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By Larry, August 11, 2013 3:32 pm

The Spencer Davis Group

Listen/Download The Spencer Davis Group – Trampoline

Greetings all

Welcome to another groovy week here at the Corners.

I thought I’d get things started this week by dipping into the Hammond crates for something cool.

Oddly enough, I dug up this German Fontana pressing of the Spencer Davis Group’s ‘Trampoline’ right around the corner from my crib here in Central NJ.

I was unfamiliar with either of the tunes on the 45, and since it was a dollar (and I really dig the SDG) I grabbed it and took it home.

Good thing too, because in addition to the cool ‘When I Come Home’ (co-written by Jackie Edwards and Stevie Winwood), you get the very swinging bit of Mod soul on the flip.

Released in 1966, ‘Trampoline’ sees our boy Stevie working it out on the organ and piano with enough groove grease for the dancers.

The 45 fell in between their big British hits ‘Somebody Help Me’ and ‘Gimme Some Lovin’ and grazed the UK Top 10.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, July 30, 2013 3:28 pm

Ronnie Dyson (above),and the wrong side of the record (below)

Listen/Download Ronnie Dyson- Fever

Greetings all

The track I bring you today is proof that every once in a while you need to hit the LP racks as well as digging through the 45s.

I grabbed Ronnie Dyson’s debut LP ‘(If You Let Me Make Love To You Then) Why Can’t I Touch You’ because I’d never seen it before, I dug the title cut (a hit in 1970) and because it had some interesting looking covers in the track listing.

When I got it home and set to digimatizing I was pleasantly surprised indeed, especially by today’s selection, Dyson’s cover of Little Willie John’s* ‘Fever’.

Dyson, who got his start as the lead in the original company of ‘HAIR’ in 1968 (and also appeared in Putney Swope) first sang ‘(If You Let Me Make Love To You Then) Why Can’t I Touch You’ in an off-Broadway show called ‘Salvation’.

He was signed to Columbia records, making it into the R&B Top 10 (and #13 Pop) in July of 1970.

The album of the same name features covers of Freda Payne’s ‘Band of Gold’ and Bread’s ‘Make it With You’, which, while not as epic as Ralfi Pagan’s version, is still pretty cool.

I especially like Dyson’s version of ‘Fever’ because it has a hard driving, Northern Soul feel to it.

As it turns out, the cut has a minor following with the soulies, and would probably be a lot bigger if it were available on 45.

Dyson had a string of R&B hits between 1970 and 1983, including his biggest hit, ‘The More You Do It (The More I Like It Done To Me)’ – he sure loved those parenthetical titles – in 1976.

Tragically, he was only 40 when he died of heart failure in 1990.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

* Written by Eddie Cooley and Otis Blackwell
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, July 7, 2013 8:27 pm

The Royalettes

Listen/Download – The Royalettes – River of Tears

Greetings all.

The next couple of weeks will be jam packed with events here at Funky16Corners central, so I’ll be republishing some of my favorite tunes from the Funky16Corners Archives. I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back soon.

Larry

Originally Posted 12/06/2009

>>Greetings all.

Here’s hoping that everyone had themselves a nice weekend.

I’m trying to get enthusiastic about the multi-holiday season (we celebrate both Chanukah and Christmas here at the Funky16Corners ranch), but I’m having a hard time. I think that the older I get, the more I become like Charlie Brown, feeling assaulted by the rampant commercialism associated with the holidays and wishing that things could be dialed back a few notches.

Fortunately I have two small children who really do get excited when this time of year rolls around, so I can still appreciate it vicariously.

The tune I bring you today was the big score from my DC digs this past summer. Though it’s not a terribly rare record, the fact that it’s an ass kicker of superior quality placed it miles ahead of everything else I grabbed that weekend.

As posted here last year, Barbara Banks’ ‘River of Tears’ is one of my all time favorite soul 45s, and a record that I chased for a long time, finally bringing it down by throwing a large wad of cash at it. It was a classic because in addition to the fact that it’s a killer performance, it’s an even better song (co-written by Banks herself).

