Comments (0)

By Larry, March 20, 2016 11:52 am

Johnny ‘Hammond’ Smith

Listen/Download – Johnny Hammond – Higher Ground MP3

Greetings all.

I thought we’d ease ourselves into the week with some long-form, funky Hammond organ from the man who’s name matched the axe, Johnny ‘Hammond’ Smith.

Known alternately as Johnny ‘Hammond’ Smith (he attached the Hammond to set himself apart from guitarist Johnny Smith and organ maestro Jimmy Smith) and Johnny Hammond (as he is here, having detached the ‘Smith’ in 1974, JHS was one of the masters of the classic era of organ led soul jazz.

He recorded for Riverside and Prestige from the late 50s into the early 70s, moving on to Kudu in 1971.

Today’s selection, his cover of Stevie Wonder’s 1973 hit Higher Ground’ comes from his (Hammond’s) 1974 LP of the same name.

Here Johnny gets to stretch out (the shortest track on the album is over seven minutes long) with a hot band that included Steve Gadd on drums, Ron Carter on bass, George Benson on guitar and electric piano by the arranger for the date, none other than Bob James.

It is a very groovy session for one relatively late in the game. There’s a little of that Creed Taylor CTI/Kudu polish (always a good thing) but also plenty of head nodding funk (the album also includes the heavily sampled ‘Big Sur Suite’).

All of his Kudu LPs are highly recommended.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, March 17, 2016 11:45 am

Isaac Hayes

Listen/Download – Isaac Hayes – Never Can Say Goodbye MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show. We come to you each and every Friday with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can dig the show as a podcast in iTunes (subscribe and rate, s’il vous plait), listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, listen on Mixcloud, or grab an MP3 right here at the blog.

We lose out the week with yet another version of one of my all-time favorite songs, Clifton Davis’s ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’.

It has always seemed odd to me, that such an amazing song, a veritable soul standard, was penned by a guy who is best known as an actor.

Between the hit versions by the Jackson Five (the biggest hit, and in my opinion, the gold standard), Gloria Gaynor (and the eight other versions in my iTunes library), I never tire of the song.

The rendition I bring you today comes courtesy of the mighty Isaac Hayes.

Hayes, who never met a song that he couldn’t give the “epic” treatment to, covered ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’ on his 1971 Black Moses album (coming in one of the greatest LP packages ever made).

Hayes was fresh off the mega-success of ‘Shaft’ and returned to the studio with a collection composed almost entirely of covers, by the likes of the Carpenters, Toussaint McCall, the Jackson Five, Curtis Mayfield, Kris Kristofferson and the Shirelles (among others).

Naturally, Ike takes the song at his patented slow and sexy pace, with some velvety vibes running underneath everything, and his own baritone on top.

Though it doesn’t stretch out to the 12 minute stratosphere of ‘Walk On By’, Hayes gives the song a respectful five-minute reading, and the all-male backing vocals are particularly interesting touch.

Whether you dig the song as much as I do, you really need to pick up as much Isaac Hayes as your record shelves will handle.

Dig the tune, 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, March 10, 2016 1:35 pm

Angela Simpson

Listen/Download – Angela – Rapping MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, and so then is your weekly helping of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. I come to you once a week with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can (and should) subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, groove to the show on Mixcloud, or grab and MP3 right here at the blog.

__________________________________

Also, should you be in the vicinity of Easton, PA this Friday night (3/11) I will be guesting with the Stax Steel Soul Club at Porters Pub, 700 Northampton St, Easton, PA. I will be packing some top-shelf Northern Soul floor-fillers, and some slower, sweet stuff, too, so come on by, hoist a pint and get your dance one!

__________________________________

We close out this week with something unusual.

I first heard of Angela Simpson way back in the day on SoulStrut, when the album popped up in a bunch of finds lists.

Her self-titled LP of songs and poetry usually gets filed under ‘kiddie funk’, though unlike many records in that bin, this is more like a collection of recitations over funky backing (as opposed to a band full of kids).

Recorded/released in either 1971 or 1972 on the Spectrum label (home to all kinds of funk, soul and gospel), the album is mush better than the cover would lead you to believe.

Angela’s poetry is pretty simple stuff (she was, after all, a kid…) but the backing, especially on today’s selection, ‘Rapping’ is very groovy indeed.

