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By Larry, November 2, 2013 4:09 pm

Bobby Parker

Listen/Download Bobby Parker – Watch Your Step

Greetings all

This is a previously unscheduled post, prompted when word came down the line that the mighty Bobby Parker, creator of the 45 you see before – only one of the greatest ever – had slipped the surly bonds of earth and passed on to his great reward at the age of 76.

I first posted ‘Watch Your Step’ no less than eight years ago (!?!) when Funky16Corners was in its early days.

I couldn’t let the man’s passing go without re-posting this remarkable 45.

I’ll see you on Monday.

Larry

Originally Posted 9/19/05

>>I hope you’ve had your coffee….

Because this record is a floor filling, foot stomping, ass kicking, brain melting slice of blues power from which the faint of heart will not soon recover….

No, really… it’s that good.

This is one of those records that I’d read about for years (having been a major Beatles fan as a kid), but never got to hear until a few years ago (I only scored the 45 in the last month).

Did you download the track yet?

Go ahead…I’ll wait…

There. Now listen to that opening riff – ring any bells???

Hmmmm…. How about ‘I Feel Fine’ and ‘Day Tripper’ by the Beatles (or dare I say ‘Moby Dick’ by Led Zeppelin)??? This is the “UR” riff, from whence those songs sprung (after being reprocessed by John Lennon and Jimmy Page respectively).

I have to tell you. When I was 12 years old I used to play ‘I Feel Fine’ two or three times a day (It’s still one of my fave Beatle tunes), mainly because of the guitar riff, and to be honest, Bobby Parker’s original carries the Beatles version out into the alley and kicks the crap out of it.

Back in 1961, when Parker first unleashed this beast on the world, it didn’t make much of a dent in the charts*. That didn’t stop it from becoming a favorite of those in the know, spawning covers by The John Barry Seven, Spencer Davis Group, Billy Harner, Adam Faith, Tony Jackson, Manfred Mann, The Undertakers and The Walker Brothers (on their Japanese live LP)**, and making a lasting impression on the Beatles, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and Carlos Santana who reportedly decided to play the guitar after seeing Parker play.

That said, it would be unfair to end the story there, because no matter how many people stole the riff, no matter how many people cite Parker as a seminal influence (and he’s still playing today), to focus solely on the peripheral aspects of ‘Watch Your Step’ is to dance around the fact that it is an absolutely shit-hot record that in a just world would have been a huge hit.

Bobby Parker was born in Louisiana and raised in California (where he worked with Don & Dewey and Johnny Otis among others). He spent the 50’s touring with the likes of Bo Diddley, Jackie Wilson, and Paul ‘Hucklebuck’ Williams , and recorded his first record ‘Blues Get Off My Shoulder’ for VeeJay in 1958 (this is the record that Robert Plant has cited as the reason he started singing).

He relocated to Washington, DC in 1961, where he would build a rep playing local clubs. He waxed ‘Watch Your Step’ for Philadelphia’s V-Tone label (associated with the Len label) in 1961 (it was actually released twice in the UK, on London in 1961 and Sue in 1964).

The record opens with a fanfare (as any disc this mighty should), which is followed (after a short dramatic pause) by Parker’s smoking guitar, and the rolling, Latin-flavored drums (another part of ‘Watch Your Step’ that would end up in ‘I Feel Fine’).

Parker’s vocal – sounding like Ray Charles and Bobby Bland had a rocking baby – wails powerfully through the verses, being chased by the horn section. The tempo builds through the song as Parker is joined by backing vocals and a hot little sax solo. Parker has been described as a cross between Buddy Guy and James Brown, and it’s not hard to imagine him working up a sweat on stage with this one.

Parker would record sporadically through the 60’s, waxing a 45 (‘I Won’t Believe It Till I See It’ as Little Bobby Parker) for the ultra-rare DC soul label Shrine, where the Cautions would record a version of ‘Watch Your Step’.

