Funky16Corners

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners – F16C: Bold Soul Sisters 3 MP3

By Larry, March 21, 2017 9:29 am

Funky16Corners: Bold Soul Sisters 3

Clydie King – Never Stop Loving You (Minit)
Barbara Acklin – Be By My Side (Brunswick)
Jo Armstead – Stone Good Lover (Giant)
Maxine Brown – You Upset My Soul (Wand)
Betty Harris – I’m Gonna Git Ya (Sansu)
Linda Lyndell – What a Man (Volt)
Bernice Willis – Confidence (Okeh)
Brenda Lee – Proud Mary (Decca)
Delores Hall – W-O-M-A-N (Keymen)
Mary Wells – Don’t Look Back (Jubilee)
Dianne Brooks- Walking On My Mind (TRC)
Ella Fitzgerald – Savoy Truffle (Reprise)
Gloria Jones – Look What You Started (Minit)
Jeanne and the Darlings – It’s Unbelievable (How You Control My Soul) (Volt)
Sari and the Shalimars – You Walked Out On Me Before (Veep)
Funky Sisters – Do It To It (Aurora)
Shirelles – No Sugar Tonight (RCA)
Jean Knight – Helping Man (Stax)
Linda Carr – Discover Me (Capitol)
Bobbettes – Looking For a New Love (Mayhew)
Kim Weston – Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead (People)
Little Betty Baker – Stop Boy (All Platinum)

Greetings all.

As promised, I bring you the third installment in the Bold Soul Sisters series, the second having run last week and the first, a short eleven years ago.

This mix – while still funky – dials down the funk quotient a bit,, with things taking on a slightly mellower, soulful vibe (also drawing the selections from a slightly wider time period).

There are a lot of very tasty records herein, including a couple of old faves, a few very interesting covers, and hopefully a bunch that you haven’t heard before.

What they all have in common is a deep groove, a 45RPM format, and some of the most righteous soul sisters ever to play the game.

As always, I hope you dig it.

I’ll see you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Cover Songs, Funk, Funk 45, Funky16Corners, Original Versions, Sister Funk, Soul, Soul 45 | Funk, Funky16Corners, Soul

William Bell – You Don’t Miss Your Water (with an Otis Clay chaser)

Listen/Download – William Bell – You Don’t Miss Your Water MP3

By Larry, February 9, 2017 11:11 am

William Bell

Listen/Download – Otis Clay – You Don’t Miss Your Water MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so I will remind you once again not to forget to hook yourselves up with the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which hits the airwaves of the interwebs with the best in soul, funk, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl, each and every Friday in iTunes (where you should subscribe) , TuneIn, Stitcher, Mixcloud and at Funky16Corners.com

We end the week with an absolutely, 100% certified soul classic from the pen (and mouth) of one of the greatest Southern soul men, the mighty William Bell.

I have known this song since the very earliest days of filling my ears with soul music, having heard it on a long forgotten compilation more than 30 years ago.

Since then, I have accumulated several other versions (including killers by Otises Redding and Clay among others).

William Bell was brought to Stax Records by the legendary Chips Moman, who produced this, Bell’s own composition and debut 45, in 1961.

Though ‘You Don’t Miss Your Water’ was not a hit (though it had some small regional success in the South and California) at the time of it’s release, it went on to a position as a cornerstone of both the early Stax sound specifically, and of Southern soul in general.

It is one of those great soul records that seems as if it were constructed entirely from bits and pieces of gospel music, yet transcends the holiness vibe completely, becoming something that is better heard late at night escaping from an AM radio speaker.

The arrangement is uncomplicated, yet on repeated listens there are bits and pieces where certain parts of the band stand up, especially the piano, the ghostly organ solo that trades lines with Bell, and the lingering cymbal that drifts off into the ether at the very end of the song.

Bell’s vocal is simply a masterpiece. It has a confessional feel, as if he’s conversing with the listener, and though he never soars into the rafters, there are moments where the pure emotion of his voice is a thing of beauty. His opening line, ‘In the beginning…’ is amazing in its simplicity and directness, coming across like the first page of a book, or the title card of a movie. It forces you to stop and listen.

Though Bell’s original is indisputably amazing, you also need to hear Otis Clay’s version, which might be the greatest version of the song.

