Funky16Corners

Category: Equal Opportunity Soul

The Groovers – Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday

By Larry, June 3, 2018 10:23 am

The Groovers

Listen/Download – The Groovers – Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s selection is an object lesson in how common band names and cover material can send you down all kinds of dark alleys.

I picked up the Groovers 45 you see before you a few years back on the strength of both sides being soul covers, even though I’d never heard of the band.

I recorded the 45, and into the box it went.

In the time since, I picked up another 45 by a group called the Groovers, but had no idea it was the same group.

The fact that some online resources contained conflicting (and incorrect, this is not the LA band that recorded for Minit and Teri De) information didn’t help matters.

This particular Groovers appears to have been another white showband on the Beach Music scene who recorded for the Fredericksburg, VA labels Groovy (a cover of Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers ‘I Gotta Go Now (Up On the Floor)’) and TCB (the Goffin/King number ‘I Need You’) and two 45s for A&M, all produced by Warren Harding Jr and at least a few of them arranged by none other than Fonce Mizell (?!?).

My educated guess is that these were done when the Mizell brothers were attending Howard University in DC.

The version of ‘I Gotta Go Now’ has a garagey edge to it, as does their take on Ain’t Too Proud To Beg’ (I haven’t heard their TCB single).

The Groovers take on William Bell’s ‘Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday’ is very groovy indeed. Featuring some subtle and soulful guitar, gospel-inflected organ, tastefully applied strings and great vocals.

‘Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday’ seems to have brought the group some success, having charted regionally early in 1970.

According to a Fredericksburg music site, the Groovers were together from the mid-50s until the mid-80s (and a few of the members seem to still be playing today).

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

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Blue Eyed Soul, Cover Songs, Equal Opportunity Soul, Funky16Corners, Soul, Soul 45 | Funky16Corners, Soul

UPDATE! The Chitlins – Sugar Woman

Comments (3)

By Larry, April 12, 2016 11:57 am

Listen/Download The Chitlins – Sugar Woman

Greetings all

I first posted the Chitlins ‘Sugar Woman’ (a big fave) almost three years ago, with the small amount of info that I was able to unearth, mixed with some speculation.

Last week, group member Pete Killingsworth posted a comment fleshing out the details significantly.

“Hi Larry,
I somehow ran across your article about The Chitlins and Sugar Woman. I played guitar on that record. Decon John Moore also played guitar. Deacon John did most of the guitar work and I just played chops. The horns were from Deacon John and the Ivories. My brother Sonny Killingsworth played bass. Sonny Tanner is incorrect as he wasn’t on it. Chris Miller was the vocalist and piano player. Sam Roe played drums. Chris Miller and my brother has passed away so Sam and I are the only ones still alive. The producer was Allen Toussaint. Stanley Chaission was our Manager. It’s true we were The Soul Brothers from Pascagoula Mississippi and consisted of Chris Miller, Sam Roe, myself, and my brother Sonny Killingsworth. Deacon John and the Ivories were brought in for sweetening. The record company came up with name “The Chitlins”. We said we’d change our name only if it was a nationwide hit which it wasn’t. It did well in New Orleans though. I can’t comment on the record company itself as I don’t know anything about it except that they were out of New York. It was recorded at Cosimo’s recording studio in New Orleans. So there you have it from the horses mouth. Man that was a long time ago but I remember it like it was yesterday.
Best Regards,
Pete Killingsworth”

Thanks to Pete we now know that there were some NOLA heavy hitters in the studio, including Deacon John Moore and none other than an uncredited Allen Toussaint (the label lists Chase Records honch Stanley Chaisson) working the board!

I thought that it behooved me to re-post this most excellent record, along with the new info (original post below).

I hope you dig the record (or still dig it if it’s already a fave) and I’ll see you all on Friday with a special tribute to the keyboard expertise of the great Leon Haywood.

Keep the Faith

Larry

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Originally posted September 2010

Welcome to the middle of another groovy week.

