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By Larry, February 9, 2012 1:17 pm

Jimmy Sabater

Listen/Download -Joe Cuba Sextet – El Pito (I’ll Never Go Back To Georgia)
Listen/Download -Joe Cuba Sextet – Que Son Uno
Listen/Download -Odell Brown and the Organizers – Que Son Uno

Greetings all.

Welcome to the end of another funky week here at the Corners Sixteen.

I hope you’ve all weathered the work week well, or at least well enough to get some enjoyment out of the weekend.

I should take a moment to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show drops Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, followed of course by the MP3 version thereof, posted right here at the blog over the weekend.

I had something else planned for today, but then I heard of the passing of the great Jimmy Sabater.

Sabater, one of the great Nuyorican movers of the boogaloo era (and beyond) was a timbalero, singer and composer who first met Joe Cuba (then Gilberto Calderon) during a stickball game on the streets of Spanish Harlem in the early 50s.

The Joe Cuba Sextet had their first crossover hit in 1966 with ‘El Pito (I’ll Never Go Back To Georgia)’ and then into the R&B Top 20 and the Pop Hot 100 later that same year with ‘Bang Bang, a million seller and one of the cornerstones of the boogaloo movement’.

Sabater was a key member of the Sextet, writing or co-writing (see Odub’s excellent post at Soul Sides for some info on Cuba taking undeserved writing credit on ‘Bang Bang’) some of their finest records (eight of the eleven tracks on the album above).

The two tracks I bring you today are the aforementioned ‘El Pito’ and ‘Que Son Uno’, both co-written by Sabater.

‘El Pito’ is one of the breat Latin soul party starters of all time. With its fast moving piano riff and percussion, as well as its stop-start pattern in which the band reaches a frenzied pace only to come crashing to a halt (and then rise again from the ashes) ‘El Pito’ is positively explosive. The production is remarkable, with the percussion coming alive (slap on the headphones for this one), the vibes moving at a breakneck pace, and the band’s foot stomping rattling everything in the studio.

The second cut, ‘Que Son Uno’ is probably my favorite cut by the Sextet. Diverging from the boogaloo feel of much of the ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ album, ‘Que Son Uno’ is a beautiful, sublimely powerful piece of Latin jazz.

I’m also including the groovy cover of the tune by none other than Odell Brown and the Organizers, which they recorded in 1967 on the ‘Mellow Yellow’ album. Considering the popularity of the ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ LP, I’m surprised that ‘Que Son Uno’ wasn’t covered more often.

Jimmy Sabater went on to record  a lot of solo material (including this funky gem), but also remained with the Joe Cuba Sextet into the late 70s.

I hope you dig the tunes, and I’ll be back 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 (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.

Comments (2)

By Larry, January 10, 2012 1:50 pm

Listen/Download – Sam Wright Group – Green Onions

Greetings all.

I’m going to have to make this quick today since I am currently bedeviled (like the egg, see?) with an infection of some kind that is making feel like old, wet garbage.

The tune I bring you today will certainly be a familiar one, if the version in question is not.

You know that I am an inveterate Hammond 45 junky, and will always pick up any and all interesting looking organ instro 45s, which is why I grabbed the one you see before you.

I’d certainly never heard of the Sam Wright Group, but since ‘Green Onions’ is one of my all time fave instrumentals, I figured it was worth picking up.

Which it was.

What is especially interesting is the fact that as it turns out, there probably was no Sam Wright.

The smoky, late-night take on the Booker T classic is in actuality just another product of the Synthetic Plastics Company.

Formed in Newark, NJ after World War Two, SPC had a variety of plastics-related endeavors, but the most important of them – at least as far as we’re concerned – is the one that made records.

Over the next five decades SPC (doing business under a variety of label names, such as Curio, Peak, Power, Diplomat, Guest Star , Spin-O-Rama, and most famously Peter Pan) released all kinds of stuff, from kids music and stories (mostly the Peter Pan label) to a panoply of knock-offs of the hits of the particular day, in a wide variety of genres, on the others.