He also toured in the UK where he would record for the Blue Horizon label in 1968 (the same label that released the earliest Fleetwood Mac albums).

Though he toured relentlessly (and was a major hit in DC area blues clubs), he wouldn’t record again until the early 90’s for the Blacktop label.

Keep an eye peeled for a PBS special called ‘John Lennon’s Jukebox’ which features a recent interview with Parker as part of a fascinating look into what Lennon was listening to during the Beatles peak years.

Keep the faith

Larry

*I was stunned to discover that ‘Watch Your Step’ did not hit the national R&B charts at all, hitting the pop charts regionally, almost exclusively on the west coast

*’Watch Your Step’ was also covered in the 70’s by Dr. Feelgood, in the 80’s by Santana, and in the 90’s by the Kaisers

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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, October 31, 2013 11:28 am

The Unifics

Listen/Download The Unifics – It’s All Over

Listen/Download The Unifics – It’s a Groovy World

Greetings all

The end of the week is upon us, and so I must remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also keep up with the show by subscribing as a podcast in iTunes.

Late last week I got word that Al Johnson, the lead singer of the mighty Unifics had passed away at the age of 65.

I’ve featured the Unifics here at Funky16Corners a few different times over the years.

Formed at Howard University (as Al and the Vikings)  in Washington, DC, they were one of the finest late 60s soul harmony groups, hitting the R&B Top 40 four different times (Top 10 twice) in 1968 and 1969.

The track I bring you today, ‘It’s All Over’ is one of my favorites from their 1968 LP “Court of Love’ (the title tune was their first, and biggest hit in 1968).

Check out the Unifics performing ‘Court of Love’ on TV:

Written by the group’s producer Guy Draper, ‘It’s All Over’ features a groovy arrangement, with pumping bass, understated horns and some great falsetto harmonies by the Unifics.

Johnson’s lead is typically wonderful and, the bass breakdown midway through the song is incredible.

The Unifics broke up in the early 70s, with Johnson going on to a career as a songwriter and producer.

I’m also reposting my fave Unifics track ‘It’s a Groovy World’.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, October 29, 2013 11:33 am

Soul City (above) Little Caesar (below)

Listen/Download The Soul City – Everybody Dance Now

Listen/Download Little Caesar and the Empire – Everybody Dance Now (Vocal)

Listen/Download Little Caesar and the Empire – Everybody Dance Now (Instrumental)

Greetings all

Welcome to the middle of the week.

The tune(s) I bring to you this fine day bring with them something of a mystery.

The world of soul is filled with re-used/repurposed backing tracks (check out the recent copycats/covers edition of the Funky16Corners Radio Show for some examples).

‘Everybody Dance Now’ by the Soul City is one of those explosive party-starters that soul collectors and DJs are always on the lookout for.

The first time I heard it (via Kris Holmes Sunday Shuffle show) I knew I had to have a copy for my box, and it didn’t take too long to score one.

I know nothing of the group, or the label, though the comments on the Youtube video of the flipside ‘Who Knows’ seem to indicate that the Soul City may have also recorded under the name The Royal Robins on the Tru-Glo-Town label.

Where it gets (more) interesting, is that while I was trying to track down info on the Soul City, I discovered that that there was another version of the song (employing the same backing track) by Little Caesar and the Empire on Cameo/Parkway.

It took me a little bit longer to track down a copy of that disc, but when I did I got a pleasant surprise indeed.

The Little Caesar and the Empire disc included an instrumental dub of the song on its b-side, making it a fantastic companion piece for DJs that might want to mix the vocal and instrumental together for the dance floor.

As it turns out, Little Caesar and the Empire were led by Robert ‘Bocky’ Di Pasquale, who had been the leader of the Ohio-based white R&B group Bocky and the Visions.

While I dig the vocal on the Soul City version a little bit more, Bocky acquits himself nicely, and I think either version would go over on the dance floor equally well.

