Comments (1)

By Larry, September 11, 2011 10:46 am

Listen/Download – Natural Gas – Live and Learn

Listen/Download – Natural Gas – Rameses 1

Greetings all.

I hope everyone had themselves a groovy weekend and took the time to check out the Wardell Quezergue-related sounds. I also hope you took the time to paddle out into the wilds of the intertubes in search of a little more of his story (and history). He was an important figure in the sound of New Orleans and deserves to be remembered (and the music he made, heard).

So, now that the new week is here, how about some of the funky, jazzy horn rock sound??

I picked up the sole LP by the Canadian band Natural Gas a few years back when it popped up on a sale list with an intriguing description (probably something along the lines of ‘funky horn rock’) and an equally intriguing price tag. I’d never heard of the band, but all signs pointed to “BUY”, so I did, and when it came through the mail slot onto the turntable I knew that I’d done a groovy thing.

Natural Gas (could they have selected a more un-Google-icious name?) hailed – as mentioned – from north of the border and put out their only album in 1970 on the Firebird label.

Though I can’t tell you much about the band itself (one of their tracks, a cover of ‘Eleanor Rigby’ already appeared here in F16C Radio v.74 ‘Day Tripping’), it has roots (via singer George Olliver) in the prime of Canadian 60s rock, first with the Rogues, and then in the much more successful soul-rock outfit Mandala.

Olliver left Mandala in 1969 to for Natural Gas.

If I were to describe the Natural Gas sound, I’d say a slightly more progressive take on the horn-rock vibe of the time (led of course by Blood Sweat and Tears, which was helmed by David Clayton Thomas who for a brief time had been in the Rogues with Olliver).

That the sound was verily omnipresent for a few years should be evident to anyone with a passing acquaintance with the era, with bands that were first and foremost a horn driven thang, with the BS&Ts, Chicagos, as well many soulful or jazz-inspired rock bands of the day (like Melting Pot) packing a horn section.

There is of course the question of fusion, but it’s probably more accurate (at least as I see it) to assign pre-existing jazzers attempting (with varying degrees of success) to rockify their sound with that term, where most of what I’m talking about could loosely be called jazz rock.

Much of what fell under the jazz rock sound is in retrospect often guilty of musical overreaching, with musicians who’s hearts might have been in the right place but who’s chops and or ears were not up to the task, making for cluttered, sometime clumsy attempts at jazz which were simultaneously overcooked versions of rock.

Naturally, it was the late 60s and early 70s and hordes of drugged out kids with their feet in the mud couldn’t have cared less as long as they could keep grooving, and now, forty years on, a lot of that stuff doesn’t hold up well as either jazz or rock.

That said, I find that despite their undeserved obscurity, Natural Gas were actually pretty good, with enough compositional and technical wherewithal to create music that was sonically interesting and – it bears mentioning – rarely overbearing.

The two tracks I bring you this fine day exhibit two sides of the band.

The first, ‘Live and Learn’ is a slightly funky excursion featuring Olliver’s vocals running in and out of a tight instrumental backing. The band is tight, and the horn charts are tasteful, with the two sections of the group actually working together cooperatively (not always the case with these things). Olliver was a good singer, generally free of the sloppy, white soulboy-isms of many of his contemporaries. I’ll have to dig out a Mandala 45 and post it so you can get a taste for his earlier work.

The second cut, the instrumental ‘Rameses 1’ starts out as a Hammond groover, evolving into a more expansive jazz tableau, featuring some cool guitar. There are whispers of UK prog around the edges, but the organ drops out and the piano comes in (around the 2:00 mark) before it really unfolds too much. The remaining six minutes is split between contemplative piano, swinging, small-group action, and then a gradual return of the horn section.

It is – especially for the time – a work of remarkable good taste and subtlety, the band never straying outside the boundaries of their instrumental (or compositional) prowess.

The album ought to be better known.

George Olliver still performs and records today.

______________________________________________________________________________

Don’t forget that I’ll be spinning some tunes during the annual Point Pleasant Lions Seafood 5K and 1 Mile FUN Run/Walk on Saturday, September 17th in Pt Pleasant Beach, NJ. The run benefits the JT Foundation for Autism Awareness and runs right before the Seafood Fest (which starts at 10AM). I’ll be spinning all of the funk soul and disco you’d expect, so if you’re in the area, come on down and run, sit and watch people run while listening to music, or get your groove on before hunting down some delicious seafood. It’s a great cause and there’ll be good music, good people and good food, so what else do you need to know?

____________________________________________________________________________________

I hope you dig the tunes, 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 (2)

By Larry, August 18, 2011 1:15 pm

Shades of Joy from the cover of their 1969 album

Listen/Download – Shades of Joy – Flute In a Quarry (45 Edit)

Greetings all.

We’ve all packed away another week on the calendar, and I for one feel that it was well spent.

This has been a fairly (heh…fairly…) busy summer hereabouts, but a lot of the busy has been the good and productive kind, so I can’t really complain.

Since it is the end of the week, I should remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be back this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, with the funk, the soul, the jazz and the rare groove for your ears, your head and your heart, and if you can’t be huddled by the wireless set at airtime you can always pull down the ones and zeros of its convenient MP3 form over the weekend.

