Posts tagged: Funky16Corners

Hank Ballard – Come On Wit’ It

By , August 30, 2015 11:38 am

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Hank Ballard

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Listen/Download – Hank Ballard – Come On Wit’ It MP3

Greetings all.

Like any sharp character, you need only see that familiar black and orange King label (with the Godfather’s head, too…natch) to know that there is goodness in the offing.

This time out we get yet another tasty side from the mighty Hank Ballard.

Ballard, who’s chart heyday (with the Midnighters) was almost a decade in the rear view mirror laid down this side in 1969.

His resurrection at the hands of James Brown may not have been a huge commercial success, but will go down in history as a real ‘solid’ on JB’s part, and as providing some of the best music in Ballard’s discography.

‘Come On Wit’ It’, (flip side of ‘Blackenized’) co-written by Ballard, Brown and Bud Hobgood is a great bit of chugging funk with a punchy bass line and some bright horns.

Ballard’s vocal is packed with raspy goodness (I love the repeated refrain of ‘Groovy to the bone!’).

Oddly, only one of Ballard’s later King 45s – ‘How You Gonna Get Respect’ – made it into the R&B charts, breaking into the Top 20 in November of 1968.

Fortunately most of his funky stuff (aside from his LP which can be expensive) is relatively affordable and not too hard to track down.

I hope you dig the track, 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).

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Gary U.S. Bonds – I’m Glad You’re Back

By , August 27, 2015 1:17 pm

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A younger, be-conked Gary U.S. Bonds

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Listen/Download – Gary U.S. Bonds – I’m Glad You’re Back 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.

We’re closing out the week with a record I found a few years back.

Gary US Bonds ought to be familiar to most folks via his stellar early 60s R&B sides for LeGrand (like ‘New Orleans’ and ‘Quarter to Three’) or his 1980s resurrection as part of the Springsteen galaxy of stars.

However, as this 45 demonstrates, Bonds made a stop at the short-lived, late 60s soul label Botanic for one, excellent 45.

Bonds came out of the Tidewater area of Virginia, working for Frank Guida’s LeGrand records.

By the time he hooked up with fellow Virginian Jerry ‘Swamp Dogg’ Williams in 1968, his chart successes were in the distant past.

Today’s selection ‘I’m Glad You’re Back’ was co-written by Bonds (he’s ‘G. Anderson’) and Williams, produced by Williams and arranged by Teacho Wiltshire.

Interestingly enough there were only three 45s released on Botanic (Bonds, Little Charles and the Sidewinders, and a rock band called Saturday’s Crowd) and they were all co-written and produced by Williams.

‘I’m Glad You’re Back’ finds Bonds working in a funkier, more explicitly soulful 1968-appropriate sound. The arrangement is tight, making tasteful use of the string and horn sections, and whoever is playing the bass is off the hook.

The record got some minor play in the New York market in the Fall of 1968, but that’s about it.

Bonds would keep recording for a variety of labels through the 70s, until he hit with ‘This Little Girl’ in 1981.

It’s a groovy 45, and I hope you dig it.

See you 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).

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Don Julian and the Larks – Shorty the Pimp Pts 1&2

By , August 25, 2015 12:20 pm

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Don Julian and the Larks

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Listen/Download – Don Julian and the Larks – Shorty the Pimp Pt1 MP3

Listen/Download – Don Julian and the Larks – Shorty the Pimp Pt2 MP3

Greetings all.

Don Julian, with the Meadowlarks (an early, integrated doowop group) and then the Larks, was a West Coast R&B/soul/funk fixture in the 50s, 60s and 70s, recording for a variety of labels, like RPM, Specialty and Money.

The Larks worked their way through classic soul styles, with Julian and the group making their way right into funk by the early 70s.

‘Shorty the Pimp’ is a masterpiece of Blaxplo-funk, and has something of a mysterious provenenance.

The track (anda few others that found release on 45) were supposedly part of a soundtrack to an unreleased blaxploitation movie called ‘Shorty the Pimp’, which, considering the cinematic reach of the song is entirely believable.

That, and the fact that the deep, spoken voice on the track is none other than Don Julian’s running buddy, Richard ‘Louie Louie’ Berry!