The Soul City 45 was popular on the UK soul scene, being a popular spin at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester.

While these 45s don’t turn up that often, when they do they aren’t particularly expensive (though the UK issue of the Soul City 45 can get up there in price).

I hope you dig the sounds 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, October 24, 2013 9:18 am

Funky16Corners Presents:It’s Gonna Be Good!

Johnny Jones and the King Casuals – It’s Gonna Be Good (Brunswick)
Albert Collins – Cookin’ Catfish (20th Century Fox)
Chuck Berry – Club Nitty Gritty (Mercury)
Atlantics – Beaver Shot (Rampart)
Little Richard – Soul Train (Brunswick)
Bobby Hollaway – Corn Bread, Hog Maws and Chitterlins (Smash)
The Turtles – Buzz Saw (White Whale)
The Vibrations – Soul a Go Go (Okeh)
Benny Scott – Soul Beat (Brunswick)
Junior and the Classics – Mix Up a Go Go (Magic Touch)
Jon Lee Group – Pork Chops (Sparton)
Ricky Allen – Cut You a Loose (AGE)
El Dorados – The New Breed (Port)
Danny White – Cracked Up Over You (Decca)
Louis Chachere – A Soulful Bag (Forte)
Timmy Thomas – Have Some Boogaloo (Goldwax)
Toussaint McCall – Shimmy (Ronn)
Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers – I Gotta Go Now (Up On the Floor) (Like)

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents: It’s Gonna Be Good – 75MB Mixed MP3/256K

Greetings all.

I hope all is well on your side of the universe, and that you’re all ready for the weekend.

Don’t forget that the Funky16Corners Radio Show hits the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at the time of broadcast, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 (or two, or 100) out of the archive here at the blog.

A while back my man DJ Trick over in St. Petersburg, RU asked if I would be amenable to doing an interview and whipping up a mix that they could post in their ‘Grooves’ project*.

As someone who is always down with the cause of spreading the sounds of soul and funk all over the globe, I agreed and set to work.

As you will hear as soon as you pull the trigger on this one, I was in a particularly raucous mood that day, packing just about 40 minutes worth of sonic nitroglycerin into mix form and setting the fuse.

What you get here, is some of my favorite, high-octane soul shouters, organ burners, hardcore R&B and dance party starters, stitched together so that the assembled multitudes might cut themselves a slice of rug (and maybe spill a little beer, too).

If you haven’t sussed it out over the long haul, this is a pretty good approximation of the kind of set I’d throw down were I spinning in a live setting.

That said, this is perfect weekend stuff, so get your download on, and have yourself a party, Artie.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

PS They’re posting the interview over there, but it’s in Russian…
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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 20, 2013 12:41 pm

The Toys

Listen/Download The Toys – Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby

Greetings all

Welcome to another week of soulful excellence here at Funky16Corners.

The tune I bring you today is an old favorite of mine.

Truth be told, the first verison I heard – and still one of my favorites – was by Question Mark and the Mysterians.
‘Can’t Get Enough of You Baby’ was a top 50 hit for Rudy and the boys in 1967.

During the 1980s the song was covered by the UK group the Colour Field in a fairly faithful (to the Question Mark version) rendering.

What I didn’t know when I was spinning that one back in 1985, was that the song had a deeper history, having been recorded twice before the Mysterians got their hooks into it.

Written by Denny Randell and Sandy Linzer, ‘Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby’ was waxed twice in 1966, by the Four Seasons, and by the group I bring to you today, The Toys.

Known to most for their 1965 mega-hit ‘A Lovers Concerto’ (#4 R&B, #2 Pop), the Toys, Barbara Harris, June Montiero and Barbara Parritt had a run of singles from 1965 to 1968 for the Dynovoice and Musicor labels.

Their version of ‘Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby’ is taken at a slightly more relaxed pace that the Four Seasons version (with a much cooler, more restrained arrangement) with just enough kick to get the dancers moving.