I have no idea who the backing band was, but they were tight, laying down a funky groove, with some particularly nice lead guitar.

I know this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (I’ve seen some online comments by people who did not dig it at all) but in the early 70s context of oldschool/Sesame Street, I think it works.

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

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, March 6, 2016 11:33 am

Funky16Corners Presents – Funky Music Is the Thing
Harvey Scales – Dancing Room Only (Casablanca)
Alvin Cash – Twine Time (XL)
Eddie Drennon and BBS Unlimited – Get Down Do the Latin Hustle (Friends and Co)
United Image – African Bump (Branding Iron)
Cookie Jarr and His Krums – Ain’t No Use Pt1 (Roulette)
Willie Henderson and the Soul Explosions – Is it Something You’ve Got (Brunswick)
Robert Parker – Get To Steppin’ (Island)
Seven Seas – Pat’s Jam (Glades)
Dave Richmond – Phase Out (KPM)
Frankie Gee – Date With the Rain (Claridge)
Hack Bartholomew – La La You (CTI)
Lyn Collins – Give It Up or Turnit A Loose (People)
Rimshots – Do What You Feel Pt2 (Stang)
Jr Walker and the All Stars – Gimme That Beat Pt2 (Soul)
The Brothers – Fire (RCA)
Dynamic Corvettes- Funky Music Is the Thing (Abet)
Maceo and the Kings Men – Thank You Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin Pt2 (House of the Fox)
Bobby Keys – Gimme the Key (Ring’O)
Jimmy Bo Horne – Dance Across the Floor (Sunshine Sound)
ST4 – Funky (Scepter)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Presents: Funky Music Is the Thing 113MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well, at least well enough to get out on the floor.

A while back, I took my son out for a long-promised digging session at one of the few decent local record stores. He grabbed himself a bunch of LPs, while I scoured the 45 bins, picking up mostly disco 45s.

Most of the stuff I found fell on the funky side of things, and while listening to them, I started to work up  the mix you see before you today, in which that kind of thing is mixed in with more of the same, some slightly later, danceable funk, as well as a couple of unusual things that sounded right to me.

The hour-long mix is (with three exceptions) culled exclusively from 45s, heavy on the drums (there are a couple of nice breaks in there) and all right, tight and outtasite for the dance floor.

As always, 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 (0)

By Larry, January 28, 2016 1:07 pm

Willie Mitchell

Listen/Download – Willie Mitchell – Pearl Time MP3

Greetings all.

The end of he week is upon us, and so I will remind you once again to check out the Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast, which drops every Friday, bringing you the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove all on original vinyl. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, groove to it on Mixcloud, or grab and MP3 right here at the blog.

We close out the week with one master of soul – Willie Mitchell – covering another – Andre Williams.

I picked up my copy of Mitchell’s 1968 ‘Soul Serenade’ LP years ago, but only recently realized that it included a cover of Andre Williams 1967 single ‘Pearl Time’.

My best guess is that I couldn’t imagine anyone outside of Detroit or Chicago covering an obscure Williams tune, but as it turns out, it wasn’t quite as obscure as I thought.

After doing a little research (or more than I had done before) I found out that though Williams original version of ‘Pearl Time’ didn’t hit the R&B charts, it was a minor pop hit, generating some heat in the Midwest and the Northeast.

Willie Mitchell recorded his version in 1968, alongside covers of tunes by James Brown, Otis Redding and Bobby Hebb among others.

Mitchell’s take includes a robust horn section and a slightly cheesy (in a good way, natch…) organ over some tight drums, with Mitchell just about speaking the lyrics.

I dig it a lot, and I hope you do, too.

Have yourselves a great weekend,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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, January 19, 2016 12:03 pm

Ramsey Lewis (l), Ansil Collins and Dave Barker (r)

Listen/Download – Ramsey Lewis – Party Time MP3

Greetings all.

Welcome to the middle of the week.

Nothing grooves me more than finding out the source of a sample/cover, especially when I had no idea the record in question was a cover.

Such was the case last year when someone dropped a Youtube clip of the record you see before you today, ‘Party Time’ by Ramsey Lewis.