The track I bring you today is both a fairly recent discovery for me and a major fave.

It is also something of a mystery.

A few months back I was perusing a new (to me) record site on the intertubes, and a glimpse of the Pala records label caught my eye.

One half of the York-Pala construct, it was run by two cats named Charlie Greene and Brian Stone. These operators are best known as music managers who came to prominence in mid-60s LA working with acts like Sonny and Cher, the Buffalo Springfield, the Poor and a cat you may have heard of named Dr John.

I had always seen the York/Pala credit on many records, but it was only in the last few years that I actually found a record on either label.

I have two 45s by The Poor (LA-based folk rock) but the Chitlins ‘Sugar Woman’ was the first Pala disc I’d ever encountered.

The label appears to have been very short-lived, with only one other release (by Larry Marks).

The Chitlins appear to have gotten their start – and spent much of their existence – as a white show band called the Soul Brothers, in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

The first time I heard ‘Sugar Woman’, what grabbed me was the New Orleans guitar (sounds like George Davis to me).

As it turns out the band did in fact record their sole 45 in New Orleans for Stanley Chaisson’s Chase Records imprint.

I have not been able to confirm whether or not there was actually a Chitlins 45 released on Chase, or if it was a production deal that was licensed to Pala.

My suspicion – without any hard evidence, mind you – is that Green and Stone happened upon the Chitlins via one of the many New Orleans connections in their orbit. Harold Battiste was Sonny and Cher’s musical director, and both Mac ‘Dr John’ Rebennack and Alvin Robinson were both working on the West Coast during this period.

That said, ‘Sugar Woman’ is a positively scorching bit of garagey soul with fantastic lyrics like

Let her know she’s a real Jim Dandy, feed her candy!

And

Let her know she’s a ring-dang-doo sir, don’t lose her!

The guitar, bass and drums are in a deep, deep groove, and the horns and backing vocalists are spot on.

I don’t know who the lead vocalist is but he’s killing it!

Via some cross-referencing (and following a few hunches) I’m led to believe that the band included guys named Chris Miller, Sam Roe, Pete Killingsworth, Sonny Tanner, having had some crossover with a group called the New Grooves.

As I mentioned earlier, I hear the distinct guitar stylings of George Davis, but the entire record has such a New Orleans feel to it, I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that this was the Soul Brothers/Chitlins singer fronting an entire studio full of NOLA pros.

In another interesting twist, the song is credited to country songwriter/producer Billy Sherrill, but I can’t find any instance of anyone else having recorded the tune.

The flip side, ‘The Next Time You See Me’ is an upbeat, bluesy shuffle.

“Sugar Woman’ was a local Top 40 hit in New Orleans in the Spring of 1967.

It is a truly remarkable tune, and one that I wish I’d had in my crates a long time ago.

I hope you dig it as much as I do, and 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.
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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Allen Toussaint, Blue Eyed Soul, Cosimo Matassa, Equal Opportunity Soul, Funky16Corners, New Orleans Soul, Soul, Soul 45 | Funky16Corners, New Orleans, Soul

R. Dean Taylor – There’s a Ghost In My House

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 21, 2015 12:46 pm

R. Dean Taylor

Listen/Download – R. Dean Taylor – There’s a Ghost In My House

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, so I will remind you once again that the Funky16Corners Radio Show hits the airwaves of the interwebs each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device through the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

Don’t forget, the Funky16Corners 2015 Allnighter/Pledge Drive is coming up soon. The mixes have started rolling in, including some by some old faves, as well as a couple of stellar new contributors. Watch this space for details!

Today’s selection is one of those records that I could have sworn was featured here some time in the past 10 years, yet when I bucked down and did a search I discovered that aside from a few mix appearances, it had never gotten the spotlight.

Time to remedy that…

R. Dean Taylor was a Canadian-born singer/songwriter who had a few 45s under his belt when he signed on with Motown as a staff songwriter (and occasional recording artist) in 1964.

