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By Larry, March 26, 2013 5:27 pm

Listen/Download – Henry Lumpkin – Soul Is Takin Over MP3

Greetings all.

For the next week or so, while the F16C fam get in a well deserved bit of rest and relaxation, I’ll be republishing some of my favorite tunes from the Funky16Corners Archives. I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back soon.

Larry

Originally posted 11/09/2008

I hope all is well on your end and you found the weekend to be both restorative and fun-filled (not always the same thing, y’know).

I figured I get the week started with something lively, raw and soulful.

The tune I bring you today is one of the last 45s recorded by Mr. Henry Lumpkin.

Lumpkin was one of the early lights of Motown, recording two 45s for the label in 1962. One of those 45s happened to be the original version of the R&B/soul standard ‘Mojo Hannah’ later covered by Larry Williams, Betty Harris and Tammi Lynn among others.

Lumpkin’s time at Motown was over almost as soon as it got started, but it was there that he made an important connection, that being songwriter and producer Robert Bateman.

Five years after his stint with Motown he hooked up again with Bateman, and the man who was by then Bateman’s partner – and a big favorite here at Castle Funky16Corners – Mr. Lou “Hot Butter’n’All” Courtney.

It was with Bateman and Courtney (as co-composers and producers) that Lumpkin made what is perhaps the greatest record of his career, 1967s ‘Soul Is Takin’ Over’.

If you’ve been sitting around, wasting away, wondering when your next dose of soul clapping was going to arrive, I’m here to let you know that Dr. Soul is about to fall by with your prescription.

‘Soul is Takin’ Over’ is a dance-floor pounder from the git go, with the aforementioned soul clapping, throbbing bass, guitar, piano and drums, all dragged around the studio by Lumpkin’s razor sharp delivery of the anthemic chorus. If ever a soul 45 was seeming engineered specifically for use as a drunken sing/dance-along, ‘Soul Is Takin’ Over’ is it.

Unfortunately, no matter how good the record is – and it is, good that is – it’s yet another example of a fantastic 45 that got lost in the shuffle, ultimately doing nothing to advance its singer’s career.

Lumpkin would make one more 45 for Buddah, and the promptly fell off the face of the earth.

No matter.
Make sure you pull down the ones and zeros, and the next time you have the gang over for a rug-cutting session, get’em lit and throw this one on, open the windows and piss off your neighbors.

I hope you dig it.

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, March 24, 2013 3:15 pm

The lovely Miss Mary Wells

Listen/Download – Mary Wells – Can’t You See (You’re Losing Me)

Greetings all.

For the next week or so, while the F16C fam get in a well deserved bit of rest and relaxation, I’ll be republishing some of my favorite tunes from the Funky16Corners Archives. I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back soon.

Larry

Originally posted 10/19/2010

Once again I’m neck deep in a busy week, but what better time for an invigorating and restorative shot of soul?

Like anyone who tuned into an oldies station in the 1970s (or 80s, 90s or 00s) Motown looms large.

Unfortunately – and I’ve spoken on this issue at length in the past – what you basically get in that format is the same dozen of so songs by the label’s biggest artists, repeated ad infinitum to the point of nausea.

It was just such a situation that turned me off to the wonders of Motown for a long time, until many years later, when the sounds of Northern Soul came into my life.

Though the phrase Northern Soul, used as a descriptive can be unbelievably wide-ranging, were you to approach it from the broadest possible angle, what you’re hearing is musicians and singers, in and out of Detroit making an effort to duplicate the soul sounds coming out of that city, in and out of Motown (and I say in and out because so many Motor City records on other labels were played by the same general group of musicians creating the magic for Berry Gordy).

One of those oft-repeated songs was ‘My Guy’ by Mary Wells. A big hit in the Spring of 1964, that song cemented Mary Wells in the minds of a generation (and beyond).

What a lot of folks don’t know, is that Wells left Motown soon after, and spent the rest of the decade bouncing to 20th Century Fox, Atco and Jubilee, making a few minor dents in the charts but nothing like her time at Motown.

Despite that fact, she continued to make great music, including today’s track, recorded in 1966 for Atco.

I first heard this tune via my man Agent 45, who had picked it up on a mispressed/labeled 45. When I heard ‘Cant’ You See (You’re Losing Me)’ I flipped my wig.

