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By Larry, October 20, 2019 11:40 am

Show #488. Originally broadcast 10/14/2019

Jerry O – There Was a Time (White Whale)
Enoch Light and the Light Brigade – Hot Pants (Project 3)
Otis Redding – Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag (Volt)
Truman Thomas – Cold Sweat (Veep)

Rodge Martin – Lovin’ Machine (Bragg)
Soul Continentals – Bowlegs (SS7)
Count Rockin’ Sidney – Dede Dede Da (Goldwax)
Little Milton – Grits Ain’t Groceries (Checker)

Isley Brothers – Seek and You Shall Find (Tamla)
Isley Brothers – Take Some Time Out For Love (Tamla)
Gene Barge – Fine Twine (Checker)
Marie Knight – Cry Me a River (Musicor)

Billy Clark and his Orchestra – Hot Gravy (Dynamo)
Lewis Clark – Dog (Ain’t a Man’s Best Friend) (Brent)
Eddie Bo – Every Dog Got His Day (Ric)
Merritt Hemmingson – Pata Pata (Camden)
Ricky Allen – Skate Boogaloo (Bright Star)
The Ultimations – Would I Do It Over (Mar V Lus)

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Greetings all

This week’s Funky16Corners Radio Show starts out with a set of James Brown covers, then moves on into a wide variety of hard hitting soul, Hammond grooves and even a bit of the sweet stuff!

So dig it, make sure to tune in, and I’ll see you all next week.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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By Larry, July 28, 2019 11:34 am

gregory isaacs – get ready

slim smith – watch that sound

byron lee & the dragonaires – can i change my mind

derrick harriott & the chosen few – have you seen her

alton ellis – la la means i love you

henry s. liza – sexy sadie

soul messengers – do it

tinga stewart – why can’t we live together

ken boothe – darling, you send me

delroy wilson – last thing on my mind

skin flesh & bones – solitary man

jimmy london – till i kiss you

dave barker – blowing in the wind

roslyn sweat & the paragons – black birds singing

jimmy lindsay – easy

Listen/Download -DJ Prime Mundo – Reggae Got Soul – 114MB Mixed MP3
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Greetings all.

The Funky16Corners 2019 Allnighter/Pledge Drive continues!

This week we have a very nice surprise for you indeed, a brand new mix from my man DJ Prime Mundo.

Reggae Got Soul is self-explanatory, a hot collection of reggae versions of soul (and other) classics.

So pull down the ones and zeros and dig it!

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A Note on the 2019 Pledge Drive

The focus on using Patreon to raise money to pay the bills around here (paying for server space/bandwidth and broadcast fees) has proven to make a lot of sense, moreso than the previously used Paypal model.

If you dig any of the stuff I do here, any of the radio shows, or the mix archives, or even if you’re one of the few that still read the blog posts, please consider signing up for Patreon and making a small, recurring, monthly donation of a few dollars.

You can click on the link below.

It’s pretty simple, very safe and a great way to keep Funky16Corners up and running for another year.

So thanks in advance, and enjoy the tunes!

Keep the Faith

Larry

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The pledging will continue this year with Patreon (click here or on the logo below to go to the Funky16Corners page) , where you will be able to spread your contributions out over the entire year, which will help cover the ongoing server/broadcast/hardware expenses. This year has seen the move to 100 percent live broadcasting (Mixlr.com/Funky16corners)  and continued hardware and software upgrades at Funky16Corners central, to keep the radio/podcasting experience as seamless and groovy as possible. So please dig deep so we can continue to do the same, and if you’re already a Patreon donor, please accept my heartfelt thanks!

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I am also including a Paypal donation button (below) if you’d rather donate in a lump sum instead of the rolling donation in Patreon.

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So, download and dig the mixes, keep digging the radio shows!

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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PS Head over to Iron Leg when you have a minute!. <

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By Larry, June 9, 2019 9:09 am

Charles Earland

Listen/Download – Charles Earland – (You Caught Me) Smiling MP3

Greetings all.

I come to you today with an exceptionally tasty bit of Hammond goodness, courtesy of one of my all time faves, the mighty Charles Earland. It is made all the more tasty by its roots as a Sly and the Family Stone cover.

Earland was the preeminent second-wave (post Jimmy Smith) Pennsylvania Hammond giants, getting his start in the early 60s and then moving on to a solid career all the way through the 90s until his passing in 1999. His early, local Philly 45s are classics, as are all the albums he made for the soul jazz powerhouse Prestige Records.

Today’s selection is the opening track on his 1972 LP ‘Live at the Lighthouse’.

Recorded at the storied jazz club in Hermosa Beach, CA, it’s a fantastic set with Earland leading a tight band.

