Charles Mann

 

Listen/Download – Charles Mann – Do It Again

 

Greetings all, and welcome to the end of the week.

All is well – relatively speaking – with nothing overtly positive to report, but nothing horrifying either, so I’ll just remain tied to the mast and hope the boat stays on course.

This is of course the part of the week where I remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show is about due for its weekly eruption over at Viva Radio, with all of the groovy sounds you have – as a connoisseur of the finer things in soul – become accustomed to. Friday night at 9PM is the time, followed over the weekend by the appearance of the MP3 version thereof over at the blog, where you can pull down the ones and zeros at your leisure.

The number I bring you today is another very groovy cover version (making it a clean sweep this week) of one of my all time favorite groups, that being Steely Dan.

The song in question is their 1972 hit ‘Do It Again’, and the covering artiste is Charles Mann.

I first heard this take on the song via a forum post on the interwebs, and as a huge fan of the Dan, and of interesting cover versions in general, I set out to find a copy of my own.

I’d never heard of Charles Mann before, and I have to admit that despite some searching I still don’t know much.

He recorded his version of ‘Do It Again’ in 1973 for the ABC label with a collection of Philly all-stars, including Bobby Eli (under an alias), Norman Harris, Earl Young, Ronnie Baker and Vince Montana (pretty much the heart of the MFSB crew), with background vocal support from Bunny Sigler (among others).

Tracking down information on Mann proved difficult because there’s a prominent swamp pop singer of the same name (who happens to be white), and because it would appear that aside from this album for ABC and some disco 12”s for the LA label, the soulful Mr Mann didn’t leave much of a trail.

His cover of ‘Do It Again’ ramps up the tempo and fleshes out the arrangement considerably) with the Philly heads adding a healthy dose of danceability to the song. The intro is ripe for sampling/looping and Mann’s vocal is excellent.

The record has that great, Philly-based pre-disco funk vibe, and the guitar work (there are two great solos, one with fuzz and one without) is superb.

Mann recorded three 45s for ABC, and oddly enough ‘Do It Again’ doesn’t appear to have had a domestic release on 45 (though it did come out in Europe). It is possible that since Steely Dan was also on ABC, the label didn’t want to have competing versions on the singles charts.

It’s also unusual because there aren’t a lot of vocal covers of Steely Dan material out there, though I’ve found a number of instrumental versions of their material (by Woody Herman who did a whole album of it, and Herbie Mann). If you’re game to hear something unusual, check out the cover by Waylon Jennings.

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

Peace

Larry

 

 

 

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recr 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.

 

4 Responses to “Charles Mann – Do It Again”

1. Mike says:

   May 15, 2011 at 1:44 am

   Charles Mann – covers – brought this one to mind. Different Charles Mann and a long stretch to funk, but it is soulful and, if you are very broad minded, even funky.
   Walk of Life, much better than Talking Heads. Worth three minutes of eveyone’s time.
   

2. Larry Grogan says:

   May 15, 2011 at 10:17 am

   Very cool! I wouldn’t normally say I was a big fan of that song, but he really gives it something extra.

3. Holly says:

   May 16, 2011 at 5:43 pm

   Great post! Love the original, this version *and* the Waylon. All different, all good 🙂

4. Larry Grogan says:

   May 16, 2011 at 5:47 pm

   Holly
   I like the Jennings version too. It makes me wonder why someone else on the c&w or rock spectrum didn’t attempt it.
   Larry