Hi Rhythm

 

Listen/Download -Hi Rhythm – Black Rock

Greetings all.

How’s things?

Hereabout, things is groovy, aside from the fact that I am in dire need of heading out into the wild and getting my dig on. You can prowl around on Ebay all day long and no matter how many cool things you see, there’s no substitute for real world, dusty fingers digging

Unfortunately, the last couple of record shows that rolled through the area coincided with family responsibilities and the actual ‘digging’ spots within reach aren’t always worth hitting up, so I pretty much have to bide my time and be happy with the gigantic, heaving pile of vinyl I already have.

Part of that pile is the 45 I bring you today.

The way things work on the old Funky16Corners blog is that I tend to digimatize vinyl as it comes in, and if it’s something I plan on blogging, I photograph the label, tag the MP3 and stockpile it.

Many (most) of those tracks end up here on the front page in individual posts, while some end up in mixes.

However, if the gods of wax are smiling on me, I usually end up outpacing the outflux and end up with a good-sized pool from which to select what you end up seeing here.

However, as that process unfurls, I sometimes end up with things that have either been put on the back burner (for a variety of reasons, including need for further research or proximity to something similar that just got posted), or, in the case of today’s selection, plain old forgotten.

Because of that, I try to go back through the lists of things waiting to be blogged and try to move some unjustly bypassed tracks to the front of the line, harkening back to my days in the grocery profession, rotating stock for freshness.

The tune I bring you today is one of those ‘haven’t heard it but know it’s good’ deals which I picked up almost three years ago mainly on the strength of the group name and other important info on the label.

Back in the day, when I picked up my first Willie Mitchell album, the thing that hit me first was the prevalence of the surname Hodges in the credits.

This had everything to do with the fact that Mitchell’s back up band was composed in large part of a set of brothers bearing that name, Charles, Leroy and Teenie (Mabon) Hodges (organ, bass and guitar), who along with Howard Grimes (drums) and Archie Turner (keyboards) laid down that other wonderful Memphis sound.

They not only backed up Willie Mitchell, but did the same, extremely well, for pretty much everyone else who recorded for the Hi label, including (and most importantly) Al Green.

It was Mabon Hodges (composer of this very track) who co-wrote some of Green’s best songs, including ‘Love and Happiness’ and ‘Take Me To the River’.

The strange thing (for me anyway) is that for as long as the Hi Rhythm section (billed here as Hi Rhythm) was playing for so many other folks, they didn’t get the chance to step out on their own until 1975 with the release of their album ‘On the Loose’.

The single from that album, and today’s selection was the very groovy ‘Black Rock’.

While the title sounds like a giveaway, the rock side of things doesn’t come in too heavy, and when it does it’s still pretty swampy.

The overall vibe of ‘Black Rock’ is funky and it’s very interesting how a band with such a ‘trademark’ sound manages to escape that sound here.

Things chug along, with solid guitar from Mabon, group vocals and a cool, understated horn section. There’s even a crazy sound effect (heavily treated guitar?) that sounds like someone scratching vinyl!

I’m still on the lookout for a copy of the album, since the one I found a while back was crazy warped in the chip-and-dip style.

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

 

Peace

Larry

 

 

 

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4 Responses to “Hi Rhythm – Black Rock”

1. jb says:

   October 18, 2011 at 1:09 pm

   Mighty fine, sir. Thanks as always for this and other goodies lately.

2. Larry says:

   October 18, 2011 at 1:38 pm

   You’re quite welcome!

3. Sama says:

   October 18, 2011 at 2:37 pm

   maaaan that’s funky! thanks for turning me onto this

4. arizonaphossils says:

   December 11, 2011 at 8:42 pm

   Thank you kindly! I heard this at a record shop years and years ago and have had ZERO luck finding th LP or any 45s. or MP3s for that matter.