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By Larry, November 1, 2012 2:37 pm

Miss Betty Harris

Listen/Download Betty Harris – Mojo Hannah

Greetings all

The conclusion of another week is close at hand, so I must remind you of the weekly celebration of soul known as the Funky16Corners Radio Show. Yours truly whips the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove (all on vinyl) upon the airwaves of the interwebs each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. As always, if you canot be there at the time of broadcast, you can always pick up the show by subscribing to it as a podcast in iTunes, or grabbing an MP3 download here at the blog.

We’re still in the midst of post-hurricane chaos, i.e. no power, no wifi (publishing prepared posts from the iphone) and no idea when things might get better.

Right now I have another week or so of posts left until I run out. If the power isn’t back by then we may have to relocate.

The record I bring you today is one of those atomic hotfoot, get off your ass and dive into the weekend things I like to drop on a Friday.

If you drop by here with any regularity, or back in the old Funky16Corners web zine days, you already know that Miss Betty Harris is a huge favorite of mine.

The remarkable sides she recorded in New Orleans with Allen Toussaint (for Sansu and SSS Intl) are rightly regarded as classics and ought to be included in any respectable survey of female soul singing of the classic era.

Oddly enough, though her NOLA-based sides are incredible, none of them (with the exception of 1967s ‘Nearer To You’, which was R&B Top 20) came close to the success of her 1963 cover of Solomon Burke’s ‘Cry To Me’, which made the R&B Top 10 and very nearly the Pop Top 20.

Harris recorded three 45s (an another unreleased track) for the Jubilee label in 1963 and 1964, the last of which was today’s selection, her version of the oft-recorded ‘Mojo Hannah’.

Produced by none other than the mighty Lieber and Stoller, Harris’s version of ‘Mojo Hannah’ is just this side of completely fucking nuts (and I mean that in the best way possible).

She takes the song at a breakneck pace, so fast that there area couple of points where she appears to run short of breath.

The arrangement is very cool, marked by a deep, twangy lead guitar, Ikette-esque backing vocals and horn accents.

It is one of the greatest vocals that Betty Harris ever laid down, and ought to be much better known.

I hope you dig it (and if you haven’t explore Miss Harris’s discography), and I’ll see you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

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.

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By Larry, October 30, 2012 1:32 pm

Not Cal Tjader

Listen/Download Cal Tjader – Spooky

Greetings all and welcome to the middle of another week here at the Corners du Funk.

We here on the coast are in the middle of a ass-kicker of a storm, and while that’s probablyscary enough for most (myself included) Halloween is at hand, and so it behooved me to whip something a little scary onto the blog.

Now – unless you find the combination of thick glasses and groovy vibes frightening…someone probably does – Cal Tjader, though scary talented, was not known for inducing fear in his listeners.

However, he did find the time to record and extra smooth and tasty version of that old Hallows Eve perennial, ‘Spooky’.

Originally recorded by Mike Sharpe, and then the Classics IV – who had a huge hit with it in 1968 – ‘Spooky’ is one of those great “fits nicely in Halloween” tunes that doesn’t involve screaming, Frankenstein grunts or any other novelty hoo-hah.

Mr. Tjader recorded the tune on his ‘Cal Tjader Plugs In: Live at the Lighthouse’ LP in 1969, with a great band that included Armando Peraza on percussion and Al Zulaica on electric piano (who adds a lot of flavor to the track).

The band gets a nice groove going here, and Tjaders is – as always – in top form.

His Skye stuff isn’t easy to find, but always worth it when you can.

I hope you all survive the storm, have yourselves a sweet and groovy Halloween, and (assuming I’m not washed away in the storm) 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).

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.

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By Larry, October 29, 2012 11:30 am

Go Go Girls!

Listen/Download Gentleman June Gardner – It’s Gonna Rain

Greetings all

I come to you from deep inside the storm, as Hurricane/Tropical Storm/Whatever Sandy beats down upon us with buckets of rain and howling winds (which are guaranteed to get a lot more howly as the day progresses).

I figured I ought to get up off of the couch and blog something before the electricity goes bye bye.

