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By Larry, March 4, 2018 12:38 pm

The Salem Travelers

Listen/Download – The Salem Travelers – Wade In the Water MP3

Greetings all.

How about some deep, soulful gospel to get your week rolling?

The Salem Travelers were one of the more interesting Chicago-based gospel outfits.

Their mid-to-late 60s recordings are a great bridge between classic gospel and the sounds of soul and funk.

Though they’re best known for their string of albums or Checker in the late 60s and early 70s, they got their start recording for Halo, the gospel imprint of Chicago’s One-Der-Ful records.

Their recording of the spiritual classic (and one of my favorite songs) ‘Wade In the Water’ hails from 1966, and as soulful version of the song go, it’s one of my faves.

It has a slightly rough feel to it (the vaguely out of tune piano, possibly the very same one that appears on a number of One-Der-Ful/Mar-V-Lus 45s has something to do with that) but the group’s vocals are tight and take off into the stratosphere, especially after the introduction.

Sadly, I don’t think the Salem Travelers stuff has been comped, so your only way to pick it up is on the original pressings.

If you dig the tune, head on over to the archive for Testify!, my WFMU show and dig the long set of versions of ‘Wade In the Water’, many of them radically different.

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

Until next week.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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By Larry, January 10, 2017 11:05 am

The Dixie Hummingbirds

Listen/Download – The Dixie Hummingbirds – She Loves Me Like a Rock MP3

Greetings all.

Since we got the week started with some high quality gospel, I thought I’d bring you another taste of the good (sanctified stuff).

If you are inclined to split hairs, ‘She Loves Me Like a Rock’ is closer to gospel pastiche in its original version, by its composer, a little known commodity by the name of Paul Simon.

Originally appearing on his 1973 LP ‘There Goes Rhymin’ Simon’, ‘She Loves Me Like a Rock’ was a #2 Pop single that year.

Simon’s LP was recorded in a number of different settings, with ‘She Loves Me Like a Rock’ being done in Muscle Shoals, with the Swampers providing instrumental backing and the mighty Dixie Hummingbirds laying on the harmonies.

The tune I bring you today is the Dixie Hummingbirds’ own version of the song, recorded and released later that same year on the Peacock label.

The Dixie Hummingbirds came together in South Carolina 1928, with lead vocalist Ira Tucker joining the group in 1938 at the age of 13 (!?!).

The group eventually moved north to Philadelphia (Ira Tucker was the father of Sundray Tucker, aka Cindy Scott, a name that should be familiar to Northern Soul fans) and went on to become one of the most important gospel groups of the day.

Their recording of ‘She Loves Me Like a Rock’ doesn’t stray that far from Simon’s original, with the marked exception of Ira Tucker’s vocals taking over in the lead spot from Simon’s pleasant, but much less substantial voice.

The Dixie Hummingbirds version of the song was a minor gospel hit, and went on to win a Grammy for the Best Soul Gospel Performance in 1974.

It’s a groovy side, and I hope you dig it.

I’ll see you all on Friday with something funky.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 8, 2017 11:45 am

Listen/Download – The Staple Singers – Nobody’s Fault But Mine MP3

Listen/Download – The Staple Singers – I Wish I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again MP3

Greetings all.

I was recently gifted (in conjunction with Christmas) with the absolutely amazing Staple Singers boxed set, ‘Faith and Grace, A Family Journey 1953 – 1976’.

First released in 2015, and compiled by Joe McEwen, it is the first collection cover the Staples’ entire career, from their very first record in 1953 to their commercial heyday at Stax in the 1970s, with stops at VeeJay, Riverside, D-Town and Epic along the way.

Gospel has become a collectible genre among soul fans over the last ten years or so with some of the deeper cats – like Greg Belson – mining the depths for the soul, funk and even disco iterations of the genre.

While I have never collected gospel records in earnest (I still have a lot to learn), it is nearly impossible to listen to soul music from the classic era and not yearn to investigate the wellspring from which so many of its greatest practitioners came.