Back in the day when I was first looking for that 45, I discovered in my research that the tune had been covered by the Royalettes. My interest was piqued, but for some reason I never went in search of their version.

The Royalettes, who hailed from Baltimore recorded several singles for Chancellor and MGM between 1963 and 1966, eventually waxing two full LPs for the latter label.

Fast forward a few years to this past summer, when DJ Birdman was kind enough to take to around to his DC/Maryland digging spots, and while flipping through a box of soul 45s, what do I find but a copy of the Royalettes’ version of ‘River of Tears’. I was surprised to learn that like Barbara Banks original, the Royalettes’ cover was produced and arranged by Herb Bernstein. I put the record in my keeper stack and continued to dig, pulling out a handful of nice funk and soul stuff.

When I was done digging, I walked over to the store’s turntable, put on the headphones, dropped the needle on the record and just about blew my mind.

DRUMS?!?!

As you’ll hear when you pull down the ones and zeros, the Royalettes version opens with a huge, monstrous drum break that sounds like it was recorded inside Carlsbad Caverns! The Royalettes drop in with some tight harmonies, and the rest of the arrangement mirrors the Banks OG fairly closely (bass, vibes etc) but the pounding drums remain fairly high in the mix for the entire record.

It’s interesting to hear the song (what a fantastic melody!) delivered by a group as opposed to a solo voice, but the production on the Royalettes version of the song is a drastic departure from the original. Where the OG is a masterpiece of subtlety, with all the disparate layers sharing the sonic space evenly, the Royalettes cover is explosive. Taken at a slightly more deliberate pace, Bernstein tooks the opportunity to open the record up, adding all kinds of space between the instruments and voices and layering on just a touch of funk.

Recorded in 1967, ‘River of Tears’ was the Royalettes sole 45 for Roulette, and their last 45 overall.

It’s a really incredible record, and I hope you like it as much as I do.

I’ll be back on Wednesday with something cool.<<

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (5)

By Larry, May 14, 2013 11:30 am

Artee Duke Payne (left) and Curtis Prince (top) with Odell Brown and the Organizers

Listen/Download Duke Payne – The Bottom

Listen/Download Duke Payne – Reaction

Greetings all

Welcome to the midweek festivities.

I thought it might be a good time to dip into the pantry and bring out something on a groovy soul jazz tip.

It was a while back, whilst doing some of what the record hounds refer to as “e-digging” that I happened upon a 45 that piqued my interest.

The name Duke Payne rang a bell, and after racking my brain for a few minutes I recalled that I was used to hearing it with the name ‘Artee’ in front of it, as in Artee Duke Payne, saxophonist with Odell Brown and the Organizers.

I did a little bit of research, discovered that ‘M and M’ was in fact a Chicago-based imprint, and then (once the record fell through the mail slot) saw the name ‘C. Prince’ (as in Odell Brown’s drummer Curtis Prince) credited as the writer on today’s selection and the cipher was complete.

The record, which dates to sometime in the late 60s, is sought after for the slightly funky bagpipe feature ‘The Bottom’ on the A-side. That track features Payne working it out on the bagpipe – much less irritating than you might think – with vibes and some far out wah-wah guitar.

If you dig into the catalog of Odell Brown and the Organizers, it’s Duke Payne, sometimes treading the border between in and out that gave the group its edge.

Though the late 60s saw a lot of jazzers getting loose and trippy, the results were rarely this cool.

The flipside, ‘Reaction’ is a brilliant bit of soul jazz, with electric saxophone, vibes, organ (doesn’t sound like Odell Brown to me, but who knows?) and guitar, all cranking double time in a groovy modal bag.

The M&M label started out in the mid-50s, releasing all manner of R&B, blues and jazz and seems to have continued at least until the early 80s.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

Click here to go to the ordering page.
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 (7)

By Larry, April 14, 2013 10:03 am

Brian Auger (Top left) and the Trinity

Listen/Download Brian Auger and the Trinity – I Wanna Take You Higher

Listen/Download Brian Auger and the Trinity – Listen Here

Greetings all

Welcome to yet another week in which the digital artifacts of the analog age are unearthed and put on display for the edification (and edumacation) of all involved.

