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By Larry, October 8, 2014 12:22 pm

Richard Evans

Listen/Download Dorothy Ashby – Soul Vibrations

Greetings all

I come to you today with a heavy heart, and the news that the mighty Richard Evans has passed away.

He had been living in Massachusetts, where he’d taught at Berklee College of Music for more than two decades.

If you’ve spent any time here at Funky16Corners, either in the early days at the web zine, or over the last decade here at the blog, you know that there are few musicians I respect as much as Richard Evans.

Evans was a composer, producer, arranger and bassist who, alongside (sometimes in collaboration with) Charles Stepney created the Cadet Records sound in the 1960s.

Born in Alabama, but raised in Chicago, Evans started working as a sideman (including a stint with Sun Ra and the Arkestra), eventually making his mark at the Chess subsidiary Cadet Records.

His work as producer/arranger/composer appeared on a grip of records through the 60s by artists like Ramsey Lewis, Dorothy Ashby, Odell Brown and the Organizers, Terry Callier, Marlena Shaw, but most importantly with his pet project the Soulful Strings.

Beginning in 1966, Evans put the full weight of his talents behind the group that would create some of the most sublimely grooving music of the late 60s.

The role of arranger has generally been a behind the scenes one, with many of its most important/trailblazing figures – Fletcher Henderson, Gil Evans, Tadd Dameron etc – working in the jazz world.

The ability to ‘paint’ musically with the various voices of an ensemble to create something greater than the sum of its parts is – when done well – a truly remarkable thing.

Richard Evans was such a gifted ‘painter’.

Never losing sight of his jazz roots, Evans moved on to a more explicitly soulful platform, employing electric instruments, unusual percussive elements, and most importantly strings, to make some of the best albums that many people have never heard.

The Soulful Strings only had a single Top 40 R&B hit, 1968’s ‘Burning Spear’, yet the group proved to be very influential.

They released seven LPs between 1966 and 1971 that consistently subverted the established idea of instrumental pop, taking the music in new and often surprising directions.

Evans was also working with other artists in the Cadet stable, as well as the occasional outside project (Victor Johnson, Nolan Chance, Young Holt Unlimited), but the Soulful Strings form the core of his legacy.

The sad thing is, that outside of people who dug them the first time around, and crate diggers and soul heads, the Soulful Strings are largely unknown, their records having been out of print (and never reissued domestically as far as I can tell) since the 1970s.

Some of their 45s are easy to come by, but the LPs can prove elusive. More than once I’ve had people who  loved the group tell me that they had no idea they had released seven albums.

I made reference above to arrangers being ‘painters’ of sound, and Evans was a virtuouso.

It helped that Evans had at his disposal some of the finest musicians working at the time,folks like Phil Upchurch, Donny Hathaway, Morris Jenning Jr, Cleveland Eaton, Bobby Christian and Billy Wooten among others.

Great painters will use pigments and brush strokes to recreate light and texture in ways that are interesting and pleasing to the eye. A great arranger – like Richard Evans – does much the same thing, using aural textures and dynamics to please the ear (and the mind).

Evans’ arranging ‘signature’ can be heard in string voicings and the appearance of unusual instrumentation like kalimba, or theremin, in such a way that after digesting enough of his work, a listener begins to recognize these trademarks.

Yesterday, after news of Evans death began to appear on social media, a friend posted a track that I’d never heard before, Ahmad Jamal’s 1973 cover of Foster Sylvers’ hit ‘Misdemeanor’. As soon as I played the clip, I could hear Richard Evans hand in the ‘canvas’, crisp, but grooving rhythm section, and then the strings.

The track I feature today, in memory of Richard Evans is one that I was shocked that I’d never posted here (outside of mixes) at Funky16Corners.

Dorothy Ashby, the jazz harpist who made some of the most interesting LPs in the Cadet catalog (and appeared on Soulful Strings sessions as well), recorded ‘Soul Vibrations’ in 1968.

The song, composed, arranged and produced by Richard Evans, is in many ways the finest thing he ever put his stamp on outside of the Soulful Strings.

‘Soul Vibrations’ is simultaneously head-noddingly funky, and positively avant garde.

Propelled by a throbbing acoustic bass, drums and percussion, and a jarring theremin, the palette is balanced by Ashby’s beautifully played harp, and, of course, those strings.

There are times where it sounds like a transmission from some funky corner of outer space. When I was putting together the tracks for the Mothership Mix, it was the first thing I thought to include.

I’m also reposting the Soulful Strings mix I put together back in 2007 (see below) , and you should check out the ‘All Strung Out’ mix from 2012, which features all manner of soul and funk featuring strings, including many tracks directly influenced by Evans’ work with the Soulful Strings.

As I said before, outside of the occasional comp appearance (some of them very strange, search Soulful Strings in iTunes…) these amazing records are long out of print, a problem that who ever is owns the Cadet catalog should take care of as soon as possible.

I hope you dig it all, and if the music is new to you, give it all a nice, deep listen (headphones, people!) and appreciate the genius of Richard Evans.

See you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Originally posted in 2007

Funky16Corners Radio v.33- Soul Message – the Soulful Strings

Playlist

Burning Spear (B) (Evans)
The Stepper (C) (Evans)
Soul Message (C) (Evans)
Listen Here (E) (Eddie Harris)
I Wish It Would Rain (E) (Whitfield/Strong/Penzabene)
There Was a Time (E) (James Brown)
You’re All I Need (E) (Ashford/Simpson)
Zambezi (F) (Evans/Hathaway)
Chocolate Candy (F) (Upchurch)
Valdez In the Country (F) (Hathaway)
1974 Blues (F) (Eddie Harris)
Hey Western Union Man (G) (Gamble/Huff)
I’ve Got the Groove (G) (Gamble/Huff)
I Can’t Stop Dancing (G) (Gamble/Huff)

Listen/Download Funky16Corners Radio v.33 – Soul Message

Greetings all.

