Comments (3)

By Larry, June 14, 2012 11:50 am

Lonnie Mack

Listen/Download Lonnie Mack – Too Much Trouble

Greetings all.

The end of another week is here, and so is your weekly helping of soulful goodness in the form of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. We take to the airwaves of the interwebs this – and every – Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at the time of broadcast you can always fall by the blog and grab the show (or any of the previous 100 episodes) in MP3 form.

Also, make sure you fall by on Monday when the 2012 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive/Allnighter hits. You’ll get eight new, excellent mixes from some of the finest selectors I know. You won’t want to miss it.

The tune I bring you today is something cool from the rock side of the tracks.

I don’t doubt that many among you are aware of the work of Mr Lonnie Mack, but I don’t think you imagined him doing something quite this funky.

Mack is know to most for his 1963 hits ‘Memphis’ which managed to make it into the Top 5 on the R&B and Pop charts and ‘Wham’ (which grazed the Pop Top 20).

He recorded a wide variety of blues and R&B-based covers and originals (influencing countless young guitarists), recording for Fraternity from 1963 to 1967.

Mack was also an excellent soulful vocalist, as seen in tracks like ‘Where There’s a Will There’s a Way’ and ‘Why’.

His career slowed somewhat after his early hits and he spent a lot of the 60s as a session guitarist, working on session for King/Federal artists like Freddy King and James Brown and singers like Joe Simon.

When Mack signed with Elektra records in 1968 he had been largely absent from the charts for a few years. He recorded three albums for the label over the next few years, and Elektra also reissued his early Fraternity hits on the ‘For Collectors Only’ comp.

The track I bring you today, the funky ‘Too Much Trouble’ appeared on his 1969 Elektra debut ‘Glad I’m In the Band’.

‘Too Much Trouble’ is one of those late-60s tracks that seems to have emerged from the same musical swamp as efforts by cats like Joe South and Tony Joe White, musicians who wove together elements of rock, soul, country and blues into something new and groovy.

Mack’s vocals are a little rougher/wilder than his early sides, but his guitar wails and the backing band (organ, bass and drums) are spot on.

The track was co-written by Mack’s bass player Tim Drummond, who had played in James Brown’s band.

If you can find the album grab it as is features an excellent cover of Ted Taylor’s ‘Stay Away From My Baby’ and remakes of Mack’s own ‘Why’ and a new version of ‘Memphis’.

Interestingly, during his time at Elektra, mack continued to work as a session player, playing guitar and bass on the Doors ‘Morrison Hotel’ LP (he is rumored to have played lead guitar on ‘Roadhouse Blues’) and producing Dorothy Combs Morrison’s sides for the label.

Mack spent most of the 70s recording in a country style, moving back to blues and R&B by the 80s.

He’s still playing today.

I hope you dig the tune, and that you’ll join me on Monday for the 2012 Allnighter.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, January 5, 2012 4:48 pm

Dean Parrish

The US OG issue (above) and the 1970s UK reissue (below)

Listen/Download – Dean Parrish – I’m On My Way

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here and I am all but exhausted.

Lots to do hereabouts and despite the fact (or because of it) that everything is going as planned all I want to do right now is find a spot on the couch and nod off for an hour or two.

That said, a certain level of excitement is working its way through my stupor.

I have happened upon a couple of exceptional records in the last few weeks – which will naturally appear in this space soon – I got news of a very groovy DJ gig coming up this spring, and, best of all (at least for this moment) I get to end this week of Northern Soul with a truly stunning record.

I do not recall exactly when or where I first heard ‘I’m On My Way’ by Dean Parrish (I suspect it was on a mix tape many years ago) but it blew my mind and dug its claws deep into my brain (and my want list).

I searched for thus record high and low for a long time, getting outbid time and time again (it is a very popular record), eventually picking up a 1970s UK reissue so I could have it in my record box, and then, in a near mystical stroke of kismet, a nice, minty OG fell into my lap.

I don’t know if you’re familiar with my Timmy Thomas ‘Have Some Boogaloo’ saga –  wherein I chased the record forever, won a copy, seemingly lost it and then via a series of trades and the vagaries of the international postal maelstrom, ended up with not one but two copies of said record –  but ending up with doubles was a very groovy thing indeed.

On the very day I got that extra copy of Timmy, a DJ buddy contacted me to ask if I might be up for a trade, I asked what he had to swap and who should be sitting at the top of his list, but Mr Dean Parrish.

It was as if the hand of fate had slipped this monster of a 45 directly into my record box.

Released in 1967, the last of a string of a half dozen 45s Parrish (born Phil Anastasia) had recorded since 1964, ‘I’m On My Way’ is one of those 45s (particularly Northern Soul faves) that sounds every bit a huge, hit record, but was actually – like so many others – an abject commercial failure.

Though Parrish had had a regional success with his 1966 record ‘Tell Her’, ‘I’m On My Way’ – written by Eliot Greenberg and Doug Morris (who had written ‘Sweet Talking Guy’ for the Chiffons, and another Northern killer ‘The Next In Line’ for Hoagy Lands) went nowhere*.

This is (as I alluded to earlier) not a unique story, but once you’ve heard the record in question it is especially puzzling.

‘I’m On My Way’ grabs your attention instantly with its opening fuzz guitar line, leading into a brief opening verse before launching into a chorus that is so mind-bendingly anthemic you’re likely to bruise yourself rushing to turn up the volume.

Though Northern Soul favorites are often noted for their steady, four on the floor dance beat, ‘I’m On My Way’ bucks that trend with verses that could almost be described as rhythmically awkward, but when you take the chorus – so much musical rocket fuel – into account, it is very easy to understand why the record was the last of the legendary “3 before 8”** at Wigan Casino (the records played before closing time at every allnighter).

The chorus of ‘I’m On My Way’, with its mix of soulful vocals (by Parrish and the backing vocalists) and the soaring melody, from the moment where Parrish shouts ‘Baby!’ to the reprise of the fuzz guitar that closes the chorus, what you are hearing is 30 seconds of purely blissful music.

It’s easy to picture a room full of nearly exhausted dancers whipping themselves into one last frenzy, grabbing the last few minutes of the night and wringing all that they can out of them, a tableaux played out on countless dance floors all over the world since people started spinning records for people to dance to.

It is an anthem in every sense of the word and a fitting way to close out the week.

Make sure you grab yourself an earful of the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, or pick it up as an MP3 over the weekend here at the blog.

Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Peace

Larry

*It has to be noted that after it gained Northern popularity ‘I’m On My Way’ was reissued on Jonathan King’s UK records in 1975 and proceeded to enter the UK Top 40.

**The ‘3 before 8’ were “Time Will Pass You By” by Tobi Legend, “Long After Tonight Is Over” by Jimmy Radcliffe, and “I’m On My Way” by Dean Parrish.

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (33)

By Larry, January 1, 2012 2:17 pm

Wigan

Carl Carleton – Competition Ain’t Nothing (Backbeat)
The Tams – Shelter (Probe)
Ambassadors – I’m So Proud of My Baby (Atlantic)
Billy Butler – Boston Monkey (Okeh)
Billy Harner – I Struck It Rich (OR)
Robb Fortune – Crazy Feeling (Now)
Tony Clarke – Landslide (Chess)
Patti and the Emblems – Please Don’t Ever Leave Me (Kapp)
Pat Lundy – Soul and Nothing But the Blues (Columbia)
Felice Taylor – Under the Influence of Love (Mustang)
Parliaments – Don’t Be Sore at Me (Revilot)
Jackie Lee – P-E-R-S-O-N-A-L-I-T-Y (Mirwood)
Platters – With This Ring (Musicor)
James and Bobby Purify – The Last Piece of Love (Bell)
Baltimore and Ohio Marching Band – Condition Red (Jubilee)
JJ Barnes – Sad Day A’Coming (Revilot)
Stagemasters – Baby I’m Here Just To Love You (Slide)
Soul Twins – Quick Change Artist (Grapevine)
Paul Kelly – Chills and Fever (Dial)
Bob Brady and the Conchords – More More More of Your Love (Chariot)

Listen/Download – F16C Radio v.96 – Condition Red – 84MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

First off, Happy New Year!

Let’s all raise a figurative (or literal, if you have one handy) glass in the hopes that 2012 will be a healthy and prosperous year for everyone.

Despite the fact that we ended last week – and the year – with a mix (albeit of recycled material) something happened during Christmas week that had me back in the crates again.

I – like many of you – spend a fair amount of my on-line time connected to Facebook. Despite the fact that a lot of people find the application to be a nuisance, I find it extraordinarily valuable in its ability to create a sense of virtual community.

I’m able to log in and interact with family and friends, close and far afield, connect to people of like mind (political and philosophical) and stay connected with other DJs/record collectors.