Recorded in Muscle Shoals in 1968, at the beginning of a brief run of 45s that Clay recorded for Cotillion, between his long runs at One-Derful and Hi, ‘You Don’t Miss Your Water’ is a testament to Clay’s mighty voice, and the power of a great singer seeing an opportunity to take an already great song into the stratosphere.

The arrangement is still fairly spare – with the guitar taking the place of the acoustic piano, a more prominent horn section and some very nice electric piano in place of the organ, but Clay’s vocal is spectacular, wrenching every bit of emotion out of the lyrics, conveying a palpable sense of regret.

I wouldn’t feel as if I’d done my job if I didn’t include it today.

So dig them both, and I’ll see you all next week.
.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Listen/Download – Babe Ruth – The Mexican MP3

Cover Songs, Funky16Corners, Memphis, Original Versions, Soul, Soul 45, Southern Soul | Funky16Corners, Memphis, Soul

Babe Ruth – The Mexican

Comments (3)

By Larry, January 5, 2017 12:35 pm

Babe Ruth

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which pops into the airwaves of the interwebs each and every Friday. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on Stitcher, TuneIn and Mixcloud, check out the show on Cruising Radio in the UK, or grab yourself an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com

The tune I bring you today comes from a veer unusual source indeed, but is one of the DNA-level building blocks of dance culture and hip hop.

Babe Ruth were an English progressive rock band that released a handful of albums in the early to mid 70s for Harvest and Capitol.

They never had much a hit (on their own) and by mid-decade their odd mixture of sounds was going out of style.

That said, not long after they released the debut LP ‘First Base’ in 1972, David Mancuso, the man behind The Loft picked up on one of the album’s tracks, the uncharacteristically (for the band) funky ‘The Mexican’.

The story of the battle of the Alamo told from the viewpoint of a Mexican soldier, and – in an interesting bit of stylistic foreshadowing – interpolating a snippet of an Ennio Morricone theme, ‘The Mexican’ became a favorite of Mancuso’s and the dancers at his parties.

Flash forward a few years, and DJ Kool Herc is up in the Bronx, rocking the party, when Grandmaster Flash fell by, and as he recounted in his autobiography:

“I heard DJ Kool Herc before I ever saw him. I was two full blocks from the park jam and it was only an hour into the night, but already it was loud. Really fucking loud. I could name the tune he was playing: it was “The Mexican” by Babe Ruth. And…It…Was…Thundering…”

‘The Mexican’, from its beginnings as an English prog-rock album track, became part of the foundation of hip hop, part of Kool Herc’s ‘Merry Go Round’ breaks. It was a staple of hip hop DJs, and grew in popularity on disco playlists (it was remade by The Bombers in 1978).

In addition to being an extremely funky number (props to bassist Dave Hewitt and drummer Dick Powell) ‘The Mexican’ is a fantastic window into the Mancuso ethos, in that it is a very catchy, very danceable record brought onto his dance floor from a totally incongruous source.

Mancuso’s knack for finding records in odd genres that mixed perfectly in his sets was stellar, and the history of ‘The Mexican’ going forward from The Loft bore out his decision.

‘The Mexican’ has been sampled a bunch of times (though not as much as you’d expect for such an influential side) and was even remade in 1984 by Jellybean, with original vocalist Jennie Haan.

It is a groovy one (though there’s nothing else remotely like it on ‘First Base’), with a very cool story.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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Listen/Download – Mose Allison – The Seventh Son

Drums, Funk, Funk Rock, Funky16Corners, LP tracks, Original Breaks and Beats, Original Versions | Funk, Funky16Corners, samples

Mose Allison 1927 – 2016

Comments (3)

By Larry, November 20, 2016 10:38 am

Mose Allison, chilling in his far out chair, in the woods…

Listen/Download Mose Allison – Young Man (Blues)

Listen/Download Mose Allison – I’m Not Talking

Listen/Download – Mose Allison – Baby Please Don’t Go

Listen/Download – Mose Allison – I Love the Life I Live

Listen/Download – Mose Allison – Your Mind Is On Vacation

Greetings all

This is a repost/augmentation of a post I wrote back in 2013. Last week was an especially heavy one for music lovers, with the loss of Leonard Cohen, Leon Russell, Billy Miller of Norton Records and lastly (but never leastly) the mighty Mose Allison.