What a fucking stormer!

Not only is the song a bit of Northern Soul genius (that honking baritone sax is the shit!), with a powerful, propulsive dancer’s beat, but the song itself is a killer.

Written by none other than Barrett Strong (another tie back to Motown), and recorded in Chicago with a brilliant arrangement by Sonny Sanders, another former Detroiter who had worked on a number of classics at the Golden World label, ‘Can’t You See (You’re Losing Me)’ is yet another example of a record that should have been a huge hit, yet only finds its reward in the hearts of soulies decades on.

‘Can’t You See (You’re Losing Me)’ has since become a staple of my Northern Soul box, and always brings someone up to the decks to see what’s playing.

Love, love, love this record.

I hope you do too,

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 (5)

By Larry, March 3, 2013 11:51 am

The Magnificent Men

Listen/Download The Magnificent Men – Peace of Mind

Listen/Download The Magnificent Men – Just Walk In My Shoes

Greetings all

The tracks I bring you today are a perfect example of how you can hear about a group, circle them warily for years – suspecting lameness – and then finally giving in and discovering how wrong you really were.

I do not recall when I first heard of the Magnificent Men, but I suspect that I saw one of their albums while digging in the NJ/PA area, where their vinyl is plentiful.

Back in the day, what I saw was a bunch of straight-looking white dudes recording soul music, something which set off my (poorly calibrated) bullshit detector, and in the absence of a portable turntable, remained dollar-bin flotsam and jetsam.

Then – as these things often go – a few years back someone whose taste I trust posted a track by the group, and my large ears finally unfurled to the goodness of the Magnificent Men.

Had I dug a little bit, I would have realized that the Magnificent Men, formed as the Del-Chords, hailed from the unlikely soul music hotbed of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (the Emperors, Intentions, the Soulville label).

Led by vocalist Dave Bupp, the Magnificent Men were a lot more than your run of the mill “R&B-influenced” white band of which there were so many at the time.

They were first and foremost self-contained, i.e. vocalists/musicians capable of writing and performing their own (excellent) material.

They played many of the best known black venues of the day (including the Uptown in Philly and the Apollo in NYC).

Between 1966 and 1970 (by which time their sound had changed considerably) the Magnificent Men recorded three albums for Capitol and one for Mercury.

The first two, ‘The Magnificent Men’ and ‘The Magnificent Men: Live’ are the ones to look out for.

The tracks I bring you today come from that first, self-titled LP.

The first track, the original ‘Peace of Mind’ is one of the great blue-eyed soul tracks of the 60s, a great harmony showcase for the group.

Dave Bupp has said that ‘Peace of Mind’ was written with Walter Jackson in mind. Considering how evocative the record is of the Carl Davis/Okeh sound, this makes a tremendous amount of sense.

Though ‘Peace of Mind’ wasn’t a hit, its high quality is testified to by the number of cover versions of the tune. There are versions by Skip Jackson (on Capitol), Jerry Butler (Mercury), The Players (Minit), and the Royal Five (Arctic) – all of which can be heard on Youtube.

The second song – ‘Just Walk In My Shoes’ – was a recorded by Gladys Knight and the Pips in 1966 and is rightly hailed as a classic of dance floor soul.

Written by sisters Kay and Helen Lewis – two jazz/pop singers who also wrote tunes for Marvin Gaye, the Miracles and Edwin Starr, as well as recording a pair of their own 45s for the VIP label – ‘Just Walk In My Shoes’ is delivered with a lot of verve by the Magnificent Men, and I think it stands up well next to the original.

Oddly enough, as well-remembered as the Magnificent Men are (especially amongst soul fans), they seem to have made their mark mostly as a live act. Their chart impact was minimal, and almost exclusively in the mid-Atlantic region. They never hit the R&B charts (at least nationally).

They had the good fortune to have had their album arranged/conducted by Horace Ott and Sonny Sanders, and I think their music holds up remarkably well.

All of the Magnificent Men albums can be picked up on iTunes, and – if you’re digging in the Northeast, anyway, most of their vinyl is fairly easy to come by.