It has been mentioned here more than once that I first got turned on to some very cool records via Facebook posts.

That said, one of the distracting aspects of the site is the ‘ticker’, which runs highlights of my friends activity, even if it involves people who are not mutual ‘friends’, which is where our little story begins.

A few weeks back I glanced over at the sidebar, noticed the name of a DJ I respect and saw the words ‘Northern Soul’. My curiosity piqued, I clicked on the ticker and read the thread.

What I saw did not make me happy.

Those of you that read the blog on a regular basis will be familiar with the fact that I spent some of my musically formative years (back in the 80s) as part of the NY/NJ garage/mod scene.

While I met many, many very cool people, and had my musical horizons expanded greatly – especially in regard to soul music – there was always a contingent on the scene of people who came at the garage music ‘thing’ from a decidedly primitive/lo-fi angle, not unlike the bug-eyed, knuckle-dragging characters in a Big Daddy Roth cartoon.

My direct involvement with the scene came to an end toward the end of the 80s, but I still have many friends and acquaintances from that period, many of whom stuck with it a lot longer than I did, some all the way into the present.

This is not to say that I gave up on the music I was turned on to back in the day, because I still listen to vintage garage, psyche and pop on a daily basis.

However, the breadth of my musical tastes has widened considerably in the decades since then, and it has become apparent (at least to myself) that I approached the music in question from a more inclusive vantage point (which if you have any interest in this, you can dig into it over at Iron Leg).

I only belabor this point to make another one (look out), which is that there are people out there – the aforementioned primitive/lo-fi crowd, who look at soul much the same way they did garage punk, i.e. with an elevated appreciation for ‘rawness’, which isn’t such a bad thing, unless of course it precludes appreciation (and invites denigration) for anything that rises above that very simplistic criteria.

When I read that Facebook thread, what I basically saw was a group of these people enthusiastically shitting all over Northern Soul (not really including my friend the DJ who took what I would consider a much more measured tack).

Now, as our friends in France are wont to say, chacun à son gout (a phrase I picked up from my old man), which basically means ‘everyone to his taste’, i.e. not everyone is going to dig the same stuff.

Certainly words to live by…

But – big but here (heh heh…) – it is always important to make distinctions between matters of taste and fact, a line that was blurred drastically here, not to mention (to paraphrase Dean Vernon Wormer) that drunk and stupid is no way to go through life.

I understand that many people only dig a certain, wilder ‘flavor’ of soul music which is cool, but to suggest (as some of these people did) that Northern Soul is somehow not soul music, is dangerously uninformed about the music, as well as the Northern Soul phenomenon in general (about which many know little other than the name itself).

Anyone who has followed this blog over the years knows that my definition of ‘soul’ music casts a wide net, reaching from the early transitions from gospel and R&B all the way up into (and including) the disco era. I think that it’s important to realize that soul was (and is) in a state of evolution, influenced my many outside sources, musical and cultural.

There are artists whose careers are of such a depth and longevity that this evolution becomes visible (audible) over the course of their discography.

More often than not though, soul singers, by virtue of the fact that they didn’t get to make very many records, end up being identified with one specific sound (whether or not that specific sound is indicative of their talent in the broader sense).

It is important to note that Northern Soul is unusual (though not unique) in that it is a retroactively formed genre classification, when a certain kind of record (often but not exclusively obscure) was initially gathered and played out by DJs in UK soul clubs like the Twisted Wheel and the Golden Torch to which soul fans gravitated.

No one set out to “create” Northern Soul, but rather the name ended up being applied parenthetically to a group of sonically similar records (listen for the popping snares, sweeping strings, honking baritone sax and chiming vibraphone accents), many unjustly neglected when they were released, that were being listened and danced to in the North of England by a largely white, largely working class audience.

The sound – in brief – was bright, uptempo, imitation-Motown, i.e. pop-inflected, well-produced urban soul.

That Northern Soul is approached differently by most American collectors/fans and DJs is without question. Our experience is almost exclusively second-hand, and as a definable ‘taste’, it is often marginal.

This is not to say that there aren’t any Northern Soul fans out there, but that here in America, the scene as it were has never risen above a level of specialization (as opposed to the original scene in the UK where it was a genuinely popular movement, often placing older records into the contemporary pop charts).

There are certainly regular nights where Northern is prominently spun (I was lucky enough to DJ at one of them last year), as well as several rare soul weekenders, but almost nothing like the UK scene at its peak where thousands of fans would come out on a weekly basis to places like the Wigan Casino (voted the Best Disco in the World in 1978 by Billboard magazine) and the Blackpool Mecca.

This only goes to explaining that I understand that to many people, Northern Soul is at best a curiosity, and at worst hugely misunderstood.

It also bears mentioning that many musical scenes (at least in my experience) are clannish and parochial, in which the denizens of one group find little to like or relate to in those of another, whether it’s soul fans who can’t abide anything funky or primitivos who won’t listen to anything that sounds like it was actually created with aspirations to chart success.

In the end, the point I wish to make, and have endeavored to do so in this space before, is that Northern Soul is not only extremely vital and exciting, but is also, indisputably “soul”.

This is music made by some of the finest singers, producers, arrangers and musicians of the day, and is with rare exception well within the accepted confines of soul music in both style and substance.

The mix you see before you is a response to the uninformed ranting I saw – or at least a brief placed in evidence – that you can download and pass on to the haters in your corner or the world.

The set list of Funky16Corners Radio v.96 – Condition Red is assembled from all over the map, with cuts from Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Georgia, Florida and even that heretofore unsung soulful stronghold of Reading, PA.

There are contributions from some of the finest soul labels of the era, from Revilot, to Okeh, to Chess, Mirwood and of course Atlantic. You get solo singers (like Tony Clarke and the underrated Billy Harner), great harmony groups (like Philly’s mighty Ambassadors) and naturally some of the tightest backing groups of the day.

If there is a connecting thread, aside from the aforementioned instrumental building blocks, it is that these records are to the last anthemic, engineered to grab a floor full of dancers and lift them ever higher (not hard to picture when you’re working with BPMs often in the high 140s!).

So, pull down the ones and zeros, and if you are so inclined, pass a copy on to someone who needs convincing.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back later in the week with some more.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo)

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some very tasty UK Folk Rock.

Comments (14)

By Larry, December 27, 2011 7:58 pm

On the scene at Subway Soul

Willis Wooten – Your Love Is Indescribably Delicious (Virtue)
Bobby Doyle – River Deep Mountain High (WB)
Etta James and Sugar Pie DeSanto – In The Basement (Checker)
Barbara Lynn – Club a Go Go (Tribe)
Billy Butler – Right Track (Okeh)
Impacts – Thunder Chicken (Marmaduke)
Idris Muhammad – Express Yourself (Prestige)
Lavell Kamma and the Afro Soul Revue – Soft Soul (Tupelo Sound)
Sam Dees – Lonely For You Baby (Soul City)
Spellbinders – Help Me Get Myself Back Together Again (Columbia)
Jimmy Ruffin – 96 Tears (Soul)
Ella Fitzgerald – Savoy Truffle (Reprise)
Ray Bryant – Up Above the Rock (Cadet)
Mac Rebennack – The Point (AFO)
Della Reese – It Was a Very Good Year (ABC)
LaVern Baker – Batman to the Rescue (Brunswick)
Norman T Washington – Jumping Jack Flash (Pama)
Rivingtons – Pop Your Corn Pt1 (RCA)
Upsetters – Down Home (ABC)
Vernon Garrett and Marie Franklin – Second To None (Venture)
Curly Moore – Soul Train (Hot Line)
Dobie Gray – Out On the Floor (Charger)
Eyes of Blue – Heart Trouble (Deram)
Washington Smith – Fat Cat (Okeh)
Gene West – In the Ghetto (Original Sound)
Candido – Jingo (Salsoul)
Touch – Love Hangover (Breaking Down) (Brunswick)
Gene Ammons – Son of a Preacherman (Prestige)

Listen/Download – F16C Radio v.95 – 2011 Year In Review – 140MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the year is upon us, and so, as it has been in many years past, is the Funky16Corners Year In Review mix.

This assemblage of the finest individual tracks from this space over the last calendar year has become a tradition in which we sweep up around the Funky16Corners Blogcasting Nerve Center and Record Vault (Funk and Soul Division) and piece together a puzzle of sorts that once assembled (correctly) should give a picture of where my head – and my crates – were at over the last year.

And what a year it’s been.

If you’d sat me down last December and laid out the coming year in front of me, I would have laughed, filled with excitement and then probably crawled under the nearest table in search of shelter.

The year got off to a great start with the beginning of my residency at Spindletop @ Botanica in NYC. Over the course of the next eight months I had the opportunity to spin pretty much whatever I felt like (within certain tasteful guidelines) and it was a blast.

