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By Larry, March 16, 2017 7:02 am

Listen/Download – The Soul Set – Mickey’s Funky Monkey MP3

Listen/Download – The Soul Set – Flunky Flunky MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, and so it’s Funky16Corners Radio Show time again. The podcast comes to you each and every Friday with the best in soul, funk, 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 the Stitcher and TuneIn apps, check it out on Mixcloud, or grab yourself an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com

Today’s selection is one of those records that has been stewing in my crates since forever, picked up in my broad sweep of everything Philadelphical back in the day.

I remember grabbing this out of certain cigar smoke stained vinyl treasure trove withing the Philly city limits, along with a grip of funk and Northern Soul things, mainly on the strength of the title, and the fact that it had Philly music names (Frank Virtue and Bernie Binnick) on it.

When I got it home I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that in addition to the funky version of the Miracles ‘Mickey’s Monkey’, there was a groovy organ instro version (Flunky Flunky) on the flip.

I know nothing at all about the Soul Set, other than the fact that they probably had no relation to the Jersey Shore unit (that secorded for Selsom and Johnson).

BB was a Philadelphia imprint that released a bunch of 45s in the mid-to-late 60s including two by the Soul Set, one by Guy Maurice (who also recorded for Fairmount), and discs by Frantic Freddy, the Centurys and (dig this name) Ernie Fields and Cockroach.

The group’s version of ‘Mickey’s Monkey’ is groovy, with lots of dance floor punch.

The organ instro version ‘Flunky Flunky’ is also excellent, with lots of overmodulated Hammond sailing over the pounding drums.

Interestingly, ‘Mickey’s Funky Monkey’ charted in a bunch of Philly-area markets in the summer of 1967 (their earlier 45 had some minor regional success as well.

If anyone out there knows who was in this band, please let me know.

That said, I hope you dig the 45, 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, March 14, 2017 11:48 am

Funky16Corners: Bold Soul Sisters 2

Toby Lark – Shake a Hand (Cotillion)
Faith White – Manhandle (Columbia)
Diane Johnson – Queen Bee (Buluu)
The Loading Zone – No More Tears (RCA)
Odia Coates – Showdown (UA)
Apollas – Seven Days (WB)
Marie Franklin – You Ain’t Changed (Maverick)
Tami Lynn – Mojo Hanna (Cotillion)
Lotti Golden – Sock It To Me Baby/It’s Your Thing (Atlantic)
Otisettes – You’re All I Want (Epic)
Dee Dee Sharpe – You’re Just a Fool In Love (Atco)
Erma Franklin – Gotta Find Me a Lover (Brunswick)
Dottie Cambridge – He’s About a Mover (MGM)
Etta James – Groove Me (Chess)
Judy Clay – Sister Pitiful (Atlantic)
Mary Wells – Soul Train (Jubilee)
Myra Barnes – Super Good Pt1 (King)
Vicki Anderson – I’m Too Tough For Mr Big Stuff (Brownstone)
Ikettes – There Was a Time (UA)
Jackson Sisters – I Believe In Miracles (Prophecy)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners – F16C: Bold Soul Sisters 2 MP3

Greetings all.

I hope everyone (at least those of you in the northeast) are riding the storm out, whether you’re soaked and windblown (like us here at the Jersey Shore) or buried under the snow like everyone to the north and west of us is.

I have something very special for you this (not so) fine day.

Last week – as has become something of a tradition every March 8th – I reposted the Funky16Corners Bold Soul Sisters mix for International Women’s Day. That mix, first posted back in 2006 is a longtime fave and packed from end to end with funky burners from the ladies.

As I reposted it last week it occurred to me that I ought to put together  sequel, and I set down to gather together the best funk and funky soul stuff that I had gathered in the eleven years since the first mix.

There was soo much groovy stuff, that I decided to to two new mixes (cleverly titled Bold Soul Sisters 2 & 3), one of straight up funk and one with the funk quotient dialed down a bit (but not too far).

I’ll be running Part 2 today, and Part 3 next week.

It is (with three exceptions) an all-45 mix, and aside from a couple of bigger names, I think you’ll find that a lot of this is probably new to you.

So dig in, pull down the ones and zeroes and – of course – get funky.