Today’s edition of Funky16Corners Radio is a project that I’ve been promising to do (after several requests) for a long time. I finally got my shit together this weekend, and so here you have Funky16Corners Radio v.33 – Soul Message, the sound of the Soulful Strings.

I’ve only ever done one other single-artist edition of Funky16Corners radio (Lee Dorsey), and after much delay decided to devote a mix to the Soulful Strings as they are not only one of my all-time favorite groups, but also because they are woefully underrepresented in reissue. As far as I’ve been able to tell none of their albums have ever been reissued domestically, and aside from a track here are there on comps, you’d pretty much have to dig up the original vinyl (which took me quite some time) to get the whole picture.

Though their 45s aren’t too hard to come by, the albums (most of them anyway) are another story entirely. They don’t command too high a price, but they can be very hard to track down.

If you’ve hung around here (or the webzine) for a while you already know that I am a huge fan of the legendary Richard Evans.

Evans, along with Charles Stepney – was the major creative force behind Chicago’s Cadet Records in the 60’s and 70’s. Originally a jazz bassist, Evans went to write, arrange and produce some of the finest records to come out of the Cadet catalog.

Despite what appears to have been a very busy schedule, in 1966 Evans began work on his own project, the Soulful Strings.

While Evans had always been an innovative arranger/producer, it was with the Soulful Strings that he began to experiment with the innovative instrumentation that he would go on to use to great effect with Dorothy Ashby, Marlena Shaw and Terry Callier among others.

Though at first glance the Soulful Strings appear to have been another easy listening/kitsch project engineered to cash in on an audience unable to stomach harder edged soul music (and the Chess brothers may very well have had that in mind) Evans was too much of a visionary to sit back and crank out dross. On the seven Soulful Strings LPs recorded between 1966 and 1971, Evans created some of the most interesting, vital sounds of his career.

It’s important to look past the name of the group and listen closely to the music on the records. When you do so the impression you get is not of a Montovani-esque vibe, but rather an energetic soul/funk/jazz rhythm section augmented (not overpowered) by strings.

This has everything to do with Evans’ vision of a truly soulful sound with a baroque twist (kind of a flipside of Stepney’s psychedelic soul experiments with Rotary Connection), but also with the players he worked with to build the sound.

Though only one Soulful Strings LP (Groovin’) sports a full personnel listing – the rest list only featured soloists – the core of the group was formed from the cream of Cadet sessioners like Stepney, Lennie Druss, Phil Upchurch, Donny Hathaway, Cleveland Eaton, Morris Jennings Jr. and Cash McCall, and vibraphonists Bobby Christian and Billy Wooten. The only strings players that are listed on multiple albums were violinist Sol Bobrov, and viola player Bruce Hayden, with bassist Eaton occasionally doubling on cello.

The debut LP, 1966’s ‘Paint It Black’ was composed entirely of covers. It wasn’t until 1967 and ‘Groovin’ with the Soulful Strings’ that Evans would include an original composition, and with ‘Burning Spear’ the group would have their biggest hit. The tune would go on to be covered by Kenny Burrell, S.O.U.L, Jimmy Smith, Joe Pass and the Salsoul Orchestra. There would be three Evans originals on ‘Another Exposure’, and none at all on ‘In Concert’.

It wasn’t until 1969 and ‘String Fever that an album would be dominated by original compositions, with tunes (and collaborations) by Evans, Phil Upchurch and Donny Hathaway beside two Eddie Harris tunes (1974 Blues and Cold Duck Time).

The final Soulful Strings LP, ‘Play Gamble-Huff’ was – as the title suggests – composed entirely of tunes written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

The tunes in this mix are not presented in chronological order, nor are all of the Soulful Strings albums represented. You can hear the title cut from ‘Paint It Black’ in Funky16Corners Radio v.31 – Soul Satisfaction*, and I’m holding off on tracks from the ‘Magic of Christmas’ LP until (wait for it…here it comes..) Christmas.

The mix opens with the Soulful Strings best known song, ‘Burning Spear’. Opening with kalimba (an instrument Evans would use frequently), the drums come in quickly until the flute takes the lead. It’s interesting that in a group where the Strings get top billing, the flute (mainly Lennie Druss, later Richie Fudali) is given an especially prominent role.

The next cut ‘The Stepper’ is a groovy swinger with some nice organ and a great guitar solo by Upchurch.

‘Soul Message’, another showcase for Lennie Druss has a propulsive beat and a seriously Eastern vibe.

Evans would dip into the Eddie Harris catalog several times, including a very nice version of the oft covered soul jazz standard ‘Listen Here’. It is one of the tracks from the ‘In Concert’ LP that sound (not surprisingly) ‘In studio’, or at least heavily overdubbed. Of the other ‘In Concert’ tracks included here, ‘I Wish It Would Rain’ is positively sublime, and one of my fave Soulful Strings cuts. ‘There Was a Time’, the group’s sole selection from the James Brown catalog actually manages to preserve some of the urgency of the original while recasting it in their own image. It also sounds as if it were actually recorded live. The final track included here from ‘In Concert’, Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell’s ‘You’re All I Need (To Get By), is another great fit of material to setting.

The next four cuts all come from what I consider to be the Soulful Strings finest moment, the 1969 LP ‘String Fever’. As I said earlier, ‘String Fever’ was composed almost entirely of group originals, which are all excellent. As a result, this is their funkiest album, with some of the tracks tapping into a slick, urban vibe that anticipates a lot of early 70’s soul.

‘Zambezi’ and ‘Chocolate Candy’ – both of which I’ve spun at DJ nights to positive response – are both incredibly cool. ‘Zambezi’ features some very groovy scatting (by Upchurch, I think) and ‘Chocolate Candy’, written by Phil Upchurch is a lost classic.