Botanica was a very chill location, with some very cool people, and despite the whole thing crashing down in a somewhat bittersweet pile of ashes, I would say that it was on the whole a very positive experience.

You all know that there is nothing I love better than spinning the music I love for an appreciative audience, and I had many very groovy opportunities to do so this year.

In addition to Spindletop, I was honored to get a chance to participate in one of the last Subway Soul nights, alongside Phast Phreddie, Girlsoul and Jumpy. It was a serious gas, where I got to spin some of my Northern Soul faves and hear the other selectors whip some heat on the ones and twos (I left with a slightly inflated want list that night).

The real treat of the year, though was spinning at Elliott and Jonna’s wedding down in Philly, which was an amazing experience.

Great people into great music with the extra added benefit of some delicious food. I can think of no better way to spend a summer night.

There was also the ongoing pleasure of doing the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which has really been a gas this year. If you haven’t yet tuned in, you can join the party every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, or pick up the show as an MP3 over the weekend (they’re all archived here at the blog, too).

I also got to spin records at a couple of local autism fundraising events which was especially rewarding for reasons very close to my heart.

Speaking of things close to my heart, 2011 was also the year that my wife was diagnosed with leukemia, an event that has verily turned our world inside out.

Though some superficial things have remained on a somewhat even keel, the axis on which my family’s life spins was shaken to its core this fall, and we have all learned to look at the world through slightly different eyes.

Things are on a solid, progressive track as far as my wife’s health is concerned, and we have many reasons to be optimistic, which doesn’t change the fact that no matter how sunny things look ahead of us, there’s always that shadow in the rear view mirror.

I have to make note of the fact that the readers of this blog have been extraordinarily supportive during this crisis, and that has been heartwarming and very much appreciated.

When I take a look at this playlist, it occurs to me that although there are some old faves and some longtime want list items finally bagged, there are also many, many new discoveries that came into my ears and then my crates over the past year, and that is the main reason that the Funky16Corners train stays on the rails.

It has always been my hope that those of you that stop by here on the reg are discovering something new and groovy, but also that you realize that this is a journey of discovery for me as well.

Big ups go out to fellow selectors like Tony C, Tarik Thornton, M-Fasis, Agent 45 and Midnite Cowbwoy for hepping me to cool stuff that I hadn’t heard before, all of which I passed on to you good people through the blog.

I will continue to do so.

I have no idea what 2012 holds for me, since things have really taken on a day-to-day vibe these last few months.

My main hope is that everyone here at home base stays healthy and happy.

Aside from that, I only hope that the next year brings some new sounds my way, and hopefully the opportunity to spread the love, whether through the blog, or in person as a DJ.

Either way, the very least any of us can do is follow that basic prescription in the Funky16Corners logo:

Keep the Faith.

See you next week (make sure to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio for the Year End Funk and Soul Dance Party!)

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo), in regard to the April 2nd walk.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some very tasty UK Folk Rock.

Comments (2)

By Larry, October 25, 2011 11:58 am

Ellen McIlwaine

Listen/Download – Ellen McIlwaine – Toe Hold

Listen/Download – Ellen McIlwaine – Up From the Skies

Greetings all.

I was wandering (not aimlessly) through the vast expanse of digimatized music looking for something to tickle my fancy and after picking out a few particularly tasty things and setting them aside for the full blogging treatment, I tripped over something very cool indeed.

Ellen McIlwaine is another one of those artists that I read about long before I heard any of her music.

I used to see her early records (including the album she recorded with her first band, Fear Itself) were perennials on crate diggers ‘finds’ lists, and then back in the 90s I picked up a compilation of her Polydor recordings.

What that collection revealed was a very talented and multi-faceted performer.

McIlwaine, who spent her early years in Japan (her family were missionaries) found her way to New York in the mid-60s where she shared stages with a wide variety of blues and folk performers.

Like many of her contemporaries, she was less interested in being shoehorned into a single genre, instead choosing to weave her own mixture of blues, rock, jazz, soul and folk/world sounds.

The two tracks I bring you today come from her first solo album, 1972’s ‘Honky Tonk Angel’, one side of which was recorded live at the Bitter End in NYC.

The first – her cover of the Isaac Hayes/David Porter* classic ‘Toe Hold’ is a great example of how a largely acoustic band can still manage to be funky (thanks in large part to McIlwaine’s guitar playing).

McIlwaine is also a particularly talented and interesting singer who manages to kind of sail all over the map without ever losing her way. While I was digging for information about the record I happened upon one of Robert Christgau’s old Consumer Guide reviews of this album where he makes the point that while at first impression her vocals might seem ‘overambitious’ she manages to succeed by virtue of the power of her instrument.

I’ve never been a big fan of ‘oversingers’ but I have to agree with the old sage that unlike so many others (especially in these times where vocal acrobatics seem to be the go to substitute for soul), McIlwaine has the wherewithal, balancing talent with taste, to stay just inside the lines.

The second track is a particularly groovy cover of the Jimi Hendrix Experience track ‘Up From the Skies’. It always bugs me that so many people seem to forget that Jimi had a soulful side. McIlwaine’s treatment of ‘Up From the Skies’ taps into – and expands on – that sound.

If you can find either of her first two solo albums (or the CD comp that collects them) grab them. Her later stuff moves further into an electric/rock sound but is still pretty cool.

She still records and performs today, and her recent stuff is particularly interesting, mixing her guitar with tabla and harmonium (dig her cover of ‘Take me To the River’).

I hope you dig the tunes, and I’ll be back on Friday with something cool.

Peace

Larry

* Recorded by Johnnie Taylor, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave among others

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, July 17, 2011 3:25 pm

Jerry Ragovoy

Listen/Download – Howard Tate – Get It While You Can (1)

Listen/Download – Lorraine Ellison – Stay With Me (2)

Listen/Download – Lorraine Ellison – Try (Just A Little Bit Harder (3)

Listen/Download – Erma Franklin – Piece Of My Heart (4)

Listen/Download – Garnett Mimms and the Enchanters – Cry Baby(5)

Listen/Download – Irma Thomas – Time Is On My Side(6)

Listen/Download – The Olympics – Good Lovin(7)

Listen/Download – Terry Reid – Stay With Me Baby (8)

1 – Written/produced/arranged by Jerry Ragovoy

2 – Written by Jerry Ragovoy and George David Weiss, produced by Ragovoy

3 – Written by Jerry Ragovoy and Chip Taylor, produced by Ragovoy

4 – Written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns

5 – Written by Ragovoy and Berns as Meade and Russell

6 – Written by Jerry Ragavoy with additional lyrics by Jimmy Norman

7 – Produced by Jerry Ragovoy

8 – Ragovoy/Weiss

Greetings all.

I hope everyone is well.

I come to you this day with a heavy heart, since the news came down last week that one of the greatest soul songwriters and producers of the classic era, the mighty Jerry Ragovoy had passed away at the age of 80.

His name was probably familiar to label scanning record nerds (like myself) and soulies, but largely unknown to the general public.

The same cannot – thankfully – be said of the music he made as a songwriter, producer and arranger.

Ragovoy got his start working as a music buyer for an appliance and record store in his native Philadelphia. He eventually found work as an arranger and writer for Chancellor Records, before moving to New York and hooking up with Bert Berns with whom he wrote his first big soul hit, Garnett Mimms and the Enchanters ‘Cry Baby’ in 1963.

Through the 60s, under his own name and psuedonyms like ‘Norman Meade’ and ‘Norman Margulies’ – it’s been said that he thought the record he worked on would lose airplay if he was listed as producer and songwriter – he wrote or co-wrote a string of genuine soul classics for the likes of Howard Tate, Erma Franklin and Lorraine Ellison, and had his songs covered by the James Gang, Terry Reid and most famously, Janis Joplin.

I don’t exaggerate when I say that many records from the Ragovoy canon hold a special place of honor in my record box and my heart.

The most important of these is Howard Tate’s ‘Get It While You Can’.

One of the greatest soul ballads of the 1960s by any measure, it’s the finest thing that Ragovoy and Tate created during their time working together, and epic in every sense. Co-written by Ragovoy and Mort Shuman, ‘Get It While You Can’ is a slow building show-stopper with a brilliant lyric, delivered with both intensity and nuance by Tate (and piano by Ragovoy himself). It is a record of singular power that never fails to bring me to tears.

It would be a gross understatement to say that Ragovoy had a special talent for grand soul ballads. If the best songs he wrote were spread over the catalogs of a few different songwriters they would be hailed as masters.

How surprising must it be for some people to discover that the same man wrote or co-wrote ‘Time Is On My Side’, ‘Cry Baby’, ‘Piece of My Heart’, ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Get It While You Can’, and then even more shocking when you realize that he also produced the landmark versions of many of them?

