Dorothy Berry

Listen/Download – Dorothy Berry – Shindig City MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week in here and that means that it is Funky16Corners Radio Show time again. We come to you each and every Friday with the best in soul, funk, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can subscribe as a podcast in iTunes, listen on Stitcher and TuneIn (catch the show on Cruising Radio UK every Friday evening), Mixcloud, or grab yourself an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com.

I remember the first time I ever heard Dorothy Berry’s mighty ‘Shindig City’ – on Gail Smith’s incredible ‘Work Your Soul’ podcast – and nailed it right at the top of my want list.

It took a long time, and more than a couple of dollars to actually score a copy for my playbox, but it was a happy day indeed when I did.

Dorothy Berry is an especially interesting singer, having recorded a string of excellent singles (under her own name, with Jimmy Norman, as part of Dorothy, Oma and Zelpha, and with the African Bag All Stars – between 1962 and the early 70s, and because she was for a time, Mrs Richard ‘Louie Louie’ Berry.

‘Shindig City’ is a as booming, fast moving and danceable a soul 45 as was ever made in the classic era, and oddly enough you can thank future Bread-man David Gates for that.

No, really…DAVID GATES.

For those in the know, Gates is much more than Bread, having left behind a very long (and very good) string of records in rock, soul, rockabilly, and pop for a string of labels as writer, producer, arranger and performer from the late 50s right on up to the formation of Bread in the late 60s.
He was – like Leon Russell and JJ Cale, both of whom he worked with – part of the Oklahoma expat music scene in LA.

Gates wrote, produced and arranged ‘Shindig City’, as well as almost everything else recorded for the short-lived Dot Records subsidiary Planetary in 1964 and 1965, including both of Berry’s 45s for the label.

‘Shindig City’ – which has a fair amount of popularity on the Northern scene, like many Northern Soul faves starts with the Motown sound as a template, but takes it in a more muscular, Wall of Sound direction, seemingly testing the limits of magnetic tape to see exactly how much sound it can contain.

The drums are thundering, the horn section (specifically the trombones) creating waves of sound and Berry’s wailing vocal abetted by a female chorus.

It’s one of those records that verily drags people out of their seats and onto the dance floor, and sounds amazing coming out of a big sound system.
Though in a sane world ‘Shindig City’ should have been a big hit, it only had a brief period of regional success (in New England) in May of 1965.

Dorothy and Richard Berry (who sings backup on the flipside of this 45) would divorce in the late 60s, and she would go on to join the Ray Charles Revue as a Raelette, a job she would hold into the early 80s.

So dig this incredible record, over and over again, and if you haven’t checked out the Clyde Stubblefield tribute, please do so.

I’ll see you all on Monday.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.