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By Larry, August 12, 2012 11:32 am

Carl Davis

Clockwise from top left: Major Lance, Walter Jackson, Jackie Wilson, Billy Butler
Below: The Artistics

Listen/Download Billy Butler – Right Track
Listen/Download Billy Butler – I’ll Bet You
Listen/Download Major Lance – Too Hot To Hold
Listen/Download Walter Jackson – Funny (Not Much)
Listen/Download Jackie Wilson – I Get the Sweetest Feeling
Listen/Download The Artistics – What Happened

Greetings all and welcome to another week here at the intersection of all things soulful.

It was near the end of last week that I heard that the great producer Carl Davis had passed away.

If you’re a fan and/or collector of classic Chicago soul, his is a name that looms large (and appears constantly at the bottom of 45 labels).

Davis was one of the first black A&R men and one of the most important producers involved in soul music during the 60s.

He produced countless classic sessions for the Okeh and Brunswick labels, both crucibles for the development of the Chicago “sound”.

While I would not classify myself as an expert on Chicago soul, I am without any shadow of a doubt a huge fan and devotee thereof.

Many of my favorite soul 45s came out of the Windy City, and Carl Davis was the producer on many of those.

Davis worked with a wide variety of performers, solo artists and groups, and his style was marked by the ability tomake records that were simultaneously lush and economical.

Few had Davis’s ability create records so full of life and dynamic range yet utterly uncluttered.

He could layer rhythm sections, horns, strings and vocals and still manage to have the various elements inhabit their own distinct spaces.

His productions were bright, exciting and sometimes even explosive.

Though Davis produced some of the biggest hit records to come out of Chicago, I’d like to feature a couple of lesser known killers as well.

Davis worked extensively with Major Lance and produced ‘Um Um Um Um Um’, but my fave Davis/Lance collab is ‘Too Hot To Hold’, which made it into the outer reaches of the R&B Top 40 in 1965. Check out the way the smoothness of the female backing vocals almost (but not quite) clash with the over-the-top-ness of the male voices, especially the ‘Hey! Hey! Hey!’s.

Billy Butler has always been the connoiseur’s choice when it comes to Chitown soul singers. While never as successful as his older brother Jerry, he did manage to place four sides into the R&B Top 40 between 1965 and 1971.

‘Right Track’, from 1966 is rightly regarded as a soul anthem. It features a unstoppable arrangement that builds gradually, never overwhelming Butler’s vocals.

A year later, Butler would record one of the best versions of the oft covered George Clinton/Sidney Barnes/Theresa Lindsey classic ‘I’ll Bet You’. Whereas later versions (Funkadelic, Jackson 5) take the song at a slow, almost sinister tempo, Butler’s version moves along at a brisk pace, which made it a favorite on Northern Soul dance floors. The production is wonderful, but the recording of the drums especially is remarkable. Limited largely to the closed hi-hat and the snare (with occasional handclaps and congas) , Davis kept the drums high  in the mix, allowing them to drive the record without smothering the rest of the band.

It remains one of my favorite sides on Brunswick.

Davis also did a lot of work with balladeer Walter Jackson. Though he’s not as well remembered as many of his contemporaries, Jackson chocked up a significant number of R&B hits between 1964 and his untimely death in 1983.

I first heard ‘Funny (Not Much)’ some years ago on a comp, and promptly fell in love with it. I’m not surprised that the record – from 1966 – didn’t chart. The jazzy, supper club arrangement sounds about 10 years past its prime, but is undeniably beautiful. The arrangement is lush with strings, yet Davis lets the piano, guitar and vibes pop up into the mix just enough to lend the record an air of intimacy. Jackson’s voice is remarkable, yet just flawed enough to be interesting.

The best known record featured today is a longtime favorite, Jackie Wilson’s ‘I Get the Sweetest Feeling’. Grazing the R&B Top 10 (as well as the Pop Top 40) in the summer of 1968, ‘I Get the Sweetest Feeling’ is the biggest hit of the Davis productions on this list.