‘Valdez in the Country’ – which also features the guitar/scat combo) was one of the first Donny Hathaway tunes to be recorded, and went on to be covered several times by the likes of George Benson, Cold Blood, Gerald Veasely and Ernie Watts among others. Hathaway wouldn’t record it himself until 1973’s ‘Extensions of a Man’.

‘1974 Blues’, which originally appeared on Eddie Harris classic ‘Silver Cycles’ LP the year before takes a lighter approach than the original, with some great vibes (uncredited).

The final Soulful Strings LP ‘Play Gamble-Huff’ wouldn’t hit the racks until 1971. It features Strings-ized versions of several big hits, including Jerry Butler’s ‘Hey Western Union Man’ (also covered by Clarence Wheeler & the Enforcers), the O’Jay’s ‘I’ve Got the Groove’ and Archie Bell & the Drells’ ‘I Can’t Stop Dancing’.

Though I can’t say why that was the end of the Soulful Strings, it wasn’t long before Evans was releasing solo albums, as well as working as a bassist and arranger for Natalie Cole, Peabo Bryson and Ahmad Jahmal among others.

He eventually took a long-term position as a professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

That all said, I hope you dig the Soulful Strings.
________________________________

Principal players
Richard Evans – Arranger/Producer/bass
Lennie Druss – Flute
Charles Stepney – organ, vibes
Phil Upchurch – Guitar
Cleveland Eaton – bass, cello
Morris Jennings Jr. – drums
Bobby Christian – vibes
Billy Wooten – vibes
Cash McCall – guitar
Richie Fudali – flute
Sol Bobrov – violin
Bruce Hayden – viola

LP Discography
A. Paint It Black 1966
B. Groovin’ With the Soulful Strings 1967
C. Another Exposure 1968
D. Magic of Christmas 1968
E. In Concert 1969
F. String Fever 1969
G. Play Gamble-Huff 1971

45 Discography
The Sidewinder / Message To Michael – 1966
Paint It Black / Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing– 1967
Burning Spear / Within You Without You – 1967
The Stepper / The Dock Of The Bay – 1968
Jericho / The Who Who Song – 1968
I Wish It Would Rain / Listen Here – 1969
Zambezi / A Love Song – 1969

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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, September 21, 2014 11:20 am

Eddie Harris and Les McCann

Listen/Download Les McCann and Eddie Harris – Carry On Brothers

Greetings all

That said, there must have been something in the air in 1971, since Les McCann and Eddie Harris’s ‘Second Movement’ LP is jam packed with funky jams.

The tune I selected for your delectation this fine day is the mighty ‘Carry On Brother’.

There was a time in the late 60s/early 70s when McCann and Harris were the public face of soul jazz, thanks 100% to their 1969 smash LP ‘Swiss Movement’ and the classic ‘Compared to What’.

Both McCann and Harris had recorded plenty of top-shelf soul jazz during the 60s, and their coming together as a duo was everything it could have been and more.

With McCann working the keys and singing (not too shabby, by the way) and Harris working the Varitone electric sax (not everyone’s cup of tea, but one of my favorite sounds), the duo combined songwriting chops (and excellent taste in covers) with razor sharp playing.

‘Carry On Brother’ (written by McCann) opens with congas, electric guitar and McCann whooping, before he lays into the song’s socially conscious message.

The groove stated, things get a little bit far out, with some fantastic, wordless vocals by Cissy Houston and Judy Clay, and a hot band of NYC sessioners (Cornell Dupree, Jerry Jemmott and Pretty Purdie among them) working overtime.

If you get a chance to pick up a copy of ‘Second Movement’, do so, since you also get the excellent ‘Shorty Rides Again’.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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, September 14, 2014 12:47 pm

Cosimo Matassa 1926-2014

Willie Harper – But I Couldn’t (ALON)
Willie West – Hello Mama (Deesu)
Tim Whitsett and the Imperials – Monkey Man (Ace)
The Stokes – Young Man Old Man (ALON)
The Stokes – Whipped Cream (ALON)
Warren Lee – Star Revue (Deesu)
Eddie Lang – Something Withing Me (Seven B)
Oliver Morgan – Roll Call (Seven B)
G. Davis & R. Tyler – Hold On Help Is On the Way (Par-Lo)
Eddie Bo – Fence of Love (Seven B)
Guitar Ray – Patty Cake Shake (Hot Line)
James Rivers – Tighten Up (Eight Ball)
Lee Circle – Other Delights (ALON)
Robert Parker – In the Midnight Hour (NOLA)
Roger and the Gypsies – Pass the Hatchet Pts1&2 (Seven B)
Bobby Powell – Why Am I Treated So Bad (Whit)
Art Neville – Hook, Line and Sinker (Instant)
Chris Kenner – Fumigate Funky Broadway (Instant)
Skip Easterling – Keep the Fire Burning (ALON)
Willie West – Did You Have Fun (Deesu)
Eddie Bo – Skate It Out (Seven B)
Curley Moore – Soul Train (Hot Line)

Listen/Download The Master: A Cosimo Matassa Sampler

Greetings all

I hope the new week finds you well.

It was at the end of last week that news came down that the legendary Cosimo Matassa had slipped the surly bonds of earth at the age of 88.

If you are not familiar with the name, if you are a regular here at the Corners, you are most certainly hip to the sounds that he helped bring into the world.

Matassa was, from the early 1950s, the recording/mastering engineer of record for most (not much, MOST) of the music – rock’n’roll, R&B, soul and funk – laid down in the Crescent City, as well as  a label owner and record distributor.

I won’t go into much detail here, because the extremely long and complicated story has already been told (and is still being added to) at the mighty Cosimo Code website by cats like Davie Gordon, Red Kelly, John Broven, John ‘Sir Shambling’ Ridley and Peter Gibbon.

There, they have endeavored to compile a list of recordings recorded, or mastered by Matassa, using his unique coding system.