Oddly enough, if you listen closely you can hear some talking in the background at the beginning of the track.

Since most subsequent recordings of the song were modeled on the Question Mark and the Mysterians arrangement, it was a little jarring at first not to hear the combo organ, but the throbbing bass and rhythmic piano more than make up for it.

Interestingly enough, while ‘Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby’ went nowhere, its flipside ‘Silver Spoon’ (like A Lovers Concerto, adapted from a classical piece, Beethoven’s ‘Pathetique Sonata’) scraped the outer reaches of the Top 100 in 1966.

The Toys last chart placing was a cover of Bryan Hyland’s ‘Sealed With a Kiss’ in 1968.

I hope you dig the tune, 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, October 13, 2013 12:08 pm

Geater Davis

Listen/Download Geater Davis – Don’t Marry a Fool

Greetings all

I thought we’d get the week started with some of that good, solid, stick to your ribs southern soul.

Thanks and credit go out to my man Kris Holmes, on who’s radio show (on Radio Ponsonby in NZ) I first heard today’s selection.

As has been discussed here before, I first found my way into the world of soul via its grittier, Southern variety, a la Stax, Goldwax et al.

The ensuing decades have brought all manner of soul and funk into my ears, but I always find myself rolling back to Memphis.

I don’t think I had ever heard anything by Geater Davis (though I knew his name) before Kris played this record on his show.

Vernon ‘Geater’ Davis was born in Texas in 1946, and recorded his first 45 (the one you’re listening to) in Memphis in 1970.

Davis recorded around two dozen 45s (for House of Orange, Seventy Seven, MT, Luna and Sunbelt) and a pair of LPs between 1970 and his untimely death in 1984.

He had a fantastic, bluesy voice with a gritty texture he could turn on and off at will, sounding at times like a deeper-voiced Bobby Bland.

‘Don’t Marry a Fool’, co-written by Davis and Reuben Bell, mixes bluesy guitar, a chugging rhythm section (the piano is quite nice) and a horn section to make a record that while not funk per se, is undeniably funky at its core.

The House of Orange label was the imprint of Allen Orange, who I’ve mentioned here before in relation to his early collaborations in New Orleans with Allen Toussaint.

If you want to read an amazingly in-depth tale of Orange, his recording and producing career, including a lot of info on Geater Davis, head on over to Red Kelly’s Soul Detective site.

The other side of this 45, the ballad ‘Sweet Woman’s Love’ edged its way into the R&B Top 50 in 1970. Davis had one more minor hit with ‘Your Heart Is Gold’ in 1973.

I hope you dig the tune, 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 (0)

By Larry, October 10, 2013 11:57 am

Listen/Download Kim Melvin – Doin’ the Popcorn

Listen/Download Kim Melvin – Keep the Faith

Greetings all

It is now that must do my Friday duty and remind you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and very Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also keep up with the show by subscribing as a podcast in iTunes, or by grabbing an MP3 at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is a funky little dancer.

I first came upon Kim Melvin’s ‘Doin’ the Popcorn’ a couple of years back when my man DJ Hambone let it fly on the tables at Botanica.

The 45 was added to the old want list and eventually popped up for a satisfactory price, so I bought it.

Kim Melvin (aka Melvin Kimmons) was a Memphis-based singer who recorded a handful of 45s for local labels between the mid-60s and the late-70s.

‘Doin’ the Popcorn’ is a very groovy, very drum-my entry into the 1969 Popcorn sweepstakes (long dominated by James Brown and associated acts).

I really dig the organ on the track, as well as Melvin’s voice, as well as the chorus which has echoes of Junior Walker’s ‘Shotgun’.

The sax-o-mo-phones are cool, too.

If you are so inclined, give the flipside ‘Keep the Faith’ a spin.

The song is a passionate, if oddly executed ballad, with a band that sounds as if they keep losing the key (especially the organist who seems like he might be a touch deaf…).

