Freddy – Henchi and the Soulsetters

Listen/Download – Freddy – Henchi and the Soulsetters – Folsom Prison MP3

Listen/Download – Freddy – Henchi and the Soulsetters – Popcorn Baby MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, coming to you each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can listen live, subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 out of the archive here at the blog.

Freddy-Henchi and the Soulsetters were one of those bands – like Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers – that worked relentlessly, playing on the road and recording a string of 45s for a variety of labels (Onacrest, Tower, Bell, Reprise) for years, never really breaking through like they should have.

Formed in Phoenix, AZ in the mid 60s, they eventually moved to Los Angeles, then again to Colorado where they would continue to play, in one form or another well into the 80s.

Led by Freddie Gowdy and Marvin ‘Henchi’ Graves, the band recorded one 45 for Tower in 1969, and while it might not have made any impact on the charts at all, it is as solid as they come.

The A-side is a funk reworking of Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, and as insane as that concept sounds, Freddy-Henchi and the Soulsetters make it happen.

Opening with a false/country start, the band drops down into a heavy groove, transforming the song into a hard-hitting, minor-key work of genius. I mean, it WAS 1969, and people were doing all kinds of crazy things (musically and otherwise), and I can understand how the very idea of a funk take on a country classic might have been off-putting to some people, but this record is REALLY good.

I dig the haunting strings running underneath (they almost sound like a mellotron), and when the band breaks into a quote from ‘Hey Jude’, all bets – as they say – are off.

The flipside, the extremely heavy ‘Popcorn Baby’ owes a serious debt to Dyke and the Blazer’s hit from the previous year, ‘Funky Walk’. Built on a pounding drum beat, and some Hendrix-level wah wah guitar, the record is a killer.

The group would go on to have some local success with their cover of Major Lance’s ‘Um Um Um Um Um’ in 1970, and then to lay down the funk 45 classic ‘Funky To the Bone’ for Reprise in 1972.

I hope you dig this 45 as much as I do, 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.

One Response to “Freddy – Henchi and the Soulsetters – Folsom Prison b/w Popcorn Baby”

1. Rob says:

   August 22, 2015 at 6:06 pm

   Hey I love your site. Can you post a top 25 of funk/soul LPs (not 45s) that you consider essential?