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By Larry, December 19, 2013 12:09 pm

Charles Brown

Listen/Download Charles Brown – Merry Christmas Baby (1970)

NOTE:  Don’t forget to tune into this year’s Funky16Corners Radio Show Christmas special. It airs on Friday night 12/2o at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you are out making merry at that hour, you can catch up by subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes.

Enjoy!

Greetings all

As mentioned in our previous post, of Ike and Tina Turner KILLING ‘Merry Christmas Baby’, the original version was recorded by Charles Brown with Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers in 1947.

The tune became a holiday standard, and was covered by many people (including Ike and Tina, Chuck Berry, Otis Redding, Booker T and the MGs, Kenny Burrell and Bruce Springsteen).

Brown himself returned to the well frequently over the years, recording the song anew many times.

The version I bring you today is something I dug up this past summer on a record safari to the Finger Lakes region of New York.

When I saw it, I was unaware of Brown’s many rerecordings, and assumed it to simply be a later pressing of the tune.

When I finally got home and gave it a spin, it was immediately clear – via the wah-wah guitar – that what I was hearing was a recording of a much later vintage.

A little bit of research revealed that Brown had redone the tune for Jewel records (along with a new version of ‘Please Come Home For Christmas’) in 1970.

Though I haven’t been able to track down any session info (I really wish I knew who the guitarist was) I think it’s a safe assumption that it is Brown himself tickling the ivories.

His voice – in the words of Slim Gaillard, “mellow like a cello” – one of the finest/smoothest that ever was, was still in fine shape (and would remain so for many years) and the vibe is relaxed.

What amazes me about this song in particular is how flexible it is.

You can line up the versions that have appeared in this space – or on the Funky16Corners Radio Show – by Ike and Tina, Otis Redding and the Soulful Strings – next to Brown’s, and marvel at how different the song (a fairly simple blues) manages to sound in each interpretation.

I love to hear Charles Brown’s voice (right up there with Lou Rawls for pure listening pleasure) and he clearly dug this song.
I hope you do too.

See you next week with some more holiday soul!

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, December 1, 2013 12:49 pm

Who’da thunk?

Listen/Download Lonnie Mack – Chicken’ Pickin’

Greetings all

I hope the new week finds you well, rested and ready to have your lid flipped.

Though many of us like to refer to ourselves as “collectors’ of records, there are few among us who do not occasionally lapse into the status of “accumulator”.

It was in such a phase that I came into possession of a metal box (maybe purpose-made for records, but just as likely a holder of rusty screws, fish hooks or whatever…) full of 45s.

These records were – for the most part – unsleeved, but when someone hands you a box of records, you just take it.

I mean, even if the records aren’t any good, you can always use the box, right?

Anyhoo, I made a cursory perusal of the discs, pulled a few out that looked interesting, but they were so hashed that I put them aside and forgot all about them.

Recently,whilst moving several piles of stuff to get to another, smaller pile, I happened upon these records, and with a few extra minutes available, decided to give them a spin.

Though a couple of them were all static and skips, there were indeed a few keepers in the stack, one of which just about got up off the turntable and kicked me in the ass.

That record – Lonnie Mack’s ‘Chicken’ Pickin’’ (extraneous apostrophe following ‘chicken’ and all) – was nothing short of a revelation.

I have come to my understanding of Lonnie Mack slowly, having been put off by his presence on hundreds of old timey instrumental lists/comps. I always (incorrectly, natch…) assumed that he was little more than ‘Wham’ and ‘Memphis’, which, truth be told, wasn’t little at all, but more on that later.

What I discovered was that in addition to his prodigious talents as a plucker of strings, Lonnie Mack was also something of a blue-eyed soul man and in the end a much more complex and satisfying artist that I would have imagined.

So, moving back to the record as hand, while the topside of the disc, ‘Honky Tonk ‘65’ was a groovy but fairly unremarkable retread of the Bill Doggett classic (and a minor hit), the flip told another story entirely.

‘Chicken’ Pickin’’ is the kind of record that in a just world would have inspired a cult of some kind.

It is, without exaggeration, just over two minutes of balls out, guitar driven savagery with a big fat bottom, and enough wailing organ to send a thousand go go girls into outer space.