The song, originally titled ‘You Caught Me Smilin’ (truncated to ‘Smiling’ here) originated on Sly and the Family Stone’s 1971 LP ‘There’s a Riot Goin’ On’. The original, vocal version of the song has a kind of dreamy/stoned vibe to it. Earland’s cover lights a bit of a fire under it, with a big Hammond sound that sometimes verges on (but never crossed into) distortion.

The album as a whole is quite good, but this track is by far my fave.

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

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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By Larry, May 19, 2019 9:49 am

Miss Margie Joseph

Listen/Download – Margie Joseph – My Love MP3

Greetings all.

If you follow my show for WFMU’s Give the Drummer Radio, you may have seen that the DJ premium I put together for this year’s fundraising marathon was dedicated to soul and funk artists covering 70s AM gold.

I’ve made collecting such records something of a sideline in the last few years, and today’s selection is a fine example of the subgenre (and was included on that premium CD).

Margie Joseph was a Mississippi-born singer who recorded a bunch of singles for Okeh and Volt in the 60s and a few albums for Volt in the early 70s, before moving on to record for Atlantic and their subsidiaries into the late 80s.

Today’s selection hails from her 1974 ‘Sweet Surrender’ LP, which contains many such covers, including two Bread tunes, a very early cover of Billy Joel’s ‘He’s Got a Way’ and the tune I bring you today, Paul McCartney and Wings’ ‘My Love’.

Back in the early 70s, when I was deep inside the AM radio thing, I was not a huge fan of the original Wings version of ‘My Love’, put off by Paul’s ‘whoa whoa whoa’s in the chorus (though it’s fair to say that the song has grown on me in the ensuing decades.

Margie Joseph, backed by a solid band of NY and Philly studio pros gives the song a smooth, pretty reading, treating the melody gently, and finessing the chorus.

The overall effect is as if the song had been written for her.

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

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

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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By Larry, March 31, 2019 9:32 am

Tami Lynn

Listen/Download – Tami Lynn – Love Affair Suite MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well.

The music I bring you today is unusual in that it comprises not a single song but a side-long medley.

Tami Lynn is a particularly interesting singer.

She came up in New Orleans, singing on a number of local sessions, many for the AFO label, making one single with Bert Berns in 1965 (that went on to become a bog Northern Soul fave, and oddly enough appears on this 1971 album) and then the album you see before you today, and that – as they say – (aside from backgriound singing for others, especially Dr John) is that (though there appears to be another album from 1992 under the name Tamiya Lynn).

I have no idea why she stopped recording under her own name, but the album she left behind, is, while imperfect, possessed of perfection.

When you dig into the recording of ‘Love Is Here And Now Your Gone’ you begin to realize that it was kind of a piecemeal effort, with recording sessions in multiple locations, with multiple producers, and, as I mentioned earlier, the inclusion of that 1965 45.

I have no idea what the history was behind this, whether there wasn’t funding, or some kind of tug of war about what the label was going to do with Tami and her recordings, but at the end of the day, the record will stand as a (lost) classic for side one.

The ‘Love Affair Suite’ (that’s my name for it, since it doesn’t have a collective name on the record) is a sidelong, narrative (the songs are interspersed with monologues) about the birth and death of a love affair.

The medley is composed of songs originally done by Loretta Lynn (Wings Upon Your Horn), the Supremes (Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone), Betty Harris (Can’t Last Much Longer) and one song that originates here (though it was recorded the same year by the Patterson Singers), Dave Crawford and Willie Martin’s ‘That’s Understanding’.

Taken individually, the performances are uniformly wonderful, especially the slowed down, mournful take on ‘Love Is Here…’, but taken as a whole, they constitute a piece of work that ought to be much better known than it is.

Perhaps the overall obscurity of the record contributes to this, or the fact that the entire medley is almost 21 minutes and would never get airplay (though ‘That’s Understanding’ would get a UK 45 release on Mojo), but I assure you that once you pull down the ones and zeroes and let this bit of magic work its way into your ears, you will feel compelled to push it one someone else enthiusiatically.

The production by New Orleans giant Wardell Quezerque is outstanding, and he really lays back and lets the subtle majesty of Lynn’s performance come through.

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

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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By Larry, March 17, 2019 9:29 am

Dorothy Moore aka Dottie Cambridge

Listen/Download – Dottie Cambridge – He’s About a Mover MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s certified banger has been steaming up my crates for a long time.

I first heard Dottie Cambridge’s distaff take on the Sir Douglas Quintet’s ‘(S)He’s About a Mover’ back in the day on the fantastic ‘Pow City!’ comp.

I was already inclined to dig it as a huge SDQ fan, but when I heard Dottie Cambridge and band lay into it, speeding it up and adding that crazy organ, I had to find myself a copy of the 45 (which I did in short order).

