that suggests a Hammer horror film as much as a sweaty R&B basement club, the tune soon swings into action, with stellar work by the whole band, but especially Bond and Baker, whose thunderous drumming is particularly well recorded.

The flip side is a slow, vocal reading of the blues standard ‘St James Infirmary’.

Withing a year and a half, Bruce and Baker would join Eric Clapton in Cream, and Bond continued a truncated version of the Organization and would eventually reappear in Ginger Baker’s Air Force, as well as making a few solo LPs before is suicide in 1974.

Fortunately for us all, he left a trail of hard-hitting wax in his wake.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 1, 2015 12:50 pm

Greetings all.

I shall once again remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night on Viva Radio. You can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device through the TuneIn app, or help yourself to an MP3 here at the blog.

I thought I’d end the week on the kind of up note that you could stuff in your ears and carry to whatever party you’re heading to.

The Soul Brothers Six are one of those soul groups that is in the required acquisition category, i.e. if I find it, I buy it.

Like most folks my age, I found my way to the SB6 via the bare-chested wailing of Grand Funk Railroad, who had a hit with their 1974 cover of the group’s ‘Some Kind of Wonderful (a hit for the SB6 in 1967), and I’m not ashamed to say that I still dig the stadium stomp of their version, too.

That said, someone (I do not recall who) posted a video a few years back, of what appeared to be an indie film about the SoCal mod scene (‘We Are the Mods’) . It was visually arresting (with the mod girls and the scooter and all that) but what really grabbed me was the song that was playing in the background of the club scene.

I did a little digging and discovered that the tune I was hearing, ‘Thank You Baby For Loving Me’ was a Soul Brothers Six record (from 1968) that I hadn’t heard before.

Written by group member Charles Armstrong, ‘Thank You Baby For Loving Me’ is fast moving (dig that bass) dancer that contains everything that made the Soul Brothers Six such a great group.

There’s the rawness of gospel, street corner harmony, old time soul shouting and that gritty guitar that you hear on so many of their records.

The chart prospects of the SB6 were a thing of the past by the time ‘Thank You Baby…’ came out, but the record almost seems too raw for 1968.

A few years later, John Ellison would go solo, and soon after that would reconstitute the SB6 on Phil LA of Soul and GRT.

You used to be able to pick up a couple of their 45s on the cheap, but those days appear to be gone.

So dig the tune, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

See you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 31, 2014 12:10 pm

Miss Della Reese

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

Originally posted in 2011…

Note: It was indeed a very good year. Funky16Corners celebrated its 10th anniversary, the music kept flowing and all was well.

I thought it would be cool to repost this banger to ring in the New Year.

I hope you all had an excellent 2014, and I look forward to more music in the coming year.

Happy New Year!

Keep the Faith

Larry

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 30, 2014 11:23 am

Greetings all.

Today’s selection is another lesson from the chapter where the old sage tells you to remember to flip over those 45s.

If memory serves, I first encountered the Magictones via Odub’s Soul Sides, where I was knocked on my ass by the epic breakbeat that opens their 1970 cover of the Parliament’s ‘Good Old Music’.

Naturally, I set out in search of my own copy. It took me a little while to file it, bit when I did I w as happy as the old record collecting clam, because there was almost as much heat on the b-side as there was on the top.

There, opposite ‘Good Old Music’ was a fantabulous, funky bit of sweet soul. ‘I’ll Make It Up To You’, opens with psychedelic sounding guitar, which is soon joined by electric sitar, and some tight drums. The Magictones themselves soon follow with some delicious harmony singing.

The group, Virginia McDonald, Tyrone Douglas, Tyrone Berkeley and Calvin Stephenson (and several other members over the course of their career) recorded just over a dozen 45s for six different Detroit labels between 1965 and 1972.

“I’ll Make It Up To You’ was recorded and released in 1969, and was a regional hit in Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

It is a very groovy record indeed, and I hope you dig it.

See you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 25, 2014 1:08 pm

Mamie Galore and Dee Irwin

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, and so is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. This week’s show features the Best of 2014 (Part two to follow next week). If you can’t be there at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab yourself and MP3 here at the blog.