Your next stop should be the Cosimo Code site, where anyone with even a passing interest in New Orleans music could get lost for hours.

When I heard that Cosimo had passed, I went back through the chronological lists at Cosimo Code and started pulling recordings out of my own archive as I saw them on the list, so that I could put together a representative (though hardly comprehensive) sampling of the records he helped birth.

These are exclusively 1960s recordings (mostly 1965-1967) with a couple of surprises (as in, I was surprised to see them on the list) and a few unusual things you might not normally find here at Funky16Corners. There’s a just a touch over an hour of solid 45s (and one LP track).

So, click on the link, give the old ones and zeros a spin, and head on over to the Cosimo Code and try to digest the mind-boggling breadth of Mr Matassa’s portfolio.

Condolences to those that knew him, and props to the CC crew for their amazing work.

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, September 4, 2014 4:00 pm

Ray Barretto

Listen/Download Ray Barretto – Mercy Mercy Baby

Listen/Download Urban Dance Squad – A Deeper Shade of Soul

Greetings all

The end of the week is finally here, so that means it’s time to hoist your antenna, fire up the radiola and twist the knobs until the dulcet tones of the Funky16Corners Radio Show come spilling out of the speakers. This can be experienced every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, and you can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab and MP3 here at Funky16Corners.

I have posted many a tune by the mighty Ray Barretto in this space over the years, including a couple from the album you see before you today.

You could ascribe this to laziness or lack of imagination on my part, or you could come correct and deal with the fact that Barretto’s 1968 opus ‘Acid’ is one of the greatest albums in the history not only of Latin soul, but music in general.

I mean, honestly…’Soul Drummers’, ‘A Deeper Shade of Soul’ and today’s selection, ‘Mercy Mercy Baby’ on the same LP??

Barretto was on fire, laying down ‘Hard Hands’, ‘Acid’, ‘Together’ and ‘Barretto Power’ all between 1968 and 1971, working the boogaloo/Latin soul/funk vibe as well as crafting more traditional sounds.

‘Mercy Mercy Baby’ opens with rolling bass and piano, before a tasty horn section joins in, along with the master’s congas, and vocals by Jimmy Sabater and Willie Torres.

It’s a great one for the dance floor, and ought to have folks singing along with the band.

I also have a bit of a bonus track for you today.

I have to be honest when I tell you that the first time I ever heard Ray Barretto, wasn’t on one of his records, but through a sample.

Back in 1989, I picked up the first album by the Dutch group Urban Dance Squad, having heard and dug the cut ‘Deeper Shade of Soul’ (probably via MTV, so there’s that…).

It was an early days mixture of live band, rap and turntablism, with a mellow, stoner vibe that I dug then, and still dig today.

It wasn’t until a few years later, when my man Haim passed on the CD reissue of ‘Acid’ that I realized that ‘Deeper Shade of Soul’ was built on a Barretto sample, and having dug the source and the source-erer, I dug it all the more.

Flash forward to earlier this year, and while out a-digging, what do I find but a 45 issue of the UDS tune, and I figured, since I was whipping a little Barretto on you to close out the week, I’d toss the Urban Dance Squad into the pot to thicken the stew, as it were.

So, dig that, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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, September 2, 2014 11:39 am

James Ray

Listen/Download James Ray – I’ve Got My Mind Set On You

Greetings all

The middle of the week is upon us, so I felt it only fitting that I dip into the crates and whip a little history (and a groovy song) on all of you.

It ought to be obvious by now that my record collector spidey sense is often set a-tingling by original versions of popular songs.

This is often the case because the originals are often much better, especially when the source material is R&B/soul/funk based.

If you had your ears pointed at a radio (or MTV) in 1987, you most certainly heard George Harrison working it out on a song called ‘I’ve Got My Mind Set On You’.

It was one of his biggest solo hits, and as it turns out, a cover of an obscure 1962 R&B tune by a singer named James Ray.

Now, I heard Ray’s OG years before I laid my hands on a copy (thanks to one of those ‘Who Played It First’ type comps), but only set out to get myself an original after my memory was jogged by none other than the mighty Mr Finewine, when he graciously invited me to share the decks during his long-running Wednesday night thing at Botanic in NYC.

Since the 45 was more expensive/elusive, I ended up getting a copy of James Ray’s self-titled 1962 LP.

In addition to today’s selection, the disc also includes his minor hits ‘If You Gotta Make a Fool Out Of Somebody’ (later covered by Freddie and the Dreamers) and ‘Itty Bitty Pieces’.

Produced and arranged by Hutch Davie, and largely composed by Rudy Clark (who also wrote ‘It’s In His Kiss (the Shoop Shoop Song)’ and ‘Good Lovin’), the LP runs the gamut from R&B to fairly mainstream pop.

The arrangements, including on ‘I’ve Got My Mind Set On You’ tend to be oddly ornate (dig, if you will, the chorus and the banjo…), though not at all out of character for 1962.

Ray had a high, slightly raspy tenor that has touches of Ray Charles in it.

Sadly, he passed away only a few years after recording this, victim of a drug overdose, still in his early 20s.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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, August 5, 2014 4:15 pm

The Godfather of Soul

For the trainspotters in the crowd, this is the 1970 Capitol Record Club issue of ‘Ain’t It Funky Now’

Listen/Download James Brown and the James Brown Band – Use Your Mother

Listen/Download James Brown and the James Brown Band – Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose (Inst)

Greetings all

I had something else planned for today, but then the Missus and I took in a showing of ‘Get On Up’ at the local cinematheque, and those plans changed.

Back some months ago, when trailers started to emerge for the James Brown biopic ‘Get On Up’, I was both excited, and filled with trepidation.

I mean, someone was finally working on a biopic of the Minister of the Super Heavy Funk.

On the flip side of that coin was the thought, ‘Oh, shit, how many ways are there to fuck up such an undertaking?”

Since the last week saw reports from trusted sources start to dribble in, so we decided to catch a matinee.