‘Shorty the Pimp’ is a slow grooving, funky mover, mixing falsetto vocals, group harmony and the aforementioned narration with some of the finest lyrics ever composed about life on the streets. There’s lots of cool rhythm guitar and organ working its way in and out of the mix.

Julian and the Larks would also create the soundtrack for the film ‘Savage’ around the same time.

‘Shorty the Pimp’ was sampled almost two decades later by Too Short on his own track of the same title.

‘Shorty the Pimp’ appeared on the rare Don Julian and the Larks LP ‘Super Slick’, but if you don’t have a coupla hundo burning a hole in your pocket, you can score a copy of this most excellent 45 for a fraction of that.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all on Friday.

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).

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

The Bar-Kays – A Hard Day’s Night

By , August 23, 2015 1:30 pm

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The Bar-Kays

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Listen/Download – The Bar-Kays – A Hard Day’s Night MP3

Greetings all.

Join me as we welcome the new week with some of that tasty, Memphis goodness.

The Bar-Kays were a group of young Memphis players that were recruited by Stax, and ended up (fatefully) backing Otis Redding on his final tour (most of them perishing in the same plane crash that took Otis).

The track I bring you today is the Bar-Kays 1968 version of the Beatles’ ‘A Hard Days Night’.

I hadn’t heard the track when I found this single, but since it was cheap, a Fabs cover, and on Volt, I couldn’t very well leave it behind.

Good thing I didn’t, because it’s an interesting reworking of the Beatles original, packed with Memphis soul flavor.

Opening with the organ, and twangy guitar, the band build upward from a hard-hitting riff that allows them to deliver the Beatles’ melody in a manner that is 100% McLemore Ave.

Interestingly enough , the single was produced by MGs drummer Al Jackson, Jr., which I initially found surprising. Then I did some digging and discovered that producing was a nice sideline for Jackson, with credits on records by Johnny Taylor, Isaac Hayes, Albert King, Mable John, the Mad Lads and others.

As far as I can tell ‘A Hard Days Night’ is a 45-only track, so if you want it, that’s how to get it.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you 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).

 

Example Example

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Freddy – Henchi and the Soulsetters – Folsom Prison b/w Popcorn Baby

By , August 20, 2015 11:39 am

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Freddy – Henchi and the Soulsetters

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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).

 

Example Example

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Brother Jack McDuff Quintet feat. David Newman – But It’s Alright

By , August 18, 2015 11:33 am

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Brother Jack McDuff and David Newman

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Listen/Download – Brother Jack McDuff Quintet feat. David Newman – But It’s Alright MP3

Greetings all.

I thought we’d get over the hump this week with some of that Hammond organ goodness bubbling up from my crates.

Brother Jack McDuff is one of the true greats of the classic era of soul jazz Hammond (mid-50s to early 70s). He is joined on today’s selection by legendary reedman David ‘Fathead’ Newman, with whom he recorded the 1968 LP ‘Double Barrelled Soul’.

Their version of JJ Jackson’s 1966 hit ‘But It’s Alright’ is – if not a complete deconstruction – a slightly avant garde approach to a familiar soul hit, with just enough edge to catch your ear, but not so much as to leave you shaking your head.

Opening with an odd organ fillagree, the fray is soon joined by the horn section, laying down an unusual, Thelonious Monk-esque riff, over which Brother Jack solos with confidence.

When the song starts out, it might take a new listener a second or two to wrap your ears around what’s going on, but once you do, there’s a funky drive shaft that keeps things moving forward.

While I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this enters Larry Young territory, there is some of that kind of thing at work here, which makes the record work as jazz, as well as a mod jazz groover.

I like it a lot, and I hope you do too.

See you all on Friday.

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).

 

Example Example

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Gaylettes – Son of a Preacher Man

By , August 16, 2015 1:54 pm

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Judy Mowatt

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Listen/Download – Gaylettes – Son of a Preacher Man MP3

Greetings all.

Welcome to another week here at Funky16Corners as we all join together in the waning days of the summer to regret complaining about the heat one last time (before we start complaining about the cold, or at least that’s how it is for those of us here in New Jersey).