I have absolutely no idea who played on these records, but from hearing more than one of them, my guess would be a range of talent from experienced club/studio musicians to utterly disinterested hacks.

Fortunately, whoever was wearing the Sam Wright Group mask was better suited to the material they were covering than some of their fellow exploiters.

Since the aim of the label seems to have been taking advantage of the current popularity of songs, I’d date this 45 somewhere in the vicinity of late 1962, early 1963.

Interestingly, I’ve also seen a listing for the Sam Wright Group doing a cover of the Tornados ‘Telstar’. Whether or not it was the same group of musicians I cannot say.

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

Peace

Larry

PS Thank you Leah…

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 (14)

By Larry, December 27, 2011 7:58 pm

On the scene at Subway Soul

Willis Wooten – Your Love Is Indescribably Delicious (Virtue)
Bobby Doyle – River Deep Mountain High (WB)
Etta James and Sugar Pie DeSanto – In The Basement (Checker)
Barbara Lynn – Club a Go Go (Tribe)
Billy Butler – Right Track (Okeh)
Impacts – Thunder Chicken (Marmaduke)
Idris Muhammad – Express Yourself (Prestige)
Lavell Kamma and the Afro Soul Revue – Soft Soul (Tupelo Sound)
Sam Dees – Lonely For You Baby (Soul City)
Spellbinders – Help Me Get Myself Back Together Again (Columbia)
Jimmy Ruffin – 96 Tears (Soul)
Ella Fitzgerald – Savoy Truffle (Reprise)
Ray Bryant – Up Above the Rock (Cadet)
Mac Rebennack – The Point (AFO)
Della Reese – It Was a Very Good Year (ABC)
LaVern Baker – Batman to the Rescue (Brunswick)
Norman T Washington – Jumping Jack Flash (Pama)
Rivingtons – Pop Your Corn Pt1 (RCA)
Upsetters – Down Home (ABC)
Vernon Garrett and Marie Franklin – Second To None (Venture)
Curly Moore – Soul Train (Hot Line)
Dobie Gray – Out On the Floor (Charger)
Eyes of Blue – Heart Trouble (Deram)
Washington Smith – Fat Cat (Okeh)
Gene West – In the Ghetto (Original Sound)
Candido – Jingo (Salsoul)
Touch – Love Hangover (Breaking Down) (Brunswick)
Gene Ammons – Son of a Preacherman (Prestige)

Listen/Download – F16C Radio v.95 – 2011 Year In Review – 140MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the year is upon us, and so, as it has been in many years past, is the Funky16Corners Year In Review mix.

This assemblage of the finest individual tracks from this space over the last calendar year has become a tradition in which we sweep up around the Funky16Corners Blogcasting Nerve Center and Record Vault (Funk and Soul Division) and piece together a puzzle of sorts that once assembled (correctly) should give a picture of where my head – and my crates – were at over the last year.

And what a year it’s been.

If you’d sat me down last December and laid out the coming year in front of me, I would have laughed, filled with excitement and then probably crawled under the nearest table in search of shelter.

The year got off to a great start with the beginning of my residency at Spindletop @ Botanica in NYC. Over the course of the next eight months I had the opportunity to spin pretty much whatever I felt like (within certain tasteful guidelines) and it was a blast.

Botanica was a very chill location, with some very cool people, and despite the whole thing crashing down in a somewhat bittersweet pile of ashes, I would say that it was on the whole a very positive experience.

You all know that there is nothing I love better than spinning the music I love for an appreciative audience, and I had many very groovy opportunities to do so this year.

In addition to Spindletop, I was honored to get a chance to participate in one of the last Subway Soul nights, alongside Phast Phreddie, Girlsoul and Jumpy. It was a serious gas, where I got to spin some of my Northern Soul faves and hear the other selectors whip some heat on the ones and twos (I left with a slightly inflated want list that night).

The real treat of the year, though was spinning at Elliott and Jonna’s wedding down in Philly, which was an amazing experience.

