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By Larry, December 24, 2012 11:36 am

The LP (above), Miss Dorothy Ashby (below)

Listen/Download – The Soulful Strings – Jingle Bells

Listen/Download – The Soulful Strings feat. Dorothy Ashby – Merry Christmas Baby

NOTE: This year – as in years past – the run up to Christmas will be filled with re-postings of some of my (and your) fave soulful and funky holiday tunes.

This gives you all a chance to catch up on some soulful Christmas jams, and gives me time to rest my blogging muscles and enjoy the holiday.

There are also two previous years of Funky16Corners Radio Christmas Specials (12/24/10 and 12/23/11) as well as this year’s show (12/21) in the Archive.

This will be my final post for the week, so here’s hoping that those of you that celebrate have a very Merry Christmas, and that for the rest of you, things stay mellow as a cello.

This post is dedicated to the memory of the mighty Miss Marva Whitney, who passed away a few days ago. I will most definitely be paying tribute to her in the coming weeks.

Enjoy!

Larry

Originally Posted 12/2007

Greetings all.

As I’ve stated repeatedly in the past, I’ve never been much of a holiday music collector. However, once in a while a personal obsession of mine also happens to have a Christmas record. In the case of Richard Evans and the Soulful Strings, their 1968 LP ‘The Magic of Christmas’ is a real gem.

The first tune I selected was the obvious choice (at least for me) because I can’t think of another version of ‘Jingle Bells’ that opens up with an honest to goodness drum break. I’m not sure who’s laying it down here (though I’m guessing that it is in fact Morris Jennings Jr.).

The second selection is a lush, sublime reading of Charles Brown’s classic ‘Merry Christmas Baby’ which features the brilliant Dorothy Ashby on harp. If you aren’t familiar with Ashby – I included her ‘Soul Vibrations’ on my collab with DJ Prestige ‘Beat Combination Pt2’ (check out the Flea Market Funk Mixes page)– she was one of the few harpists who could actually play jazz on the instrument, and the three albums she recorded for Cadet between 1968 and 1970 (in collaboration with Evans) are brilliant.

If your nerves are frayed (like mine) and the consumerist madness of the holiday season has you down, give this version of ‘Merry Christmas Baby’ a listen and all will (at least for a few minutes) be well, as it is positively sublime.

I’ll be taking the next week off to enjoy the holiday with my family and do a little visiting. I will most definitely be back with something for New Years Eve, so hang tight, enjoy your Christmas and I’ll see you all soon.<<

Peace

Larry

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 23, 2012 12:04 pm

Clarence Carter

Listen/Download – Clarence Carter – Back Door Santa

NOTE: This year – as in years past – the run up to Christmas will be filled with re-postings of some of my (and your) fave soulful and funky holiday tunes.

This gives you all a chance to catch up on some soulful Christmas jams, and gives me time to rest my blogging muscles and enjoy the holiday.

There are also two years of Funky16Corners Radio Christmas Specials (12/24/10 and 12/23/11) in the Archive.

Enjoy!
Originally Posted 12/2006

Greetings all.

As I’ve gone over a few different times, I’ve never been a big collector of (any) holiday themed funk and soul. I may pick up a piece here and there – when it turns up – but I don’t generally seek it out. This is the main reason it may take a decade or so before you see me post a Christmas edition of Funky16Corners Radio. I just don’t have the raw material at my disposal.

That is not to say that I would ever let the time of year go by unnoticed, and this time out I have a couple of excellent funky yule logs for ye, one you may have heard, and another that you almost certainly haven’t.

The former may very well be my all time favorite funk/soul Christmas record, by one of the truly great voices of 60’s and 70’s soul. The singer, Mr. Clarence Carter, the song, ‘Back Door Santa’.

First off, I suspect that someone, somewhere in the funky blog-o-sphere will be dropping this chestnut, and I don’t care, on account of I love this record, and you should too, and much like spinach and yams, more than one serving will only serve to improve your overall well being.

