Comments (5)

By Larry, May 22, 2012 3:02 pm

The Mighty Imperials LP

Listen/Download The Mighty Imperials – Thunder Chicken

Greetings all.

I am happy to pop back up here with an unexpected mid-week surprise post.

First off, I wanted to let you all know that there is a new, extra groovy Funky16Corners-related sticker on the way.

I’m not going to say what it is right now, but I assure you that you will dig it and want to use it to deface both your own, and other people’s personal property, marking your territory like any proper soul fan would.

I’ll be selling these stickers at a nominal cost. There are a few old Funky16Corners bumper sticker requests pending (thanks to the clusterfuck our lives have become around here) but if you good folks will hang tight I’ll toss one of the new stickers in the envelope and mail them out as soon as they get here.

That said, I have often used the term “slept on’ in this space to indicate when I (or anyone else) ought to have been aware of a particularly good piece of music (or artist) and was not.

Such is the case with the bone-rattling 45 I bring to you today.

While I would not describe myself as a rabid fan of a lot of modern soul and funk in the retro stylee, I do know what I like and when I hear it it goes into the rotation, both personally and on the Funky16Corners Radio Show (Friday nights at 9PM on Viva Radio, or whenever you feel like it on your iPod).

A while back I was tuned into my friend Michael Newman’s Hinky Dinky Time Radio Show and he dropped a bomb that grabbed me by the ears and shook hard.

Michael does not focus solely on soul and funk, but has impeccable taste in pop, soul and rock, so what he does choose to air is outstanding, and today’s selection is no exception.

While I had heard of the Mighty Imperials – they are after all a part of the consistently remarkable Daptone organization – I had not heard any of their stuff.

When Michael dropped ‘Thunder Chicken’ into his playlist I was all like ‘What the hey?’ (in a good way) and all “I got to get me some of this!’

As soon as I discovered that this was in fact a new(ish) record I was even more pleased.

I have a fair amount of modern soul/funk/afrobeat on the Funky16Corners Radio Show, but there’s a lot more that I do not spin, because – as was the case 25 years ago in the retro garage/mod scene – sometimes, despite the best intentions, people end up sounding like they’re trying too hard, by which I mean the music ends up (for a variety of reasons) lacking a certain organic quality.

Nothing sucks more than soul or funk without one or the other (or both) and because I endeavor to provide the folks that come here (and to the radio show) with a certain level of quality, when I am served weak sauce, I send it back to the kitchen.

This, however, is not one of those times.

‘Thunder Chicken’ is, in a word, slamming.

As far as I can tell it is close to (or a little bit more than) a decade old, and I am embarrassed to admit to having missed the boat in the first place on account of I would have been spinning this one out in funk sets if I had it, which I didn’t, but I will now, ‘cuz I can, so there.

The whole band is cooking but extra special big ups go out to drummer Homer Steinweiss who comes correct.

So dig the mighty Imperials, and if you do, head on over to Daptone (or Amazon, or Ebay where their stuff is plentiful) and grab yourself some.

I’ll see you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (9)

By Larry, May 13, 2012 2:44 pm

The Mighty Duck

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

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

Listen/Download Booker T and the MGs – Chicken Pox

Listen/Download Booker T and the MGs – Melting Pot

Greetings all.

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

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

He was 70 years old.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He was a legend, and he will be missed.

See you later in the week.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (5)

By Larry, May 6, 2012 4:17 pm

The Samplers – Beastie Boys

The Sampled – clockwise from top left – Johnny Hammond Smith, Norman Whitfield,
Jimmy Smith, The Commodores, Jeremy Steig

Listen/Download Johnny Hammond Smith – Big Sur Suite

Original release – Higher Ground LP (Kudu 1974) – Sampled on Pass the Mic (Check Your Head LP 1992)

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Listen/Download Commodores – Machine Gun

Original Release – Machine Gun LP (Motown 1974) – Sampled on Hey Ladies (Paul’s Boutique LP 1989)