I was rifling through the stacks looking for my copy of Dave Baby Cortez’s ‘Hurricane’ (which I found, and just reposted, so get it while it’s hot) but happened upon the record you see before you first.

It was as of the hand of fate took a second out of its busy day to offer up one of the all time great soul instrumentals.

‘It’s Gonna Rain’ by Gentleman June Gardner is right up there in my Top 10 instrumental soul 45s. In fact I was shocked that’s I’d never blogged it before!

I first heard it many years ago on an old Charly comp of New Orleans soul.

The record you see before you was the first copy of the song I got on wax. Oddly enough in an Australian pressing of Gentleman June’s LP (released on Emarcy here in the US).

I have since then grabbed the US LP and 45 (can’t have to many copies of a great record!), but I keep wondering how this record got released in Australia (I liken it to the NZ pressing of the 13th Floor Elevators ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’).

Gardner was a New Orleans based drummer and bandleader who recorded great music inside and outside that city (he also worked with the mighty Sam Cooke).

The extra groovy thing about this one – which I didn’t discover until I’d had it for a few years – is that it is a cover of a tune by Sonny and Cher!

The OG, which was released on the flip-side of ‘I Got You Babe’ is a garage-au-go-go cruncher and probably the most surprising thing in the S&C discography.

Though I don’t know this for sure, my suspicion has long been that Gardner was hepped to the tune by his NOLA homeboy Harold Battiste, who was working out on the coast as musical director for Mr. & Mrs. Bono.

‘It’s Gonna Rain’ is a certified soul stomper that’ll have you out of your seat and twisting before you know it.

It’s the perfect antidote to this bitch of a storm that’s sitting on top of us right now (and promises to get a lot worse before it’s over).

Keep your fingers crossed that those of us on the Eastern seaboard make it through Sandy in one piece (or at least as few pieces as possible).

I’ll see you all tomorrow.

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 (0)

By Larry, October 28, 2012 12:42 pm

Jackie Shane on ‘Night Train’

Listen/Download – Jackie Shane – Any Other Way

Greetings all

Welcome to another week here at the home of digital soul.

We are under threat of what promises to be a nasty storm. Our hatches are battened, our larders filled with supplies, so keep your fingers crossed that the folks here on the East Coast make it to the other side of this one intact.

The tune I ring you today is one of those great discoveries that happens when you flip over a record expecting nothing and realize that what you’re hearing is the real “top” side of the disc.

If memory serves, my initial encounter with the story of Jackie Shane was a lucky accident.

Before I was fortunate enough to pick up the record you see before you today, I had only heard her voice via a single, blurry performance clip from the TV show ‘Night Train’.

Shane was, during the 1960s a popular club singer and recording artist, who was an out, gay/trans man who lived and performed as a woman.

She was nothing if not enigmatic.

Born and raised in Nashville, but with the bulk of her career spent North of the border in Canada, Shane had a life seemingly lifted from a screenplay.

Starting in the early 60s Shane recorded and performed R&B and soul based out of Toronto, CA . She layed down sides for a few different labels, often backed by Frank Motley (also an American) and the Hitchhikers (who went on to record some sought after funk records).

Shane performed in drag – though what little biographical information I’ve been able to turn up suggests that this was more than a drag persona, leaning more in the direction of a full time transgender life. That she was also openly gay (or as open as the times allowed) was – as my friend Jason Stone aka the Stepfather of Soul said in a 2007 post – unusual, but not unheard of, considering the careers of Little Richard, Esquerita and Sylvester.

Her cover of William Bell’s 1962 hit ‘Any Other Way’ – a significant Canadian hit, almost reaching Number One – was a fairly dramatic re-casting of the original.

Shane’s delivers the song’s lyrics – full of regret – in a much more melancholic setting. Where Bell’s approach is aggressive and upbeat (at least as far as the tempo is concerned) Shane’s is almost elegiac.

Though she delivers the song in its original gender, it’s hard not to read something into it (and I’m hardly the first to make note of this) when Shane sings:

Tell her that I’m happy
Tell her that I’m gay
Tell her I wouldn’t have it any other way

…the line seems to take on more meaning.

I initially grabbed this record for the version of ‘Sticks and Stones’ on the flip, but soon fell in love with this cut.

