Brother Jack McDuff Brand Toilet Tissue and Corn Flakes!

Listen/Download Brother Jack McDuff – Soul Yodel

Greetings all.

I come to you midweek with a very tasty groove indeed.

A while back one of my Facebook friends (I forget who, so forgive me) posted the track you see before you today and I was, as they used to say, gassed.

You know that I ride hard for the Hammond grooves, whether they be packed tightly into 45s or spread out generously over an LP. It is in that subset that Brother Jack McDuff holds an especially high place of honor.

His discography is stuffed to the rafters with goodness, from the old-school, smoky bar groove grease to the new(er) school funky workouts, of which today’s selection is among the latter.

McDuff’s funky sounds – it must be noted – are of superlative quality, as inventive as they are purely funky, as the legendary ‘Moon Rappin’ album testifies.

Brother Jack was never one to sit back and ride the groove, and was able to take what one might consider to be ‘unusual’ raw material (like, say a yodel…) and work it up into something extraordinary.

‘Soul Yodel’ (sounds like a welcome addition to the snack cake aisle) is a very cool number indeed.

Included on the 1972 album ‘Check It Out’ was recorded live at the Mandrake Club in Berkeley, California and is at times reminiscent of Jimmy Smith’s ‘Root Down’.

The tune opens with a thumping bass figure (provided by Richard Davis) with some tasty drum work by Ron Davis. Where things get really interesting is upon the arrival of guitarist Vinnie Corrao who lays down some delicious wah-wah-ology.

This is of interest to NJ funk fans because it was none other than Mr. Corrao who played guitar on the sole 45 by The Touch, ‘Pick and Shovel’ b/w ‘Blue On Green’.

Oddly, as deep as the groove is here, it does not include a lot of organ (certainly not a solo). It’s mainly a feature for the band – especially Corrao – which is groovy too.

That said, I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Friday.

 

Peace

Larry

 

PS Don’t forget that I’ll be joining the HPRS vinyl collective to sell some records this coming Saturday 3/31. The sale runs from 11-5 at 960 Green Street in Iselin, NJ (not too far off of Rt1). I’ll have a couple of boxes of LPs (lots of soul jazz and 60s rock) as well as a few boxes of 45s (funk, soul, jazz, rock etc) and some ephemera. If you’re in the area and have a taste for records come by and sample the wares.

 

 

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.

 

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.

2 Responses to “Brother Jack McDuff – Soul Yodel”

1. ears for eyes says:

   March 28, 2012 at 10:39 am

   Not sure who’s came first, as both were recording in 1972; but, WAR’s Slippin’ Into Darkness has an eerily similar bass line.

   I’ve heard that horn melody line somewhere else too, but can’t quite place it.

2. ears for eyes says:

   March 28, 2012 at 12:08 pm

   …. so the horn melody in the chorus section of Soul Yodel is similar to that of Billy Cobham’s Crosswind… I’m getting old.