Melvin’s vocal saves the whole affair, dragging it back into “inspired” territory, where it exists with records like the Twilights ‘Shipwreck’.

As always, I hope you dig it, 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 (3)

By Larry, October 8, 2013 1:22 pm

Listen/Download Al Brisco Clark – Soul Food Pt1

Listen/Download Al Brisco Clark – Soul Food Pt2

Greetings all

Here’s a little riddle for you…

Q: When is a James Brown record not a James Brown record?

A: Probably when the Godfather is trying to hide from lawyers and/or accountants.

The record you see before you today is one of (many of) those.

I had heard of Al Brisco Clark’s ‘Soul Food’ long before I actually heard it, mainly because I am always on the lookout for “soul food”-related discs.

I finally grabbed a copy earlier this year, and after a little bit of emergency skip-removal surgery, in which me and my tone arm worked a little magic, I recorded it and bring it to you this fine day.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed the old ‘James Brown Production’ logo on the label.

This led to some info-digging, after which I discovered that Al, who was a baritone saxophonist in James’s early-to-mid 60s band (and is probably the “vocalist” on the record) was merely a figurehead, and that the organist on the track, the one who sounds like he’s playing with his elbows, is none other than James himself.

The “James Brown Productions” logo dates from Brown’s Smash years (Fontana was, like Smash a Mercury subsidiary), when he was betwixt and between with the King organization, and mainly releasing instrumental recordings (see Funky16Corners Radio v.17 James Brown – SMASHing Time).

‘Soul Food Pts 1&2’ is, like many “soul food” records, a recitation of delectables on top of an instrumental groove.

Here you get candied yams (always a fave), black eyed peas (the edible kind…) and mashed potatoes, among others.

Released in 1964, even the writing credit – ‘Ted Wright’ – is another James Brown pseudonym.

All in all, a groovy little biscuit, worthy of your sonic dinner (turn)table.

I hope you dig it, and 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 (2)

By Larry, October 3, 2013 11:02 am

Roy Head

Listen/Download Roy Head – Don’t Cry No More

Greetings all

The end of the week is finally upon us, and so that means that it’s Funky16Corners Radio Show time again. You can dial in this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio to lend your ears to the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. If you can’t be there at the time of broadcast, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grab yourself and MP3 here at the blog.

I thought it would be nice to close out the week with something upbeat and groovy.

Most of you will already be familiar with Roy Head and the Traits ‘Treat Her Right’, whether via the original hit (#2 R&B and Pop in 1965) or in any of the countless cover versions. That particular song is one of the finest, grooviest pieces of classic-era blue eyed soul ever committed to wax, and I’m here to tell you that it was far from a fluke.

Head who hailed from the burgh of San Marcos, Texas was recording with his group the Traits as early as the late 50s, laying down rockabilly, R&B and soul.

Though he only hit the national charts with the Traits that one time, the group had a number of regional hits, and Head himself popped back up in the Country charts in the 1970s.

The tune I bring you today is a very nice slice of R&B rave up, in which Roy and the boys re-channel the sound of the mighty Bobby Blue Bland, who first laid this number down in Nineteen and Sixty One.

‘Don’t Cry No More’ is a fast moving, horn-driven number with a great vocal by Head.

Extra credit goes out to whoever was laying down the superb guitar lines on this one.

The only downer is that the song fades out too soon, with Roy and the Traits sounding like they could have gone for another couple of rounds.

If you get the chance (and you haven’t seen them already) check out some of the vintage videos of Roy Head performances on Youtube. He was quite the mover in his day.

As always, I hope you dig the sounds, 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, October 1, 2013 11:11 am

Hank Jacobs

Listen/Download The TKO’s – Can You Dig It

Greetings all

Here we stand, astride the week, Monday in the rear view mirror, Friday but a dream, but then, what’s the matter with Wednesday that can’t be fixed with some groovy music?

