Comments (0)

By Larry, August 23, 2016 10:10 am

Ken Boothe

Listen/Download – Ken Boothe – Let’s Get It On MP3

Greetings all.

How’s about a little mid-week soulful reggae?

Ken Boothe, one of the truly great Jamaican voices, from the rock steady era on, has appeared in this space a few times before, with his epic reading of Syl Johnson’s ‘Is It Because I’m Black’ as well as his groovy take on the Royalettes ‘It’s Gonna Take a Miracle’.

Today’s selection is the title track from his 1974 LP ‘Let’s Get It On’ (also home to the aforementioned Syl Johnson cover).

One of the best crossover LPs of the 70s, ‘Let’s Get It On’ features a number of cool covers from the Four Tops (That’s The Way Nature Planned It), Paul McCartney (My Love), Neil Young (Down By the River, oddly credited to Boothe and producer Lloyd Charmers) and as in today’s selection, the mighty Marvin Gaye.

I’ve often proffered that much of the classic Jamaican music of the 60s and 70s is merely soul music with a specific riddem, and there is hardly another singer (all props to Toots Hibbert, natch) that demonstrates that as well as Ken Boothe.

Boothe is a fantastic singer, capable of smooth, loverman style as well as a rougher, Otis Redding-esque rasp, both on prominent display in ‘Let’s Get It On’.

Boothe lays into the lyric with passion, and the song’s already relaxed pace/structure lends itself readily to reggae.

The instrumental backing is basic (though the lead guitar is distinctive without getting in the way), and the backing vocals aid and abet Boothe nicely.

There’s a lot of Boothe’s material available in reissue an in iTunes, but as far as I can tell this album (at least in whole) is not. That said, original copies are not terribly expensive, and start to finish you’d be hard pressed to invest in a better reggae LP.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, August 16, 2016 12:36 pm

Bobby Hutcherson

Listen/Download – Bobby Hutcherson feat. Harold Land – Ummh MP3

Listen/Download – Bobby Hutcherson feat. Harold Land – Goin’ Down South MP3

Greetings all.

I woke up this morning to the extremely sad news that one of my musical heroes, the mighty vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson had passed away.

I have been a jazz fan my entire life, but there was a period in the late 80s and early 90s, in the years right after I stopped playing in bands and decided to spend my time intently listening, that I bought, studied and listened to almost nothing but jazz.

Though I was digging everything from Bix Beiderbecke to Archie Shepp, the broadest area of my focus was applied to the post-bop/modal/out years from the late 50s to the early 70s, and in large part to the sounds of the Blue Note label.

At the time, Blue Note was engaged in an aggressive CD reissue campaign, part of which was the Connoisseur Series, in which they pressed up some of the more obscure, challenging and interesting titles from their back catalog in limited quantities. I picked up the discs in that series religiously, as well as anything else I could find that I dug, sometimes to the tune of three or four albums a week.

It was during that time that I discovered and fell in love with the music of Bobby Hutcherson.

If you come here on the reg, or dig the podcast, you know that I am a certified vibes nut, and Hutcherson was a master of the instrument (as well as the xylophone and marimba) who played in a wide variety of settings as a leader and a sideman, and in styles ranging from bebop, to modal, to inside/outside to free jazz with just about every great musician associated with Blue Note.

Head on over to Discogs and take a look as his own catalog, as well as his work as a sideman.

I was lucky enough to see him play (and meet him briefly) back in the 90s when he played in New York City.

The tracks I bring you today are from the funkiest date he did, 1971’s ‘San Francisco’, recorded with the giant of the tenor saxophone, Harold Land.

Land, who had been working steadily since the late 40s, and had been a crucial member of the Clifford Brown/Max Roach band, formed a partnership with Hutcherson in the late 60s, with the pair recording a number of albums (trading the leader’s position) over the next decade for a variety of labels.

‘San Francisco’ was a west coast date, featuring Joe Sample (of the Crusaders) on electric and acoustic piano (he also wrote ‘Goin’ Down South’),  Hutcherson and Land stretching out on some more groove-oriented material, and great production by Duke Pearson.