The tune I bring you today is something a little different with an interesting back story.

I don’t recall where I first heard of the Shades of Joy, but I do recall that it had something to do with Alejandro Jodorowsky’s epic cult film, ‘El Topo’.

While I have never seen ‘El Topo’ in the proper way (i.e. with a box of popcorn and my undivided attention) I did get to watch it play in a loop (and DJ in front of it) during a particularly memorable Asbury Park 45 Sessions.

It’s a crazy flick, and ironically, I did not actually hear any of it that night.

I say ironically since the 45 I bring you today is in fact a sampling (a 45 edit bringing you just under three minutes of a seven minute plus album track*) of that very soundtrack.

The group Shades of Joy was a SanFran Bay Area fixture in the late 60s and early 70s. Their leader, saxophonist Martin Fierro arranged the music that Jodorowsky composed for ‘El Topo’ and the Shades of Joy (augmented by other Bay heads like Frank Morin of the Sir Douglas Quintet** and keyboardist Howard Wales***) played.

The Shades of Joy had recorded a full LP for the Fontana label in 1969 (‘El Topo’ came out in 1970) but it appears that they recorded the soundtrack without their singer Millie Foster.

‘Flute In A Quarry’ is a very cool, somewhat progressive slice of funky, Latin-influenced jazz rock (dig the percussion). Considering the Bay Area roots, the temptation is to make a Santana reference, but the sound here is funkier and jazzier (and less Latin) than Carlos et al. In fact, Fierro’s tenor sax work is very edgy and light years beyond what you might expect from similarly shaped horn bands of the era.

The LP was produced by Jimi Hendrix producer Alan Douglas, and someone going by the name of Doris Dynamite (sounds like an R. Crumb creation).

It’s a cool tune, and I hope you dig it.

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

Peace

Larry

*The full length version from the ‘El Topo’ soundtrack included longer “mellow” sections and an extended guitar solo
**I’ve seen references that indicate that Fierro also played with the SDQ
***Wales was the man behind A.B. Skhyy and the in demand 45 ‘Huxley’s Howl’

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 (4)

By Larry, August 16, 2011 3:09 pm

Ike tries to hitch a ride…

The Family Vibes speeds by trying to act like they didn’t notice…

Listen/Download – Ike Turner Presents the Family Vibes – the Scratch

Greetings all.

Before we get started I’d like to let you all know that if you dig the pop side of the 60s, with the garage, and the psyche, and the sunshine pop and what not you might want to fall by our sister blog, Iron Leg and check out the  Iron Leg Radio Show. It’s currently anchored at the blog (no interwebs radio station, but if someone knows one with an open slot, speak up) and is now up to four episodes.

The shows run around 90 minutes and I do them once a month. The format is very similar to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, but the content is slanted along the pop side of the spectrum.

If that sounds like something you’d dig, pop on over there and pull down the ones and zeros.

So, the middle of the week is here and I figured it was past time to dig into the archives and pluck out a little bit of Ike.

Turner, that is….

Ike has appeared in this space a couple of times over the years, sometimes with the mighty Tina, sometimes without.

A few years I was out a-digging and I happened upon a permutation of the Ike Turner discography that I’d never seen before, aka Ike Turner presents the Family Vibes.

Though there doesn’t appear to be a whole lot of info out there on this period, what I have found seems to indicate that the Family Vibes were in fact the Kings of Rhythm (1973 edition) with a new name and a new sound.

Though I think even the staunchest mathematician would have a hell of a time drawing, a line between ‘New Breed Pts 1&2’ and today’s selection (I think Archimedes locates the intersection of the two somewhere within the area of Ike), the song in question is without a doubt funky.

If you were a student of the funk and gave ‘The Scratch’ even a single listen, I think you’d probably be able to place it within a year or two of the correct spot on the timeline. It has within it the sound of an era where rock bands were getting funky, and funk bands were getting rock-y and the lines were getting blurred (not just by the drugs).

Even the cover art and its airbrushed pseudo-Keep On Truckin-isms are practically waving a calendar in your face.

I’m not sure why Ike was trying to rebrand the Kings (there were at least two albums under this name) though trying to glom onto the rep of another famous, funky family (the Stones of SanFran) doesn’t seem out of the question. That and Family Vibes sounds a lot more 1970s-ish with the Kings of Rhythm sounding like a bunch of cheap tuxedos on a cruise ship.

This was released around the time Ike and Tina were hitting the charts with ‘Nutbush City Limits’ and probably still squeezing a little juice out of their huge 1971 hit ‘Proud Mary’ so I can understand why UA would invest a couple of albums worth of time and money in the group (that and it was the early 70s when most record companies were releasing veritable mountains of product in a coke addled haze).

That said, ‘The Scratch’ derives its funk from a loose, wobble-legged guitar line and nice fat bass line plodding along underneath as well as some nice, era-specific synth action.

It is all very redolent of bell-bottoms, cheap wine and sounds like something that might come wafting out of the window of a customized van, rocking behind a convenience store on a Saturday night.

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

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, August 11, 2011 11:48 am

Billy Larkin (right) and the Delegates

Listen/Download – Billy Larkin and the Delegates – Agent Double O Soul

Greetings all.