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Listen/Download Jeremy Steig – Howling For Judy

Original Release – Legwork LP (Solid State 1969) – Sampled on Sure Shot (Ill Communication LP 1994)

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Listen/Download Jimmy Smith – I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More Babe

Original Release – Blacksmith LP (Pride 1974) – Sampled on Professor Booty (Check Your Head LP 1992)

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Listen/Download Norman Whitfield/Rose Royce – Yo Yo

Original Release – Car Wash OST (MCA 1976) – Sampled On Shake Your Rump (Paul’s Boutique LP 1989)

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Listen/Download Afrique – Kissing My Love

Original Release – Soul Makossa LP (Mainstream 1973) – Sampled on Bodhisattva Vow (Ill Communication LP 1994)

___________________________________________________________________

Greetings all.

Welcome to another week here at the Corners du Fonque…

As has been mentioned several times recently most of what you’ve been reading here in the last few weeks was – due to necessity – prepared a few weeks in advance so as to facilitate the massive amount of commuting and other life-disrupting activities involved in my wife’s treatment (which, now that I mention it seems to be going well, so let’s keep those fingers crossed).

This weekend has been especially tiring, but the news of the passing of the mighty MCA, Adam Yauch could not be ignored, so as soon as we got home and rolled out of the Funky16Corners-mobile, I rolled into the record vault and got to work.

I have listened to hip hop, first passively (way back in the day) and then as a lightweight consumer with a focus therein on what I would consider dynamic use of sampled material.

You can’t really talk about that aspect of the game without giving props to the Beastie Boys.

Over the years the Beasties have played a big part in piqueing my interest in samples and by association the sounds sampled (why else would I have owned a copy of Alphonse Mouzon’s ‘Funky Snakefoot’) long before I was spinning (or writing about) funk, soul, jazz and rare groove.

Sampling/cut and paste is an art in which it’s not terribly difficult to separate the lazy slobs from the masters, i.e. being able to differentiate from someone who can lift a song wholesale and slap something new on it and someone who can hear a really interesting sound within another piece of music and re-purpose it in a way that makes your ears (and brain) perk up in admiration.

One of the dangers of trainspotting is that the listener runs the risk of getting lost in the component parts, losing sight of the forest for the digitally borrowed trees.

However, secure in the knowledge that good taste is sometimes its own reward, the best samples sound as good (or better) in their original form as they do when placed as a cog in another ‘machine’. Often (not always, obviously) groovy bits of sound are not sui generis, and are traceable back to an equally groovy “whole”, which is the case in the music I bring you today.

I like to think that the first time I had my mind blown by ‘Paul’s Boutique’ or ‘Check Your Head’ my crates (and ears) were deep enough that I recognized some of the coolest stuff, but at the same time I’m honest enough to admit that the ensuing years witnessed my recognition of some of that music for the first time (like the time my man Marshall down in DC dropped Jimmy Smith’s previously unknown – to me – version of ‘I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More Babe’ and the light bulb went off over my head).

It was in those moments of recognition that new digging targets were registered and I followed them into flea markets, record stores on onto the interwebs.

The cuts I bring you today are examples of some of my favorite Beastie Boys samples (drums, bass and guitar) out of my crates.

Some of them were things I already had, others, like the bass in ‘Big Sur Suite’ and ‘Yo Yo’ or the guitar in ‘Machine Gun’, I picked up first and discovered/recognized the sample(s) after the fact.

What all of them have in common, aside from the fact that they appealed to the Beasties, is that they are all worth listening to in their entirety.

Maybe some of you will be hearing the complete songs for the first time.

I hope you dig them all, and I’ll see you later in the week.

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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, May 4, 2012 1:21 pm

Adam Yauch 1964 – 2012

Listen/Download Beastie Boys – Jimmy James (12″ Instro Mix)
Listen/Download Beastie Boys – Jimmy James (LP Mix)

NOTE: Files fixed…
Greetings all.

Well, isn’t this a drag of monumental proportions?