Great people into great music with the extra added benefit of some delicious food. I can think of no better way to spend a summer night.

There was also the ongoing pleasure of doing the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which has really been a gas this year. If you haven’t yet tuned in, you can join the party every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, or pick up the show as an MP3 over the weekend (they’re all archived here at the blog, too).

I also got to spin records at a couple of local autism fundraising events which was especially rewarding for reasons very close to my heart.

Speaking of things close to my heart, 2011 was also the year that my wife was diagnosed with leukemia, an event that has verily turned our world inside out.

Though some superficial things have remained on a somewhat even keel, the axis on which my family’s life spins was shaken to its core this fall, and we have all learned to look at the world through slightly different eyes.

Things are on a solid, progressive track as far as my wife’s health is concerned, and we have many reasons to be optimistic, which doesn’t change the fact that no matter how sunny things look ahead of us, there’s always that shadow in the rear view mirror.

I have to make note of the fact that the readers of this blog have been extraordinarily supportive during this crisis, and that has been heartwarming and very much appreciated.

When I take a look at this playlist, it occurs to me that although there are some old faves and some longtime want list items finally bagged, there are also many, many new discoveries that came into my ears and then my crates over the past year, and that is the main reason that the Funky16Corners train stays on the rails.

It has always been my hope that those of you that stop by here on the reg are discovering something new and groovy, but also that you realize that this is a journey of discovery for me as well.

Big ups go out to fellow selectors like Tony C, Tarik Thornton, M-Fasis, Agent 45 and Midnite Cowbwoy for hepping me to cool stuff that I hadn’t heard before, all of which I passed on to you good people through the blog.

I will continue to do so.

I have no idea what 2012 holds for me, since things have really taken on a day-to-day vibe these last few months.

My main hope is that everyone here at home base stays healthy and happy.

Aside from that, I only hope that the next year brings some new sounds my way, and hopefully the opportunity to spread the love, whether through the blog, or in person as a DJ.

Either way, the very least any of us can do is follow that basic prescription in the Funky16Corners logo:

Keep the Faith.

See you next week (make sure to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio for the Year End Funk and Soul Dance Party!)

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 (11)

By Larry, November 24, 2011 2:20 pm

Mmmmmmmm!

Greetings all!

This is an impromptu post, spurred on by the spirit of Thanksgiving, in which the holiday and the word take on extra special meaning.

I am thankful first and foremost that we are lucky enough to have my wife home with us for the holiday. I brought her home from the hospital this morning.

Hopefully being home and around her family will help make her stronger during her recovery.

Second, I’m thankful that I have this outlet to share my love of music with all of you.

I’m reposting the three food-related mixes I’ve done here over the years so that while you’re stuffing your gobs with gobbler, you can also stuff your ears with soul.

What you get here are the first two Soul Food mixes, as well as F16C Radio v.60 which is mostly chicken-themed, but ends in a flourish with the Niteliters ‘Serenade to a Jive Turkey’.

I hope you dig the sounds, and that you all have an excellent Thanksgiving weekend,

See you on Monday.

Peace

Larry

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Funky16Corners Radio v.3 – Soul Food (That’s What I Like) Pt1

Track listing

Brother Jack McDuff – Hot Barbecue (Prestige)

 Soul Runners – Chittlin’ Salad Pt1 (MoSoul)

Lionel Hampton – Greasy Greens (GladHamp)

Albert Collins – Cookin’ Catfish (20th Century)

Andre Williams – Rib Tips (Avin)

Maurice Simon & The Pie Men – Sweet Potato Gravy (Carnival)

Mel Brown – Chicken Fat (Impulse)

Lonnie Youngblood – Soul Food (That’s What I Like) (Fairmount)

Prime Mates – Hot Tamales (Sansu)

Just Brothers – Sliced Tomatoes (Music Merchant)

Leon Haywood – Cornbread and Buttermilk (Decca)

Bobby Rush – Chicken Heads (Galaxy)

Booker T & The MGs – Jelly Bread (Stax)