I hope you dig the tunes 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, February 12, 2013 3:38 pm

Frank Wilson – Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)
Charlie Rich – Dance Of Love
Darrell Banks – Our Love Is In the Pocket
Jackie Wilson – I Get the Sweetest Feeling
Eddie Bo and Inez Cheatham – Lover and a Friend
Charlie Earlands Erector Set – Cherie Amour
JJ Barnes – Hold On To It
Spinners – Sweet Thing
Sand Pebbles – Love Power
Platters – Sweet Sweet Loving
Lee Dorsey and Betty Harris – Love Lots of Lovin’
Len Barry – I Struck It Rich
Producers – Love Is Amazing
Lee Williams and the Cymbals – It’s Everything About You That I Love
Broadways – You Just Don’t Know Good You Make Me Feel
Velvelettes – Since You’ve Been Loving Me
Soul Brothers Six – Your Love Is Such a Wonderful Love
Wilson Pickett – Everybody Needs Somebody To Love

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Valentine’s Mix: Dance of Love – 86MB Mixed Mp3/256K

Greetings all.

What you see before you is a mix i put together last year at this time in celebration of love, especially mine for my wife, who was going through an especially rough time in regard to her health.

I am very happy to say that this Valentine’s Day her health has improved dramatically, thanks to a stem cell transplant she received last Spring (make sure to click on the Be The Match link at the end of any F16C post for more information about how you can help).

This mix is filled with dynamite soul including a couple of huge faves of mine (and yours, I hope).

Give it a spin and tell someone you love them.

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 (0)

By Larry, February 5, 2013 3:23 pm

Franki Valli being held aloft by the Four Seasons (and himself, oddly enough)

Listen/Download Frankie Valli – (You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself

Greetings all

If you were surprised when you showed up at Funky16Corners and saw Frankie Valli’s mug staring back at you, you really oughtn’t to have, since he popped up here with the Four Seasons and the mighty ‘Beggin’ a few years back.

The tune I bring you today is for a variety of reasons a big favorite of mine, but mainly because it was hiding in my crates for years before I discovered it.

Way, waayyy back, many a year ago, I picked up the 45 containing this gem because I had been informed that it had an organ instrumental on it called ‘Night Hawk’, credited to the Valli Boys.

As organ instrumentals go, it was kind of uninspiring (groovy, but light years outside of the ‘hammond burner’ belt), which is why it went into the crates and gathered dust for a few years.

So, as I entered one of those stretches where outside record digging is precluded due to lack of funds or free time, I pulled out a bunch of record boxes and started doing a little bit of internal re-digging, i.e. looking for things unjustly ignored the first time around, a method by which many, many interesting records have made their way onto the blog.

I pulled out a stack of 45s, went through them, and managed to harvest a grip of excellent stuff, including some instrumentals, ballads, and a couple of stellar examples of Northern Soul, of which today’s selection was one.

‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself’ was released in 1966, and eventually included on the LP “The Four Seasons Present Frankie Valli Solo” which compiled many of his previous solo 45s (including the original version of ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’) as well as new material like the huge hit ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You’.

Ironically, ‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself’ isn’t even considered the big Northern Soul cut off of that album, that honor being reserved for ‘You’re Ready Now’ which is at #96 in Kev Roberts’ ‘Northern Soul Top 500’ and actually charted in the UK in 1970 due to its popularity on the dance floors over there.

It is my humble opinion that ‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself’ is the superior record.

Written by Bob Crewe and Charlie Calello, ‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself’ features plenty of hooks, a stylish arrangement (listen closely for the electric piano bubbling under everything) and a great beat for the dance floor.

Valli’s vocal is excellent, staying away from his famous falsetto and settling into a style no doubt engineered to separate his solo work from the Four Season’s records.

I whipped this one on the folks at Subway Soul a few years back, and it was met with great pleasure by the dancers there.

It’s a great record and as our friends on the other side of the Atlantic say, ought to be cheap as chips.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, January 29, 2013 11:44 am

Listen/Download Al Kent – Where Do I Go From Here

Greetings all

Once you’ve spent a lot of time listening to, and reading about soul and funk music, you become aware of the fact that sometimes, record labels, by virtue of the creative people involved can be depended on for a certain level of quality.

This is more evident in labels with smaller runs that had less opportunity to dilute their overall power with dozens of substandard or off-genre releases (i.e. no back alley detours into country, rock or crooners).

