The reunited Velvet Hammer!

Listen/Download – Velvet Hammer – Happy MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you well.

The tune I bring you today is one of those records that I happened upon quite by accident, and fell in love with instantly.

Oddly enough, the song popped up in a medley in a video by the ‘Northern Soul Girl’ Levanna Mclean, in which she dances through the streets of Bristol, UK, first to Pharrell Williams ‘Happy’, and then to another song that I’d never heard before.

I found out in short order that the tune was ‘Happy’ by the group Velvet Hammer.

Recorded in 1977 in Chicago, with the songwriting and production assistance of none other than Andre Williams (this may be the latest thing I’ve ever heard by him) ‘Happy’ is a delirious mixture of a danceable beat (thus it’s popularity with the Northern Soul crowd), sweet soul falsetto soul and a classy arrangement.

What I know about the group I owe to the efforts of the late, sweet soul expert Bob Abrahamian, who traced the group’s roots to the 1960s Chicago group the Admirations, on through their evolution into the Green Berets, the High Society, and then in the mid-70s, into Velvet Hammer.

They recorded an entire LP for the Chicago-based Soozi Records (apparently run by the owners of a chain of barbecue restaurants!), from which ‘Happy’ and its b-side ‘Party Hardy’ were culled.

As I mentioned above, ‘Happy’ has that straight up, four on the floor beat that endears it to the soulies, yet it’s couched in an elegant, restrained arrangement (dig the way the organ and the jazzy guitar play against the strings) that makes it as easy to listen to as to dance.

It tends to be a relatively pricey 45 (especially after it was featured in the video above), but seems to have settled down a little (the promo, like mine, tends to run a little cheaper than the issue on the flowered label).

If you get a chance, take a look at the video of the reunited Velvet Hammer performing the tune live.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

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.

4 Responses to “Velvet Hammer – Happy”

1. thor helge says:

   January 4, 2016 at 4:29 pm

   off-centre soozi copy? or is it just me?

2. Larry says:

   January 4, 2016 at 4:33 pm

   What are you taking about?

3. thor helge says:

   January 5, 2016 at 3:19 pm

   wondered if your copy of ‘happy’ perhaps was pressed slightly acentric. sounded like that, to my ears at least

4. Graham says:

   March 5, 2026 at 8:04 am

   Yes mine is too, but it’s a recent bootleg so I suppose you get what you pay for