Mose was 89 years old and had only recently given up playing live.

He was one of my all time favorites, a foundational artist in my sensibility and an absolute master.

I’m adding a couple of other Mose classics to the links below.

If you know, dig. If you do not get familiar.

I’ll see you on Wednesday – L

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Have you heard about Mose?

Allison, that is…aka the Sage of Tippo…aka the smoothest badass to ever prop himself up at a piano and lay it down.

If you – like me – has made a study of the roots of rock, especially the British Invasion, or just surveyed the history of coolness, then you have certainly crossed paths with the mighty Mose.

Mose Allison has the kind of voice/manner that immediately brings to mind the black-and-white, beatnik cool of the 1950s. Jack Kerouac’s America, in which one was free to roam the highways and back roads of this great country, partaking in, and becoming part of the great tableaux, digging and being dug in equal measures.

Mose Allison – born and raised in Mississippi – sat himself down at the piano and made his first record in 1957, and hasn’t stopped being one of the coolest of cats since then.

I don’t think I heard Mose until I was all but drowning in the British beat/R&B thing, up to and including the sounds of Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, which is important because if Mose Allison had never recorded a note, old Clive Powell would likely disappear from the face of the earth.

The first time I heard Mose, an overloaded socket in theback of my brain threw sparks and I realized how much Georgie idolized and emulated him, as well as all of the Brits who looked to him as a songwriter and interpreter of songs.

It was Mose that wrote ‘Parchman Farm’ (John Mayall and everyone else with a blues fetish), ‘Young Man Blues’ (the Who) and ‘I’m Not Talking’ (the Yardbirds) among many others, and laid down what I would consider to be the definitive interpretation of Willie Dixon’s ‘Seventh Son’.

I’m including the last three tunes here today, so that you might head out and dig for your own stack of Mose Allison records, that you can whip out and impress the ladies at your next soiree.

Both ‘Young Man Blues’ and ‘The Seventh Son’ hail from Allison’s landmark 1963 ‘Mose Allison Sings’ LP for Prestige.

‘Young Man Blues’ – clocking in at less than a minute and a half – is a laid back meditation, barely a whisper compared to the angry box of TNT that the Who detonated on ‘Live at Leeds’.

Mose’s take on ‘The Seventh Son’ is a masterpiece of relaxed, swinging Zen, every note perfectly placed, a wonder. He takes the Mississippi hoodoo boasts of the OG and delivers them in a matter-of-fact way that puts the text in boldface.

‘I’m Not Talking’, from 1964’s ‘The Word From Mose’ on Atlantic, is once again, the placid, almost dehumidified-it’s-so-dry foundation on which the mighty Yardbirds built a souped-up, nitro-fueled funny car with which they blew the doors off of the ‘For Your Love’ album in 1965.

The grooviest thing of all is that for all of the influence he pushed out, Mose himself was always more like a shadow, hanging back, just being, than anyone who took their marching orders from his records. He spent the last 50-plus years making music of high quality, crossing the border back and forth between the blues and jazz, always being more himself than anything else and that was all he ever needed to be.

If you’re not hip to Mose, get there.

That is all.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

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

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

Blues, Funky16Corners, Jazz, LP tracks, Obituary, Original Versions, R&B, Soul, Soul Jazz | Funky16Corners, Jazz, R&B, Soul

Johnny and Jackey – Someday We’ll Be Together

Listen/Download -Johnny and Jackey – Someday We’ll Be Together MP3

By Larry, July 12, 2016 11:04 am

Jackey Beavers and Johnny Bristol

Greetings all.

The tune I bring you today is the fruit of one of my (many) personal obsessions, that being the – often forgotten – original versions of songs.

I have to admit that I was ignorant of the roots of the 1969 hit by Diana Ross and the Supremes until hearing today’s selection on a satellite radio countdown a few years ago.

It wasn’t so shocking that the song had been recorded before, but rather that even in 1961, that familiar guitar figure was right out there in front.

Johnny Bristol and Jackey Beavers were two southern transplants to Detroit (Bristol from North Carolina, Beavers from Georgia) who would both have long careers writing and recording well into the 1970s, with Bristol having a string of R&B hits.

The duo recorded a string of 45s for Anna and Tri-Phi between 1959 and 1962, having a minor pop hit with ‘Lonely and Blue’ in 1960.