Some of you – particularly the organ hounds amongst you – will already be familiar with the sounds of the TKOs.

The group, which included, sometimes with top billing, piano/organ wrangler Hank Jacobs, recorded a grip of 45s for the Ten Star and Call Me labels in the mid-60s.

Both labels were sunsidiaries of Money Records (Don Julian and the Larks, Bettye Swan) operating out of Los Angeles.

The label got its start in the 1950s, went temporarily dormant in 1957 and then opened its doors for business once again in 1964.

Though I can’t give you a line-up for the TKOs – who had a Top 20 R&B hit with ‘The Fat Man’ in 1966 – it would seem that Hank Jacobs, who did a fair amount of studio work for Money/Ten Star was a constant.

Jacobs, who is known to Northern Soul fans for ‘Elijah Rockin’ With Soul’ was as adept on the piano as he was on the organ, often working both on his records.

Jacobs – who gets featured billing on the flipside ‘The Charge’ – works the piano in an R&B groove, anchoring ‘Can You Dig It’ even when the guitarist starts to take off into garage punk territory.

If you get the chance, pick up some of Hank Jacobs recordings for the Sue label, like ‘Monkey Hips and Rice’ and ‘So Far Away’, which are all excellent.

I hope you dig the sounds, and 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 (2)

By Larry, September 29, 2013 1:50 pm

Kin Vassy (top) and at left with the First Edition

John Randolph Marr

Listen/Download Kin Vassy – Hello L.A. Bye Bye Birmingham

Listen/Download The First Edition – Hello L.A. Bye Bye Birmingham (Live)

Listen/Download John Randolph Marr – Hello L.A. Bye Bye Birmingham

Greetings all

I have something very special for you today.

A short time ago I met up with someone on Facebook with whom I had a mutual friend.

While perusing his timeline I saw that he had posted a video by the First Edition doing a song I’d never heard before called ‘Hello LA Bye Bye Birmingham’.

If the name of that group is vaguely familiar, it was the spawning ground of none other than Kenny Rogers, and a band that had a couple of major hits, including their 1968 cover of Mickey Newbury’s ‘I Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)’, which is featured prominently in ‘The Big Lebowski’.

Anyway…I gave the aforementioned video a spin and was blown away.

First off, while I own (and dig) a couple of First Edition singles, I had never heard them do anything like ‘Hello LA…’, and the live performance – from their early 70s TV variety show (included below) – is absolutely smoking.

The real revelation was the lead singer of the song, a cat named Kin Vassy.

Vassy (Kin was a truncated version of his middle name, Kindred) was the singer/guitarist with the First Edition, replacing Mike Settle in 1969.

He had been a member of the 60s folk group the Back Porch Majority, and had recorded a couple of solo singles before hooking up (and apparently during his tenure) with the First Edition.

One of these is today’s selection, ‘Hello LA Bye Bye Birmingham’.

When I started digging around I was surprised that I hadn’t encountered the song before.

Co-written by Mac Davis and Delaney Bramlett, it was recorded by a wide variety of artists, including Blue Cheer, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band,  Juicy Lucy, and even Nancy Sinatra (you can seek out many of these on YouTube).

The popularity of the song doesn’t surprise me, since it has the kind of funky framework that works well at just about any speed, as well as a fantastic lyric about a cat that bags his home turf and goes on the road to seek success as a songwriter.

Though Mac Davis did record it. I haven’t been able to nail down who did the original version, since most of the ones I’ve found seem to pop up around the same time.

One other excellent version of the song (also included here) was recorded in 1969 by John Randolph Marr. It is in fact his version that was recently comped by Light In the Attic on their excellent ‘Country Funk’ collection, which brings me to the point I’ve been wanting to make.