The end of another long, hot, summer week is finally upon us and I have to say that despite all the sweating and sweltering, this has been a most excellent season.

There have been many prime DJ opportunities – which is especially groovy since I dig nothing more than tossing a few sets worth of 45s into the record box(es) and heading out to spin them for the peeps – a few extraordinarily lucky vinyl acquisitions, as well as a grip of the usual family-type summer hijinks.

Among the blogging-type things was the recording and mixdown of a couple of radio shows, including this week’s Funky16Corners Radio Show which will be hitting the airwaves of the interwebs this (and every) Friday evening at 9PM on Viva Radio. This week’s show is packed with snappy new arrivals, some tasty New Orleans funk and lots of groovy Northern and othern soul. If you can’t tune in at airtime you can always come by the blog over the weekend to pick the show up in MP3 form.

One of the highlights of the last week was the arrival of an unexpected package in the post.

I went out to empty the mailbox, and I found a 45 mailer (not surprising). What was unusual was how heavy the box was.
I didn’t recall ordering any lead ingots, so I took the box inside and opened it carefully.

What I found was a surprise package from my old buddy Haim (as serious a record head as there is) filled with a nice, fat stack of jazz and soul jazz jukebox EPs.

He just “thought I’d like them”.

How about that?

I’ve known Haim for a long time and when he was resident in this part of the country we went out digging together quite a few times and he was unfailingly generous in word and deed, not to mention the fact that his wealth of musical knowledge (a big factor in the formation of my tastes at the time) made him an ideal digging partner.

It’s always cool to hit the crates with someone who has a complementary digging skill set. You know stuff they don’t and vice versa, and at the end of the day you’re very likely to come away with a grip of solid stuff that you mightn’t have discovered on your own.

That said, we are now on opposite sides of the continent and our communication is largely restricted to the on-line and postal varieties, the latter bringing this week’s bounty.

Though I have yet to reach the bottom of the stack, one of the gems I have managed to digimatize is today’s selection, a cover of Edwin Starr’s ‘Agent Double-O Soul’ by Billy Larkin and the Delegates.

Mr. Larkin and his compadres have appeared in a number of Funky16Corners Radio mixes but I was shocked to discover that in the many years this enterprise has been extant they have never had a post of their own.

I have been remiss…

In order to remedy this a-blog-mination, I bring you today’s very tasty selection.

The PNW-based Larkin and the Delegates recorded a bunch of albums for Aura/World Pacific in the 60s in the standard Hammond combo mode, laying down a couple of certified classics (like ‘Pigmy Pts 1&2’) in the process.

‘Agent Double-O Soul’ was recorded many times, vocally and instrumentally, but I never heard Larkin’s version before this week, andI’d have to say that it is definitely among the best.

I don’t normally do this, but I will begin by suggesting that you give this track a listen on headphones with a good bass response or a loud sound system, because you will not get the full effect of the track if you don’t.

Like Toussaint McCall’s tour de force ‘Shimmy’, Billy Larkin’s ‘Agent Double-O Soul’ is a fantastic example of a Hammond-master hard at work with the bass pedals of his instrument.

Here you get the classic organ trio (Hammond, guitar and drums) at work, with Larkin’s feet playing a walking (no pun intended) bass figure on the pedals of the organ.

If you’re not familiar with the set-up I’m describing, set to Googling and check it out, on account of when it’s done right it’s truly a thing to behold.

I remember reading an interview with Jimmy Smith maybe 25 years ago where the master stated that if you weren’t playing the top and the bottom of the organ, you weren’t really playing it at all, and Billy Larkin could play it.

This version of ‘Agent Double-O Soul’ is a prime slice of mod, dancefloor soul jazz, due in large part to that throbbing bass, and the snare drum/handclaps (I think it’s a combo of the two) on the beat.

It swings like sixty.

I for one cannot wait for the opportunity to give this a spin on a nice, loud sound system.

Until then, crank up the volume on your home system, grab yourself a cold drink  and cut yourself a slice of rug.

See you on Monday.

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 (3)

By Larry, July 21, 2011 7:58 am

Idris lays into the traps…

Listen/Download – Idris Muhammad – Express Yourself

Greetings all.

I hope all is well on your end of the interwebs.

This being a truncated week – having allowed for a little marination with the Jerry Ragovoy tribute – I figured I’d close out the week with something funky.

First, it behooves me to step to the side and remind you all that Friday night at 9PM is Funky16Corners Radio Show time on Viva Radio, wherein I fall by with my big box of records and some words and fill the airwaves with soulful goodness. All of the shows are then MP3-ified and posted in the F16C Radio Show archive at the blog (here, in fact) where you can pull down the ones and zeros at your leisure.

I should also mention that this past Monday’s festivities at Botanica, wherein yours truly, joined by M-Fasis and DJ Hambone laid down several hours of tasty funk and soul to a very groovy crowd. Hopefully I can get some of the recorded sets posted in the next few weeks.  Thanks also to Dan behind the bar for the ginger beer.

That said, I came upon today’s selection fairly recently.

I’ll go ahead and assume that most of you have at least a passing acquaintance with the name Idris Muhammad.

