Funky16Corners

The Dells – Windy City Soul

By Larry, March 13, 2012 10:31 am

The Mighty Mighty Dells!

~~Listen/Download – The Dells – Windy City Soul~~

Greetings all.

I come to you mid-week with something funky from the mighty Dells.

As much as my Chi-town crates are populated with several Dells 45s (mostly spanning the 60s) I’m surprised (and a little embarrassed) by their lack of appearances in this space.

The Dells were formed in the early 50s and their line up remained almost completely unchanged for almost 50 years.

They made the charts more than 40 times between 1956 and 1984 and managed to hit twice with two different versions of their first hit ‘Oh What a Night’ in 1956 and 1969!

The Dells also managed to cross over into the Pop charts several times as well with cuts like the storming ‘There Is’.

The tune I bring you today hails from their 1972 LP ‘Sweet As Funk Can Be’ (dig that title!), coming from the latter part of their association with the Cadet label (they would move to Mercury in 1975).

‘Windy City Soul’ is a funky mover with contributions from all members of the group but marked by some hard edged soul shouting from the mighty Marvin Junior.

The album is a concept album of sorts with a stream of funkiness feel to it, including some quasi-spoken interludes between the tracks.

What is unusual and extra-groovy about this particular set is that is was almost all written by none other than Terry Callier and his writing partner Larry Wade,and the album was produced by the brilliant Charles Stepney.

If this sounds like a combination of talents guaranteed to please, you will not be disappointed. A couple of tracks from the album (though not today’s selection) made it into the R&B Top 40, but the album was not a big hit.

I hope you dig the track, and I’ll be back with more on Friday.

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.