I was just surfing the web this morning when I saw the news that the mighty MCA, Adam Yauch had succumbed to cancer at the age of 47.

Though I reference the world of hip hop in this space often, I have never posted any here, until today.

I own a grip of Beastie Boys stuff on CD but the only vinyl record of theirs is the one you see before you today.

I’m a big fan of sample-based music/turntablism/remix culture, but I really (REALLY) dig it when it’s funky (Jungle Brothers, ATCQ etc) , and it doesn’t get much funkier than ‘Jimmy James’.

With the (multiple) Jimi Hendrix samples (and those Turtles drums) and the various and sundry vinyl manipulations ‘Jimmy James’ rocks the house in a big way.

I’m including the 12″ mix and the LP mix both.

MCA was a righteous dude, musician, humanitarian, husband and father.

He will be missed.

See you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

PS Fuck cancer…

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

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (5)

By Larry, April 22, 2012 1:23 pm

Quartette Tres Bien

Listen/Download Quartette Tres Bien – Boss Tres Bien

Greetings all.

I hope all is well in your end of the universe.

The tune I bring you today is yet another example of why, when you’re out doing the DJ thing you need to keep your ears wide open.

Back in the olden days, when the mighty Asbury Park 45 Sessions crew still walked the earth my man DJ Prestige augmented the Avengers of funk and soul with a stellar slate of guest selectors.

It was in March of 2008 that we were joined by the mighty Dave Withers who came to the decks packing serious heat.

Withers was a formidable selector, not only in the rarity of his 45s but in the diversity and imagination of his selections. I was introduced to at least a half dozen incredibly good tracks during his set, one of which you see before you today.

I had never heard of the Quartette Tres Bien before, but once I heard ‘Boss Trest Bien’ my wig was good and truly flipped.

Quartette Tres Bien got their start playing and recording in their native St Louis, before being picked up for national distribution by Decca in 1964.

‘Boss Tres Bien’ appeared on their debut LP that year, and is a remarkable bit of soul jazz.

The group, led by pianist Jeter Thompson, bassist Richard Simmons, drummer Albert St James and percussionist Percy James (the real key to this particular record) went on to record several albums for Decca through the 60s.

The LP edit of ‘Boss Tres Bien’ (the in-demand 45 edit is about two minutes shorter) starts out with some brilliant interplay between St James and James (dig that crazy bass drum action) trading licks on the traps and the bongos, before the bass and piano join in.

Once things build up a full head of steam a hand-clapping audience pushes the group harder and faster. You have to hang in for when the drummer and bassist start passing the baton back and forth.

It is a thing of wonder, and ought to be much better known.

Now you know it.

Dig it, and I’ll be back later this week.

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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, March 29, 2012 2:57 pm

Grant Green

Listen/Download Grant Green – Never Can Say Goodbye

Greetings all.

I should start off by reminding you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the airwaves of the interwebs this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t join us at airtime, make sure to fall by the blog and pick yourself up an MP3 of the show (or dip into the extensive Radio Show archives with almost 100 past episodes).

I should also mention that I’ll be joining the HPRS vinyl collective to sell some records this Saturday 3/31. The sale runs from 11-5 at 960 Green Street in Iselin, NJ (not too far off of Rt1). I’ll have a couple of boxes of LPs (lots of soul jazz and 60s rock) as well as a few boxes of 45s (funk, soul, jazz, rock etc) and some ephemera. If you’re in the area and have a taste for records come by and sample the wares.

The tune I bring you today is a stellar cover of what in unquestionably one of my all time favorite songs.

When I was a kid, Clifton Davis was famous as an actor, which is why I was shocked years later to discover that he was responsible for composing ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’.

Whether it is in the original hit version by the Jackson Five (1971), the epic disco reading by Gloria Gaynor (1974) or even in the slow burn by Isaac Hayes, the song has a remarkably powerful melody that has drilled itself deep into my brain.