Sometimes, as in the case of Sansu records (one of the few labels through which I have become infected with the completest virus), you’re digging on the artistic vision of a singular talent, in that case Mr Allen Toussaint, who wrote, produced and arranged the vast majority of the catalog.

In the case of Detroit’s storied Ric-Tic/Golden World labels, the vision is spread out a little bit wider, encompassing the talents of label owners Ed Wingate and Joanne Bratton, producer/arrangers like Mike Terry, the instrumental talents of the Funk Brothers (and associated studio guns) and writer/performers like Al Kent.

Kent (born Al Hamilton), who had recorded in the late 50s with his brothers as the Nite Caps for Groove, then went on to make solo sides for labels like Checker, Wizard and Baritone before hooking up with Wingate’s various labels in the mid-60s (and, among other things, co-writing ‘Stop Her On Sight S.O.S.’ for Edwin Starr).

Stepping back to my original point, the sounds on Detroit labels like Ric-Tic and Golden World are so good, that I will often grab any disc I do not know on the labels whenever I find them, which is what I did with the record you see before you today.

Oddly, it was the instrumental side of this 45 ‘You’ve Got To Pay the Price’ that was a hit, grazing the R&B Top 20 in 1967, and becoming a Northern Soul standard of sorts*.

I dug that tune when I heard it, but it’s the side I’m posting today that really grew on me.

‘Where Do I Go From Here’ is one of those amazing records that gives off waves of Detroit-ness from its every groove.

Masterfully arranged by Mike Terry (when is he getting his boxed set??), with vibes, sweeping strings, bass and guitar (Dennis Coffey), and with a righteous vocal by Kent, ‘Where Do I Go from Here’ is just about perfect.

It is richly detailed and fully realized without passing into overkill, propulsive enough to dance to but with lots to listen for as well, it should have been a hit.

Al Kent went on to do some work for Motown after Berry Gordy bought out the entire Ric-Tic organization in 1968.

The tune was also recorded by the Four Tops (produced by Kent) but remained unreleased until ‘Lost Without You: Motown Lost & Found (1963-1970)’.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

*It was also recorded in a vocal version by Gloria Taylor for the Silver Fox label in 1969
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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, January 17, 2013 11:55 am

Miss Maxine Brown

Listen/Download Maxine Brown – One In a Million

Greetings all

I’d like to welcome you all to the beginning of the post-work, pre-weekend festivities here at the Corners.

First off, I must remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will hit the airwaves (as it does every Friday night at 9PM) of the interwebs on Viva Radio. If you cannot join me at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grab an MP3 over at the blog.

Today’s selection is a long time favorite, and proof positive that you should NEVER limit your vinyl collecting to 45s.

Some time back I was out at the Asbury Lanes Garage Sale, and happened upon a copy of Maxine Brown’s Greatest Hits.
I already had a coulple of her 45s, including at least one duet with Chuck Jackson, and there were a lot of songs on the LP that I didn’t recognize, so I grabbed it, paid the man and took it home.

It was only when I sat down and started doing the required needle-drops that I first happened upon the song you see before you today, ‘One In a Million’.

To say that ‘One In a Million’ is an absolutely brilliant slice of sophisticated, city soul, with tempo and hooks enough to grab the most jaded soulie, I would still be selling it short.

This – as the kids say – is the shit.

Miss Brown is in rare form, and the track is just perfection, from the backing vocals, to the drums and bass, every bit of it is right on the money sonny.

The song was written by Rudy Clark, who co-wrote ‘Good Loving’ for the Olympics, and wrote ‘It’s In His Kiss’ for Betty Everett and ‘Got My Mind Set On You’ for James Ray.

I love love love this record, and only wish now that I had it on 45 as well, a form in which it is much more expensive (in the 50-60 dollar range).

That said, as your physician, I recommend that you put this one on repeat, grab your honey and cut you a piece of rug.

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 (0)

By Larry, November 11, 2012 12:01 pm

Billy Preston

Listen/Download Billy Preston – Billy’s Bag

Greetings all

I hope that all is well in your corner of the world and that you’re all ready to hit the ground running this week.

The mighty Billy Preston has appeared in this space a few times before, including earlier this year with his Hammond instrumental ‘Greazee Pts 1&2’.