The ‘cover’ in question is one of the great skinhead reggae 45s of all time, Dave and Ansil Collins’ ‘Double Barrell’.

There are a lot of reggae/ska tunes that borrow (a charitable assessment…) from US/UK pop, jazz and soul, but I never knew that ‘Double Barrel’ (an all-time fave, of which I own at least three different copies) was one of them.

‘Party Time’ composed for Lewis by none other than the mighty Richard Evans, and arranged and produced by him for the 1967 ‘Up Pops Ramsey’ LP, is a groovy number with some punchy drums and upright bass setting the foundation for Lewis’s piano soloing.

The arrangement by Evans is first-rate, up there with the best of his Soulful Strings efforts.

Dave and Ansil Collins either heard the LP or the 45 of ‘Party Time’, and with the addition of some toasting by Dave Barker, ‘Double Barrel’ took Evans melody and turned it into an island classic in 1969.

‘Up Pops Ramsey’ is also worth hearing in its entirety, packed with groovy covers and of course those Richard Evans arrangements.

I hope you dig the tune, 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 (0)

By Larry, January 5, 2016 12:55 pm

The Mark Lewis Trio

Listen/Download – The Mark Lewis Trio – Funky Street MP3

Greetings all.

Here’s a wild one for you.

As an inveterate digger/collector, with big ears (literally and figuratively) and an insatiable curiosity, I’m always picking up weird stuff in the hope that I might have happened upon hiden treasure.

Unfortunately, most of the time, it’s not treasure, but garbage.

However, once in a blue moon, I turn up something groovy, like today’s selection.

I’ve had this record for so long, that I can’t remember exactly where I picked it up, other than it was out “in the wild” somewhere, and that it was cheap.

Back in the day – moreso in the 60s/70s than now – the hotel lounges of the world were staffed with entertainment, ranging from solo piano/singers (like my Pop, way back when) all the way up to full sized show bands, with horn sections, back up singers and the whole megillah.

The Mark Lewis Trio appear to have fallen somewhere in the middle, with an organ/sax/drums/vocals line up, playing a wide variety of pop/soul material.

As these kinds of records go, the song selection is fairly hip/young, though the delivery is decidedly middle of the road, except – of course – for their version of Arthur Conley’s 1968 ‘Funky Street’.

Now, looking at the picture of the group from the album cover, you’d never expect to hear anything remotely soulful (or even energetic) yet against all odds, the Mark Lewis Trio delivers.

The overall effect is somewhere in the neighborhood of “soulful garage band”, but they hit the tune with gusto, and the sax/organ/drums interplay is pretty tasty.

It’s not the heaviest thing ever, but when you take the look of the group, and the rest of the album, and do the math, it’s a lot cooler than you’d expect.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, December 31, 2015 11:06 am

Kool and the Gang

Listen/Download – Kool and the Gang – Jungle Jazz MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is near, and so I will encourage you to partake in the soulful smorgasmord that is the weekly Funky16Corners Radio Show, in which I endeavor to bring you the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. The show drops every week (the first show of every month at SoulGuyRadio.com) and you can subscribe to it as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

We close out the week (and the year, Happy New Year!) with something deeply funky, designed (and guaranteed) to get your ass up out of the chair and onto the dance floor.

I have sung the praises of New Jersey’s own Kool and the Gang a number of times over the years, telling the story of how it was their music, way back in the 5th grade at Milford Brook School that truly introduced me to the funk.

Today’s selection will sound instantly familiar, as it is the 1975 reworking of their 1973 hit ‘Jungle Boogie’, offered here as ‘Jungle Jazz’.

While ‘Jungle Boogie’ is itself a hot piece of work, ‘Jungle Jazz’ sounds like Kool et al weren’t satisfied with the overall funk quotient of the OG, so they went back into the lab and Frankensteined that shit right up, with a mess of drums and some very tasty flute.

Sure, you get the gong at the beginning, but when those drums drop in…holy shit. George ‘Funky’ Brown beats that bass drum like it stole his lunch money, and then the various and sundry percussion accents (cowbells, conga, wood blocks etc) come in and all of a sudden you’re out on the floor shaking like a man (or woman) possessed.

