Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band – Spreadin’ Honey
Listen/Download – Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band – Spreadin’ Honey MP3
Greetings all.
Happy New Year everybody!
I was grooving in the back alleys of my iPod the other day and hit on an old favorite, which I was surprised hadn’t ever been written up here at Funky16Corners.
Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band are a familiar sound to most folks that have even a passing familiarity with classic funk and soul, as well as the millions of others who have heard them sampled by NWA (among others) and used in commercials.
The record you see before you is technically their first 45, from 1966.
I use the qualifier “technically” because there is a fair amount of doubt that any of the players associated with the band’s post-1968 run ever played on it.
Release in 1966, written by LA soul scene movers Fred Smith and Nat Nathan, ‘Spreadin’ Honey’ grazed the R&B Top 40 in 1967 (with some regional Pop success).
It is a pounding dancer with one of the great drum openings of all time, as well as some tasty piano and guitar.
It seems likely that absent the later Watts 103 cats, and considering those involved in the writing and production, and most importantly the sound, that Leon Haywood was the piano player. I wouldn’t venture a guess as to who else was in the studio, but I have seen some people suggesting that the guitarist might be Bobby Womack.
Oddly enough, the track was recycled later in 1966 on the MoSoul label as being by the Soul Runners!
It was soon after the success of this record that Charles Wright and the rest of the band slipped into the name, and recorded a grip of heavy stuff for Warner Brothers between 1968 and 1971.
It is a very solid groover, and I suggest you follow your hips, and get up and dance.
I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you on Wednesday.
Keep the faith
Larry
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Themocracy
Dang, I know this tune, but not under this title and not by this band. Now it’s driving me crazy!
Could it be the Soul Runners 45 I mention in the post?
Yeah, that’s it, but it’s not in my iTunes. Where have I heard this? Wonder if someone on WFMU uses it as background music or something.