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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

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, September 8, 2013 1:23 pm

Mick Weaver aka Wynder K Frog

Listen/Download Wynder K Frog – Dancing Frog

Listen/Download Wynder K Frog – Green Door

Greetings all

Hows about we get things rolling this week with some of that Hammond/dance floor heat.

The mighty Wynder K Frog (aka Mick Weaver) has been featured here before, going as far back as the web zine days (thanks John Stapleton) all the way through a couple of Hammond mixes in the archive.

Frog/Weaver recorded a number of 45s and two LPs from the mid-to-late 60s, released in the UK on Island, and here in the US on United Artists.

Weaver was a session organist who, in addition to his waxings as Wynder K Frog was in a short-lived/transitional version of Traffic and contributed to albums by the likes of Keef Hartley, Steve Marriott and Eric Burdon.

Though there was a Wynder K Frog band, I’ve seen references that suggest that the sessions that produced the very rare ‘Sunshine Super Frog’ LP (which included both sides of this 45) were basically Weaver adding his Hammond to existing backing tracks recorded in the US.

‘Dancing Frog’ is a hard-charging Mod/club mover that opens with a Bo Diddley beat (and some extremely loud grunts) and moves on into some wailing Hammond and horns.

The flipside, a cover of ‘Green Door’ (not too far removed from Eskew Reeder’s earlier take) is a Northern Soul/Mod fave.

Both sides very groovy indeed, and one of the harder WKF 45s to turn up stateside.

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 (4)

By Larry, September 1, 2013 10:53 am

John Bishop and his guitar, looking badass.

Listen/Download John Bishop Trio – Wade In the Water

Greetings all

I hope the new week finds you well.

The summer is finally at and end, at least the part of the summer marked by the invasion of the great horde, which tends to recede right around Labor Day, leaving the beaches to us locals for a few precious weeks.

The fam and I had the opportunity to vacate in the latter half of August, during which the wife and I had our own little getaway.

Naturally, that included a little bit of record digging (doesn’t it always) which resulted in a nice fat stack of new additions to my crates, here and over at Iron Leg.

I always enjoy stepping out of my own little vinyl ecosystem and into a new one, where the ebb and flow of wax is different, the stock is new (at least to me) and not quite as picked over as what I’m used to.

There aren’t too many opportunities of that nature where I live, so it’s a gas when I get my mitts on some stuff that I haven’t seen/heard before.

Keep your eyes peeled for the results of said excavations in these pages.

The tune I bring you today is one of those great intersections of a song I love and a particularly hot performance.

‘Wade In the Water’ is a spiritual that goes back well over a century, which is why the writing credits on this version – to Sam Cooke and JW Alexander – are odd, but that is neither here nor there, especially when you consider how often people were slapping their names on public domain compositions in order to pick up a little scratch.

It has long been one of my favorite songs and I’ve gotten into the habit of picking up records with versions of it (like I do with ’Soul Makossa’) wherever I find them.

I had been on the lookout for the record you see before you today – ‘Bishop’s Whirl’ by the John Bishop Trio – for years. While it’s not particularly scarce, it eluded me nonetheless so I was happy to score a copy at a nice price.

John Bishop (born Gregory Ceurvorst) was a Chicago-based guitarist who ended up touring with Ray Charles (thus the Tangerine label) in the late 60s. He also played with Donny Hathaway, Ramsey Lewis and the Staple Singers among others.

His version of ‘Wade In the Water’ – the full album edit is included here, there is a much shorter version on 45 – is smoking, with exceptional work by Bishop on guitar and organist Newell Burton, Jr. Bishop goes into a blazing solo around the three-minute mark that explodes around 4:15.

It is an exceptional bit of hard-charging soul jazz, generating enough heat for the dancers (the 45 has a minor following with the Northern Soul crowd).

I haven’t been able to nail down whether or not this was Bishop’s touring band, or a group put together for the date. Burton was a Sacramento-based organist, and the bassist on the record, Jerry Scheff is a renowned session player who started a long stint touring with Elvis Presley around the time that this album was recorded.

That said, the rest of the album – with the exception of the soulful ‘Way Out Back’ – is fairly straight ahead jazz.

Bishop settled in Chicago, where he played with his wife in the Georgia Frances Orchestra, until his passing in 2011 at the age of 65.

I hope you dig the tune, 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.

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By Larry, July 11, 2013 12:30 pm

Listen/Download – The Electrostats- 21st Century Kenya

Greetings all.

The next couple of weeks will be jam packed with events here at Funky16Corners central, so I’ll be republishing some of my favorite tunes from the Funky16Corners Archives. I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back with all new stuff starting next Monday.

Don’t forget to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio!

Larry

Originally posted 03/27/2006

>>Greetings all.

Monday is upon us, and I can assure you that I was no more eager to depart the safe, warm confines of my bed this morning than any of you were.

I had a sort of weird yin/yang weekend, one day spent hanging with old friends and family – good times all around – and another unable to convince anything thicker than tap water to stay in my stomach.

It was, I assure you, a hoot. As I write this morning, all appears to be well. Was God punishing me for saying unpleasant things about his loyal servant George W. Bush?

I mean, you’d kind of hope that God would be cooler than that, but you never know.

