Listen/Download Delores Riley – Hey Boy!

Greetings all

Welcome once again to the point where all sixteen corners of the musical universe intersect.

One of the busiest corners therein is located in the great city of New Orleans.

I have certainly made mention in this space before of the ‘high end’ of the Instant Records discography.

Instant, which ran from 1961 to 1972 released records by many of the big names in New Orleans soul and funk, from Chris Kenner (their biggest hitmaker) to Ernie K Doe and Huey ‘Piano’ Smith.

Though the overall quality of their roster was excellent, if you were looking for the funky stuff, you’d want to start browsing up around number 3300 in the catalog.

There are of course exceptions – especially Larry Darnell’s ‘Son of a Son of a Slave’ and Curley Moore’s ‘Sophisticated Sissy’ – but before, though quite groovy, things were mostly soulful.

Once that Rubicon is crossed, all bets are off, processes change to naturals and in comes the funk.

Though I have chased many of these post-3300 sides over the years (and caught a bunch), there are a few that still elude me, as well as a number that I’ve never heard.

One of these – at least until a few years ago – was the record you see before you today, Delores Riley’s ‘Hey Boy!’.
I had never heard the record before when a friend suggested I check it out.

It was a nice, hard-driving funky 45, so I set out find myself a copy, and got one in short order (for not a lot of dough).

I have not been able to find anything out about Riley, or the writer of the song Justin James. I don’t see any evidence that she recorded anything else, for Instant or any other NOLA label.

The one familiar name on the label is that of Earl Stanley, of Earl Stanley and the Stereos, aka Roger and the Gypsies.

The production on ‘Hey Boy’ is pretty tight, with a great horn section, some groovy wah-wah guitar and even a little bit of electric sitar in the mix.

The most distinctive part of the gumbo (aside from Delores’s singing) , is – as is often the case – the drums. Whoever was manning the kit was hitting hard that day.

The style is a little bit rough, but full of verve. I’d love to know who it was.

That said, should it tickle your fancy, you ought to be able to grab yourself a copy of this one to stuff into your crates for well under fifty clams.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

 

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
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).

 

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

One Response to “Delores Riley – Hey Boy!”

1. theEARLofSWIRL says:

   May 1, 2013 at 11:22 am

   !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sizzlin’!