Comments (6)

By Larry, October 4, 2016 10:04 am

Johnny Gibson

Listen/Download – Johnny Gibson Trio – Beachcomber MP3

Greetings all.

I have a very cool one today, that goes way, way back in my crates, yet took me years to kind of figure out.

I picked up ‘Beachcomber’ by the Johnny Gibson Trio years ago in one of periodic Hammond 45 sweeps. As soon as I got it, and slipped it under the needle I discovered that it had been mis-identified (as an organ instro) by the seller. I was bummed, but it wasn’t expensive enough to make an issue of it (and buyer beware and all that) so into storage it went, forgotten for years.

Flash forward a few after that and I find myself in possession of a 1967 45 by the Semi-Colons? (question mark part of the name, stick with me) performing a song of the same name.

I really dug it, and discovered in short order that the Semi-Colons? Were actually Question Mark and the Mysterians performing under an alias.

What was also cool was that the song ‘Beachcomber’ was originally written and recorded by none other than Bobby Darin in 1960.

It was only much later (after I had already written by the Semi-Colons? 45 over at Iron Leg) that I dug the Johnny Gibson Trio 45 out of a box and realized that it was a cover of the very same song.

I flipped it back onto the turntable, and it kind of blew my mind.

I have often described the experience of a kind of seasoning/maturing of the ear, in which experience allows you to understand/appreciate a piece of music much more deeply because of all that you have heard/learned between the first time you heard it and the present.

Johnny Gibson Trio in a Billboard listing, 1964

When I finally gave the Johnny Gibson version of ‘Beachcomber’ a listen I wasn’t sitting there with visions of Hammond organs wailing in my imagination. My ears were wide open, and as soon as I heard that slightly distorted electric piano, and the relaxed, yet still deep in the groove tempo, all was well with the world.

Then (yes, it gets better) when I started to dig into the history of the Johnny Gibson Trio, another chapter in the small but interesting story was revealed.

Pianist Johnny Gibson, his brother Dwight (on drums) and bassist Ron Haste (an integrated trio, the Gibsons were African American and Haste was white) were a Toledo, Ohio group that recorded ‘Beachcomber’ for the local Twirl label in 1964, which became a local hit and was picked up for national distribution by the Laurie label. The group went on to record a few more singles for the Big Top label before breaking up.

‘Beachcomber’ was a Top 20 hit in Ohio and Detroit, which is where the Mysterians (natives of Saginaw, MI) first heard it and added it to their repertoire.

The Johnny Gibson Trio version of ‘Beachcomber’ has built up a following over the years, eventually becoming a favorite on the dance floors in the UK.

Though the Trio broke up, Gibson continued to work as a musician, eventually relocating to Europe.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, April 2, 2015 10:19 am

The Les James Trio

Listen/Download The Les James Trio – Joe’s Thing

Greetings all

The end of the week is here, and I should remind you all the the Funky16Corners Radio Show comes to you each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you cannot be there at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 out of the archive right here at the blog.

The fam and I are doing some Spring-breaking, so here’s something from the archives to keep you ears warm until Monday – Larry

_________________________________________________

Originally posted November, 2012

I often find myself running out of steam by the end of the week.

You know how it is.

Truth be told, I have discovered that the remedy to such a lull is not – as might be expected – a solid and powerful boot in the ass,  but rather something subtly powerful.

Enough of a push to restore momentum, but nothing too sudden.

It is in furtherance of this idea that I have dipped into the crates and whipped out something that just might do the trick.

A while back, I was perusing the interwebs in search of some tasty vinyl to add to my record box, when I happened upon an auction for an unfamiliar, but very interesting looking record.

The disc in question was a mid-70s joint by a crew called the Les James Trio out of the Rocky Mountain metropolis of Denver, CO.

Now, I know that “Denver jazz’ doesn’t light any fire in your ears – unless you are a Paul Quinichette aficionado – but this auction came with a tantalizing soundclip.

So tantalizing in fact that I chased this record down like a lion after a juicy springbok, landed it and devoured it forthwith, if by “devour” it is meant to be understood as recording and digimatizing said record for the delectation of you good people.

There’s not much out there about Les James, other than a few links that suggest that he was something of a local institution in Denver, and the liner notes to the album which intimate that he might have hailed from Eastern Europe and made his way west, piano in tow.

The tune I bring you today – he one that made me covet the album so fiercely – is entitled ‘Joe’s Thing’, written by and named for James’ bassist Joe Lopez.

Much like the record that I brought you all on Monday, the things that happen on this record in regard to the alchemy of bass and drums is truly something to behold.