Anyway… Today’s entry will be considerably less verbose than most, because just about the only incontrovertible fact that I can supply you with about today’s selection is that it was recorded in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The record I speak of is ‘21st Century Kenya’ by the Electrostats.

Released on the Three Oaks label – which was also home to Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington’s “Heavenly Vibrations (You Give Me)” / “Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine” – the record features the funky instro by the Electrostats on one side, and the band backing vocalist Hillary McGinnis on the ballad ‘Weak As You Want To Be’ on the other.

I first heard of the Three Oaks label back when Wax Poetics ran their comprehensive Eddie Bo feature.

The Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington 45 I just mentioned was an Eddie Bo production (one of three 45s he produced for Washington on various N.O. labels) that was previously unknown to me, as was the label itself.

Not too long after reading that feature, while a-Googling, I happened upon mentions of the Electrostats 45. After seeing a couple of positive comments from reliable sources, I decided to seek out my own copy. I finally scored one recently, and the search proved to be worthwhile.

Opening with heavy wah-wah guitar, the organ (which takes the lead for most of the song) comes in, followed immediately by the bass, drums and percussion.

While the title and to a certain extent the percussion suggest an attempt to latch on to other Afro-centric funk sounds of the era (which I guessing is the early 70’s), the record doesn’t exactly scream dashikis and naturals.

It reminds me a little – especially the organ – of another NOLA funker from the same era, Larry Foster’s ‘Funky Belly’ on Big Beat.

There’s also a nice fuzzed out guitar solo.

The Electrostats released at least one other 45 on Three Oaks, the extremely laid back ‘Setting The Mood’.<<

Keep the faith

Larry

PS This was posted so long ago that I couldn’t find the original file, so I dug out the 45 and re-recorded it
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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, June 9, 2013 11:37 am

Listen/Download The Phinxs – Street Jam Pts 1&2

MP3 link has been fixed

Greetings all

Welcome to yet another week in the ongoing saga of wax (and wane).

The record I bring you today is something that has been simmering in my New Orleans crates for years, waiting for just the right opportunity to reveal its charms.

Back in the day, when my collection wasn’t quite as healthy as it is now I often cast my dragnet wide, seeing what I might dredge up by focusing on entire labels, cities etc.

As my record room can attest today, this method was especially fruitful in regard to both Philadelphia and the great city of New Orleans.

I had already gotten my hands on Eddie Bo’s ‘Hook and Sling’ and kept my eyes peeled for anything else that might turn up on the Scram label, named for its owner, seafood entrepreneur Al Scramuzza.

Over the years, I managed to find the good (Sonny Jones ‘Sissy Walk’) and the not so good (Ray Brackens ‘Do the Crawfish’), but the Phinxs ‘Street Jam’ was one of the most perplexing.

Basically a keyboard driven (piano and organ) R&B instro, with some horns, ‘Street Jam’ seems less like a stab at the charts than a representation of a tried and true stage jam committed to vinyl.

I have never been able to discover anything about the Phinxs (I’m assuming that the name was pronounced like ‘Finks’), other than the fact that ‘Street Jam’ was released in 1965 (only the second 45 on Scram) and the the band went on later that year to back singer Richie Matta on his 45 for the label.

If anyone has the skinny on the Phinxs, please drop me a line.

I hope you dig the tune,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 (10)

By Larry, May 26, 2013 1:01 pm

Greetings all.

Welcome to the 2013 Funky16Corners Allnighter and Pledge Drive.

Those of you that fall by F16C on the reg will already be familiar with our yearly do, in which I ask some of the finest selectors I know to dip into their crates and put together mixes (from a wide variety of styles, but always soulful) for your listening pleasure.

This being the interwebs, with the selectors coming to you from points all over the map (NJ, New Zealand, NY, UK, Ohio, Minnesota), and all of you good people spread even further afield, we get together for this virtual “Allnighter” (in the tradition of the great soul clubs the world over) once a year.

There are two basic reasons for this, both equally important.

First and foremost, we try to raise some dough (via Paypal donation, see links below) to fund the server costs associated with keeping Funky16Corners (and Iron Leg) up and running. This includes the regular, thrice-weekly blog posts, as well as the Podcast, Soul Club, Guest Mix and Radio Show Archives (collectively holding well over 200 mixes of all kinds).

Second, is of course the fact that music – to paraphrase Willie the Shake – is the food of life, and so we assemble here to play on.

Blogging is for many – creators and readers alike – a transitory thing, but for the selectors here, and for many of the people that stop by here on a regular basis, music, especially soul, funk and jazz is life. These are no mere “collectors’. The mix-makers that you see here (and in all the previous years) have devoted a tremendous amount of time (not to mention,resources) to studying the sounds you will soon hear pouring out of your speakers.

Just the other day I saw someone bemoaning the overuse of the word “curating”, but I assure you that it applies to the work of every one of the people involved in this enterprise.

We all collect these sounds because we love them, but we have also all spent time sharing them, on blogs, and more importantly in live venues because we want to spread the word.

When I approach my fellow DJs to put together mixes for the Allnighter, I do so with complete confidence that they will select to impress, and impress they have.

What you here is roughly eight-and-a-half hours (in nine mixes) of the finest in funk, soul, latin, rocksteady, blues, disco, and Northern, put together by some of the best in the biz.

