Ronnie Rae and the Dynamics – Funky Shuffle
Listen/Download – Ronnie Rae and the Dynamics – Funky Shuffle MP3
Greetings all.
The 45 I bring you today started out as a mystery record.
A group that made only one single, on a label that only released one single, with no address on the label.
I cannot recall where I put my hands on Funky Shuffle by Ronnie Rae and the Dynamics, other than it came from a sales list (as opposed to a random dig in the field).
The record sounds like a white band with a soulful bent, with the flipside, ‘Breaktime’ leaning in a more garage-y direction.
‘Funky Shuffle’ quickly reveals itself to be a rewrite of ‘Harlem Shuffle’, with wild lead vocals, relentless combo organ, spooky background vocals and a solid drummer.
Though 45Cat suggests that this is a 1966 release (certainly not out of the question) I haven’t seen any other corroborating information to confirm that.
The single clue as to the origin of this record is the authorship of the flipside, attributed to Jules Kruspir.
Kruspir was a Pittsburgh, PA operator, managing the doowop group the Marcels, and running St Clair records, home to a wide variety of Western Pennsylvania acts including garage punk legends the Swamp Rats.
A Google search reveals a couple of local newspapers, in Pittsburgh and Morgantown from the late 60s with ads for performances by Ronnie Rae and the Dynamics (both, sadly hidden behind paywalls, so I was unable to see them in detail).
If anyone has any additional information on the band, please let me know.
Until next week
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Keep the faith
Larry
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Themocracy
My Dad was the drummer for Ronnie Rae and the Dynamics. He was, and still is, a very solid drummer. They were from Uniontown, PA. As far as I know, this 45 is their only release, although they were pretty big in this area of south western PA back in the late 60s.
Happy to provide any other info I can.
The group was from Uniontown, PA, about 60 miles south of Pittsburgh and closer to Morgantown, WV. I knew Jack Bates, who lived on the upper part of Union Street, less that a block from where we lived. Released in 1968. RJR = Ronnie’s initials. It was a one and done.