They wrote (with the great Harvey Fuqua) ‘Someday We’ll Be Together’ and recorded it in 1961.

The record opens with the solitary sound of maraccas, soon joined by a booming, picked guitar line (recreated on the Supremes record with guitar and strings), then by their voices. The arrangement is spare, but Bristol and Beavers’ voices really carry it. It’s a refreshing experience to juxtapose it with the Supremes hit.

The duo split up when Tri-Phi (and its publishing) was swallowed by Motown , with Beavers going off on his own and both Fuqua and Bristol joining the larger label.

Apparently Bristol was working on recording the song with Jr Walker and the All Stars when Berry Gordy decided to give the song to Diana Ross (who was on the verge of leaving the Supremes to go solo). The record ended up being the last Supremes hit with Ross on lead, going on to hit Number One on both the R&B and Pop charts.

The song was covered again in 1970 for the country market (where it was a Top 10 hit) by Bill Anderson and Jan Howard (check it out over at Iron Leg).

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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Funky16Corners, Original Versions, R&B, Soul, Soul 45 | Funky16Corners, R&B, Soul

Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come

Listen/Download – Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come MP3

By Larry, April 17, 2016 11:03 am

Jimmy Cliff as Ivanhoe Martin

Greetings all.

Before we get started today I would like to get in a couple of plugs for things that I am, and you should, be interested in.

First off, if you happen to be in the vicinity of Florence/Northampton, Massachusetts, make sure you stop in to my man Andy Crespo’s outstanding new record store, Electric Eye Records, at 52 Main St, Suite 6 in Florence. Andy is a righteous dude and he has put together a very nice place to stop and dig for vinyl. He has excellent taste and it shows in the selection at Electric Eye. I was lucky enough to stop in recently and left with a big pile of LPs and 45s.

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Second-ly, and while we’re on the subject of Jamaican-related sounds, you should check out the new EP by the Twilights, in which they work in the old-school ska stylee with a touch of dub flavor added in. I’ve been listening and digging their sounds, especially ‘Singer Man’ and ‘The Lonely Man Rides Away’.

You can check them out on YouTube, and purchase the EP at their site, or in iTunes.

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If you follow the comings and goings of the Funky16Corners blog you know that I love Jamaican music, from ska, to reggae on up into dub.

I owe my love for these sounds to the late 70s Two Tone explosion, and its propagation through the mods that I hung out with during the garage days of the 80s.

I cannot say with any certainly when I first heard Jimmy Cliff’s ‘The Harder They Come’. It is by any measure one of the most ubiquitous classic reggae songs. The title song of a the cult movie of the same name, and covered by a grip of artists better known in the pop world, like Joe Jackson, Madness (both of which, unlike Cliff’s original, charted), the Jerry Garcia Band, Cher (?!?), Keith Richards and even Willie Nelson.

Jimmy Cliff is particularly interesting, in that he was one of the first Jamaican performers to make a significant dent in the US charts, with ‘Wonderful World, Beautiful People’ in 1969.

When I started to dig for info on ‘The Harder They Come’ I was shocked to discover that Cliff’s version doesn’t seem to have charted anywhere (thought the soundtrack album was a hit in Sweden and reached #140 on the US LP charts in 1973).

I’ve tried, but I can’t recall another song that is both so well known/appreciated, yet also as commercially unsuccessful.

That said, ‘The Harder They Come’ is (whether you’ve seen the movie or not) unquestionably an anthem that transcends its reggae origins (I’d be willing to bet that it’s one of the only reggae songs some people know).

It has a brisk, percolating rhythm – dig the way the lead guitar and the organ weave in and out of each other – a pleading vocal by Cliff and a chorus that’s pure gold.

It’s a stone classic, and I hope you dig it as much as I do.