Funky16Corners is – and always has been – a not-for-profit enterprise. I have never taken ads here at the site and hopefully never will.

What I ask, is that if you dig what we do here, and you have the resources to do so, please throw a couple of bucks our way to keep the machine running for another year.

Everyone that donates five dollars or more will receive a Funky16Corners 2013 Allnighter Badge, F16C sticker, and one of our Keep Calm and Stay Funky stickers as well.

The Funky16Corners Blog will enter its 10th year of existence this year and though I’d probably still be at it if no one was paying attention, it’s much cooler doing it for folks like you!

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

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Click here to donate to Funky16Corners!

NOTE: It has been brought to my attention that the donation button has been experiencing technical difficulties. If you can’t get it to work, you can always log into Paypal and send the money to this address:

funky16corners@lycos.com

Thanks

Larry

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The Soul City – Everybody Dance Now (Goodtime)
Ross D Wyllie – Do the Uptight (A&M)
Popular Five – Little Bitty Pretty One (Minit)
Chuck Jackson and Maxine Brown – Can’t Let You Out of My Sight (Wand)
The Naked Truth – The Shingaling Thing (RCA)
Brenda Lee – Time and Time Again (Decca)
Derek Martin – Sly Girl (Tuba)
Shirelles – No Doubt About It (Scepter)
Robert Walker and the Soul Strings – The Blizzard (RCA)
The Trends – The Soul Clap (ABC)
The Tempests – Would You Believe (Smash)
Robert John – Raindrops, Love and Sunshine (A&M)
Kim Weston – Helpless (Gordy)
Earl Cosby – Ooh Honey Baby (Mirwood)
Four Pennies – You’re a Gas With Your Trash (Brunswick)
Ray Charles – I Don’t Need No Doctor (ABC)
Jo Armstead – I Feel an Urge (Giant)
Soul Sisters – Good Time Tonight (Sue)
OV Wright – Baby Mine (Goldwax)
The Velvelettes – He Was Really Saying Something (VIP)
Ronnie Love – Chills and Fever (Dot)
Little Caesar and the Empires – Everybody Dance Now (Inst) (Cameo/Parkway)

‘Everybody Dance Now’ is just under an hour of top shelf, hard charging Northern Soul, including some old faves as well as a grip of recently excavated heat that I think you’ll dig (and a couple of surprises too!).

Listen/Download Funky16Corners – Everybody Dance Now!
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Tony C: Feeling Good F16C Pledge drive 2013
Jean Dushon-Feeling good-Cadet
Merced Blue Notes-Whole lotta nothing-Tri Phi
Junior Wells-I’m gonna cramp your style-Bright Star
The Marvels-Forget about that mess-Sensation
Buddy Ace-Baby please don’t go-Duke
Buddy Greco-Twistin’ to the blues-Coronet
JJ Barnes-Won’t you let me in-Rich
The Charmaines-I idolise you-Kent
Joe Simon-Troubles-Hush
The Young Holt Trio-Ain’t there something that money can’t buy-Brunswick
Sonny Raye-Whip it on me-Jetstream
Pearl Woods-Sippin’ sorrow-Charge
BB King-16 tons-Crown
Ricardo Ray-Nitty Gritty-Alegre
Jack Constanzo-Evil ways-Discomoda
Willie Bobo-Be’s that way-Tico
Charlie Palmieri-Uptight-Atlantic
Tito Ramos-Big T-Cotique
The Beginning Of The End-Come down baby-Alston
The Soul Creations-Funky jive-GES
Tommy Wills-KC drive-Juke
Spanky Wilson-You-Mothers
Big Ella-It takes a lot of loving-Lo Lo
Eddie Parker-I need a true love-Triple ‘B’ Records

Tony Crampton is a UK based DJ/Collector whose mixes should be immediately familiar to readers of Funky16Corners. He has excellent taste, and gets frequent shout-outs here at F16C for records that he first put me onto.

Listen/Download Tony C: Feeling Good
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Kris Holmes – Greenville and Beyond

Slim Willis – I Say That
Little Eddie – There’ll Be A Day
Virgil Griffin – If You Can’t Go
The Trademarques – I Can Set You Free
Chick Willis – My Bowlegged Woman
Heavenly Kings Singers – If You Wake Up In The Morning
Vikki Styles – Mark My Words
The Premiers – Funky Monkey
The Perails – Boss Walk
The Cherries – You Know You Gonna Need Me
Vicki Williams – Your Love Makes Me Stay
L. Johnson Jr. – You Gotta Have Soul
W. Williams & Sonny Wash – Don’t Lie To Me Lover
Spencer Jackson Family – Bring Back Peace To The World
Johnny Littlejohn – Can’t Be Still
Johnny Nix – Matchbox
Pops Porter – Baby Put Your Legs Upside The Wall
Willie Buck – Get Down & Disco To The Blues
Bobby Williams – Soul Party
Ervin Little – Teach Me How To Boogaloo

Kris Holmes ‘Greenville and Beyond’ mix is an extension of the website he created to track the wide variety of records associated with several Greenville, Mississippi labels and their Chicago connections. Kris is one of the premier DJ/Collectors in New Zealand, rocking it in live venues and on his show the Sunday Shuffle on Radio Ponsonby (which can be heard Saturday nights here in the US). He has exquisite taste, and has been a big influence on new additions to the crates here at Funky16Corners.