There was something in the air (and the recording studios) of the South in the mid-to-late 60s and onward wherein (mostly) white musicians with a taste for gospel, R&B, soul and funk began to stir up a (if you’ll forgive the term) gumbo of those sounds with country, swamp pop and rock.

The most well-known and successful proponents of this sound were guys like Tony Joe White and Joe South, but you can also include folks like Bobbie Gentry and Davis in the mix as well.

While there’s a temptation to affix the term ‘blue eyed soul’ to some of these sounds, I think what we’re dealing with is something else entirely.

There were plenty of white soul singers working during this time period, including guys like Wayne Cochran and Roy Head, but they were by and large working solely in black styles.

The country funkers (for lack of a better term) were coming into their sound by creating an organic mixture of white and black styles, in the end creating something less than a movement but still a recognizable sound.

Little of the music made by these artists is out and out funk, but it is undeniably funky.

Kin Vassy’s studio version of ‘Hello LA Bye Bye Birmingham’ works a mid-tempo funky beat, adding in twangy lead guitar (dobro, too) and Vassy’s hard-edged, soulful vocals. Hearing Vassy sing, with the First Edition and solo was something of a revelation. He was a mighty singer, and in an age where every leather-lunged, longhaired shouter was trying to approximate Wilson Pickett (who would have done a spectacular version of this song), Vassy was able to soar as well as work the quiet passages.

The First Edition manages (surprisingly enough) to toughen the song up even more. Vassy is wailing and drummer Mickey Jones dials up the funk a bit.

I decided to include John Randolph Marr’s take on the song for contrast. Though he takes things a slightly slower pace, the drums and bass are killing it, and Marr had cool, whiskey-tinged voice (I hear a bit of David Clayton Thomas in there). The rest of the album – co-produced by Harry Nilsson under the aegis of his Nilsson House Productions – is an odd mix of country soul and chamber pop.

Interestingly enough, after the dissolution of the First Edition, Kin Vassy spent a short time recording and touring with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. He’s featured on the ‘Overnight Sensation’ LP.

He went on to work as a session singer/musician, eventually settling in Nashville and having some success as a performer and songwriter.

Sadly, Kin Vassy succumbed to cancer in 1994 at the age of 50.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, September 26, 2013 12:22 pm

Listen/Download Larry Hale – Shout and Do the Duck

Greetings all

The end of the week is nigh, so you should lock yourselves in the storm cellar with the wireless set and get ready for the Funky16Corners Radio Show,which comes to you each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you are unable to make the scene then, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 out of the archive here at the blog.

The record I bring you today is yet another one of those “bought it for the organ tune on one side and ended up digging the flip a little bit more” things that keep popping up here at Funky16Corners.

I forget exactly where I first got wind of Larry Hale’s ‘Shout and Do the Duck’, but I suspect that it was on another DJs finds/wants list.

I do remember that it was not an expensive 45, and that it did take me a little while to flip it over, but as I said, when I did, I ended up preferring the vocal side.

Larry Hale recorded a few 45s under his own name for United Artists, Columbia and Diamond, as well as being one of the vocalists on the RCA 45s by the African Beavers.

‘Shout and Do the Duck’, which came out in 1966 starts with a spoken/shouted gospel-feeling instro, before opening up into a fast moving soul tune with a wailing vocal by Hale.

There is a vague Latin feel running underneath things, as well as a short breakdown that borrows from Stevie Wonder’s ‘Fingertips’.

I have no idea who’s playing the organ on ‘Organ Shout and Do the Duck’ (hear it in Funky16Corners Radio v.42) but the playing is rudimentary enough to suggest to me that the organ was not their first/main instrument.

In an interesting twist, it would seem (read Sir Shambling’s piece here) that Larry Hale and Tony Fox were in fact the same person recording under a number of aliases. If you listen to Tony Fox’s ‘I’ve Got To (Do It To It)’ on Calla, it is definitely the same person singing on this 45.

That said, this is a very cool 45, and I hope you give it a spin or two this weekend.

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.