Comments (1)

By Larry, January 31, 2013 1:17 pm

Roger and the Gypsies – Pass the Hatchet Pt1 (Seven B)
Professor Longhair – Big Chief Pt2 (Watch)
Bobby Marchan – Shake Your Tambourine (Cameo/Parkway)
Diamond Joe – Gossip Gossip (Sansu)
Eddie Bo – Hook and Sling Pt1 (Scram)
Lee Dorsey – Four Corners Pt1 (Amy)
Dixie Cups – Two Way Poc A Way (ABC)
Earl King – Street Parade (Kansu)
Meters – Cardova (Josie)
David Batiste and the Gladiators – Funky Soul Pt2 (Instant)
Bobby Williams – Boogaloo Mardi Gras Pt2 (Capitol)
Curly Moore – Sophisticated Cissy (Instant)
Ernie K Doe – Here Come the Girls (Janus)
Larry Darnell – Son of a Son of a Slave (Instant)
Explosions – Hip Drop Pt1 (Gold Cup)
Rubaiyats – Omar Khayyam (Sansu)
Warren Lee – Funky Belly (Wand)
Willie Tee – Sweet Thing (Gatur)
Danny White – Natural Soul Brother (SSS Intl)
Lee Dorsey – Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further (Polydor)
Oliver Morgan – Roll Call (Seven B)
Eddie Bo – Can You Handle It (Bo Sound)

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents Boogaloo Mardi Gras! – 85MB Mixed Mp3/192K

Greetings all.

I hope you all are well.

I should start by reminding you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will air (as it does every week) 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 or grab yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

The mix you see before you is something I put together last year to commemorate Mardi Gras, and in a rare show of foresight on my part I got it up and ready to go on time this year.

It is packed with old faves including some stellar Mardi Gras-specific numbers with which you can second line to your heart’s content.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back with some more groovy stuff on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, November 29, 2012 3:20 pm

Rex Garvin (ctr) and the Mighty Cravers

Listen/Download Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers – Soul Food

Greetings all

We’ve all made it to the end of another week, so raise your glass and dig (the music, that is).

You simply must join me this (and every) Friday night at 9PM for the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio. If you can’t hit us up at airtime, you can always pick up the show by subscribing as a podcast in iTunes, or by picking up an MP3 download in the Radio Show Archive here at the blog.

The tune I bring you to close out the week is an early one from the catalog of one of my all-time favorite soul groups, Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers.

Mr Garvin and his fellow cats were in fact responsible for one of my soulful Top 5, that being ‘I Gotta Go Now (Up On The Floor)’, one of the mightiest of all soul 45s, and a record guaranteed to get me shaking like a tomato aspic.

Today’s selection hails from nineteen and sixty three, when Rex was waxing heaters for the Keynote label.

While it is not the relentless head-banger that ‘I Gotta Go Now’ is, it is still quite groovy, mainly because it is a fine addition to the long list of “soul food” records.

That is in fact entitled ‘Soul Food’ only shortens the distance between two point, that being the space between the internet and your hungry ears.

While Rex engages in a somewhat reckless rhyme scheme – matching up ‘potato salad’ and ‘drive me mad’ –  the buffet he lays out is a tasty one indeed.

You can file this one on the big bridge between R&B and pure soul (leaning in the later direction), and I assure you that were you to drop this for a room full of well lubricated dancers your efforts would be rewarded with flights of terpsichorean madness.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (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, 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, August 28, 2012 2:49 pm

Titus Turner and Aretha Franklin

Listen/Download Titus Turner – Soulville

Listen/Download Aretha Franklin – Soulville

Greetings all

Take a trip with me, will you, to the mighty metropolis of Soulville.

We will circumvent the downtown area (apologies to Chuck Edwards) and take in the city from a wider perspective.

Soulville, existing solely as a state of mind is of course only as real as your brain and your dancing feet) can make it, and it doesn’t get any realer than going back to the OG (plus one, natch).

The song ‘Soulville’ has been a fave of mine since back in the garage/soul days when the Secret Service used to blast it from stage of the Dive.

It was a little while before I got hip to the version by Aretha, and then even longer before I found my way to Dinah Washington and the ur document by Titus Turner.

I included the version by Miss Washington in Funky16Corners Radio v.45, back in 2008, where I pegged hers as the OG.

The song is credited to Titus Turner, Henry Glover, Morris Levy and Dinah, and if I had to bet some scratch on it, I’d bet that Titus and Henry are the only two that had anything serious to do with the creation of the song.