Gospel music is at least as big a contributor to what we know as soul music as was R&B, in both its style – brought forward by countless singers who spent their childhoods (and often adulthood) singing the music – and its repertoire, much of which made its way into the soul catalog via osmosis, theft and homage.

The mighty Staple singers are a perfect bridge for those with a taste for soul music who want to find a way into the gospel realm.

The group was in many sui generis, in that their approach to the genre was unusual (becoming even moreso as the years passed), with Roebuck ‘Pops’ Staples Delta blues inspired guitar style and Mavis Staples uniquely powerful voice.

They were deeply influential, inside and outside of gospel, and work as a touchstone to pure, gospel quartet singing, and socialy conscious soul music.

As a listener of music, I have always been more attuned to the overall sound, as opposed to lyrics, effected first by the feel of things, and the Staple Singers had a sound that was remarkable.

It’s not that elements of their music blend can’t be found in earlier performers. Pop Staples grew up near the Dockery Plantation in Mississippi and learned to play the guitar while listening to Charley Patton, Robert Johnson and Son House, and Mavis’s voice has echoes of both secular (Patton) and sanctified blues (Blind Willie Johnson). However nobody combined the sounds of the Delta and gospel harmony like the Staple Singers did.

Their sound – and it’s interesting to listen to how its power persisted through the different production styles over the years – was unique, spiritual (in every way) and at times almost ghostly, in its ability to carry the voices of the past into the present.

I’ve spent a great deal of time since Christmas listening, and relistening to ‘Faith and Grace’, and diving deep into the sound of the Staples’ music.

Though I was already familiar with much of the second half of the set (the late Riverside, Epic and Stax periods), the earlier recordings were a revelation.

To listen to their earliest recordings, like ‘It Rained Children’ (from 1953) and their first hit ‘Uncloudy Day’ (from 1956) and realize that Mavis’s booming, richly layered and masterfully controlled voice was coming from a teenager, verily boggles the mind. And it must be acknowledged that even that supreme instrument was only one component of the group’s sound. Pops’ high, keening voice, tremelo-soaked guitar, and the harmonies and call and response of Pervis, Cleotha and Yvonne (the line up changing frequently over the years) all came together to make something remarkable.
The two tracks I bring you today hail from the Staples 1965 and 1966 Epic LPs, ‘Amen!’ and ‘Why’, and are both included on ‘Faith and Grace, A Family Journey 1953 – 1976’.

The first, ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ is a gospel standard that was first recorded by the aforementioned Blind Willie Johnson in 1927 as ‘It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine’. It should also be familiar to listeners of Led Zeppelin as just one (particularly egregious) example of their thievery.

The Staples take advantage of a small-band backing to add a brisk, rolling propulsion to their version of the song, with Pops’ guitar edging right up to an almost rockabilly sound (a recurring motif in songs like ‘Swing Down Chariot’ and ‘I’m So Glad’), and his vocal in the lead, with response from his children.

The second tune, ‘I Wish I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again’ is another gospel chestnut, which was recorded over the years by a variety of performers, many of the coming from the white/country gospel sound. You can hear traces of that sound in the Staples’ version.

The astounding quality of the music on ‘Faith and Grace’ will blow away the most jaded listener, and certainly spur many of you to head out and find as many of the original releases as possible. There are a few omissions (I wish that they had included the Larry Williams produced reworking of ‘Why Am I Treated So Bad’) but there are so many great moments (including a couple of rare live recordings) that nobody outside of pedantic record collectors will find any reason to quibble with the selection.

So dig the sounds, and go out and find yourself a copy of this collection, and settle in for several hours of amazement.

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

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 18, 2016 12:25 pm

The Staple Singers

Greetings all.

I thought we’d get our holiday festivities underway this year with a lovely two-sider from the mighty Staple Singers.

Originally recorded at part of their 1962 LP ‘The 25th Day of December’, ‘There Was a Star’ and ‘The Virgin Mary Had One Son’ were also released as a 45 that same year.

I have gone on in this space before about the pure, elemental power of the Staple Singers records, combining their group harmonies, Mavis’s soaring, explosive voice, and Pops’ Delta-rooted guitar playing into a thing of pure beauty.