I am here to tell you that – in the words of the corporate world left behind – my expectations were met, and exceeded.

The first thing you should know about ‘Get On Up’, is that it is quite good.

It certainly had weak spots from time to time, but I have to admit that it stood up relatively well to my own high level of James Brown nitpicking.

Chadwick Boseman, who plays Brown, was amazing, and if he’s not nominated for an Oscar, they need to turn out the lights and shut the doors on that operation.

The performance sequences of the film are fantastic, and beautifully filmed.

The supporting cast, especially Nelsan Ellis as Bobby Byrd, was excellent.

If I had a fairly substantial beef with the movie, it would be that whatever (or more importantly, whoever’s) source material was used had an axe to grind with Maceo Parker*.

The way he is portrayed in ‘Get On Up’ seems at the very least unfair. Though it was Parker that led the (just) band revolt against Brown, he is portrayed not only as an incessant complainer, but also seemingly oblivious to the evolution of the funk.

There’s a scene in the film regarding a rehearsal of ‘Cold Sweat’ in which Parker has to be stepped through the paces of the song like some kind of amateur, which makes no sense at all.

My suggestion would be that readers check out Maceo’s book ‘98% Funky Stuff’ for a look at his side of the story.

That said, I thought that Brown’s own story was exceptionally well told, with a pretty serious level of detail, considering that this is a major motion picture, and not a multi-part documentary (which he certainly deserves).

I’d like to hear what those of you that saw the movie thought about it, as well.

Since I’m writing about the movie, I thought that this was an excellent time to dip into the crates and pull out some little-heard James Brown (and band).

The 1970 LP ‘Ain’t It Funky Now’ – credited to ‘James Brown and the James Brown Band’ – is a collection of mostly instrumental tracks (some original, others like ‘Cold Sweat’ existing tracks with overdubbed guitar**), some dating to 1966.

The tracks run from long-form funk vamps like ‘Ain’t It Funky Now’, to bluesy cuts like ‘Fat Wood’.

There are a couple of exceptional tracks, that never appeared (as far as I can tell) anywhere else.

The first of these is the funky ‘Use Your Mother’, with some tasty horns and a superb rolling bass line. It has the feel of a slightly underdeveloped James Brown funk 45 of the classic era.

The second, is an extended instrumental take of ‘Give It Up or Turnit A Loose’ with some exceptional guitar work from Jimmy ‘Chank’ Nolen and Alphonso ‘Country’ Kellum. This is one of at least three different LP versions of the tune released in 1970 alone!***

While I wouldn’t describe ‘Ain’t It Funky Now’ as essential, if you find it, grab it, if only for these cuts.

I mean, come on, it’s James Brown.

That said, dig the tracks, see the movie, and I’ll see you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

 * I have a suspicion that we may have litigation to blame for some of the omissions in the film

** There are several times on the album where JB’s original vocals bleed through into the instrumental track

***On ‘Ain’t It Funky Now’, ‘It’s a New Day So Let a Man Come In’ and ‘Sex Machine’

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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 (1)

By Larry, July 31, 2014 11:58 am

Idris lays into the traps…

Listen/Download Idris Muhammad – Express Yourself

Listen/Download Idris Muhammad – Super Bad

Listen/Download Leon Spencer – Message From the Meters

Listen/Download Lou Donaldson – Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky From Now On

Listen/Download Lonnie Smith – See Saw

Listen/Download Melvin Sparks – Thank You Pt1

Listen/Download Melvin Sparks – Thank You Pt2

Listen/Download Bob James – Nautilus

Greetings all

I logged on to the interwebs last night only to be greeted by rumors of the passing of the mighty Idris Muhammad.

It wasn’t long before the rumors were confirmed by this obituary out of his home port of New Orleans.

Idris Muhammad was born Leo Morris in New Orleans in 1939.

He was childhood friends with the Neville brothers, and one of his first gigs was playing on Fats Domino’s 1956 smash ‘Blueberry Hill’ (he also played on the seminal Crescent City track, the Hawketts ‘Mardi Gras Mambo’).

Muhammad left New Orleans in the mid-60s and headed north to make his bones as a jazz drummer.

He soon became a fixture on a seemingly endless succession of heavy New York soul jazz dates, playing alongside a wide variety of organists, guitarists and others (dig the discography in his Wikipedia entry), eventually leading his own dates for Prestige starting in 1970.

Idris has appeared here at Funky16Corners many times over the years, both as leader and sideman.

His drumming style was steeped in the New Orleans second line, and was deeply funky, both in the wayback Ninth Ward way and also in the post-James Brown get down.

I’m posting a wide variety of tracks blessed with his beats, but that mixture of Big Easy and Good Foot was never more obvious than  in  the solo in his cover of Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band’s ‘Express Yourself, the opening track’ from his 1970 debut as a leader ‘Black Rhythm Revolution’. Listening to it is hearing a very groovy bunch of uptown jazzers suddenly morphing into a high-stepping, umbrella-waving parade.

It is bad-ass.

I’m including the flipside of that 45, his cover of JB’s ‘Super Bad’ (bringing it all back around, as it were) as well as a grip of sessions from the late 60s/early 70s that feature Muhammad. It’s worth noting that two of the best tracks hail from NOLA, Lou Donaldson covering Lee Dorsey and Leon Spencer, the Meters.

The last track, Bob James’ epic – heavily sampled, see below* –  1974 track ‘Nautilus’, in which Muhammad lays out one of the smoothest/tastiest breaks ever.

Idris Muhammad went on to play with a host of jazz greats, spending may years working with Ahmad Jamal, before retiring to his home town in 2011.

He was a master of the skins, who carried the beat in his heart and soul.

He will be missed.