The last version that actually found its way into my hands was that by Titus Turner, and it is a killer.

I had seen some listings that placed Turner’s 45 before Dinah Washington’s, but the fact that her name appears in the credits of his record suggest to me that she was first out of the gate.

That said, Turner’s ‘Soulville’ is a revelation.

Where Washington and Franklin take the tune at progressively more rapid tempos, Titus lays back, with the bass and the sax stamping out a big, fat groove.

Turner is one of those guys that is better remembered as a songwriter than a performer, but his records are excellent. His baritone might run a little slow and thick sometimes, but he had a way with a tune.

When Aretha Franklin lit into ‘Soulville’ for Columbia in 1964, she had no interest in taking any prisoners.

She takes the tune to church (dig that opening) and the band is hot.

The side was produced by Robert Mersey who was a Columbia staff producer in a wide variety of pop genres (including stuff by Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis), which I mention only to point out the unexpected nature of the heavy drum sound on this record.

Franklin’s version is the most exciting rendering of the tune – by a mile – and a highlight of the soulful end of her pre-Atlantic years.

I hope you dig both versions of the tune (why on earth not??).

See you later.

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, August 12, 2012 11:32 am

Carl Davis

Clockwise from top left: Major Lance, Walter Jackson, Jackie Wilson, Billy Butler
Below: The Artistics

Listen/Download Billy Butler – Right Track
Listen/Download Billy Butler – I’ll Bet You
Listen/Download Major Lance – Too Hot To Hold
Listen/Download Walter Jackson – Funny (Not Much)
Listen/Download Jackie Wilson – I Get the Sweetest Feeling
Listen/Download The Artistics – What Happened

Greetings all and welcome to another week here at the intersection of all things soulful.

It was near the end of last week that I heard that the great producer Carl Davis had passed away.

If you’re a fan and/or collector of classic Chicago soul, his is a name that looms large (and appears constantly at the bottom of 45 labels).

Davis was one of the first black A&R men and one of the most important producers involved in soul music during the 60s.

He produced countless classic sessions for the Okeh and Brunswick labels, both crucibles for the development of the Chicago “sound”.

While I would not classify myself as an expert on Chicago soul, I am without any shadow of a doubt a huge fan and devotee thereof.

Many of my favorite soul 45s came out of the Windy City, and Carl Davis was the producer on many of those.

Davis worked with a wide variety of performers, solo artists and groups, and his style was marked by the ability tomake records that were simultaneously lush and economical.

Few had Davis’s ability create records so full of life and dynamic range yet utterly uncluttered.

He could layer rhythm sections, horns, strings and vocals and still manage to have the various elements inhabit their own distinct spaces.

His productions were bright, exciting and sometimes even explosive.

Though Davis produced some of the biggest hit records to come out of Chicago, I’d like to feature a couple of lesser known killers as well.

Davis worked extensively with Major Lance and produced ‘Um Um Um Um Um’, but my fave Davis/Lance collab is ‘Too Hot To Hold’, which made it into the outer reaches of the R&B Top 40 in 1965. Check out the way the smoothness of the female backing vocals almost (but not quite) clash with the over-the-top-ness of the male voices, especially the ‘Hey! Hey! Hey!’s.

Billy Butler has always been the connoiseur’s choice when it comes to Chitown soul singers. While never as successful as his older brother Jerry, he did manage to place four sides into the R&B Top 40 between 1965 and 1971.

‘Right Track’, from 1966 is rightly regarded as a soul anthem. It features a unstoppable arrangement that builds gradually, never overwhelming Butler’s vocals.

A year later, Butler would record one of the best versions of the oft covered George Clinton/Sidney Barnes/Theresa Lindsey classic ‘I’ll Bet You’. Whereas later versions (Funkadelic, Jackson 5) take the song at a slow, almost sinister tempo, Butler’s version moves along at a brisk pace, which made it a favorite on Northern Soul dance floors. The production is wonderful, but the recording of the drums especially is remarkable. Limited largely to the closed hi-hat and the snare (with occasional handclaps and congas) , Davis kept the drums high  in the mix, allowing them to drive the record without smothering the rest of the band.

It remains one of my favorite sides on Brunswick.

Davis also did a lot of work with balladeer Walter Jackson. Though he’s not as well remembered as many of his contemporaries, Jackson chocked up a significant number of R&B hits between 1964 and his untimely death in 1983.