What I’ll also say is, that I don’t think many folks know that Mr. Muhammad was born with the much less exotic name of Leo Morris, and was a New Orleans homeboy of folks like the mighty Neville Brothers. Morris/Muhammad came from a family of drummers, and as a teenager played alongside Art Neville’s Hawketts, Joe Jones and Fats Domino among others.

He relocated to New York in the early 60s and established himself as a jazz drummer, joining the band of Lou Donaldson, and spending the second half of the 60s and the early 70s recording soul jazz behind leaders like Donaldson, Grant Green, Leon Spencer and Lonnie Smith. Like guitarist Melvin Sparks (who plays on today’s selection) Muhammad seemed to specialize in backing organ sessions.

Now, when I got this 45, I blanked on the fact that the flip side was a cover of James Brown’s ‘Super Bad’, which was a very nice surprise indeed and it kicks, and I’ll make sure to whip it on you sometime soon.

That said, the tune I’m posting today is Muhammad’s cover of Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band’s ‘Express Yourself’.

After I digimatize this particular 45 and transferred the files to the old iPod, I gave both sides repeated listens, focusing (natch) on Muhammad’s drums, which snap like a mofo, but what really grabbed me, and it ought to grab you too, is the fact that his playing on ‘Express Yourself’ positively screeeeeaaammmms NEW ORLEANS!

Yesiree Bob, unfold your ears and take a listen to the drums breakdown around the one minute and thirty nine second mark and the funk gets all loose and second line-y. Get your head inside of those drums and tell me if you don’t hear a little bit of James Black, an almost exact contemporary of Muhammad’s who also came up out of New Orleans to make his mark as a jazz drummer (but is best known for the funk).

Muhammad lays down about 20 seconds of absolute magic, dancing back and forth between his kick drum and his snare in a laid back tidal wave of syncopation that is utterly mind blowing.

While I was writing this I just keep running the marker back and playing the breakdown in a loop and it just got deeper every time.

I should also note that the band is very groovy, with some nice electric piano action from Harold Mabern.

It is a tasty number indeed, and ought to hold you fine people over the weekend until I return on Monday.

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 (6)

By Larry, July 14, 2011 11:07 am

Johnny ‘Hammond’ Smith

Alphonso ‘Fonce’ Mizell and Larry Mizell

Listen/Download – Johnny Hammond Smith – Shifting Gears (45 Edit)

Listen/Download – Johnny Hammond Smith – Los Conquistadores Chocolates (45 Edit)

Greetings all.

The end of another week is upon us, and while I am as always up to my substantial ass in alligators, they are all (for a change) well trained and waiting to be fed.

I will be taking to the airwaves of the interwebs once again this Friday night at 9PM for this week’s edition of the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio. This time out I have a very groovy, very summery set prepared, so if I was you I’d be muddling the mint and the lime for and icing up the mojitos since this will provide a better than suitable soundtrack for the sipping of hot weather beverages.

As always, if you have something better to do when the show airs, but still think that stuffing some groovy music into your ears will be beneficial, you can always stop by the blog over the weekend and pick the show up in MP3 form.

That said, if you’re in New York City on Monday night, 7/18 I will be manning the decks at Spindletop @ Botanica and will be joined by my friends M-Fasis and Joe Cristando for the spinning of the funky vinyl. I assure you that the sounds will be, in a word, oustand-a-licious (it’s made up, but it’s still a word), so you should fall by, see Dan at the bar about a cocktail and settle in for a night of good music.

As promised I will be using the end of week post to pay tribute to the passing of the great Alphonso ‘Fonce’ Mizell.

If you don’t know the name, Fonce Mizell, over the course of a career that lasted more than forty years left his mark on countless fantastic records.

He came up in Englewood, NJ alongside his brother Larry and their classmate Freddie Perren, all of whom eventually headed down to Howard University in Washington, DC (where they would cross paths with both Donny Hathway (student) and Donald Byrd (teacher).

Following graduation, Larry Mizell would detour for a time into a non-musical career as an engineer, and Fonce Mizell and Freddie Perren would head west to Los Angeles. They would both eventually be signed to Motown as staff writers, where they would eventually become (with Berry Gordy and Deke Richards) part of the songwriting and production team known as ‘The Corporation’.

The Corporation made their biggest mark working with the Jackson Five, writing and producing the group’s biggest early hits like ‘ABC’, ‘The Love You Save’ and ‘I Want You Back’.

After The Corporation went their separate ways in 1972, Larry and Fonce Mizell reunited, forming Sky High Productions, working in the studio with artists like Donald Byrd, Gary Bartz, Bobbie Humphrey, the Blackbyrds and today’s featured artist Johnny Hammond Smith.

The tracks featured today are the 45 edits of two tracks from Hammond’s 1975 ‘Gears’ LP (his second with the Mizells) , produced and almost completely written by Larry and Fonce Mizell. The album featured Sky High stalwarts like Harvey Mason (drums) and Chuck Rainey (bass) and both the Mizell brothers on backing vocals.

The oft-sampled ‘Shifting Gears’ is a funky electric piano showcase for Smith with fantastic contributions from Michael White on electric violin. The tune is a wonderful example of the Mizell brothers ability to craft a mixture of jazz fusion and funk with modern, dance floor-friendly production.