‘There Was a Star’, written by Pops, and William Westbrook (though the 45 lists a third composer with the last name of ‘Rice’ but I haven’t been able to find out who that is, and most other sources only list the two writers), features a great lead by Mavis and call-and-response harmonies by Pops, Pervis and Cleotha. The backing is very spare, mainly Pops guitar, drums and a very judiciously applied organ popping in now and then.

‘The Virgin Mary Had One Son’ is a slow, almost mournful traditional song delivered with Mavis in the lead and group harmony over a bed of Pops vibrato guitar and drawn out organ notes. I haven’t been able to find any information about the source of the song, but it was also covered around the same time by Bob Gibson and Joan Baez together, and by Baez solo.

The 45 is a great microcosm of the earlier Staples sound, and like everything they ever recorded, a pure pleasure to listen to.

So dig it, and I’ll be back on Wednesday with something by Freddy King.

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.

Comments (1)

By Larry, November 3, 2016 12:04 pm

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Funky16Corners: Keep On Keepin’ On

Woody Herman – Fanfare for the Common Man (Fantasy)
Timmy Thomas – Why Can’t We Live Together (Glades)
Staple Singers – Step Aside (Epic)
NF Porter – Keep On Keepin’ On (Lizard)
Odetta – My God and I (Polydor)
Diamond Joe – Fair Play (Minit)
King Curtis – For What It’s Worth (Atco)
William DeVaughn – Be Thankful For What You Got (Roxbury)
Joe South – Games People Play (Capitol)
Brenda Lee- Walk a Mile In My Shoes (Decca)
Cymande – The Message (Janus)
Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come (Island)
Sly and the Family Stone – Stand (Epic)
Gladys Knight and the Pips – Friendship Train (Soul)
Lee Dorsey – Yes We Can (Polydor)
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee – People Get Ready (A&M)
Curtis Mayfield – We’re a Winner (Live) (Curtom)
Otis Redding – Change Is Gonna Come (Volt)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners: Keep On Keepin’ On 115MB Mixed MP3

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Greetings all.

This is a heavy one, so strap yourselves in.

I have taken time to address social/political issues a few times over the years, including Presidential elections, mid-terms and police violence.

Funky16Corners has never been primarily concerned with such matters, but there is no escaping the fact that when dealing with black music created during the classic soul era, you are listening to sounds forged on the anvil of the civil rights era.

I used to assume that anyone with a love for this music would understand how much racism, violence and the struggle to defeat both had to do with the music I feature here, but sadly I have discovered that this is not always true (like every time I post something along these lines).

This year’s election is starkly different from those of the past for several reasons, but first and foremost because of the rise of Hate (you didn’t think I was going to do him the honor of using his name, did you?).

Hate is an existential threat to this country, not only because he leads the Republican Party, which has been doing everything in its power to hobble government and its capacity to do good for the last four decades, but because of the poisons that he has stirred into the process.

Hate has taken the GOP’s once (barely) covert flirtations with racism, sexism, religious hatred, xenophobia and anti-government zealotry and placed them front and center, making them the core elements of its campaign for President.

Mirroring similar right wing movements around the world, Hate and the Republicans have taken advantage of anger and anxiety over the death of white hegemony and tossed gasoline onto a smoldering fire, making legions of hateful, scared (and often well-armed) people comfortable speaking the unspeakable and acting on those same fears and hatreds.

This, combined with horrifying levels of voter apathy, a dying press and the rise of an electronic media that further truncates the shortened attention span of a growing number of people, has allowed a media virus with an utter lack of competency, intellect, empathy or history of public service a chance to lead this country.

And if the only problem was that he was unqualified, it would be bad enough, but he is a singularly horrible person. Dishonest, arrogant, hateful, racist, sexist, vain, and patently incurious about anything that doesn’t satiate his base desires for social and sexual domination, further inflate his diseased ego, or add more money to his bank account.

He professes business acumen, yet leaves in his wake countless lawsuits, multiple bankruptcies, as well as scores of unpaid vendors, and his refusal to honor traditional levels of financial disclosure suggests that things are even worse than they seem.