See you on Monday

Keep the faith

Larry

     *Songs that sample ‘Nautilus’ (from the-breaks.com)

     A Tribe Called Quest’s “Clap Your Hands”
     Alkaholiks’s “Daaam!”
     All Natural’s “Think Again”
     Basement Khemist’s “Correct Technique”
     Camp Lo’s “Black Nostaljack”
     Chubb Rock’s “Keep it Street”
     DJ Food’s “Spiral Dub”
     DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s “Jazzy’s Groove”
     Dream Warriors’s “Voyage Through the Multiverse”
     EPMD’s “Brothers on My Jock”
     Eric B and Rakim’s “Follow the Leader”
     Eric B and Rakim’s “Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em”
     Freestylers’s “Warning”
     Geto Boys’s “Snitches”
     Ghostface Killah’s “Daytona 500”
     Group Home’s “Inna Citi Life”
     Ice T’s “?”
     JCD and the Dawg lb’s “Over Pussy”
     Jeru’s “My Mind Spray”
     Joe Budden’s “Yo, Yo, Yo”
     Jungle Brothers’s “Book of Rhyme Pages”
     K-Solo’s “Everybody Knows Me”
     Keith Murray’s “The Rhyme”
     King Sun’s “Big Shots”
     Kruder & Dorfmeister’s “Original Bedroom Rockers”
     Large Professor ft Pete Rock’s “The Rap World”
     Leaders of the New School’s “Show Me a Hero”
     Lord Shafiyq’s “My Mic is on Fire”
     Lyrical Prophecy’s “You Can’t Swing This”
     Main Source’s “Live at the Barbecue”
     Mary J. Blige’s “Just Mary”
     Mary J. Blige ft Nas & DMX’s “Sincerity”
     Mekon’s “Phatty’s Lunch Box”
     Mike Zoot’s “Scene”
     Naughty by Nature’s “Cruddy Clique”
     Nice & Smooth’s “No Delayin’”
     Onyx’s “Black Vagina Finda”
     Onyx’s “Throw Ya Gunz”
     Organized Konfusion’s “Stray Bullet”
     Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “Take You There”
     Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “The Sun Won’t Come Out”
     Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “What’s Next on the Menu?”
     Poison Clan’s “Paper Chase”
     Poor Righteous Teachers’s “Word is Bond”
     Project M’s “The Place to Be”
     Public Enemy’s “Anti-N*gger Machine”
     Puff Daddy ft Busta Rhymes and Notorious BIG’s “Victory”
     Queen Mother Rage’s “Slippin’ into Darkness”
     Red Myers’s “Shoplifter”
     Run-DMC’s “Beats to the Rhyme”
     Run-DMC’s “Groove to the Sound”
     Salt-N-Pepa’s “Doper than Dope”
     Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story”
     Soul II Soul’s “Jazzie’s Groove”
     Tame One’s “Torture Chamber”
     The Roots ft Mos Def’s “Double Trouble”
     Threat’s “Bust One Fa Me”
     Tim Dog’s “Bronx Nigga”
     Tim Dog’s “I’ll Wax Anybody”
     Tim Dog’s “Low Down Nigg*”
     Ultramagnetic MCs’s “Ced Gee (Delta Force One)”
     Ultramagnetic MCs’s “Moe Love on the One & Two”
     Ultramagnetic MCs’s “Raise it Up”

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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 (2)

By Larry, July 29, 2014 1:21 pm

William Bell and Mavis Staples

Listen/Download William Bell and Mavis Staples – I Thank You

Greetings all

A couple of weeks ago, not long after I finished reading Greg Kots’ most excellent ‘I’ll Take You There: Mavis Staples, the Staple Singers, and the March up Freedom’s Highway’, it just happened to be Ms. Mavis’ 75th birthday.

I have been listening to a LOT of Staple Singers ish the last few years – especially the Epic era gospel stuff – and consistently marveling at the pure, soulful power of Mavis Staples’ voice.

It just so happens that a few months before (I’ve been reading a lot, you see) I had read Robert Palmer’s also excellent ‘Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion’.

Palmer’s book is an indispensable guidebook to the history of that mighty soul label, especially his coverage of Stax’s late 60s rebirth.

Having been left in the lurch thanks to a shady deal with Atlantic Records, which cost the label their masters (and one of their top-selling acts, Sam and Dave), Stax, led by Al Bell, regrouped with the intention of reestablishing their market presence/dominance.

Part of Bell’s ambitious plan was a huge wave of new releases, which brought the label’s talent to the very edge of exhaustion.

One of Stax’s recent acquisitions, was the Staple Singers.

Having departed Epic records, the Staples came to Stax, already having loosened up a little bit.

Their catalog had already started to include non-religious (yet still inspirational) material, like their 1967 cover of the Buffalo Springfield’s ‘For What It’s Worth’, and their original songs, like ‘Why Am I Treated So Bad’ had been covered by the likes of the Sweet Inspirations, Bobby Powell and Brian Auger and the Trinity.

One of the cornerstones of Stax/Bell’s big push was a two-LP set composed of duets, mixing and matching the label’s male talent, like Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Johnnie Taylor and Pervis Staples, with its female stars like Carla Thomas, and Mavis and Cleotha Staples.

Composed of 22 tracks, the ‘Boy Meets Girl’ collection is, despite the daunting size (and the fact that these were all new recordings) actually quite good.

With the recording spread between Memphis, Detroit and Muscle Shoals, and a number of arrangers and writers, the resulting tracks are not consistently ‘Stax-like’ – there are a number of cuts that sound Motown-ish – but there’s lots to dig.

My favorite track from the collection is William Bell and Mavis Staples funky duet on ‘I Thank You’.

Originally recorded the previous year by Sam and Dave, the 1969 recording – produced by Al Bell and Isaac Hayes – is a something of a lost classic.

The arrangement is unusual – the first 45 seconds consist of Bell and Staples trading lines over just congas and tambourines – but when the band kicks in things get funky.

The clavinet from the OG is still there, but it gets some company from fuzz guitar, and the drums keep up the heat through the whole record.

