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By Larry, October 1, 2015 10:37 am

Wee Willie Walker, then and now

Listen/Download – Wee Willie Walker (feat Curtis Salgado) – Help!

Listen/Download – Wee Willie Walker – Ticket To Ride

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, so I will remind you once again that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab yourself an MP3 right here at the blog.

I am going to break with tradition today and do something I don’t normally do, which is take the time to hype a new release.

What made me do this, is the release of an outstanding comeback album by Wee Willie Walker.

I first came upon Walker’s music back in the day when I unearthed his sole Goldwax 45, a blinding cover of the Beatles ‘Ticket To Ride’.

Having been in the habit of grabbing any and all Goldwax ish found in the field, I was thrilled times two, first by putting another notch in my Goldwax discography, and second (but really “first”) finding a killer soul 45 formy play box, where it has held a position of honor for years.

Walker got his start singing gospel with the Redemption Harmonizers (alongside songwriter Roosevelt Jamison*), he relocated from his home base in Minnesota to Memphis, where he hooked up with the Goldwax label.

Quinton Claunch recorded a bunch of sides on Walker, but only one ever came out on Goldwax, a few others being leased to Checker in the 60s. Walker went on to record for a variety of labels in the 70s.

His new album, ‘If Nothing Ever Changes’ is an outstanding mix of new songs and well chosen covers (including numbers by Eddie Hinton, the Southside Movement and Calvin Arnold, as well as a wonderful reworking of John Conlee’s old country hit ‘I Don’t Remember Loving You’), with Walker, still in fine voice and backed by an excellent band.

The overall feel is less retro-soul, than a modern offering by a singer with deep roots in the classic era.

The playing and production are first rate, and while the album is filed under ‘blues’, this is a soul outing through and through, with Walker able to wail like back in the day, as well as deliver depth in the quieter moments.

I first posted Walker’s version of ‘Ticket to Ride’ back in 2008, and I’m reposting it today alongside another Beatles cover from the new album, a take on ‘Help!’ in a duet with Curtis Salgado.

Walker and Salgado take the song at a slower pace, stirring in bits of gospel and deep southern soul.

‘If Nothing Ever Changes’ was released by the non-profit Little Village Foundation, and you can pick it up in iTunes, or at Amazon.

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

See you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

*Composer of ‘That’s How Strong My Love Is’

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, September 24, 2015 1:31 pm

The Sound Foundation

Listen/Download – The Sound Foundation – Morning Dew (Walk Me Out In the) MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is finally here, and so I will dole out my periodic reminder that you check out the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab yourself an MP3 right here in the archive.

I have, over the years whipped a little funky horn rock on y’all. Small doses and all that, but you know that I have a taste for the brassy stuff from the late 60s, when so many bands in the BST/Chicago mold walked the earth like shiny, loud dinosaurs, stomping on everything in their paths.

I first happened upon the Sound Foundation back in the halcion days of Soulstrut, when the group’s sole LP used to show up in’finds’ posts on the reg. The dark hallways of the attics of the basements of my mind remain littered with album covers first encountered in that forum, so when I happened upon one of the group’s singles in the field, I snapped it up right away.

The Sound Foundation, who apparently came together in Las Vegas recorded for the very interesting, short-lived Smobro label, which (dig the smushed-togetherness of the name) was owned and operated by the Smothers Brothers during the peak of their popularity in the late 60s.

The flipside of this 45 is a very groovy take on Steppenwolf’s ‘Magic Carpet Ride’, but it was the other side that really grabbed me.

‘Morning Dew’, written in the early 60s by Canadian folk singer Bonnie Dobson, was later popularized by Tim Rose and the Grateful Dead, and covered dozens of times by a wide variety of performers.

The Sound Foundation version of the song is a real departure from tradition, taking the dark, post-apocalyptic dirge and turning into an upbeat, funky mover. They even manage to stir a little Sly and the Family Stone into the mix (dig the breakdown around 1:40).

While certainly not outright funk or soul, their version of ‘Morning Dew’ is proof yet again of the constant intersection of styles that was going down between 1967 and 1971, when rock and soul groups were mixing their figurative chocolate and peanut butter together to make something new.

It is very cool, and I hope you dig it, too.

See you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, September 22, 2015 11:34 am

Listen/Download – Lee Austin (the Burner) – I’m In Love MP3

Greetings all.

I come to you this fine day with one of the weirdest records ever to emerge from the world of James Brown.

