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By Larry, August 4, 2015 2:30 pm

Listen/Download – James Duncan and the Duncan Trio – I’ll Be Gone MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s selection comes from the ‘Songs I Learned from Mr Finewine’ file.

A couple of years back I had the honor of spinning next to the master at his long-running residency at Botanica in NYC.

As is often the case when spinning with a serious collector, I left the bar that night with a longer want list than I brought with me.

One of the newly added items on that list is the record you see before you today, ‘I’ll Be Gone’ by James Duncan and the Duncan Trio.

Duncan was a Georgia singer who recorded for a variety of labels in the 60s and early 70s, but mostly for King and Federal.

The raving soul of ‘I’ll Be Gone’ was recorded in 1964, but sounds as if it could have been waxed at any time in the previous five years.

I’ve kind of found 1964 to be an unofficial boundary line where the transition from old-school R&B to out and out soul finally set in completely, and ‘I’ll Be Gone’ is a great example of the remainders of the earlier sound.

Duncan sounds like a slightly deeper-voiced Little Richard, backed by group harmonies, walking bass and some well-placed organ.

It’s a wild, dance-floor-packing side.

Duncan went on to make some funkier sides in the late 60s, one of which will surely make it into this space in the future.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 9, 2015 11:55 am

Donny Hathaway

Listen/Download – Donny Hathaway – The Ghetto MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week os upon us, and so I will remind you once again that Friday nights at 9PM is Funky16Corners Radio Show time. You can listen on Viva Radio, or you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

What better way to wind your way into a sultry summer weekend than with a superior groove from the mighty Donny Hathaway.

Donny Hathaway, was for a long time, more of a name than a sound for me, i.e. I knew who he was, and I saw all the artists that namechecked him as an influence and a giant of soul, but all I ever really knew were is duets with Roberta Flack.

Then, right around the time I started digging into Richard Evans and the Soulful Strings, I started to notice Hathaway’s name in the credits of those albums (his ‘Valdez In the Country’ having become a favorite of mine), as songwriter and keyboardist, and with my curiosity piqued, I started picking up his albums where I could.

Donny Hathaway was the first black singer/songwriter that I “got”, eventually filing him with Bill Withers, and later on guys like Lou Bond. He was a prodigiously talented vocalist, songwriter and performer who – after his tragic death in 1979 – left us with a painfully brief discography.

His first solo album was 1970’s ‘Everything Is Everything’, which mixed his covers of tunes by Ray Charles, Nina Simone and Errol Garner, with his own originals (some in collaboration with Leroy Hutson). The sound of the album mixes straight ahead soul, gospel, and soul jazz (there’s definitely a Les McCann vibe), and Hathaway is joined by many of his Chess/Cadet sessioners like Phil Upchurch and Morris Jennings, as well as heavies like King Curtis (which whom Hathaway had recorded).

‘The Ghetto’, which sits in the middle of side two, is a slow, groovy number led by Hathaway’s voice and electric piano, with drums and Latin percussion keeping things moving. The vocals are (for the first half of the record) little more than a repeated chant of the title, with Donny coming in a little more in the second part.

An edit of the track grazed the R&B Top 20 in the beginning of 1970 (though it wasn’t his first hit, having been preceded by his 1969 duet with June Conquest (as June & Donnie) ‘I Thank You Baby’ which had almost made it into the R&B Top 40.

While it may not be the deepest thing he ever laid down, it’s a very nice groove indeed, and one that I’m sure will have you nodding your head.

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

______________________________________________

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 on Monday, as well as notified via e-mail.

So get to clicking!

___________________________________________________

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, July 7, 2015 10:40 am

Little Bob and that mighty 45!

Listen/Download – Little Bob and the Lollipops – I Got Loaded MP3

Greetings all.

I had something else in the on-deck circle for today, but then this morning, what should pop up in my feed by word that Camille ‘Little’ Bob had passed away at the age of 78.