Shane’s discography is spare. Her 1963 recording of ‘In My Tenement’ (recorded a year before Roosevelt Grier’s version) is sought after by soul fans, as is a fantastic live record, which, though dated “Live ‘63” on the cover was clearly recorded a few years later, since it includes covers of songs that wouldn’t be released until 1966.

Once you’ve listened to her relatively small – yet undeniably powerful – catalog, it becomes obvious that Shane was a versatile and dynamic vocalist and performer.

She was a powerful soul shouter, but was also capable of something approaching fragility when working a ballad.

The cool thing is, though Shane’s records run from moderately rare right on into wallet-wrecking hen’s teethery, you can go on iTunes and grab a fairly comprehensive collection of her 45s and the ‘Live ‘63’ album for about six bucks each! I assure you in advance that this will be money well spent.

The singles are all excellent, and the live album is a revelation.

Shane was a bold, uncompromising stage performer, strong in voice and persona, and the Hitchhikers were an extra-tight backing band.

The album deserves to be much better known, and is worth having if only for the extended monologue during her cover of Barrett Strong’s ‘Money’.

Apparently Shane was still alive (though seemingly inactive as a performer) as late as 2010, having returned to her birthplace of Nashville, TN.

Make sure you check out the CBC radio documentary about Jackie Shane ‘I Got Mine: The Story of Jackie Shane’ over at Soundcloud.

I hope you dig the record, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday with some Halloween goodness.

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 (1)

By Larry, October 25, 2012 12:14 pm

Chris Farlowe

Listen/Download Chris Farlowe – We’re Doing Fine

Greetings all

The end of another week has finally arrived, and I have some very groovy mod soul lined up for you today.

But first, I simply must remind you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the airwaves this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. As always, if you are unable to join us at the time of broadcast, you can pick up the shows by subscribing as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 download right here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is a very recent acquisition, that came as a very nice surprise.

I have known (some of) the music of Chris Farlowe since back in the mod/garage days of yore (three decades past).

The biggie – the one that got this album released here in the States – was his 1966 cover of the Rolling Stones ‘Out of Time’. Farlowe’s version was – at least in my opinion – far superior to the original, and, thanks to the fact that a lot of folks in the UK agreed, it was a Number One hit in that country in June of 1966.

Along with his band the Thunderbirds (which when he recorded ‘Paint It Farlowe’ included both Albert Lee and Carl Palmer) Farlowe started out recording blues, R&B and soul in the early 60s as part of the Mod scene.

Farlowe would eventually be signed to the Immediate label, where he would record at least two albums and a grip of singles, a half dozen of which would hit the UK charts in 1966 and 1967.

The ‘Paint It Farlowe’ LP – released in the UK, with additional tracks as ‘The Art of Chris Farlowe’ – was produced by no less a light than Mick Jagger.

The album was packed with interesting material, including a number of covers of Rolling Stones, Small Faces and Twice as Much tunes, as well as some very cool soul material.

Farlowe had an unusual voice, especially in the far reaches of his range, which was perfectly suited for rough edged R&B material.

‘Paint It Farlowe’ includes his versions of tunes by American artists like the Four Tops, Jimmy Ruffin, Garnet Mimms and with the tune I bring you today, Dee Dee Warwick.

The younger sister of Dionne, Dee Dee had a respectable chart career between 1965 and 1971, for labels like Blue Rock, Mercury and Atco.

‘We’re Doing Fine’, written and arranged by Horace Ott, was her first hit, making it into the R&B Top 30 (and the Pop Top 100) in August of 1965.

Farlowe would record his version of the song a year later, and acquits himself quite nicely indeed.

He takes a slightly more aggressive tack with the tune – almost to a Northern-style tempo – and the end result is up there with the finest covers of US soul material by white UK singers.

Farlowe would go on to sing lead with both Colisseum and Atomic Rooster during the 70s, and is still in fine voice today.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

Click here to go to the ordering page.

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 (5)

By Larry, October 16, 2012 3:37 pm

The Tams

Dobie Gray

Listen/Download The Tams – Untie Me

Listen/Download Dobie Gray – Rose Garden

Greetings all

The day of the hump is upon us, and so I feel that it behooves me to provide a soundtrack to push us all up and over the top.