Over the next eight years he wrote for Motown (co-writing ‘Love Child’ for the Supremes, among other songs) and recorded for the subsidiaries VIP and Rare Earth.

He is best known for his 1970 pop hit ‘Indiana Wants Me’, yet hardcore soul fans will always swear by today’s selection, the 1966 classic ‘There’s a Ghost In My House’.

Co-written by Taylor with the Holland/Dozier/Holland juggernaut, ‘There’s a Ghost In My House’ is one of those Motown sides that should have been huge (imagine if it had been done by the Four Tops), but ended up getting lost in the shuffle.

Propelled by a powerful fuzz guitar lead, and a solid rhythm section (listen to that bass drum!), ‘There’s a Ghost In My House’ is a dance floor killer.

Though it didn’t hit here in the States, it became an in demand side in UK soul clubs, eventually becoming such a Northern Soul favorite that when it was reissued in the UK in 1974 it reached the Top 5 on the Pop charts!

It has long been a favorite of mine, and I can recall the day I finally found a copy (along with a grip of heavy Northern Soul 45s) digging in Philly about 15 years ago.

It is a staple in my play box, and still kind of sends a shiver up my spine when it starts playing.

I hope you dig it, too, 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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Blue Eyed Soul, Equal Opportunity Soul, Funky16Corners, Northern Soul, Soul, Soul 45 | Funky16Corners, Northern Soul, Soul

Gene Pitney – She’s a Heartbreaker

Comments (3)

By Larry, May 12, 2015 11:50 am

Gene looking mean on a Euro P/S

Listen/Download – Gene Pitney – She’s a Heartbreaker

Greetings all.

Whilst strolling through the back alleys of the windmills of my mind (and the to-be-blogged folder) I set eyes upon the blue-eyed soul smoker you see before you today, and decided to whip it on you all.

Though I suspect most of you vinyl types are at least familiar with the name Gene Pitney, and/or one of his many melodramatic hit singles of the 1960s, I wonder how many of you knew that he had something like ‘She’s a Heartbreaker’ up his sleeve.

I first heard (saw) the tune more than 30 years ago when someone passed along a VHS (remember those?) of bootlegged 1960s rock and soul TV appearances and promo videos. One of the clips in question was Pitney lip-synching ‘She’s a Heartbreaker’on some dance party show or other.

I was surprised by the tune, and dug it right away, yet managed to wait a few decades before I actually put my hands on the record.

Recorded and released in 1968, and marking the last time Pitney would hit the Top 40, ‘She’s a Heartbreaker’ is a killer tune, written by none other than Jerry ‘Swamp Dogg’ Williams and co-written and produced by Charlie (Inez and…) Foxx (though according to Swamp Dogg, it’s his joint and Charlie Foxx glommed his name onto it).

Propelled by a solid beat, some twangy electric sitar, a punchy horn section and some exciting strings, the real force behind ‘She’s a Heartbreaker’ is Pitney’s powerful voice. A performance like this makes you wonder why he didn’t do more like this, but considering his track record before and after this, I guess ol’ Gene knew where his bread was buttered.

That said, this is nothing less than a soul banger, and whether or not Gene Pitney saw fit to repeat its magic, it can stand on its own.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Blue Eyed Soul, Equal Opportunity Soul, Funky16Corners, Soul, Soul 45 | Funky16Corners, Soul

Flavor – Sally Had a Party

Comments (1)

By Larry, November 16, 2014 12:32 pm

Flavor, on the cover of their comp

Listen/Download – Flavor – Sally Had a Party

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Greetings all.

Welcome to the new week.

It’s ony fair to warn you, that as soon as you download today’s selection and pull the trigger, your ears are gonna jump up off of your head and do the double bump.

‘Sally Had a Party’ by Flavor, is one of the finest examples of what collector types might call ‘bubblegum soul’, i.e. all the trappings of a soul party number strained through the filter of a loud, somewhat cheesy (in only the finest sense) pop/rock band.