I first heard ‘Funny (Not Much)’ some years ago on a comp, and promptly fell in love with it. I’m not surprised that the record – from 1966 – didn’t chart. The jazzy, supper club arrangement sounds about 10 years past its prime, but is undeniably beautiful. The arrangement is lush with strings, yet Davis lets the piano, guitar and vibes pop up into the mix just enough to lend the record an air of intimacy. Jackson’s voice is remarkable, yet just flawed enough to be interesting.

The best known record featured today is a longtime favorite, Jackie Wilson’s ‘I Get the Sweetest Feeling’. Grazing the R&B Top 10 (as well as the Pop Top 40) in the summer of 1968, ‘I Get the Sweetest Feeling’ is the biggest hit of the Davis productions on this list.

‘I Get the Sweetest Feeling’ is two minutes and forty three seconds of absolute perfection. One of those soul records that is soulful yet almost pure pop, lush yet also danceable, and featuring one of Jackie Wilson’s finest vocals. ‘I Get the Sweetest Feeling’ is also an example of a perfectly produced side.

Davis brings in the vocals, strings, drums, backing vocals and horns, maintaining the perfect amount of space between them all, allowing Wilson’s voice to ride effortlessly atop the whole thing. The record is bright and open, without ever going over the top, restrained without ever making you think your missing something.

Like all of the finest records, the ultimate intersection of art and craft.

The final record I bring you is in many ways the most experimental, progressive 45 on this list.

The Artistics were around on the fringes of the Chicago scene, working as backing vocalists on Okeh sessions for Davis, eventually recording a handful of singles for the label.

They moved on to Brunswick in 1966 and hit the charts a few times over the next five years.

‘What Happened’ was released in 1967, and as I said when I first wrote about the record back in 2009, it is one of the finest examples of baroque, almost psychedelic touches working their way onto the soul palette. Davis (who produced with Eugene Record) brings in fuzz guitar, string quartet, organ and piano to lay down a foundation for the Artistics build their mighty harmonies on.

It never fails to amaze me that a record this good failed to chart.

Carl Davis went on to form the Dakar and Chi Sound labels, eventually working with – and making hits for – almost every major Chicago-based artist.

He was a master and he will be missed.

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, August 5, 2012 2:53 pm

A later iteration of Tim Whitsett and the Imperial Showband:
Carson Whittsett, Bucky Barret, Jimmy Hodo, Tim Whitsett and Tommy Tate.

Listen/Download Tim Whitsett and the Imperials – Monkey Man

Greetings all, and welcome to another fine week here in the hothouse.

The record I bring you today fell into my ears quite providentially, via the sales list of an old friend who also happens to be one of the premiere mod DJs here on the East Coast.

I gave the link a click, and as soon as I heard the sounds attached therein, I sent out an urgent missive and made it the latest addition to my crates, organ 45 subdivision.

Now, when I picked up ‘Monkey Man’ by Tim Whitsett and the Imperials, my initial thoughts were something along the lines of “here’s another groovy, yet painfully obscure disc, and my seemingly endless thirst for information will never be satisfied.

Little did I know… (“dot dot dot” said aloud for full effect).

So, I set to Googling and was immediately shocked to discover that Tim Whitsett was not merely some talented footnote who stumbled into a recording studio but once and then  back out again into a thick cloud of obscurity.

Fact is, Tim Whitsett and his band the Imperials (later known as the Imperial Show Band) criss-crossed the American south through the 1960s, eventually adding singer Tommy Tate as vocalist and sometime drummer (see pic above).

They recorded the very groovy ‘Monkey Man’ in 1962 (no doubt inspired by my baby pictures…) for Johnny Vincent’s Ace label.

The tune is yet another in a long line of excellent ‘Watermelon Man’-ish discs sailing all through the ether back in the day. The Imperials manage to add their own flavor to the mix with the horns (that’d be Tim) and organ (Tim’s brother Carson) and some wicked chicken-scratch guitar.

The stories of Whitsett and his band are long and very interesting, and instead of retyping the facts, I’ll just send you to their Wiki’s via the links (Tim, the band) so that you can dip into both. Suffice to say, both stories, especially Whitsett’s are very interesting.

While doing so, let ‘Monkey Man’ roll around in your head on repeat play. You’ll thank me later.

See you 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 (8)

By Larry, June 17, 2012 4:24 pm

Greetings all.

Welcome to the third annual Funky16Corners Pledge Drive/Allnighter!

Though we’ve been doing the Pledge Drive thing since2006, the Allnighter concept first rolled out in 2010, with several hours of mixes by some of the finest selectors I know.

This year we have most of the usual suspects, including several Asbury Park 45 Sessions alumni, as well as my man Tony C from the UK and Tarik Thornton.