Listen/Download Kris Holmes – Greenville and Beyond
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Reaching Onward – A FleamarketFunk.com All 45 Excursion
Studio G’s Beat Group – Hi Bird/ Licorice Soul
Quantic and His Combo Barbaro – Enyere Kumbara/ Tru Thoughts
Lonnie liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes – Goddess of Love/ Flying Dutchman
Big Pimp Jones – The Smokeout/ Recordbreakin’
Hard Proof – Dragon/ Kept Records
The Jive Turkeys – No Answer/ Colemine
Yambu – Sunny/ Motuno
The T.M.G.’s – Agravation/ Funk 45
The DT6 – Don’t Doubt Me/ Starla
East L.A. Carpool – Linda Chicana/ GRC
Victor Green – The Ghetto/ Rejoint
Sir Ali Bengal – ABX (Instrumental)/ Our Label Records
Banda União Black – Yeah Yeah Yeah/ Vampi Soul

A Word from DJ Prestige

“Once again I’m honored to put together a guest mix for Larry at Funky 16 Corners. Today I’ve dug into my collection of 45s and pulled out a bunch of sides that I built around the intro from Sun-Ra. For the most part, these 45s represent a lot of the future of Funk, Soul, and who will be carrying on the torch of funky music in general in the years to come playing right along side a few older tracks that lend themselves nicely to this mix. Record labels like Colemine, who offer up The Jive Turkeys, Kept, who give us the Afro Beat of Hard Proof out of Austin, TX, The DT6 on Starla coming out of Scotland, Big Pimp Jones from Philly on Recordbreakin’, Our Records Label and Sir Ali Bengal out of Germany, and Quantic out of the UK represent a small amount of artists doing it like they did in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Some of these limited edition 7″s will be the sought after 45s in years to come. They’re recorded in the same manner as the originators, and each band lends it unique sound to the time line of music. I’ve also included some older sides such as Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes, a Disco Soul cover of “Sunny” by Yambu, a Latin influenced Donnie Hathaway cover from Victor Green, some Psychedelic Library Hammond Funk from Studio G’s Beat Group, as well as some West Coast Lowrider Soul with East L.A. Carpool. Each one of these bands, no matter if it the present day or the past has been reaching outward to put out good music, and that’s what I want to do with this mix. Please enjoy. DJ Prestige, Flea Market Funk 2013″

Listen/Download DJ Prestige: Reaching Onward
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Tarik Thornton: TCB
James Black and the Southern University Stage Band- Ole Wine ( Intro)- Whit
Oliver Morgan- Roll Call- Seven B
Gene Chandler- Soul Hootenany Part 1- Constellation
Temptations- Girl, Why You Wanna Make Me Blue- Gordy
Little Eva- Get Ready/Uptight- Spring
Seven Souls – I Still Love You- Okeh
Natural Four-I Thought you Were Mine – ABC
Claude Huey- Drifting – M.I.O.B
Richard Brown- Sweet & Kind- SteeleTown
Gino Washington- What Can A Man Do- Washpan
Charles Brimmer- This Feeling in My Heart- Broadmoor
The Pearls – Shooting High- Lamp
The Symphonic Four- Who Do You Think Your Fooling Part II- Sudan
Bob & Gene- It’s Not What You Know It’s Who You Know
Aaron Neville- Hercules- Mercury
Willie Joe – Funny Thing- Pure Black Soul
Detroit Emeralds- You’re Getting Too Smart- Westbound
Eddie Floyd- Stealing Love- Stax
The 13th Amendment – The Stretch – Slave
James Brown – I’ll Go Crazy – King

Tarik Thornton is a New Orleans native who has relocated to the Midwest. He has worked as part of a number of top DJ crews, and guested at some of the hottest nights around the country. He is always digging, and never fails to bring the heat.

Listen/Download Tarik Thornton – TCB
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Prime Mundo: Positive/Negative – A Live Mixtape
alzo & udine – c’mon and join us (mercury)
jim ford – i wanta make her love me (sundown)
truth – i can’t go on (roulette)
southside movement – i’ve been watching you (20th century)
stevie wonder – i was made to love her (tamla)
trapeze – what is a woman’s role (threshold)
bo diddley – go for broke (chess)
yardbirds – baby what’s wrong (sire)
fiesta dance party – summertime (fiesta)
jesse morrison – tell me, can you feel it (a-bet)
edwin starr – easin’ in (motown)
charles spurling – popcorn charlie (king)
the watts 103rd street rhythm band – 65 bars and a taste of soul (warner bros)
gilberto sextet – yes i will part 1 (tico)
albert collins – thaw out (blue thumb)
jerry maccain – juicy lucy (jewel)
charlie earland – sing a simple song (prestige)
aluar horns (nonesuch)
mongo santamaria – fingers (vaya)

DJ Prime Mundo is one of the OG Asbury Park 45 Sessions crew. He’s got a spectacular ear for the finest in funk, soul and jazz his turntable skills are next level. No matter how much you think you know, you will always find  something new to dig in his mixes.