‘I Get the Sweetest Feeling’ is two minutes and forty three seconds of absolute perfection. One of those soul records that is soulful yet almost pure pop, lush yet also danceable, and featuring one of Jackie Wilson’s finest vocals. ‘I Get the Sweetest Feeling’ is also an example of a perfectly produced side.

Davis brings in the vocals, strings, drums, backing vocals and horns, maintaining the perfect amount of space between them all, allowing Wilson’s voice to ride effortlessly atop the whole thing. The record is bright and open, without ever going over the top, restrained without ever making you think your missing something.

Like all of the finest records, the ultimate intersection of art and craft.

The final record I bring you is in many ways the most experimental, progressive 45 on this list.

The Artistics were around on the fringes of the Chicago scene, working as backing vocalists on Okeh sessions for Davis, eventually recording a handful of singles for the label.

They moved on to Brunswick in 1966 and hit the charts a few times over the next five years.

‘What Happened’ was released in 1967, and as I said when I first wrote about the record back in 2009, it is one of the finest examples of baroque, almost psychedelic touches working their way onto the soul palette. Davis (who produced with Eugene Record) brings in fuzz guitar, string quartet, organ and piano to lay down a foundation for the Artistics build their mighty harmonies on.

It never fails to amaze me that a record this good failed to chart.

Carl Davis went on to form the Dakar and Chi Sound labels, eventually working with – and making hits for – almost every major Chicago-based artist.

He was a master and he will be missed.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

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.

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By Larry, June 28, 2012 3:00 pm

Len Barry

Listen/Download Len Barry – I Struck It Rich

Greetings all.

The end of another week is here, and so is your weekly dose of soul in the form of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. We take to the airwaves of the interwebs this – and every – Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at the time of broadcast you can always fall by the blog and grab the show (or any of the previous 100+ episodes) in MP3 form.

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Also, in other news, my man Eilon Paz, photographer and founder of the Dust and Grooves site is having a show of his vinyl portraiture (he featured yours truly back in the day) at the Tropicalia In Furs store, with an opening event Friday night July 6th from 7-10PM.

There will be photos from his various D&G features, as well as vinyl (natch) DJ sets by my man DJ Prestige and the mighty Supreme La Rock.

You might even see a picture of me!

If time and life allows I’m going to try to make it out to this one. I hope to see you there!

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The tune I bring you today is an old favorite of mine.

Len Barry is a name that should be familiar to soul fans, especially with a focus on the sounds of Philadelphia.

Barry – nee Leonard Borisoff – got his first taste of chart success as a member of the Dovells.

He first hit big in 1965 with the brilliant ‘1-2-3’ in the summer of 1965, which almost hit #1 Pop and grazed the R&B Top 10.

When I describe that record as ‘brilliant’ I’m not kidding. It was written by Barry with John Madara and David White (both Philly mainstays) and sports a stunning arrangement by Jimmy Wisner.

Barry is one of a number of soulful white singers from the Philly/Baltimore axis, including Billy Harner (more on him in a moment), Daryl Hall (then in the Temptones), and Bob Brady (of the Conchords).

Barry’s Decca sides from 1965 and 1966 are excellent and worth seeking out (including his improbably cool version of ‘Somewhere’ from West Side Story).

The number I bring you today charted regionally in the Northeast in the summer of 1966 (almost exactly a year after ‘1-2-3’).

The first time I heard ‘I Struck It Rich’ it was via the version by the aforementioned Billy Harner.

Harner, a Philly-area native (south Jersey actually) recorded a grip of fantastic records in the 60s for a variety of local and nationally distributed labels. His version of ‘I Struck It Rich’ takes a slightly rougher tack that Barry’s, and a for a while it was my favored version of the two.

However, as the years went on, and I got deeper into the stylish sounds of Northern Soul, Len Barry’s improved greatly in my eyes (and ears, of course).

Co-written by Barry with the mighty Gamble and Huff (and arranged again, by Wisner) ‘I Struck It Rich’ is up there with the best of Philly soul.

As a vocalist, Barry is much closer to the Smokey Robinson mold (not as close as Bob Brady…) than Harner, a rougher singer with a deeper register.