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, March 12, 2017 11:01 am

Listen/Download – Bull and the Matadors – The Funky Judge MP3

Listen/Download – Bull and the Matadors – The Funky Judge (instrumental) MP3

Greetings all.

Time to get the new week rolling with something fun and funky, as well as a taste of that Hammond juice as well.

Before we get started, my new (roughly) monthly show, Testify!, on the WFMU Rock’n’Soul Ichiban Stream debuted today. It’s an intersection of the Funky16Corners and Iron Leg vibes. I archived it over at Iron Leg, so check it out when you get  chance.

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Bull and the Matadors ‘The Funky Judge’ has been since the dawn of the funk 45 collecting era, one of those basic, DNA-level building blocks of your basic funk crate.

It’s a groovy, funny, and relatively easy to score 45 on one of the great Chicago labels.

It has enough punch for the dance floor, and enough of that jive to get people singing along.

‘The Funky Judge’ was a pretty sizable hit, making it into the R&B Top 10 in 1968 and the Pop Hot 100 (higher in a bunch of East Coast and Midwest markets), and got new life when it was reissued as part of the Rhino ‘Beg, Scream and Shout’ boxed set in 1997.

Bull and the Matadors, James Lafayette “Bull” Parks, Milton Hardy, James Otis Love and Robert Holmes hailed from East St Louis, IL and recorded a handful of 45s for Chicago’s Toddlin’ Town label between 1967 and 1969.

Their only other chart success seems to have been centered around Chicago and St Louis.

Naturally, ‘The Funky Judge’ ties into the late 60s ‘Here Come de Judge’ craze, based in a routine by Pigmeat Markham that was made famous when riffed upon by Sammy Davis, Jr on ‘Rowan and Martin’’s Laugh-In’, spawning a whole shitstack of records by all kinds of people, as well as countless high school sophomores wandering the halls repeating ‘Here Come de Judge’ ad nauseum.

The Bull and the Matadors 45 featured a groovy lead vocal with some nice backing vocals, a funky base coat and a wild bit of feedback at the end.
In an extra added attraction, the flipside (also called ‘The Funky Judge’) is a groovy Hammond instro (played by I known not whom).

The other Bull and the Matadors 45s I’ve heard are excellent, though in amuch more conventional (non-novelty) soul vein.

‘The Funky Judge’ was covered (pretty nicely) a few years later by none other than the J Geils Band.

I hope you dig the tracks, 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, March 7, 2017 10:17 am

Jackey Beavers

Listen/Download – Soul Continentals – Goobah (African Twist) MP3

Greetings all.

The record you see before you is an old fave, which I picked up on (though didn’t get a copy of until a couple of years ago) way back in the early days of my Hammond organ obsession.

When I started digging around for info about the Soul Continentals, I was initially surprised to see that they seemed to have hailed from Detroit (their one other 45 was on the Jaber label out of Michigan), but after digging further, was even more surprised to find out that they were led by none other than Jackey Beavers!

You read about Jackey in this space before relating to his work in Johnny (Bristol) and Jackey, who did the original version of ‘Someday We’ll Be Together’. Beavers went on to record a bunch of 45s on his own for a variety of labels.

It was only recently that I discovered that the ‘R. Beavers’ listed as the composer/producer of ‘Goobah (African Twist)’ and its flipside ‘Bowlegs’ was in fact Jackey Beavers (his real name being Robert).

I’m not sure, but I suspect that Beavers is the keyboard player on this track, which features piano and organ.

Though the flipside ‘Bowlegs’ is faster moving number with some very hard hitting drums, ‘Goobah (African Twist)’ , released in 1968, moves at a more deliberate pace, with a groovy organ soloing over drums and hand percussion, with minor vocal interjections, and a very cool reverbed guitar solo.

As Hammond instros go, it’s a killer, and well worth whatever it takes to move one into your playbox (and a lot cheaper than their earlier Jaber 45 which can cost hundreds).

I hope you dig it, 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, March 2, 2017 11:37 am

Sari and the Shalimars

Listen/Download – Sari and the Shalimars – Too Anxious MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops each and every Friday with the best in soul, funk, 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 yourself an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com.

We close out the week with a 45 by one of those groups that is fairly obscure, with a painfully brief discography, yet the records they did manage to make are all fantastic.