Bell sounds great, and it’s cool to hear Mavis in one of her earliest purely soulful outings.

The power of her voice was always a revelation, but especially so here. She never soars, or showboats, choosing instead to add subtle but perfectly chosen turns here and there.

She really is a singer that demands your attention, and her performance here ought to be better known.

Unfortunately – though Stax released six singles from the collection – ‘I Thank You’ was not among them.

It doesn’t help that the reissues (including the version currently on iTunes) of the ‘Boy Meets Girl’ collection have often been changed to exclude some of the original tracks and add new ones.

Fortunately for those of you with turntables, the original vinyl version of the set seems to be in plentiful supply and can usually be scored for less than twenty bucks.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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, July 27, 2014 1:41 pm

Wilbert Longmire

Listen/Download Wilbert Longmire – Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose

Greetings all

I hope the new week finds you well.

I’ve had Wilbert Longmire’s name bouncing around in my head (along with his guitar stylings) since I picked up a Pacific Jazz loss-leader comp years ago.

Always a big fan of jazzers working the funky side of the street, the late 60s jazz scene was practically overflowing with goodies.

Even a hardass like Buddy Rich felt the need to accessorize (along with some flares and a paisley ascot) and keep his book fresh with tunes like ‘Chameleon’.

I had included a Longmire track (his take on ‘Scarborough Fair’) on an older mix, so when I put my hands on his 1969 LP ‘Revolution’, I handed over some folding money and took it home.

Good thing, too, since that LP included the very groovy track you see before you, a cover of James Brown’s ‘Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose’.

The session, which featured heavies like Cal Green, Leon Spencer, Jr and Paul Humphrey (as well as a couple of omnipresent Crusaders) is tasty indeed, seasoning some straight ahead funk with jazzy horns.

There’s a moment (at around 1:23) where a wave of trombones comes in and kind of fills your ears to overflowing ( I highly recommend the use of a headphones).

Longmire is in top form, and Larry Gales bass is next level.

The rest of the album is more jazz than funk, but if you can get it for less than twenty bucks, it’s worth it for this cut alone (at least I think so…).

So, dig it, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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, July 10, 2014 1:07 pm

Roosevelt Grier (L), Clyde McPhatter (R)

Listen/Download Roosevelt Grier – In My Tenement

Listen/Download Clyde McPhatter – In My Tenement

Greetings all

The end of the week is approaching, so I thought I’d remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you prefer to do the pod-thing, you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 out of the archive here at Funky16Corners.

The tune(s) I bring you today are one of the interesting intersections of artist and song that I’ve come across in the last few years.

I first heard of the song ‘In My Tenement’ (written by Bobby Scott and Artie Resnick) when I started researching the singer Jackie Shane (more here).

Not long after that I picked up a copy of Roosevelt Grier’s 1964 LP on the RIK label.

Grier, best known as a professional football player and TV personality had a very groovy sideline as a soul singer during the 60s. Many of the records he made during that period are quite good and I pick them up whenever I find them.

So, what turns up on Rosie’s LP but another version of ‘In My Tenement’, which as it turns out is also sought after in 45 form, often pulling in a couple of hundred bucks.

Then, a few months ago, while chasing down some of Clyde McPhatter’s later recordings, what do I encounter but his version of ‘In My Tenement’, also recorded and released in 1964.

The weird thing is, none of these recordings were hits, nor were they connected in any other way.

As far as I can tell Shane recorded in New York (with Juggy Murray), Grier in LA (with Bobby Darin!) and McPhatter somewhere (Nashville?) with Shelby Singleton.

The Shane and Grier versions are taken at a similar pace, with enough backbeat for the dancers (thus the cost of the 45s!), with McPhatter (more on his mid-60s recordings coming soon) taking things at a brisk pace.

I’m very curious about how the song got around so much.

There were always publisher’s demos circulating, so it’s possible that an aggressive song plugger got the tune to the right people.

Both Scott and Resnick were both successful songwriters (Scott had composed the music to ‘A Taste of Honey’, and Resnick would go on to be a mover in the the bubblegum sound later in the 60s).

The song was also covered by a group called the Lovers on the Agon label.

If anyone has any information on the history of the song (or any other versions) please let me know.

That said, have yourselves a groovy weekend, and I’ll see you all next week.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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, July 3, 2014 11:30 am

Johnny Lytle

Listen/Download Johnny Lytle – Done It Again

Greetings all

The end of the week is here, which means that it’s time to fire up the wireless and twist the knobs so that the dulcet tones of the Funky16Corners Radio Show flow from your speakers. This and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio I endeavor to bring you the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove – all on original vinyl. You can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes.

I have discussed my love for the sound of the vibraphone in this space many times before (and demonstrated it as well, see Funky16Corners Radio v.79 – Positive Vibrations). It’s just one of those instruments I could listen to all day long, and then some.

One of my favorite – lesser known (to some, anyway) players is the great Johnny Lytle.

Though he may be best known in soul jazz circles for his 1964 classic ‘The Village Caller’, I first encountered Lytle’s music via a couple of 45s he recorded for Detroit’s Tuba label.

Lytle was as adept on the vibes as he was the xylophone (which he often switched to on his records) and was, like my favorite Freddie McCoy, a master of the soul jazz sound.

The tune I bring you today is the title track from his 1967 Pacific Jazz LP ‘Done It Again’.

‘Done It Again’ swings from the get go, with a healthy dose of Latin flavor (Don Alias on the congas).

Lytle opens the song on the vibes, then solos on the xylophone.

‘Done It Again’ is a fast mover, with enough heat for the dance floor (you can also pick it up on a 45 if you so desire).