The sounds run the gamut of classic soul, funk, reggae, rock steady, old school Hammond 45s and all connective points in between.

If you read the blog on the reg you already know that the past year has been an exceptionally challenging one here.
It wouldn’t be reaching to state that keeping Funky16Corners (and Iron Leg) up and running had a lot to do with maintaining my sanity over the last eight months.

There’s something to be said for keeping a small island of creative stability afloat during a crisis, and that’s what the blog has been.

Much of that has – as always – come from the interchange with the readers, listeners, fellow vinyl travelers, and DJs. Your contributions, whether informational, conversational, sometimes monetary or sometimes all of the above, have kept Funky16Corners rolling along.

This November will mark the 8th anniversary of the blog (something akin to 800 internet years!) and creating and running the blog has become a big part of my life. Through it I’ve learned a great deal, met many incredibly cool people and gotten to DJ in many, many cool places.

The Pledge Drive aspect of this yearly event is an important one.

Funky16Corners – all of the text, graphics and sound files – resides on paid server space, a bill that comes due around this time every year. Your donations help pay for that.

Blogging has always been an ephemeral pursuit, partly because not everyone has the interest in keeping one going for very long, but also because it rarely rises above the level of a casual pursuit for most people. They start a blog, post most files temporarily and depart as soon as their interest wanes.

Funky16Corners may very well have gone the way of most blogs (I don’t know the actual percentage of music blogs that last more than a year, but anecdotally I’d guess that it’s below 10%) but after getting it rolling (with a slightly different format) in 2004, and changing platforms twice (finally ending up with the self-hosting WordPress model) I think we have at long last settled into lasting form.

The basic format of how I communicate with the audience through the blog has always remained fairly constant, with a pictures and labels (what the vinyl nerds of the world know as record porn) and some written context to tie it all together.

Along the way, the Funky16Corners Radio Podcast mixes worked their way into the flow, then the actual Funky16Corners Radio Show (Friday nights at 9PM on Viva Radio and then archived here) and then in 2010 the Funky16Corners Soul Club/Allnighters so I could present mixes by other selectors.

What we have now, in the middle of 2012 is –including this year’s Allnighter mixes – close to 150 mixes and another 110 episodes of the radio show on-line for your (and my) listening pleasure.

And my friends, pleasure is what it’s all about; the pleasure that great music, some rare, some not so rare, can bring to those willing to open their ears.

That’s why I do it, and as always, I hope you dig it.

If you do, and you can afford to, please click on the Paypal link and drop a few coins in the basket.

There’ll be stickers for everyone that donates.

So, I’ll offer you my thanks once again, and hopefully we’ll all be together again this time next year for more of the same.

Keep the Faith
Larry

________________________________________________________________________________

CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

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Funky16Corners Presents: Tear It Up
Billy Wade and the 3rd Degrees – Tear It UP Pt1 (ABC)
Alvin Cash and the Scott Bros Orchestra – Keep On Dancing Pt2 (Toddlin’ Town)
Jerry-O – Funky Four Corners (White Whale)
Gunga Din – Snake Pit (Valise)
Lou Donaldson – Say It Loud (Blue Note)
James Young and the Housewreckers – Barking Up the Wrong Tree (Jet Stream)
Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers – Raw Funky (Tower)
Syl Johnson – Annie Got Hot Pants Power Pt2 (Twinight)
African Echoes – Big Time (Phil LA of Soul)
Bill Cosby – I Luv Myself Better Than I Luv Myself (Capitol)
Bobby Byrd – Keep On Doin’ What You’re Doin’ (Brownstone)
Lonnie Youngblood – African Twist Pt1 (Loma)
Little Sonny – Sonny’s Bag (Revilot)
Jimmy ‘Mr Motion’ Lynch – There Was a Time Pt1 (La Val)
Juggy – Buttered Popcorn (Sue)
Creative Funk – Funk Power (Creative Funk)
Freddy King – Funky (Cotillion)
Billy Wade and the 3rd Degrees – Tear It Up Pt2 (ABC)

Listen/Download Funky16Corners – Tear It Up!
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DJ Bluewater – Merritones
The Zodiacs Walk On By
The Ethiopians Miss Nora
Merritone Singers House Upon The Hill
The Renegades Mr. Hops
Don Henry As Long As I Live
Joe Higgs You Hurt My Soul
The Untouchables I Do Love You
The Renegades Big And Fine
Henry Buckley If I Am Right
The Untouchables Mackie Mackie
The Dynamites If You Did Love Me
Roland Alphonso Sounds Of Silence
Lyn Taitt and The Jets Why Am I Treated So Bad
Roland Alphonso Stranger For Durango
Henry Buckley Thank You Girl
The Tartans It’s Not Right
Eddie Perkins I’m Coming Home
Hopeton Lewis Everybody Rocking
Tomorrow’s Children Bang Bang Rock Steady
The Tartans Rolling Rolling