‘Joe’s Thing’ is in no way a “funk” record, but it is immediately obvious once the ones and zeros start to flow that is is monumentally funky, in a way guaranteed to make you sit up, notice, and groove, all at the same time.

Unlike so many self-released combos (Century was a famous “press your own”outfit out of California) the Les James Trio was actually a pretty tight unit. James was an excellent pianist, Lopez a shit-hot bassist and the drummer (listed only as Jo Jo) does his part admirably.

‘Joe’s Thing’ is a groover’s treasure because it starts out with a mighty riff, and then returns to the well a number of times, including a couple of phased drum breaks.

This is a banger – a subtle one – but a banger nonetheless.

You can send your thank you notes via the comments below.

You’re most welcome.

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 (0)

By Larry, February 2, 2014 11:02 am

Gus Jenkins

Listen/Download Gus Jenkins – Chittlins

Greetings all

A while back I was reading the always excellent Echoes In the Wind blog and I saw that my man Whiteray had posted a very interesting looking song.

As an inveterate soul 45 hound, I am constitutionally unable to pass by a song entitled ‘Chittlins’ for any reason, so I had to stop, unsheathe my ears and have a listen.

Good thing I did, too, on account of the fact that Gus Jenkins’ ‘Chittlins’ is a little slice of late night, smoky, uptown bar perfection.

Jenkins was a pianist/singer who had an earlier hit (as ‘Gus Jinkins’) in 1956 with the tune ‘Tricky’ on the Flash label.

A lo-fi affair, with Gus’s piano dueling with an organ and some groovy guitar, ‘Tricky’ sounds like it could have been recorded at any time between 1945 and when it actually hit the charts.

Jinkins/Jenkins appears to have recorded a handful of 45s for Flash in the late 50s, one for Pioneer International in 1960, and then a few years of radio silence before a couple of discs for Tower in 1964.

‘Chittlins’, which made it into the R&B Top 30 in November of 1964 is the kind of thing you’d expect to hear on the radio during a late night road trip.

The production is much better than his earlier hit, and the piano and the guitar (especially the guitar) sound as if they’d been woven in and out of a skyline full of electric lights and clouds of cigarette smoke.

The flip side – ‘You’ll Be The One’ – is a pretty straight ahead blues vocal with some nice horn backing and a great vocal by Jenkins. Once again, the guitarist is outstanding (I’d love to know who it was).

Jenkins went on to record one more 45 for Tower, and then a couple of sides, including the funky ‘Funk With a Feeling’ for the General Artist imprint (it seems ‘Chittlins’ was either reissued, or rerecorded for General Artists at some point).

So turn down the lights, pour yourself a drink, and give this one a spin or three.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you 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.

Comments (3)

By Larry, June 18, 2013 11:26 am

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

Listen/Download Mose Allison – The Seventh Son

Listen/Download Mose Allison – Young Man (Blues)

Listen/Download Mose Allison – I’m Not Talking

Greetings all

Have you heard about Mose?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you’re not hip to Mose, get there.

That is all.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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 (4)

By Larry, January 22, 2013 4:13 pm

Rubin Mitchell

Listen/Download Rubin Mitchell – Loosen Up

Greetings all

The middle of the week is here, and so is our second groovy instro.

This is another one of those 45s that I happened upon when perusing a friend’s sale list.

Never heard if it before, but as soon as I played the clip, knew I wanted a copy.

The tune – ‘Loosen Up’ – is a titular, if not sonic response to Archie Bell and the Drells and the sounds within are every interesting indeed.

A close look at the label and a little digging provide some perspective as to why.

The first thing I noticed – after listening, of course – was the name ‘Curtis Ousley’ on the label. This was of course, the mighty King Curtis, whose publishing company Kilynn is given production credit. King Curtis co-wrote ‘Loosen Up’ and gets full credit for the flipside ‘Summer Dreams’.

The artist, Rubin Mitchell was an Albany, NY-area based lounge pianist who was described in a local paper at the time as having a repertoire that included “funky jazz, showcase numbers like ‘Sabre Dance’ and straight classical’. Once you give ‘Loosen Up’ a listen you begin to realize how telling that description is.

Mitchell – who recorded at least one private issue LP and two more for Capitol (I think this is a non-LP 45) sounds like a guy in the vein of Liberace, who made putting on a show of skill a crucial part of his act, with lots of speed and flourish.

That’s what you get here, sprinkled in liberally atop a soulful sounding rhythm section (dig that drum break at the beginning!) that may or may not include some Kingpins.

It’s not the kind of thing I’d spin for dancers, but it certainly is interesting to slip into your ears.