Today’s selection is yet another chapter in the ever unfolding saga of Dee Irwin.

The more of his records that I track down (whether billed as Big Dee Irwin, Dee Ervin, or Dee Erwin), the more I understand that he was both an excellent singer, and songwriter.

The record I bring you today, ‘All I Want For Christmas is Your Love’ was the b-side of the first of three duet 45s that Irwin would record with Mamie Galore for the Imperial label in 1968 and 1969.

Recorded with Monk Higgins in Chicago (and written by Higgins as well), ‘All I Want For Christmas Is Your Love’ is a slow, mellow tune, with solid vocals by both Irwin and Galore, and a nice arrangement by Higgins (listen hard for the lead guitar and the backing vocals, both subtle but excellent).

Both Irwin and Galore are singers that deserve to be better known. They both have impressive discographies (albeit spread over a number of 45s), both worked as both vocalist and songwriter, but neither ever really broke through to a wider audience.

‘All I Want For Christmas Is Your Love’ is the perfect soundtrack to that mellow, post-presents chill time, so dig it, and I’ll be back 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.

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By Larry, December 23, 2014 11:37 am

Greetings all.

The middle of the week is here, and so (almost) is Christmas.

Today’s selection is a record that I’d heard of before, but only put my hands on a copy earlier this year.

‘Christmas in Viet Nam’ by Johnny & Jon was released at the height of the war in 1966.

It’s a slow moving bit of deep soul, with great trade-off lead vocals, pulsing bass, dirge-like organ and cool guitar.

Johnny & Jon were John Wilson and John Wessler, and per the always reliable Sir Shambling, they only ever laid down this one 45.

There were a grip of Vietnam War-related soul records, including ‘The Lonely Soldier’ by Mike Williams, ‘A Soldier’s Prayer’ by Archie Bell and the Drells, and ‘Marching Off to War’ by William Bell among many others.

There were actually (at least) two other records called ‘Christmas in Viet Nam’,one by Private Charles Bowens (on Rojac) and another by the Soul Searchers (probably a gospel outfit, not the DC group, on the Peacock subsidiary Song Bird).

The subject matter is a little grim, but it’s a great song, and a stark reminder that with every war, families are separated, and that we ought to think of those that can’t be with their loved ones at this time of year.

So dig the tune, have yourself a Merry Christmas (if you celebrate).

I’ll see you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 21, 2014 12:41 pm

Baby Washington

Greetings all.

Today’s post begins our second week of Christmas-related soul, and what better way to start than with a tasty 45 by the great Baby Washington.

Justine ‘Baby’ Washington started her career in the mid-50s as a member of the Hearts, then an early incarnation of the Jaynetts before embarking on a solo recording career that lasted three decades.

Baby Washington had a string of R&B hits that lasted from 1959 to 1980, the bulk of them recorded for the Sue label.

Today’s selection, ‘White Christmas’ was originally issued on Sue in 1966 (with ‘Silent Night’ on the flip), then issued again on Veep in 1967.

Washington’s version of ‘White Christmas’ chugs along at a mid-tempo pace (the bass and drums are DEEP) with a great lead vocal, and some cool backing vocals.

The arrangement (by Frank Williams) has enough kick for the dancers, with some brass and strings mixed just enough to be noticed, yet not so much that the grit disappears.

What’s interesting is that the original Sue release is much sparer affair, with the strings, horns and backing singers added on for the Veep issue in 1967.

I’m still undecided which version I like better. If you go back and listen to the original, it has a great, basic soulful kick which I dig. However, the additions on the version I’m posting here today never rise to the level of gilding the lily, having been applied wisely.

All I know, is now I have to go out and find a copy of the Sue version.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 18, 2014 1:44 pm

Freddy King

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show Christmas Special! Join me this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio for an hour of the best soulful and funky Christmas tunes. If you can’t join me at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device through the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

I thought it would be cool to close out the week with a Christmas 45 by one of my personal favorites, the mighty Freddy King.