There’s the famous story of the creation of Lorraine Ellison’s ‘Stay With Me’ (co-written by Ragovoy and George David Weiss) in a block of abandoned Frank Sinatra studio/orchestra time, one of the greatest soul ballad performances ever, put together on incredibly short notice.

It is also a testament to the power of Ragovoy’s songs that they translated so well in the rock world.

The first Jerry Ragovoy song I remember associating with his name was the James Gang’s 1969 version of ‘Stop’ (originally recorded by Howard Tate), long a teenage favorite of mine which I only discovered was a cover years later when a friend played Tate’s version at a party.

The only rock take on one of Ragovoy’s tunes I bring you today has become one of my favorite recordings in any genre, Terry Reid’s 1969 recording of ‘Stay With Me (Baby)’.

Though he is not well known in the US, Reid had a brief heyday on the the underground FM airwaves of the late 60s and early 70s. he was possessed of a voice reminiscent of a somewhat more refined version of Steve Marriott and in the midst of an era filled with overkill, his recording of ‘Stay With Me Baby’ is a revelation. The instrumentation is fairly spare and restrained, giving Ragovoy’s melody full attention and is, at least in my opinion, every bit as majestic in its own way as Ellison’s version (whose 1968 original recording of ‘Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)’, another tune covered by Joplin, is also included).

For those that haven’t heard Erma Franklin’s original (1967) version of ‘Piece of My Heart’, it too should prove to be an eye-opening experience. Franklin’s approach to the song, cross-breeding lamentation and defiance and delivered in her deeply soulful voice employs a dynamic range and casual power that Joplin  – at least to my ears – never really achieved.

Also worth hearing is a great example of Ragovoy’s work as a producer, the Olympics 1965 recording of ‘Good Lovin’ (arranged, as was Franklin’s ‘Piece of My Heart’ by Gary Sherman).

Ragovoy continued to write and produce into the 70s and went on to open and run the famous Hit Factory recording studio from 1969 to 1975 when it was sold.

If the sounds herein interest you, make an effort to pick up the outstanding Ace Records comp ‘The Jerry Ragovoy Story’ which covers his best work as a songwriter and producer from the early 50s into the 70s.

He was a master, and will be missed.

Peace

Larry

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PS  – Don’t forget, Monday, 7/18 I will be sitting in for DJ Perry Lane and spinning at Spindletop @ Botanica (47 E. Houston St, NYC). I will be joined by M-Fasis and Joe Cristando, so come on by for some hot music and some cold drinks…

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, June 5, 2011 4:59 pm

Apologies to the soulies, heh heh…

Greetings all, and welcome to the 2011, Funky16Corners Soul Club/Grogan Casino Allnighter..

This is – as it has been since 2006 – time for yours truly to once again open up the yearly Funky16Corners Pledge Drive, in which we ask that if you dig what goes on hereabouts, with the blog(s), radio show, mixes etc, that you click on the donation link and drop a little something in the basket.

Click Here To Donate

Your donations help to pay for the server space where the blog, all of the graphics and well over 100 mixes (a number that is expanding all the time) reside, as well as upkeep on the equipment used to run the whole non-profit (is there a better phrase to describe an operation that runs at a perpetual loss?) shebang.

As always, I’m aware that times are tough, and getting tougher all the time, so if you can’t swing it, that’s cool too. However, every little bit helps, so even a couple of bucks will help things along.

The readers of Funky16Corners have always been very cool over the seven year history of the blog (as well as the years preceding that at the web zine), generous with their knowledge and vocal in their appreciation and once again I’d like to thank you all.

Funky16Corners has always been an ad-free space (and that includes needless plugs for crap that none of you (or me) is going to listen to) and will always remain that way.

Now, I can’t very well come to you with hand outstretched unless I have something to offer you for your trouble. With that in mind, I bring you the second annual Allnighter, in which I gather together some of my favorite DJs and ask them to contribute mixes.

This year we have a stellar line-up, including my man Tarik Thornton (Hot Pants Crew MPLS), Tony C, DJ Prime Mundo (Asbury Park 45 Sessions), DJ Bluewater (Master Groove, Asbury Park 45 Sessions), and my mighty brother in blogging Vincent the Soul Chef (Fufu Stew), as well as two new mixes by yours truly.

Each of these cats is very, very serious about digging and spinning vinyl heat and when you get the chance to sink your ears into the mixes they’ve contributed you will (as I was when I first heard them) be very happy.

There’s a very nice stylistic breadth to this year’s Allnighter, with deep soul, Northern Soul, rock steady, funk and disco with a connoisseur’s mix of rarities and classics.

This year I’m also posting something cool over at Iron Leg, with a few hours of garage and freakbeat recorded live a few weeks back (by me, natch)  at Spindletop @ Botanica in NYC, so if those are sounds you dig too, make sure to pull down those ones and zeros as well.

That said, click the Paypal link, and then scroll down the page slowly, soaking up all the mixes as you go.

Click Here To Donate

Peace

Larry

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Funky16Corners 2011 Allnighter!

Funky16Corners – I’m Satisfied
San Remo Golden Strings – I’m Satisfied (Ric Tic)
Jr Walker and the All Stars – Come see About Me (Soul)
Parliaments – Look at What I Almost Missed (Revilot)
O’Jays – I Dig Your Act (Bell)
Lee Williams and the Cymbals – Everything About You That I Love (Carnival)
Al Kent – You Got To Pay The Price (Ric Tic)
Major Lance – Gotta Get Away (Okeh)
Shorty Long – Sing What You Wanna (Soul)
Bunny Sigler – Sunny Sunday (Cameo/Parkway)
Jackie Lee – Bring It Home (Keyman)
Gene Chandler and Barbara Acklin – From the Teacher to the Preacher (Brunswick)
Chuck Jackson – Good Things Come to Those Who Wait (Wand)
Precisions – Why Girl (Drew)
John Willams and the Tick Tocks – Do Me Like You Do Me (Sansu)
Eddie Floyd – Big Bird (Stax)
Vibrations – Pick Me (Okeh)
Buena Vistas – Hot Shot (Swan)
Performers – I Can’t Stop You (Mirwood)
Dreams – They Call me Jesse James (DC Sound)
Len Barry – I Struck It Rich (Decca)
Ambassadors – I’m So Proud Of My Baby (Atlantic)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners – I’m Satisfied / 96MB Mixed MP3

NOTE: I’ve been digging a lot of mid-tempo Northern Soul lately, and this is a mix of my faves. – LG

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DJ Bluewater – That Steady Beat

Ken Parker – Change Is Gonna Come
Delroy Wilson – I’m The One Who Loves You
Rocky & The Heptones – Falling In Love
Carlton & His Shoes – Happy Land
Alton Ellis & The Flames – Cry Tough
Lloyd & Glen – Jezebel –
Phyllis Dillon – Don’t Stay Away
Cecille Campbell – Breaking Up
The Soul Vendors – Frozen Soul
The Soul Vendors – To Sir With Love
Prince Buster & The All Stars – The Punishment
The Maytals – Watermelon Man
Derrick Morgan – First Taste Of Love
The Untouchables – Tighten Up
The Jailbreakers – Chatty Chatty
Delano Stewart – That’s Life
Norma Fraser – The First Cut Is The Deepest
King Rocky – The King Is Back
The Ethiopians – He’s Not A Rebel
The Uniques – Watch This Sound

Listen/Download – DJ Bluewater – That Steady Beat / 120MB Mixed MP3

NOTE: DJ Bluewater has gotten deep into the rock steady sound in the last few years

and this mix is filled with goodness! – LG

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DJ Tarik Thornton – Louisiana Sun

Willie Tee – Dedication To You ( Atlantic)
The Festivals – You Got The Makings of A Lover (Smash)
The Impressions – Man Oh Man ( ABC- Paramount)
Dennis Lee & Notables – Sunday Afternoon ( Jenmark)
Bernard Drake – I’ve Been Untrue ( La Louisianne)
Ollie & The Nightingales- I Got A Sure Thing (Stax)
Jo Armstead – There’s Not Too many More (Giant)
The Passions – I Can See My Way Through (Tower)
The Moovers – One Little Dance (Brent)
The ElectroStats – Setting the Mood ( Three Oaks)
The Supreme – Stoned Love (Tamla)

Clifton White – Are You Ready (Anla)
Dell Mack – You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover ( Gold Band)
Eddie Giles – Soul Feeling Pt. 1- ( Murco )
Debanaires – Feel Alright – (WBS)
O.D Williams – Moving Out Of Your Life – (Bare- Bar)
New Birth – I Can Understand it (RCA)
Johnny Williams – Breaking Point – (Twinight)
Johnny Otis Show – Watts Breakaway (Epic)
Gus (The Groove) Lewis – Let The Groove Move You – (Tou- Sea)
Lee Dorsey – Funky Four Corners (Amy)
Big Daddy Rucker – Just Do Your Thing – (GME)
Reggie Sadler – Raggedy Bag – (Aquarius)
Bonus Track : Jackie Harris & The Exciters – Get Funky, Sweat A Little Bit (Black&Proud)