You’ve heard ‘Ummh’ and ‘Goin’ Down South’ in mixes here at Funky16Corners, but neither has been featured on the blog.

Both tunes have been sampled, ‘Goin’ Down South’ by Us3 and ‘Ummh’ by Ice Cube.

I’m also re-posting below, an all-vibes mix I put together in 2010 called ‘Positive Vibrations’, which features Hutcherson, as well as a number of his contemporaries from the 60s and 70s laying down funky and soulful vibes.

Funky16Corners Radio v.79 – Positive Vibrations!

Playlist

Comments (0)

By Larry, August 7, 2016 11:51 am

Junior Parker – Taxman (Capitol)
Jackie Wilson – Eleanor Rigby (Brunswick)
Don Randi Trio – Love You To (Reprise)
Gary McFarland – Here There and Everywhere (Skye)
London Jazz 4 – Yellow Submarine (Polydor)
Don Randi Trio – She Said She Said (Reprise)
Linda Divine – Good Day Sunshine (Columbia)
Maceo and All the Kings Men – For No One (Excello)
Don Randi Trio – I Want To Tell You (Reprise)
Chris Clark – Got To Get You Into My Live (Motown)
Junior Parker – Tomorrow Never Knows (Capitol)

Pictured: Jackie Wilson, Junior Parker, Linda Divine and Maceo Parker

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Presents: Revolving In Soul 54MB Mixed MP3

NOTE: The always excellent Any Major Dude With Half a Heart blog did a similar (though more stylistically all-encompassing) mix that you should definitely check out. There’s some crossover, but I think you’ll dig both mixes – Larry

Greetings all.

I was puttering around in the Funky16Corners Blogcasting Nerve Center and Record Vault the other day and some friends brought it to my attention that the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles epic ‘Revolver’ LP – one of the most important and paradigm-shifting albums of the 60s – was upon us.

Naturally, having devoted several mixes to the songs of the Beatles (as covered by soul, funk and jazz artists) I had to see if I could put together a mix of covers that approximated the track listing and running order of the original.

I had to cheat a little bit (what you see here matches the track listing of the US issue of the album, i.e. the one I grew up with, but not the longer/more interesting UK issue, which you see on CD reissues of ‘Revolver’) and the running time is almost the same (with the mix running about two minutes over).

That is due to the fact that there aren’t many covers of material from the UK album that fit inside the (admittedly broad) stylistic brackets I mentioned above. There are a grip of soul/funk covers of songs like Eleanor Rigby, but none at all of ‘I’m Only Sleeping’, ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ or ‘Doctor Robert’.

That said, I did have bunch of cool things on hand.

The saving grace was Don Randi’s 1966 ‘Revolver Jazz’ LP, contributing no less than three tracks to the mix, the swinging version of ‘Yellow Submarine’ by the London Jazz 4 (good luck finding a version of that song that isn’t meant for kids or played for comedy), and Maceo Parker’s stunning and wholly unexpected version of ‘For No One’.

A couple of the tracks in this mix have appeared here in some form before, but I couldn’t resist the pure novelty and record nerd-ery of recreating Revolver.

So, 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, June 5, 2016 11:33 am

Funky16Corners Presents: Queens
Vicki Gomez – Boys Are a Dime a Dozen (ABC/Paramount)
Rita and the Tiaras – Gone With the Wind Is My Love (Dore)
Apollas – Mr Creator (WB)
Clara Ward – The Right Track (Verve)
Gloria Jones – Heartbeat Pt1 (Uptown)
Sandy Wynns – Love Belongs To Everyone (Champion)
Tina Britt – The Real Thing (Eastern)
Brenda Lee – Dancing In the Street (Decca)
Candy and the Kisses – Keep On Searching (Scepter)
Dorothy Berry – Shindig City (Planetary)
Marie Queenie Lyons – Drown In My Own Tears (Deluxe)
Mirettes – Now That I Found You Baby (Mirwood)
Bobbettes – Tighten Up Your Own Home (Mayhew)
Funky Sisters – Soul Woman (Aurora)
Ella Fitzgerald – These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ (Salle)
Sari and the Shalimars – No Reason To Doubt My Love (Veep)
Judy Clay – Sister Pitiful (Atlantic)
Lesley Gore – Take Good Care (Of My Heart) (Mercury)
Barry St John – Cry Like a Baby (GRT)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Presents: Queens 86MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all and welcome to the 2016 Funky16Corners Allnighter/Pledge Drive!