That said, Clarence rips it up here, whipping every last bit of funk they had hidden at Fame studios on you (as well as jingle bells and egg nog), with all the good Santa-related double (hardly) entendres money can buy. Get this on thy-Pod post haste, so that over the weekend, when some wet blanket tries to throw ‘Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer’ (or, God forbid that thing where the dogs bark out ‘Jingle Bells’) on at the Christmas gathering, you can parry (and thrust) with this big, jangling set of Christmas balls and really get the party started.

I mean, seriously…how can your ears suck up this groovy gravy, and your butt fail to respond– in the words of the great Lee Dorsey (without whom everything you do can’t be funky) – with the make-a-shake-a-make-a-hula, or however it is you likes to shake it (but don’t break it).

By the way, if some youngster starts tugging on your scarf when this starts playing, it’s because he heard this songs very essence sampled by none other than Run DMC (It’s Christmas in Hollis Queens! Etc etc).<<

Peace

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, December 2, 2012 3:51 pm

Eddie Kendricks

Listen/Download Eddie Kendricks – Son of Sagittarius

Greetings all

Welcome to another week here at the Corners…

The tune I bring you today is something very groovy from one of the greats of 70s soul (as a solo, that is), Mr. Eddie Kendricks.

After helping to create the sound of the Temptations in the 60s, Kendricks departed for a solo career in the early 70s.

He was hugely successful, both artistically, and chart-wise.

1973’s ‘Boogie Down’ LP brought him his second #1 record with the title cut (#2 Pop) and continued his association with the late Frank Wilson. It was the songwriting team of Wilson, Leonard Caston and Anita Poree (with Wilson and Caston producing) that worked with Kendricks to create his influential and ahead-of-its-time disco funk sound, starting with 1972’s ‘People….Hold On’ LP.

It would be an understatement to say that Kendricks broke through in a big way. I was a 10 year old suburban white kid when he started his run of solo hits and they are still favorites of mine, drilled deeply into my brain.

Oddly though, I have no recollection of today’s selection, which was Top 5 R&B and Top 30 Pop in the Spring of 1974.

That’s too bad, because ‘Song of Sagittarius’ is a fantastic bit of dance floor magic.

My first instinct would be to classify it as ‘mid-tempo’ but there’s something in the throbbing bass drum, and the way the arrangement fluctuates between a smoother feel and slightly rougher funk that makes it feel more propulsive.

Plus, you get to listen to one of the greatest falsetto’s in the history of soul for almost four minutes, so there’s that too.

I hope you dig it (and dance to it) 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, November 27, 2012 2:10 pm

Roy Ayers

Listen/Download Roy Ayers – Brother Louie

Greetings all

Welcome to that island in the middle of the week where we all gather to get our heads together, make it over the hump and start marching toward the weekend.

There’s not a lot to say about today’s selection that the music can’t say for itself.

Roy Ayers, master of the vibes (the instrument and the diffuse idea), who got his start playing hard bop/modal and moved onto to become one of the masters of funky sounds in the 70s, gets into the studio with some heavy friends and works it out on a song that had been a very big hit earlier that year (1973) for Stories.

Those of you that – like me – are old enough to remember that hit, well…remember it (from then).

The rest of you for whom it is instantly familiar surely picked up on it via Louie CK’s groovy show, wherein a version of it is used as the theme.

The Roy Ayers take on ‘Brother Louie’ is from his excellent ‘Virgo Red’ LP, and sees the master and his band taking the song, strapping a little funk to it (with lots of those good vibes, literal and figurative) and there you have it.

I dig it (and the whole album) a lot.

I hope you do too, 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 (0)

By Larry, November 25, 2012 2:03 pm

The Intruders

Listen/Download The Intruders – Every Day Is a Holiday

Greetings all

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome you all to another week here at the Funky16Corners thing.

Things are getting cool and crisp outside (and hopefully in here too) so I thought I might open things up this week with some smooth, delightful soul harmony from the great city of Philadelphia.

I have sung the praises of the mighty Intruders in this space a number of times over the years.

Led by Sam ‘Little Sonny’ Brown, the Intruders hit the charts no less than two dozen times between 1966 and 1975.

They were one of the biggest hit delivery machines in the Gamble/Huff stable, and their success provided a lot of the juice needed to launch Philadelphia International Records.

If you are not wise to the sounds of the Intruders, you need to get out and dig because their singles are by and large fairly easy to find, affordable when you find them, and uniformly excellent.