Since his passing back in the beginning of September, I have been deeply involved in a rediscovery of the music of Joe South, through his own recordings and via other artists versions of his songs.

Though he is best known to most as a writer other people’s hits – folks like Billy Joe Royal, Lynn Anderson and the Tams – South was an incredibly solid artist in his own right. The records he made between 1968 and 1972 for Capitol are a remarkable mixture of soul, country, rock and even psychedelia that deserve a much bigger audience.

It was during the process of digging into those albums that I was amazed not only by South’s own versions of his most famous songs (I’d say without hesitation that his is the definitive version of the oft-recorded ‘Hush’) but also pleasantly surprised to discover that he had written a couple of songs that I already loved in versions by other artists (like the Tams ‘Shelter’ and Billy Harner’s ‘She’s Almost You’).

The two songs I bring you today are two more excellent, soulful covers of great Joe South songs.

The first, the Tams ‘Untie Me’ represents both that group’s first hit, as well as South’s initial success as a songwriter.

‘Untie Me’ scraped the edge of the R&B Top 10 in the Fall of 1962, and it’s not only a great song but a great record as well. Produced (and with piano) by Ray Stevens, ‘Untie Me’ struck me the first time I heard it as a perfect tune to be turned into a beat ballad. Once I did a little digging I discovered that it had indeed been covered by Manfred Mann in 1964.

The tune is a great showcase for a restrained vocal by the mighty Joe Pope, and the arrangement is fantastic.

The second cut today is something  previously unknown to me that I happened upon while digging.

I’ma huge fan of Dobie Gray’s mid-60s Charger sides, and certainly knew of his later hits, but had no idea that he had recorded three singles for the White Whale label in 1969 and 1970.

Among these was an excellent take on South’s ‘Rose Garden’, two full years before it would be turned into a mega-hit by Lynn Anderson.

Gray’s version is subtly funky – a little more so than South’s original – and sounds to me like the kind of record that should have been a pop hit (it does seem to have gotten some play in a few regional markets in the East and the South).

Given enough time, it wouldn’t be hard to put together a mix or two of Joe South covers, but these two will have to suffice for now.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

* Simtec and Wylie were having their hits for the Mr Chand label at the same time as the Krystal Generation, and Simtec Simmons very own T-Box’s band provides the backing on this 45
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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 (0)

By Larry, October 14, 2012 2:38 pm

The Shirelles

Listen/Download The Shirelles – Last Minute Miracle

Greetings all

Welcome to another week.

The air is suddenly a touch cooler (especially at night) and so the music I bring you shall also be (at least metaphorically).

The vinyl gods have been especially kind to me of late, whether digging via the interwebs, or out in the field.

I picked up some very groovy stuff this summer, and had an exceptional day at the Allentown All-45 Show a few weeks back.

I find these days that my digging style (if such a thing can be said to exist) has become more refined. This is due in part to it being hammered into shape by experience, but also by the fact that I often enter the fray with somewhat lighter pockets.

I find myself taking more time, returning a lot more stuff to the boxes that birthed them, and in the end taking home a much richer stack of vinyl.

This is not to say that I’m not taking any chances out in the trenches, but rather that by using my head, I take home a lot more diamonds and a lot less gravel.

I only mention this to whet your appetite for the records yet to come here at Funky16Corners.

Oddly enough, the record I bring you today came into my hands not through any field work, but rather through some lucky listening.

This summer a friend passed along about ten hours of vintage airchecks, some soul, some rock and pop.

If you listen to the Funky16Corners Radio Show you’ll already know that I’ve been mining these for all kinds of drops and vintage ads.

What I’ve also been picking up on is several groovy songs that I was either completely ignorant of, or had heard of, but never really heard before.

Today’s selection is one of the latter.

The Shirelles are one of those great groups that populate the transitional period of late R&B/early soul.

Though many people would classify them as part of the ‘girl group’ period, I’d say that many of their best records are unquestionably soul sides (i.e. ‘Baby It’s You’ and ‘Boys’, both covered by the Beatles).