This is the time of year where I and some of the finest selectors I know create some brand new mixes and post them here in the hope that you will all show your appreciation by clicking on the Paypal link and tossing something into the hat to help cover our yearly operating budget. This is the 10th Anniversary of the Pledge Drive and the 6th year of the Allnighter format.

This year’s line-up includes mixes from Asbury Park 45 sessions alums DJ Prestige, DJ Prime Mundo, DJ Bluewater, Vincent the Soul Chef, my man in the UK Ben Gibson, Tarik Thornton, HeavySoulBrutha Dave B, Chris Lujan of the M-Tet and the Dirty Dirty Podcast, DJ RP of Funkdefy Ohio and yours truly book-ending the whole thing.

The mixes this year are uniformly excellent, with sounds ranging from funk 45s, to Northern Soul, sweet soul, reggae, modern funk instros, soul jazz and everything in between.

We’ll be posting a mix each weekday for the next few weeks.

___________________________

Your donations help to keep Funky16Corners up and running, with the blog, Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast and hundreds of hours of archived mixes.

Everyone that donates will get the new 2016 Funky16Corners badge and bumper sticker, with which you can adorn the garment and flat surface of your choosing.

So pull down the ones and zeros, dig deep and Keep the Faith!

__________________________________________________________________

We’re going to get things started (and eventually finished) with a two-part mix by yours truly, entitled Queens & Kings. These are each an hour long and feature an hour of danceable soul, first by the ladies, and then by the fellas.
I’ve picked up a lot of outstanding stuff in the past year, including some of my personal Northern Soul grails, a couple of unexpected things (from people you wouldn’t expect, naturally) and lots of other groovy sounds!

So dig it, and we’ll be back tomorrow with DJ Prime Mundo!

___________________________

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 31, 2016 12:21 pm

Chuck Berry

Listen/Download – Chuck Berry – Club Nitty Gritty MP3

Greetings all.

The middle of the week is here, and I have some news.

After quite a bit of foot-dragging on my part, the Funky16Corners 2016 Allnighter and Pledge Drive will finally start rolling next Monday, June 6th.

As in years past, you will get a string of new mixes by myself and some of my favorite selectors, posted one every weekday over the course of more than two weeks.

These mixes will be accompanied by a Paypal/Donate button, so that those of you that dig what we do here (blogs, radio show, hundreds of hours of archived mixes) will toss something into the hat towards the operating budget for the next year.

All donors will also receive the new 2016 Funky16Corners badge and bumper sticker to affix to the garment and flat surface of your choice!

So stay tuned for that (lots of good stuff this year).

__________________________________________________________________________
The tune I bring you today is one of those gems that was kind of hiding in plain sight.

I shouldn’t have to explain Chuck Berry to any but the youngest of you (and even you should get familiar). Suffice to say, Berry was one of the single most important popular musicians of the second half of the 20th Century, racking up a long string of classic hits, and influencing most of the musicians that came after him, whether through his songwriting, performances, or both.

The bulk of Berry’s hits came between 1955 and 1964, with a brief resurgence at the beginning of the 70s.

Most people – myself included – would relegate him to an earlier period, an assessment pushed along by Berry’s association with the primal years of rock’n’roll and his primary work (for most of the last 40 years) as an ‘oldies’ act.

Despite my love for his best known work, and my deep respect for him, there wasn’t much in his catalog that I thought would be of interest to Funky16Corners readers.

That was until a few years ago, when a friend turned me on to today’s selection, 1966’s ‘Club Nitty Gritty’.