There are those that would have you believe that the rise of Hate can be tied to the slow, painful death of the middle class and the loss of manufacturing jobs in this country, yet he has provided no evidence that he knows how to fix the problem, and has very likely contributed to it.

Every election is important, but this one is especially so. It is the very definition of a tipping point, as well as a defining moment in the history of the United States.

This is the moment when we discover if the American Experiment has failed, and if we as a people have any interest in the continued existence of the nation, or if we simply wish to burn it to the ground.

The time to realize that your vote is not merely a method of personal expression, but a mark of participation in a democracy, in which we strive to cooperate with our fellow citizens to honor the sacrifices made for this country, demonstrate the humility needed to admit to, and correct the mistakes made along the way, and the strength and vision to make this union a stronger one.

The key word in that last paragraph is one we don’t hear very much these days: humility.

Webster lists the simple definition of the word as “the quality or state of not thinking you are better than other people”.

We are fighting to demonstrate that humility is a possibility, and a crucial part of a democracy. We are faced with a force to which humility is anathema, seen not as a strength, but a fatal weakness. A force that wields nationalism/jingoism as a hammer with which to smite their enemies, real and perceived.

But unless we can show that we are capable of humility, by owning up to the dark chapters of our history (and our present) we will never be able to face down Hate.

No matter how much these people struggle, white superiority will die. It’s only a matter of when, and how much damage is done as it claws its way down the drain.

We need to remember that even though Freedom of Religion is enshrined in the Bill of Rights, this is, and always has been a secular country and efforts to impose religious doctrine on the population in general is a refutation of the Constitution.

We need to put an end to the idea that this country exists to serve the needs of business, destroying the financial security of our people, and the health of the environment to line the pockets of corporate interests.

We need to re-emphasize the fact that the police exist to protect and serve all of us, acknowledge the social and economic forces that create crime, and foster those that do away with it.

We need to acknowledge the level to which guns have become a destructive force in this country and realize that reasonable regulation is needed.

And most of all, there needs to be a renaissance of civic engagement. Participation in democracy through voting is essential, and realizing that if we do not participate, all of the important choices will be made for you by those that do.

So, what I ask of you is that you stop, and think.

Think about your fellow man.

Think about women.

Think about how we treat and educate our children.

Think about people of different faiths.

Think about your LGBTQ brothers and sisters.

Think about how the way you live, and the policies you support effect other people, here at home and in other countries.

Think about your privilege.

Think, and vote.

It’s not much to ask.

If you believe that America is truly great, display it to the world through our work and example.

The mix I’m posting today (and leaving up for a while) is largely one of recognition and optimism. I believe that we have it in us to weather this storm and continue on doing the good work that identifies us as a nation.

Do yourself a favor and listen to the words in the songs. There are a lot of heavy ones in there.

I will close by making two requests.

The first: VOTE.

The second, as always (and in all ways),

Keep the Faith

Larry

PS Don’t forget the very special Election episode of the Funky16Corners Radio Show, dropping this Friday, 11/4!
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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

Comments (9)

By Larry, July 21, 2016 10:32 am

Brother JC Crawford
Syl Johnson – Is It Because I’m Black (Twinight)
Staple Singers – For What It’s Worth (Epic)
Malcolm X
Equals – Police On My Back (President)
Majestic Choir and the Soul Stirrers – Why Am I Treated So Bad (Checker)
Huey Newton
Junior Murvin – Police and Thieves (Island)
Salem Travelers – Give Me Liberty or Death (Checker)
Dr Martin Luther King Jr
Earth Wind and Fire – Come On Children (WB)
Commodores – Rise Up (Atlantic)
Afro American Ensemble – Free the Black Man’s Chains (GSF)
Angela Davis
Baby Huey – Mighty Mighty Children (Unite Yourself This Hour) (Curtom)
Amanda Ambrose – Gimme Shelter (Bee Gee)
Saul Alinsky
John Hamilton and Doris Allen – Them Changes (Minaret)
Impressions – Keep On Pushing (ABC/Paramount)
Judy Clay – Get Together (Atlantic)
Abbie Hoffman
Buddy Miles- We Got To Live Together (Mercury)
Fighting Bob Lafollette
Lee Dorsey – Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further (Polydor)
Curtis Mayfield – Move On Up (Curtom)
Hugh Masekela – Bajabula Bonke (Healing Song) (UNI)
Arthur Lee and Love…

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners: Testify 151MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

Brothers and Sisters…the time has come….