The track Ibring you today has dropped here as part of mix, but I only managed to score a copy of the 45 a few weeks back.

When I posted a list of my finds from the Allentown all-45 show, a friend requested that I post ‘Billy’s Bag’, so here it is.

Released in 1965 on the VeeJay label, ‘Billy’s Bag’ didn’t hit the charts in the US or the UK (where it was released on Sue) but it was a seminal record on the Mod Soul scene in the UK.

‘Mod Soul’ may be – from the outside – an amorphous concept, but I wouldn’t by lying if I said it was the driving force behind my listening for a long time.

As an collective genre,it encompassed soul jazz, R&B, uptempo blues, soul (of all varieties), and especially Hammond groovers (which fall inside all of the previously mentioned subgenres).

The sound was a huge part of the Mod lifestyle, as well as going on to inform much of the finest music to come out of the UK in the mid-60s.

Thanks to my own exposure to the Mod aesthetic – of which I was mostly an observer – Mod soul had a huge influence on the way I dig music, and I enjoy nothing better that spinning records for a crowd that shares that appreciation.

Preston spent the mid-60s as part of Ray Charles’s roadshow, and the flipsides of both of his VeeJay 45s were instrumental versions of Charles tunes (Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying and Drown In My Own Tears).

Without a doubt my all-time favorite cut by Preston, ‘Billy’s Bag’ is fast enough for the dance floor and has more than enough Hammond organ heat for the organ groove fan in me. The conga/cowbell percussion breaks are especially cool.

I really dig how Preston works the piano in the background as well.

‘Billy’s Bag’ made its mark on the Northern scene as well.

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 (8)

By Larry, November 8, 2012 2:22 pm

Ted Taylor – Love Is Like a Ramblin’ Rose (Okeh)
Stereos – I Feel Soul a Comin’ (Cadet)
Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers – I Can’t Turn You Loose (RCA)
Choker Campbell and his 16 Piece Band – Wild One (Motown)
Joe Jeffrey Group – My Pledge of Love (Wand)
The Contours – First I Look at the Purse (Gordy)
Derek Martin – Sly Girl (Tuba)
Exciters – Blowing Up My Mind (RCA)
Ferris Wheel – Number One Guy (Philips)
Carl Carlton – Hold On To What You Got (Big Beat)
Ella Fitzgerald – Get Ready (Reprise)
High Keys – Living a Lie (Verve)
Dobie Gray – Out On the Floor (Charger)
Ronnie Dyson – Fever (Columbia)
Shirelles – No Doubt About It (Scepter)
The Tams – Trouble Maker (ABC)
Garnet Mimms – Prove It To Me (UA)
Marvelle and the Blue Mats – Mellow Man (Dynamic Sound)
Billy Butler – Boston Monkey (Okeh)

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents Out On the Floor – 86MB Mixed Mp3/256K

Greetings all.

I hope all is well on your end.

It’s the end of the week again, so that means it’s Funky16Corners Radio Show time, this (and every) Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also come by this very spot on the weekend and pick yourself up an MP3 version of the show, or more than 100 previous episodes in the archive.
__________________________________________________________________________________________

I come to you this day a happy/relieved man.

The election is finally over, and by and large the results were ones that I would consider not only positive but encouraging.

I realize that not everyone agrees with that assessment, but I have also come to see that having stated my peace, there’s not much I can do about that.

I’m certainly not going to worry about it either.

There are those on the fringes that start with the violent rhetoric, but my suspicion is that they have neither the courage nor the wherewithal to follow through on their angry, anonymous threats.

The vast majority of the population will either get back to work in furtherance of their agenda, or will likely ignore the political scene until whipped once again into a fever pitch for the mid-terms.

I’m going to savor this all a little bit, and then go back to staying informed, a little less on edge that I have been for the past few months.

The other good news is, that this week marks the eighth anniversary of the founding of the Funky16Corners blog.

It was back in early November of 2004 that I made the leap from the Funky16Corners web zine (est. 2000) and decided to continue whipping the sounds and words on you all in a slightly more economical form.

There have been redirections (Blogger to WordPress to self-hosted WordPress) and a few minor policy changes (the unfortunate removal of the zip files) but there have also been improvements as well (like the Funky16Corners Radio Show and its archive).