Listen/Download DJ Prime Mundo – Positive/Negative
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DJ Bluewater Presents: Turn To This Sound
The Vibrators – I’m Depending On You
Alton Ellis – The Preacher
Roland Alphonso – How Soon
The Fugitives – Cantelope Rock
The Maytals – Bim Today Bam Tomorrow
Roy Shirley – The Prophet
Prince Buster’s All Stars – All In My Mind
The Gaylads – Joy In The Morning
The Uniques – My Woman’s Love
The Modifies – Death In The Arena
Slim Smith – Burning Desire
Glen Adams – Mighty Organ
The Dee Set – I Know A Place
Max Romeo – She’s But A Little Girl
Roy Shirley – Don’t Be Afraid
The Gladiators – Fling It Gimme
Sound Dimension – More Scorcher
Tony Brevett – Don’t Get Weary
The Ethiopians – Selah
The Rulers – Let My People Go
Lee Perry – Whup Whop Man
Teddy King & Prince Buster – Mexican Divorce
Derrick Morgan – Too Bad
The Soul Brothers – Windell
Ken Boothe & Norma Frazer – Give Me The Right

DJ Bluewater is another member of the Asbury Park 45 Sessions crew. He is as deep into the rocksteady 45 game as he is with funk and soul. He has been contributing mixes to the Funky16Corners Pledge Drives since the beginning.

Listen/Download DJ Bluewater – Turn To This Sound

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Funkdefy: Take Time To Know Her
Roy “C” – I Found-A-Man In My Bed – Pan Records
The Esquires – Listen To Me – Bunky Records
Tony Fox – Do It To It – Calla Records
The Soul Sisters – Think About The Good Times – Sue Records
Bobby Lewis – Tossin’ and Turnin’ – Beltone
Charles Spurling – Popcorn Charlie – King
William Alexander, Jr. and the Dukes – Give Me One More Chance – Aphrodisiac
Mary Jane Hooper – That’s How Strong Love Is – World Pacific Audition Records
Harvey Scales – What’s Good For You (Don’t Have to be Good to You) – Stax Records
Jay Dee Bryant – Get It (Come On and Get It) – Enjoy Records
Johnnie Taylor – Take Care Of Your Homework – Stax
J. J. Jackson – But It’s Alright – Calla Records
Otis Redding – Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag (Live) – ATCO Records
Tony Clarke – Ghetto Man – Chicory Records
Don Gardner – My Baby Likes To Boogaloo – Tru-Glo-Town
Dyke And The Blazers – Funky Bull Pt. 1 – Original Sound
George Torrence & The Naturals – Lickin’ Stick – Shout
Billy Stewart – Summertime – Chess
Percy Sledge – Take Time To Know Her – Atlantic

A Word from DJ RP

FUNKDEFY, located in Columbus Ohio, is the longest running Funk-N-Soul dance party of Central Ohio. Founded in 2004, the Crew is an ensemble group of crate diggers and beat battlers. Not only have they been throwing monthly all vinyl dance parties, but in years past introduced live Soul to Columbus, heating up the city with their combination of dance parties on wax mixed with some incredible live bands, including The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker, The Budos Band and Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves. The following contribution was put together by founder DJ RP for your audio pleasure. You can hear other mixes of theirs on Soundcloud and see updates about them on Facebook. The crew hopes you will become part of, and a friend of, the funky collective.

Listen/Download Funkdefy – Take Time To Know Her
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F16C Presents: Are You Ready For This
Jackson Sisters – I Believe In Miracles (Prophecy)
Brothers – Are You Ready For This (RCA)
Papa John Creach – Joyce (Tom Moulton Mix) (Buddah)
Johnny Hammond Smith – Los Conquistadores Chocolates (Milestone)
Eddie Kendricks – Going Up In Smoke (Tamla)
Muscle Shoals Horns – Breakdown (Bang)
Charles Mann – Do It Again (ABC)
Touch – Love Hangover (Breaking Down) (Brunswick)
Lyn Collins – Rock Me Again & Again & Again & Again & Again & Again (People)
JBs – All Aboard the Funky Soul Train (Polydor)
Silvetti – Spring Rain (Salsoul)
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes – Bad Luck (Tom Moulton Remix) (Philadelphia International)
Ray Charles – Compared to What (Atlantic)

‘Are You Ready For This’ includes all manner of funky disco, disco-y funk, and even a couple of similarly inclined tunes from the Northern Soul canon. Mostly 45s, a couple of 12’s and an LP track here and there.

Listen/Download Funky16Corners – Are You Ready For This?
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By Larry, April 28, 2013 2:19 pm

Dave Hamilton

Listen/Download Dave Hamilton and His Peppers – Beatle Walk

Greetings all

Welcome to another week here at the Corners.

The tune I bring you today is – once you get past the title – a cool one.

Dave Hamilton (accompanied here by his Peppers) is a name that should be familiar to both fans of Detroit soul, but also of funky instrumentals like ‘Cracklin’ Bread’.

Hamilton, who was born in Georgia in 1920 (!?!) relocated to Detroit, where he started to record R&B and blues in the late 40s.

Though he started out playing vibes and the xylophone, the guitar eventually became his bread and butter.

Over the years he released 45s for labels like Chess. Fortune and Hi-Q, before eventually starting his own Tempo, Topper and TCB imprints.

Hamilton was one of the original Funk Brothers, but a strong independent streak caused him to part ways with Motown and work on his own.