Lee Austin, aka ‘The Burner’ was an ex-con, who was brought into the fold by the Godfather as his bodyguard, hairdresser, and last, but not least, recording artist.

Austin recorded a string of singles under the auspices of Brown between 1967 and the late 70s for a variety of JB-associated labels.

Austin’s 1974 cover of Bobby Womack’s ‘I’m In Love’ is, once you sift out all the bizarre audio bric a brac, a very nice performance indeed.

The problem is, I can’t imagine who has the time and energy for so mighty a sifting job.

The record openes with Austin’s orgasmic moans, interrupted by an announcer demanding you “Listen to the story.”

Austin then namechecks some heavies from the JB organizations (Fred Wesley and the JBs, Lyn Collins and Mr Brown himself), and launching into an extended rap.

Once he starts actually singing, you’re all, “Oh…OK, dude can sing.”

But, then, just when things get rolling, the announcer falls by again to let you know that “This record is TOGETHER!”

The thing is, that if Austin had been left alone to just sing the song over what is in essence a nice, smooth arrangement of a great tune, this record might have gone somewhere.

Unfortunately, what you get has the ring of an attention span gone all wonky (on a variety of intoxicants, no doubt) while James Brown tosses everything into the mix but the kitchen sink (and I’ll bet there’s an outtake somewhere where you can hear the sink).

Strange stuff, indeed.

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

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, September 3, 2015 11:39 am

Crossing the Pond – An Hour of Transatlantic Organ Heavies!
Dave Russell with the Wright Sounds – Harlem Shuffle Pt2 (Jemal)
New London Rhythm and Blues Band – Soul Mate (Vocalion)
Casey and the Pressure Group – Powerhouse (Wizdom)
Andre Brasseur – Pow Pow (MFP)
Bob Kuban and the In Men – Batman (Musicland USA)
Dave Baby Cortez – Popping Popcorn (Okeh)
Four Instants – Watermelon Man (Society)
The Pop Ups – Lurking (HBR)
George Semper – Get Out Of My Life Woman (Imperial)
Cocktail Cabinet – Breathalyser (Page One)
Merritt Hemmingson – The Letter (RCA)
Trudy Pitts – Bucket of Soul (Prestige)
Troy Thompson Band – 1-2-3 (Dee Dee)
Donald Seward – Studio B Funk (Revolution)
Inez and Charlie Foxx’s Swinging Mockin Band – Shimmy (Dynamo)
Graham Bond Organisation – Wade In the Water (Ascot)
Wynder K Frog – Dancing Frog (UA)
Shotgun Express – Curtains (Columbia UK)
Brother Jack McDuff – But It’s Alright (Atlantic)
Wildare Express- Why Am I Treated So Bad (Brunswick)
Mohawks – Ride Your Pony (Pama)
Ross Carnegie – Cool Dad (El-Con)
James Brown – Shhhhhhhh (For a Little While ) (King)

Listen/Download – Crossing the Pond: An Hour of Transatlantic Hammond Heavies! MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, which mean that it’s Funky16Corners Radio Show time! Join me this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio for the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove – all on original vinyl! If you can’t be there at airtime you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

Frequent fliers here at Funky16Corners know that I have a Hammond organ jones, and it has been quite a while since it has evidenced itself – in mix form, anyway – here on the blog.

So, I sat down, dug through the crates and whipped together a delicious meringue of Hammond (and other) organ sides for your delectation entitled ‘Crossing the Pond: An Hour of Transatlantic Hammond Heavies!“.

The catch -as they say – is that the music in question is split right down the middle, with about half of it originating overseas. Most of the foreign stuff is from the UK, but you also get groovers from Holland, Sweden, Belgium and right over our Northern border in Canada.

There are a couple of old faves, some folks that have appeared here at the blog in single posts,and a couple of very cool records/performers that have never appeared here in any form.

You get an hour of the good stuff to keep your ears (and hopefully your feet) busy, so dig in and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, August 23, 2015 1:30 pm

The Bar-Kays

Listen/Download – The Bar-Kays – A Hard Day’s Night MP3

Greetings all.

Join me as we welcome the new week with some of that tasty, Memphis goodness.

The Bar-Kays were a group of young Memphis players that were recruited by Stax, and ended up (fatefully) backing Otis Redding on his final tour (most of them perishing in the same plane crash that took Otis).

The track I bring you today is the Bar-Kays 1968 version of the Beatles’ ‘A Hard Days Night’.