Gentleman June Gardner – Mustard Greens (Blue Rock)

West Siders – Candy Yams (Infinity)

Hank Jacobs – Monkey Hips and Rice (Sue)

George Semper – Collard Greens (Imperial)

Billy Clark & His Orchestra – Hot Gravy (Dynamo)

Listen Download Mixed MP3

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Funky16Corners Radio v.9 – Soul Food Pt2

Playlist

1. Simtec Simmons – Tea Box (Maurci)

2. Johnny Barfield & The Men of S.O.U.L. – Soul Butter (SSS Intl)

3. Ronnie Woods – Sugar Pt2 (Everest)

4. Stan Hunter & Sonny Fortune – Corn Flakes (Prestige)

5. Fabulous Counts – Scrambled Eggs (Moira)

6. Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band – Spreadin Honey (Keymen)

7. Freddie Roach – Brown Sugar (Blue Note)

8. Albert Collins – Sno Cone Pt1 (TCF Hall)

9. Chuck Edwards – Chuck Roast (Rene)

10. Willie Mitchell – Mashed Potatoes (Hi)

11. Booker T & The MGs – Red Beans & Rice (Atlantic)

12. Righteous Brothers Band – Green Onions (Verve)

13. George Semper – Hog Maws & Collard Greens (Imperial)

14. Lee Dorsey – Candy Yam (Amy)

15. Roosevelt Fountain & his Pens of Rhythm – Red Pepper Pt1 (Prince Adams)

16. Bad Boys – Black Olives (Paula)

17. Willie Bobo – Spanish Grease (Verve)

18. American Group – Enchilada Soul (AGP)

DOWNLOAD – 39.3 MB Mixed MP3

__________________________________________________________________________

Funky16Corners Radio v.60 – Finger Lickin’ Good!

Funky16Corners Radio v.60 – Finger Lickin’ Good!

Playlist

____________________________________________________________________________________

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 (14)

By Larry, November 13, 2011 3:36 pm

Reuben Wilson

Grover Washington Jr.

Listen/Download – Reuben Wilson – Inner City Blues

Listen/Download – Grover Washington Jr. – Inner City Blues

Listen/Download – Grover Washington Jr. – Mercy Mercy Me

Greetings all.

Here’s simultaneously hoping that you all are well and telling you that things are progressing as well as can be expected in our corner of the world.

My incredibly brave wife is standing tall despite chemo beating her like a rented mule.

These are hard times (a la Curtis Mayfield, Gene Chandler and Baby Huey) for her to endure treatment and for us to watch her do it.

It is alternately inspiring and disheartening, since the process reveals her ever deeper well of resilience, but also a seemingly endless supply of physical and psychological pain for her to deal with.

But, deal with it she does.

My thanks go out to the doctors and nurses who are helping her (and all of us) through this experience, as well as all the good folks who have sent messages of hope and prayer.

I’ve never had a huge amount of faith in humanity, but this experience – no matter how harrowing on its face – has also exposed our family to an extraordinary show of kindness and generosity from family and friends.

If there is an upside to this, that is it and it is humbling.

My (our) thanks to all of you.

Since I can’t guarantee more than one post a week while all of this is going on, I figure it behooves me to ensure that it brings with it a healthy dose of sounds, on which you can focus your aural ruminations until the next time I can get it together.

While I was combing the wilds of my hard drive, I happened upon a Reuben Wilson album, with an especially Hammond-groovy take on Marvin Gaye’s ‘Inner City Blues’ from his (Reuben’s) 1972 ‘The Sweet Life’ LP.

As I was giving it a listen, it occurred to me that I had other cool covers of  cuts from ‘What’s Going On’ in storage – of a similar vintage – and that I ought to pair them up in the dual causes of thematic consistency and general good music-ness.

I doubt that anyone reading this will dispute the greatness of Marvin’s 1971 epic, considered by many to be his greatest work, and one of the single finest soul LPs ever recorded.

It was a significant hit for Gaye, and it’s influence was far reaching, generating many cover versions across the soul, funk and jazz spectrums.