The flipside is a much mellower, bluesier number that sounds (unsurprisingly) like a cousin of ‘Soul Serenade’.

From what I’ve been able to discover about the rest of his catalog, my suspicion is that this single is a stylistic outlier.

I’m not sure what happened to Rubin Mitchell after his tenure with Capitol, but my suspicion is that it included a hotel lounge or two.

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

Comments (1)

By Larry, November 20, 2012 2:53 pm

The Les James Trio

Listen/Download The Les James Trio – Joe’s Thing

Greetings all

I hope the day finds you all well.

Ioften find myself running out of steam around the middle of the week.

You know how it is.

Truth be told, I have discovered that the remedy to such a lull is not – as might be expected – a solid and powerful boot in the ass, like you might require on a Friday to get you in gear for the weekend, but rather something subtly powerful.

Enough of a push to restore momentum, but nothing too sudden.

It is in furtherance of this idea that I have dipped into the crates and whipped out something that just might do the trick.

A while back, I was perusing the interwebs in search of some tasty vinyl to add to my record box, when I happened upon an auction for an unfamiliar, but very interesting looking record.

The disc in question was a mid-70s joint by a crew called the Les James Trio out of the Rocky Mountain metropolis of Denver, CO.

Now, I know that “Denver jazz’ doesn’t light any fire in your ears – unless you are a Paul Quinichette aficionado – but this auction came with a tantalizing soundclip.

So tantalizing in fact that I chased this record down like a lion after a juicy springbok, landed it and devoured it forthwith, if by “devour” it is meant to be understood as recording and digimatizing said record for the delectation of you good people.

There’s not much out there about Les James, other than a few links that suggest that he was something of a local institution in Denver, and the liner notes to the album which intimate that he might have hailed from Eastern Europe and made his way west, piano in tow.

The tune I bring you today – he one that made me covet the album so fiercely – is entitled ‘Joe’s Thing’, written by and named for James’ bassist Joe Lopez.

Much like the record that I brought you all on Monday, the things that happen on this record in regard to the alchemy of bass and drums is truly something to behold.

‘Joe’s Thing’ is in no way a “funk” record, but it is immediately obvious once the ones and zeros start to flow that is is monumentally funky, in a way guaranteed to make you sit up, notice, and groove, all at the same time.

Unlike so many self-released combos (Century was a famous “press your own”outfit out of California) the Les James Trio was actually a pretty tight unit. James was an excellent pianist, Lopez a shit-hot bassist and the drummer (listed only as Jo Jo) does his part admirably.

‘Joe’s Thing’ is a groover’s treasure because it starts out with a mighty riff, and then returns to the well a number of times, including a couple of phased drum breaks.

This is a banger – a subtle one – but a banger nonetheless.

You can send your thank you notes via the comments below.

NOTE: Speaking of which, the comment capcha system I was using died unexpectedly, so I replaced it with another one in which you – the commenter – gets to solve a simple math problem instead of squinting at an impossible to read “phrase”. Easy, educational, and best of all, spam-obliterating!

You’re most welcome.

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 (26)

By Larry, October 30, 2011 8:56 pm

AWWWOOOOOOOO!!!

Listen/Download – Johnny Watson – Wolfman

Greetings all, and Happy Halloween.

I hope the new week, and the arrival of the holiday find you all well.

Unfortunately, a very (very) serious and wholly unexpected health crisis has descended upon the House of Funky16Corners, and it behooves me to devote what time I have to helping my wife and sons in any way I can. Until such time as things are back to normal (or at least some semblance thereof) all blogging will be suspended.

Some things (a lot of things, actually) are more important than blogging, and so I must (temporarily) take your leave.

That said, this Monday is Halloween (and these posts were written before the hand of fate slapped us down) , so I figured I’d dip into the archives and whip something a little spooky on you all.

I’m not an avid collector of holiday material (Halloween or Christmas), but every once in a while I pick something up that fits the bill, and today’s selection is especially interesting.

There aren’t a whole lot of folks out there so identified with their chosen instrument that it gets appended to their name, and certainly none better known in the world of R&B, funk and soul than Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that in 1967 he put out a piano instrumental 45.

Watson, along with his fellow legend and running buddy Larry Williams hooked up with the Okeh label in 1966 and 1967 for a brief but fruitful period in which they recorded the epic ‘Two For the Price of One’ album, collaborated with the LA psyche band the Kaleidoscope as well as releasing a few solo 45s each.

‘Wolfman’ was on the Watson solo 45 for the label (with a version of ‘Hold On I’m Coming’ on the flip) and is a great curiosity in his long discography.

Opening with the generic ‘spooky’ riff, the tune opens up into a slightly jazzy, vaguely Latin sounding piano instro with the rhythm section and horn backing.