A storming bit of mod soul, ‘Club Nitty Gritty’ is unlike pretty much anything else in the Berry canon, and was – aside from some airplay in Washington, DC and a Top 40 run with the Pirate stations in the UK – largely ignored at the time of release, and forgotten since (aside from some of your hipper DJs).

Though ‘Club Nitty Gritty’ was released on a 45 in 1966 (backed with the even more obscure ‘Laugh and Cry’) which these days is fairly rare and expensive, Chuck and his record company at the time (Mercury) were kind enough to stash the tune away in a another, very strange place.

As you’ll see by the label above (a 1973 pressing), ‘Club Nitty Gritty’ appears on the album ‘Chuck Berry’s Golden Hits’, released in 1967.

When I tell you that I passed by this record at least 100 times in the 40 years that I’ve been buying records, if anything I’d probably be underestimating.

You see, what I (and probably most others) assumed, was that ‘Chuck Berry’s Golden Hits’ was exactly what it looked like, i.e. a collection of his old records.

What it was – in fact – was a 1966/67 rerecording of those songs for Mercury, packaged to look like a collection of 50s/early 60s recordings, with ‘Club Nitty Gritty’ tacked on to the end of it.

If I’d had any idea, I’d have grabbed it a long time ago.

That said, I’m very pleased indeed that I picked it up when I did, since ‘Club Nitty Gritty’ is a banger.

Kicked into gear by Berry’s tough rhythm guitar and some groovy electric piano (Johnny Johnson), Chuck drops in to tell the tale of the night spot in the title, then moves on to calling out a string of dances. It is fast moving enough for the dance floor, and Berry is in rare form. I haven’t been able to find out who produced the track(s) but the sound is very cool, with lots of reverb.

Berry didn’t release much new music in the late 60s, but what did make it onto record is worth checking out, including ‘Back to Memphis’ (1967), ‘Louie to Frisco’ (1968, both for Mercury) and ‘Tulane’ (for Chess, 1970).

I hope you dig the track, 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 29, 2016 11:52 am

Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals (Charlie Lett, center)

Listen/Download – Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals – Out of Sight MP3

Listen/Download – Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals – I Wanna Do the Jerk MP3

Greetings all.

Ever since digging into the history of ‘land of 1,000 Dances’ back in the day I have had an interest in the East LA/Chicano music scene of the 1960s.

Southern California was a hotbed of Chicano bands that specialized in a a very groovy mixture of R&B, rock and soul. Groups like Thee Midniters, Cannibal and the Headhunters, the Atlantics and the Blendells laid down some of the hottest 45s (and a couple of excellent LPs) of the day.

Among their ranks was a multi-racial powerhouse by the name of Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals.

Led by guitarist Ronnie Duran, the band included his brother Jimmy on sax, lead singer Charlie Lett, drummer Philip Duran (not a brother), organist Robert Arroyo, bassist Ryan O’Brien and baritone saxophonist Bob Foley, the Casuals met and formed in high school.

They were managed by Billy Cardenas (who also produced their LP) who also handled a lot of the bigger area bands.

They recorded their album for Bob Keane’s Donna records in 1965, with none other than Arthur Lee (pre-Love) assisting on songwriting and backing vocals.

The album is a great example of the kind of blend that the East LA bands were so good at, with mostly R&B/soul material played with an exuberant, rocking feel.

The tunes I bring you today are the group’s ‘I Wanna Do The Jerk’ (rumored to have been written by Arthur Lee), and their cover of James Brown’s ‘Out of Sight’.

‘I Wanna Do the Jerk’ is one of those records where you can just picture a gym full of sweaty kids getting down while the band works it out on stage.

Their take on ‘Out of Sight’ (also covered by Cannibal and the Headhunters) has the same ragged but right feel of the rest of the record (I have no doubt that these guys played their own instruments in the studio) and the vocal by Lett is excellent.

The liner notes on the LP were written by DJ Gene Weed, who was also the host of Shivaree, one of the coolest 60s ‘dance party’ shows, which featured a lot of interesting pop, soul and R&B acts.