If you were following the coming and going hereabouts you will have noted that the Funky16Corners fam vacated for a short time, in which we went in search of rest, relaxation, and in my case, records.

I was very lucky indeed, having been tipped off to an excellent digging spot or two by a friend.

Though I had never visited Pittsburgh before (odd, I know) I was aware that the good people of the region had excellent taste in music, especially where R&B and soul were concerned. I figured that it must follow (and it did) that records of that ilk must be available thereabouts.

The first spot I hit gave up the goods (if only I’d had 10 or 15 more hours, and the cash that would have required), with yours truly exiting the store with a nice fat stack of funk, soul and all kinds of Iron Leg ish (the popsike and what not).

One of the disks I was most pleased to have encountered is the one you see before you today.

I have had the ‘Befour’ LP (1970) by Brian Auger and the Trinity for years, but had no idea that there were any 45s (or the edits there-on) released from the album, which is why finding the 7” with versions of ‘I Wanna Take You Higher’ and ‘Listen Here’ was such a groove.

Auger was in the top rank of UK Hammond wranglers, first in the Steampacket, then alongside the mighty Julie Driscoll , then onward with the Trinity and the Oblivion Express, getting progressively jazz-funkier as he went on.

I dig both his earlier and later stuff, and ‘Befour’ is an excellent example of the latter, as well as being fairly easy to find on the cheap.

The excellent version of Sly and the Family Stone’s ‘I Wanna Take You Higher’ runs the same 5:00 on the 45 as on the album, with some excellent organ and guitar.

The version of ‘Listen Here’ is what makes this 45 worth grabbing.

‘Listen Here’, written and originally recorded by the great Eddie Harris is one of the true ‘standards’ of the soul jazz genre, recorded in many ways, by many people and having appeared in this space a time or two over the years.

The LP version of ‘Listen Here’ runs almost nine and a half minutes, substantial portion of which is devoted to a long (way too long) drum solo by Clive Thacker. It’s not that old Clive wasn’t up to the task, but – and I say this as a drummer – the hippie era drum solo was one of the more unfortunate musical traditions, thankfully gone by the wayside.

The 45 edit of the song truncates the percussion breakdown to a tasteful 27 seconds, keeping the forward momentum of the musical enterprise intact, while also giving the drummer his oft requested “some”.

It is a groovy disc indeed, and well worth grabbing should you come across a copy of your own.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (5)

By Larry, March 21, 2013 11:42 am

Funky16Corners Presents: Soul Version

Jackie Mittoo – Hip Hug (Coxsone) – Booker T & The MGs
Gaylettes – Son of a Preacherman (Steady) – Dusty Springfield
Dobby Dobson – Don’t Make Me Over (Pama Supreme) – Dionne Warwicke
Federalman – Soul Serenade (Steady) – King Curtis
Ken Boothe – Gonna Take a Miracle/Version (Hulk) – Royalettes
Winston Wright – Heads or Tails (Green Door) – Booker T & the MGs
Lorna Bennett – Breakfast In Bed (Harry J) – Dusty Springfield
Byron Lee – Who Done It (Dynamic) – Monk Higgins
Pioneers – Papa Was a Rolling Stone (Trojan) – Temptations
Horace Andy – Show and Tell (Money Disc) – Al Wilson
Pat Rhoden – Living For the City (Attack) – Stevie Wonder
Byron Lee – Shaft (Dynamic) – Isaac Hayes
Winston Samuels and the Cintones – Let’s Get It On (Clintone) – Marvin Gaye
Byron Lee – Hot Reggay (Dynamic) – James Brown
Shark Wilson and the Basement Heaters – Make It Reggay(version) (Ashanti) – James Brown
Pat Rhoden – Boogie On Reggae Woman (Horse) – Stevie Wonder
Alton Ellis – La La Means I Love You (Mr Tipsy) – Delfonics
Tomorrows Children – Sister Big Stuff (London) – Jean Knight

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents Soul Version – 109MB Mixed MP3/256K

Greetings all.

I hope all is well on your side of the universe, and that you’re all ready for the weekend.