The record he made in 1965 with his band the Lollipops, ‘I Got Loaded’ is one of the all-time great party platters, and one of my personal favorites.

I originally wrote it up a decade ago in the early days of the Funky16Corners blog, so I thought that I’d repost that article, and the song again in tribute to the man.

So dig it.

– Larry

_________________________________________________________________

Originally posted 7/25/05

“I like to sing in the car.

There…I said it. Some people sing in the shower. I sing in the car.

When I’m driving to or from work (usually the only time I’m alone in the car), and a great song comes on, I’ll start singing at the top of my lungs, drumming on the steering wheel and generally making a fool of myself.

I can’t vouch for how this looks from other cars, but I’d guess it falls somewhere between amusing and disturbing (I guess depending on how you process the image of a great big guy covered in tattoos who looks like he’s yelling at no one in particular…).

Not every song will send me into such a state. One song that does (every time) is ‘I Got Loaded’ by L’il Bob and the Lollipops.

In the service of complete disclosure, I should mention that prior to a few years ago, I had no idea that ‘I Got Loaded’ wasn’t a Los Lobos song (the version I first became familiar with was when they covered it back in 1984). ‘I Got Loaded’ appeared on their LP ‘How Will the Wolf Survive’ and got a fair amount of college radio play at the time. I always liked their recording of the tune, but as I said, had no idea it wasn’t an original.

So a few years ago, my buddy Keith sent me a CD called ‘New Orleans Party Classics’, a Rhino comp of old school Mardi Gras hits including cuts by the Hawketts, Al Johnson, Oliver Morgan and others. I popped the disc into the CD player and about halfway through my ears perked up. “HEYYY!”, I thought, “I know this song!”. The tune in question was ‘I Got Loaded’, but the artist was new to me. I popped open the booklet and there was all I needed to know (at least for the moment), about L’il Bob and the Lollipops.

I was surprised a second time when I checked the writing credits for the song and discovered that “L’il Bob” was also known as Camille Bob, a name I knew from the very funky 1972 cut ‘Brother Brown’ (Bob recorded funk 45s for the Soul Unlimited and Master Trak labels). It wasn’t too long before I tracked down a copy of the original 45 on the La Louisianne label (a label that still exists to this day).

Camille Bob formed the Lollipops in the mid-50’s, recording for the Goldband (see Count Rockin’ Sidney), Jin and LaLouisianne labels.

By the mid-60’s (“I Got Loaded” came out in 1965) they were performing live every Saturday on the Lafayette, LA TV station KLFY’s “Saturday Hop”. They were equally adept at swamp pop, R&B and soul, and ‘I Got Loaded’ while still a Louisiana fave, is also popular with the Beach Music crowd. They recorded an LP for La Louisianne, a second LP for Jin a few years later and are still playing today (based out of Houston, TX).

“I Got Loaded’ opens with a great guitar riff and is followed quickly by L’il Bob’s high tenor vocals and the horn section. They lyrics are as straight-forward as you’d imagine with a title like ‘I Got Loaded’. Unlike many similar tunes, this not a cautionary tale but rather an endorsement of the intoxicating pleasures of gin, whiskey and wine (variety of course, being the spice of life…).

‘I Got Loaded’ has a swinging, dance friendly tempo and is a perfect mix of swamp pop, R&B and soul (all of which the Lollipops played with equal relish).

In addition to the Los Lobos version, ‘I Got Loaded’ has been covered by Robert Cray, Van Broussard, the Boogie Kings and Elvis Costello, as well as appearing on the soundtrack to ‘Bull Durham’ (I have also seen a number of references that suggest that that L’il Bob and the Lollipops are covering Texas bluesman Peppermint Harris’s tune of the same name, but having heard his recording I can say that aside from the same title the songs have virtually nothing in common).

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

______________________________________________

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!