That all said, I’d be happy spinning either version for dancers.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

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.

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By Larry, June 7, 2012 11:34 am

Dyke and the Blazers

Listen/Download Dyke and the Blazers – Funky Broadway Pt1

Greetings all.

I should remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t make it at airtime you can always come by the blog and grab yourself a downloadable MP3 of the show (and more than 100 archived episodes) over the weekend.

Also, it’s looking like the 2012 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive/Allnighter will lift off on 6/18, so get your ears all oiled up and ready!

I was rooting around in the crates a while back in search of delicious, musical truffles when what should I happen upon but the record you see before you today.

It was one of those occasions when I look at what most would consider a very basic, meat and potatoes funk/soul 45 and marvel at the fact that in more than seven years of blogging in this space, that it has never been featured.

Whether this is due more to the fact that it is so common, i.e. ignored passively, or because the innate record snob in me thought it beneath me (or the blog, or whatever) and thus taken for granted, I cannot say.

It is a fact that I own ever single 45 ever recorded by Dyke and the Blazers (excepting of course the ultra-rare original issue of this very song on the Artco label).

It is also a fact that from the release of that 45 in 1967, Arlester ‘Dyke’ Christian and band recorded several great 45s all of a remarkably consistent quality.

That ‘Funky Broadway’ was hugely influential – even if the Wicked Pickett eclipsed Dyke et al, riding the song all the way to Number One where the Blazers stalled in the midst of the Top 20 – bears mentioning, since it was recorded over and over (and over) again by singers, instrumentalists (especially organists) and was one of (if not THE) first ‘Funky’ tunes (in name) to hit the charts in a big way.

‘Funky Broadway’, in the fashion of so many great funk records – especially those by James Brown – was in essence a groove dug deep. What you get over the course of two and a half minutes (part one, only) is a greasy, lo-fi vamp with prominent organ comping, rudimentary(but heavy) bass and drums and horns that are right, tight and out of sight, all basically laying the foundation for Dyke and his raspy voice.

The history of the “band” is decidedly convoluted, but the capsule history is that Dyke came out of Buffalo, found his way to Phoenix, AZ with a touring band, where he recorded ‘Funky Broadway’ for Artco, which was then picked up by Original Sound. Over the course of the next few years Dyke and the Blazers ended up as Dyke and a Bunch of LA Studio Heads, with which he stayed in the R&B Top 40 (and hovered in and around the Pop Hot 100) well into 1970, his career eventually hitting a wall when he was shot dead on the streets of Phoenix in the Spring of 1971.

I don’t think I’d be telling tales out of school if I were to to state that Dyke and the Blazers are both underplayed (on what’s left of radio and on turntables in the clurrrrb) and underappreciated (everywhere else).

Their unfortunately brief catalog contains several prime examples of heat, including ‘Let a Woman Be a Woman Let a Man Be a Man’ and ‘We Got More Soul’ and despite the revolving cast of backing musicians, Dyke’s voice maintained a consistency over the few years they were recording.

‘Funky Broadway’ is among his best.

I hope you dig, and I’ll be back on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry
_______________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

Click here to go to the ordering page.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

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

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, May 31, 2012 2:08 pm

Les McCann

Listen/Download Les McCann – Compared To What (Original Version)

Greetings all.

I should remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t make it at airtime you can always come by the blog and grab yourself a downloadable MP3 of the show (and more than 100 archived episodes) over the weekend.

I hope all is well with you and yours.

The tune I bring you today should be a (very) familiar one, but I’m guessing that for a lot of you, the version will be new.

Most folks know the most famous take of  Gene McDaniels’ ‘Compared To What’ via the 1969 recording by Les McCann and Eddie Harris from the ‘Swiss Movement’ LP.

That’s certainly the first place I heard it, followed by the also quite excellent variations laid down by folks like Roberta Flack, Della Reese and the Northern Soul fave by Mr Flood’s Party.

As is always the case, my inquiring mind wanted to know what the first version of the song was, assuming (incorrectly) that it had to have been by Gene McDaniels himself.