He produced and arranged for a wide variety of Detroit acts like Little Ann, OC Tolbert and Sugar Billy Garner.

‘Beatle Walk’ which was released in 1964, yet sounds like it could have been waxed half a decade earlier, has a title that was an obvious (if wholly dishonest) stab at the charts.

I’m not saying that the Fabs themselves wouldn’t have dug ‘Beatle Walk’ but rather that the vast majority of their audience, some of whom might have purchased this 45 because of the title, would have flipped out.

You can just imagine some teenybopper in her maryjanes picking this up at the local record store, coming home, slapping it on the Victrola and passing out.

Instead of the jangly guitars, yeah yeah yeahs and moptops, what you get here is the kind of straight-ahead R&B you’d hear cranking out of any urban strip club or tavern. The production on the sax and the drums is plenty raw, and the guitar has a lot of bite as well.

Plus, you get that classic Fortune Records label design.

It’s a nice, gritty workout, and I hope you dig it.

See you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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By Larry, April 23, 2013 11:50 am

Gary McFarland

Listen/Download Gary McFarland – Fried Bananas (45 edit)

Greetings all

It has – by and large – been a chilly, gray Spring so far.

It has always been thus here in NJ, but you can’t blame me for hoping that the door into summer would swing wide, just this once.

It is in that spirit that I bring you a 45 that is the very essence of summery warmth.

Gary McFarland was one of the preeminent vibists and arrangers of the 1960s working extensively with others as well as building a fairly substantial catalog of his own work.

He was, with Gabor Szabo and Cal Tjader one of the founders of the short-lived (but excellent) Skye label, and died, not yet 40, when someone mysteriously poisoned his drink in a New York bar.

As a performer, McFarland had a style that seemed light on the surface, but always had a lot of complexity running underneath.

He also had some idiosyncratic tendencies as a performer, that were occasionally transcendently groovy, and sometimes annoying.

The track I bring you today falls on the groovy side of things.

Released on his 1966 ‘The In Sound’ LP, ‘Fried Bananas’ is a laid back, sexy Latin groove, featuring a nice guitar solo by Szabo, trombone by the great Bob Brookmeyer, and flute by Sadao Watanabe.

What it also features is McFarland’s wordless singing (a weakness on some of his other records).

The version heard here is the slightly truncated single edit, with the LP version running about 90 seconds longer.

If you get a chance to grab a copy of the original album, do so. It features a number of excellent tracks, but also one of the coolest pop-art covers of the era.

Cal Tjader covered ‘Fried Bananas’ on his 1968 ‘Solar Heat’ album, which featured arrangements by McFarland.

As far as I can tell none of McFarland’s Verve LPs are available in reissue, though much of the Skye catalog can be purchased on iTunes.

I hope you dig the tune (and warm up a bit) and I’ll see you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, April 21, 2013 2:58 pm

Vince Montana

Listen/Download The Volcanos – Storm Warning

Listen/Download The Ethics – Think About Tomorrow

Listen/Download Georgie Woods – Potato Salad Pt1

Listen/Download Brothers of Hope – Nickol Nickol

Listen/Download The Family – Family Affair

Listen/Download Montana Sextet – Heavy Vibes

Listen/Download Montana Sextet – Heavy Vibes (Club Mix)

Greetings all

It was with great sadness that I heard last week of the passing of the mighty Vincent Montana Jr.

Unless you’re a Philly soul or disco head, that name might not be familiar, but the music he helped to make over a career that lasted more than 50 years most certainly is.

Montana, known first and formost as a vibraphonist, but also a busy arranger and percussionist was one of the most important instrumentalists in the history of Philadelphia soul and funk.

Though he got his start backing local artists like Frankie Avalon, Montana went on to be one of the core members of the Philly “house band” that would become better known as MFSB.

His vibes stand out on countless Philly soul records from the mid-60s on, and his arrangers credit appeared on many of those record’s labels.

Montana’s work is all over various and sundry smaller local labels (and recorded under various band names) as well as just about every major Philadelphia International session.

Montana was also key in the formation of the Salsoul Orchestra, and through the disco era recorded with his own groups the Montana Sextet and Goody Goody.

The tracks I’ve selected really just scratch the surface of Montana’s catalog, but all touch on some important point.

The first is one of the greatest 60s soul 45s to come out of Philadelphia, and the first place I ever noticed Vince Montana coming through the mix as a sideman. ‘Storm Warning’ by the Volcanos is beloved by fans of classic soul, and Vince Montana’s vibes have a lot to do with that. Vibes are – at least to my ears – one of the key sonic elements in Northern Soul, along with the baritone sax, and Montana’s playing on ‘Storm Warning’ manages to keep driving the song forward while adding bright accents.

The Ethics are another great Philly vocal group. ‘Think About Tomorrow’, arranged by Montana, was a local hit in 1968. Give this one a couple of close listens and dig how Montana uses the strings, horns and vibes to frame the rhythm section. It’s an exquisite example of the kind of classy record that would come to represent the Philly sound.