That drum opening is a funky-ass miracle, which is why it was sampled so often.*

Despite the fact that what you’re getting here is a reengineered ‘Jungle Boogie’, the band really work hard to add to the cut. The flute, by Dennis Thomas is some next-level, overblowing ish in a Jeremy Steig stylee, and the horn section is really working it out, too.

This is the kind of record that funk nights were designed for, and if you cannot (or will not) dance to it (even in your seat) your shocking lack of soul will be duly noted.

So pull down the ones and zeros, and whip this on some squares.

Have a great weekend, Happy New Year and see you in 2016!

Keep the faith

Larry

* Records sampling – “Jungle Jazz”
2 Live Crew’s “Hangin Out”
3rd Bass’s “Brooklyn-Queens”
Biz Markie’s “I’m the Biz Markie”
Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.’s “Rated R”
Brand Nubian’s “Drop the Bomb”
Gus Gus’s “Believe”
Hi-C’s “Leave My Curl Alone”
Incognito’s “Roots (Back to a Way of Life)”
Jade’s “Don’t Walk Away”
MARRS’s “Pump up the Volume”
Public Enemy’s “Anti-Ni**er Machine”
Stetsasonic’s “So Let the Fun Begin”

____________________________________________________________________________

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 (4)

By Larry, December 24, 2015 9:50 am

Funky16Corners Christmas Party!
Ike and Tina Turner – Merry Christmas Baby (WB)
Otis Redding – White Christmas (Atco)
Soulful Strings – Jingle Bells (Cadet)
Albert King – Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’ (Stax)
Felice Taylor – It May Be Winter Outside (But In My Heart It’s Spring) (Mustang)
Honey and the Bees – Jing Jing a Ling (Chess)
The Gems – Love For Christmas (Chess)
James Brown – Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto (King)
Charles Brown – Merry Christmas Baby (Jewel)
Count Sidney and the Dukes – Soul Christmas (Goldband)
Donny Hathaway – This Christmas (Atco)
Bobby Holloway – Funky Little Drummer Boy (Smash)
Clarence Carter – Backdoor Santa (Atlantic)
Harvey Averne Band – Let’s Get It Together This Christmas (Fania)
J Hines and the Boys – A Funky X-Mas To You (Nation-Wide)
Freddy King – I Hear Jingle Bells (Federal)
Dee Irwin and Mamie Galore – All I Want For Christmas Is Your Love (Imperial)
Johnny and Jon – Christmas in Viet Nam (Jewel)
John Lee Hooker – Blues For Christmas (Elmor)
George Conedy – El Nino Del Tambor (Kent Gospel)
Soulful Strings (feat Dorothy Ashby) – Merry Christmas Baby (Cadet)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Christmas Party 124MB MP3

Greetings all.

It is the end of the week, and so I will remind you to grab this week’s edition of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. This year, instead of a Christmas-themed show, you get the third and final part of the

History of Allen Toussaint. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile devicevia the TuneIn app, or grab yourself an MP3 at the blog.

_________________________________________________________

Since this week’s Friday post falls on Christmas Day, I thought I’d gather together a selection of favorites from Christmases past, and whip together a Funky16Corners holiday mix.

These should all be familiar, and there are a couple tunes that show up twice (vocal and instrumental), but they should provide a festive accompaniment  to the burning of the Yule log.

I hope you dig it, and whether you celebrate Christmas or not, that you have a fantastic day!

See you 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 (4)

By Larry, December 22, 2015 11:55 am

Rotary Connection

Listen/Download – Rotary Connection – Sidewalk Santa MP3

Listen/Download – Rotary Connection – Silent Night Medley MP3

Greetings all.

Today, I offer you two tracks from of one the groovier holiday albums ever made on the soulful side of things.

Rotary Connection are mostly remembered today as the first place much of the world heard the voice of the mighty Minnie Riperton.

The group was of course, much more than that. Guided in the studio by the genius Charles Stepney, Rotary Connection created a unique mixture of soul and rock, crafting some of the most interesting albums of the day.

It helped that they had in their ranks, both Riperton and Sidney Barnes, the latter having made his mark as a singer and songwriter alongside no less a light than George Clinton.

Their Christmas LP ‘Peace’, released in 1968 is – unlike many holiday albums that only mash together a wad of familiar songs – a worthwhile listen all the way through.

The tracks that I bring you today illustrate both the group’s fine originals, as well as their mastery of interpreting classic material.