Sari and the Shalimars (aka the Shalimars) recorded three 45s between 1966 and 1968 for Verve and Veep, and then pretty much vanished without a trace.

Their first 45, released on Verve in 1966 as the Shalimars, ‘Stop and Take a Look at Yourself’ is revered as a Northern Soul classic.

Their two 45s for Veep, released in the Spring and Summer of 1968 are both marvels of high quality songwriting and arranging, and are a great window into that transitional period when things were just starting to get funky.

I haven’t been able to discover anything about the members of the group, though Sari, the lead singer was great.

Their two 45s are both produced by George Butler and arranged by Richard Tee.

‘Too Anxious’, written by Ronnie Savoy (who co-wrote Al Kent’s classic ‘Where Do We Go From Here’) and Rose Marie McCoy (who co-wrote one of my all time favorite songs ‘Our Love (Is In the Pocket)’) was the b-side of Sari and the Shalimars last 45.

It starts out with just voice and conga drums before exploding into a booming, funky arrangement, with loud bass, drums and guitar, that build, layer on layer until it verily explodes. The instrumental breakdown, with strings, horns and vibes is a thing of beauty.

That this record wasn’t a hit is kind of mind boggling.

I don’t think either of their Veep 45s have been comped. You can expect to see them all appear here at some point.

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

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, February 28, 2017 12:47 pm

Listen/Download – Johnny Jay and the Gangbusters – You Get Your Kicks MP3

Listen/Download – Johnny Jay and the Gangbusters – Gangbusters Blues MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s selection is one of those records that I picked up at a record show, never having heard it before, taking a chance on it because I knew the tune, a cover of Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels 1966 ‘You Get Your Kicks’.

I had never heard of Johnny Jay and the Gangbusters, and I still haven’t been able to find anything out about them. The group appears to have recorded only this one 45 (in 1967) , and the information on the label isn’t very helpful, except to indicate that the record was produced by Gary Knight (aka Harold Temkin, Gary Temkin, Gary Weston), the co-writer of ‘You Get Your Kicks’ (and also co-writer, with Barbara Banks of one of the greatest soul 45s ever ‘River of Tears’).

I know it seems blasphemous to suggest this, but I think the Gangbusters version of the tune is better than the original by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.

Though Ryder is the superior vocalist, the arrangement and playing on this version of the song is much more robust and ultimately danceable than the original.

The bass guitar is more prominent, as is the horn section and the lead guitar.

The flipside, entitled ‘Gangbusters Blues’, and credited to five separate writers (none of them Knight or his original co-writer Bob Crewe) is actually an instrumental version of ‘You Get Your Kicks’.

The 45 seems to have had some level of success on Northern Soul dance floors in the UK.

If anyone out there knows anything more about the group, please let me know.

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, February 26, 2017 11:55 am

The LaSalles aka Kathy Lynn and the Playboys

Listen/Download – The LaSalles – La La La La La MP3

Greetings all.

Every once in a while you find yourself pulling on a loose thread, and it just keeps unravelling.

Back in the day, during the storied Asbury Park 45 Sessions, one of my compadres dropped the needle on a monstrous banger called ‘Kick-Back’ by a group I’d never heard of before called Willie Tell and the Overtures.

As was often the case, the 45 went right onto my want list, and I set out in search of a copy for my play box.

It took a while, but I finally scored a copy.

While I was searching, I stumbled on another 45 with the same A and B sides as the Willie Tell and the Overtures record, this time by the already familiar Buena Vistas (the exact same recordings, with an earlier release) .

So, down the rabbit hole I went, discovering a whole bunch of cool things in the process.

The Buena Vistas were connected to a pair of Upstate New York characters by the names of Carl Cisco and Tom Shannon, and a band by the name of Kathy Lynn and the Playboys.

The story – at least as I was able to pick it apart – was that Cisco, Shannon and the aforementioned band had varying degrees of involvement (from peripheral all the way down to not at all) with the Buena Vistas 45s, most of which were in fact the work of various and sundry Funk Brothers (I still haven’t figured out how the Buena Vistas 45 got rereleased as Willie Tell et al). Cisco/Shannon also had their hands in records by the Rockin’ Rebels, Revlons and other Western NY/Detroit acts).