I pick up covers of the song wherever I find them, which is why I grabbed (first) the 45 of Grant Green’s version, and then years later the LP from which it was pulled, 1971’s ‘Visions’ (which is where this recording is from).

Green takes a slow, late-night approach to the tune with some very nice soloing, but the real key to why this particular arrangement resonates with me is Billy Wooten’s vibes.

Known to crate diggers and collectors as the man behind the Wooden Glass (a group that also included pianist Emmanuel Riggins, who also joined Wooten in Green’s band and plays on this date), Wooten also contributed to a few albums by the Soulful Strings and Richard Evans.

Wooten’s vibes add a ringing counterpoint to the guitar and electric piano, bouncing between the right and left channels, becoming in many ways the heart of the record.

It’s a wonderful interpretation of the song and one of my faves.

I hope you dig it too, and I’ll see you all next week.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, March 27, 2012 11:27 am

Brother Jack McDuff Brand Toilet Tissue and Corn Flakes!

Listen/Download Brother Jack McDuff – Soul Yodel

Greetings all.

I come to you midweek with a very tasty groove indeed.

A while back one of my Facebook friends (I forget who, so forgive me) posted the track you see before you today and I was, as they used to say, gassed.

You know that I ride hard for the Hammond grooves, whether they be packed tightly into 45s or spread out generously over an LP. It is in that subset that Brother Jack McDuff holds an especially high place of honor.

His discography is stuffed to the rafters with goodness, from the old-school, smoky bar groove grease to the new(er) school funky workouts, of which today’s selection is among the latter.

McDuff’s funky sounds – it must be noted – are of superlative quality, as inventive as they are purely funky, as the legendary ‘Moon Rappin’ album testifies.

Brother Jack was never one to sit back and ride the groove, and was able to take what one might consider to be ‘unusual’ raw material (like, say a yodel…) and work it up into something extraordinary.

‘Soul Yodel’ (sounds like a welcome addition to the snack cake aisle) is a very cool number indeed.

Included on the 1972 album ‘Check It Out’ was recorded live at the Mandrake Club in Berkeley, California and is at times reminiscent of Jimmy Smith’s ‘Root Down’.

The tune opens with a thumping bass figure (provided by Richard Davis) with some tasty drum work by Ron Davis. Where things get really interesting is upon the arrival of guitarist Vinnie Corrao who lays down some delicious wah-wah-ology.

This is of interest to NJ funk fans because it was none other than Mr. Corrao who played guitar on the sole 45 by The Touch, ‘Pick and Shovel’ b/w ‘Blue On Green’.

Oddly, as deep as the groove is here, it does not include a lot of organ (certainly not a solo). It’s mainly a feature for the band – especially Corrao – which is groovy too.

That said, I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Friday.

Peace

Larry

PS Don’t forget that I’ll be joining the HPRS vinyl collective to sell some records this coming Saturday 3/31. The sale runs from 11-5 at 960 Green Street in Iselin, NJ (not too far off of Rt1). I’ll have a couple of boxes of LPs (lots of soul jazz and 60s rock) as well as a few boxes of 45s (funk, soul, jazz, rock etc) and some ephemera. If you’re in the area and have a taste for records come by and sample the wares.

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, March 15, 2012 2:48 pm

Leon Spencer 1945-2012

Listen/Download Leon Spencer – Message From the Meters

Listen/Download Leon Spencer – The Slide

Listen/Download Melvin Sparks (feat Leon Spencer) – Thank You Pt1

Listen/Download Melvin Sparks (feat Leon Spencer) – Thank You Pt2

Greetings all.

It is – as always – time to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the airwaves of the interwebs this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t join us at airtime, make sure to fall by the blog and pick yourself up an MP3 of the show (or dip into the extensive Radio Show archives with almost 100 past episodes).

I had something else planned for today, but last night word started to filer through the haze of the interwebs that one of my favorite past masters of the Hammond organ, the mighty Leon Spencer, had passed away.

I have yet to locate any real details, but when I do I will pass them on.