‘Los Conquistadores Chocolates’ is really the standout here, and a quick listen reveals why it was an early favorite at David Mancuso’s Loft parties and the disco scene in general. Opening with synthesized piano, drums, guitar, the tune bursts out into waves of stylish, synthesized strings. It never loses the propulsive power that so endeared it to the dancers, yet the Mizells and Smith manage to weave together a complex mixture of Smith’s Hammond organ, piano (electric and acoustic), vibes, guitar, drums and percussion that never gets crowded and is always pleasing and intriguing to the ear. The 45 edit omits the trippy opening interlude from the album, as well as the last minute and a half of the tune (you can hear the whole thing over at YouTube).

Though the Mizells did much to move fusion forward in the first half of the 70s, they moved on to have their biggest success producing Taste of Honey (who’s ‘Boogie Oogie Oogie’ was the Mizell brothers biggest hit) and LTD.

The brothers retired in the early 80s.

Fonce Mizell was 68.

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

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 (0)

By Larry, July 3, 2011 2:59 pm

Touch

Listen/Download – Touch – Love Hangover (Breaking Down)

Greetings all.

I hope all is groovy in whatever burgh you call home.

The first tune I’ll bring you this week is something very interesting that I happened upon during a recent, unscheduled dig.

A friend had dropped me a line that a local record store had gotten in an interesting collection, but regularly scheduled family stuff precluded a trip over there, so I figured I’d try to get over later in the week.

Then, the following day I had to do some Dad stuff, which just happened to end in the late morning, so I bundled up Thing 2 (the little guy) and took a drive North so that I might paw through the records in the hour before lunch.

Good thing too, because while the collection might not have been spectacular (the really heavy stuff was out of my price range or areas of interest) but I did score a grip of excellent jazz funk for about half the going rate, and a couple of cool looking things that were not familiar, but interesting (and cheap) enough that I figured I’d grab them.

The tune I bring you today was on one of them.

I’d never heard of the group Touch (no relation to ‘The Touch’), but since it was a mid-70s LP on Brunswick that I’d never heard of it definitely piqued my interest.

What really grabbed me though was the presence of a tune on the album entitled ‘Love Hangover (Breaking Down)’. I couldn’t remember who had written the Diana Ross tune, but it had a Jobete publishing credit so I figured it had to be related.

And (you probably figured this out already) it was.

The tune in question was in fact (as described in the title) the breakdown from Diana Ross’s ‘Love Hangover’, i.e. a reworking of the fast instrumental part at the end of her record.

Now, I love the Diana Ross record, but I have to admit that if the song were truncated to remove the first half, I wouldn’t miss it all that much.

That is exactly what Touch did, and their version (which you will hear as soon as you pull down the ones and zeros) is quite good, a little funkier and with a slightly rougher edge than the original.

While I haven’t been able to find out much about the band, the record was produced by disco movers and shakers Tony Valor and Tom Moulton, the first a prolific producer and the second one of the original remix masters.

A little research reveals that Valor had a habit of recycling material, with some of the backing tracks on this album also appearing on a ‘Do the Hustle’ LP, and the only other credits I can find for the members of Touch are on other Tony Valor productions. My best guess is that they were likely his main studio band and either got the chance to make their own album, or were just repackaged as a group out of convenience.

Either way, this track is especially cool, and there are a number of cool tracks on the album that would serve as a great example of a sort of higher level of disco, with thoughtful songwriting and quality playing.

I hope you dig the track, and I’ll be back 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 (6)

By Larry, June 26, 2011 4:01 pm

In black and white, like the keys, dig?

Dee Felice Trio – There Was a Time (King)
Don Randi – Taxman (Reprise)
New London Rhythm and Blues Band – Soul Man (Vocalion)
Ramsey Lewis – African Boogaloo Twist (Cadet)
Roy Meriwether Trio – What’s the Buzz (Notes of Gold)
Overton Berry Trio – Guacamolean Shuffle (Jaro)
Gene Harris – Green River (Blue Note)
Johnny Watson – Hold On I’m Coming (Okeh)
Mr Jim and the Rhythm Machine – Mrs Robinson (Date)
Junior Mance – Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin (Atlantic)
Cha Cha Hogan – Grit Gitter (Soulville)
The Stokes – Crystal Ball (Alon)
Allen Toussaint – HandsChristianAnderson (Bell)
The Music Company – The Word (Mirwood)
Mary Lou Williams – The Credo (Mary)
Backyard Heavies – Expo 83 (Scepter)
Ray Bryant – Up Above the Rock (Cadet)

Listen/Download – F16C Radio v.94 – The Living Piano – 86MB/256K Mixed MP3

Listen/Download – F16C Radio v.94 – The Living Piano – 63MB ZIP File

Head on over to the Funky16Corners Radio Podcast Archive to Check This One Out

Greetings all.

As mentioned previously, this is a Funky16Corners vacation week, but I love you mugs so much that I couldn’t very well decamp without leaving something to keep your ears busy while I was away.

The mix I bring you this week is something that had been percolating in my fevered brain for a long time, and was finally spurred on to fruition by the recent passing of Mr. Ray Bryant.