___________________________________________________

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, June 23, 2015 10:46 am

DJ BLuewater – Over and Over

Dermot Lynch – Cool It
The Three Tops – It’s Raining
Lloyd & Glen – Keep On Pushing
Whistling Willie – Soul Tonic
The Ethiopians – Losing You
The Tonettes – What You Gonna Do About It
The Techniques – Where Were You
Pat Kelly – Trouble In Mind
The Freedom Singers – Real Gone Loser
Johnny Osbourne – Go Find Yourself A Fool
Alton Ellis – Personality
John Holt – Have You Ever Been In Heaven
The Sensations – War Boat
Johnny Osbourne – Warrior
The Hippy Boys – National Dish
Johnny Organ – Something Tender
Boris Gardner – Don Juan
Sound Dimension – Psycho Reggae
Dennis Alcapone – The Sky’s The Limit
Fabulous Five – Come Back And Stay
Dave Barker – Green Grows The Lilacs
The Heptones – Cry Baby Cry
Glen Adams – She’s So Fine
John Holt – Let’s Dance
Zoot Simms – All Rudies In Jail

Listen/Download DJ Bluewater – Over and Over

Greetings all!

Today’s set comes to you from another Asbury Park 45 Sessions head, the mighty DJ Bluewater.

Bluewater has some of the deepest Jamaican crates around, and always whips up a stellar mix of reggae and rocksteady sounds for the Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

This time out is no expection, with over an hour of fine, vintage island sounds.

So dig it, make your donation via the Paypal button and stay tuned for more sounds.

Tomorrow: DJ RP of Funkdefy!

Everyone that donates will get the 2015 premiums, including the new badge and a bumper sticker!

See you on Monday.

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, June 2, 2015 1:16 pm

Kim Fowley – “That’s a lovely housecoat you’re wearing Mrs Cleaver!”

Listen/Download – Larry Green and the Rhythmaires – Watch Your Step

Greetings all.

The record I bring you today is an almost complete mystery, aside from the involvement of a certain Mr Kim Fowley.

The smoking version of Bobby Parker’s epic (and influential) 1961 ‘Watch Your Step’ first popped up on my radar via a friend’s sales list.

Its selling point (according to the list) was the fact that it had been arranged by none other than legendary rock’n’roll reprobate/Zelig Kim Fowley.

Fowley had a long and illustrious history as a facilitator, writer, producer, arranger and performer so varied that Norton Records assembled no less than four volumes of the stuff.

Though I haven’t been able to track down any information on Larry Green and the Rhythmaires, it would appear that the 45 you see before you was recorded and released in 1962.

While it lacks the incendiary guitar slinging of Bobby Parker’s original, it more than makes up for it with a certain drunken, wild joie de vive, opening with bass drum and bass guitar (the record starts off like an old car being push started into gear down a steep hill), and then dominated by electric piano and Larry’s wailing vocals.

Though there was a Larry Green in the R&B group the Edsels, I have no idea if it’s the maniac (and I mean that in the best way possible) singing on this record.

It’s a killer, and I hope you dig it.

See you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 3, 2015 9:53 am

Little Eva

Greetings all.

Today’s post is a testament to keeping your ears wide open, and once again, a reminder to flip those 45s over.

A few years back I had the great pleasure of spinning alongside the mighty Mr. Finewine, and during his set, my ears perked up at a particular 45.

I inquired as to the artist, and was shocked to discover that what I was hearing was the flipside of a very well known and relatively common 45, that being ‘The Locomotion’ by Little Eva.

The flipside in question, and today’s selection was a song called ‘He Is The Boy’.

‘He Is the Boy’, co-written by Gerry Goffin and Dee Ervin (then a labelmate and occasional duet partner of Little Eva), is an odd mixture of seemingly humorous lyrics and a dark, haunting sound.

It sits on that oft-noted cusp of R&B and soul, and has enough pep in its step for the dance floor.

The vocal by Little Eva is great, and there’s an odd piano solo (maybe Dee?), that sounds like Thelonious Monk dropped by for the session.

It really is a unique side, and really ought to be better known, considering the lasting popularity of it’s a-side.