Interestingly enough, Dottie Cambridge was in fact Dorothy Moore, who went on to have a huge hit with ‘Misty Blue’ in the 70s. As far as I can tell this was her first solo 45, after recording as part of the Poppies forEpic.

‘He’s About a Mover’ was released in 1967 and produced by Huey Meaux, who produced the original by the Sir Douglas Quintet two years before.

It’s a hot, hot 45 and a dance floor mover, and might set you back a little bit more these days (than it cost me way back when).

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

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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By Larry, March 10, 2019 10:36 am

Master Plan

Listen/Download – Master Plan – Bennie and the Jets MP3

Greetings all.

I thought, since it’s 2019 Marathon time over at WFMU, where my freeform radio thing ‘Testify!’ resides, a show that should be of interest to fans of both Funky16Corners and Iron Leg, that I might tie things together a bit.

Every years the DJs on WFMU programs put together a premium (usually in the form of a CD compilation) to entice listeners to donate to the station which is 100% listener-supported.

This year, my premium is ‘Souled Gold: Soul Artists Interpret 70s AM Gold’.
The comp is pretty self-explanatory, with some very groovy, soulful and funky covers of big AM radio hits.

The track I bring you today appears on the comp in question, and since it’s one of my faves therein, and hasn’t appeared in this space before, I thought I’d bring it to you today.

The Master Plan were a San Francisco Bay-area group that released a string of singles on a variety of labels between 1973 and 1988, including a handful on De-Lite.

Their version of Bennie and the Jets was released in 1975, and is – among the tracks on Souled Gold – particularly interesting.

Though it definitely sounds ‘of its time’ it also adds a jazz spin to Elton John’s tune, with an arrangement by David Van De Pitte, who had also worked with the Temptations, Edwin Starr and General Johnson among others.

As far as I can tell, despite its obvious charms, the Master Plan version of ‘Benny and the Jets’ was met with broadcast apathy, with the marked exception of one radio station in Oakland, California.’

If you dig the tune, and/or Funky16Corners, or WFMU (simply the greatest station in the nation) click on this link (or the logo above) and donate.

If you donate $75 or more you can grab yourselves a copy of ‘Souled Gold’ or any of the great 2019 DJ premiums.

So dig the sounds, dig into your wallets and groove.
See you next week

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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By Larry, January 20, 2019 2:16 pm

Joe Johnson and his Hammond

Listen/Download – Joe Johnson Trio – Son of Ice Bag MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you well.

The track I bring you today is from what most would consider a private press album (as far a I can tell the ‘label’ never issued anything else).

The performer is organist Joe Johnson, and the track, ‘Son of Ice Bag’ appears on the album ‘Jazz In Jersey’.

I can’t find any information to indicate that Johnson ever recorded anything else, under how own name, or as a sideman.

‘Jazz In Jersey’ appears to have been released in 1973, and while Johnson and most of the sidemen listed are obscure, the guitarist, Thornell Schwartz spent a lot of time recording with big name organists like Jimmy Smith, Johnny Hammond Smith and Larry Young.

The track, ‘Son of Ice Bag’ was written and first released by Hugh Masekela in 1967. It was covered a few years later by Lonnie Smith.

Johnson aquits himself nicely, and the arrangement, which hews pretty closely to the Lonnie Smith take, is cool.

I wish I knew more about Johnson. The record – despite the title – was recorded in Philadelphia, and the liner notes mention that he received an award in Philadelphia. They also say he worked with Lou Donaldson and Houston Person, but I can’t find any information to suggest that he recorded with either of them. My suspicion is that he was another working musician, probably grinding it out in night clubs and bars but never making the connection in the studios.

I hope you dig the sounds, and if you have any info on Joe Johnson, please drop me a line.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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By Larry, January 1, 2019 6:24 pm

Eruption

Listen/Download – Eruption – I Can’t Stand the Rain MP3

Greetings all

Today’s selection is a great example of a very familiar song in an unfamiliar (at least for Americans) setting.

The group Eruption was formed in London in the late 60s as Silent Eruption.
Singer Precious Wilson joined the group in 1974, around the time they were working as a backing band for Boney M.

In 1977 they joined up with Boney M’s producer Frank Farian (who also went on to create Milli Vanilli) to cover Ann Peebles’ Memphis soul classic ‘I Can’t Stand the Rain’.

Peebles’ original, from 1973 was a masterpiece of stark arranging, with its use of drum machine placed alongside the Hi records house band.

The Eruption cover, engineered for disco dance floors attacked the song from a much more aggressive posture. The overall feel is faster, more electronic and more heavily produced.

Though it doesn’t have the sublime feel of the original, it isn’t without it’s own charm, enough so that it was a substantial hit in Europe and a disco favorite here in the US.

It would be their only success in the States, but they would go on to have hits in Europe into the early 80s.