Though we have covered the piano before (see Funky16Corners Radio v.81) it was recordings of the electric variety thereof.

Having been brought up in a house with a master of the acoustic piano (that would be my Pop), I have always wanted to assemble my fave funky and soulful acoustic piano tracks, and so you have it (the mix, that is…).

Most of the numbers in this mix will be familiar to longtime followers of the Funky16Corners blog, whether via appearances in previous mixes, or having appeared by themselves at some point.

There are a number of previously unheard/unposted numbers as well, so dig those too.

Though the electric piano is the version of the instrument generally associated with funk and soul (mainly due to the electrification of music in general during the era in question) there were a number of recording artists – many of them rooted in jazz – who took the old-style acoustic piano, a massive conglomeration of wood, wires and ivory, and managed to wring a little funk out of it.

Though I love electric piano, there’s something special about the way a real piano resonates, especially when it’s played by someone that really knows the instrument.

Some of the recordings in question go back to the earliest days of my crate digging and blogging, including the Mary Lou Williams and Cha Cha Hogan 45s, where others are fairly recent acquisitions.

There are a couple of unusual tracks in the mix, in particular Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson’s one-off piano instrumental 45 for the Okeh label.

You also get a couple of tracks featuring Allen Toussaint, first with his early group the Stokes (dig ‘Soda Pop’s not so subtle variation on ‘Fortune Teller’) and a rare solo 45 (Hands Christian Anderson).

Mr Jim of ‘Mr Jim and the Rhythm Machine’ (with the swinging version of ‘Mrs Robinson’) is Philly area composer/arranger/keyboardist Jimmy Wisner who recorded a couple of 45s under this name for the Date and Wizdom label.

There are also a couple of anonymous pianists working it out here, including whoever tickled the ivories for the New London Rhythm and Blues Band (likely a UK studio musician) and the pianist for the Music Company, an LA studio group that recorded an album of Beatle covers for the Mirwood label in 1966.

Of the known jazz heavies in the mix, you get to choose from the likes of Mary Lou Williams, Don Randi, Gene Harris, Ramsey Lewis, Roy Meriwether, and Overton Berry, and the man we eulogized just this past week, Ray Bryant.

Having given it a number of spins, I can attest to the fact that it’s a lot of fun to listen to and I hope you dig it.

See you next week.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo), in regard to the April 2nd walk.

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 for some very tasty UK Folk Rock.

Comments (9)

By Larry, June 21, 2011 12:29 pm

Ray Bryant

Listen/Download – Ray Bryant – Up Above the Rock

Listen/Download – Ray Bryant – Quizas Quizas Quizas

Listen/Download – Ray Bryant – Soundray

Listen/Download – Ray Bryant – Stick With It

Greetings all.

I hope the middle of the week finds you all well.

As promised, I’m going to take a little time to pay tribute to the soulful genius of one of my favorite pianists, the mighty Ray Bryant.

Bryant, who passed on June 2nd was one of the mainstays of soul jazz piano in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

As has been mentioned in this space several times, I have strong feelings about the term ‘soul jazz’, in that so little of the music labeled as such really fits the bill in any meaningful way.

There are veritable mountains of wax with jazzers wading into more popular waters, especially in the 60s, but a jazzbo with a pop cover does not soul jazz make (especially since the style came into being organically).

The truth is, that where many – often purely in the interest of keeping their heads above water (and away from a day job) – jazz musicians took to a more “accessible” style in the 60s, many of them had no real aptitude for it, making for much of the bland and uninspired sounds that so many crate diggers are referring to when they badmouth the style.

The real heart of the sound – as is the case in vocal soul music – can be traced to gospel, wherein jazz and soul intersect on a giant (and wholly imaginary) venn diagram.

As the 50s became the 60s, many jazz musicians (with a concentration on organists, guitarists and saxophonists) while still stretching out on post-bop and modal jazz, began to experiment with gospel and R&B at the same time that those styles were evolving into what would become soul music.

By the early 60s, countless organ (and piano, guitar, sax, vibes and all of the possible combinations and permutations possible) combos were coming out of inner city clubs and into recording studios for labels like Prestige, Blue Note, Argo, Riverside and countless smaller independents and compressing the aforementioned mixtures into 45 sized, jukebox friendly slices.

As the popularity (and sales figures) of straight jazz began to decline, jazz musicians concentrated more on soul and pop jazz, hoping to cross over enough to put a little bread in their pockets. While many of these musicians were merely attempting to cash in, some of them found that they had a natural affinity (whether via age or inclination) for these sounds and found ways to innovate and make them swing.

One of the finest of these was Mr. Ray Bryant.

Bryant came up in Philadelphia (his brother Tommy was a bassist) and played alongside many of the giants of the bebop and hard bop eras.

He started recording under his own name in the 50s, and even found some pop success with his 1960 hit ‘Madison Time’.

The tracks featured today all come from Bryant’s tenure with the Cadet label between 1966 and 1969. He recorded seven albums for Cadet in those years, all a mix of original material, jazz standards and pop and soul cover material. He recorded in small and large group settings, often with the production assistance of none other than Richard Evans.

I’ve included tracks from his two final albums for the label in the 60s (he would return for one more in 1974), ‘Up Above the Rock’ (1968) and ‘Sound Ray’ (1969).