Freddy King was a master of the guitar who recorded a grip of very tasty blues, R&B, soul and funk records between 1960 and his untimely death in 1976.

He got his start recording for the Federal label, racking up an impressive string of R&B hits in 1961 (four Top 10 hits that year!) including his debut hit ‘Hideaway’ (a big influence on the British R&Beat crowd) and ‘San-Ho-Zay’.

He recorded for Federal and King through the ’60s, eventually moving on to Cotillion and then Shelter.

King was – like Albert Collins – a cat who is thought of today as a blues player, but was much more than that, recording searing rock and R&B, soul and even funk, eventually settling into a blues groove late in his career.

His Federal 45s are indispensable, and ought to be grabbed whenever they are encountered in the field.

Though he was nothing if not prolific, it would appear that his 1961 45 ‘I Hear Jingle Bells’ b/w ‘Christmas Tears’ was his only holiday effort.

Opening with (naturally) a quote from ‘Jingle Bells’, soon followed by King’s high, clear tenor, some piano and his own razor sharp guitar, ‘I Hear Jingle Bells’ is a rocking pleasure from start to finish.

Freddy King was a badass of the first order, and if you get a chance you should shuffle on over to Youtube and check out his performances on the mid-60s TV show ‘The Beat’.

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll see you with some more Christmas ish 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.

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By Larry, December 16, 2014 10:22 am

Minnie Riperton

Greetings all.

Our soulful Christmas grooves continue today with a very nice piece of Chicago soul.

The Gems recorded a handful of 45s for the Chess label between 1963 and 1965.

Asa group, they are of particular interest for including in their midst the mighty Minnie Riperton.

The group started out (and initially signed to Chess) as the Lovettes, changing their name to the Gems in 1963.

They recorded one 45 before original lead singer Vandine Harris left the group and was replaced by Riperton.

‘Love For Christmas’ is a particularly groovy tune, and 45, since the flipside ‘All Of It’ is basically a non-holiday recasting of the same song.

Featuring a very nice lead by Minnie, and great harmonies by the group, ‘Love For Christmas’ manages to tread the line between straight soul and holiday novelty (jingle bells and whatnot) quite nicely.

After leaving the Gems, Riperton recorded two 45s for Chess under the name Andrea Davis, before moving on to join Charles Stepney’s progressive experiment, the Rotary Connection, alongside Sidney Barnes, and recording a half-dozen albums between 1967 and 1971 (and then on to her own solo career).

It is a groovy 45, and not at all expensive, so go out and grab one for your own record box.

I’ll see you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 14, 2014 11:51 am

Greetings all.

As the posts of the next few weeks will attest, I actually made an effort this year to gather some holiday-appropriate 45s in preparation for Christmas. Previous years have seen me discussing my malfeasance in this regard, but as the years have passed, I’ve made a slow, almost imperceptible k-turn, making sure that I stuff my Christmas crate as full as possible so that the blog and the radio show are both properly stocked.

I actually enjoy Christmas-oriented soul and funk, and god knows there’s plenty of it out there for those that are willing to explore.

I actually found today’s selection out in the field, whilst digging with my son.

There were already a couple of J Hines (with the Boys and the Fellows) 45s in my crates, so when I encountered ‘A Funky X Mas To You’, I had to grab it sight unheard (as it were).

Hines was very interesting character, coming out of the Carolinas to work with Roy C up in the NY area (there’s a great piece on him at Red Kelly’s Soul Detective site), recording a handful of 45s in the late 60s and early 70s.

He actually had a minor R&B hit with the extremely funky ‘Camelot Time’ (as J Hines and the Fellows) in 1973, making it to #71).

Though I haven’t been able to find a reliable discography, it would appear that ‘A Funky X Mas To You’ was probably issued in the early 70s.

Featuring Hines’ swinging guitar, and some groovy lyrics (“A big black Santa Claus,with a funk sack on his back!”), the song also features some nice horns and organ.

I really dig it a lot, and thought it’d be a great selection to kick off our holiday selections this year.

I hope you dig it too, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday with some more.

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.