Taken as a whole, the record is as badass a slab of wax as has ever scorched a dance floor.

The guitar playing taken alone illustrates why Lonnie Mack was held in such high esteem by the embryonic axe slingers of the 1960s and beyond.*

He is on fire from the git-go, sounding like Albert Collins got belted by gamma rays and turned into some kind of string-bending Hulk.

The sound is that perfect intersection of rock, R&B, and soul and is positively explosive.

‘Chicken’ Pickin’’ is the kind of record, that were it rare, would be worth a shitstack (assload, truckpile, stinkheap..) of money, but since it ain’t, you can have a copy for yourself for less than five bucks, and if you know what’s good for you you’ll grab the nearest sawbuck and set out in search of a copy right now.

Take that and stuff it in your record player.

See you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

*For a very specific example, see the Stevie Ray Vaughan (who covered Mack’s ‘Wham’ on his first LP) song ‘Scuttle Buttin’, heavily influenced by ‘Chicken’ Pickin’

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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, November 2, 2013 4:09 pm

Bobby Parker

Listen/Download Bobby Parker – Watch Your Step

Greetings all

This is a previously unscheduled post, prompted when word came down the line that the mighty Bobby Parker, creator of the 45 you see before – only one of the greatest ever – had slipped the surly bonds of earth and passed on to his great reward at the age of 76.

I first posted ‘Watch Your Step’ no less than eight years ago (!?!) when Funky16Corners was in its early days.

I couldn’t let the man’s passing go without re-posting this remarkable 45.

I’ll see you on Monday.

Larry

Originally Posted 9/19/05

>>I hope you’ve had your coffee….

Because this record is a floor filling, foot stomping, ass kicking, brain melting slice of blues power from which the faint of heart will not soon recover….

No, really… it’s that good.

This is one of those records that I’d read about for years (having been a major Beatles fan as a kid), but never got to hear until a few years ago (I only scored the 45 in the last month).

Did you download the track yet?

Go ahead…I’ll wait…

There. Now listen to that opening riff – ring any bells???

Hmmmm…. How about ‘I Feel Fine’ and ‘Day Tripper’ by the Beatles (or dare I say ‘Moby Dick’ by Led Zeppelin)??? This is the “UR” riff, from whence those songs sprung (after being reprocessed by John Lennon and Jimmy Page respectively).

I have to tell you. When I was 12 years old I used to play ‘I Feel Fine’ two or three times a day (It’s still one of my fave Beatle tunes), mainly because of the guitar riff, and to be honest, Bobby Parker’s original carries the Beatles version out into the alley and kicks the crap out of it.

Back in 1961, when Parker first unleashed this beast on the world, it didn’t make much of a dent in the charts*. That didn’t stop it from becoming a favorite of those in the know, spawning covers by The John Barry Seven, Spencer Davis Group, Billy Harner, Adam Faith, Tony Jackson, Manfred Mann, The Undertakers and The Walker Brothers (on their Japanese live LP)**, and making a lasting impression on the Beatles, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and Carlos Santana who reportedly decided to play the guitar after seeing Parker play.

That said, it would be unfair to end the story there, because no matter how many people stole the riff, no matter how many people cite Parker as a seminal influence (and he’s still playing today), to focus solely on the peripheral aspects of ‘Watch Your Step’ is to dance around the fact that it is an absolutely shit-hot record that in a just world would have been a huge hit.

Bobby Parker was born in Louisiana and raised in California (where he worked with Don & Dewey and Johnny Otis among others). He spent the 50’s touring with the likes of Bo Diddley, Jackie Wilson, and Paul ‘Hucklebuck’ Williams , and recorded his first record ‘Blues Get Off My Shoulder’ for VeeJay in 1958 (this is the record that Robert Plant has cited as the reason he started singing).

He relocated to Washington, DC in 1961, where he would build a rep playing local clubs. He waxed ‘Watch Your Step’ for Philadelphia’s V-Tone label (associated with the Len label) in 1961 (it was actually released twice in the UK, on London in 1961 and Sue in 1964).

The record opens with a fanfare (as any disc this mighty should), which is followed (after a short dramatic pause) by Parker’s smoking guitar, and the rolling, Latin-flavored drums (another part of ‘Watch Your Step’ that would end up in ‘I Feel Fine’).