Don’t forget that the Funky16Corners Radio Show hits 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 subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 (or two, or 100) out of the archive here at the blog.

The fam and I are taking some time off to chill in the coming weeks (which will be filled with specially selected reposts of some of my fave tunes from the archives) so I figured I’d leave you with something special until I’m back behind the keyboard again.

The mix you see before you is the fruit of what I like to call one of my “special boxes”.

The Funky16Corners record vault is lined, floor to ceiling (in some places) with crates of LPs and boxes of 45s, and sprinkled liberally with a grip of those old-timey, pasteboard, 45 carrying cases.

As pretty much any collector does, I grab those cases wherever I find them, first and foremost because they’re cool looking, but because – and I’m pretty sure you figured this out already – I’ve got lots and lots of 45s that need a place to stay.

I mentioned the “boxes” before, those being the purpose-made 45 storage boxes that hold over 100 discs each. There are lots of those.

However, my collection has its niches, certain sub-genres, not collected as aggressively as others (for a variety of reasons, though usually boiled down to issues of availability), and many of these niches get packed away in those smaller boxes.

There’s one for disco 45s, one for rockabilly/instro 45s, and the one that gave up today’s sounds, the reggae and ska 45s.

I’ve been a huge fan of ska and reggae since I was in high school, when the Two-Tone revival was in full swing and I was led by bands like the Specials to investigate the first-wave of ska, going back to the mid-60s.

It would be fair to say that the bulk of the ska and reggae in my hands is on CD, especially old comps and the later (excellent) Trojan mini-box sets.

However, I’m always on the lookout for Jamaican vinyl, often seeking out favorite records (some of which – Winston Wright, Pioneers, Shark Wilson – are in this mix) and grabbing cool stuff whenever I encounter it in the field.

As the contents of this mix show, I’m a big fan of reggae covers of American soul tunes, of which there are many.

The groovy  thing – and something I’ve discussed in this space before – is that despite the stylistic delineation, what you’re hearing is still demonstrably soul music (albeit with a reggae beat).

The influence of American R&B and soul on Jamaican music is undeniable, with many powerhouse AM radio stations, in cities like New Orleans and Miami sending out American pop to the islands.

What you hear isn’t mere “coverage”, if you will, but rather some truly great singers like Ken Boothe and Alton Ellis, and instrumentalists like Winston Wright, Jackie Mittoo and Byron Lee, interpreting some of the finest material available at the time.

Soul Version is composed of just about an hour of my favorites, running (like my personal tastes) from sweet soul, to organ instrumentals, to funk and just a touch of dub.

Many of these records have appeared here at Funky16Corners over the years, either by themselves or in mixes.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

PS I just realized I took a picture of the wrong Pioneers 45…sorry ’bout that.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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, March 19, 2013 11:14 am

Nu Sound Express Ltd

Listen/Download Nu Sound Express Ltd – I’ve Been Trying

Greetings all

The tune I bring you today is both a very groovy cover, as well as a neglected b-side.

Back in the day, when I was first tracking and bagging soul and funk 45s, the Nu-Sound Express Ltd were one of the first big scores.

This is not to say that any of their records are big-money hustlas (to borrow a term from our insane friends) but rather that at the time, they were a group both obscure and excellent when my crates were not heavily burdened with same.

There isn’t a lot of information out there on the group, but what is available suggests that they were from New Jersey, and were associated with Jersey City impresario Paul Kyser.

Kyser had produced acts like Jimmy Briscoe and the Little Beavers, Sound Generation, the Super Disco Band, Calender and the band that Nu Sound Express would morph into a few years later, Rhyze.

Nu Sound Express Ltd recorded two cool 45s, both for the Silver Dollar label (at least one of which was issued in Europe – with a cool picture sleeve – on the Discophon label) in the early 70s.

The a-sides of their 45s, ‘Ain’t It Good Enough’ and ‘One More Time You All’ were both cool examples of uptempo early 70s funk (the second being a ‘sequel’ of sorts to the first).

The tune I bring you today is the flipside of ‘Ain’t It Good Enough’, and if you didn’t recognize the title, also a cover of the Impressions 1965 Top 40 R&B hit ‘I’ve Been Trying’.