Previous examples would include burners like ‘Shake’ by the Shadows of Knight (a 45 that I have spun at soul parties many a time), in which you get the soul-a-go-go thing with a little extra fuzz and amplification around the edges.

Flavor was a Maryland-based band that started out as the Bad Boys, a group that recorded some excellent 45s for Paula, including ‘Black Olives’ (see Funky16Corners Radio v.9).

‘Sally Had a Party’ is a positively explosive record, in which Flavor take the Spencer Davis Group’s ‘Gimme Some Lovin’, strip it down to its borrowed frame (see ‘A Lot of Love’ by Homer Banks) and then strap on a case or two of dynamite, a couple of go go dancers, and a bunch of day-glo paint, and then light the fuse.

Kaboom.

Seriously. Turn up the volume and drop the needle on this one in a room full of good-to-go party people and watch them blow the fuck up.

In addition to all that goodness, you get a quote from the Fantastic Johnny C’s ‘Boogaloo Down Broadway’, too.

‘Sally Had a Party’ was a regional Top 40 hit in the summer of 1968 (the cover of ‘Shop Around’ on the flip is pretty cool, too) , after which Flavor glanced the charts a few more times and then disappeared.

The band’s guitarist, Demetri Callas later went on to tour with the Four Seasons.

There’s a compilation on Collectables which includes the tracks from their three 45s and a grip of previously unreleased material.

Dig it, and I’ll be back on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Blue Eyed Soul, BOOYAH!!, Equal Opportunity Soul, Funky16Corners | Bubblegum, Funky16Corners, Soul

Ross D Wyllie – Do the Uptight

Comments (1)

By Larry, September 23, 2014 11:12 am

Ross D Wyllie

Listen/Download Ross D Wyllie – Do the Uptight

Greetings all

I picked up today’s selection a while back at a record show, because, in all honesty, how would I ever pass by a 45 called ‘Do the Uptight’?

Good thing I didn’t, because in addition to being a tasty dance floor hitter, ‘Do the Uptight’ has an interesting little back story to it as well.

When I first gave the 45 a spin, my assumption was that the singer was white, but I had no idea that he was also the host of an Australian dance party show!

Ross D Wyllie was a pop singer and host of the popular, 1967-1969 Australian TV show called (what else…) Uptight.

Wyllie had recorded a series of chart hits through the 60s for the Sunshine and Festival labels, eventually hosting Uptight, and then following the cancellation of that show, ‘Happening ‘70’.

Nothing Wyllie had recorded prior to (or after, for that matter) would indicate that he had something like ‘Do the Uptight’ up his sleeve.

The powers that be were probably impressed as well, since ‘Do the Uptight’ managed to get released in the US and the UK as well.

It is a fast moving, soul dancer, cut from a fairly standard pattern but infectiously energetic.

The tune was written by Aussie pop singer Johnny Young, who was also responsible for penning Russell Morris’s psych classic ‘The Real Thing’.

Ross D Wyllie continued to record, as well as working through the years as a TV personality Down Under.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Blue Eyed Soul, Equal Opportunity Soul, Funk, Funk 45, Funky16Corners, Soul, Soul 45 | Funk, Funky16Corners, Soul

Two By Dusty Springfield

Comments (1)

By Larry, April 8, 2014 12:50 pm

Miss Dusty Springfield

Listen/Download Dusty Springfield – Live It Up

Listen/Download Dusty Springfield – Go Ahead On

Greetings all

I have something exceptionally groovy for you today.

A while back,my friend Gail Smith, proprietress of the most excellent ‘Work Your Soul’ podcast (go ahead and take a minute to subscribe, if you haven’t already) turned me on to the record you see before you today.

Dusty Springfield is thought of today as one of the premiere ‘blue-eyed’ soul singers of the classic era.

This is something that I grappled with quite a bit over the years.

The concept of ‘blue-eyed soul’ i.e. soul music made by white singers, is a very flexible one, often expanded to include one-off ‘soul’ records recorded by decidedly non-soul performers.