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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, June 29, 2014 11:56 am

Bobby Womack

Listen/Download The Valentinos – It’s All Over Now

Listen/Download Percy Sledge – Baby Help Me

Listen/Download Bobby Womack – Take Me

Listen/Download Bobby Womack – A Simple Man

Listen/Download Sammy Gordon and the Hip Huggers – Breezin’

Listen/Download Bobby Womack and Peace – Across 110th Street

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Greetings all

Last week ended on a down note, with news of the passing of the mighty Bobby Womack.

Womack, who was 70, had fought multiple health-related battles over the past few years.

As has been stated in this space a few times in the past, I came to the music of Bobby Womack fairly late in the game.

Womack’s was one of those names that I ‘knew’ (that much was unavoidable) but his music was always just outside of my view.

Typical of my musical wandering, it was via his singing with his brothers in the Valentinos that I first heard his voice.

As an inveterate seeker of all things ‘original’, it was the Valentinos’ ‘It’s All Over Now’, covered by the Rolling Stones, that I had to put my hands on, and I was very happy to do so.

Over the years, thanks to reading about his exploits in a number of books, I became better acquainted with his life, and by picking up his records when I could, his music.

Discussing his passing with a friend on Facebook, I described Bobby Womack as a kind of ‘Zelig’ of soul (referencing the omnipresent Woody Allen character), popping up all over the musical landscape, working with artists like Sly Stone, Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin over the years.

He got his start singing gospel with The Womack Brothers, that group evolving (much to their father’s consternation) into the R&B Valentinos.

Womack worked closely with Sam Cooke, and after that giant’s untimely death, eventually married his widow, a move that was reportedly so unpopular in the music business that it all but torpedoed his career at the time.

Through the 1960s Womack worked steadily as a guitarist (for Ray Charles, among others) and songwriter, composing a number of Wilson Pickett’s big hits (‘I’m In Love’ and ‘I’m a Midnight Mover’ among others), yet didn’t make it onto the charts under his own name until 1968 and ‘What Is This’, which started long string of R&B hits that lasted all the way until 1986.

The more I listen to his music, the more I realize that Bobby Womack should have been a much, bigger star. I think, had his string of hits started a few years earlier, he would be spoken of in the same breath as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke and the like.

He was a prodigiously talented artist, as able a composer and musician as he was a singer, able to mix and match those talents as needed.

That he was already held in that high esteem by soul fans is without question. The outpouring of sadness and respect I have seen over the past few days attests to that.

I have posted a number of Bobby Womack (and related) tracks in this space over the last half-dozen years. As I was digging through the archives, I pulled a number of those out, as well as something I’d been wanting to feature for a while.

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The first track is – of course – the Valentinos ‘It’s All Over Now’. Released in 1964 on Sam Cooke’s SAR label, but soon pushed out of the spotlight by the Rolling Stones cover, ‘It’s All Over Now’ is a fantastic piece of early West Coast soul, and maybe the grooviest record ever to feature both the glockenspiel and the tuba. It wasn’t the Valentinos biggest hit – ‘Lookin’ For a Love’ made it into the R&B Top 10 in 1962 – but it is nonetheless amazing.

Percy Sledge

Next up is a track from Womack’s songwriting days, just prior to his own chart ascendancy. ‘Baby Help Me’ was a minor hit for Percy Sledge in early 1967. It is a departure for Sledge, seeing him working the uptempo, soul shouting side of the street.

‘Take Me’ from 1968, was the flipside of his Top 20 R&B hit cover of ‘Fly Me To the Moon’. I am here to tell you – though you’d be able to pick up as much listening to the song – that this is not only one of Bobby Womack’s best (though, strangely enough, composed not by him, but by Big Dee Erwin/Ervin) but one of the finest soul records laid down in the 1960s.

Recorded in Memphis with the American Studios band (of whom Womack had been a part), ‘Take Me’ (this is the 45 mix, noticeably different from, and superior to the LP track) is a mid-tempo epic, with a powerful ascending horn chart, and an epic vocal by Bobby. There are times when this record can bring me to tears, it’s so good.

1971 found Womack in the studio with another Funky16Corners favorite, Gabor Szabo on the ‘High Contrast’ LP (Womack writing four of the album’s seven tracks). He presented Szabo with a new composition entitled ‘Breezin’, and the two of them grazed the R&B Top 40 with their version of the song.

A year later, NY-based Sammy Gordon and the Hiphuggers covered ‘Breezin’ for the Archives label. Gordon, who had come to New York (as did his cousin Benny, of Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers) from the Carolinas, recorded a couple of excellent, funky 45s. Their amazing version of ‘Breezin’ went nowhere near the charts, but its loopable drum and bass opening (try to keep from nodding your head) and mellow groove is fantastic, and for me far superior to the better known, 1976 hit by George Benson.

The very funky ‘Simple Man’ (co-written with Joe Hicks) is one of my favorite tracks from Womack’s 1972 LP ‘Understanding, which also included ‘Woman’s Gotta Have It’ his first R&B #1 hit. The cut features a wild vocal by Bobby, some rolling electric piano and plenty of fuzz guitar.

I wanted to include Womack’s 1973 cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘All Along the Watchtower’. Recorded with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section for the ‘Facts of Life’ album, it’s a hard rocking take on the tune, which sounds more like Neil Young than Jimi Hendrix, and is a great window into the complexity and variety of Womack’s sound.

The last track I’m posting today is Bobby Womack’s famous entry into the Blaxploitation world, 1973’s title track from the film ‘Across 100th Street’. A funky cut, with just enough strings (co-written with jazz trombonist JJ Johnson, who created much of the instrumental music on the soundtrack), it is pushed along by percussive keyboards and heavy bass. The song had a second life when Quentin Tarantino used it in his film ‘Jackie Brown’.

He continued to record through the 80s and 90s (having some of his biggest hits with the LPs ‘The Poet’ and ‘The Poet II” in 1981 and 1984 respectively), eventually guesting on the Gorillaz ‘Stylo’ in 2009 (the year he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

Bobby Womack was a master.

He will be missed.

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.