Spencer may not have been a household name (except for my house, maybe) but he was a very important figure of the crucial, funky, soul jazz years of the late 60s and early 70s.

He only recorded a few albums as a leader (between 1971 and 1974) but was a very prominent sideman on Prestige and Blue Note dates, backing cats like Lou Donaldson, Melvin Sparks, Rusty Bryant, Gene Ammons and others.

I’m posting four cuts for your listening pleasure today.

The first two (recorded 12/7/70) , Spencer’s cover of “Message From the Meters” and his original “The Slide” appeared on his Prestige LP, ‘Sneak Preview’. The all-star group, featuring Melvin Sparks, Idris Muhammad and Grover Washington Jr really bring the funk on the Meters tune, and get to settle into a more relaxed groove on ‘The Slide’.

The third features an example of Spencer’s work as a sideman (recorded 9/14/70*), backing Sparks (again with Muhammad) on his ‘Sparks’ LP, covering Sly and the Family Stone’s ‘Thank You (Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)’. I’m posting both halves of the 45 since you get to hear Spencer stretch out a little bot more on part two.

Leon Spencer had a fluid, economical style that always demonstrated an ability to weave in and out of the groove. His playing was clearly deep inside the soul jazz “thing” while also being consistently inventive, something that cannot be said of all organists active in the period.

He will be missed.

See you on Monday with some more soul.

Peace

Larry

*Trumpeter Virgil Jones appears on both dates as well

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (10)

By Larry, February 22, 2012 11:56 am

Packy Axton (2nd from left) with some Memphis heavies…

Listen/Download -Martinis – Hung Over

Greetings all.

First, some important news.

The day before yesterday I found out that I was going to have to change the domain where the Funky16Corners Blog and web zine reside. Unfortunately I had very little notice and the change was made rather hastily.

As a result, a lot of people that come looking for the blog using the old funky16corners.lunarpages.net links are going to find NOTHING. If you use the www.funky16corners.com, or just funky16corners.com (no WWW) you’ll still get here.

The problem is, blogging being what it is, a lot of the incoming links are located in places where they aren’t likely to get changed any time soon, and it’s going to take Google a while to rediscover the content here.

In the interim, I would appreciate it, that if you’re associated with a blog or website that links here, please adjust the links accordingly. If not, please just pass the word along, via Twitter or Facebook, that we have moved.

As I explained briefly yesterday, the switch over to the new domain should appear largely seamless – completely so in regard to new content – but there will be some effect on older stuff.

The graphics have to be restored to all posts prior to last November.

The links should be working in the Radio Show, Podcast, Guest Mix and Soul Club archives. If you find any broken links, please let me know.

This is an especially hectic and stressful time already, and I may have missed something here or there.

Thanks – as always – for your patience.

__________________________________________________________________________________

That said, today’s selection is one of those records that have been staple in my crates for a long, long time, and I can’t honestly say why I never featured it before.

Why am I posting it now, you may ask?

Because it is, quite suddenly, timely.

A while back I provided some very minor assistance in the research for the folks assembling the Light In the Attic compilation ‘Charles Packy Axton: Late Late Party: 1965-1967’ for which they very graciously (and surprisingly) thanked me in the liner notes.

Long-time readers of the blog will be aware that packy Axton features prominently in one of my favorite sagas, that being the story of the Packers ‘Hole In the Wall’ (more here) and its reappearance as a single by a cat named Joe S Maxey (as well as the vocal cover by the Other Brothers).

Ever since being clued into the various recorded exploits of Charles Packy Axton in Rob Bowman’s excellent book ‘Soulville USA: The Story of Stax Records’ I have picked up Packers record where and whenever I find them.

Axton, the son of Stax co-founder Estelle Axton, was a saxophonist and a hard living party animal who expired prematurely in 1974 at the age of 32.

He was, through the 60s a member of the Mar-Keys, and recorded with a revolving cast of characters (that often included Stax heavies and the Hodges brothers of the Hi records house band) under the names the Packers, the Martinis and the Pac-Keys, as well as providing backing for singles by singers LH White and Stacy Lane.