Something very ugly is going down in Cleveland, Ohio.

Cleveland is where the wave crested, the Republican deal with the devil was sealed, and it is where the point of no return was fixed on the national timeline.

The forces of regression have been gnawing away at the heart of American for the last three and a half decades and the rise of Donald Trump is evidence that they have done considerable damage.

Though it didn’t start with Trump, his candidacy could not have existed without a foundation of anger, hatred, corruption and chaos on which to settle and grow.

There has been a lot of conjecture of late about whether or not history is repeating itself in relation to another pivotal election year, 1968. Things have changed a lot since then – especially in relation to politics and the media – but many of the ingredients that led to civil unrest then (poverty, racism, political division) have been simmering the entire time.

Thanks in large part to the unholy alliance between the worlds of high finance, industry, and socially regressive movements (often purporting to be religious in nature), and abetted by propagandists able to take advantage of the rapidly (and constantly) changing media environment, we turned on our TVs this week and were greeted by the sight of a racist, neo-fascist, ‘Potemkin Village‘ version of a tycoon as the Republican candidate for President.

Figures like Donald Trump are not new or unique in the history of the United States or the world. Ugly, nativist demagogues have repeatedly surfaced in times of strife, embraced by people eager for seemingly quick, easy solutions to deeply complex problems. Lacking the humility or courage necessary to tear down the walls that divide us, he and his followers choose instead to build new ones where they feel we should be separated.

So rises the very personification of a fist, with which they hope to pound what they perceive as  problems into submission, to try and assert their domination of a culture they see slipping from their grasp.

This is not to say that everyone that finds themselves drawn into his orbit is evil, or understands (in the bigger picture) what it is that they’re doing.

These are very hard times for a lot of our friends and neighbors. Decades of American companies bleeding the economy dry – through offshoring, deregulation and tax avoidance – have left large sections of the population either un-or-underemployed, unable to pay their mortgages (if they were ever able to afford a house at all) or rent, drowning in debt (often from medical bills or student loans) and unable or unwilling to fight back with collective bargaining, thanks to the wholesale demonization/destruction of the labor movement.

They are left terrified and anxious, living paycheck to paycheck, easy prey for those that blame their problems not on people actually running/ruining the economy, or corrupt politicians, but rather on minorities of all types (race, nationality, sexuality) and anyone else they think is contributing to the death of the white hegemony.

One of the worst by-products of this poisonous atmosphere is the breakdown of trust between minorities communities (of all kinds) and the police.
Many of America’s police forces have become increasingly militarized, poorly trained, and unwilling to deal with these weaknesses, seeing any call to do so as an unjust attack on their ranks.

As a result, we have been faced with a seemingly endless string of abuses of police power, culminating in a highly publicized series of police killings of civilians, which are rarely followed by successful prosecutions. When these cases do manage to make it into the justice system, they are often handled by prosecutors unwilling to bring rogue policemen to justice, and policemen unwilling to breach their own wall of silence. The few cases that do make it to trial, often end in acquittals or a slap on the wrist.

This pattern results in the aforementioned breakdown in trust (and more recently/tragically in assassinations of police), and many whites, awash in privilege, convinced that the police are all that remain between them and a world they’re terrified of (and have no stake in), look the other way.

One of the prominent responses to the epidemic of police violence has been the Black Lives Matter movement. BLM has become a flashpoint for racists who respond to its calls for police accountability by accusing them (unjustly) of advocating violence and racial division (thus the pathetic return volleys of “All Lives Matter”).

When police violate their oath, do their jobs so poorly that people end up dead, or otherwise break the law, and they are either let off entirely or disciplined in a much lighter way than the general public, it erodes their authority and public trust not only in the police but in the integrity of the law. That’s why the solutions to this problem must start with, or at least concentrate on the police.