I have come to the point where I feel that the term ought to be disposed of, since there was a lot of ‘bleed’ if you will from both sides of the racial divide, with black, soul-identified singers recording pop music and a fair amount of white singers spending a lot of their time making excellent, soulful music.

Monday’s selection was by the mighty Ray Charles, one of the most stylistically flexible performers ever, who basically made whatever kind of music he felt like, each record succeeding by virtue of its excellence, categories be damned.

Dusty Springfield’s reputation as a soul singer is usually tied to her late-60s recordings, especially the 1969 ‘Dusty In Memphis’ LP which included her most enduring hit ‘Son of a Preacher Man’.

Oddly enough – and I was stunned by this – Dusty Springfield never hit the Billboard R&B charts!

A look at her chart success reveals that here in the US, until ‘Son Of a Preacher Man’, her hits were almost exclusively pop songs and big ballads.

My surprise had a lot to do with my perception of Springfield, and had me raising an eyebrow every time someone called her a ‘soul singer’ (many of these commenters never having heard of singers like Linda Lyndell, Lydia Pense, Bonnie Bramlett or Chris Clark)

It was only fairly recently – thanks to some direction by Gail – that I dug deeper into the Springfield canon and discovered a very prominent vein of R&B and soul material.

The first track I bring you today appeared on Springfield’s first US LP, 1964’s ‘Dusty’.

Though the bulk of the LP’s tracks (including excellent versions of ‘Can I Get a Witness’ and ‘Do Re Me (Forget About the Do and Think About Me)’) was recorded in the UK with Ivor Raymonde, it also includes material from a session recorded in New York.

What is especially interesting about this session – other than the fact that it produced the excellent ‘Live It Up’ – was that it was produced by Shelby Singleton and arranged by Ray Stevens.

While both of these guys were doing heavy work in the 60s, they were doing most of it in Nashville, and I don’t know what the impetus was for bringing them to New York to record with Springfield.

‘Live It Up’ is a stomper, with a blazing vocal by Springfield and some great, gospel-inflected backing vocals. The tune was released as a single but only had some small amount of regional chart success.

The second track I bring you today is an especially tasty one.

‘Go Ahead On’ was the B-side of a UK-only 45 (the A-side, ‘All I See Is You’ was a UK Top 10 hit in September of 1966). It was co-written by Springfield and none other than the great US-born but UK-based singer Madeline Bell! Bell, along with Kiki Dee, had spent time working as a backing vocalist for Springfield.

‘Go Ahead On’ is a record that – had it been released in the US – might have changed the direction of Dusty Springfield’s career a few years earlier. It is without any question a ‘soul’ record, with a Chicago/Curtis Mayfield edge to it and an outstanding lead vocal.

Aside from her biggest pop hits, her discography is filled with R&B/soul covers, including tunes by Lee Dorsey, Marvin Gaye, Margie Hendricks, the Sand Pebbles, Laura Lee, Garnet Mimms and Mitty Collier among others.

If – like me – you had your reservations about Dusty Springfield, especially in regard to her soulful side, the time is ripe for reappraisal.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Blue Eyed Soul, Equal Opportunity Soul, Funky16Corners, Soul, Soul 45 | Funky16Corners, Soul

Robert John – Raindrops, Love and Sunshine

Comments (2)

By Larry, November 17, 2013 1:20 pm

Robert John

Listen/Download Robert John – Raindrops, Love and Sunshine

Greetings all

Welcome to another groovy week here at Funky16Corners.

Today’s entry is yet another chapter in the sometimes strange world of Northern Soul.

There was a period some years back where it seems a new book about Northern Soul – reference or otherwise – was coming out every month or so, and I think I bought them all.

In addition to countless familiar soul artists, I was turned on to tons of new ones.

What I also kept finding were seemingly incongruous artists, who one would never (at first glance) consider soulful (Paul Anka, Joey Heatherton, Bobby Goldsboro etc), yet who all recorded great, soulful 45s.