In addition to their LP, the Pomona Casuals recorded a handful of 45s for Donna and Mustang, and continued playing into the 1970s.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, May 24, 2016 11:23 am

“Paul Nero” AKA Klaus Doldinger

Listen/Download – Paul Nero – Soul Medley #1 MP3

Greetings all.

The record I bring you today is an interesting combination of groovy sounds and an interesting back story.
A couple of years back someone on Facebook posted a clip of today’s selection and I knew I had to go out and find myself a copy.

The interesting thing is that ‘Paul Nero’ doesn’t exist, at least under that name. He is in actuality German saxophonist and arranger Klaus Doldinger, working under a pseudonym.

Using the ‘Paul Nero’ name, Doldinger and a collection of prominent German musicians, including organist Ingfried Hoffman (aka Memphis Black) and guitarist Siegfried Schwab (who with Manfred Hubler went on to record a bunch of incredible exploitation soundtracks later compiled as Vampiros Lesbos Sexadelic Dance Party) and American expat guitarist Joe Quick (who recorded on the Memphis Black records).

There were at least four albums released under the ‘Paul Nero’ name, all composed of covers of then popular hits, some focusing on soul, and some on pop/rock.

Today’s selection (actually listed on the album as ‘This Is Soul/Soul Finger/Soul Man’) is from the 1968 ‘Soul Party’ album, which is composed entirely of similar medleys. ‘This Is Soul’ is an original composition and the other tunes were -of course – originally done by the Bar Kays and Sam & Dave.

The opening section ‘This Is Soul’ features someone (with a German accent) speaking the intro, after a sweet drum break (one of the reasons this album is sought after) and the members of the band joining in one by one, a la ‘Memphis Soul Stew’. The playing – across the entire album – is quite good, in the style of a UK/Euro library LP.

My only complaint is the medley format, since I’d like to hear this band playing the entire songs.

That said, I’m going to be on the lookout for the rest of the albums (most of them were only released outside of the US).

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

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, May 3, 2016 11:49 am

Prince, Mitch Ryder and the Pointer Sisters (dig that 80s typography…)

Listen/Download – The Pointer Sisters – I Feel For You MP3

Listen/Download – Mitch Ryder – When You Were Mine MP3

Greetings all.

I can remember the first time I saw Prince.

I first became aware of his music when I was still in high school, and he popped up on the Midnight Special playing ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’. He was unlike anything I’d seen before, and at the time, unlike anything I was listening to.

When ‘Controversy’ came out in 1981 it was the first Prince tune that really caught my ear, but it wasn’t until 1984, when ‘Purple Rain’ came out that I actually owned one of his records.

Prince has never appeared here on Funky16Corners before, due mainly to the fact that we concern generally ourselves with soul and R&B of a much earlier vintage. That said, no matter how much, or how often Prince transcended those genres, he was a master of both and tribute must be paid.

Prince was one of those artists for whom the term ‘sui generis’ seems to have been created.

Though, in retrospect, it’s pretty easy to suss out his roots and influences (though maybe less so with the visual element stripped away, which considering that his fame came about during the video age may be a moot point), one of the reasons that he first rose to prominence was precisely because he was hard to pin down stylistically.

He was mixing then contemporary funky R&B with new wave and rock, reaching for the same threads that George Clinton had grabbed (Hendrix, James Brown*) and pulling them into a more streamlined future where he would expand on their appeal to the larger pop audience.

His status as a giant in modern culture, as a songwriter, musician, performer, discoverer and nurturer of other people’s talent in unquestionable and the size of the gap he leaves behind is sure to widen as the years go on and people have the opportunity to take in the full scope of his work and influence.

Though the first thing most people think of is Prince as a remarkable performer – a man who was able to combine the flash and virtuosity of Jimi and JB with the outsized showmanship of the P-Funk empire – he was also a great (and prolific) songwriter, evidenced not only is his own work, but by how many of his songs have entered the public consciousness via other artists.

The first time I can recall hearing a Prince song done by someone else was when Chaka Khan took ‘I Feel For You’ (then a five year old album cut by Prince) to the top of the charts in 1984. I didn’t know it was a Prince song when I heard it, but finding out that he had written it gave me a whole new level of respect for him.