But the response from law enforcement (not exclusively, but mostly, and very loudly from police unions) has been recalcitrance, refusal of accountability, and deflection of responsibility onto the victims.

When one of the two major national political parties uses their presidential convention as a vehicle to perpetuate this cycle, it puts the entire country in a horrible position.

This week we saw speakers in Cleveland (and the attendees) cheering the acquittal of the policemen in the Freddie Gray case and reinforcing the idea that everyone outside of their ranks (especially BLM) was anti-cop (as opposed to pro-rule of law).

I put together ‘Testify’ as a companion piece to a set that was first posted here back in 2010, ‘Things Got To Get Better (Get Together)’.

The specific points of reference might have been different then, but the root causes, and the people behind them were the same. At that point, we were barely a year into President Obama’s first term. Today, we are nearing the end of his second term, and approaching the election that will determine his successor.

This has been an especially divisive campaign, on both sides of the aisle, marked by the (sadly unsuccessful) ascendance of Senator Bernie Sanders in response to the rightward drift of the Democratic Party, and on the other side, the rise of Trump.

We approach the election with the GOP solidifying their support for racist policies, the repeated use of fear as a weapon, and the Democrats left trying to unify around the controversial and widely unpopular Hillary Clinton.

There’s a little more than three months until Americans head to the polls and make the decision that will determine how (or whether) this country moves forward.

This mix gathers together black artists from the worlds of soul, funk, gospel and rock, with songs that were created in response to oppression and racism (here in the US, Jamaica, the UK and Apartheid-era South Africa), crying out for an end to both and many of them asking not for separation, but for recognition, unity and progress.

The voices in between the songs are from some of the most important progressive figures of the past century, many of them controversial, but all of who worked for an end to destructive forces, advocating for the less fortunate and against the oppressors.

Some of them may be unfamiliar to younger readers (Look them up! You won’t be sorry.) and some of them may be people that you’ve heard bad things about (Again, educate yourself), but all of them are important.

Ultimately, despite all of the words I’ve managed to wring out of my tired brain, I would hope that the mix speaks on its own. If you listen, and like what you hear, pass it along to someone who you think would might dig it, and/or learn from it, and do whatever else you can to counter the dark forces eating away at the country, and our culture (first and foremost, registering to vote, don’t one of the “one in three”).

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you next week.

Keep the faith

Larry

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, June 15, 2016 11:59 am

Tarik Thornton – There Was a Time

Masonic Wonders – The Storm is Passing Over. (More-Love)
Bobby Womack – Interlude #2 (United Artists)
Delfonics- Hey Love (Philly Groove)
Tyrone Ashley- Let me Be Your Man (Phil-La)
Johnny Davis – The Love I See Now (Bandit)
Sex- Wonders of The World (SuperCity)
The Ballads – Dizzy World (Kimberly)
The Futures – Breaking up (Amjo)
Gene Anderson & The International Hook Up- Congratulations (HI)
Black Soul Express – When I Left You (Black Soul Express/Numero)
Duke Turner- Give Me Some Sugar Pt.1 (Spinning Top)
Young Mods- We Can Make It ( Pork)
Windy City- Let Me Ride ( Kelli-Arts)
Odds Against Tomorrow – Point of No Return (Sweet As Records)
The Relatives- Don’t Let Me Fall (Ever-Soul/Daptone)

Listen/Download – Tarik Thornton – There Was a Time 116MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all 

Welcome back to the Funky16Corners 2016, Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

Today’s set in the Allnighter comes from my man Tarik Thornton.

Tarik, who has deep roots in NOLA but now spends his time in the frosty north country has created a very, very special set for us this year.

Though the all-encompassing vibe is mellow, the mix covers the bases from gospel, to deep soul, to firme rolas, with some slightly familiar things alongside heavy obscurities from his crates.

This is a nighttime thing, so turn the lights down low, turn the volume up and open your ears (and your heart).

Don’t forget to click the Paypal button and donate, and we’ll be back tomorrow with a two-part mix from DJ RP of Funkdefy Ohio!