The first track I bring you today is the aforementioned Reuben Wilson take on ‘Inner City Blues’ (see Funky16Corners Radio v.24.5 for a very nice cover of this tune by Brian Auger).

Wilson is one of my favorite jazz funk organists of the classic era, never flashy but always stylish and on point. While he doesn’t always get the shine that some of his better known contemporaries do, his work with the Wildare Express (on Brunswick) and solo sides for Blue Note and Groove Merchant are essential.

His take on ‘Inner City Blues’ grooves hard, with some very nice soloing on the Hammond and tight, funky backing by his group.

The second and third cuts in this post are from an artist that continually shows up in surprising places.

Grover Washington Jr is a cat that I only knew from his big hits, and always assumed to have sprung up, fully formed as one of the standard bearers of smooth, R&B inflected jazz.

However, it was during my obsessive Hammond digging that I discovered that he had played with the Mark 3 Trio, and had done time in Philly area combos with none other than the mighty Charles Earland also recording as a sideman for other Prestige artists like Boogaloo Joe Jones, and Leon Spencer.

A few years back someone hepped me to his first solo album ‘Inner City Blues’, recorded for the Kudu label in 1971.

Backed by a serious group of sidemen, including Idris Muhammad, Ron Carter, Eric Gale, Bob James and Richard Tee, Washington displayed a tougher side of his sound.

I was surprised when I discovered how much work he did as a sideman for organists like Johnny Hammond Smith and Dr Lonnie Smith (were they giving everyone named Smith a Hammond organ??), as I was to discover how much I dug this album.

I was initially going to post only his lyrical, mellow cover of ‘Mercy Mercy Me’, but as I was writing this post I was listening to the album and decided that I had to include the title cut from the album as well.

Washington’s version of ‘Inner City Blues’ features some wild guitar as well as some very cool sax work by the man himself that I rougher than just about anything I’ve ever heard him play.

And really, could anyone possibly not dig the opportunity to hear two very cool versions of a song like this?

I thought not.

So, dig the Marvin worship and if I’m not back before Friday, remember that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be back Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, and then posted as an MP3 on Saturday.

Keep the faith and I’ll see you when I see you.

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 (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 (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 (4)

By Larry, May 5, 2011 4:09 pm

The young doctor as intern…

Listen/Download – Mac Rebennack and the Soul Orchestra – The Point

Greetings all.

Following yet another Sisyphean (Sisyphusian?) slog the end of the week is finally upon us.

This has been another one of those weird weeks where any attempt to fall into the lockstep of routine was thwarted by the intrusion of both the necessary and the unexpected.

I had some doctor type ish to deal with as well all that brings with it, as well as the flotsam and jetsam of daily life, including still recovering from vacation.

Despite any number of valiant attempts to switch my mind to cruise control, I was given to contemplation, and came to the realization that despite all my crabbing about how busy I am and haw many things I have to do, I am in the end extraordinarily lucky.

Aside from the obvious (and sometimes not so) joys of married life and fatherhood, I also have the opportunity, via the blog, the Funky16Corners Radio Show (this and every other Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio) and DJ gigs to share the music I love so much with you good people.

Aside from any adolescent aspiration to become a 21st century Hugh Hefner, the fantasy that preoccupied me in the past was to engage in what I just described.

Sure, it probably manifested itself in an image closer to Wolfman Jack in ‘American Graffiti’, howling in the depths of the night while transmitting musical hoodoo over the airwaves, but as I listen (in the furtherance of both quality control and ego gratification) back to the interwebs radio show I put together each week, and then get feedback from folks that actually listen to the show, I get just enough of that spark running willy nilly up my spine and stabbing me right in the old pleasure centers to make do.

The days of the great masters of the ether are long gone, but if I can rub two sticks together and whip up just a little bit of that heat each week, I’m happy.

The tune I bring you today is yet another white whale of mine that I chased like Melville’s crazed mariner for many a year.