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, April 5, 2015 9:40 am

Marie Knight

Listen/Download – Marie Knight – Cry Me a River

Greetings all.

Welcome to another swinging week here at the Corners.

I have to send out thanks for today’s selection to my friend Mike Schaefer who turned me on to this record a while back.

Though I had a record of hers (a duet with Rex Garvin) I had no idea who Marie Knight was until I heard her epic 1965 version of the old standard ‘Cry Me a River’.

Knight who started out as a gospel singer, touring with Sister Rosetta Tharpe among others, she moved into secular R&B and soul by the end of the 1950s (on the aforementioned ‘Marie and Rex’ 45 ‘I Can’t Sit Down’ which edged into the Pop Top 100).

When Mike posted ‘Cry Me a River’ I was blown away by Knight’s huge, powerful voice, and set out to find myself a copy of the record right away.

What I soon discovered was that Knight also recorded the original version of one of my favorite Manfred Mann records, ‘Come Tomorrow’ for Okeh in 1961. That record – which took a lot longer and a lot more money to bag – will be featured sometime soon.

‘Cry Me a River’, which has been recorded countless times by all kinds of singers, was high on my list of tunes I never really needed to hear again…until I heard Marie Knight sing it.

The arrangement – by Bert Keyes – takes the song at a slow, but powerfully delivered pace, with lots of space for Knight to tear into the lyric.

It majes sense that this record was a Top 40 hit in 1965, because I can’t imagine it making the same impact a year later. It has the kind of sound that just about out the door by mid-decade.

What makes it unique, aside from Knight’s vocal, is the small touches, like the lead guitar that snakes in and out of the arrangement, and the chorus of backup singers that sounds like an actual church choir.

It is a uniquely powerful recording, and a big fave of mine.

I hope you dig it, too.

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, February 22, 2015 12:03 pm

Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well.

One of my favorite sidelines (and they are legion) is finding later records by artists that I had relegated to an earlier time. That these are discoveries to me is due in part to the fact that the later records are usually obscure, but also because of the ‘blind spot’ of R&B success.

This ‘blind spot’ as it is manifests itself with R&B/soul artists that had some degree of crossover success, and then seemingly faded from the limelight. What in fact happened many times, is that while they may have lost favor with pop audiences, many of these artists continued to place records on the R&B charts and black radio.

Other times, they didn’t even have that luxury, and were merely making a stab at a new/more contemporary audience.

Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry is best known for his 1956 hit ‘Ain’t Got No Home’, and ‘But I Do’ from 1961. He was a singer/pianist and a New Orleans fixture, and while he may have left the charts after 1961, he continued to record through the 1960s and 1970s.

The record I bring you today is a very groovy 1965 cover of a song that Hank Ballard had recorded with the Midnighters in 1956.

‘Tore Up Over You’ takes the Midnighter’s original and bumps up the tempo, tossing in some combo organ that sounds like it was borrowed from a Sir Douglas Quintet session. The bass and guitar push things along with an excellent vocal by Clarence and some female backing singers.

I know I say this a lot, but this really is one of those records that should have been a hit. It’s got plenty of kick to it, fits in very nicely with the 1965 musical zeitgeist and I wouldn’t hesitate to drop it for a room full of dancers. As far as I can tell, it did absolutely nothing when it was released, relegating it to the ‘to be rediscovered’ file, from whence I bring it to you.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, February 17, 2015 1:54 pm

Leon Haywood

Greetings all.

Today’s selection is an early side by a guy that I find very interesting, indeed.

Most casual soul fans will be aware of Leon Haywood via his biggest early hit, the sweet soul of ‘It’s Got To Be Mellow’, and R&B Top 20 hit in the summer of 1967.

However, do a little digging, and a little b-side flipping, and before you know it you’ve discovered that Mr Haywood had something of a double life going on.

In addition to be an excellent singer, Leon Haywood knew his way around a keyboard (mainly organ).