Parker’s vocal – sounding like Ray Charles and Bobby Bland had a rocking baby – wails powerfully through the verses, being chased by the horn section. The tempo builds through the song as Parker is joined by backing vocals and a hot little sax solo. Parker has been described as a cross between Buddy Guy and James Brown, and it’s not hard to imagine him working up a sweat on stage with this one.

Parker would record sporadically through the 60’s, waxing a 45 (‘I Won’t Believe It Till I See It’ as Little Bobby Parker) for the ultra-rare DC soul label Shrine, where the Cautions would record a version of ‘Watch Your Step’.

He also toured in the UK where he would record for the Blue Horizon label in 1968 (the same label that released the earliest Fleetwood Mac albums).

Though he toured relentlessly (and was a major hit in DC area blues clubs), he wouldn’t record again until the early 90’s for the Blacktop label.

Keep an eye peeled for a PBS special called ‘John Lennon’s Jukebox’ which features a recent interview with Parker as part of a fascinating look into what Lennon was listening to during the Beatles peak years.

Keep the faith

Larry

*I was stunned to discover that ‘Watch Your Step’ did not hit the national R&B charts at all, hitting the pop charts regionally, almost exclusively on the west coast

*’Watch Your Step’ was also covered in the 70’s by Dr. Feelgood, in the 80’s by Santana, and in the 90’s by the Kaisers

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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, October 24, 2013 9:18 am

Funky16Corners Presents:It’s Gonna Be Good!

Johnny Jones and the King Casuals – It’s Gonna Be Good (Brunswick)
Albert Collins – Cookin’ Catfish (20th Century Fox)
Chuck Berry – Club Nitty Gritty (Mercury)
Atlantics – Beaver Shot (Rampart)
Little Richard – Soul Train (Brunswick)
Bobby Hollaway – Corn Bread, Hog Maws and Chitterlins (Smash)
The Turtles – Buzz Saw (White Whale)
The Vibrations – Soul a Go Go (Okeh)
Benny Scott – Soul Beat (Brunswick)
Junior and the Classics – Mix Up a Go Go (Magic Touch)
Jon Lee Group – Pork Chops (Sparton)
Ricky Allen – Cut You a Loose (AGE)
El Dorados – The New Breed (Port)
Danny White – Cracked Up Over You (Decca)
Louis Chachere – A Soulful Bag (Forte)
Timmy Thomas – Have Some Boogaloo (Goldwax)
Toussaint McCall – Shimmy (Ronn)
Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers – I Gotta Go Now (Up On the Floor) (Like)

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents: It’s Gonna Be Good – 75MB Mixed MP3/256K

Greetings all.

I hope all is well on your side of the universe, and that you’re all ready for the weekend.

Don’t forget that the Funky16Corners Radio Show hits 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 subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 (or two, or 100) out of the archive here at the blog.

A while back my man DJ Trick over in St. Petersburg, RU asked if I would be amenable to doing an interview and whipping up a mix that they could post in their ‘Grooves’ project*.

As someone who is always down with the cause of spreading the sounds of soul and funk all over the globe, I agreed and set to work.

As you will hear as soon as you pull the trigger on this one, I was in a particularly raucous mood that day, packing just about 40 minutes worth of sonic nitroglycerin into mix form and setting the fuse.

What you get here, is some of my favorite, high-octane soul shouters, organ burners, hardcore R&B and dance party starters, stitched together so that the assembled multitudes might cut themselves a slice of rug (and maybe spill a little beer, too).

If you haven’t sussed it out over the long haul, this is a pretty good approximation of the kind of set I’d throw down were I spinning in a live setting.

That said, this is perfect weekend stuff, so get your download on, and have yourself a party, Artie.

Have a great weekend, and i’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

PS They’re posting the interview over there, but it’s in Russian…
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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, October 8, 2013 1:22 pm

Listen/Download Al Brisco Clark – Soul Food Pt1

Listen/Download Al Brisco Clark – Soul Food Pt2

Greetings all

Here’s a little riddle for you…

Q: When is a James Brown record not a James Brown record?

A: Probably when the Godfather is trying to hide from lawyers and/or accountants.

