The Kelly Brothers – Crystal Blue Persuasion
The Kelly Brothers performing on The Beat
Listen/Download – The Kelly Brothers – Crystal Blue Persuasion
Greetings all.
It’s the end of another week, and I’ve been a busy fella.
I’ll assume that some of you already know this, but the Funky16Corners blog was preceded, or more accurately grew out of the Funky16Corners web zine. I published the first issue online in 2000, after 15 years of doing paper fanzines on a variety of topics.
Though my web skills were rudimentary at best, I thought it would be cool to be able to write about funk and soul, include color pictures, and have it all up on the interwebs where anyone with a computer and access, anywhere in the world could check it out.
I did thirteen issues of the web zine before switching over to the blog format, and though I haven’t updated the site in almost five years, I maintained it so that people could access the various articles and discographies.
Unfortunately, due to some poor planning on my part, and switching/upgrading computers a few times since then, I did not have access to the site I had built. In fact, when I finally resurrected the old computer where I thought I had it stored, I realized that what I had was an older, incomplete version of the zine that was missing the last three issues.
What I wanted to do was get the files and upload them to the same server where I keep the blog.
This turned out to be quite the production, since I had to download the three missing issues (and all the attending artwork) from one server, weave them together with the files I had, and then upload the whole shebang. This involved work that was both painfully complicated and monotonous, but since I have no one to blame but myself for the mess it had become, I can’t really complain.
That all said, the move is finally complete. For those of you that were linked to www.funky16corners.net , aside from a few minor cosmetic changes, the transition should be flawless. If you haven’t been to the webzine, you can click on the link in the sidebar and check it out. Once you’re there, make sure to click on the ‘Archived Issues’ link to access all the older content.
Be forewarned that there are a couple of pages with formatting problems that I’ll have to correct over the coming weeks, but nothing that should prevent you from reading it.
I will be updating some of the articles for both factual and cosmetic reasons, and may even generate some new, long-form content.
I would also at some point like to redo the entire look of the site, so that you don’t have to deal with the existing colored type on black background theme, but like everything else, that will have to be added to the to-do list, and will be taken care of as time allows.
I should also take this opportunity to remind you all that this Friday night at 9PM you should fall by Viva Radio to check out the latest installment of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. This week (12/17) is an all Philly Funk 45 special, and next week (12/24) is the first annual Funky16Corners Radio Show Christmas special, featuring all kinds of groovy funk and soul in the holiday spirit.
Next week I’ll be posting a couple of nice Christmas 45s, so make sure to stop by for that.
The tune I bring you today is a very nice cover of a very well known song, by a group that until recently I knew nothing about.
I can’t recall where I first heard the Kelly Brothers version of ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’, but I do know that I dug it because I went in search of my own copy. That search ended earlier this year when I did a DJ set at the Washington DC Record Fair and found a mint copy sitting in a box between two extremely rare (and well out of my price range) soul 45s.
The Kelly Brothers got their start recording gospel in the mid-50s. Between 1956 and 1962 they recorded gospel for the VeeJay, Nashboro and Federal labels. They changed their name to the King Pins, and switched to recording secular soul in 1963, remaining with Federal.
They moved to the Sims label from 1964 to 1967, eventually landing at Excello, which is where they recorded today’s selection in 1969.
The original recording of the tune by Tommy James and the Shondells was a huge hit earlier in 1969.
The Kelly Brothers were hardly alone in their migration between the sacred and the profane. Countless soul artists got their start singing and recording gospel, and there were other artists – the Staple Singers come to mind – that passed back and forth between the genres.
The brothers (Curtis, Andrew and Robert Kelly) along with TC Lee and Offie Reese put the powerful harmonies they learned in church to good use during their soul period. There’s a great video them performing their 1966 Sims 45 ‘I’m Falling In Love Again’ on the Nashville-based TV show The Beat.
The group’s version of ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’ adds a great soulful edge to the pop classic, with the rhythm guitar and piano playing off of each other, horns, organ and some powerful drumming as well. I love the way the Kelly Brothers kick up the tempo and lay on the harmony. I’ve always enjoyed the Tommy James original (one of the first songs I remember really well from my childhood) but it seems anemic in comparison to this version.
Interestingly, the song has long been rumored to have a religious underpinning, though a glance at the lyrics reveals that there is at least as much late 60s hippie vibe in the mix.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all next week for the holiday festivities.
Peace
Larry
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Brilliant track! Matt Kaplan turned me onto this # awhile back and it blows my mind in so many ways!
Very nice version of the tune. Thanks.
Glad to see the link to the old webzine, it’s a marvelous resource, as of course is the blog. I haven’t been through all of the archives but I’ve certainly studied them a good bit….something which is probably quite evident given that I so often post records you were hip to years ago. But ya know, everybody’s got to hear a record for the first time, just so happens I heard quite a few through your efforts. Many many thanks for that.
Thanks Ana!
Larry
this is very cool. As a long-time Tommy James fan (I too remember his version when it was on the charts, one of my earliest radio memories) this a great find.
In Tommy’s recent auto-bio he mentions Verdelle Smith doing an R&B cover of his tune “Baby Baby (I Can’t Take it No More). Now….if you could find that I would be ecstatic.
Read this and downloaded when it went up, but I’d not gotten around to listening until today. This is really cool! Thanks, Larry.
Am I the only one who hears a little “Grazing In The Grass” in there when the horns hit?
Amen to the “Grazing in the Grass” horns! Even a little vocal tribute at the end! Very cool!
I had forgotten how much I liked the original version; I forgot Tommy James when I was making my own little Blue-Eyed Soul playlist…