That said, Kathy Lynn and the Playboys were a real, working group, and they are (as far as I can discern) the people behind the smoking version of Stevie Wonder’s ‘La La La La La’ that was released on the Motown subsidiary VIP as by the LaSalles in 1966.

Though originally written and recorded by Stevie, ‘La La La La La’ is best known by the hit version by the East LA group the Blendells from 1964.

As much as I love the Blendells version, the recording by the LaSalles (yet another alias) is amazing.

Kathy Lynn (nee Kathy Keppen, who would go on to marry Playboys/Buena Vistas/LaSalles guitarist Nick Ameno) opens the tune with the traditional spoken passage, then rips into it sounding like a crazed version of Brenda Lee.

The band lays into a heavy groove, with organ, drums, bass and soul clapping, making their version of the song perfect for the dance floor.

Lynn went on to record as Lynn Terry, and it appears that a modern version of Kathy Lynn and the Playboys was playing as recently as 2012.

I hope you dig the tune, 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, February 23, 2017 11:07 am

Dorothy Berry

Listen/Download – Dorothy Berry – Shindig City MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week in here and that means that it is Funky16Corners Radio Show time again. We come to you each and every Friday with the best in soul, funk, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can subscribe as a podcast in iTunes, listen on Stitcher and TuneIn (catch the show on Cruising Radio UK every Friday evening), Mixcloud, or grab yourself an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com.

I remember the first time I ever heard Dorothy Berry’s mighty ‘Shindig City’ – on Gail Smith’s incredible ‘Work Your Soul’ podcast – and nailed it right at the top of my want list.

It took a long time, and more than a couple of dollars to actually score a copy for my playbox, but it was a happy day indeed when I did.

Dorothy Berry is an especially interesting singer, having recorded a string of excellent singles (under her own name, with Jimmy Norman, as part of Dorothy, Oma and Zelpha, and with the African Bag All Stars – between 1962 and the early 70s, and because she was for a time, Mrs Richard ‘Louie Louie’ Berry.

‘Shindig City’ is a as booming, fast moving and danceable a soul 45 as was ever made in the classic era, and oddly enough you can thank future Bread-man David Gates for that.

No, really…DAVID GATES.

For those in the know, Gates is much more than Bread, having left behind a very long (and very good) string of records in rock, soul, rockabilly, and pop for a string of labels as writer, producer, arranger and performer from the late 50s right on up to the formation of Bread in the late 60s.
He was – like Leon Russell and JJ Cale, both of whom he worked with – part of the Oklahoma expat music scene in LA.

Gates wrote, produced and arranged ‘Shindig City’, as well as almost everything else recorded for the short-lived Dot Records subsidiary Planetary in 1964 and 1965, including both of Berry’s 45s for the label.

‘Shindig City’ – which has a fair amount of popularity on the Northern scene, like many Northern Soul faves starts with the Motown sound as a template, but takes it in a more muscular, Wall of Sound direction, seemingly testing the limits of magnetic tape to see exactly how much sound it can contain.

The drums are thundering, the horn section (specifically the trombones) creating waves of sound and Berry’s wailing vocal abetted by a female chorus.

It’s one of those records that verily drags people out of their seats and onto the dance floor, and sounds amazing coming out of a big sound system.
Though in a sane world ‘Shindig City’ should have been a big hit, it only had a brief period of regional success (in New England) in May of 1965.

Dorothy and Richard Berry (who sings backup on the flipside of this 45) would divorce in the late 60s, and she would go on to join the Ray Charles Revue as a Raelette, a job she would hold into the early 80s.

So dig this incredible record, over and over again, and if you haven’t checked out the Clyde Stubblefield tribute, please do so.

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, February 21, 2017 1:42 pm

Tribute to the Funky Drummer

Clyde Stubblefield Spoken Intro
James Brown and the Famous Flames– Cold Sweat Pts 1&2 (King)
James Brown – Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud) Pts 1&2 (King)
Marva Whitney – It’s My Thing (King)
James Brown – Mother Popcorn Pts 1&2 (King)
Clyde Stubblefield Live Solo 1968
James Brown – Shhhhhhhh For a Little While (King)
James Brown and the Famous Flames – I Got the Feelin’ (King)
James Brown – Popcorn With a Feeling (King)
James Brown – Funky Drummer Pts1&2 (King)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Presents: Tribute to the Funky Drummer: Clyde Stubblefield 65MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

This is something I would have put together earlier but the fam and I were on the road when word came down that the mighty Clyde Stubblefield, aka the Funky Drummer had slipped the surly bonds of earth.