The record you see before you today is one of (many of) those.

I had heard of Al Brisco Clark’s ‘Soul Food’ long before I actually heard it, mainly because I am always on the lookout for “soul food”-related discs.

I finally grabbed a copy earlier this year, and after a little bit of emergency skip-removal surgery, in which me and my tone arm worked a little magic, I recorded it and bring it to you this fine day.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed the old ‘James Brown Production’ logo on the label.

This led to some info-digging, after which I discovered that Al, who was a baritone saxophonist in James’s early-to-mid 60s band (and is probably the “vocalist” on the record) was merely a figurehead, and that the organist on the track, the one who sounds like he’s playing with his elbows, is none other than James himself.

The “James Brown Productions” logo dates from Brown’s Smash years (Fontana was, like Smash a Mercury subsidiary), when he was betwixt and between with the King organization, and mainly releasing instrumental recordings (see Funky16Corners Radio v.17 James Brown – SMASHing Time).

‘Soul Food Pts 1&2’ is, like many “soul food” records, a recitation of delectables on top of an instrumental groove.

Here you get candied yams (always a fave), black eyed peas (the edible kind…) and mashed potatoes, among others.

Released in 1964, even the writing credit – ‘Ted Wright’ – is another James Brown pseudonym.

All in all, a groovy little biscuit, worthy of your sonic dinner (turn)table.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, October 6, 2013 11:12 am

Miss Barbara Lynn

Listen/Download Barbara Lynn – You’ll Lose a Good Thing

Greetings all

Welcome to a new week here at the Corners.

A few weeks ago, I was watching one of those PBS clip-a-thons, and what should pop up on the screen, but film of Barbara Lynn performing on the 1960s, Nashville-based TV show, The Beat!!!

I had seen the clip before (I have a couple of the DVD collections that Bear Family released from the show), but my wife, who was sitting with me, had not.

She asked who we were watching, and I gave her the short version of the Barbara Lynn story.

She marveled at Lynn’s unique status as a singer/guitarist, and I said that although I had always kind of kept that thought on the back burner, it never really occurred to me how unusual it really was.

For those of you that don’t know, Barbara Lynn (born Barbara Lynn Ozen in 1942 in Beaumont, TX) hit the scene in 1962 with the record you see before you today.

‘You’ll Lose a Good Thing’ was an R&B #1 hit (Top 10 Pop) in June of 1962. While it was her only significant Pop hit, she managed to place a number of records in the R&B Top 100 (and a couple in the Top 40) between 1963 and 1971 for labels like Jamie, Tribe and Atlantic.

Lynn’s style was a mixture of R&B, soul and the blues, all delivered in her rich, soulful voice.

She also wrote much of her own material.

‘You’ll Lose a Good Thing’, one of the great, late night, slow dancers was recorded in New Orleans, with none other than Mac Rebennack on the keys.

As I mentioned earlier, though this was Lynn’s biggest hit, she went on to record a bunch of great stuff through the 60s and early 70s, including the sought after and oft covered 1966 classic ‘I’m a Good Woman’, and she’s still playing today.

I hope you dig the sounds, 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 (2)

By Larry, October 3, 2013 11:02 am

Roy Head

Listen/Download Roy Head – Don’t Cry No More

Greetings all

The end of the week is finally upon us, and so that means that it’s Funky16Corners Radio Show time again. You can dial in this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio to lend your ears to the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. If you can’t be there at the time of broadcast, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grab yourself and MP3 here at the blog.

I thought it would be nice to close out the week with something upbeat and groovy.

Most of you will already be familiar with Roy Head and the Traits ‘Treat Her Right’, whether via the original hit (#2 R&B and Pop in 1965) or in any of the countless cover versions. That particular song is one of the finest, grooviest pieces of classic-era blue eyed soul ever committed to wax, and I’m here to tell you that it was far from a fluke.

Head who hailed from the burgh of San Marcos, Texas was recording with his group the Traits as early as the late 50s, laying down rockabilly, R&B and soul.

Though he only hit the national charts with the Traits that one time, the group had a number of regional hits, and Head himself popped back up in the Country charts in the 1970s.