As I mentioned a long time ago, the Intruders were a bridge between the old-school Philly sound (Volcanos, Harthon et al) and the slicker, smoother sound that would become known the world over as ‘Philly soul’.

The tune I bring you today, ‘Every Day Is a Holiday’ was released both on the 1968 ‘Cowboys to Girls’ LP and as a single in 1969.

Its chart impact was minimal, though it’s a-side “Old Love” made it into the R&B Top 40.

That said, ‘Every Day Is a Holiday’ is first rate Gamble/Huff action, with a sophisticated melody, tight harmonies and a radio-friendly arrangement.

I hope you dig it, 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 (0)

By Larry, November 22, 2012 1:58 pm

Kai Winding won’t you blow one time!

Listen/Download Kai Winding – Watermelon Man

Greetings all

The end of the week is near, so don’t forget to tune into the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you cannot join us at airtime, you can pick up episodes by subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes or picking up an MP3 download here at the blog.

The name Kai Winding was a very familiar one in my house when I was a kid.

My father is a huge jazz fan and had several ‘Jay and Kai’ albums (the duo of trombonists JJ Johnson and Kai Winding) in his collection.

It was only when I started collecting 45s in earnest – especially Mod soul/jazz – that I discovered that Mr Winding had waxed some very groovy stuff during the 60s.

The Danish-born Winding, who passed away at the age of 61 in 1983, recorded in a wide variety of settings from the 1940s (he played on Miles Davis’ ‘Birth of the Cool’ sessions) on until his death.

He recorded for the Verve label in the 60s, which is when he laid down the very tasty version of Herbie Hancock’s ‘Watermelon Man’.

Like many of his contemporaries, Winding experimented with adding all kinds of pop/R&B flavor into his records, and this is one of his best.

You get lots of that sonorous trombone, mixed in with some grovy combo organ and percussion that makes for a fusion of soul jazz and au-go-go flavors.

It has a discotheque vibe that I dig very much, and I hope you do too.

Get your groove shoes on, 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, November 20, 2012 2:53 pm

The Les James Trio

Listen/Download The Les James Trio – Joe’s Thing

Greetings all

I hope the day finds you all well.

Ioften find myself running out of steam around the middle of the week.

You know how it is.

Truth be told, I have discovered that the remedy to such a lull is not – as might be expected – a solid and powerful boot in the ass, like you might require on a Friday to get you in gear for the weekend, but rather something subtly powerful.

Enough of a push to restore momentum, but nothing too sudden.

It is in furtherance of this idea that I have dipped into the crates and whipped out something that just might do the trick.

A while back, I was perusing the interwebs in search of some tasty vinyl to add to my record box, when I happened upon an auction for an unfamiliar, but very interesting looking record.

The disc in question was a mid-70s joint by a crew called the Les James Trio out of the Rocky Mountain metropolis of Denver, CO.

Now, I know that “Denver jazz’ doesn’t light any fire in your ears – unless you are a Paul Quinichette aficionado – but this auction came with a tantalizing soundclip.

So tantalizing in fact that I chased this record down like a lion after a juicy springbok, landed it and devoured it forthwith, if by “devour” it is meant to be understood as recording and digimatizing said record for the delectation of you good people.

There’s not much out there about Les James, other than a few links that suggest that he was something of a local institution in Denver, and the liner notes to the album which intimate that he might have hailed from Eastern Europe and made his way west, piano in tow.

The tune I bring you today – he one that made me covet the album so fiercely – is entitled ‘Joe’s Thing’, written by and named for James’ bassist Joe Lopez.

Much like the record that I brought you all on Monday, the things that happen on this record in regard to the alchemy of bass and drums is truly something to behold.

‘Joe’s Thing’ is in no way a “funk” record, but it is immediately obvious once the ones and zeros start to flow that is is monumentally funky, in a way guaranteed to make you sit up, notice, and groove, all at the same time.

Unlike so many self-released combos (Century was a famous “press your own”outfit out of California) the Les James Trio was actually a pretty tight unit. James was an excellent pianist, Lopez a shit-hot bassist and the drummer (listed only as Jo Jo) does his part admirably.