Listen/Download – DJ Tarik Thornton – Louisiana Sun / 85MB Mixed MP3

A Note from Tarik:

So when Larry asked me to do this mix indeed I was honored! Larry and the Soul Chef are the guys who are responsible for inspiring me to get back to digging after taking a 10 year hiatus. I’ve been on a life rollercoaster over the last few years and this has become one of my most profound ways of expressing myself. Honestly, It took me a while to figure out a concept for this one. Always trying to be diverse I created a nice blend of Sweet Soul and Funk this time around. Both are actually sets I did live at KFAI in Minneapolis last week. After listening to them I decided to take the time to tighten them up, then added a bit more soul . The outcome, a sweet selection of songs dedicated to all the people that have taken the time to check out my work over the last year, but also in particular a very special young lady. The “B “side a tight groove of some killer funk selections that will keep you moving. Enjoy ! You can find some of my other mixes at www.mixcloud.com/8KC

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DJ Prime Mundo – Kentucky Fried Prime

curtis mayfield – tripping out (rso)
one g plus three – summertime (paramount)
billy guy – if you want to get ahead, shake a leg (verve)
the soul patrol – saigon strut (shamley)
don downing – thread and needle (roadshow)
gary toms empire – drive my car (pickwick)
bo kirkland & ruth davis – we got the recipe (claridge)
stan ivory – check it out (tese)
le roy – easy livin’ (dream machine)
chick willis – stoop down baby (la val)
billy strange – jaws (gnp crescendo)
the masqueraders – brotherhood (bell)
hummingbird – trouble maker (a&m)
ernie andrews – something (phil l.a. of soul)

Listen/Download – DJ Prime Mundo – Kentucky Fried Prime / 61MB Mixed MP3

Note: One of the OG Asbury Park 45 Sessions DJs, Prime Mundo has extremely deep crates and extremely good taste. He’s one of my favorite DJs, and this mix should tell you why. – LG

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Vincent the Soul Chef – Back to the Corner

I Just Want To Celebrate-Rare Earth (Rare Earth)
Ride Sally Ride-Dennis Coffey and the Detroit Guitar Band (Sussex)
Runaway People-Dyke & The Blazers (Original Sound)
You Met Your Match-Stevie Wonder (Tamla)
Your Love Is Indescribably Delicious-Willis Wooten (Virtue)
Mister Magic-Grover Washington Jr. (Kudu)
Heaven Is There To Guide Us-The Glass House (Invictus)
I Got You Babe-Etta James (Chess)
Vista Vista-Lee Dorsey (Amy)
Funky Boo Ga Loo-Jerry O (Shout)
Do Your Thing-Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band (Warner)
Good Times-Kool & The Gang (De Lite)
Take Me To the River-Fessor Funk (Roxbury)
Let Me Lay My Funk On You-Poison (Roulette)
Keep on Dancin’ (Vocal)-Alvin Cash (Toddlin’ Town)
The Whatchamacalit-The Burning Emotions (Bang)
Country John-Allen Toussaint (Reprise)
Paint Me-Ohio Players (Westbound)
I Turned You On-Isley Brothers (T Neck)
Soul Sister- Allen Toussaint (Reprise)
Baby I Love You-Aretha Franklin (Atlantic)
Nobody’s Fault But Mine-Otis Redding (Atco)
Cook Out-King Curtis & The Kingpins (Atco)
The Court Room-Clarence Carter (Atlantic)
Funky Drummer Pt. 2-James Brown (King)
Make It Funky Pt. 4-James Brown (Polydor)
Hey Ruby Shut Your Mouth-Ruby & The Party Gang (Law Ton)

Listen/Download – Vincent the Soul Chef – Back to the Corner / 104MB Mixed MP3

NOTE: Vincent the Soul Chef is not only a top-notch DJ, but he’s a serious digger with diverse tastes that are reflected in his mixes. After I heard this I headed out to look for a few of the cuts right away… – LG

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Tony C – Dance the Jerk!

Doc Bagby-Mr Hippy-Tifton
Merced Blue Notes-Rufus-Accent
Horace Bailey-Cool Monkey-Delene
Larry Williams-Strange-Sue
Barry’Barefoot’ Beefus-Barefoot Beefus-Loma
Tommy & The Charms-I know what you want-Hollywood
Nathaniel Kelly-Do the jerk-Jubilee
Jay Dee Bryant-Get it-Enjoy
The Pacers-You’ll never know-Razorback
The Magics-Lets Boogaloo-R.F.A
Lou Johnson-Rock me baby-Cotillion
Eddie Simpson-Stone Soul Sister-Back Beat
Vickie Anderson-I love you-Smash
Alder Ray Mathis-Take me baby-Jetstar
Jackie Thompson-Got to right the wrongs-Columbia
Lonette-Stop-M.S
Boogie Kings-Do em’ all-Pic
Charles Hodges-Charles Shingaling-Alto
Little Flint-Pain-Beast
Sammy Lee-It hurts me-Rampart
Jay Jordan-If it wasn’t for love-Verve
The Fantastic Four-Pinpoint it down-Soul
Lovemasters-Pushin and pull-Jacklyn
Timmie Williams-Competition-Bell
Big Maybelle-I can’t wait any longer-Rojac
Trudy Johnson-You’re no good-Capitol

Listen/Download – Tony C – Dance the Jerk! / 62MB Mixed MP3

NOTE: Tony C has done guest mixes for Funky16Corners in the past, and he is always turning me on to new stuff. Great taste and deep crates, once again a dynamic combination.  – LG

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Funky16Corners – Honey Trippin’
BT Express – Express (Scepter)
Louie Ramirez – Do It Any Way You Wanna (Cotique)
Cymande – Anthracite (Janus)
Virtue Orchestra – High Horse IV (Virtue)
Mystic Moods – Honey Trippin’ (Soundbird)
KC and the Sunshine Band – Let It Go (TK)
Instant Funk – Philly Jump (TSOP)
Jay Berliner – Getting the Message (Mainstream)
Love Child’s Afro Cuban Blues Band – Love and Death in G and A (Roulette)
Gene Faith – Lowdown Melody (Virtue)
Doc Severinson – Soul Makossa (RCA)
Soul Searchers – Boogie Up the Nation Pt2 (Polydor)
Philly Sound – Waitin’ For the Rain (Phil LA of Soul)
Mongo Santamaria – What You Don’t Know (Vaya)
Philadelphia Society – 100 South of Broad Street (American)
Larry Page Orchestra – Erotic Soul (London)
Roy Ayers Ubiquity – Virgo Red (Polydor)
Barrett Strong – Stand Up and Cheer For the Preacher (INST) (Epic)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners – Honey Trippin’ / 110MB Mixed MP3

NOTE: This is one of those mixes that had its start in a single cut, and took form slowly as I stockpiled complementary cuts. I like it a lot, and I hope you dig it too. – LG

____________________________________________________________________

Click Here To Donate

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recr events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (8)

By Larry, May 22, 2011 3:16 pm

Bobby Doyle from the cover of ‘The Bobby Doyle Introductory Offer’ (above)
The Bobby Doyle Three, with Kenny Rogers at left (below)

Listen/Download – Bobby Doyle – River Deep Mountain High

Greetings all.

Before we get rolling, I’ll remind you that I’m going to be returning to Spindletop @ Botanica, alongside the host with the most Perry Lane this Monday, 5/23 starting at 10PM. This time out I’ll be taking a short break from the funk and soul and returning to the garage punk, beat, freakbeat and frat rock of my youth, so if you dig yourself some fuzz, some caveman drums and teen hollering, fall by and soak up the sounds.

Speaking of sounds, how about some cool ones.

If you come by Funky16Corners, and have read the words I spill several times a week, you’ll know that I am nothing if not enthusiastic, and that I’m constantly in search of groovy stuff that I haven’t heard before.

This particular story begins a while back when, in a decidedly non-musical moment of repose, I was chilling, watching a documentary about the life and work of Hugh Hefner. It was during this film that I had another one of those cool, unexpected epiphanies.

They got to the dot on the timeline in the late 60s where the TV series ‘Playboy After Dark’ took to the airwaves, and during a retrospective thereof, they ran a clip of a dude that I’d neither seen nor heard before, dropping a very soulful version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ In the Wind’. That cat was  Bobby Doyle.

The name rang only the tiniest of bells, so I ran to the interwebs and started looking for information.

There wasn’t a lot out there, but what I did find was very interesting.

Doyle, who just happened to be blind, never really broke through on a national level, yet was something of a Texas institution.