The tune I bring you today is a very nice slice of R&B rave up, in which Roy and the boys re-channel the sound of the mighty Bobby Blue Bland, who first laid this number down in Nineteen and Sixty One.

‘Don’t Cry No More’ is a fast moving, horn-driven number with a great vocal by Head.

Extra credit goes out to whoever was laying down the superb guitar lines on this one.

The only downer is that the song fades out too soon, with Roy and the Traits sounding like they could have gone for another couple of rounds.

If you get the chance (and you haven’t seen them already) check out some of the vintage videos of Roy Head performances on Youtube. He was quite the mover in his day.

As always, I hope you dig the sounds, 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 1, 2013 11:11 am

Hank Jacobs

Listen/Download The TKO’s – Can You Dig It

Greetings all

Here we stand, astride the week, Monday in the rear view mirror, Friday but a dream, but then, what’s the matter with Wednesday that can’t be fixed with some groovy music?

Some of you – particularly the organ hounds amongst you – will already be familiar with the sounds of the TKOs.

The group, which included, sometimes with top billing, piano/organ wrangler Hank Jacobs, recorded a grip of 45s for the Ten Star and Call Me labels in the mid-60s.

Both labels were sunsidiaries of Money Records (Don Julian and the Larks, Bettye Swan) operating out of Los Angeles.

The label got its start in the 1950s, went temporarily dormant in 1957 and then opened its doors for business once again in 1964.

Though I can’t give you a line-up for the TKOs – who had a Top 20 R&B hit with ‘The Fat Man’ in 1966 – it would seem that Hank Jacobs, who did a fair amount of studio work for Money/Ten Star was a constant.

Jacobs, who is known to Northern Soul fans for ‘Elijah Rockin’ With Soul’ was as adept on the piano as he was on the organ, often working both on his records.

Jacobs – who gets featured billing on the flipside ‘The Charge’ – works the piano in an R&B groove, anchoring ‘Can You Dig It’ even when the guitarist starts to take off into garage punk territory.

If you get the chance, pick up some of Hank Jacobs recordings for the Sue label, like ‘Monkey Hips and Rice’ and ‘So Far Away’, which are all excellent.

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, August 22, 2013 4:10 pm

The Rivingtons Listen/Download The Rivingtons – Deep Water

The end of the week is at hand, and so is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which rolls into your ears this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t dig at the time of air, you can keep up with the sounds by subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grab an MP3 from the archive here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is one of those surprising b-sides that we all love so much (at least I do). I had been on the lookout for a copy of the Rivingtons 1962 epic ‘Papa Oom Mow Mow’ (the ur document that wrought the Trashmen’s ‘Surfin’ Bird’) for a while, and was quite pleased when I finally filed a copy, my sons and I ‘Papa Oom Mow Mow’-ing all  over the house for at least a week.

So, anyway…I set to digimatizing and flip the platter over to check out the b-side, and get knocked right on my ass, and not in the way I expected. The Rivington’s stock in trade was wild R&B/soul madness, so when I dropped the needle on ‘Deep Water’ I was – as they say’ taken aback.

There, on the flipside of one of the funniest/fun-nest records ever put to wax, was a deep, deep, epic lament. ‘Deep Water’ – written by the group members – is a heart-wrenching bridge between classic group harmony and early soul, and the group vocal is without exaggeration, positively spellbinding.

Listening to the lyrics, one can imagine ‘Deep Water’ having started out as a tongue-in-cheek tale of woe, but in this case it’s all about the delivery, sounding here like a guy that’s made it all the way to the edge of hopelessness and is about to ask directions to suicide. No matter how many times you listen to it, the juxtaposition between ‘Deep Water’ and ‘Papa Oom Mow Mow’ never gets any less stark or shocking.

I love this record, and I hope you do too.

Have yourselves a great weekend, 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.

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By Larry, August 18, 2013 2:46 pm

Effie Smith

Listen/Download Effie Smith – Teenage World Pts 1&2

Listen/Download Effie Smith – Harper Valley PTA Gossip

Greetings all

I hope the new week finds you well.

The tunes I bring you today are artifacts of (the end of) a time when an artist could settle themselves in a niche and ride it for all it was worth.

