Little Milton means it ladies!

Listen/Download Little Milton – Just a Little Bit

Greetings all.

I hope the end of the week finds you all well.

I should remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t make it at airtime you can always come by the blog and grab yourself a downloadable MP3 of the show (and more than 100 archived episodes) over the weekend.

If you travel through the highways and byways of the Funky16Corners then you will already know that I am often preoccupied with the species known as the soulful bluesman.

During the classic era these giant roamed the earth, guitars (and or harmonicas) in hand dominating any ecosystem they happened to stomp in.

You had your Syl Johnson, Junior Wells, Alberts King and Collins, and, perhaps the souliest of them all, Little Milton.

During a long and fruitful career he laid down some of the finest example of the sub-genre, especially groovers like ‘Grits Ain’t Groceries’ (his reworking of Little Willie John’s ‘All Around the World’) and ‘More and More’ (covered ably by Blood Sweat and Tears).

I grab Little Milton 45s wherever I find them because his work was consistently and reliably good.

It was only in the last year that I finally encountered one of his LPs in the field. It was a ‘Greatest Hits’ but it included several tracks I didn’t have yet so I grabbed it and took it home.

Among the new (to me) cuts was Milton’s outstanding coverof Rosco Gordon’s 1959 classic ‘Just a Little Bit’.

I already had the 1965 cover by Roy Head (done in the style of his previous hit ‘Treat Her Right’) but despite the fact that it was a Top 20 R&B hit in 1969 I had never heard Little Milton’s version of the song.

Milton takes the song at a somewhat slower, ever so slightly funky tempo, adding in plenty of organ and of course his own sweet voice.

It is not in any way earth-shattering – the song has after all been covered dozens of times – but it is a groovy tune and any Little Milton is quality Little Milton, and so I bring it to you.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you when I see you.

Keep the faith

Larry

 

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

 

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.

7 Responses to “Little Milton – Just a Little Bit”

1. pghsouldj says:

   May 10, 2012 at 10:29 am

   I have had many copies of this 45 and I pick it up every time I see it. Hands down one of the best cover songs ever put to wax. In fact I just sold one to a guy on Sweden yesterday. haha.

2. Kris Holmes says:

   May 11, 2012 at 1:06 am

   yeah, this is a great track, i think it’s sitting in my DJ box at the moment actually.

3. Tony Crampton says:

   May 11, 2012 at 3:24 pm

   Nice one Larry.

4. Paul says:

   May 11, 2012 at 4:00 pm

   There’s also a boss version by Magic Sam from the _Black Magic_ LP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xdenZwds-k

5. Ben The Harpman C says:

   May 31, 2012 at 10:51 am

   Magic Sam’s version on Black Magic, to me, is the superior and more funky version. It pre-dates Milton’s version by a few months and is undoubtedly where Milton got his version as Sam had been playing it in the Chicago clubs as part of his set for a long time. This tune has made the rounds in the blues world for some time now, but I agree Mr. Campbell and Mr. Maghett were probably the hippest damn cats to cut it.

6. Larry Grogan says:

   May 31, 2012 at 10:59 am

   I haven’t heard Magic Sam’s version. I’ll have to check that out.

7. Larry Grogan says:

   May 31, 2012 at 12:30 pm

   Oh wait, Paul posted a link up thread! Very cool!