The next decade saw Prince songs becoming hits by the Bangles, Sinead O’Connor, Sheila E and many others.

The cuts I bring you today are two earlier covers of his songs from the years right before Prince turned from a singer into a genuine phenomenon.

The first is one that I had no idea existed for years (probably because it was overshadowed by the Chaka Khan version), is the Pointer Sisters 1982 cover of ‘I Feel For You’.

Prince had originally recorded the song as a demo intended for Patrice Rushen, and it first appeared on his self-titled 1979 album.

Recorded for the group’s 1982 ‘So Excited’ album (the title track would hit the charts twice, in 1982 and then again in 1984), ‘I Feel For You’ follows the Prince original pretty closely, taking the tempo down a hair and pushing the electric piano to the fore. It provides an interesting contrast to (and bridge between) Prince’s original and Chaka Khan’s hit, which was by any measure one of the most exciting records of the 80s.

The second tune I bring you today is Mitch Ryder’s 1983 cover of ‘When You Were Mine’. First recorded by Prince for the ‘Dirty Mind’ LP in 1980, and then appearing as the flipside of the ‘Controversy’ 45, the song was recorded by Ryder for his 1983 ‘Never Kick a Sleeping Dog’, produced by John Mellencamp under the pseudonym ‘Little Bastard’.

Ryder had been one of the best blue-eyed soul singers of the 60s, and had by this time settled into a more rock/pop style. That wasn’t a hindrance, since Prince’s version of ‘When You Were Mine’ was pretty much a straight ahead new wave record. The song was a great fit for Ryder’s seasoned rasp and it was the last time he made a dent in the Hot 100. The song was covered the following year by Cyndi Lauper on her first album.

Though it’s likely many of you have already explored Prince’s discography, if you haven’t, check it out (especially the early stuff).

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

Keep the faith

Larry

*There’s a bootleg recording of Prince at the Fillmore in 2004 that features a scorching version of the JB’s ‘Pass the Peas’ featuring none other than Maceo Parker on sax.

____________________________________________________________________________

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 (2)

By Larry, April 26, 2016 10:58 am

The Soul Survivors

Listen/Download – Soul Survivors – Tell Daddy MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s selection comes to you courtesy of the Funky16Corners ‘Hey, I didn’t Know They Had Another Record’ department.

The Soul Survivors (of Philadelphia, PA) are best known as the band that put Gamble and Huff on the map with their huge 1967 hit ‘Expressway To Your Heart’.

Though they had a minor hit with 1967’s ‘Explosion In Your Soul’, their chart presence was in steady decline throughout their career.

Their Crimson LP and 45s are all cool, but for most people (myself included for a long time) that was the end of the story.

So, imagine my surprise some years ago when I found their 1969 Atco LP ‘Take Another Look’ at a garage sale. I honestly had no idea they’d ever recorded post-Crimson (they even went on to record for TSOP into the 70s!), so I grabbed the album and took it home.

While I wouldn’t describe the record as a complete success, I will say that it has some definite highlights.
Recorded partly in Philly with Gamble and Huff at the boards, and partly in Muscle Shoals with Rick Hall, ‘Take Another Look’ is definitely worth a listen.

My favorite track on the album is the Soul Survivors return to the original “masculine” version (the song was after all written by Clarence Carter, prior to its legendary recording by Etta James as ‘Tell Mama’) of ‘Tell Daddy’.

The arrangement adds a slightly more modern/swampy edge to the familiar sound, but the overall effect is classic soul, with great vocals by the band and some tight hornwork. There’s very little of the 1969, bare feet in the mud white boy over-singing, with the Soul Survivors keeping it right, tight and outtasite.

This LP doesn’t turn up a whole lot, but it is definitely worth picking up if you find it.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (6)

By Larry, April 24, 2016 9:49 am

Sandy Nelson

Listen/Download – Sandy Nelson – Love Is Like an Itching In My Heart MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s selection sees us returning to the “you find groovy music in the strangest places file”, as well as another visit from our friend Sandy Nelson.