I picked up Effie Smith’s ‘Harper Valley PTA Gossip’ years ago (pre-portable) and when I got it home I was pleasantly surprised to discover a sassy old lady engaged in a telephone conversation. The rap was based (see title…) on Jeannie C Riley’s 1968 mega-hit ‘Harper Valley PTA’, and it was groovy in an ‘Aunt Esther goes funky’ way.

Flash forward about half a decade, and I’m down in DC spinning (and digging, natch) at a record show and what do I turn up but a whole album of Effie Smith telephone raps!

The thought of a performer working a gag so thoroughly hasn’t been in vogue since the crest of the Bill Seluga ‘You Can Call me Ray’ wave, and I had to admire her persistence.

As it turns out, Effie Smith had been working it out in the world of jazz and R&B since the 1930s (?!?), working with Lionel Hampton, Benny Carter and Johnny Otis.

It is important to note that Effie was also mother to the one and only producer/songwriter Fred Smith, a very familiar name to fans of LA soul.

The first track I bring you today will be familiar to those of you that listen to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, from my use of a drop from ‘Teenage World Pts 1&2’ (1965). The voice of the husband was provided by Effie’s real life spouse,  John Criner.

The second track is the aforementioned ‘Harper Valley PTA Gossip’, which grazed the R&B Top 40 in November of 1968.

Effie Smith passed away in 1977 at the age of 63.

I hope you dig the tracks, 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, August 6, 2013 7:42 pm

Ron Dunbar aka Ronnie Love

Listen/Download Ronnie Love – Chills and Fever

Greetings all

It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to the middle of another week here at Funky16Corners.

The tune I bring you today is one one of those cornerstones of the Mod R&B/soul “thing” that is not only in demand (got fifty smackers?) but twice as groovy as any money you have to fork over to get your own copy.

Ronnie Love*, was a pseudonymous appellation for the man that would go on to have a stellar songwriting career as Ron Dunbar (co-writing Band of Gold, Give Me Just a Little More Time, Patches among many others).

He laid down ‘Chills and Fever’ in 1960 and managed to make it to #15 R&B and #72 Pop.

‘Chills and Fever’ is one of those records with an undeniable, hard charging beat, a wall of saxophones, pounding piano and a very solid vocal by Love/Dunbar.

The tune was fired up again a few years later when the mighty Tom Jones (still in the grip of his R&Beat thing) laid into it towing a truck full of TNT (check out this live performance from 1965!).

As I alluded to in the beginning of the post, Ronnie Love’s ‘Chills and Fever’ is a huge fave with the Mod and Northern Soul crowds, and as a result is not cheap or easy to score.

It should also not be confused with Paul Kelly’s Northern fave of the same name, which is an entirely different song.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

*Chills and Fever was first issued as by ‘Johnny Love’ on the Startime label a few months earlier
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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 4, 2013 1:10 pm

French picture sleeve

Listen/Download Bo Diddley – Wrecking My Love Life

Greetings all

Welcome to another week here in the land of vinyl.

The disc I bring you today is something I picked up while I was out digging last year.

You all know that I hold Bo Diddley in the highest possible esteem.

He was a gunslinger, surfer, scooter owner and general badass, as well as one of the architects of the one true rock and roll.

Though there are those that will boil him down to his essence, that being the famous “beat”, there are others (like me, for instance) who know what a truckload of manure that is.

Bo made a LOT of amazing music in his career (some of it beyond amazing, like cornerstone of modern music amazing) but unfortunately, outside of collectors of vinyl (on the deep side), much of his later catalog is not well known.

The track I bring you today is (believe your ears or not) from 1967, where it appeared on the flipside of the decidedly non-boogaloo-ish, ‘Boogaloo Before You Go’.

‘Wrecking My Love Life’ packs a metric ton of swagger into its two minutes and 47 seconds, with a thick, spicy bouillabaisse of echoey, reverbed guitar, harmonica, and female backing vocals.

The first time I heard this one, I had to go back to make sure that it wasn’t an earlier side being reissued because it sounds like 1962, holed up in a bunker where 1967 keeps a knockin’ but can’t get in.

The record stomps arounds like some kind of R&B kaiju, crushing buildings, cars and tanks under its massive feet.

Solid stuff from the master, and one I think you’ll want to play over and over again.

I hope you dig it, 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.