The first track, ‘Sidewalk Santa’, written and sung by Barnes is somewhat dark soundscape, featuring a heavy – yet tasteful – arrangement by Stepney.

The second cut is actually three of the album’s tracks mixed together (by me…). The group works their way through three versions of ‘Silent Night’, the first an almost jazz rendition of the traditional song, the second moving in a more rock interpretation, with fuzz guitar and Riperton’s wordless vocals, and the third, ‘Silent Night Chant’ letting its freak flag fly with the full rock treatment (the whole mix coming in at almost 15 minutes, more than half of the album).

It serves as both a great holiday sound, but also a doorway into the sounds of the Rotary Connection.

I hope you dig the tunes, and I’ll be back on Friday with a mix of soulful holiday faves.

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, December 10, 2015 11:57 am

Milt Matthews

Listen/Download – Milt Matthews Inc – It Ain’t Your Fault MP3

Listen/Download – Milt Matthews Inc – Little Green Apples MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is nigh, and so then in this week’s episode of the Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast. We come to you every week here at Funky16Corners.com and once a month at SoulGuyRadio.com with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl.

I have a very special episode for you this week (and for the next two weeks as well) first of a three-part look at the History of Allen Toussaint, covering everything from his earliest solo recordings, through the early days on New Orleans R&B, the Sansu years and on into the funky sounds of the late 60s and early 70s. All told it comes to over four hours of the finest sounds that Allen Toussaint was associated with as artist, composer, producer and/or arranger. I think you’ll dig it!

You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 right here in the archive.

________________________________________________________________

The tunes I bring you today are a couple of my favorite songs from an overall excellent album by Milt Matthews Inc.

Milt Matthews was born in North Carolina, but relocated to Washington, DC in the mid-60s, where he worked as a session guitarist and songwriter.

His 1970 debut LP – from which this tune hails – is an outstanding example of the intersection of soul, folk and funk, which was bubbling up into the zeitgeist at the time.

Matthews spends the album working out all manner of mellow grooves, sounding like a soulful singer-songwriter in the Bill Withers/Lou Bond tradition, but with a solid, funky underpinning.

‘It Ain’t Your Fault’ is one of the more upbeat tunes on the album, mixing jazzy lead guitar with organ and nice, solid rhythm section locked into the groove.

Matthews talent as a vocalist is well-displayed in his version of the O.C. Smith ‘Little Green Apples’. Here we have a song that I thought I never needed to hear again, yet Matthews takes it and really digs in, playing with the tempo and delivering an epic reading of the song that clocks in at over eight minutes. It’s rare to hear someone get their hands on a ‘standard’ and really do something interesting and new with it, and Matthews really makes the song his own.

If you dig these tracks, try and get your hands on a copy of the album, which is excellent from start to finish.

Oddly enough, Matthews second LP ‘For the People’ moves in a more psych-rock direction and is sought out by collectors of the genre.

Matthews went on to later record disco and gospel.

I hope you dig the tunes, 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, December 3, 2015 12:55 pm

Duke and the Drivers

Listen/Download – Duke and the Drivers – Check Your Bucket MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, so I will suggest again that you point your interwebs connection toward your favored podcast source (iTunes, etc), or your mobile device at the TuneIn app, to SoulGuyRadio.com or even (dare I say it??) right here at Funky16Corners to get your weekly does of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. I whip a new episode on you each and every Friday, filled with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl.

We close out the week with something unusual.

Back in the day, when I was scouring the record bins of the universe in search of anything and everything Eddie Bo-related, someone (I forget who, but thanks…) pointed me in the direction of a 1976 LP by a Boston group called Duke and the Drivers.

Duke and the Drivers were an R&B-based bar and club band out of Boston (not unlike their compadres the J. Geils Band) who recorded two albums and a couple of singles for ABC records in the mid 70s.

How they got their hands on Eddie Bo’s ‘Check Your Bucket’ (released in 1970 and an obscurity pretty much everywhere outside of the New Orleans city limits) I do not know. That said, they do a nice, mellow version of the song, and it’s easy to imagine this being a highlight of their live set. The song is apparently a signature number of theirs, and they re-recorded it on a 2003 live album.

I hope you dig the track, 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.