McDaniels got his start as a popular recording artist with “A Hundred Pounds of Clay’, a Top 10 hit in 1961. His chart run, which included tunes like ‘Tower of Strength’ and ‘Point of No Return’ (later a hit when covered by Georgie Fame in the UK) ended in 1962 (though he continued to record into the 70s).

I still have no idea how McDaniels got ‘Compared to What’ to Les McCann, but it would appear (unless someone can place it earlier) that the song was first recorded (the take you’re hearing today) by McCann on his 1967 LP ‘Plays the Hits’ on the Limelight label.

‘Compared to What’ is by any measure one of the great, soulful protest songs of the 60s, and McCann really lays into it with gusto, making it the highlight of an otherwise fairly unremarkable album filled with pop covers.

In fact, I had the record for a few years before I even noticed that it included ‘Compared to What’!

Though it’s possible that McDaniels himself recorded his most famous composition at some point, I have yet to track it down.

I don’t believe that this version has ever been reissued.

It’s an inspired bit of soul jazz and yet another piece of a very interesting puzzle.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, May 20, 2012 1:27 pm

Freddie Scott

Listen/Download Freddie Scott – (You) Got What I Need

Greetings all.

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

I thought  – after what turned out to be an entire week of obituaries – we’d get the new week off to a killer start with a record that I chased for a long time.

There can hardly be a person left on the face of the earth who hears the opening bars of ‘(You) Got What I Need’ and doesn’t immediately think ‘Biz Markie!’

However, there are without a doubt a large portion therein who cannot follow that thought with the name of the original recording artist,  Freddie Scott.

I love playing this record for people whose eyes light up with the opening, and then get even wider when they hear an unfamiliar voice and song follow.

When Biz Markie hit in 1989 with ‘Just a Friend’ it’s hard to imagine that many of his contemporaries (other than the DJs) had any idea at all about the sample source.

Though Freddie Scott had a Top 40 R&B hit with ‘You Got What I Need’ in 1968 (the second to last hit in a chart run that started in 1963 with ‘Hey Girl’), the record did not subsequently find a spot in the rotation of oldies radio. His music was strictly the purvey of soul collectors and members of an older generation when the Diabolical Biz Markie slapped on a powdered wig and let loose.

As groovy as the Biz was (is) the really cool thing is, when you sit down and give the Freddie Scott OG a good listen and realize what a fantastic record it is.

Then you take a look at the label and get your second surprise, that being that ‘You Got What I Need’ was written and produced by none other than the mighty Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff!

Though Gamble and Huff had written and produced a grip of amazing local Philly stuff, when Bert Berns handed Scott over to them they had only had one national hit, 1967’s ‘Expressway To Your Heart’ by the Soul Survivors (the Intruders ‘Cowboys to Girls’ would hit the charts only a few months before ‘You Got What I Need’).

Scott had hit the R&B and Pop charts more than half a dozen times in five years. He had moved from Colpix/Columbia to Shout in 1966.

‘You Got What I Need’ manages to be both tuneful and funky (dig those drums), and a great showcase for both Scott’s voice and Gamble and Huff’s producing/arranging talents.

I’m surprised that the record didn’t make a bigger dent in the charts, but following Bert Berns’ death in late 1967, Freddie Scott would only record one more 45 for the label.

He went on to record briefly for Probe, and then Mainstream, but my the mid-70s had moved on to writing advertising jingles.

He passed on in 2004.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, May 17, 2012 12:52 pm

Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder

Listen/Download Donna Summer – I Feel Love 12″ Edit

Greetings all.

I should start be reminding you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this (and every) Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. We have a very special tribute to the Ladies of Soul lined up for you, so I hope you’ll fall by and open up your ears. You can always come by the blog over the weekend and pick yourself up an MP3 of the broadcast, or any of the more than 100 previous episodes in the archive.

This has been an incredibly brutal week as far as losses to the world of soul, funk and now disco, with the news of the passing of the great Donna Summer.

Summer, who died after a battle with cancer at the age of 63 was a huge part of disco, and later the world of pop soul.