It took me a few years to warm to this side, first and foremost because back then I wasn’t grooving to too many ballads, but also because it has a certain loose, almost lo-fi feel to it.

The impression I get is that Kyser blew most of the budget on the A-side, leaving the group with a much sparer palette with which to work.

What you get is a touch of street corner harmony, with a spoken intro and low key instrumental backing (with a slightly out of tune piano). The cool thing is that the singing is very nice indeed, with a refreshing lack of slickness that sets it apart from almost everything else that was happening at the time.

‘I’ve Been Trying’ is a throwback to an earlier time and an interesting contrast to the funk of its flip.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, March 7, 2013 12:28 pm

Jimmy Smith

Listen/Download Jimmy Smith – 8 Counts For Rita

Greetings all

Welcome to the end of the week.

As usual, I im;lore you to screw your ears on and haed over to Viva Radio, this and every Friday night at 9PM, where you might fill them up with the best in soul, funk, jazz and rare groove (all on vinyl) on the Funky16Corners Radio Show. If that is an inconvenient time, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast on iTunes, or grab yourself an MP3 from the archive right here at the blog.

It’s Hammond time again my friends (but then again, it’s ALWAYS Hammond time in my crib) and I have something extra tasty for you today.

Jimmy Smith’s ‘Unfinished Business’ is one of those albums that I used to see in crate diggers finds lists all the time, but never seemed to encounter whilst digging myself.

This was a conundrum of sorts, until I discovered that it had been sampled by the one and only DJ Shadow on the legendary ‘Number Song’ on ‘Endtroducing’, which leads me to believe that all available copies of an already (kinda) scarce LP were being Hoovered up by eager train(sample)spotters leaving nothing for those of us who also dig the music nestled around the samples (especially when it’s Mr. Smith and his Hammond).

That said, I found myself a copy in a most unusual location in the hinterlands/outback of upstate New York during an unexpected digging session (the best kind).

Now, I had picked up a 45 or two from Smith’s late-period time with the Mercury label, and had been decidedly underwhelmed.

This was of course the late 70s, not exactly the heyday of the funky organ, an era where the last remaining few Jurassic key-slingers were probably being urged to modernize their sound with the synthesizers and the modern soul-isms and what not.

However, realizing that this was a Jimmy Smith album I had never had my hands on, and because it was cheap, I decided to grab it and take it home.

Good thing too, since the tune you see before you today is – contrary to the 1978 date on the album – quite funky indeed, with an extended drum break coming at about 3:30 into the track.

It is groovy indeed, and proof that even in the peak disco years, a master could still find a way to work it out in an old(er) school stylee.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (5)

By Larry, March 3, 2013 11:51 am

The Magnificent Men

Listen/Download The Magnificent Men – Peace of Mind

Listen/Download The Magnificent Men – Just Walk In My Shoes

Greetings all

The tracks I bring you today are a perfect example of how you can hear about a group, circle them warily for years – suspecting lameness – and then finally giving in and discovering how wrong you really were.

I do not recall when I first heard of the Magnificent Men, but I suspect that I saw one of their albums while digging in the NJ/PA area, where their vinyl is plentiful.

Back in the day, what I saw was a bunch of straight-looking white dudes recording soul music, something which set off my (poorly calibrated) bullshit detector, and in the absence of a portable turntable, remained dollar-bin flotsam and jetsam.

Then – as these things often go – a few years back someone whose taste I trust posted a track by the group, and my large ears finally unfurled to the goodness of the Magnificent Men.

Had I dug a little bit, I would have realized that the Magnificent Men, formed as the Del-Chords, hailed from the unlikely soul music hotbed of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (the Emperors, Intentions, the Soulville label).

Led by vocalist Dave Bupp, the Magnificent Men were a lot more than your run of the mill “R&B-influenced” white band of which there were so many at the time.

They were first and foremost self-contained, i.e. vocalists/musicians capable of writing and performing their own (excellent) material.

They played many of the best known black venues of the day (including the Uptown in Philly and the Apollo in NYC).

