Marlena Shaw

Richard Evans (l) and Charles Stepney (r)

Listen/Download Marlena Shaw – California Soul

Greetings all

I want to start by reminding you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen through the TuneIn app on a mobile device, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

I was going to leave the Richard Evans memorial up at the top of the page until Monday, but then I thought I might resurrect something from the archives (sort of) to continue the tribute, as it were.

I first posted about Marlena Shaw’s mighty rendition of ‘California Soul’ back in 2008, in tandem with the Marvin/Tammi version.

The record, which returned to prominence when its remarkable break was harvested and repurposed by DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist fifteen (!?!?) years ago (in Brainfreeze) is the ne plus ultra of sophisticated urban soul with a funky edge and a fantastic vocal by Ms Shaw.

Shaw’s version was arranged by Charles Stepney, and co-produced by Stepney and Richard Evans.

This is especially fitting since the two men constituted the driving stylistic force behind Cadet Records, each with their own pet project (Stepney with Rotary Connection, Evans with the Soulful Strings), and working separately and together on a wide variety of other projects.

‘California Soul’ is one of those records that sounds impossibly large, seemingly pushing beyond the normal limits of a 45RPM record. This has everything to do with the remarkable production skills of Stepney and Evans, managing to layer instrumentation and vocals in such a way that the end result is simultaneously massive, yet never sounds crowded.

It’s a landmark session, and I thought I’d dig it out, re-record it, and whip it on you to carry you through the weekend.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

 

 

 

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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.

3 Responses to “Marlena Shaw – California Soul”

1. Randy says:

   October 9, 2014 at 10:19 pm

   I remember hearing this as a sample back in 1990 on Gangstarr’s “Check The Technique”. It blew me away and when I finally heard the original by Marlena Shaw a few years later, I was amazed by the arrangement of the song. Hats off to Richard Evans. RIP.

2. Jim G says:

   October 12, 2014 at 8:41 pm

   Believe it or not I first heard this either here or on Oliver Wang’s Soul Sides, and I’ve since come to love it. How this isn’t a staple on oldies radio (at least not here in NY on WCBS-FM) is beyond me. I was born in ’67 and this song sounds like it would have fit right in on Top 40 radio then.

3. Larry says:

   October 12, 2014 at 8:44 pm

   As far as I can tell this didn’t chart anywhere, which is an absolute crime. What a waste of an amazing record. Fortunately the rediscovery via sampling has given it some of the shine it deserved.