Northern Soul playlists have always been a home to records that in one way or another, fit the mold whether it was a one-off record that was recorded/performed in a soul style, or a wide variety of instrumentals that provided enough of that powerful, four on the floor beat.

The record I bring you today is a great example of the former.

When I saw the name Robert John pop up in a soul playlist, my brain had a brief short circuit, during which I was unable to reconcile the singer of the 70s AM hit ‘Sad Eyes’ with anything remotely soulful. I figured it had to be someone else with the same name.

As it turns out, the Robert John of ‘Raindrops, Love and Sunshine’ is the very same guy who had a number of hits in the 70s.

John – born Robert John Pedrick – had been recording since he was 12 years old, first charting in 1958 (as ‘Bobby Pedrick’), and then continuing to record through the 60s for a variety of labels.

He recorded ‘Raindrops, Love and Sunshine’ in 1970, featuring his powerful (nearly ear-shattering) falsetto, and an arrangement that owes a huge debt to the previous year’s mega-hit ‘More Today Than Yesterday’ by the Spiral Starecase.

If you are at all familiar with Northern Soul, it is immediately obvious why this record became popular on the scene.
It has both the solid, propulsive beat, and an anthemic, nearly explosive chorus.

I wouldn’t be surprised if some folks thought they were hearing a female singer the first time they heard the song.

Interestingly enough, the record’s A-side ‘When the Party Is Over’ was a minor hit (Pop #71).

John went on to have a number of hits in the 70s and 80s, including the aforementioned ‘Sad Eyes’ (#1 1979) and even and putting that falsetto to use again in 1983 with a remake of the Newbeats ‘Bread and Butter’ (#68 1983), which came out on Motown.

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Blue Eyed Soul, Equal Opportunity Soul, Funky16Corners, Northern Soul, Soul, Soul 45 | Funky16Corners, Northern Soul, Soul

Roy Head – Don’t Cry No More

Comments (2)

By Larry, October 3, 2013 11:02 am

Roy Head

Listen/Download Roy Head – Don’t Cry No More

Greetings all

The end of the week is finally upon us, and so that means that it’s Funky16Corners Radio Show time again. You can dial in this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio to lend your ears to the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. If you can’t be there at the time of broadcast, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grab yourself and MP3 here at the blog.

I thought it would be nice to close out the week with something upbeat and groovy.

Most of you will already be familiar with Roy Head and the Traits ‘Treat Her Right’, whether via the original hit (#2 R&B and Pop in 1965) or in any of the countless cover versions. That particular song is one of the finest, grooviest pieces of classic-era blue eyed soul ever committed to wax, and I’m here to tell you that it was far from a fluke.

Head who hailed from the burgh of San Marcos, Texas was recording with his group the Traits as early as the late 50s, laying down rockabilly, R&B and soul.

Though he only hit the national charts with the Traits that one time, the group had a number of regional hits, and Head himself popped back up in the Country charts in the 1970s.

The tune I bring you today is a very nice slice of R&B rave up, in which Roy and the boys re-channel the sound of the mighty Bobby Blue Bland, who first laid this number down in Nineteen and Sixty One.

‘Don’t Cry No More’ is a fast moving, horn-driven number with a great vocal by Head.

Extra credit goes out to whoever was laying down the superb guitar lines on this one.

The only downer is that the song fades out too soon, with Roy and the Traits sounding like they could have gone for another couple of rounds.

If you get the chance (and you haven’t seen them already) check out some of the vintage videos of Roy Head performances on Youtube. He was quite the mover in his day.

As always, I hope you dig the sounds, 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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Blue Eyed Soul, Equal Opportunity Soul, Funky16Corners, R&B, Soul, Soul 45 | Funky16Corners, R&B, Soul, Texas soul

The Chitlins – Sugar Woman

Comments (1)

By Larry, September 10, 2013 1:33 pm