I hadn’t heard the track when I found this single, but since it was cheap, a Fabs cover, and on Volt, I couldn’t very well leave it behind.

Good thing I didn’t, because it’s an interesting reworking of the Beatles original, packed with Memphis soul flavor.

Opening with the organ, and twangy guitar, the band build upward from a hard-hitting riff that allows them to deliver the Beatles’ melody in a manner that is 100% McLemore Ave.

Interestingly enough , the single was produced by MGs drummer Al Jackson, Jr., which I initially found surprising. Then I did some digging and discovered that producing was a nice sideline for Jackson, with credits on records by Johnny Taylor, Isaac Hayes, Albert King, Mable John, the Mad Lads and others.

As far as I can tell ‘A Hard Days Night’ is a 45-only track, so if you want it, that’s how to get it.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, August 20, 2015 11:39 am

Freddy – Henchi and the Soulsetters

Listen/Download – Freddy – Henchi and the Soulsetters – Folsom Prison MP3

Listen/Download – Freddy – Henchi and the Soulsetters – Popcorn Baby MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, coming to you each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can listen live, subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 out of the archive here at the blog.

Freddy-Henchi and the Soulsetters were one of those bands – like Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers – that worked relentlessly, playing on the road and recording a string of 45s for a variety of labels (Onacrest, Tower, Bell, Reprise) for years, never really breaking through like they should have.

Formed in Phoenix, AZ in the mid 60s, they eventually moved to Los Angeles, then again to Colorado where they would continue to play, in one form or another well into the 80s.

Led by Freddie Gowdy and Marvin ‘Henchi’ Graves, the band recorded one 45 for Tower in 1969, and while it might not have made any impact on the charts at all, it is as solid as they come.

The A-side is a funk reworking of Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, and as insane as that concept sounds, Freddy-Henchi and the Soulsetters make it happen.

Opening with a false/country start, the band drops down into a heavy groove, transforming the song into a hard-hitting, minor-key work of genius. I mean, it WAS 1969, and people were doing all kinds of crazy things (musically and otherwise), and I can understand how the very idea of a funk take on a country classic might have been off-putting to some people, but this record is REALLY good.

I dig the haunting strings running underneath (they almost sound like a mellotron), and when the band breaks into a quote from ‘Hey Jude’, all bets – as they say – are off.

The flipside, the extremely heavy ‘Popcorn Baby’ owes a serious debt to Dyke and the Blazer’s hit from the previous year, ‘Funky Walk’. Built on a pounding drum beat, and some Hendrix-level wah wah guitar, the record is a killer.

The group would go on to have some local success with their cover of Major Lance’s ‘Um Um Um Um Um’ in 1970, and then to lay down the funk 45 classic ‘Funky To the Bone’ for Reprise in 1972.

I hope you dig this 45 as much as I do, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, August 18, 2015 11:33 am

Brother Jack McDuff and David Newman

Listen/Download – Brother Jack McDuff Quintet feat. David Newman – But It’s Alright MP3

Greetings all.

I thought we’d get over the hump this week with some of that Hammond organ goodness bubbling up from my crates.

Brother Jack McDuff is one of the true greats of the classic era of soul jazz Hammond (mid-50s to early 70s). He is joined on today’s selection by legendary reedman David ‘Fathead’ Newman, with whom he recorded the 1968 LP ‘Double Barrelled Soul’.

Their version of JJ Jackson’s 1966 hit ‘But It’s Alright’ is – if not a complete deconstruction – a slightly avant garde approach to a familiar soul hit, with just enough edge to catch your ear, but not so much as to leave you shaking your head.

Opening with an odd organ fillagree, the fray is soon joined by the horn section, laying down an unusual, Thelonious Monk-esque riff, over which Brother Jack solos with confidence.

When the song starts out, it might take a new listener a second or two to wrap your ears around what’s going on, but once you do, there’s a funky drive shaft that keeps things moving forward.

While I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this enters Larry Young territory, there is some of that kind of thing at work here, which makes the record work as jazz, as well as a mod jazz groover.

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

See you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, August 16, 2015 1:54 pm

Judy Mowatt

Listen/Download – Gaylettes – Son of a Preacher Man MP3

Greetings all.

Welcome to another week here at Funky16Corners as we all join together in the waning days of the summer to regret complaining about the heat one last time (before we start complaining about the cold, or at least that’s how it is for those of us here in New Jersey).

We’re going to get the week started with one of of my all-time favorite Jamaican covers of US soul, and another one of those 45s that I couldn’t believe that I already hadn’t written about.