Watson was a pretty good piano player too!

Okeh had the good sense to bill him simply as ‘Johnny Watson’, probably figuring that the ‘guitar’ would only confuse people.

In the end it didn’t matter, since the 45 doesn’t seem to have met with any success on either the R&B or Pop charts (unlike the Williams/Watson duets that hit the R&B Top 40 in 1967 and 1968).

Either way, it’s a very groovy 45 (scan the Funky16Corners Radio Show archives for the other side of the record) and I hope you dig it.

Don’t take any unwrapped candy, and I’ll see you all as soon as life allows.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (6)

By Larry, June 26, 2011 4:01 pm

In black and white, like the keys, dig?

Dee Felice Trio – There Was a Time (King)
Don Randi – Taxman (Reprise)
New London Rhythm and Blues Band – Soul Man (Vocalion)
Ramsey Lewis – African Boogaloo Twist (Cadet)
Roy Meriwether Trio – What’s the Buzz (Notes of Gold)
Overton Berry Trio – Guacamolean Shuffle (Jaro)
Gene Harris – Green River (Blue Note)
Johnny Watson – Hold On I’m Coming (Okeh)
Mr Jim and the Rhythm Machine – Mrs Robinson (Date)
Junior Mance – Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin (Atlantic)
Cha Cha Hogan – Grit Gitter (Soulville)
The Stokes – Crystal Ball (Alon)
Allen Toussaint – HandsChristianAnderson (Bell)
The Music Company – The Word (Mirwood)
Mary Lou Williams – The Credo (Mary)
Backyard Heavies – Expo 83 (Scepter)
Ray Bryant – Up Above the Rock (Cadet)

Listen/Download – F16C Radio v.94 – The Living Piano – 86MB/256K Mixed MP3

Listen/Download – F16C Radio v.94 – The Living Piano – 63MB ZIP File

Head on over to the Funky16Corners Radio Podcast Archive to Check This One Out

Greetings all.

As mentioned previously, this is a Funky16Corners vacation week, but I love you mugs so much that I couldn’t very well decamp without leaving something to keep your ears busy while I was away.

The mix I bring you this week is something that had been percolating in my fevered brain for a long time, and was finally spurred on to fruition by the recent passing of Mr. Ray Bryant.

Though we have covered the piano before (see Funky16Corners Radio v.81) it was recordings of the electric variety thereof.

Having been brought up in a house with a master of the acoustic piano (that would be my Pop), I have always wanted to assemble my fave funky and soulful acoustic piano tracks, and so you have it (the mix, that is…).

Most of the numbers in this mix will be familiar to longtime followers of the Funky16Corners blog, whether via appearances in previous mixes, or having appeared by themselves at some point.

There are a number of previously unheard/unposted numbers as well, so dig those too.

Though the electric piano is the version of the instrument generally associated with funk and soul (mainly due to the electrification of music in general during the era in question) there were a number of recording artists – many of them rooted in jazz – who took the old-style acoustic piano, a massive conglomeration of wood, wires and ivory, and managed to wring a little funk out of it.

Though I love electric piano, there’s something special about the way a real piano resonates, especially when it’s played by someone that really knows the instrument.

Some of the recordings in question go back to the earliest days of my crate digging and blogging, including the Mary Lou Williams and Cha Cha Hogan 45s, where others are fairly recent acquisitions.

There are a couple of unusual tracks in the mix, in particular Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson’s one-off piano instrumental 45 for the Okeh label.

You also get a couple of tracks featuring Allen Toussaint, first with his early group the Stokes (dig ‘Soda Pop’s not so subtle variation on ‘Fortune Teller’) and a rare solo 45 (Hands Christian Anderson).

Mr Jim of ‘Mr Jim and the Rhythm Machine’ (with the swinging version of ‘Mrs Robinson’) is Philly area composer/arranger/keyboardist Jimmy Wisner who recorded a couple of 45s under this name for the Date and Wizdom label.

There are also a couple of anonymous pianists working it out here, including whoever tickled the ivories for the New London Rhythm and Blues Band (likely a UK studio musician) and the pianist for the Music Company, an LA studio group that recorded an album of Beatle covers for the Mirwood label in 1966.

Of the known jazz heavies in the mix, you get to choose from the likes of Mary Lou Williams, Don Randi, Gene Harris, Ramsey Lewis, Roy Meriwether, and Overton Berry, and the man we eulogized just this past week, Ray Bryant.

Having given it a number of spins, I can attest to the fact that it’s a lot of fun to listen to and I hope you dig it.

See you next week.

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.