The title track of ‘Up Above the Rock’ is a shade over three minutes of pure brilliance, with a stunning Grady Tate breakbeat that makes it the most sought after (and expensive) of his albums. The mix you’re hearing today is from the album. The 45 mix is a little bit hotter, with the drums and the handclaps higher in the mix (check it out on Youtube).

The group is the trio of Bryant on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Tate on drums, augmented by Snookie Young on fluegelhorn and Dobbie Hiques on trumpet. The track sounds light years ahead of its time. No matter how many times I hear it, I expect someone to start rapping as soon as the piano comes in. If you listen to the way Kool G Rap and DJ Polo flipped it (barely) for ‘On the Run’, it’s not too far removed from the original. It’s about as funky as acoustic piano records get, and a great showcase for Bryant’s heavy, straightforward sound. It’s one of those records that I have to listen to multiple times in a sitting.

The other track from ‘Up Above the Rock’ is Bryant’s cover of Osvaldo Farres’ ‘Quizas Quizas Quizas’. The recording here is taken from my 45 and while still somewhat funky, has a much looser, more swinging feel to it. It was also sampled (with a little more subtlety) by Queen Latifah on ‘I Can’t Understand’.

The two remaining tracks are both from the 1969 ‘Sound Ray’ album. A trio session, recorded with Jimmy Rowser on bass and Harold White on drums, ‘Sound Ray’ is another funky session, produced again by Richard Evans. The album sees Bryant stretching out a little more, but still keeping things locked in the groove.

The title track is a hard charging tour de force (I love the opening duet with the bass and drums) with some wonderful keyboard work by Bryant.

‘Stick With It’ is a much more subdued affair, that sounds like a rebuilt version of Horace Silver’s ‘Song For My Father’ (which, oddly enough was also covered on the album).

Ray Bryant would go on to record for Atlantic, Pablo and EmArcy (among many others) through the 70s, 80s and 90s with his last album being a live, solo set recorded at Rutgers University in 2004.

He was a giant, and will be missed.

See you on Friday.

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 recr 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 (4)

By Larry, June 14, 2011 11:06 am

Odell Brown and the Organizers (above)
A recent shot of Odell Brown (below)

The Sounds of Odell Brown

Odell Brown and the Organizers – No More Water In the Well (Cadet) from Ducky
Odell Brown and the Organizers – Baby You Just Don’t Know (Cadet) from Mellow Yellow
Odell Brown and the Organizers – Think About It (Cadet) Cadet 45 5624B
Odell Brown and the Organizers – Mas Que Nada (Cadet) from Mellow Yellow
Odell Brown and the Organizers – Ducky (Cadet) from Ducky
Odell Brown and the Organizers – Raising the Roof (Cadet) from Raising the Roof
Odell Brown and the Organizers – Day Tripper (Cadet) from Raising the Roof
Odell Brown and the Organizers – The Thing (Cadet) from Raising the Roof
Odell Brown and the Organizers – The Weight (Cadet) Cadet 45 5624A
Odell Brown – Hard To Handle (Cadet) from Odell Brown Plays Otis Redding
Odell Brown – Respect (Cadet) from Odell Brown Plays Otis Redding
Odell Brown – Nitty Gritty (Cadet) from Free Delivery
Odell Brown – Free Delivery (Cadet) from Free Delivery

Listen/Download – Odell Brown Tribute Mix 97MB/256K Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

As I mentioned on Monday, this week will be devoted entirely to obits/remembrances of musicians who either passed on during the pledge drive, or who’s passing I became aware of during that time.

Monday saw a tribute (starting with an incorrect picture) to the mighty Benny Spellman, and today I bring you something a little bit special to give you an idea of how much I dig the music of the great Odell Brown.

I first became aware of Odell Brown and the Organizers back in the day when my man Haim hepped me to their single ‘No More Water In the Well’. I grabbed a copy and promptly fell in love with the group’s sound.

You all know I’m an incurable Hammond nut, but I’m also a huge jazz fan, and the music of Odell Brown (with and without his band) satisfied both needs quite nicely.

I’ve gone on in this space many times about soul jazz, and how rare it is to find an artist who really brought that particular fusion to purity. Odell Brown was one of those cats.

Born in Louisville, KY, Brown went to Tennessee State A&M before being drafted in 1960. Following his stint in the Army, he moved to Chicago and formed Odell Brown and the Organizers with musicians he’d first connected with in college, Artee ‘Duke’ Payne and Tommy Purvis (tenor sax), Curtis Prince (drums) and Master Henry Gibson (congas).

Indeed he was…

Between 1966 and 1970 Brown recorded three albums with the Organizers (Raising the Roof, Mellow Yellow and Ducky), as well as two solo albums (Odell Brown Plays Otis Redding and Free Delivery). He recorded one more solo album for the Paula label in 1971.

Brown spent the 70s working as a studio musician and musical director for artists like Minnie Riperton, Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, with whom he eventually co-wrote the mega-hit ‘Sexual Healing’.

He spent much of the 80s battling severe depression, but settled in Minnesota and returned to playing and recording in the 90s.