See you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Funky16Corners, Original Versions, Reggae, Soul 45 | Funky16Corners, Reggae, Soul

Leon Haywood at the Organ – 1962-1968

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Presents: Leon Haywood at the Organ 1962-1968 MP3

By Larry, April 14, 2016 9:26 am

Big Jay McNeely and Band – The Squat (Swingin’)
Big Jay McNeely and Band – Without a Love (Swingin’)
Leon Haywood – The Fat Fish (Fat Fish)
Leon Haywood – A River’s Invitation (Convoy)
Leon Haywood – Soul Cargo (Fat Fish)
Leon and the Burners – Whiplash (Josie)
Leon and the Burners – Crack Up (Josie)
The Packers – Hole In the Wall (Pure Soul Music)
The Packers – Go Head On (Pure Soul Music)
The Hideaways – Hide Out (Mirwood)
Leon Haywood – Soul On (Imperial)
Leon Haywood – Cornbread and Buttermilk (Imperial)
Leon Haywood – 1-2-3 (Imperial)
The Soul Machine – Bag of Goodies (Pzazz)
The Soul Machine – Twitchy Feet (Pzazz

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, dropping each and every Friday with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen online via the TuneIn app or Mixcloud, or grab an MP3 right here at the blog.

News came down the pike last week that the great Leon Haywood had passed away at the age of 74.

Fans of 60s and 70s soul would have been familiar with vocal hits like ‘It’s GotTo Be Mellow’, ‘Mellow Moonlight’ or ‘I Want’a Do Something Freaky To You’.

However, as I discovered – quite by accident, years ago – Leon Haywood was not only a smooth singer, but a Hammond wrangler of the first order.

Turning over a few of his Decca and Imperial 45s revealed organ instrumentals, and then delving deep into the mystery behind that recording of the Packers’ ‘Hole In the Wall’, it was gradually revealed that in addition to a great singing voice, Haywood was just as comfortable on the keys.

He recorded on organ and piano frequently through the 1960s, often as a backing musician, or under a group alias, and then pretty much abandoned the sideline as he got more popular in the 70s.

I had this mix simmering long before he passed away, but as soon as I heard he was gone, I moved it to the front burner.

Born in Texas, he moved to California in the early 60s where he hooked up with the band of R&B saxophonist Big Jay McNeely, with whom he made his first records as an organist. I’ve included both sides of one of his 1962 McNeely 45s, both tunes co-written by Haywood. ‘The Squat’ and ‘Without a Love’ both feature Haywood using a wide open, slightly distorted/overmodulated organ sound in a heavily reverbed production. ‘The Squat’ is a wild R&B dancer, with it’s flipside working a more sedate, bluesy side of the street.

The next few songs fall into the window of 1965-1966, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t in exact chronological order.

Haywood recorded a full album for the LA label Fat Fish in 1966, which included a few vocal numbers (but did not include his big Northern Soul number ‘Baby Reconsider’ which was on a later Fat Fish 45), as well as a grip of piano and organ instrumentals. I’ve included three tracks from this album, including the tunes ‘Fat Fish’, ‘Soul Cargo’ and his swinging cover of Percy Mayfield’s ‘A River’s Invitation’, which appeared on the album as well as a Convoy 45 (where I first heard it).

Next up is both sides of a 45 that I had for at least 15 years before I realized it was Haywood, by Leon and the Burners. ‘Whiplash’ – which uses a similar organ sound to the McNeely 45 – owes a debt to Alvin Cash’s ‘Twine Time’. The flipside, ‘Crack Up’ has a lean, Memphis sound to it.

The next two sides see Leon Haywood walking into the midst of the one of the most interesting musical mysteries of the classic soul era. The Packers ‘Hole In The Wall’ was a Top 5 R&B/Top 40 Pop hit in the Fall of 1965. The session was put together by LA DJ the Magnificent Montague, and included most of Booker T and the MGs (minus Duck Dunn) who were in LA recording with Bobby Darin, saxophonist Packy Axton of the Mar-Keys, and none other than Leon Haywood on organ (Booker T on piano) and Earl Grant on bass.

All would have been clear enough had this been the only record the Packers did, but Axton went on (with a variety of other players) to record a bunch of “Packers” records over the next few years, as well as both sides of the ‘Hole In the Wall’ 45 being issued in the US and the UK as two differently named songs by someone named Joe S. Maxey (more here).

Complicating matters even more, is the fact that Nat Nathan, sometimes with Haywood (sometimes without) would also record a bunch of ‘Hole In the Wall’-esque 45s (you can see the roots of the Packers “sound” in Haywood’s Fat Fish sides), including ‘Hide Out’ by the Hideaways on the LA Mirwood label.