Georgie Woods “The Guy With the Goods’ was a Philadelphia radio legend, who decided in the late 60s (like so many of his radio brethren around the country) to dip his toe into the world of recording. ‘Potato Salad’ – also arranged by Vince Montana – is an ‘adaptation’ of vibraphone legend Lionel Hampton’s ‘Greasy Greens’. You not only get to hear Woods laying down his rap, but also plenty of Montana’s vibes working their way through the mix.

The players that would form the core of MFSB would make records under a number of different names in the late 60s and early 70s. If you collect funk 45s, you’ve heard bands like the Interpretations, Hidden Cost, Daley’s Diggers, the Alliance, the Electric Indian and many more, all basically played by the same set of brilliant musicians, including Vince Montana.

My favorite of these pseudonymous 45s is ‘Nickol Nickol’ by the Brothers of Hope. One of the great, mid-tempo funk 45s of all time, ‘Nickol Nickol’ features Montana’s vibes throughout, but especially at the end where he lays down the ‘Eleanor Rigby’ quote in the run-off groove. This one was slept on for a long time, but the price has gone up considerably in the last few years.

The Family – Family Affair, acetate and North Bay 45

Though I’m not featuring any MFSB ‘proper’ in this post, the Family’s cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s ‘Family Affair’, which was first released on the North Bay label, is basically an edited version of the track that would appear on the first MFSB LP.

Vince Montana was – for most fo his career – a ‘background’ player, working behind the scenes, but in 1982 he had a dance hit in the US and the UK with the track ‘Heavy Vibes’. ‘Heavy Vibes’ is a sophisticated, jazzy/funky bit of disco, with plenty of vibes (naturally…). Here you get to check out both the edit and the extended club mix – both worth hearing.

Vince Montana was a master, and though he was more involved than most, he was a very solid example of the importance of the unseen/unheralded musicians that provide the backing for the music we love. People will do lip service to the house bands of labels like Stax, ensembles like the Funk Brothers or the Muscle Shoals group, but only the people with their heads (and ears) deep in the game know who the individual components of those outfits were, and that’s a shame.

The next time you hear the vibes ring through one of those great Philly records, elbow the cat next to you and say ‘That’s Vince Montana.’

I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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Click here to go to the ordering page.
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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, March 21, 2013 11:42 am

Funky16Corners Presents: Soul Version

Jackie Mittoo – Hip Hug (Coxsone) – Booker T & The MGs
Gaylettes – Son of a Preacherman (Steady) – Dusty Springfield
Dobby Dobson – Don’t Make Me Over (Pama Supreme) – Dionne Warwicke
Federalman – Soul Serenade (Steady) – King Curtis
Ken Boothe – Gonna Take a Miracle/Version (Hulk) – Royalettes
Winston Wright – Heads or Tails (Green Door) – Booker T & the MGs
Lorna Bennett – Breakfast In Bed (Harry J) – Dusty Springfield
Byron Lee – Who Done It (Dynamic) – Monk Higgins
Pioneers – Papa Was a Rolling Stone (Trojan) – Temptations
Horace Andy – Show and Tell (Money Disc) – Al Wilson
Pat Rhoden – Living For the City (Attack) – Stevie Wonder
Byron Lee – Shaft (Dynamic) – Isaac Hayes
Winston Samuels and the Cintones – Let’s Get It On (Clintone) – Marvin Gaye
Byron Lee – Hot Reggay (Dynamic) – James Brown
Shark Wilson and the Basement Heaters – Make It Reggay(version) (Ashanti) – James Brown
Pat Rhoden – Boogie On Reggae Woman (Horse) – Stevie Wonder
Alton Ellis – La La Means I Love You (Mr Tipsy) – Delfonics
Tomorrows Children – Sister Big Stuff (London) – Jean Knight

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents Soul Version – 109MB 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.

The fam and I are taking some time off to chill in the coming weeks (which will be filled with specially selected reposts of some of my fave tunes from the archives) so I figured I’d leave you with something special until I’m back behind the keyboard again.

The mix you see before you is the fruit of what I like to call one of my “special boxes”.

The Funky16Corners record vault is lined, floor to ceiling (in some places) with crates of LPs and boxes of 45s, and sprinkled liberally with a grip of those old-timey, pasteboard, 45 carrying cases.

As pretty much any collector does, I grab those cases wherever I find them, first and foremost because they’re cool looking, but because – and I’m pretty sure you figured this out already – I’ve got lots and lots of 45s that need a place to stay.

I mentioned the “boxes” before, those being the purpose-made 45 storage boxes that hold over 100 discs each. There are lots of those.

However, my collection has its niches, certain sub-genres, not collected as aggressively as others (for a variety of reasons, though usually boiled down to issues of availability), and many of these niches get packed away in those smaller boxes.

There’s one for disco 45s, one for rockabilly/instro 45s, and the one that gave up today’s sounds, the reggae and ska 45s.

I’ve been a huge fan of ska and reggae since I was in high school, when the Two-Tone revival was in full swing and I was led by bands like the Specials to investigate the first-wave of ska, going back to the mid-60s.

It would be fair to say that the bulk of the ska and reggae in my hands is on CD, especially old comps and the later (excellent) Trojan mini-box sets.

However, I’m always on the lookout for Jamaican vinyl, often seeking out favorite records (some of which – Winston Wright, Pioneers, Shark Wilson – are in this mix) and grabbing cool stuff whenever I encounter it in the field.