What I did not know, is that the Shirelles, much like the Platters, were another “early” group that carried on making excellent records well into the “classic” soul era.

The remarkable ‘Last Minute Miracle’ is one of those.

The bulk of the Shirelles hits fall between 1960 and 1964, but they managed to hit the charts one last time (#41 R&B, #99 Pop) in 1967 with today’s selection.

Written by George Kerr and Gerald Harris (and originally recorded by Linda Jones  – at a faster tempo – on Loma), and arranged by Richard Tee, ‘Last Minute Miracle’ is one of those records that has ‘Northern Soul Anthem’ written all over it.

Marked by a propulsive dance beat, delicious pop hooks and a remarkable lead vocal by Shirley Alston-Reeves, ‘Last Minute Miracle’ moves from a hard-charging verse into a chorus that builds dramatically.

It is both exceptionally well-written and well-performed.

This is one of those records that after I heard it once, I knew I had to have it. It took me a little while to get myself a copy for my box, but when I did I listened to it over, and over again.

The record also sports an excellent flipside in ‘No Doubt About It’.

The Shirelles would continue to record for Scepter, Blue Rock, Bell and United Artists between 1968 and 1974 but ‘Last Minute Miracle’ was their last date with the charts.

I hope you dig – and dance to – this record, 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).

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 (1)

By Larry, October 4, 2012 12:54 pm

Grover, rendered in oils

Listen/Download Grover Washington Jr. – Masterpiece

Greetings all

The end of another week is at hand, so it behooves me once again to alert you to the fact that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you cannot join us at the time of broadcast, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or drop by the blog to grab yourselves an MP3 download.

The track I bring you today is an epic instrumental reading of one of my favorite Norman Whitfield/Temptations (mostly) instrumental tracks, ‘Masterpiece’.

Covered in this very space back in 2010, the original by the Temptations, on their LP of the same name, their second to last collaboration with Whitfield, is an exceptionally groovy piece of long-form wonderfulness (even if the Temps themselves are largely in the background).

It was only after I published that post that someone brought it to my attention that Grover Washington Jr. had done his own version of the song later on in 1973.

Recorded for the ‘Soul Box’ project (released as two separate records, a two-record set and eventually as a single CD), ‘Soul Box’ saw Grover, aided by a who’s who of the CTI roster – including Bob James, Hubert Laws and Idris Muhammad – stretching out on a variety of interesting material.

The best cuts from the project were included on the ‘Soul Box Vol. 1’ album, those being ‘Masterpiece’ and a side-long cover of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Trouble Man’.

‘Masterpiece’ takes the overall mood of the original version, removes the voices and works out a 13-minute plus soundscape that would work perfectly as a piece of soundtrack music.

The vibe is smooth – but not too smooth, or at least not nearly as smooth as Grover would get later on – but also tight, with some nice bass, drum and guitar work cementing the base under the the horns, strings and voices.

It is very cool indeed, especially if you’re out driving late at night in the rain (it’s that kind of jam).

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).

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 (3)

By Larry, September 27, 2012 12:43 pm

The Vibrating Vibrations!

Listen/Download The Vibrations – Expressway To Your Heart

Greetings all

The end of the week is finally here, and so then must be the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which magically appears on Viva Radio every Friday night at 9PM. If you have other plans at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or drop by the blog to pick yourself up an MP3.

The tune I bring you today is one of those familiar song/unfamiliar source deals I like to whip on y’all every now and again.

This is another example of a record that I swept up almost indiscriminately back in the early days of my Philly obsession. Drawn in by the (Gamble/Huff) Neptune label and the familiar name of the Vibrations, I grabbed this 45, and while I can’t say that my memory is 100% reliable in this instance, it is likely that I thought that what I was getting was the “original” version of the song that was a huge hit for the Soul Survivors.

I was (of course) incorrect…

That tune, ‘Expressway To Your Heart’ was among the earliest Gamble/Huff chart hits (maybe THE earliest) in 1967, with the Vibrations version not hitting until two years later.

The Vibrations have one of the longest, most interesting histories in all of soul music.