Between 1966 and 1970 (by which time their sound had changed considerably) the Magnificent Men recorded three albums for Capitol and one for Mercury.

The first two, ‘The Magnificent Men’ and ‘The Magnificent Men: Live’ are the ones to look out for.

The tracks I bring you today come from that first, self-titled LP.

The first track, the original ‘Peace of Mind’ is one of the great blue-eyed soul tracks of the 60s, a great harmony showcase for the group.

Dave Bupp has said that ‘Peace of Mind’ was written with Walter Jackson in mind. Considering how evocative the record is of the Carl Davis/Okeh sound, this makes a tremendous amount of sense.

Though ‘Peace of Mind’ wasn’t a hit, its high quality is testified to by the number of cover versions of the tune. There are versions by Skip Jackson (on Capitol), Jerry Butler (Mercury), The Players (Minit), and the Royal Five (Arctic) – all of which can be heard on Youtube.

The second song – ‘Just Walk In My Shoes’ – was a recorded by Gladys Knight and the Pips in 1966 and is rightly hailed as a classic of dance floor soul.

Written by sisters Kay and Helen Lewis – two jazz/pop singers who also wrote tunes for Marvin Gaye, the Miracles and Edwin Starr, as well as recording a pair of their own 45s for the VIP label – ‘Just Walk In My Shoes’ is delivered with a lot of verve by the Magnificent Men, and I think it stands up well next to the original.

Oddly enough, as well-remembered as the Magnificent Men are (especially amongst soul fans), they seem to have made their mark mostly as a live act. Their chart impact was minimal, and almost exclusively in the mid-Atlantic region. They never hit the R&B charts (at least nationally).

They had the good fortune to have had their album arranged/conducted by Horace Ott and Sonny Sanders, and I think their music holds up remarkably well.

All of the Magnificent Men albums can be picked up on iTunes, and – if you’re digging in the Northeast, anyway, most of their vinyl is fairly easy to come by.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, February 28, 2013 12:46 pm

The Fantoms

Listen/Download The Fantoms – Junk

Greetings all

I hope everyone’s ready for the weekend.

Since it is almost Friday, I should remind you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show comes on this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio with the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on OG vinyl. If you can’t be there for the broadcast you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or you can grab an MP3 here at the blog.

The record I bring you today is an old fave of mine out of my NOLA crates, which would have been posted a long time ago if I hadn’t lost it.

The thing is, I didn’t know I’d lost it, until I had to move some old computer equipment in my record room and happened upon a handful of 45s that had apparently slipped down between an old CPU and the desk where my turntable coffin is perched.

My heart sank when I saw the 45s (especially when I saw which ones they were…there were a couple of valuable discs there), but fortunately they were sitting straight up and down, and nowhere near a heat vent, so they were for all intents and purposes, unscathed (no cracks either, Thank you vinyl Jeebus!).

The 45 in question, the Fantoms’ ‘Junk’ is something I picked up years ago, after their earlier disc, the completely mental ‘Mau Mau’ (which you can hear in Funky16Corners Radio v.10 – Funky Nawlins Vol. 2) flipped my wig.

‘Junk’ is a very groovy, is much more sedate affair, with the band settled into an early 70s groove, with the funky flute (a big fave of mine), the organ and percussion in a bag that reminds me a little of a more far out version of Traffic’s ‘Rock’n’Roll Stew’.

The Fantoms (originally the Fabulous Fantoms) were together from the late 60s into the late 70s, and were contemporaries of groups like the Meters and David Batiste and the Gladiators.

They recorded for Marty Lewis’s Big Deal label (also home to Anthony Butler and the Invaders and Jimmy Hicks) and released 45s on that label and Power Funksion.

The Fantoms apparently found a great deal of success on the local scene, but never broke through nationally.

It’s a groovy little disc, and I hope you dig it.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

Click here to go to the ordering page.
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, February 26, 2013 1:06 pm

Cal Tjader

Listen/Download Cal Tjader – Evil Ways

Listen/Download Cal Tjader – You Keep Me Hangin’ On

Greetings all

Though you have most certainy seen his name and heard his music in this space many times before, like Jello, there is always room for Cal Tjader.