He was born in 1940 in Houston, eventually moving to Austin to study at a school for the blind.

He began his recording career waxing rock’n’roll for the mighty Back Beat label, eventually making 45s for a variety of local labels as a solo, until forming the Bobby Doyle Three.

As it turns out, I had heard of Doyle before, and it was via the bass player in the Bobby Doyle Three, a youngster by the name of Kenny Rogers (yes, THAT Kenny Rogers). Rogers played bass and sang backup in Doyle’s group from the late 50s until 1965*, when he left, eventually moving on the First Edition and then huge success as a pop/country singer.

The Bobby Doyle Trio toured the country playing their mix of jazz and pop in a variety of venues, including several Playboy Clubs, which seems to be how he eventually got booked on Playboy After Dark.

By the late 60s, Doyle had relocated to Los Angeles, where he made albums for the Warner Brothers and Bell labels while working with producer Mike Post.

The tune I bring you today, Doyle’s funky take on ‘River Deep Mountain High’ was the non-LP B-side of his version of ‘Blowin’ In the Wind’ and seems to date from around 1968.

Doyle was a fantastic singer, with a soulful tenor voice that managed to hit gospel heights while still maintaining a level of restraint, something that made him an unusual commodity, especially in the late 60s.

Interestingly, his obit mentions Doyle having done session work for Phil Spector around this period, though I haven’t been able to connect that with Doyle’s recording of this song.

Doyle’s take on ‘River Deep…’ is one of the best versions I’ve heard, with a tight arrangement, featuring his voice and piano, horns and backing singers. It manages to be funky in that generalized, Leon Russell, soul/rock/gospel way without ever going over the top (unusual, especially in relation to this particular song, which seemed to inspire excess).

Though he did appear on TV and release albums for WB and Bell**, Doyle never really connected on a national level, coming close in the early 70s when he was for a short time David Clayton Thomas’s replacement in Blood Sweat and Tears.

Unfortunately Doyle didn’t gel with the group (which appears to have been going through a number of personnel changes at the time) and only appears on piano and vocals on a few songs on the 1972 ‘New Blood’ LP.

Bobby Doyle was probably doomed to obscurity by the fact that even in a time when people were stepping over genre boundaries on the reg, he was too hard to pin down. He was possessed of a genuinely soulful voice, but slipped effortlessly between rock, jazz and soul (which in another time would have been an asset) but perhaps his freak flag wasn’t flying high enough to get noticed.

Doyle went on to work steadily, performing in lounges in Las Vegas, and a variety of venues back in his native Texas, before he passed away at the age of 66 in 2006.

Bobby Doyle is a supreme testament to the fact that sometimes even prodigious talent is no guarantee of fame and fortune. It’s not hard to imagine that there are many such undiscovered/forgotten gems out there, which is the main reason I keep digging.

As far as I can tell very little of Doyle’s work (aside from a few Bobby Doyle Three tracks on a Kenny Rogers box set and some early stuff on rockabilly comps) remains in print. His WB and Bell albums can be picked up fairly inexpensively, as can his 45s from the same period***.

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

Peace

Larry

*Some of the group’s records were produced by Kenny’s brother Lelan, who would also produce the 13th Floor Elevators and a wide variety of soul and funk artists for the House of the Fox, Silver Fox and Blue Fox labels.

** Doyle also has a song (‘The Girl Done Got It Together’) on the soundtrack to the cult film ‘Vanishing Point’

***His early 45s and the Bobby Doyle Three album are much more collectible.

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recr events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, March 24, 2011 9:31 am

Listen to him Lucy. He know’s what he’s talking about.

Listen/Download – F16C Soul Club Presents – Spindletop New Breed 76MB/256K Mixed MP3

Jimmy Hannah & the Dynamics – Leaving Here (Seafair/Bolo)
Frank Frost – My Back Scratcher (Jewel)
Bobby Powell – Why Am I Treated So Bad (Whit)
Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm – The New Breed Pt1 (Sue)
Richard Berry & the Pharaohs – Louie Louie (Flip)
Roy Thompson – Sookie Sookie (Okeh)
Mighty Hannibal – Jerkin’ the Dog (Shurfine)
Bobby Parker – Watch Your Step (V Tone)
Gene Waiters – Shake and Shingaling Pt1 (Fairmount)
Roger & the Gypsies – Pass the Hatchet Pt1 (Seven B)
Scatman Crothers – Golly! Zonk! It’s Scatman (HBR)
Derek Martin – Daddy Rollin’ Stone (Crackerjack)
King Coleman – Boo Boo Song Pt2 (King)
Billy Preston – Let the Music Play (Capitol)
Etta James and Sugar Pie DeSanto – In the Basement Pt1 (Chess)
Dottie Cambridge – He’s About a Mover (MGM)
Freddie Scott – Pow City! (Marlin)

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and I am in dire need of some form of stress relief, whether it’s extended, uninterrupted sleep, intoxication of some sort or just deep, silent meditation.

It’s not that this week has been extraordinarily rough, ‘cause it hasn’t, but rather some combination of not enough sleep (DJ-ing two hours away on a Monday night will do that), a cold (and/or the onset of seasonal allergies) and the normal slate of irritants, have all combined to do a number on my head.

That said, I’m going to take a tip from the Sims Twins and let a little soul music ‘Soothe Me’.

First, I’ll remind you that this Friday night at 9PM the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to Viva Radio with another hour of the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all straight from my crates to your ears. As always you can either tune in on the interwebs, or come by here over the weekend to pick up the show in its easy to use MP3 form. Either way, the sounds are equally excellent.

I had a gas on Monday spinning at Spindletop, and managed once again to capture the goings on with my handheld digital recorder, so that I might share some of it with you good folks.

I went through the musical fruits (no beans…) of the evening and carved out two sets of grooves, one of which I’ll whip on you today, the second which I’ll drop at the end of next week.

This time out I dipped into the crates and whipped out the best in hard-charging, soul party action, from gritty R&B, tough dance floor soul, right on to early funk.

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating, that one of the prime reasons I love to DJ in a bar or club is the opportunity to hear really amazing records pumping out of a great big set of speakers. You can set the Mighty Hannibal loose in your earbuds, but it’s just not as cool as hearing him unwind his turban with ‘Jerkin’ the Dog’ shaking a room full of people like a minor earthquake.

Every single one of the records in these mixes is perfect for such an environment. I’d go as far as to say that gathered together like this, they might be too powerful for a Friday or Saturday, yet pack just enough musical TNT to set things off on a Monday.

If I was you, I’d pull down the ones and zeros, hit the liquor store, invite over some friends, roll back the carpet and turn up the stereo and do like Mr. Waiters says:

Jump back honey and let the New Breed by!

See you on Monday

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo), in regard to the April 2nd walk. The whole Funky16Corners gang will be walking in support of autism services, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some Laurel Canyon cool from Mama Cass.

Comments (9)

By Larry, December 26, 2010 1:23 pm

Funky16Corners Radio v.91 – Year End Soul!

Playlist

Listen/Download 800MB/256kb Mixed MP3

I hope that everyone is grooving on the good will and brother – and sister – hood of the holiday season.

Obviously not everyone celebrates Christmas, but we can all soak up the peace and goodwill that floats in the ether this time of year.

This has been a big year for Funky16Corners.

The first quarter saw the move off of the free WordPress platform onto our own server space, which – despite any technical limitations yours truly might be encumbered with – worked like a charm.

This May saw the ‘opening’ of the Funky16Corners Soul Club series of live DJ sets, with contributions from lots of groovy people, as well as number of my own sets from various and sundry DJ gigs.

Thanks go out to all of you who once again contributed to the yearly Pledge Drive, which kept the Funky16Corners empire solvent for another calendar year. Your continued generosity makes me glad that I started the blog six years ago. In fact, it just occurred to me as I write this that I neglected to mark the sixth anniversary of the blog this past November.

Such is the chaos of my daily life that I neglected to remember, let alone mark the occasion.

Another groovy milestone that we marked in 2010 was the rebirth/re-engineering of the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio. The folks at Viva were nice enough to bump me into a better time slot, and I responded by changing the way I do the show, hopefully for the better. We continue to broadcast every Friday night at 9PM, followed by uploading the show every Saturday so that you fine people can pull down the ones and zeros and append each week’s broadcast to the MP3 delivery device of your choosing.

On the DJ front, I’ve been up to New York City (and will be again on January, 10 2011, watch this space for details), down to Washington, DC (thanks to the mighty DJ Birdman for facilitating the journey). Hopefully 2011 will provide more opportunities for me to pack up my record box and hit the road, and (if all goes well) maybe even the return of the Asbury Park 45 Sessions.