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Your donations help to keep Funky16Corners up and running, with the blog, Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast and hundreds of hours of archived mixes.

Everyone that donates will get the new 2016 Funky16Corners badge and bumpersticker, with which you can adorn the garment and flat surface of your choosing.

Also, everyone that donates will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of the new 45 by the M-Tet!

So pull down the ones and zeros, dig deep and Keep the Faith!

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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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, April 5, 2016 11:39 am

Listen/Download – The Majestic Choir and the Soul Stirrers – Why Am I Treated So Bad MP3

Greetings all.

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

The tune I bring you today is a favorite of mine (which has appeared here –on the blog or the podcast – in other versions by the Staple Singers (Pop Staples wrote the song), the Sweet Inspirations, Bobby Powell, the Wildare Express and Brian Auger Trinity).

Not only is it a very groovy song on its own – sonic – merits, but also because it has a certain genre flexibility and depth that made it a standard, but in several different settings.

Originally recorded by the Staple Singers in 1965, the song was a perfect distillation of the group’s unique mixture of blues, soul and gospel, bringing with it an explicit civil rights message that couldn’t have been more timely. The Staples even took another – more modern/soul – run at the tune a few years later, with Larry Williams at the board.

The version I bring you today was recorded in 1967 (released in 1968) combining the voices of Harold Smith’s Majestic Choir (who had done a few gospel albums for Checker) and the legendary Soul Stirrers (who were also recording for Checker at the time).

Sounding as if it were recorded 100% live in the studio, their version of ‘Why Am I Treated So Bad’ manages to come on with a soulful edge, due in large part to the funky backing band and the tight harmonies.

Interestingly enough, Checker appears to have been reaching for a soul/gospel crossover with the Majestic Choir (starting with a 1967 45 including versions of ‘People get Ready’ and ‘What the World Needs Now’) that predates the breakthrough of the Edwin Hawkins Singers by two years.

I dig this version a lot, and I hope you do too.

See you 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, December 20, 2015 2:44 pm

Listen/Download – Shurfine Singers – Silent Night & the 11 O’Clock News MP3

Greetings all.

I have some groovy Christmas stuff for you this year – including a mix of favorites, dropping on Friday.
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One of this year’s offerings is particularly intriguing because it is a “cover” of sorts.

If the medley of ‘Silent Night’ and a recording of a TV news broadcast sounds familiar (and it should) it’s because Simon & Garfunkel did it in 1966 as ‘Silent Night/7 O’Clock News’ on their LP ‘Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme’.

The juxtaposition of a revered/traditional Christmas song, and a news broadcast marred by reports of war was a stark (if somewhat heavy handed) reminder of what was at stake in the middle of the 1960s.

The following year, Atlanta-based producer Wendell Parker, who had worked with Eddie Billups, Grover Mitchell and the Mighty Hannibal (among others) assembled a gospel group called the Shurfine Singers (Parker had done a lot of work with the Atlanta-based Shurfine label) and released his own version of the medley, in a gospel style, (barely) re-titled ‘Silent Night & the 11 O’Clock News’.

No doubt an attempt to offer up the same message to a black audience, it is refreshing (and also somewhat jarring) to hear the familiar medley redone.

As far as I can tell this version didn’t chart anywhere, nor was it released locally on Shurfine (though Parker had placed a number of his productions with Josie).

The flipside is a version of the spiritual ‘Go Tell It On the Mountain’.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Wednesday with something festive.

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.

Comments (2)

By Larry, March 5, 2015 2:16 pm

Sweet Inspirations

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, so it’s time to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to 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 yourselves an MP3 here at the blog.

I thought I’d close out the week with a very nice version of one of my favorite songs.

‘Why (Am I Treated So Bad)’ was written by Roebuck ‘Pop’ Staples and first recorded by the Staple Singers in 1965 (and then reworked and rerecorded with Larry Williams in a funkier version in 1967).

It became something of soul/gospel standard, being covered by a number of artists over the next few years.

When I was out digging last year I happened upon the 45 you see before you today, by the Sweet Inspirations.