I do not recall where Mac Rebennack’s ‘The Point’ first made its way into my earholes, but as I am a connoisseur of both the sounds of New Orleans and the mighty electric organ (Hammond or otherwise), and a devotee of the mighty Dr. John (Mr. Rebennack’s later nom de musique), I did not merely want a copy of this particular record, but rather needed it quite desperately.

While I would not say that the Crescent City is particularly well known for organ 45s, it does have some spectacular examples of the subgenre to its credit, including James Booker’s ‘Gonzo’,  Bo Jr.’s ‘Coffee Pot’, the instro flipside to Candy Phillips’ ‘Timber’ (in actuality a certain Mr. Bocage on the keys) as well as the tune I bring you today.

As the story goes, young Mac Rebennack was set on spending his career squeezing sounds out of a guitar until he got shot in the hand and found his way (thanks be to the strange ways of fate) onto a piano bench. The rest as they say is history, with the good Doctor being one of those cats to whom one might spend a happy eternity listening to as he tickled the ivories. He is part of the long line of masterful New Orleans piano masters that includes Professor Longhair, James Booker and Eddie Bo, and as such probably ought to have a retinue following him around, with someone to hold his drink, another to dust off the keys and yet another to spread rose petals in his path on account of he deserves no less.

That said, ‘The Point’ was waxed in 1962 for the storied AFO (All For One) label, an organization founded as a self-determined black musicians collective. During the label’s original 1961-1963 run they issued just over a dozen singles by artists like Barbara George (with the million selling ‘I Know’), Tammy Lynn, Ellis Marsalis, Prince La La (as in ‘Who Shot the…’) and Willie Tee.

Though ‘The Point’ was not his first 45 (the crazed guitar instro ‘Storm Warning’ came first in 1959) it was his debut as a leader on the keys, and it is a record of singular brilliance.

This is not to say that it is any kind of display of technical virtuosity, but rather a small vinyl artifact that carries in its grooves all manner of soul, menace, night-time atmosphere, up to an including the ability to place in the listener’s mind the image of a young woman in some sort of brief and suggestive (perhaps fringed) outfit shaking (upon a purpose-built, raised platform of some sort) what the gentlemen of the time would refer to as her ‘moneymaker’ (if you know what I mean and I think that you do) in a smoky bar filled with cold beer and broken dreams, and whether or not someone’s out back in the alley turned upside down so that the contents of their pockets might spill out and satisfy a debt matters not because the kid behind the organ and his band (and the young lady) have you hyp-mo-tized with the groove.

It’s that kind of record, and as far as I know Mister Rebennack, either inside or outside his duties as Dr John the Night Tripper never really stepped into something like this again.

The flipside of the record is a nice enough jam, yet it lacks the whiff of eau de roadhouse (though the horns are real nice).

The aforementioned Mr Booker, a renowned master of the 88s also recorded some very tasty organ sides, but they are every bit as elegant and fine as his piano work, which is not a bad thing at all, but compared to the jagged edge of Mac’s sound here is something else entirely.

A very tasty record indeed, and one that filled a miniscule but important hole in my crates. Also a groovy window into the soul of young Mr. Rebennack before the left coast called and he packed up his John the Conqueror Root, Mardi Gras feathers and attitude and headed out to Cali-For-Ny-Yay.

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

Oh, but before I go, you will most definitely want to check this out:

”

Some very groovy folks down in DC and Virginia have put together what promises to be the show of the year under the name the Chocolate City Soul Revue, with performances by Marva Whitney, Martha High, Vicki Anderson, both Clyde Stubblefield and Jabo Starks (?!?!?) legendary James Brown MC Danny Ray, original members of the JBs, the Impressions, and 21st century soul man Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed and his band the True Loves.

I mean, honest to god people, does it get any better than that?

The shindig goes down on June the 4th at the D.A.R. Constitution Hall in Washington, DC.

You can get yourself tickets via Ticketmaster.