The New Year will also see the return of our sister blog, Iron Leg, where we’re in a 60s pop/garage/psyche bag. Real world commitments caused me to put the blog on hiatus a few months back, but I’ve decided to bring it back – albeit with an abbreviated posting schedule – in 2011. I’ll be posting a year end wrap-up mix today, and regular posts will recommence next week.

So, once again, allow me to say thanks to all of you for stopping by and engaging in our ongoing conversation about music and how it moves us.

Since the fam and I will be out and about visiting family, I’ll be dropping the mix you see before you and taking the rest of the week off.

I’ve gathered the best of the upbeat and funky tracks from the past year and whipped them into a nice little party mix that you can play during your New Years Eve festivities (or whenever you need a lift).

There are lots of faves, plenty of funky rhythms with which to set loose your caboose, and enough grooves to grease your way past Father Time and into 2011.

I hope you dig it, and that you all have a safe and healthy rest of the year.

Peace

Larry

NOTE: There’s no accompanying zip file with this mix, since all of the tracks included have appeared here individually this past year.

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Comments (9)

By Larry, November 21, 2010 3:03 pm

Funky16Corners Radio v.90 – Soul In Harmony

Playlist

Listen/Download 110MB/256kb Mixed MP3

Download 81MB Zip File

Thanksgiving week is here (at least in the US), and this year I have lots to be thankful for, as well as lots to do.

I’ve decided to drop this mix today, and pretty much take the rest of the week off.

There will be a new episode of the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva radio this Friday at 9PM, so make sure you check that out, should you be passed out next to the internet, in a turkey and pie induced food coma.

Funky16Corners Radio v.90 – Soul In Harmony is one of those mixes that has been cooking (in my head, anyway) for a long time.

I’m not sure how much it has been visible here on the blog (anyone have time lapse footage of the last five years?), but my tastes – often spurred on by a periodic excavation in my record room – are always evolving.

Back in the day, when I first started to collect soul 45s, it was all about the rough and ready Southern sound, fast moving and loud.

It would be years before I really started to examine soul ballads, and then I started to dig into funk, and then Northern Soul, then to disco and on and on, hopefully ad infinitum.

The latest spike on the evolutionary time-line popped up sometime in the last year, spurred on by the sounds of sweet soul.

The AM radio of my youth was filled with bands like the Chi-Lites, the Stylistics, Blue Magic and others, and to be honest, it all struck me as a little mushy, but then again I was 10 years old.

As I got older, and started to listen and dig, ever deeper into the sounds of soul, I discovered a fair amount of sweeter, soul harmony stuff, often on the B-sides of more upbeat, aggressive records, and as is often the case, despite the comparative ‘lightness’ of some of these records, I was drawn in by what always grabs me, that being good songs.

The first record in this style that really knocked me out was the Intruder’s ‘A Love That’s Real’ still one of my favorite records.

Thanks to both geographic proximity and the quality of the music, I’ve collected Philly soul for a long time, and one thing the cats in Philly knew how to create was solid harmony soul. Almost a third of the records I put into this mix are by Philly groups, another third from Detroit or Chicago, and the rest spread over the map (including one by my Jersey Shore homeboys the Broadways).

The importance of tight harmony singing has been a hallmark of black music, from the Mills Brothers and the Ink Spots in the 30s and 40s, countless groups in the 50s and of course everything in this mix, from the classic soul era.

There’s really something special about harmony singing. Done well, it’s not just an accidental meshing of random voices, but rather an aural tapestry woven from perfectly complementary elements.

The ‘classic’ soulful blend, with a tenor, or sometimes baritone lead, a bass and often someone capable of singing in falsetto provides a basic sound, but when some (or all) of these roles are filled by extraordinary singers the end result is something magical.

All of the songs in this mix hail from between 1966 and 1970, a period when a certain maturity and creative growth was on the rise in soul music, when the finest groups intersected with great writers and producers to make music of increasing sophistication and depth.

Though there is a general stylistic thread running through this mix, the tempos vary between pure balladry, upbeat, danceable soul and slightly rougher edged sounds.

There are a few songs that have appeared here before, but when I started assembling the playlist, I knew that they had to be included.

Things get started with the truly amazing ‘I Don’t Know How To Say I Love You (Don’t Walk Away)’ by the mighty Superlatives. I have sung the praises of this record before, but it certainly can’t hurt to hear it again. The combination of sweet vocals, heavy drums and that stellar arrangement are truly amazing.

The Broadways, without any question the greatest soul group to come out of the Jersey Shore recorded two solid 45s for MGM. Their ‘You Just Don’t Know’ is a staple of my Northern Soul sets, and while ‘Sweet and Heavenly Melody’ also packs a driving beat, it has a lushness to it (how about those strings) that sets it apart.

I don’t know much about the Hesitations. I’ve seen their records – often packed with covers – for years, but only bought on for the first time a few months ago. ‘Stay In My Corner’ is a marvel, with the singers alternating leads over dynamic backing vocals.

The Ethics recorded a series of excellent 45s for Philadelphia’s Vent label in the late 60s, including the Northern classic ‘Look at Me Now’. ‘Think About Tomorrow’ is a much slower, much sweeter, falsetto-led ballad that was clearly tailored to reflect the sounds that Gamble and Huff were creating at the same time.

One of the rougher sounding, yet oddly pretty songs in this mix is ‘I’ll Be Loving You’ by the Soul Brothers Six. The flipside of the classic ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’, ‘I’ll Be Loving You’ features what is, in comparison to most of the records in this mix, remarkably spare instrumentation, with rhythm guitar, thumping bass, drums and tambourine, all sounding like it was recorded in one take. The real star here, aside from John Ellison’s wonderful lead vocal, is the second guitar, which has a kind of chiming overtone to it that from a distance sounds like vibraphone accents. The more I listen to this one the more I love it.

The next cut is by the Blue Notes (as in Harold Melvin and…). Right before they began their run of hits with Philadelphia International, the group recorded two 45s for the Uni label. ‘Never Gonna Leave You’ (from 1969) was the B-side of the funky ‘Hot Thrills and Cold Chills’. The 45 was reissued a few years later, no doubt to capitalize on the success of their PI hits.

‘I’ll Make It Up To You’ by the Magictones is the bottom half of one of the truly great Detroit soul 45s (the A-side being their epic cover of the Parliaments’ ‘Good Ole Music’). Much like the Superlatives record (also released on Westbound), the Magictones juxtapose their harmonies with a heavy background, including some tasty electric sitar.

Though they’re best known for their early, doowop sides, Little Anthony and the Imperials recorded well into the classic soul era, including and excellent run of 45s for the Veep label between 1966 and 1969. ‘It’s Not the Same’ which features Anthony Gourdine’s unmistakable falsetto, and a classy arrangement (in which the Imperials are often doubled by female backing singers), bears a slight (but not overpowering) similarity to ‘Goin’ Out of My Head’ (also from 1966).

Speaking of Philadephia soul, there are few groups who were as successful – artistically and on the charts – as the mighty Intruders. ‘Everyday Is a Holiday’ (from 1969) is a great showcase for their unique harmonies and a muscular production and arrangement by Gamble and Huff. Listen closely to the bass and drums (almost funky), as well as the horns and staccato piano accents in the verse.

Chicago’s Artistics were reliable hitmakers for the Brunswick label in the late 60s. ‘What Happened’ is another record that seems to run on the outskirts of funk, as well as displaying the influence of the Temptations.

Another group with solid roots in the doowop era, that also made some great soul records was the Platters. Though they had few (if any) original members by the time they recorded ‘Sweet Sweet Lovin’ in 1967.
Featuring a great lead vocal by Sonny Turner, ‘Sweet Sweet Lovin’ is typical of the kind of upbeat, danceable soul the group was making in this period.

We head back to the City of Brotherly Love with the Ambassadors. One of the truly great Philly bands of the late 60s and early 70s, the Ambassadors recorded some excellent 45s for Atlantic before moving on to Arctic records where they would record several outstanding 45s and an LP. They were adept a certain brand of funky soul, best displayed on 1969s ‘A.W.O.L.’.

When I wrote about the Precisions ‘You’ll Soon Be Gone’ back in 2008, I compare the sound of the record with a lot of the later period stuff that the Parliaments recorded for Revilot (it probably featured a lot of the same musicians. It has a much harder sound than their other Drew 45s.

Chicago’s Radiants recorded some of my favorite soul 45s of the 60s. By the time they recorded ‘I’m Glad I’m the Loser’, their lead vocalist Maurice McAlister had departed. I’m not sure who’s singing lead on this one, but he tears it up.

The Originals recorded a string of great records for Motown in the late 60s, their biggest hit being 1969s ‘Baby, I’m For Real’. ‘Love Is a Wonder’ is a brilliant bit of late 60s Motown, mixing tight, tight harmonies and a powerful arrangement. The lead vocalist sounds like someone Daryl Hall probably spent a lot of time listening to.