One of the greatest examples of vocalists that were primarily back-up singers moving into the spotlight, the Sweet Inspirations were Cissy Houston, Sylvia Shemwell (sister of Judy Clay) , Estelle Brown and Myrna Smith.

The group found its roots in the Drinkard Singers, one of the more important gospel groups of the late 50s and early 60s.

They recorded as backup singers for a wide variety of soul and R&B singers before getting the chance to record under their own name in 1967.

‘Why (Am I Treated So Bad)’ was the A-side of their first 45 for Atlantic, and is an interesting link to their gospel roots and the ability of the song to pass back and forth between gospel and popular presentations.

This has everything to do with the singers, and with the fact that Pop Staples constructed a song that was as much a civil rights anthem as it was a gospel song.

The Sweet Inspirations take it at a pace that seems a touch slower than the original, with their voices set against a thumping bass and swampy guitar (a tip of the hat to the OG).

Their version made it into the R&B Top 40 in 1967, with their biggest hit, ‘Sweet Inspiration’ coming the following year.

The group left Atlantic in 1970, but continued to record late into that decade for labels like Stax and Caribou.

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

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.

Comments (2)

By Larry, November 25, 2014 11:27 am

Listen/Download – The Salem Travelers – Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

Listen/Download – The Staple Singers – For What It’s Worth

Listen/Download – George Perkins and the Silver Stars – Crying In the Streets
Greetings all

I’ve got nothing but sounds today…

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.

Comments (2)

By Larry, April 22, 2014 11:20 am

Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton

Listen/Download Big Mama Thornton – Wade In the Water

UPDATE: I just found out that Cultures of Soul has just reissued ‘Wade In the Water’ on 45 as part of the Andy Smith’s Jam Up Twist box set. It’s a great collection (put together by a great DJ) and a fantastic way to get this burner – among others – on 45.

Greetings all

The middle of the week is here and so in service of defeating the doldrums, I bring you something guaranteed to melt your face, and/or make your hair stand on end.

I do not recall where I first heard Big Mama Thornton’s epic reading of ‘Wade In the Water’ but I do remember being knocked back on my heels.

I have already mentioned in this space that the song in question is a big favorite of mine, and as such I like to pick up new versions wherever I find them.

What is most interesting is the fact that ‘Wade In the Water’ is at its base a gospel song with roots in the underground railroad.

Though is has been rerecorded in a number of non-gospel settings, most of those (or at least the ones I’m familiar with) were usually instrumental (though the rock version by Clover is a marked exception).

The version you see before you today, by Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton takes the song, strips it down to a skeletal framework (tossing the ‘gospel’ out the window) and rebuilds it as something else entirely.

Most people know of Big Mama Thornton for her original recordings of ‘Hound Dog’ (later done by Elvis) and ‘Ball and Chain’ (turned into a showcase by Janis Joplin).

Thornton. A singer, harp player and drummer had been recording blues and R&B since the early 1950s.

By the mid-1960s she had relocated to the San Francisco Bay area, and started recording for Arhoolie records.

She recorded ‘Wade In the Water’ in 1968, and it was released as a 45 (rare and expensive) but also released on the compilation ‘Ball and Chain’ (released in 1968 and 1974 and much less expensive).

Her version burns rubber like a top fuel dragster (one friend has referred to it as ‘the punk rock version’) and just gets faster and harder as it goes on. Big Mama wails, and the guitar solo by Bee Houston is killer.

It’s hard to listen to a record this elemental and singularly powerful without wondering why it wasn’t a hit.

The likely explanation is that it was a record ‘out of time’. It is light years heavier than most rock music from the time, and I can’t imagine what it must have sounded like to the blues fest crowds that she was playing to at the time.

It’s a lot closer to the MC5 than it is to Muddy Waters.

This, in addition to the fact that lyrically, Thornton divorces the song completely from its gospel roots, choosing instead to rebuild the lyrics as a loose, bluesy riff serving only to deliver her remarkable voice. It’s as if someone harnessed a hurricane and pressed it into the grooves of a record.

Heavy, heavy stuff.

I hope you dig it as much as I do.

See you on Friday.

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.