Thes 45s are collected in the aforementioned Light In the Attic comp, which if greasy, low down R&B and soul is your bag, ought to be on your shopping list.

The tune I bring you today, ‘Hung Over’ is the very essence of smoky, late night grooves, until it is rudely interrupted by the sound of someone making a very loud noise, which I (and many others) assumed was simulated (?) vomiting, but according to the liner notes of the comp, was actually Packy’s version of an angry growl.

The flip side, ‘Late Late Party’ is built on the same frame.

The various and sundry Axton-related 45s run from not too expensive to very much so, so if you’re not dedicated to finding them and shaking out your wallet, picking up the CD might be a better idea.

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

Peace

Larry

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, February 12, 2012 2:53 pm

Listen/Download -Bobby Hollaway – Cornbread, Hog Maws and Chitterlins

Greetings all.

Welcome to another week here at the madhouse with sixteen funky corners.

I have to begin by telling you all, that if you intend to click on the MP3 link in today’s post that you should really strap yourselves in.

One of the most important part of being a good DJ is taste, not only ones own, but the ability to recognize it in others.

Over the years I’ve come to trust the opinions of several DJs/collectors, one of whom is the mighty Midnight Cowbwoy down in Crackalack.

He’s one of those guys who has excellent taste in music, and who is always putting excellent stuff in his playlists that I haven’t heard before.

Late last year, when I posted a couple of versions of ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ in this very space, he mentioned to me that I ought to pick up a 45 by a cat named Bobby Hollaway called ‘Funky Little Drummer Boy’.

It wasn’t long before I found a copy and grabbed it sight unheard.

So, a few days go by and the record in question falls through the mail slot and I promptly carry it to the turntable where I placed it under the needle with care.

As soon as it started spinning I knew it would be featured prominently during the Funky16Corners Christmas 2012 festivities.

That said, I then flipped the disc over and saw that the B-side was entitled ‘Cornbread, Hog Maws and Chitterlins’, and since I can’t very well see a title like that and not play the record, I gave it a spin.

Holy shit…

It was like finding a ten dollar bill, flipping it over and realizing that the number in the corner was really ‘100’!

The song in question is just a hair under two minutes of fast-moving, spellbinding, hair-raising, ass-kicking (there was a special on hyphens down at the blog store!) instrumental soul.

Wham bam thank you ma’am – as the saying goes – what you get here is some greasy organ, hard-hitting drums, saxo-mo-phone and fatback guitar – all piled up on a paper plate and slathered in gravy.

The whole thing is like a stick of dynamite, but it’d be worth it if all you got to hear was the drums at the beginning of every chorus.

I haven’t been able to nail down any info on Bobby Hollaway, but once again, reading the fine print on the label provides some important clues.

I noticed that the record had been produced by Bobbie Howard (which sounded familiar) so I set out into the interwebs and discovered that this was in all likelihood the very same Bobbie Howard who had been in Washington, DC-area band the British Walkers.

The British Walkers were an R&B/garage/beat band who’s ranks included the likes of Roy Buchanan and John Hall.

Howard was also responsible for the Mod fave ‘Sh’Mon’ – released under the name Mr. Dynamite – and was in a band called The Sweet (not the UK band).

Interestingly enough, The Sweet’s 45 on Smash, produced by and featuring Bobbie Howard is exactly one catalog number down the list from the Bobby Hollaway 45.

Whether ‘Bobby Hollaway’ was a DC-area musician (sax or organ?) or a pseudonym for somebody else, I do not know, and if one of you does know, I would appreciate you dropping me a line clearing this whole thing up on account of I LOVE this record.

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, February 5, 2012 1:23 pm

Listen/Download -Jesse Gresham Plus Three – Bust Out

Greetings all.

Welcome to another week here at the Corners.

The tune I bring you today is something I’ve had warming up my crates for many years, that I knew almost nothing about.