Hailing not from Philly but from Los Angeles, they got their start in the 1950s as the Jayhawks. It was under that name that they recorded the original version of ‘Stranded In the Jungle’.

They also recorded under the name of the Marathons, with which they hit in 1961 with ‘Peanut Butter’.

Reconstituted as the Vibrations, they spent most of the 1960s recording for Checker and Okeh – with a brief stop at Epic in 1968 – before signing with Neptune in 1969.

They recorded three 45s for the label, including their remake of ‘Expressway’ in 1969.

The Vibrations had worked with Gamble and Huff during their time at Okeh (G&H produced the group’s 1968 hit ‘Love In Them There Hills’ for the label) and member Carl Fisher had some of his songs (like ‘Storm Warning’ and ‘(It’s Against) the Laws of Love’) covered by Philly groups like the Volcanos.

The Vibrations version of ‘Expressway to Your Heart’, arranged by the great Bobby Martin, is taken at a slightly slower, grittier pace than the Soul Survivors OG. You get lots of electric piano, organ, some very cool guitar work and lots of great harmonies by the group.

It’s a very groovy record indeed, and one that ought to be better known.

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).

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 (1)

By Larry, September 18, 2012 1:00 pm

Odyssey (Lillian Lopez, left)

Listen/Download Odyssey – Going Back To My Roots

Listen/Download Odyssey – Roots Suite (Ajomora/Going Back To My Roots/Baba Awa)

Greetings all

I hope the middle of the week finds you all well.

I had something else in the on deck circle, ready to go for today, but then I fell victim once again to my relentless need to read, and stumbled upon the news that Lillian Lopez, the singer of the group Odyssey had passed away at the age of 76.

Odyssey, best known for their 1977 disco classic ‘Native New Yorker’ (Top 10 R&B, Top 20 Pop) had a number of hits between then and 1982.

Lopez started a group with her sisters Louise and Carmen which became Odyssey in the mid 70s after Carmen left and was replaced by singer Tony Lopez. Lopez was with the group for their first LP (and hits) and was replaced by William McEachern by the time they recorded their second record.

The tune I bring you today is a great example of why you should always keep your ears (and options) open.

I have made mention many times in this space of how lucky I am to have had (and continue to have) a wide variety of musical “mentors”, i.e. fellow collectors and musicians who have always been generous with their time and their taste, turning me on to new sounds all the time.

One of these good people is my man DJ Birdman down in DC, a long time friend who has been a significant influence (and source) for me when it comes to dance music, specifically disco and post-1980 soul.

Birdman has always been very open about sharing his digging spots with me when I roll through DC, as well as always passing records on to me that he thinks I should hear.

Last year, when the fam and I were down in out nation’s capitol, we had ourselves a nice visit with Birdman and his family, after which he handed me a stack of vinyl, some of which I’d asked him to grab for me, and others that he was giving me to check out.

Not one to ever object to horizon-widening (especially when it comes to music) I expressed my gratitude, packed the wax in the ride and lead-footed it back to Jersey so that I might sample the goods.

One of the records in the stack is the disc you see before you today.

It was Birdman who had first hipped me to Lamont Dozier’s OG of ‘Going Back to My Roots’ and it was he that introduced me to the most excellent cover by Odyssey.

I think it’s safe to say that left to my own devices, I may very well have passed this record by.

While I knew of ‘Native New Yorker’ – and you know I dig disco – it’s not the kind of disc I’d pick up unless I was looking to stash it with my DJ stuff,  amongst my “wedding records”.

I was completely ignorant of the wider reach of Odyssey’s catalog and was pleasantly surprised when I had a chance to drop the needle on today’s selection.

Originally recorded by songwriting legend Dozier in 1977, ‘Going Back To My Roots’ was given a somewhat smoother interpretation by Odyssey. Though Dozier’s (fairly rare and sought after) OG is a 9-minute-plus epic, it failed to make it onto the charts whereas Odyssey scored in both the US and the UK.

The Odyssey version of the song is – at least in my opinion – more consistently danceable than the original, even in its extended ‘Roots Suite’ version.

Lillian Lopez continued to tour with a version of Odyssey until 2000, when she retired from the stage.

I hope you dig the tunes 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).