Tjader, master of the Latin vibes (does it get any better than ‘Soul Sauce’?) is one of those artists that is an automatic pick-up, as in I’m out in the field flipping through albums and I see see a Tjader LP that I don’t already have, it goes right onto the keeper stack.

At this point, there aren’t too many from his Verve era and after that I don’t have.

That said, a few years back I was down in DC and I managed to score two longtime Tjader wants, i.e. ‘Cal Tjader Plugs In’ (gotta have that groovy cover of the Banana Splits theme) and the disc you see before you today, entitled simply ‘Tjader’.

At first glance, Tjader’s Fantasy catalog can get a little confusing, since it bookends his time with Verve and the short-lived Skye era. You get all of the early, mambo grooves, and then some later, extremely rare groovy ish like his cover of ‘Gimme Shelter’ and the album from which we draw today’s selections.

The two cuts I bring you today are a very tasty version of the Willie Bobo (though known to most by Santana) tune ‘Evil Ways’ and a trippy excursion into the Supremes ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’.

‘Evil Ways’ is a smooth groover, with some organ and horns stating the theme, before Cal drops in with vibes, handclaps and timbales (a breakdown very much like the one in ‘Soul Sauce’) and goes to town. There’s also a nice organ solo.

‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’ gets a pretty straight ahead dancefloor treatment, until about halfway in, when things suddenly fade out and then back in again with some far out synthesizer, back out again and then right back into the original groove. It’s an odd arrangement for Tjader, and a little late in the game in 1971 (as are some of the other covers on the album, including two Donovan songs), but I can’t complain.

It’s a strong album, and surprisingly hard to come by.

I hope you dig the sounds.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, February 5, 2013 3:23 pm

Franki Valli being held aloft by the Four Seasons (and himself, oddly enough)

Listen/Download Frankie Valli – (You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself

Greetings all

If you were surprised when you showed up at Funky16Corners and saw Frankie Valli’s mug staring back at you, you really oughtn’t to have, since he popped up here with the Four Seasons and the mighty ‘Beggin’ a few years back.

The tune I bring you today is for a variety of reasons a big favorite of mine, but mainly because it was hiding in my crates for years before I discovered it.

Way, waayyy back, many a year ago, I picked up the 45 containing this gem because I had been informed that it had an organ instrumental on it called ‘Night Hawk’, credited to the Valli Boys.

As organ instrumentals go, it was kind of uninspiring (groovy, but light years outside of the ‘hammond burner’ belt), which is why it went into the crates and gathered dust for a few years.

So, as I entered one of those stretches where outside record digging is precluded due to lack of funds or free time, I pulled out a bunch of record boxes and started doing a little bit of internal re-digging, i.e. looking for things unjustly ignored the first time around, a method by which many, many interesting records have made their way onto the blog.

I pulled out a stack of 45s, went through them, and managed to harvest a grip of excellent stuff, including some instrumentals, ballads, and a couple of stellar examples of Northern Soul, of which today’s selection was one.

‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself’ was released in 1966, and eventually included on the LP “The Four Seasons Present Frankie Valli Solo” which compiled many of his previous solo 45s (including the original version of ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’) as well as new material like the huge hit ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You’.

Ironically, ‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself’ isn’t even considered the big Northern Soul cut off of that album, that honor being reserved for ‘You’re Ready Now’ which is at #96 in Kev Roberts’ ‘Northern Soul Top 500’ and actually charted in the UK in 1970 due to its popularity on the dance floors over there.

It is my humble opinion that ‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself’ is the superior record.

Written by Bob Crewe and Charlie Calello, ‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself’ features plenty of hooks, a stylish arrangement (listen closely for the electric piano bubbling under everything) and a great beat for the dance floor.

Valli’s vocal is excellent, staying away from his famous falsetto and settling into a style no doubt engineered to separate his solo work from the Four Season’s records.

I whipped this one on the folks at Subway Soul a few years back, and it was met with great pleasure by the dancers there.

It’s a great record and as our friends on the other side of the Atlantic say, ought to be cheap as chips.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

Click here to go to the ordering page.
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.