Either way, the flow of music and history continues in force, and my passion for both remains as strong as ever.

My thanks goes out to all of you that have participated in the conversation along the way (readers and fellow bloggers), some of whom have become friends.

With any luck, we’ll all be celebrating these anniversaries for years to come.

The slogan of the Funky16Corners blog – borrowed from the Northern Soul movement in the UK – is ‘Keep the Faith’. These are words to live by, not only as a dedicated soul fan, but as someone with an eye on improving the world, in any way possible.

I “keep the faith” here by preaching and spreading the gospel of good music, not only to help keep it alive, but to remind as many people as possible of the importance of its transformative nature.

2012 has been an especially trying time in our house on a very deep, very frightening level.

The other day my son asked me what was most important to me in the world and I answered that family was number one, but music was next.

All great music is “soul” music in the broad sense because that’s where it hits you. It gets deep inside your brain and has the power to move your emotions (in many directions) and often enough, move your physical body, whether simply nodding your head, tapping your feet or lifting you out of your seat to dance.

If there is a guiding force behind Funky16Corners – the blog, or when I’m lucky enough to get out and spin records – that is it.

And that it shall stay.

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What you see before you is a new mix (previewed on Mixcloud a while back) composed of 45 solid minutes of dancers, most in the Northern Soul style.

There are lots of groovy 45s, a couple of unjustly ignored b-sides and an album track here and there.

A couple of these tracks have seen the light of day in this space individually, and a couple more may do so in the future.

Either way, they all ought to make you get up out of your seat and outon the floor (thanks Dobie!).

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, October 23, 2012 12:14 pm

Eddie Holman

Listen/Download Eddie Holman – I Surrender

Greetings all

Welcome to the mid-point of another week.

I figured that as long as we spent some time on Monday with a Northern Soul classic from the City of Brotherly Love, that we ought to do it again today.

I have gone on the record many times in the past about my admiration for the talents of the mighty Eddie Holman.

Though Holman is best known for his huge 1969 hit ‘Hey There Lonely Girl’, when you sit down and rap with soulies about the man the story becomes a lot longer and more interesting.

Holman recorded a grip of absolutely wonderful 45s before he signed with ABC at the end of the 60s, including Northern Soul classics like ‘Eddie’s My Name’ and ‘Stay Mine for Heaven’s Sake’ as well as epic ballads like ‘I Cry 1,000 Tears’ for labels like Cameo/Parkway and Bell, many under the aegis of the House of Harthon.

Holman was possessed of one of the most amazing voices of the classic soul era, as comfortable in a soaring tenor as he was in his more famous falsetto.

The song I bring you today comes from early in his ABC period, appearing on the b-side of his first 45 for that label in 1969.

‘I Surrender’ is unusual – at least for Holman’s tenure at ABC – in that it was an upbeat dancer in an otherwise ballad-heavy catalog.

Delivered (mostly) in Holman’s falsetto, the song has a stylish, horn and string-laden arrangement.

The song never charted in the US or the UK, but over the years it became a favorite on Northern Soul dance floors, so much so that the 45 is one of the more expensive discs he ever did, second only to ‘Eddie’s My Name’.

‘I Surrender’ was also issued in the UK on the Action label.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back 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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, October 21, 2012 1:37 pm

The Show Stoppers

Listen/Download The Show Stoppers – Heartbreaker

Greetings all

Welcome to another week here at the Funky16Corners.

The tune I bring you today is from a lesser know chapter in one of the great Philadelphia soul groups of the 60s.

The Show Stoppers are best known for their epic ‘Ain’t Nothing But a House Party’, initially released in Philly on the Showtime label.

That tune is widely regarded as a killer, but most people – even soul fans – would be hard pressed to name another tune from that group’s catalog, which is unfortunate because there’s a lot of great stuff there.

Formed in the mid-60s by Alec and Laddie Burke – younger brothers of King Solomon himself – along with Earl Smith and Timmy Smith (also brothers) the Show Stoppers went on to record a trio of 45s for Showtime.

They hit the outer reaches of the Hot 100 in May of 1967 with ‘Ain’t Nothing But a House Party’, though the song was a huge hit in Philadelphia.