As the contents of this mix show, I’m a big fan of reggae covers of American soul tunes, of which there are many.

The groovy  thing – and something I’ve discussed in this space before – is that despite the stylistic delineation, what you’re hearing is still demonstrably soul music (albeit with a reggae beat).

The influence of American R&B and soul on Jamaican music is undeniable, with many powerhouse AM radio stations, in cities like New Orleans and Miami sending out American pop to the islands.

What you hear isn’t mere “coverage”, if you will, but rather some truly great singers like Ken Boothe and Alton Ellis, and instrumentalists like Winston Wright, Jackie Mittoo and Byron Lee, interpreting some of the finest material available at the time.

Soul Version is composed of just about an hour of my favorites, running (like my personal tastes) from sweet soul, to organ instrumentals, to funk and just a touch of dub.

Many of these records have appeared here at Funky16Corners over the years, either by themselves or in mixes.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

PS I just realized I took a picture of the wrong Pioneers 45…sorry ’bout that.
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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, February 26, 2013 1:06 pm

Cal Tjader

Listen/Download Cal Tjader – Evil Ways

Listen/Download Cal Tjader – You Keep Me Hangin’ On

Greetings all

Though you have most certainy seen his name and heard his music in this space many times before, like Jello, there is always room for Cal Tjader.

Tjader, master of the Latin vibes (does it get any better than ‘Soul Sauce’?) is one of those artists that is an automatic pick-up, as in I’m out in the field flipping through albums and I see see a Tjader LP that I don’t already have, it goes right onto the keeper stack.

At this point, there aren’t too many from his Verve era and after that I don’t have.

That said, a few years back I was down in DC and I managed to score two longtime Tjader wants, i.e. ‘Cal Tjader Plugs In’ (gotta have that groovy cover of the Banana Splits theme) and the disc you see before you today, entitled simply ‘Tjader’.

At first glance, Tjader’s Fantasy catalog can get a little confusing, since it bookends his time with Verve and the short-lived Skye era. You get all of the early, mambo grooves, and then some later, extremely rare groovy ish like his cover of ‘Gimme Shelter’ and the album from which we draw today’s selections.

The two cuts I bring you today are a very tasty version of the Willie Bobo (though known to most by Santana) tune ‘Evil Ways’ and a trippy excursion into the Supremes ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’.

‘Evil Ways’ is a smooth groover, with some organ and horns stating the theme, before Cal drops in with vibes, handclaps and timbales (a breakdown very much like the one in ‘Soul Sauce’) and goes to town. There’s also a nice organ solo.

‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’ gets a pretty straight ahead dancefloor treatment, until about halfway in, when things suddenly fade out and then back in again with some far out synthesizer, back out again and then right back into the original groove. It’s an odd arrangement for Tjader, and a little late in the game in 1971 (as are some of the other covers on the album, including two Donovan songs), but I can’t complain.

It’s a strong album, and surprisingly hard to come by.

I hope you dig the sounds.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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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.
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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, February 17, 2013 1:17 pm

Dig the groovy promo shot of Louis Chachere that I picked up a few years ago!

Listen/Download Louis Chachere – A Soulful Bag

Greetings all

I hope the day finds you well, and ready for some solid Hammond grooves.

Regular visitors to Funky16Corners as well as Hammond aficionados will already be familiar with the name Louis Chachere via his mighty slice of funky jazz, ‘The Hen’.

That 45 is just this side of brutal and unrelenting, packed not only with Chachere’s blazing organ, but also the guitar and drums, both of which (though the players are unknown to me) brilliant.

‘The Hen’ is both danceable and satisfying on a purely musical level, which is why it is sought after by DJs the world over.

I though for many years (erroneously as it turns out) that ‘The Hen’ was a one-off bit of genius, and that Chachere, having made his mark, vanished into the ether.

The fact is, that while his discography cannot in any way be described as extensive, what he did put his hands on was first rate.

In addition to his own recordings (which you see before you today), Chachere also produced the legendary ‘Remember Me’ b/w ‘Black Is Beautiful’ 45 by the Trinikas.

I first found out about ‘Soulful Bag’ b/w ‘Shout Down’ when it popped up in an auction years ago.

The thought of a Louis Chachere 45 that was not already inside my Hammond crates drove me nuts, so I followed the auction, tossed a little long green in that direction and within a week that very record was mine.

As far as I can tell, ‘Soulful Bag’ predates ‘The Hen’ (1968/1969) by a year or two. The only other 45 I’ve been able to track down on this label is a rockabilly 45 (Max Brown) from 1964 with a lower catalog number.

It was released on the Kansas City, MO label Central (two of the three 45 issues of ‘The Hen’ came out on other KC labels, MJC and Forte) and has an earlier, soulful but not yet funky sound.

There’s a definite groove going on, and while I haven’t been able to date it, my educated guess is that it sounds like a mid-60s release (and if anyone knows for sure, please do not hesitate to let me know).

Chachere opens strong, playing in unison with a sax, repeating the theme until he gets to open up a little on the organ. The sax player takes his turn, then the guitarist, then Chachere gets to solo extensively (at least as extensively as you can on a 45).

It’s got enough get up and go for the dancefloor, so if you’re lucky enough to find yourself a copy, don’t hesitate to whip it out at your next shindig.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you soon.

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.