The song I bring you today is by far one of my favorite disco records, but was really much, much more than that.

I’ve gone on the record at length of my long and somewhat rocky history with the sounds and culture of disco, from my callow youth (when it was all going down) right on through to my more mature appraisal in recent years.

Back in the day, there were a lot of records now thought of as disco that I loved – and many that I did not – but few have such a solid place in the pleasure centers of my memory as the tune I bring you today, ‘I Feel Love’.

When Donna Summer first entered my ears in 1975 with ‘Love To Love You Baby’ I was smitten, but I think it would be fair to say that it had as much to do with the erotic nature of the song and its effects on my adolescent mind as anything else.

However, two years later when Summer’s collaboration with Giorgio Moroder ‘I Feel Love’ came pulsing out of my radio* my mind was good and truly blown.

The song, which managed to hit the Top 10 on the R&B and Pop charts, was a remarkable bit of visionary dance floor artistry that would anticipate a lot of what was to come in dance music of all stripes over the next decade.

It’s always interesting to listen to the evolution of the synthesizer, from its roots in experimental music, on through novelty, psychedelia and on into dance music.

That its users struggled to imbue it with real musicality is without question.

That Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte managed to win that fight and create something remarkable is also – once you’ve slapped on the headphones and poured this concoction into your brain – a certainty.

Listening to ‘I Feel Love’ 35 years later, even after High Energy, House, and synth pop, it still sounds new and innovative.

A lot of this has to do with Summer’s remarkable voice, the element that managed to take the mechanical pulse of the synthesizers into the human realm.

The mix I bring you today clocks in at just a hair over eight minutes, but there was also a 15 minute mega-mix of the song and it’s not hard to imagine a disco full of chemically altered party people moving with the beat for the whole record, eventually collapsing into a blissful heap.

This is the record about which Brian Eno is reported to have raved –

“I have heard the sound of the future. ‘This is it, look no further. This single is going to change the sound of club music for the next fifteen years.”

Donna Summer went on to have a huge career in the 80s, crossing over heavily into the pop market with a much more conventional sound (which can still be heard on oldies radio, and at weddings wherever they happen).

Nothing she did, though, hits me like this.

The song was later covered by Bronski Beat (with Marc Almond) in a very cool version.

I hope you dig it.

Lets all hope for a better week next week.

Keep the faith

Larry

*I wore out the 45 I bought back then and upgraded to this 12″ a few years ago

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, May 13, 2012 2:44 pm

The Mighty Duck

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

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

Listen/Download Booker T and the MGs – Chicken Pox

Listen/Download Booker T and the MGs – Melting Pot

Greetings all.

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

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

He was 70 years old.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He was a legend, and he will be missed.

See you later in the week.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (5)

By Larry, May 6, 2012 4:17 pm

The Samplers – Beastie Boys

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

Listen/Download Johnny Hammond Smith – Big Sur Suite

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

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Listen/Download Commodores – Machine Gun

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

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Listen/Download Jeremy Steig – Howling For Judy

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

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

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

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Listen/Download Norman Whitfield/Rose Royce – Yo Yo

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

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Listen/Download Afrique – Kissing My Love

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

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Greetings all.

Welcome to another week here at the Corners du Fonque…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, March 1, 2012 2:29 pm

Mr Ben E King

Listen/Download – Ben E King – What Is Soul

Greetings all.

I hope all is well in your corner of the world.

I should remind you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show once again takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio.

This week we have a very groovy – and in the words of Slim Gaillard “Mellow like a cello” – all soul ballads show for you. If you can’t make it at the time of broadcast, you can always stop by the blog and pick up the MP3 version of the show over the weekend, or listen to it in the Flash player in the sidebar.

The tune I bring you today fell into my ears fairly late in the game.

I have to be honest and say that I have slept on the sounds of Ben E King in a big way.

Aside from ‘Spanish Harlem’, the Soul Clan, various and sundry Drifters cuts, and of course ‘Stand By Me’ (one of those tunes I never need to hear again), I hadn’t heard much of anything else from his catalog.