His very first 45 was a blazing organ instro version of Percy Mayfield’s ‘A River’s Invitation’, and many of his early 45s sport instrumental b-sides.

Haywood was also the organist of record (as it were) on the Packers 1965 ‘Hole In the Wall’, one of those soul records that had an influence far beyond it’s chart success would suggest. Keep your eyes peeled in this space for a mix I’ve been working on involving various and sundry Packers/Hole In the Wall variations, rip-offs and homages, or which there were many (and many of which featured Mr Haywood).

That said, his early sides for the Fat Fish label feature Haywood on vocals, organ and piano, which is where we come to today’s selection, ‘Skate A While’. Released in 1966, ‘Skate a While’ is the 45-only vocal take of the the LP track ‘The Fat Fish’, which – unsurprisingly – falls quite neatly in line with the ‘Hole In the Wall’ stylistic continuum, if you will. You get Leon laying down an excellent,soulful vocal over a tight band, led by his piano, the only bummer being that the whole thing clocks in at just 1:52!

It’s a great bit of classic-era soul party, and I hope you dig it as much as I do.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, February 10, 2015 1:02 pm

Cash McCall

Greetings all.

I hope the middle of the week finds you well.

One of the most important aspects of record research, or at least in assembling enough information to connect the musical dots (as it were) – is reading the label.

This certainly sounds like obvious advice, but there’s reading, and then there’s READING (confused yet??).

What I’m trying to say is that a cursory glance at most 45 labels will give up obvious clues, i.e. label name/logo, address, artist etc, all important. That said, sometimes you have to drill down another level or two, and if you really want to understand a scene, you need to familiarize yourself with the songwriters, producers, arrangers and even publishers, under both their given names, and any pseudonyms they might use, the last item being especially important in the often shambolic world of 60s R&B, soul and funk.

These were not only the days of shady label owners glomming onto artists publishing, but also performers working in and out of contract, doing their best to make as much money as possible, sometimes moonlighting where they ought not, assigning copyright to names other than their own (see Allen Toussaint aka Naomi Neville) or maybe tossing a little something something to a radio cat to get their record on the air.

Having been collecting Chicago soul for many years, I started to see certain names repeated on 45s by various artists on all kinds of labels. Two of the names I saw a lot, were those of Milton Bland (aka Monk Higgins) and today’s artist, Maurice Dollison (aka Cash McCall).

Those names (together, apart, real and/or alias) appear on countless Chitown 45s as writers, producers, arrangers and performers.

Maurice Dollison emigrated to Chicago from Missouri and spent some time playing alongside Otis Clay.

Today’s selection, ‘Earth Worm Pt1’ was his debut 45 (recorded under his real name) in 1963, co-written with none other than Monk Higgins.

‘Earth Worm Pt1&2’ is a gritty, mid-tempo slice of Chicago dance party R&B, with some nice guitar bubbling underneath (and soloing as as well), and cool percussion. It’s not hard to imagine a gym full of kids getting down to a number like this.

Dollison/McCall went on to record a string of soul 45s through the 60s, eventually moving almost entirely into a blues sound.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, February 8, 2015 1:16 pm

Mickey Lee Lane

Greetings all.

I thought we’d get the week started with something unusual.

If you are a mod soul fan, you may already be hip to Mickey Lee Lane’s epic 1965 single ‘Hey Sah-Lo-Ney’, covered the following year in the UK by the Action on the flipside of their cover of the Marvelettes ‘I’ll Keep Holding On’. It was via 1980s reissued of the Action that most of us found our way to Mickey Lee Lane in the first place.

That said, maybe ten years ago someone (I wish I could remember who) told me that there had been an instrumental version of ‘Hey Sah-Lo-Ney’ issued in the late 60s, and that it had some level of popularity on the UK soul scene.

I eventually found out that the record in question had been issued as ‘Tracks To Your Mind’ by the ‘Sounds of Lane’ in 1968 on the Cobblestone label.