‘Joe’s Thing’ is a groover’s treasure because it starts out with a mighty riff, and then returns to the well a number of times, including a couple of phased drum breaks.

This is a banger – a subtle one – but a banger nonetheless.

You can send your thank you notes via the comments below.

NOTE: Speaking of which, the comment capcha system I was using died unexpectedly, so I replaced it with another one in which you – the commenter – gets to solve a simple math problem instead of squinting at an impossible to read “phrase”. Easy, educational, and best of all, spam-obliterating!

You’re most welcome.

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.

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 15, 2012 12:21 pm

Johnny Hammond Smith and Reuben Wilson

Listen/Download Johnny Hammond Smith – NeverCan Say Goodbye
Listen/Download Reuben Wilson – NeverCan Say Goodbye

Greetings all

Welcome to the end of another week (or better yet, the beginning of a groovy weekend?).

The recent web-related crisis seems (keeping the old fingers crossed here) to have been averted for now, so steady on for now. I think I have some studying to do in the meantime.

Please to remember that the Funky16Corners Radio Show comes to you this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you are unable to join us for the party at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or fall by the blog on Saturday to pick yourselves up an MP3 download of the show (or any of the 120+ other shows available in the archive).

The song I bring you today – in two different versions – is by any measure of the word, one of my all time favorites.

Written by Clifton James, made a hit by the Jackson Five and Gloria Gaynor, ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’ has become one of those songs that I can listen to be performed by just about anyone. I always pick up versions when I’m out digging and always stop and listen when it shoes up on the radio or in the iPod.

The recordings I offer you this fine day are layed down by two of the masters, Johnny Hammond Smith and Reuben Wilson.

Smith’s version, from his 1971 ‘Breakout’ album is largely a showcase for saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., who did some of the arrangement on the album. The rhythm section generally comps in the background, with some groovy guitar work (George Benson) and some nice, hard –hitting drums from Billy Cobham.

Reuben Wilson’s take on the tune is not only taken at a faster tempo, but with a little more Hammond in the mix, though the lead is once again taken by the sax (Ramon Morris).

Wilson is one of the great underrated Hammond cats. Most of his better stuff came fairly late in the game, at least as far as the soul jazz/funk thing is concerned. Though he was about the same age as many of his better known contemporaries, he started recording later than most.

His Blue Note sides are excellent, and his stuff on Groove Merchant (as heard here) is worth seeking out as well.

I hope these sounds help you get your weekend off to a mellow start, 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, November 13, 2012 1:22 pm

The Hesitations

Listen/Download The Hesitations – Summertime

Greetings all

I hope the day finds you well.

Though I know that a lot of my fellow soul heads are strictly in a 45RPM bag, I find myself buying fair amount of long players when and where I find them.

This has everything to do with my natural curiosity, never-ending hunger for new sounds, and the combination of the two that leads right here to the Funky16Corners Blog.

Soul and funk LPs are often a fantastic source of undiscovered/underappreciated treasure, as well as being a great, cheap way to pick up songs on vinyl that would break the bank if sought on 45.

Few things make me happier than grabbing an LP and finding a great song that never made it onto a single, especially interesting cover versions.

The Hesitations were an Ohio-based soul harmony group that hit the charts several times in the late 60s, often with big ballads like ‘Born Free’ and ‘The Impossible Dream’.

They were also capable of some excellent, upbeat dance floor stuff like the Northern Soul favorite ‘I’m Not Built That Way’.

I pick up their records wherever I find them, and did so last year when I found the ‘Where We’re At!’ album at one of the Asbury Lanes garage sales.

The big discovery for me on that disc was the group’s absolutely searing cover of the old Gershwin/Heyward classic ‘Summertime’.

Now, the natural inclination would be to be suspicious of anyone covering that particular song who wasn’t named Billy Stewart.

His version of the song was a Top 10 R&B and Pop hit in 1966 and is as close to definitive as an cover, of any song has come.

So, when I see that the Hesitations did their own version, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot.

Silly me…

As it turns out – which you’ll hear as soon as you pull down the ones and zeros – the Hesitations version of the song is presented in a completely different (and smoking) arrangement.