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 (0)

By Larry, September 11, 2012 2:10 pm

Pat Rhoden

Listen/Download Pat Rhoden – Living For the City

Greetings all

It’s been a while since we addressed things in a reggae stylee here, and since I had something warming up in the on-deck circle, I thought it wise to whip it on you.

I first featured the sounds of Pat Rhoden about a year and a half ago, and – oddly enough – it was also a cover of a Stevie Wonder tune, in that case ‘Boogie On Reggae Woman’.

As someone who’s always on the lookout for reggae/rock steady covers of US soul material, finding that first record was a treat. Happening upon today’s selection in the months afterward was a double secret irie treat indeed.

Rhoden was a singer who, though he recorded more than a little, seems to have receded into the mists of time.

He waxed sides for Ska Beat, Trojan, Attack and Horse from the 1960s on, as well as recording as half of the duo Winston and Pat (with the mighty Winston Groovy).

He recorded his version of ‘Living For the City’ in 1974 (Stevie took the OG to Number One in November of 1973).

Opening on an odd beat (but dropping into the reggae in short order), Rhoden’s version is slower than Wonders, but plenty funky.

I really dig the electric piano bed (there’s some acoustic piano in there too) running underneath everything and Rhoden’s vocal is very groovy.

I hope you dig it, 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).

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 (1)

By Larry, September 7, 2012 3:56 pm

Earl Grant

The wrong side of the LP, natch…

Listen/Download Earl Grant – Walk a Mile In My Shoes

UPDATE: Well, I just had my mind blown a little bit. I was over reading Red Kelly’s tribute to Joe South at the B Side, and gave the tune he posted  – ‘Shelter’ – a spin. As soon as it started playing I realized that I was hearing one of my favorite Tams records, and had no idea that it had been written (and also recorded by) Joe South!

I suggest strongly that you go check out Red’s tribute, and when you get a chance, dig into Funky16Corners Radio v.96 Condition Red, which includes that Tams version of that great song. – Larry

Greetings all

This is an unplanned post, but considering that I forgot to plug the Funky16Corners Radio Show (this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, also available as a download via iTunes or the Funky16Corners blog the day after broadcast) I thought it probably wouldn’t hurt.

The occasion – sad as it is – was new coming down the pike of the passing of the mighty Joe South, who slipped off this mortal coil at the age of 72.

I suspect that many people only know South via his own hits, ‘Games People Play’ (1969, not the Spinners song) and ‘Walk a Mile In My Shoes’ (1970, credited to Joe South and the Believers).

The whole story is a lot deeper than that.

South was first and foremost an accomplished songwriter (he wrote the Tams first hit ‘Untie Me’ in 1962), crafting songs like ‘Hush’, ‘Down In the Boondocks’ and ‘I Knew You When’ (all for Billy Joe Royal) and ‘I Never Promised You a Rose Garden’ (a massive crossover hit for Lynn Anderson in 1971).

He was also a performer, recording many excellent albums under his own name, as well as working behind the scenes as a guitarist (that’s his swampy lick at the opening to Aretha’s ‘Chain of Fools’) and producer.

South was a very interesting guy, weaving all of the various threads of Southern music including rock, soul, country and gospel (and even a little psychedelia) into a unique sound.

The tune I bring you today is an unusual (mainly because of the source) cover of ‘Walk a Mile In My Shoes’ by Earl Grant.

Grant was a vocalist and keyboardist (mainly organ) who had a number of hits – mainly aimed at the middle of the road – during the 50s and 60s. His tune ‘House of Bamboo’ is an exotica fave.

A few years back I was out digging and happened upon Grant’s self-title 1970 LP, and grabbed it because it included a couple of interesting cover versions, one of which you see before you today.

Sadly, the LP was the last thing Grant ever did. A few days after he completed the sessions he was killed at the age of 39 in a car crash.

He takes South’s ‘Walk a Mile In My Shoes’ at a slightly faster pace than the original, and does a pretty nice job, working it out on the piano as well as singing.

The rest of the album is a mix of contemporary cover material and even a few reggae-influenced instrumentals.

I hope you dig the tune and I’ll be back 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).

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.