Between 1965 and 1970 Stubblefield was deep, deep inside the pocket, driving the James Brown band from the drummer’s throne, often alongside John ‘Jabo’ Starks.

Stubblefield was as tasteful and economical a drummer as ever played soul and funk, with a tight, crisp style that managed to swing like hell.

Back when the Godfather of Soul passed away, I wrote about his work on ‘Cold Sweat’ thusly:

“It was in ‘Cold Sweat’ that James Brown, after three years of work, decided to ‘give the drummer some’, and things were never the same. With that record, he gathered together all of his innovations since ‘Out Of Sight’ – along with all the other musicians that he had inspired in the ensuing three years – and broke through yet another wall. ‘Cold Sweat’ is the ‘groove’, expanded upon, then further refined so as to concentrate its’ power. The beat is more experimental, the song structure now reduced to it’s essence (as if the ‘groove’, at one time adjacent to the song, had now become the song). This is never more apparent than in Pt2, where the aforementioned ‘drummer’, gets the also aforementioned ‘some’ – and blows soul music out of the water.

The drum break on side two of ‘Cold Sweat’ is a remarkable testament to exactly how far ahead his peers James Brown had gone.
In the sound of funk, there is no more important component than the drummer(s). Without the drummer, the groove has no foundation. Certainly a groovy bass line can get you moving side to side, but without the forward propulsion of the drummer, you aren’t really going anywhere. The most important element of the drummers importance to funk, is that it is through him (or her as the case may be) that funk received it’s most radical elements. These elements are the rhythms of Afro-Cuban music, and most importantly modern jazz. Anyone familiar with Elvin Jones, Max Roach or Art Blakey will hear their echoes in the beats of funk. These are the sounds of percussionists that got inside the rhythm and stretched it into all kinds of new shapes, designed to grab the body at it’s core and move it, i.e. make it dance. The BeBoppers and the modern jazzers provided an obsession with open spaces and explosive punctuation. They brought rhythm up out of the viscera, through the heart and into the head. This ‘intellectualism of the beat’, in combination with the polyrhythmic fire of congueros like Chano Pozo and Mongo Santamaria (later quite the funkster himself) timbaleros like Tito Puente, and the freedom of the New Orleans ‘Second Line’ drummers (Earl Palmer, June Gardner, Smokey Johnson and James Black) – which in turn has it’s parallels in the samba drummers of the Brazilian carnival – all contributed to the funky stew. This is not to say that Clyde Stubblefield had his ears turned to New Orleans, Rio or even the Village Gate – directly (he may well have), but that all of those sounds were swirling around in the mid-60’s, and all found their way into the sound of the funky drummer.

The break in Cold Sweat Pt2 is presaged, at about 45 seconds with six pleas (commands?) to ‘Give the drummer some” before turning to Stubblefield with ‘You got it drummer!’. The Flames drop away as Stubblefied works the kit, keeping time on the ride cymbal, booming on the toms and popping the beat on the bass drum. Ten seconds later JB brings in Bernard Odum on bass, and for almost ¾ of a minute he and Clyde break it on down. At 1:59 the horns come back in and ride all the way to the end. At nearly a full minute, Stubblefield’s ‘break’ is hovering dangerously close to the land of the drum solo, yet the energetic self indulgence of a Ginger Baker, Keith Moon (or even Buddy Rich) is absent, and has been replaced by a deeply funky vibe. This is a drum solo you can dance to. It is devoid of pyrotechnics yet full of ideas – subtle yet consistently explosive. It’s no mistake that Stubblefield is the man who’s work found it’s way into dozens of samples. The man who inspired JB to chant ‘The Funky Drummer!’, over and over again.”

The mix you see before you includes most of Clyde Stubblefield’s best known work with JB, as well as a clip from the famed 1968 Boston Garden concert which is like a punch in the gut.

I spent a lot of time playing the drums when I was younger, but I could only sit back wide-eyed (and eared) at the work of Clyde Stubblefield, who played the drums like James Brown danced.

He was a master.

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.