The 45 in question is the Gaylettes 1969 version of ‘Son of a Preacher Man’.

Though Dusty Springfield had the biggest/best known hit with the song in 1968, in the next couple of years Aretha Franklin, the Carnival and even the Gaylettes made some inroads into the US charts with versions of the tune.

The Gaylettes were a Jamaican trio (recording in the UK) featuring Judy Mowatt (later a solo star and member of Bob Marley’s backing singers the I-Threes) Beryl Lawson and Merle Clemenson. The group recorded a bunch of singles in the late 60s, including one of my favorite rock steady 45s, their reworking of Brenda Lee’s ‘Here’s Comes That Feeling’.

The Gaylettes version of ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ features some very groovy organ and guitar and breaks from the laid back funk of Springfield’s hit, opting instead for a brisk, dance floor-friendly pace.

Their version was a minor hit in the Northeast (New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts) in the end of the summer of 1969, which goes a long way to explaining why the single got two US pressings, on Hourglass and Steady.

The US was getting its first real taste for reggae sounds in 1969*, with substantial hits by Jimmy Cliff (Wonderful World,Beautiful People) and Desmond Dekker and the Aces (Israelites) that year, which may have primed the pump as it were for the sound of the Gaylettes.

It is a groovy record indeed, and I hope you dig it.

Keep the faith

Larry

 
*Though both Millie Small and Prince Buster had gotten US airplay in 1964 and 1967 respectively
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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 26, 2015 12:05 pm

Grant Green

Listen/Download – Grant Green – Ain’t It Funky Now Pt1 MP3

Listen/Download – Grant Green – Ain’t It Funky Now Pt2 MP3

Greetings all.

I thought it would behoove us all to get the week started on one of those heavy (but not too heavy), funky, head-nodding grooves.

Grant Green, six-string ninja, old-school jazzer, new(er) school jazz funker was one of the true greats of the post-bop into soul jazz era and a mainstay of the Blue Note stable, as both leader and sideman.

His sounds have appeared here at Funky16Corners many times over the years, both in highlighted posts and as part of mixes.

Today’s selection is the two-part 45 version of Green’s cover of James Brown’s ‘Ain’t It Funky Now’ that appeared on his 1970 ‘Green Is Beautiful’ LP.

You already know that any Blue Note ish in this vein is going to be good, but there’s something exceptional about this track, that being the drums of the mighty Idris Muhammad.

This is not to say that Mr Green and the rest of the band aren’t in fine form (especially Claude Bartee working it out on what sounds like a Varitone sax), but that the drums are hitting hard and exceptionally funky, and doing so in an almost weirdly relaxed way.

Idris is deep in the groove, and managing to be supremely funky without doing anything flashy. The way he comes back in at around 1:00, and then drops a couple of bombs right before the guitar solo is a thing of beauty.

Emmanuel Riggins keeps things pumping along on the organ, and the percussion, by Candido (on the congas) and Richie Landrum (bongos) is spot on.

This is a very tasty 45, indeed, and I dare you to listen without starting to move.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 21, 2015 12:55 pm

Ricardo Ray

Listen/Download – Ricardo Ray – Cool Jerk MP3

Greetings all.

It was not all that long ago, whilst browsing through the crates looking for something cool to blog about, that I pulled out an old fave, ‘Let’s Get Down To the Real Nitty Gritty’ by Ricardo Ray.

Ray was one of the first line boogaloo exponents during the classic mid-to-late 60s era, waxing heat for the Alegre label on his own and in partnership with Bobby Cruz.

The 45 version of his cover of Shirley Ellis’s ‘Nitty Gritty’ (which was a regional hit in 1968) has been a staple of my playbox for close to 20 years, so when I happened upon a copy of the LP from whence it came, I had to have it.

As boogaloo LPs go, ‘Let’s Get Down to the Real Nitty Gritty’ is very solid stuff indeed. Composed almost entirely of soul and R&B cover material, and played by Ray’s extra-hot band, it packs a punch from beginning to end.

The versions of ‘Nitty Gritty’ and Don Covay’s ‘Sookie Sookie’ are especially hot, but the one I’m here to preach about today sees Ricardo heading to Detroit.

When he covered the Capitols’ ‘Cool Jerk’ the tune was only a few years old, and a significant hit. Ray and band really lay into the song, with a heavy bass line, latin percussion and some very heavy drums (please to dig the breakdown at around 1:25).