As I mentioned earlier, Haywood included organ and piano instrumentals on his Decca LP ‘It’s Got To be Mellow’ and on the B-sides of his Decca and Imperial 45s. Included here are the originals ‘Soul On’ (45 only) and ‘Cornbread and Buttermilk’ (from the LP) and the 45-only cover of Len Barry’s ‘1-2-3’.

The last two tracks in this mix are the two sides of a great, funky 1968 Hammond 45 that I was after for years, only bagging a copy late last year. The Soul Machine’s ‘Twitchie Feet’ b/w ‘Bag of Goodies’ (recently covered by the Incredible Say Whats) were played, produced and written by Haywood, during his time with the LA-based Pzazz label (where he also recorded with Little Janice).

Now, I have no doubt whatsoever that there are gaps in this mix, especially where Haywood’s work as a sideman, or pseudonymous bandleader are concerned. I have a few 45s that I suspect are his handiwork, but no hard evidence to go on. If any of you have any records to add to the list, please let me know.

Haywood spent time between his 60s and 70s hits working in the studio, backing people like Shuggie Otis. He also started his own Evejim label, and worked as a producer.

He was a talented performer, and will be missed.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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Cover Songs, Funk, Funk 45, Funky16Corners, Hammond Grooves, Instrumental, Mod Soul, Original Versions, R&B, Soul, Soul 45, Soul Jazz | Funk, Funky16Corners, Hammond Organ, R&B, Soul

Chuck Wood – Seven Days Is Too Long

Listen/Download – Chuck Wood – Seven Days Is Too Long MP3

By Larry, March 27, 2016 10:35 am

Chuck Wood

Greetings all.

I thought we’d get the week started with an honest to goodness Northern Soul anthem.

Naturally, there’s a story to go along with this one, which will stand as a testimony to my occasional obliviousness and the nature of luck.

Many, many years ago, before my wife and I were blessed with our kids, she used to accompany on the occasional digging expedition.

I would usually provide her with a basic criteria as to what kind of stuff I was looking for, and she would dig through the crates with me.

Over the years she managed to pull a couple of real winners, and today’s selection is one of them.

Now when she saw the title ‘Soul Shingaling’ (the flipside of this 45), the alarms went off and she handed it to me. Though I’d never heard of Chuck Wood, I couldn’t in good conscience pass up a 45 with that title, so I put it in the keeper pile and gave it a home in my crates.

Now, at the time, though I was a fan of the Northern Soul “sound”, I didn’t know much of the canon, so it was a few years until I flipped over ‘Soul Shingaling’ and discovered just how good ‘Seven Days Is Too Long’ is.

Recorded in 1967, ‘Seven Days Is Too Long’ was actually a minor regional hit on the East Coast, especially in Philadelphia (I scored my copy on the outskirts of that city), but was pretty much all the success that Chuck Wood ever had.

That was until the record was rediscovered by the UK soul crowd, who embraced the record, making it a huge Northern Soul hit, getting it reissued (it had seen an original 1967 pressing in the UK on the Big T label) twice, in 1971 on Mojo and then in 1975 on Pye.

The record’s Northern Soul popularity should come as no surprise, since its bright, poppy hooks and driving pace and anthemic chorus sound tailor-made for those dance floors.

There’s not much in the way of information about Wood himself out there, which is odd considering the popularity of the record (I was lucky enough to find the picture above in a book on Northern Soul).

The song was covered in 1980 by Dexys Midnight Runners.

It’s a fantastic record and I hope you dig it as much as I do.

See you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Digging, Funky16Corners, Northern Soul, Original Versions, Soul, Soul 45 | Funky16Corners, Northern Soul, Soul

Jimmy Robins – I Can’t Please You

Listen/Download – Jimmy Robins – I Can’t Please You MP3

By Larry, February 28, 2016 10:18 am

Jimmy Robins

Greetings all.

I felt like getting the week off to a good start with something heavy, si I dipped into the crates and pulled out the 45 you see before you today.

Jimmy Robins is yet another soul singer of the classic era who is best classified as a journeyman, moving from label to label, from the late 50s to the early 70s, recording under a number of different names.

Oddly enough, it was with this 45, released in 1966, that Robins had his biggest hit.

‘I Can’t Please You’, released on at least three different labels (Impression, Jerhart, and in the UK on President) in 1966, went on to hit the R&B Top 20 in early 1967.