Their ‘Summertime’ is an exciting, fast moving take on the song, complete with soul clapping and great harmonies (natch..).

I dig the way lead singer George ‘King’ Scott lays into the ‘TIME!’ in ‘Summertime’, over and over again, pushing the outer edges of his range.

It is a very groovy number indeed, and since the Hesitations LPs aren’t too expensive, accessible.

I hope you dig it, 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.

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.
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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 (1)

By Larry, October 30, 2012 1:32 pm

Not Cal Tjader

Listen/Download Cal Tjader – Spooky

Greetings all and welcome to the middle of another week here at the Corners du Funk.

We here on the coast are in the middle of a ass-kicker of a storm, and while that’s probablyscary enough for most (myself included) Halloween is at hand, and so it behooved me to whip something a little scary onto the blog.

Now – unless you find the combination of thick glasses and groovy vibes frightening…someone probably does – Cal Tjader, though scary talented, was not known for inducing fear in his listeners.

However, he did find the time to record and extra smooth and tasty version of that old Hallows Eve perennial, ‘Spooky’.

Originally recorded by Mike Sharpe, and then the Classics IV – who had a huge hit with it in 1968 – ‘Spooky’ is one of those great “fits nicely in Halloween” tunes that doesn’t involve screaming, Frankenstein grunts or any other novelty hoo-hah.

Mr. Tjader recorded the tune on his ‘Cal Tjader Plugs In: Live at the Lighthouse’ LP in 1969, with a great band that included Armando Peraza on percussion and Al Zulaica on electric piano (who adds a lot of flavor to the track).

The band gets a nice groove going here, and Tjaders is – as always – in top form.

His Skye stuff isn’t easy to find, but always worth it when you can.

I hope you all survive the storm, have yourselves a sweet and groovy Halloween, and (assuming I’m not washed away in the storm) 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).

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 (1)

By Larry, October 29, 2012 11:30 am

Go Go Girls!

Listen/Download Gentleman June Gardner – It’s Gonna Rain

Greetings all

I come to you from deep inside the storm, as Hurricane/Tropical Storm/Whatever Sandy beats down upon us with buckets of rain and howling winds (which are guaranteed to get a lot more howly as the day progresses).

I figured I ought to get up off of the couch and blog something before the electricity goes bye bye.

I was rifling through the stacks looking for my copy of Dave Baby Cortez’s ‘Hurricane’ (which I found, and just reposted, so get it while it’s hot) but happened upon the record you see before you first.

It was as of the hand of fate took a second out of its busy day to offer up one of the all time great soul instrumentals.

‘It’s Gonna Rain’ by Gentleman June Gardner is right up there in my Top 10 instrumental soul 45s. In fact I was shocked that’s I’d never blogged it before!

I first heard it many years ago on an old Charly comp of New Orleans soul.

The record you see before you was the first copy of the song I got on wax. Oddly enough in an Australian pressing of Gentleman June’s LP (released on Emarcy here in the US).

I have since then grabbed the US LP and 45 (can’t have to many copies of a great record!), but I keep wondering how this record got released in Australia (I liken it to the NZ pressing of the 13th Floor Elevators ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’).

Gardner was a New Orleans based drummer and bandleader who recorded great music inside and outside that city (he also worked with the mighty Sam Cooke).

The extra groovy thing about this one – which I didn’t discover until I’d had it for a few years – is that it is a cover of a tune by Sonny and Cher!

The OG, which was released on the flip-side of ‘I Got You Babe’ is a garage-au-go-go cruncher and probably the most surprising thing in the S&C discography.

Though I don’t know this for sure, my suspicion has long been that Gardner was hepped to the tune by his NOLA homeboy Harold Battiste, who was working out on the coast as musical director for Mr. & Mrs. Bono.

‘It’s Gonna Rain’ is a certified soul stomper that’ll have you out of your seat and twisting before you know it.

It’s the perfect antidote to this bitch of a storm that’s sitting on top of us right now (and promises to get a lot worse before it’s over).

Keep your fingers crossed that those of us on the Eastern seaboard make it through Sandy in one piece (or at least as few pieces as possible).

I’ll see you all tomorrow.

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.