Funky16Corners

Sweetwater – Compared to What

By Larry, September 18, 2011 1:56 pm

Sweetwater

~~Listen/Download – Sweetwater – Compared to What~~

Greetings all.

The new week is here, and so am I (for what it’s worth).

There quite a chill in the air, and taking the little Corners out to the bus is getting to be a brisk undertaking.

I need to adjust my brain so that I begin to appreciate the onset of fall, which is a season that I usually dig quite a bit, but I’m having an especially hard time letting go of summer this year.

Not sure why that is, but as is often the case, if I feed my ears enough groovy music, all paths will be clearer, roads smoothed, thoughts more productive and positive.

That said I had a great time this past Saturday DJ-ing at the JT Foundation for Autism Awareness 5K Run in Pt. Pleasant Beach, NJ.

This was by far the earliest (first record went under the needle at 7:30am) and chilliest (temps hovering in the mid-50s) DJ gig I’ve ever done, but the high spirits of all the people gathered to raise money and awareness of autism more than made up for the hour.

There were lots of familiar faces from the local autism community, and the setting (right by the water) couldn’t have been nicer.

I even got the now familiar “You actually spin vinyl?” comments which seem to pop up every single time I DJ outside of a club setting. It’s a little strange to hear, but it is a bracing reminder of how deep and insular the world of record collecting is. Each time this happens, without fail, there’s a brief moment of “Who’s crazy? Me or them?” followed immediately by the realization that it is – without question – me.

The whole Funky16Corners fam was there as yours truly dropped a wide variety of funk, soul and disco classics for about three hours.

Yours truly (not all sixteen corners visible) selecting something cool.

The crowd as seen from my perch in the band shell.

Cueing up a little Stevie Wonder to take the chill out of the air.

So, let’s get the week started with what Slim Gaillard would refer to as a very mellow groove.

If you have in fact heard of Sweetwater, it might very well be as one of the little known artists to have graced the stage at Woodstock.

They released a couple of albums for Reprise in the late 60s and early 70s before their lead singer Nancy Nevins was badly injured in a car accident and forced out of the lineup.

I’m tempted to describe Sweetwater as an archetypal hippy band, but the reality was that in everything except the broadest sense the only thing most of the bands of the era had in common (aside from an interesting fashion sense) was their diversity in all things.

Sweetwater was integrated, both racially and musically, with a sound that exemplified the melting pot aesthetic, a little rock, a little soul, some baroque touches all served up with a garnish of freak scene freedom.

Naturally, across the musical spectrum, this tie-dyed bouillabaisse wasn’t always entirely successful or coherent, but that is almost always the case when a lot of free thinkers decide to get loose, and thankfully when their fusions were successful, they were often exceptional.

Gene McDaniel’s epic testament ‘Compared to What’ is one of those soul jazz evergreens (like Cannonball Adderley’s ‘Sack’O’Woe’) that managed to expand beyond its original bailiwick into the world of rock.

Sweetwater manage to keep the built-in groove of the song, but ease off the gas a little, creating a very groovy, somewhat restrained, yet still soulful feel. The basic groove is constructed with bass, drums and electric piano, with the flute and cello (yes, cello) weaving in and out of things tastefully.

This is also one of those records where I’m shocked no one has chopped or looped either the bass or flute lines, both ripe for the audio harvest.

I hope you dig it.

Make sure you stop over at Iron Leg and pull down the ones and zeros on the fifth episode of the Iron Leg Radio Show.

See you on Wednesday.

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.