Listen/Download DJ Bluewater – The Merritone Hour
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DJ Prestige – Hotter Fire

Big Youth – Hotter Fire/Negusa Negast Records
Tapper Zukie – Woman Ah No Me Trouble/ Mobiliser
Success All Stars – Doctor Satan Echo Chamber/ Striker Lee
Augustus Pablo – Fat Girl/ Echo Records
Winston Groovy – Dancing Shoes/ Pioneer International
Barrington Levy – Time Hard/ Puff Records
Gregory Isaacs – Night Nurse/ African Museum (Disco 45)
Marcia Griffiths – Feel Like Jumping/ High Note
Joy White – Tribulation/ Joe Gibbs International
Dennis Brown – Jah Can Do It/ Joe Gibbs International
Jackie Mittoo – Revolting Rockers/ Third World Records
Rockers All Stars – Fire Dub/ Rockers International

Listen/Download DJ Prestige – Hotter Fire
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Tony C – 45 Heaven
Queen City Soul Band-True Patron Of The Arts-Pow
Freddie Scott-I’ll Be Gone-Shout
Betty Everett-Too Hot To Hold-Veejay
Fred Hughes-I Keep Tryin’-Ex
Little Flint-Pain-Beast
Larry Williams-Boss Lovin’-Smash
Garnett Mimms-Prove It To Me-U.A
Gene Chandler-Mr Bigshot-Constellation
Otis Williams-Aint Gonna Walk Your Dog No More-Okeh
Wilson Pickett-Baby Call On Me-Double L
Moss Tolbert-Money In My Pocket-Veejay
Jimmy Ricks-Daddy Rollin’ Stone-Atco
Georgie Fame-Green Onions-Columbia
Solomon Burke-Peepin’-Atlantic
JJ Barnes-Wont You Let Me Know-Rich
Pearl Woods-Right Now-Charge
Jackie Wilson/Linda Hopkins-Say I do-Brunswick
Big Boy Myles-She’s So Fine-V.Tone
B.B.King-Heartbreaker-Bluesway
Peppermint Harris-Wait Until It Happens To You-Jewel
James Duncan-Too Hot To Hold-King
Anna King-Mamas Got A Bag Of Her Own-End
Little Oscar-Two Foot Drag-Toddlin Town
Seven Souls-Groove In-Venture
Patriza&Jimmy-Trust Your Child-ALA
Smokey Brooks-Spin Jig It-Now
Rodger Collins-Foxy Girls In Oakland-Galaxy
Al Reed-94/44/100 Pure Love-Axe
Roland Alphonso-Hip Hug Her-JJ
Eddie Holland-Gotta Have Your Love-Motown
Little Willie John-You’re Welcome To Try-V.R.C
Grady Tate-All Around The World-Skye

Listen/Download Tony C – 45 Heaven

A word from Tony: This is my third year of supplying a mix for the pledge drive and as always it is an honour and a pleasure to be asked by Larry to particiipate.Especially with the great line up of DJ’s sharing their quality tunes.”45 Heaven” is a collection of 45s ,with the exception of one LP track that I have aquired over the last year or so.I have tried to include a bit of everything that I enjoy listening to. Hope you do too.

Cheers TonyC.
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Tarik Thornton – Getting the Corners
1.Sweet Delights- Baby Be Mine – ATCO
2.Jay Rhythm- Soul Emotion- Leo
3.T.S.U. Tornados- The Goose- Atlantic
4.Syl Johnson- I Feel The Urge – Twinight
5.Dell Ingrid – Try It You’ll Like It- Ultra-Class
6.Johnnie Mae Matthews – Momma Didn’t Lie- Big Hit
7.Maurice Mckinnies and the Fabulous Champions – Sock – A – Poo Poo Pt.2 – Black & Proud
8.Count Rockin Sidney – Do You Stuff – Gold Band
9. Ernest Thomas – Soul Time- International
10.Boogie Kings- Do Em All- Pic 1
11.Bobby Rush- Let All Hang Out- Salem
12.Dennis Lee- Do The Funky Penguin- Jenmark
13.O.D. Williams – Funky Belly- Bar Bare
14.Isaac Clark- Do The Dog Funk- Miro
15.Willie Tee- Funky Funky Twist- Gatur
16.George Holmes- Panama- Carol
17.Hamilton Movement – Having A Set- Look- Out
18.Louis Villery- Black Water Gold- Soul Power
19.Jesse Green – Flip- Red Bus Tempo
20.Donald Byrd- Change- Blue Note
21 Young & Holt Unlimited – Black & White- Cotillion