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 (3)

By Larry, April 12, 2011 1:06 pm

Keith Beckingham and his organ

The label (above) and a Dutch picture sleeve (below)

Listen/Download – Royal Dukes – A First Full of Crumpet

Greetings all.

The middle of the week is upon us, and I am just about keeping my eyes open.

I think I may be getting to the point where the phrase “I’m getting too old for this shit” will be nailed securely into my vocabulary.

The days where I would roll in through the front door after sunrise without a care in the world are far behind me. It seems that for every night I’m out way past my bedtime spinning records, the number of subsequent days reserved for recuperative efforts grows ever larger.

This is not to say that I don’t enjoy spinning records, because it’s just about my favorite pastime, but rather that unlike in my 20s, I am now living the life of a suburban dad with a pretty full dance card, and spending a reasonable number of hours in the land of nod is a crucial prerequisite to feeling like something besides shit.

I spent last night (happily) spinning funk 45s at Spindletop @ Botanica. Since our host Perry Lane was indisposed, I was flying solo, and surprisingly enough managed to get the equipment assembled and working without any major problems.

Me and my box of 45s were settled in by 10PM for no less than three full hours of musical wonderfulness, for what was a surprisingly large crowd (though the unseasonably warm weather probably had a lot to do with that).

I managed to record the proceedings, and since the fam and I will be vacating next week, I’ll post some of it then for you to ruminate on until my return.

That said, please keep in mind that I’ll be hitting the legendary Subway Soul Club this coming Saturday for an evening of high energy soul on 45 alongside Connie T Empress and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus. If you’re in the area (Brooklyn, that is) you really should make an effort to fall by as it promises to be a gas.

Then (YES, There’s MORE!!) after some of the aforementioned vacation I’ll be spinning for two nights in Massachusetts, Friday 4/22 in Greenfield, Mass at Sweet Exorcist @ the People’s Pint, and then Saturday 4/23 in Northampton, Mass at Wooly Bully @ the Basement. Both nights promise to be very groovy indeed, so if you’re within driving distance, you should join us.

The tune I bring you today is a little something I picked up many years ago in furtherance of my Hammond organ obsession.

I’d never heard of the group or the song, but the sound clip was intriguing so I bid and won.

That said, the record remained an almost total mystery until very recently, when I started scouring the interwebs.

As is always the case, when nothing obvious presents itself, you have to start Googling the available info on the label, in the hope that some connection might be made.

The first clue that I might be on to something came when I started looking for John and Malcolm Jackson, listed as producers on the label.

As it turns out, the brothers (I’m assuming) Jackson were fairly busy running what appears to be something of an exploito music factory, casting their net rather widely, attempting to get a hit in a number of styles, including as it turns out, Hammond organ LPs.

The trail – as far as I was able to follow it – sees the Johnson brothers machine working as far back as the early 60s beat boom, moving on into psychedelic pop and then into easy/loungey Hammond records with groups like the Bunnies, the Flintlocks, Rainbow Ffolly, Tony Knight’s Chessmen and the Second City Sound, with author credits often going to the duo of Thompson and Hancock.

Today’s selection, ‘A First Full of Crumpet’ by the Royal Dukes, appears to have been issued a few times (this is an Italian 45), credited a few different ways.

One of those ‘ways’ led me to organist Keith Beckingham (with an LP appearance of the track being credited to ‘Keith Beckingham on the Hammond with the Royal Dukes’.

The song itself (released in 1972) is quite interesting, with a reggae-ish backing, over which a relaxed, atmospheric Hammond carries the melody.

It is in no way ‘funky’, but it carries with it a very groovy, Euro soundtrack vibe – reminiscent of some of the Peddlers later Hammond instros – that I dig.

I had originally thought that the title of the song was the result of a typo (assuming ‘fist full’ where it says ‘first full’) but the spelling is repeated that way more than once, so I’ll go ahead and assume that this is the result of some impenetrable English slang construction.

If any of you good people have any info to contribute, I would be most appreciative.

See you on Friday.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo), in regard to the April 2nd walk. The whole Funky16Corners gang will be walking in support of autism services, 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.