As you’ll hear whne you pull down the ones and zeros, ‘Tracks To Your Mind’ is not a straight instrumental dub of ‘Hey Sah-Lo-Ney’, but rather is augmented by echoed guitar and tack piano. The effect is vaguely psychedelic, but as the track’s popularity on dance floors will attest, the propulsive kick of the original is intact.

The record’s release history is strange, including two released on Cobblestone, one a double-a-sided promo, then an appearance on the b-side of a pop 45 by a singer named George McCannon (the copy I have), then at least two bootleg pressings from the 1970s (and another in the 00’s).

The 45 can be quite expensive (though if you wait long enough – like I did – you can find yourself a bargain).

Mickey Lee Lane went on to work as a recording engineer, and passed away in 2011.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll 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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, January 21, 2015 11:09 am

NOTE: As a result of my hospital stay and lots of lost blogging time, I’m going to dip back into the archives for some groovy things to hold you over until I get back up to full speed.

This blue-eyed Southern soul burner became an instant favorite of mine when I first heard it.

So dig it, and Keep the Faith
Larry

Listen/Download The Chitlins – Sugar Woman

Greetings all

Welcome to the middle of another groovy week.

The track I bring you today is both a fairly recent discovery for me and a major fave.

It is also something of a mystery.

A few months back I was perusing a new (to me) record site on the intertubes, and a glimpse of the Pala records label caught my eye.

One half of the York-Pala construct, it was run by two cats named Charlie Greene and Brian Stone. These operators are best known as music managers who came to prominence in mid-60s LA working with acts like Sonny and Cher, the Buffalo Springfield, the Poor and a cat you may have heard of named Dr John.

I had always seen the York/Pala credit on many records, but it was only in the last few years that I actually found a record on either label.

I have two 45s by The Poor (LA-based folk rock) but the Chitlins ‘Sugar Woman’ was the first Pala disc I’d ever encountered.

The label appears to have been very short-lived, with only one other release (by Larry Marks).

The Chitlins appear to have gotten their start – and spent much of their existence – as a white show band called the Soul Brothers, in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

The first time I heard ‘Sugar Woman’, what grabbed me was the New Orleans guitar (sounds like George Davis to me).

As it turns out the band did in fact record their sole 45 in New Orleans for Stanley Chaisson’s Chase Records imprint.

I have not been able to confirm whether or not there was actually a Chitlins 45 released on Chase, or if it was a production deal that was licensed to Pala.

My suspicion – without any hard evidence, mind you – is that Green and Stone happened upon the Chitlins via one of the many New Orleans connections in their orbit. Harold Battiste was Sonny and Cher’s musical director, and both Mac ‘Dr John’ Rebennack and Alvin Robinson were both working on the West Coast during this period.

That said, ‘Sugar Woman’ is a positively scorching bit of garagey soul with fantastic lyrics like

Let her know she’s a real Jim Dandy, feed her candy!

And

Let her know she’s a ring-dang-doo sir, don’t lose her!

The guitar, bass and drums are in a deep, deep groove, and the horns and backing vocalists are spot on.

I don’t know who the lead vocalist is but he’s killing it!

Via some cross-referencing (and following a few hunches) I’m led to believe that the band included guys named Chris Miller, Sam Roe, Pete Killingsworth, Sonny Tanner, having had some crossover with a group called the New Grooves.

As I mentioned earlier, I hear the distinct guitar stylings of George Davis, but the entire record has such a New Orleans feel to it, I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that this was the Soul Brothers/Chitlins singer fronting an entire studio full of NOLA pros.

In another interesting twist, the song is credited to country songwriter/producer Billy Sherrill, but I can’t find any instance of anyone else having recorded the tune.

The flip side, ‘The Next Time You See Me’ is an upbeat, bluesy shuffle.

“Sugar Woman’ was a local Top 40 hit in New Orleans in the Spring of 1967.

It is a truly remarkable tune, and one that I wish I’d had in my crates a long time ago.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.