Listen/Download Tarik Thornton – Getting the Corners
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DJ Prime Mundo – Prime Cuts
gene harris/the three sounds – hey girl (blue note)
melvin sparks – if you want my love (westbound)
johnnie taylor – love in the streets (stax)
jackie edwards – oh manio (direction)
rhetta hughes – sooky (tetragrammaton)
john gibbs & the unlimited sound of steel orchestra – shaft (makossa)
gabor szabo – gypsy ’66 (impulse)
jon lucien – would you believe in me (rca)
osibisa – kotoku (warner bros)
the festivals – checkin’ out (blue rock/mercury)
shall we dance – somebody’s baby (hoctor)
freddy king – funky (cotillion)
giorgio – lord releaseme (dunhill)
delegation – oh honey (state)

Listen/Download DJ Prime Mundo – Prime Cuts
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M-Fasis: ROUND TRIP TICKET: excursions into funk, soul, rock and back’…
1)Paul Revere- Beastie Boys ‘MCA R.I.P. (Def Jam)
2)Down in Black Bottom- Cannonball Adderley Quintet (Capitol)
3)Scuze Uz Y’all- Brenda & The Tabulations (Top and Bottom)
4)Mean Black Snake- J.W. Alexander (Thursh)
5)L.C. Funk- Lee Williams (Rapda)
6)Midnight Flower- The Four Tops (Dunhill)
7)Sweetback- Viola Wills (Supreme)
8)Ready or Not- Delfonics (Bell)
9)Mississippi Foxhole- Midnight Movers (Buddah)
10)You’re the Fool- Three Degrees (Roulette)
11)It’s Amazing- Johnny Taylor (Stax)
12)The Stretch- Detroit Sex Machines (Soul Track)
13)Synthetic Substitution- Melvin Bliss (Sunburst)
14)Too Hot To Hold- Tina Turner (Pompeii)
15)I’m Unconscious- Sugarcane Harris (Epic)
16)Down to the Nightclub- Tower of Power (Warner)
17)Wish you’d Never Been Born- Jodo (Decca)
18)Hard Times- Zoo (Riviera)
19)You Made Me a Believer- Ruby Andrews (Zodiac)
20)What Time It Is- General Crook (Down to Earth)
21)Light My Fire- Rhetta Hughes (Tetragrammaton)
22)El Paso County Jail- The Happenings (Jubilee)
23)And Then There Was…- Cozy Powell (RAK)
24)Utica Club Natural Carbonation Band- Natural Carbonation (RCA)
25)Vitamin C- Can (UA)
26)Keep Him- Barbara Mason (Artic)
27)You Can’t Blame Me- Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum… (Capsoul)
28)Fire and Rain- Ice (Cindri)
29)Un Sueno- Los Terricolas (Discolando)
30)Piu Nessuno Al Campo- Gli Uh! (Kansas)
31)All This- Barbara Jean English (Alithia)

Listen/Download M-Fasis – Round Trip Ticket
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Funky16Corners Presents: Greasy Spoon
The Poets – Devil’s Den Pt1 (Try Me)
Freddie Roach – Next Time You See Me (Blue Note)
David Rockingham Trio – Bee Dee (Josie)
Bill Doggett – Afternoon Jump (King)
Freddy Robinson and Tall Paul Hankins – The Buzzard (Queen)
Gene Ludwig – Mr Fink Pt2 (La Vere)
Delegates – Pigmy Pt1 (Pacific Jazz)
Johnny Hammond Smith – The Stinger (Prestige)
Hank Marr – The Greasy Spoon (Federal)
Russell Evans and the Nite Hawks – The Bold (Atco)
Timmy Thomas – Liquid Mood (Goldwax)
Charlie Nesbit Organ Trio – Triple-O-Soul (Salvador)
Groove Holmes – Groove’s Groove (Prestige)
Baby Face Willette – Roll’em Pete (Argo)
Beverly Pitts – Just Some Soul (Soul Shot)
Butch Cornell Trio – Here ‘Tis Now (Ru-Jac)
James Brown – Shades of Brown (King)
Jimmy McGriff – MG Blues (Sue)
Larry Young Jr Quartette – Groove Street Pt1 (Prestige)
Merl Saunders – I Pity the Fool (Galaxy)
Shirley Scott – Sister Sadie Pt1 (Prestige)
Tall Paul Hankins – My Boo-Ga-Loo (Pop Up)

Listen/Download Funky16Corners – The Greasy Spoon – Hammond organ 45s from the old school
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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, June 14, 2012 11:50 am

Lonnie Mack

Listen/Download Lonnie Mack – Too Much Trouble

Greetings all.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He’s still playing today.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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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).