Another great tune that bears a passing resemblance to a previous success is the Intrigues ‘I’m Gonna Love You’. The Philadelphia group hit the charts in the summer of 1969 with ‘In A Moment’, a song with a similar vibe and arrangement to the tune in this mix. They recorded a number of cool 45s for the Yew label and hit the R&B (and occasionally Pop) charts a few times between 1969 and 1971.

If you’re a regular visitor to Funky16Corners, you’ll already know that the mighty Volcanos are one of my all time favorite soul groups. Led by singer Gene Faith (born Eugene Jones), the Volcanos recorded some of the finest soul singles to come out of Philadephia in the 1960s for the Arctic and Harthon labels. They had the instrumental backing of the core of the famed Philly rhythm section and material from some of the best songwriters around. ‘You’re Number One’ is a bright, fast moving dancer with lots of sweet background harmony lifting Faith’s lead. Many of the Volcanos went on to form the core of the Trammps who went on to much success in the 70s.

The Vontastics (who took their name from Chicago’s black radio powerhouse WVON) recorded a couple of truly amazing 45s for a variety of Chitown labels (mostly St. Lawrence) between 1965 and 1969. ‘You Can Work It Out’ sports a stylish arrangement (dig those horns!) and some razor sharp vocals in a song that sounds like a tip of the hat to the Miracles ‘Shop Around’.

I first heard the Unifics a few years back when I scored a copy of their monumental 45 ‘It’s a Groovy World. A product of Washington, D.C.’s Howard University (like Roberta Flack and the Blackbyrds) the Unifics hit the charts a few times in 1968 and 1969, their biggest hit being ‘Court of Love’. They recorded some 45s and an excellent LP for the Kapp label under the guidance of songwriter and producer Guy Draper. The amazing ‘Which One Should I Choose’ was co-written by Draper, lead singer Al Johnson and yet another Howard alumni, the mighty Donny Hathaway (who also plays piano on the track).

The Formations were another Philadelphia group with a Northern Soul classic – ‘At the Top of the Stairs’ – to their credit. ‘Love’s Not Only For The Heart’ shows a harder edged side of the group that went on to perform and record as the Corner Boys (for Neptune), the Silent Majority (for Hot Wax) and Hot Ice (for Atlantic).

The next track is a personal favorite of mine. One of my earliest ‘cool’ Philly 45 scores, the Producers 45 (on Gamble and Huff’s short lived Huff Puff label) is a very solid two sider. ‘Love Is Amazing’ (the only tune in this mix with a female lead, provided by Mikki Farrow) is one of those records that should have been a substantial hit, yet never really (as far as I can tell) made a dent anywhere, even in Philly). It does have it’s partisans in the UK, but remains (unjustly) obscure.

The Parliaments, led by George Clinton are best known as the group that started the Parliament/Funkadelic empire, but recorded some of the finest soul 45s to come out of Detroit in the 60s. ‘Time’ (from 1968) was the upbeat flipside of the psyched out breakbeats of ‘Good Ole Music’.

The Four Sonics – another Detroit group – had connections to Nolan Strong and the Diablos. The unusual, bass-heavy vocals of ‘It Takes Two’ (not the Marvin Gaye song) appeared on the B-side of their epic version of Dusty Springfield’s ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’.

I recounted the tale of the Masqueraders in this space not too long ago, but I couldn’t very well do a mix dedicated to soul harmony without including their incredible ‘I Don’t Want Nobody To Lead Me On’. A group of Texans, who relocated first to Detroit, and then ended up recording their best stuff in Memphis, the Masqueraders ought to be much better known. This song was also covered by the Dynamics.

This edition of Funky16Corners Radio closes out with the only white group in the mix, Pennsylvania’s Magnificent Men. ‘Peace Of Mind’, written by lead singer Dave Bupp and trumpeter Buddy King, which hit the R&B charts in 1966 is an outstanding example of the influence of Curtis Mayfield specifically, and Chicago soul in general. Bupp has been quoted as saying that the song was written with Walter Jackson in mind, and it’s not hard to imagine the master balladeer doing a fine version of the song. The Magnificent Men were one of the few white soul harmony groups to have success with black audiences in the 60s, though there must have been something in the water in Pennsylvania, with folks like Len Barry, Billy Harner and the Temptones (featuring a young Daryl Hall).

As always, I hope you dig the sounds, and have yourselves a great Thanksgiving.

Peace

Larry

NOTE: This past weekend I installed software that allows users who view the blog via a handheld (iPhone, Android, Blackberry etc) to see a new theme that allows easier navigation in the small screen size. If you have one of these devices, check it out and let me know what you think.

Thanks – Larry

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Comments (12)

By Larry, June 29, 2010 7:56 pm

Dolly Parton and her hair…

Listen/Download – Dolly Parton – Busy Signal

Greetings all.

I hope you’re all having a good week, and that you’ve taken the time to check out Tony C’s F16C Soul Club mix, on account of it’s a banger.

I think it’s safe to assume that many of you are already scraping your jaws off of the floor, having read the name of today’s artist, Dolly Parton.
Allow me to ‘splain…
[cliché] The 60s were a turbulent time [/cliché].
The above statement is true on many levels, and aside from the politics and social upheaval, musically things were going nuts. Take a look at a random Top 40 chart from any week between 1964 and 1968 and you are in for some real surprises.
The pop music scene of the mid 60s was incredibly diverse (maybe more diverse than at any other time) and within that diversity, where Frank Sinatra and Ed Ames bumped up against the Turtles and the Buffalo Springfield, there formed a vast, diffuse crucible of sorts where all of those crazy threads were – on occasion – woven together in very unusual ways.
Part of this weaving was deliberate, wherein some enterprising soul, perhaps used to doing things one way, decided to take a shot at another part of the market.
It was just such a shot that made today’s selection.
I can’t recall exactly where I first heard Dolly Parton’s ‘Busy Signal’, but I do remember being knocked flat on my ass when I did.
I doubt there are many among you who don’t already know who Miss Parton is, but I also doubt there are more than a few of you who had any idea that her discography harbored anything this interesting (outside of a country music context, natch…).
The world of ‘blue-eyed soul’ (which is kind of a bullshit term, since if a record is soulful there really ought not be a need to make note of the race of the performer, and yes I know I’ve used it here but when I get some extra time I’ll cook up something more appropriate, and yes your suggestions are welcome…) is generally the province of performers who were mainly, or at least peripherally performers of music in a soul, funk or R&B style. When you listen to folks like Billy Harner, Mitch Ryder, Steve Colt etc, what you hear is an artist devoted to recreating the sound of black music.
When you take a look at the long and distinguished discography of Dolly Parton, you generally see something else, that being a country singer.
I have no idea how she came to record ‘Busy Signal’, but the other name on the label, composer and producer Ray Stevens give us a clue or two.
Stevens, who had his first pop hit in 1962 with ’Ahab the Arab’ (his forte was novelty records) and his last in 1975 with ’Misty’ was, in addition to his own recording career, a busy songwriter, producer and session musician on the Nashville scene of the 1960s. He recorded with Brenda Lee, Brook Benton, the Blue Things, BJ Thomas and countless others in his many capacities.
The records he worked on, as well as his own recordings indicate that he was able to tap into a wide variety of styles, from rock’n’roll, to country, to pop.
‘Busy Signal’ is a perfect example of the fact that he was also conversant in soul.
The record opens – not surprisingly – the sound of a busy signal, created with human voices. Dolly drops in with the initial statement of the lyric, followed by a wonderful shift marked with the sound of a snare drum and a chorus of backing singers. While her voice is readily recognizable, the style she uses here travels in that grey area where girl group sounds cross over into soul, which of course could lead into another discussion of country music as “soul” music of another kind, and all the various and sundry intersections of the two, usually racially segregated styles in the actually segregated south. There’s certainly a book or two that could be written about the way white and black artists were exchanging (actively and passively) musical ideas and the countless amazing records that came out of that bubbling stew pot.
‘Busy Signal’ was released late in 1965, and as far as I can tell met with little success (though the flip side is fairly traditional, mid-60s Nashville country). Whether Steven’s was deliberately attempting a soul record, or just happened to toss the right ingredients into the pot at random, the world may never know.
Naturally, as if often the case with unusual, soulful records bouncing around the periphery of soul itself, ‘Busy Signal’ enjoys a certain level of popularity with the Northern Soul crowd over in the UK. It’s a record that can get fairly expensive, and one I chased for a long time (and was outbid on more than once). I can’t help but sense an element of kismet in the fact that when I did finally get myself a copy I grabbed it for less than three flimsy US dollars (my hands shaking pretty much from the time I won it to the moment my trusty mail carrier brought it to the house). It only got here this week, but I felt I had to move it right to the front of the queue. I hope you dig it as much as I do.
Peace

Larry

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