The albums he recorded with the Organizers, all produced by the legendary Richard Evans are some of the finest material released on the Cadet label in the 60s, and while hard to find (the 45s not so much) are all worth picking up.

His solo albums, minus the twin sax attack of the Organizers, operate at a slightly more soulful frequency, and while also hard to find, are definitely worth whatever it takes to acquire them.

The fact that most of the Cadet catalog remains out of print (particularly Richard Evans projects like the Soulful Strings) is nothing less than a crime.

What I’ve included in this tribute mix (available only as a mixed MP3, no zip file) are my favorite tracks from the Organizers albums and both of Brown’s Cadet solo LPs (I have yet to find a copy of the Paula album).

Hopefully this will serve as an introduction for those unfamiliar with Odell Brown, and maybe pack a few surprises for those in the know.

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back on Friday.

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 recr 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, June 2, 2011 10:00 am

Listen/Download – Melting Pot – Kool and the Gang

Greetings all.

I got a shitstackof stuff on the agenda today, so I’m going to make this as short and sweet as possible.

First, a word from our sponsor, i.e. me, in the way of a reminder about the Funky16Corners Radio Show which hits the air this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. It is always a very groovy scene and if you dig the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove – all on vinyl – you should fall by.

Also, the 2011 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive begins this coming Monday 6/6, with a grip of outstanding new mixes from some of my (and your) favorite selectors. There’s gonna be funk, soul (Northern and othern), disco, rock steady and much more for you to pull down the ones and zeros while you toss a couple of buck into the till to help pay for the yearly upkeep of this massive undertaking.

That said, let’s get the weekend started with some hard charging funk.

Today’s selection is right, tight and outta sight, with the wocka-wocka guitar, the organ and naturally the crazy horn section going buckwild.

The band in question is one of the many funky rock groups that seemed to be popping up everywhere like mushrooms in the late 60s and early 70s, in this case going by the name Melting Pot.

I don’t know for sure where they hailed from, but since they were part of Phil Walden’s stable, my first guess would be somewhere in Georgia or the surrounding area.

They recorded at least one LP and a pair of 45s for the short-lived Ampex label in 1970 and 1971, and today’s selection is especially interesting because of its provenance.

If you hadn’t already figured it out (perhaps having had the initial diggers reaction to this 45, i.e. ‘I did not know Kool and the Gang covered ‘Melting Pot’…) , the song ‘Kool and the Gang’ is in fact a cover of the song of the same name by the band of the same name, that of course also being the funkiest of all New jersey bands, the mighty Kool and the Gang.

The original recording of ‘Kool and the Gang’ was a minor hit during the summer of 1969, which is probably where Melting Pot picked it up. Melting Pot lay the cover down at about twice the speed of the original.

I haven’t heard any of their vocal tracks, but descriptions I’ve read seem to indicate that Melting Pot were operating in a Blood Sweat and Tears-y vein.

That said, this is most definitely a burner, the perfect accompaniment for the blazing hot weather we’re dealing with all of a sudden.

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

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 recr 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, May 8, 2011 7:29 pm

An earlier pic of the Fame Gang, many of whom play on this very 45.

Listen/Download – Muscle Shoals Horns – Breakdown (Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys)

Greetings all.

To borrow a phrase from the mighty Slim Gaillard, the weekend was mellow like a cello, with some unexpected downtime, and some lovely Mother’s day festivities.

As a result I am reasonably well rested, or at least well chilled, so I figured we’d get the week started with something a little hot.

The tune I bring you today is yet another testament to the wonders of Facebook.

I have a plethora groovy friends on the interwebs, many of who are also DJ types or otherwise classifiable as record nerds, and on any given day someone is posting up something cool that I hadn’t heard before, many of which I’ve found myself pursuing so that I would have a copy for my very own.

This is one of those records, and sadly I cannot remembered who posted it, but I do remember where the post led me, which was here (Groovesville USA) where I learned that the record in question was a UK-only 45, which was my jumping off point to finding one for my crates.

Surprisingly enough, that took almost no time and very little money (the perfect combination) and before you know it ‘Breakdown’ by the Muscle Shoals Horns is on the old turntable being digimatized so that I might post it in this space.

The groovy thing about ‘Breakdown’, aside from it’s obvious smoking hot funky disco sound, perfect for the dance floor, is the fact that if you read the label closely enough, or apply your ears just so, you’ll discover that what you are listening to is in fact an instrumental cover of the Equals 1971 ‘Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys’.

The Equals’ OG was itself an important record during the very early days of the discotheque culture in both the UK and the US.

I can’t say for sure how the Muscle Shoals Horns (in actuality the Fame Gang with the horn section leading the way) got their hooks into it four years on, but it does seem that the Bang/Shout label connection probably had something to do with it.

The Bang label had its initial run from 1965 to 1971, with the Equals ‘Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys’ being the last record they released. The label was reactivated in the mid-70s, with groups like Brick and the Muscle Shoals Horns.

‘Breakdown’ was issued in the US on the ‘Born to Get Down’ LP in 1976, and for some odd reason only saw 45 release in the UK on the groovy gold label you see above.

It’s cool that the tune had a second coming of sorts (though it was also covered by NY-area band ST-4 in the early 70s), with an update for the discos.

I hope you dig it, 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 recr 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.