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 (6)

By Larry, May 29, 2012 2:12 pm

Send Me Some Cornbread!

Listen/Download Russell Evans and the Nite Hawks – Send Me Some Cornbread

Greetings all.

The middle of the week is upon us and since it’s sunny and hot outside I thought I’d toss something greasy on the grill.

I first heard ‘Send Me Some Cornbread’ a while back when one of my many DJ friends posted a Youtube clip online.

It was another one of those “where has this record been and where can I get me one” things and though it took me a couple of months to put my mitts on a copy that was both playable and cheap, I finally did, so here it is.

There’s just this one thing…that being, no matter how hard I try, I cannot unearth a speck of info on this record, other than when it was released.

Interestingly, the sole 45 by Russell Evans and the Nite Hawks was released both in the US (the Atco copy you see here) and in the UK on Atlantic in the summer of 1966.

‘Send Me Some Cornbread’ is a soulful good time, with some fantastic gut bucket guitar, organ and a slightly wild chorus chanting the word ‘cornbread’ over and over again (much to my delight, I might add).

The flip, ‘The Bold’ is a tasty organ instro that will soon appear in an upcoming mix.

There are plenty of listing on the interwebs for this record, but little else to explain how someone capable of making such a groovy record could fade so deeply into the void.

I can’t find any trace of this record in Atlantic Records sessionographies,which suggests to me that it was picked up whole and issued by Atlantic/Atco from another source, but that’s just an educated guess.

The lyrics mention New York City, but that could signify nothing at all. If anyone has any info on Mr Evans and/or his Nite Hawks, please let me know.

That all said, ‘Send Me Some Cornbread’ is the kind of record that I absolutely live for, and I only wish there were more.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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).

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, May 27, 2012 4:05 pm

Bobby Womack

Listen/Download Bobby Womack – Simple Man

Listen/Download Bobby Womack – Across 110th Street

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well.

If you are a longtime follower of the Funky16Corners blog, you’ll already know that this time of year usually brings our Pledge Drive, complete with a grip of new mixes.

If you know that, you’re also probably familiar with the difficulties here at the Funky16Corners compound.

This has been an especially trying year, with all kinds of challenges related to my wife’s treatment, as well as all the logistical issues that come with it.

I’m here to tell you that things are on track, and summer is nigh, so the Funky16Corners Pledge Drive will be happening (if a bit later than usual)  this year.

The mix requests have been sent out (some positive replies have already arrived) and I have a very groovy premium in the works, so stay tuned over the next few weeks for updates in that regard.

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The last few months have seen funk and soul fans on the edge of their seats waiting for news about the health of the mighty Bobby Womack.

The 68 year old singer/songwriter had been diagnosed with what was thought to be colon cancer.

This week he was operated on and the tumor they removed proved to be benign.

We have been best by a seemingly endless string of deaths of soul, funk and disco greats in the past year, and the idea that Bobby Womack might be next was indeed chilling.

This all made me think that instead of another in memorium, it would be nice to celebrate Mr Womack while he was still with us.

The two cuts I bring you today are both exceptionally cool.

The first, ‘Simple Man’ is one of my favorite cuts from his 1972 album ‘Understanding’, which also yielded his Number One R&B hit ‘Woman’s Gotta Have It’.

‘Simple Man’ is a great slice of funky soul with some fuzzed out guitar, pulsing bass, rolling electric piano (with just a touch of synthesizer) and a very nice vocal by Bobby. If you can get your hands on the album, do so since it is packed with great music.

The second cut – please forgive the scratchy nature of the 45 – is the title cut from the 1973 crime drama ‘Across 110th St’.

Credited to Bobby Womack and Peace, the song, which made it into the R&B Top 20 in 1973 transcends the generally accepted ‘blaxploitation’ sound. It has a funky underpinning and some judiciously applied string flourishes. The album (I don’t have a copy of the whole soundtrack…yet) is split between songs written and performed by Womack and instrumental tracks written by famed jazz trombonist JJ Johnson (both men are credited with this song).