The Show Stoppers material would eventuallybe picked up and reissued in the US by Heritage records who took ‘Ain’t Nothing But A House Party’ back into the charts in 1968.

Almost a full year after their initial success, thanks to the group being picked up by Beacon Records in the UK, ‘Ain’t Nothing But a House Party’ (already gaining steam in UK soul clubs) entered the UK Top 40.

All of the groups US material – including the outstanding ‘What Can a Man Do’ and ‘How Can Your Heart Forget Me’ – went on to be issued in the UK on Beacon.

The Show Stoppers proved to be so popular in the UK that Beacon had them record more material (an additional seven tracks) that was only ever issued in that country.

The song I bring you today was released in the UK in June of 1968 with the funky US track ‘Shake Your Mini’ on the flipside.

‘Heartbreaker’ – written by Del Shahr (aka Carl Fisher of the Vibrations) is a storming slice of Northern Soul that once heard immediately brings up the question, ‘Why wasn’t this song released in the US?”.

The tune is a fast moving dancer with enough of a pop edge to get played on the radio as well.

‘Ain’t Nothing But a Houe Party’ became a Northern Soul standard, eventually re-entering the UK Top 40 (issued this time on MGM)  in January of 1971.

Despite several excellent singles, the Show Stoppers would break up a year later.

I hope you dig the track, 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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, October 14, 2012 2:38 pm

The Shirelles

Listen/Download The Shirelles – Last Minute Miracle

Greetings all

Welcome to another week.

The air is suddenly a touch cooler (especially at night) and so the music I bring you shall also be (at least metaphorically).

The vinyl gods have been especially kind to me of late, whether digging via the interwebs, or out in the field.

I picked up some very groovy stuff this summer, and had an exceptional day at the Allentown All-45 Show a few weeks back.

I find these days that my digging style (if such a thing can be said to exist) has become more refined. This is due in part to it being hammered into shape by experience, but also by the fact that I often enter the fray with somewhat lighter pockets.

I find myself taking more time, returning a lot more stuff to the boxes that birthed them, and in the end taking home a much richer stack of vinyl.

This is not to say that I’m not taking any chances out in the trenches, but rather that by using my head, I take home a lot more diamonds and a lot less gravel.

I only mention this to whet your appetite for the records yet to come here at Funky16Corners.

Oddly enough, the record I bring you today came into my hands not through any field work, but rather through some lucky listening.

This summer a friend passed along about ten hours of vintage airchecks, some soul, some rock and pop.

If you listen to the Funky16Corners Radio Show you’ll already know that I’ve been mining these for all kinds of drops and vintage ads.

What I’ve also been picking up on is several groovy songs that I was either completely ignorant of, or had heard of, but never really heard before.

Today’s selection is one of the latter.

The Shirelles are one of those great groups that populate the transitional period of late R&B/early soul.

Though many people would classify them as part of the ‘girl group’ period, I’d say that many of their best records are unquestionably soul sides (i.e. ‘Baby It’s You’ and ‘Boys’, both covered by the Beatles).

What I did not know, is that the Shirelles, much like the Platters, were another “early” group that carried on making excellent records well into the “classic” soul era.

The remarkable ‘Last Minute Miracle’ is one of those.

The bulk of the Shirelles hits fall between 1960 and 1964, but they managed to hit the charts one last time (#41 R&B, #99 Pop) in 1967 with today’s selection.

Written by George Kerr and Gerald Harris (and originally recorded by Linda Jones  – at a faster tempo – on Loma), and arranged by Richard Tee, ‘Last Minute Miracle’ is one of those records that has ‘Northern Soul Anthem’ written all over it.

Marked by a propulsive dance beat, delicious pop hooks and a remarkable lead vocal by Shirley Alston-Reeves, ‘Last Minute Miracle’ moves from a hard-charging verse into a chorus that builds dramatically.

It is both exceptionally well-written and well-performed.

This is one of those records that after I heard it once, I knew I had to have it. It took me a little while to get myself a copy for my box, but when I did I listened to it over, and over again.

The record also sports an excellent flipside in ‘No Doubt About It’.

The Shirelles would continue to record for Scepter, Blue Rock, Bell and United Artists between 1968 and 1974 but ‘Last Minute Miracle’ was their last date with the charts.

I hope you dig – and dance to – this 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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.