Wilson went on to have a few solo hits in the UK.

I hope you dig the track and I’ll see you all next week.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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By Larry, December 2, 2018 11:55 am

Lionel Hampton

Listen/Download – Lionel Hampton – Funky Chicken MP3

Greetings all.

I have sung the praises of the mighty Lionel Hampton in this space many times over the years.

Hampton had serious, solid jazz credentials going back to the mid-1930s and the Benny Goodman Orchestra.

Like many of his contemporaries, when the 1960’s rolled around, and the demand for, and popularity of large jazz bands started to wane, Hampton made many (artistically) successful attempts at musical relevancy, including the epic 45 ‘Greasy Greens’ on his own Glad-Hamp label.

Starting in 1972 Hampton signed with Brunswick Records and recorded a series of albums aimed at a younger market, recording versions of many contemporary pop and soul hits.

1976’s ‘Off Into a Black Thing’ was his fifth and final outing for Brunswick, and despite it’s placement firmly in the disco era, it included a number of earlier, funkier sounds.

The track I bring you today is Hampton covering Willie Henderson’s 1970 ‘Funky Chicken’ (the title track of Hampton’s album is another tune from Henderson’s album).

‘Funky Chicken’ isn’t only a cover, but it also uses the same backing track as the 1970 original, with Hampton soloing over it (and someone rapping over that).

It’s nothing groundbreaking, but since the OG is so funky, and Hamp’s (he was closing in on 70 when he recorded it!) vibes sound very groovy indeed, I’ll take it.

Oddly enough, Hampton’s Brunswick albums are fairly hard to come by, but worth picking up when you find them.

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

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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By Larry, September 30, 2018 9:41 am

Flow (Don Felder, right)

Listen/Download – Flow – Line’em MP3

Greetings all.

The tune I bring you today may be the very first time anything remotely Eagles-related appeared here at Funky16Corners.

Flow, like Hack Bartholomew, was one of the very few, non-jazz artists to have a record released by the storied CTI label.

The band, including a young Don Felder – several years before he wrote ‘Hotel California’ – who had been playing in the Florida garage band scene alongside Bernie Leadon (another future Eagle) and Tom Petty among others.

The Flow album was released in 1970, as was the single of ‘Line’em’, which oddly enough only seems to have been issued in Spain.

The song is a cover of a Leadbelly tune, which was originally a work song/chant used by gandy dancers laying down railroad tracks. The group even drops in a section of another Leadbelly number – ‘Black Betty’ – which would become famous years later in a version by Ram Jam, and is a funky number, with organ, a wailing lead guitar, congas and a beefy rhythm guitar line and a great percussion breakdown in the middle of the song.

I haven’t heard the rest of the album, so I can’t say with any certainty whether ‘Line’em’ is an anomaly.

I can’t say for sure, but I suspect that the lack of success for Flow convinced Creed Taylor to stay out of the rock business.

It’s a cool one, and I hope you dig it.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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By Larry, September 9, 2018 12:13 pm

Johnny Maestro (bottom center) with the Crests

Listen/Download – Johnny Maestro and the Crests – Come See Me (I’m Your Man) MP3

Greetings all.

The F16C Summer of Soul has come to a close – thanks to all who donated – , and we return to business as usual here ye olde blogge-space.

What better way to get restarted than with a certified mind-blower.

If you grew up in the New York area listening to oldies radio (especially WCBS-FM) the name Johnny Maestro should be a very familiar one. He was one of the most prominent surviving pioneers of the doowop era – the Crests ’16 Candles’ is one of the best remembered records of that era – and he would go on to sing lead for the Brooklyn Bridge, who had a huge hit in 1968 with ‘The Worst That Could Happen’.

However, sandwiched in between those two landmarks is one of the most (for me, anyway) surprising records.

In 1966, Maestro and the Crests recorded what would be the first-release US version (in August of 1966) of J.J. Jackson’s ‘Come See Me’, which would be released a few months earlier (April 1966) in the UK by the Pretty Things (Jackson’s version wouldn’t come out in the US until 1968).

As much as I love the Pretty Things version, the take by Maestro and the Crests is an absolute killer.

Arranged by JJ Jackson, this version opens with a one-two punch of bass and drums and takes off like a shot. There’s a great vocal by Maestro and the band, with some groovy rhythm guitar and organ just flies along.

I love to pull this record out and play it at soul nights because it combines a familiar song, in an unfamiliar version with a monster arrangement. It never fails to turn heads.

Sadly, it went nowhere at the time of its release, charting (and just barely) at one Albany, NY radio station.

The flip side, ‘I Care About You’ is a brilliant blue-eyed soul ballad with a remarkable performance by Maestro.

These days the 45 is quite expensive, so if you see it, grab it.

Until next week.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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