Then someone, somewhere (I forget who) posted a clip of ‘What is Soul?’ and I was all “What the hey?”

Where had this gem been all my life?

I started to look for a copy forthwith and was initially unsuccessful.

It seemed that most of the available copies were over in the UK (where it was included on a popular late 60s comp) or over here for prices a little higher than I was willing to spend.

Fortunately, as one of the old dogs that has been able to learn a new trick along the way, I was patient, did a saved search and a nice copy popped up before long at an even nicer price.

The appeal, upon first listen is obvious.

The tune, recorded with Eric Gale’s band in October of 1966, and beginning with a very tasty drum break by Bernard Purdie, ‘What Is Soul?’ is an odd but compelling hybrid soul shout/ballad.

Ben E’s vocal is pure heat and the production/arrrangement by Bob Gallo (who also did Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles stunning version of ‘Take Me For a Little While’) is hot in every sense of the word. It sounds like one of those sessions where the meters were pushed into the red all the way through the song.

‘What Is Soul’ slipped just inside the R&B Top 40 in January of 1967, remained on the charts for two weeks and then disappeared. King wouldn’t have another big hit until 1975’s ‘Supernatural Thing’.

Interestingly enough, not long after I grabbed this 45, I found a cover of the tune by one of my favorite acts, Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers (which I’m saving for another time).

Ben E. King would sneak the song through the back door of the Top 40 again in 1977, when his cover of the song with the Average White Band appeared on the b-side of the song ‘A Star In the Ghetto’.

I hope you dig the tune, 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 (2)

By Larry, January 20, 2012 2:32 pm

A Younger Johnny Otis

Shuggie, Delmar and Johnny doing the Watts Breakaway

Johnny Otis in later years

Listen/Download -Johnny Otis Show – Country Girl

Listen/Download -Johnny Otis Show – Watts Breakaway

Listen/Download -Preston Love – Cool Ade

Listen/Download -The Mighty Flea – Ode To Billie Joe

Greetings all.

NOTE: I had planned to post this tribute to Johnny Otis on Monday. However, the word came down today that Miss Etta James had passed away, so I’m moving this post up a few days, and will pay tribute to Etta after the weekend.

A few days back I heard that the mighty Johnny Otis had passed away at the ripe old age of 90.

It had occurred to me that here in the year 2012, the name Johnny Otis would very likely be unfamiliar to many and known only peripherally (like they know they name but not the music behind it) to others.

Certainly many of you fine people that fall by here on the reg know and love not only the music he made, but much of the music that he facilitated, whether as talent scout, bandleader or even as father (on account of Shuggie is his son).

The sounds of Johnny Otis have been in my ears since I was a kid.

Though it’s fair to say that much of what I dig these days is his later funk and soul jams, I spent most of my formative years listening to oldies radio, which is why my ears (and head) are where they are now.

Any oldies station worth its salt would have been spinning his best known record, 1958’s ‘Willie and the Hand Jive’, though that was not his first or biggest hit* (he’d topped the R&B charts several times since 1950) but the first one to cross over to the pop chart (where it was Top 10).

Born John Veliotes in 1921, he got his start drumming in swing bands before starting his own outfit and hitting with ‘Harlem Nocturne’ in 1945.

Though he continued to record, he diversified, opening his own nightclub, working as a talent scout (he discovered both Little Esther Phillips and Etta James), A&R man for King Records (among other labels) and disc jockey.

Otis was particularly important because over the many decades of his career he touched on almost all aspects of black music (as it evolved) during that time, recording himself, or with others in blues, R&B, jazz, soul and funk.

It’s almost fitting to look at Johnny Otis as the center of an ever-expanding musical “galaxy” of sorts, with him as the hub around which of a wide variety of performers and supporting players expanded out into the world.

From his earliest days on Los Angeles’ Central Avenue scene, through his work with the revolving cast of the Johnny Otis Show (musicians and vocalists, performing and recording), on through his radio work Otis was constantly making or breaking music in some capacity. That he was able to do this in a professional capacity for almost 70 years is truly amazing.