Long story short, Sandy Nelson was one of the most ubiquitous instrumental artists of the 1960s. The drummer had his first hits with ‘Teen Beat’ in 1959 and ‘Let There Be Drums’ in 1961, and though he didn’t make much of a stir on the charts after that, he churned out a steady succession of LPs (mostly for Imperial) in the 60s and early 70s, covering rock, pop and soul hits with a fair amount of style and verve, backed by the cream of LA sessioners.

Today’s selection is Nelson’s 1966 cover of my all-time favorite Supremes cut ‘Love Is Like an Itching In My Heart’.

Released on his ‘Superdrums’ LP, Nelson’s version of the tune has enough punch and style to make it on a soul dance floor. He hits that snare drum like it owes him money, and the arrangement, heavy on guitar and sax is a killer.

Nelson had enough style imbue his soul covers with plenty of heat (I really wish I had this one on a 45), and managed to attack garage and pop tunes with the same verve.

His records are cheap and easy to find at your better garage sales and flea markets (or on-line if that’s how you roll), and there is always something cool on them.

So get digging, and I’ll see you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, April 21, 2016 11:06 am

Eddie Kendricks

Listen/Download – Eddie Kendricks – Boogie Down MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, so I will remind you once again to dig into this week’s Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast. The show drops each and every Friday and can be had by subscribing to it as a podcast in iTunes, listening on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, on Mixcloud, or as an MP3 right here at the blog.

There also may be some positive news in regard to a new internet radio home for the show, so stay tuned for details!

We end the week with one of my all time favorite slices of funky disco, that I have been a fan of since its original release back in 1973.

I can state unequivocally that I first heard Eddie Kendricks’ mighty ‘Boogie Down’ on WABC-AM (in NYC) while staying up all night in a pup tent on a Boy Scout trip. I can distinctly recall this one, as well as ‘Rock On’ by David Essex and ‘Until You Come Back To Me’ by Aretha Franklin (alongside ads for the local dragstrip, Raceway Park) winding their way deep into my impressionable, 12-year-old ears.

‘Boogie Down’, written by Leonard Caston, Anita Poree and Frank Wilson was Kendricks’ second consecutive R&B #1 hit, as well as a substantial Pop hit, making it all the way to #2.

‘Boogie Down’ is a fantastic example of the early days of disco, in which the records still had a decent amount of funk welded onto their frames. It is highly danceable (pushed along by a rolling piano line and percussion), and of course features Eddie’s mighty falsetto out in front.

While Kendricks continued to place records high on the R&B charts, this was his last significant Pop hit.

I hope you dig it (and get up and dance).

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, April 19, 2016 11:32 am

The Crusaders on the cover of ‘2nd Crusade’

Listen/Download – The Crusaders – Gotta Get It On MP3

Greetings all.

I though we’d all ease into the middle of the week with something funky by the mighty Crusaders.

If you’re a seasoned digger, it’d just about be a miracle if you weren’t already deep into the Crusaders catalog.

Their records, both in their earlier incarnation as the Jazz Crusaders (for World Pacific/Pacific Jazz) and then in their time as the Crusaders (the funky instrumentals on Blue Thumb/Chisa, like today’s selection) and the smoother hitmakers (like ‘Street Life’ on MCA), are ubiquitous and almost always affordable, and in most cases, worth taking home.

Today’s tune, the very groovy ‘Gotta Get It On’ hails from their 1972 LP ‘2nd Crusade’.

Written by drummer Stix Hooper, the tune is pushed along by Joe Sample’s electric piano, the horns of Wayne Henderson and Wilton Felder, and Larry Carlton’s guitar.

The Crusaders always had a funky edge (‘small ‘f’ funky’ in the old school, down and dirty soul jazz stylee), and their early 70s albums pump it into upper case, creating a very tasty, bright, somewhat laid back Southern California groove that you can hear echoes of in early Steely Dan albums.

You probably won’t be spinning this stuff for a funk 45 crowd, but its ability to get heads nodding is second to none.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.