I picked up my first Jesse Gresham Plus Three 45, ‘Shootin’ the Grease’ way back in the way back, and dug it for its organ groove grease, but also because it was on a strange label (Head) with a Robert Parker hit (‘Barefootin’) inexplicably placed on its flip side.

A few years after that score, I happened upon today’s selection, ‘Bust Out’ and then later heard (but have yet to score a copy of) ‘The Penguin’.

‘Bust Out’ has always tickled my fancy because, in the late period Merl Saunders/Toussaint McCall stylee,  it features the keyboard player doing double duty on the organ and the electric piano.

I had been unable to find any information about Gresham, until I recently set to Googling and happened upon a page on the Mississippi Blues Trail site, where in an article about the Staple Singers, they happened to mention several other musicians who worked out of the Drew, Mississippi area, one of whom was Jesse Gresham.

The site mentioned that Gresham was a keyboard player, who also worked as a school teacher and who had become a minister.

I adjusted my search criteria, and found a comment on the mighty Home of the Groove blog from the researcher who had written the Blues Trail page, who fleshed out the Jesse Gresham Plus Three story somewhat.

Apparently Gresham and his band worked out of the Clarksdale, MS area and recorded their one session in Memphis, TN. The group featured Gresham on keys, Johnny Agnew on guitar, Larry Haggans on bass and Nathaniel Jefferson on drums (Agnew and Haggans get writing credit on this cut).

That the group’s entire output was limited to a single session isn’t surprising, since all that appears to exist is the two sides of today’s 45, plus two different edits of the song that appeared first as ‘Shootin’ the Grease’ and later as ‘The Penguin Pts 1&2’.

All told, for a three-song run, they were pretty much batting .1000.

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back on Wednesday with something cool.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (5)

By Larry, February 2, 2012 4:11 pm

Booker T and the MGs

Listen/Download -Booker T and the MGs – Plum Nellie

Greetings all.

The end of another week is finally upon us.

Things are so busy/topsy turvy these days that the end of the week has lost almost all meaning (other than the fact that the boys get the weekend off).

It seems sometimes as if we’re lost in a blur marked by the analog “hospital/no hospital”.

This is not to say that that my wife’s health situation has gotten worse, because it hasn’t, but rather that the grind of treatment and the ensuing disruption of what little routine we could depend on tends to leave us in a fog of sorts, composed of equal parts confusion, boredom and angst.

That said, one of the things you can depend on is that if Friday is here, so is the latest episode of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. We have a very special episode this week, composed entirely of a tribute to Etta James and Johnny Otis. It will hit the airwaves of the interwebs this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t make it at airtime, you can always fall by this very spot over the weekend when and where I post a downloadable MP3 of every week’s show (see the Radio Show tab in the header).

The tune I have chosen to close out the week this time is a veritable audio grease fire from the Memphis law firm of Jones, Cropper, Jackson and Dunn.

I am not ashamed to admit that the first time I heard the song ‘Plum Nellie’ is was on a Small Faces record, since Messrs Marriott, Jones, McGlagan and Lane were a big part of my ear-filling during the Mod/garage days of the 80s.

Though the Small Faces version (released in 67, but a part of their repertoire prior) of the tune is a killer, there is simply no getting past the fact that when Booker T and the MGs set foot in the Stax studio in 1963 they were gunning for bear.

Though – like every other largely instrumental unit of the day – the MGs recorded their share of filler (though even that was soulful) when they were at their best they were very, very heavy, and ‘Plum Nellie’ is a great example of that very heaviosity.

Opening with some whipcrack guitar from Steve Cropper, the tune settles into a ‘Green Onion’-y pace, but with a much grittier overall vibe. The horn arrangement is inspired, boiling up menacingly when needed. There’s a particularly inspired moment (at around 1:20) when the horns rise up and seemingly morph into Cropper’s guitar which then opens up into a raging solo.

The whole affair comes to a close at around the two-minute mark, and my thought is, had they taken it any further, they may have burned the studio down.

It’s that hot.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all next week.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.