In other hands, covering the song may have seemed a fools errand (why mess with perfection?) but Ray and his orchestra really bring something new and hot to the tune.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 14, 2015 12:22 pm

Dorothy Morrison

Listen/Download – Dorothy Morrison – Ain’t That Peculiar MP3

Listen/Download – Dorothy Morrison – Higher and Higher MP3

Greetings all.

The name Dorothy Morrison ought to be familiar to longtime readers of the blog, as she has been featured here twice before, with her groovy cover of ‘Spirit In the Sky’ and her Loft classic ‘Rain’.

Morrison, who got her start in gospel, working with the California State Youth Choir and then the Edwin Hawkins Singers (that’s her on ‘Oh Happy Day’), eventually appearing in the 1969 film ‘Celebration at Big Sur’ (Dorothy Combs Morrison and the Combs Sisters, singing her first secular single ‘All Gods Children Got Soul’).

Morrison had a relatively brief career in the soul realm, running from 1969 to 1972 (with one last, rare 45 for the Brown Door label in 1975), but the records she did lay down are all excellent.

The record I bring you today is her 1972 version of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Ain’t That Peculiar’ (with a cover of Jackie Wilson’s ‘Higher and Higher’ on the flip).

Morrison had a deep, sultry voice with a remarkable amount of control, and it is displayed to great effect on ‘Ain’t That Peculiar’.

The arrangement starts out smooth, but builds up a nice head of steam, especially when the percussion and flute come in midway through.

The flipside, ‘Higher and Higher’ gets off to a very heavy start, indeed, before settling into a nice groove, which is refreshing when you consider what Rita Coolidge did to the song a few years later.

Oddly, despite the high quality of her records, Morrison was met with almost complete commercial indifference (aside from ‘Rain’ becoming something of an underground dance classic).

After her Brown Door 45 (co-produced by labelmate and fellow Oakland-ite Marvin Holmes), Morrison returned to gospel.

I hope you dig the 45, and I’ll see you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 2, 2015 11:10 am

Jackie and the Count!

Listen/Download – Jackie Wilson & Count Basie – Uptight (Everything’s Alright) MP3

Greetings all.

The 2015 Allnighter/Pledge Drive has finally finished, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who took the time to stop by and donate, and especially to the DJs who dug into their crates and provided mixes.

This is always a favorite time of year, not only because I get to dig (right along with you) all the new sounds, but because of the good folks that show their love for Funky16Corners.

So thanks again, and let’s get going on the new year!

Don’t forget the drawing for 2015 Allnighter Donors (open until the end of next week).

The good folks at Secret Stash Records have sent along some very groovy promos as incentives for you good folks to donate to the 2015 Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

We have two pairs of two 2-record sets comprised of rare and unreleased material from the legendary Chicago soul labels Mar-V-Lus and One-Derful Records!

At the end of next week I will randomly select two winners from the list of this year’s donors to receive these incredible prizes. All you need to do (unless you’ve already kicked in, in which case you’re already eligible) is click on the Paypal button and donate at least $5.00USD to be entered for a chance to win.

All the names will go into a hat and one of the little Corners will select the winners, who will be announced in this space as well as notified via e-mail.

So get to clicking!

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I thought it would be cool to close out the week with something extra groovy.

Jackie Wilson was one of the true giants of the classic soul era, and was all over the charts for more than a decade.

During his long, fruitful run at Brunswick Records, he recorded a pair of 45s backed by none other than the mighty Count Basie.

Like most other big band jazzers, the Count found himself struggling for relevance in the pop market of the ate 60s, and as a result was recording a wide variety of pop material in a number of different settings.

During 1967 and 1968, Basie and his band recorded an LP (‘Basie’s In the Bag’) and a few 45s under their own name, and another LP (‘Manufacturers of Soul’) and 2 45s alongside Wilson.

The album with Wilson was composed entirely of contemporary soul/R&B covers, including today’s selection, a version of Stevie Wonder’s 1965 hit ‘Uptight (Everything’s Alright)’.

The arrangement (by jazz vet Benny Carter) is brassy and hard-hitting, keeping the big-band-isms to a minimum and letting Jackie do his thing. There’s plenty of punch for the dance floor, and Jackie is in fine form.

This record had some minor chart action in Philadelphia, with the pairing’s take on ‘For Your Precious Love’ making it into the Top 40 in a number of markets.

It is very cool, indeed, and I hope you dig it.

Have a great weekend.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.