Comments (0)

By Larry, February 19, 2017 9:40 am

Marie Queenie Lyons

Listen/Download – Marie Queenie Lyons – Drown In My Own Tears MP3

Listen/Download – Marie Queenie Lyons – Try Me MP3

Greetings all.

Marie Queenie Lyons is the epitome of the kind of artist that resided in the back of my mind – courtesy of other DJs finds/mixes – for years before I ever managed to put my hands on any of her music.

Her sole LP, recorded for Deluxe in 1970 is a crate diggers favorite, and is also quite rare and expensive.

Lyons was born in Louisiana, and worked with King Curtis before hooking up with the Deluxe label where she recorded the LP and a handful of 45s (all of which were LP tracks).

She was a powerful, raw singer, dragging elements of gospel shouting into James Brown (who was a significant influence) territory.

The tracks I bring you today are from a 1970 Deluxe 45, and both appeared on her ‘Soul Fever’ LP.

‘(I’ll) Drown In My Own Tears’ was written by Henry Glover (who also wrote Annie Had a Baby, California Sun, Peppermint Twist, and was the co-writer of Soulville) and was first recorded by Ray Charles in 1957. Lyons take on

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By Larry, February 16, 2017 11:36 am

Lorraine Ellison

Listen/Download – Lorraine Ellison – Heart Be Still MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show. Coming to you every Friday with the best in soul, funk, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl in iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, Mixcloud and right here at Funky16Corners.com

We close out the week with something groovy from Miss Lorraine Ellison.

Ellison, best known for her epic reading of Jerry Ragovoy’s ’Stay With Me’(grazing the R&B Top 10 in 1966), had a uniquely powerful voice.

She recorded for Mercury, Warner Brothers and Loma between 1965 and 1970, returning to WB in 1973/74.

Today’s selection, ‘Heart Be Still’ is one of those records I grabbed while digging, without having ever heard it, on the strength of the names on the label, those being Ellison, Ragovoy and Bert Berns.

When I looked up ‘Heart Be Still’ I was surprised to discover that it had actually been a hit, Ellison’s last date with the R&B Top 40 in 1967.

My surprise was based more in the style of the song, a restrained, heavily gospel-inflected feel (she had gotten her start recording gospel with the Ellison Singers), as opposed to its obvious quality.

Written by Ragovy and Berns, arranged by Garry Sherman and produced by Ragovoy, ‘Heart Be Still’ combines a restrained backing (piano, organ, drums) with a tour de force vocal by Ellison, backed by a gospel-style choir.

There are points where her vocals reach into the rafters, bordering on the histrionic, yet always remain anchored in reality.

It’s a great record, and I hope you dig it.

See you next week.

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.

Comments (1)

By Larry, February 12, 2017 5:51 pm

The Young Hearts

Listen/Download – Young Hearts – Oh, I’ll Never Be The Same MP3

Greetings all.

I have been a fan of the Young Hearts/Younghearts/New Younghearts ever since falling in love with their brilliant Northern Soul classic ‘A Little Togetherness’ which remains one of my all time favorite 45s.

The group, which recorded under a few different iterations (in name), usually under the auspices of Bobby Sanders between 1967 and 1977 for a variety of labels including Canterbury, Pick-a-Hit, Minit, Soultown, Zea and 20th Century.

Their one 45 for Pick-a-Hit was released in 1967 with the original line up of James Moore, Charles Ingersol, Ronnie Preyer and Earl Carter.
Both sides of the 45 are cool, but I think that ‘Oh I’ll Never Be the Same Again’ is a little bit of subtle perfection.

Written by Sanders, Anita Poree (who went on to write classics for Eddie Kendricks and the Friends of Distinction) and someone named ‘C. Scorborough’, ‘Oh I’ll Never Be the Same Again’ has a sweet sound that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a Temptations record, with a great falsetto lead and some great, rich harmonies bubbling up underneath.

The arrangement, which was redone/sweetened a few years later on the group’s Minit LP (with the addition of a vibes and a more prominent string section) is very nicely done, letting the vocalists shine.

As far as I can tell, aside from a few individual tracks floating around on comps (mostly ‘A Little Togetherness’) the Young Hearts catalog is largely absent from the reissue market. Their LP isn’t super hard to come by (easier than their 45s), and whatever you can pick up will be worth your time.

I hope you dig the track, 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.