I hope you dig the music, and keep Bobby Womack in your thoughts that he makes a complete recovery.

Keep the faith

Larry

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).

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (9)

By Larry, May 13, 2012 2:44 pm

The Mighty Duck

The Law Firm of Jones, Dunn, Cropper and Jackson Esqs

Listen/Download Booker T and the MGs – Sing a Simple Song

Listen/Download Booker T and the MGs – Chicken Pox

Listen/Download Booker T and the MGs – Melting Pot

Greetings all.

I had other plans to start the week (how many times have I typed those words in the last year?) but when I woke up this morning and turned on my phone, the very first thing I saw, while I was still rubbing the sleep from my eyes was news of the passing of the mighty Duck Dunn.

Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn, the longtime bassist for the legendary Booker T and the MGs died in his sleep while on tour in Japan.

He was 70 years old.

It is at this point that I make a somewhat embarrassing confession (at least as far as soul is considered) that being that the first time Duck Dunn really came onto my radar was as a member of the Blues Brothers.

I was 16 years old when ‘Briefcase Full of Blues’ came out, and like zillions of others my age (and otherwise) I bought the album.

Though I knew who Booker T and the MGs were – ‘Green Onions’ was then, and still is an elemental part of my musical foundation – I had never heard the names of Dunn and guitarist Steve Cropper before the Blues Brothers came onto the scene.

That album was the first place my fragile young mind touched base with the sounds (once removed) of Junior Wells, King Floyd, the Chips and a few others. As odd as it may seem, that first Blues Brothers album (I never bought another) was a serious jumping off point for me (as many other unlikely records would also be in the following decades).

What I didn’t know at the time, was that I was already deeply in love with the sound of Booker T and the MGs, via their role as Otis Redding’s band on the Monterey Pop recording.

I didn’t start buying soul 45s until I was in my mid-20s, but when I did I grabbed each and every Stax 45 that popped up in front of me, whether at record shows or at dusty flea markets (there twarn’t no interwebs back then, kids…), and many of them were either by Booker T and the MGs, or featured some or all of them as the backing band.

The decades that followed saw me – like any other self respecting soul fan – picking up Booker T albums wherever I found them.

While their oeuvre was, like every other instrumental band of the era, seasoned liberally with filler, they had more high points (and quite a few Everests) in their catalog than just about any other similar outfit.

The MGs were as tight as they came, with Dunn and uber-drummer Al Jackson creating as deep a pocket as has ever been heard.

The selection of songs I bring you today is by no means comprehensive, but I think you’ll find it quite groovy nonetheless.

There will be no Green Onions served, since Dunn wasn’t yet a member of the group* when it was recorded.

I have included a very tight Sly and the Family Stone cover, and two brilliant tracks from the last album the band did together.

Their cover of Sly’s ‘Sing a Simple Song’ comes from their 1969 LP ‘The Booker T Set’ and opens with a bit of a drum break from Jackson, soaked thoroughly in reverb, before the band kicks in. It sees the heavy kick of Jackson’s bass drum move into a more explicitly funky place, and while it never really moves into Sly-esque overdrive, it is tasty indeed.

‘Chicken Pox’ the first track from the group’s 1971 LP “Melting Pot’ (the last by the classic line-up) is the sound of the Meters breathing down the MG’s collective neck. The band is moving into a funkier place, and doing so with style, but the spectre of their Crescent City competition always seems to be there. Oh, how I wish this one was on a 45…

The last cut I bring you today is the title cut from ‘Melting Pot’, and by far one of the most interesting things they ever did.

Lasting in excess of eight minutes, ‘Melting Pot’ is important not only because it shows signs of the MGs stretching out into more progressive directions, but also because it became one of David Mancuso’s deeply influential Loft parties in New York City.

I’ll spare you an excess of words here, but if you have any interest in digging a little deeper, you can refer back to the piece I wrote on the record in early 2010.

Suffice to say, if all you ever knew was ‘Green Onions’, ‘Melting Pot’ will be a revelation.

Duck Dunn was – in addition to his better known gigs – a prolific session musician, both during and after the Stax era.

He was a legend, and he will be missed.

See you later in the week.

Keep the faith

Larry

*Though Dunn was a longtime part of the Stax/Memphis crew, being a boyhood friend of cats like Cropper and Packy Axton (Dunn was in the Mar-Keys) he didn’t join the MGs until he replaced Lewis Steinberg in 1965

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).

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.