A raw, R&B-inflected burner, with a powerful vocal by Robins and a fast-moving arrangement that made it a dance floor favorite. ‘I Can’t Please You’ was covered a year later by the Bay Area band the Loading Zone.

Robins went on to record for 20th Century, Kent, Tangerine and Convoy, making his last 45 as half of the duo Patrizia and Jimmy on the funk 45 favorite ‘Trust Your Child’ for Ala in 1973.

Robins passed away in 2007.

I hope you dig the track, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday,

Keep the faith

Larry

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Funky16Corners, Original Versions, R&B, Soul, Soul 45 | Funky16Corners, R&B, Soul

Ramsey Lewis – Party Time

Listen/Download – Ramsey Lewis – Party Time MP3

By Larry, January 19, 2016 12:03 pm

Ramsey Lewis (l), Ansil Collins and Dave Barker (r)

Greetings all.

Welcome to the middle of the week.

Nothing grooves me more than finding out the source of a sample/cover, especially when I had no idea the record in question was a cover.

Such was the case last year when someone dropped a Youtube clip of the record you see before you today, ‘Party Time’ by Ramsey Lewis.

The ‘cover’ in question is one of the great skinhead reggae 45s of all time, Dave and Ansil Collins’ ‘Double Barrell’.

There are a lot of reggae/ska tunes that borrow (a charitable assessment…) from US/UK pop, jazz and soul, but I never knew that ‘Double Barrel’ (an all-time fave, of which I own at least three different copies) was one of them.

‘Party Time’ composed for Lewis by none other than the mighty Richard Evans, and arranged and produced by him for the 1967 ‘Up Pops Ramsey’ LP, is a groovy number with some punchy drums and upright bass setting the foundation for Lewis’s piano soloing.

The arrangement by Evans is first-rate, up there with the best of his Soulful Strings efforts.

Dave and Ansil Collins either heard the LP or the 45 of ‘Party Time’, and with the addition of some toasting by Dave Barker, ‘Double Barrel’ took Evans melody and turned it into an island classic in 1969.

‘Up Pops Ramsey’ is also worth hearing in its entirety, packed with groovy covers and of course those Richard Evans arrangements.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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Listen/Download – Velvet Hammer – Happy MP3

Chicago Soul, Cover Songs, Funky16Corners, Instrumental, LP tracks, Original Versions, Reggae, Soul, Soul Jazz | Chicago Soul, Funky16Corners, Reggae, Soul

Velvet Hammer – Happy

Comments (3)

By Larry, January 3, 2016 12:57 pm

The reunited Velvet Hammer!

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you well.

The tune I bring you today is one of those records that I happened upon quite by accident, and fell in love with instantly.

Oddly enough, the song popped up in a medley in a video by the ‘Northern Soul Girl’ Levanna Mclean, in which she dances through the streets of Bristol, UK, first to Pharrell Williams ‘Happy’, and then to another song that I’d never heard before.

I found out in short order that the tune was ‘Happy’ by the group Velvet Hammer.

Recorded in 1977 in Chicago, with the songwriting and production assistance of none other than Andre Williams (this may be the latest thing I’ve ever heard by him) ‘Happy’ is a delirious mixture of a danceable beat (thus it’s popularity with the Northern Soul crowd), sweet soul falsetto soul and a classy arrangement.

What I know about the group I owe to the efforts of the late, sweet soul expert Bob Abrahamian, who traced the group’s roots to the 1960s Chicago group the Admirations, on through their evolution into the Green Berets, the High Society, and then in the mid-70s, into Velvet Hammer.

They recorded an entire LP for the Chicago-based Soozi Records (apparently run by the owners of a chain of barbecue restaurants!), from which ‘Happy’ and its b-side ‘Party Hardy’ were culled.

As I mentioned above, ‘Happy’ has that straight up, four on the floor beat that endears it to the soulies, yet it’s couched in an elegant, restrained arrangement (dig the way the organ and the jazzy guitar play against the strings) that makes it as easy to listen to as to dance.

It tends to be a relatively pricey 45 (especially after it was featured in the video above), but seems to have settled down a little (the promo, like mine, tends to run a little cheaper than the issue on the flowered label).

If you get a chance, take a look at the video of the reunited Velvet Hammer performing the tune live.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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