The four tracks I bring you today have all appeared here at the blog over the years, and represent an interesting cross-section of Otis’ late 60s/early 70s funk and soul recordings.

The first two are the best known funk tracks recorded by the Johnny Otis Show, ‘Watts Breakaway’ and ‘Country Girl’, both featuring Johnny, his son Shuggie (you all know Shuggie, yes?) and vocalist Delmar Evans. Both tracks are prime, dance floor funk with the addition of sharp, often funny lyrics (especially ‘Country Girl’ which hit the R&B Top 40 in 1969).

The second pair of tracks are by Johnny Otis satellites/sidemen saxophonist Preston Love and trombonist Gene ‘The Mighty Flea’ Connors.

Preston Love’s ‘Cool Ade’ has the same humorous vibe (as well as Shuggie’s guitar) but moves at a slightly slower pace.

The Mighty Flea’s version of ‘Ode To Billie Joe’ is one of the funkier outings on that tune, with organ, drum breaks and Connors working the trombone in a Fred Wesley style. Otis and his pals also made some other excellent, in-demand funky 45s (with the same party vibe) for the Eldo label like ‘Keep the Faith’ and ‘Banana Peels’.

It also bears mentioning (once again) that the Vibrettes funk classic ‘Humpty Dump’ emerged from the Johnny Otis laboratory, not – as is often reported – that of Mr Eddie Bo.

That said, there is a lot more music out there to add to the Johnny Otis story.

I for one am going to settle in with a copy of ‘Midnight at the Barrelhouse: The Johnny Otis Story’ and get my learn on.

I hope you dig the tunes, and raise a glass (or perhaps a little hell) in memory of one of the true greats, Mr Johnny Otis.

Peace

Larry

*If mid-60s boogaloo is your bag, make sure you check out Castor’s Smash records material, which is excellent.

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, January 12, 2012 12:59 pm

Odetta

Listen/Download – Odetta – Hit or Miss

Greetings all.

I hope everyone is well, and that you’re all ready to end the week with something groovy.

If I might make a related detour, I will remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show hits the airwaves of the interwebs this (and every) Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. This week is another very greasy Hammond 45 special, with all manner of burners stacked up and set alight by yours truly. If you can’t be there when it airs, you can pick up the show on Saturday as an MP3, right here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is another bit of that rare but delicious subgenre known as folk-funk (funky folk, folky funk, what have you).

If you are my age or older, the name Odetta should be a familiar one.

Odetta (known almost exclusively by her first name for the duration of her career) was one of the queens of the American folk revival.

Though her earliest work was on the musical theater stage (she was involved briefly with the very interesting Turnabout Theatre in Los Angeles), she was working as a folk singer by the mid-50s and by the end of that decade was known as much for her powerful voice as she was for her work in support of the civil rights movement.

She is best remembered as part of the folk movement, but Odetta’s work was also influenced by jazz and the blues.

By the time the end of the 60s rolled around, there were very few standard bearers of the folk movement who hadn’t already branched out into the world of rock and pop to some degree, and Odetta was no exception.

The 1970 LP. ‘Odetta Sings’ was recorded in both Muscle Shoals (with support from the house band as well as cats like Eddie Hinton) and in Los Angeles with a group of studio heavies as well as Carole King on piano.

The album was composed almost exclusively of cover material, by folks like James Taylor, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Randy Newman. There were only two originals on the album, and today’s selection was one of them.

‘Hit or Miss’ is heavily sweated by crate diggers because of the extra-sweet break that opens the tune (that would be Russ Kunkel on the drums) but I invite you to stick around for the rest of the song, which is excellent.

Odetta was possessed of a powerful, unique voice, perfectly suited for delivering heavy, “message” material, so it’s interesting to hear her put that same instrument to work in a more relaxed, soulful setting. There’s more than a touch of 1970-specific, laid back, quasi-hippie groove at work, which is not a bad thing at all.

The 45 of this cut can be kind of pricey, so do yourself a favor and grab the whole album, which ought to be much cheaper, and of course has eight more songs for your money.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Monday.

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.