We’re going to get the week started with one of of my all-time favorite Jamaican covers of US soul, and another one of those 45s that I couldn’t believe that I already hadn’t written about.

The 45 in question is the Gaylettes 1969 version of ‘Son of a Preacher Man’.

Though Dusty Springfield had the biggest/best known hit with the song in 1968, in the next couple of years Aretha Franklin, the Carnival and even the Gaylettes made some inroads into the US charts with versions of the tune.

The Gaylettes were a Jamaican trio (recording in the UK) featuring Judy Mowatt (later a solo star and member of Bob Marley’s backing singers the I-Threes) Beryl Lawson and Merle Clemenson. The group recorded a bunch of singles in the late 60s, including one of my favorite rock steady 45s, their reworking of Brenda Lee’s ‘Here’s Comes That Feeling’.

The Gaylettes version of ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ features some very groovy organ and guitar and breaks from the laid back funk of Springfield’s hit, opting instead for a brisk, dance floor-friendly pace.

Their version was a minor hit in the Northeast (New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts) in the end of the summer of 1969, which goes a long way to explaining why the single got two US pressings, on Hourglass and Steady.

The US was getting its first real taste for reggae sounds in 1969*, with substantial hits by Jimmy Cliff (Wonderful World,Beautiful People) and Desmond Dekker and the Aces (Israelites) that year, which may have primed the pump as it were for the sound of the Gaylettes.

It is a groovy record indeed, and I hope you dig it.

Keep the faith

Larry

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*Though both Millie Small and Prince Buster had gotten US airplay in 1964 and 1967 respectively
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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).

 

Example Example

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Rodger Collins – She’s Looking Good

By , August 13, 2015 2:46 pm

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Rodger Collins

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Listen/Download – Rodger Collins – She’s Looking Good MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is nigh, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show. We come to you every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or listen in on your mobile device via the TuneIn app.

I thought we’d close out the week with some tasty West Coast soul from the man Rodger Collins.

Collins recorded for Galaxy and Fantasy from 1963 to 1973, and then spottily for a few other labels after that.

‘She’s Looking Good’ is one of those weird instances of a solid, sock soul 45 that did better on the Pop charts than on the R&B charts.

Released in 1966, ‘She’s Looking Good’ made it to #44 R&B, but went well into the Top 20 in a wide range of Pop markets (especially on the West Coast), which is probably why it’s so well-remembered these days.

That, and the fact that it smokes from start (please forgive a couple of seconds of cue burn) to finish. Collins lays down a smoking vocal over a tight, heavy backing track (the guitar is especially nice).

Interestingly enough, the Wicked Pickett would take the song back into the charts (R&B Top 10 and Pop Top 20!) in 1968.

Collins later converted to Islam, but continued to play and record in the Bay Area.

I hope you dig the sounds, 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).

 

Example Example

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

The Slim Willis Band – I Say That

By , August 11, 2015 10:49 am

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Listen/Download – Slim Willis Band – I Say That MP3

Greetings all.

I have to start things out by sending out a big (HUGE) thank you to my man Kris Holmes, through whom I first encountered today’s monster of a 45.

Back when Kris was doing his weekly radio thing on Radio Ponsonby in NZ, he dropped this heater one night and it went directly onto my want list.

As it turns out, most of the available info on the 45 comes to us via Kris’s ‘Greenville and Beyond’ project, in which he tracks the various and sundry threads passing into, through and beyond a group of Mississippi-based labels.

Interestingly enough, though this 45, The Slim Willis Band ‘I Say That’ bears a Mississippi address, it was boiled up in Chitown.

‘I Say That’ is one of those records that is both amazing, and confounding at the same time.

Ostensibly a blues side, yet undeniably funk as well, it brings with it a kind of brilliant, sui generis production that makes you wonder why it isn’t much better known.

What ‘I Say That’ sounds like, is a conglomeration of 60s garage band, Southside electric blues, and then an extra helping of Southside-electric-blues-UK-ripoff, a la Led Zeppelin, cooked long and slow in a cauldron in the back of a tin-roof shack somewhere.

The way the bass and drums throb relentlessly, and the Little Walter-on-LSD echoed harp dancing around in the mix ricochet off of each other (not to mention the sax-o-mo-phone) is a thing to behold.

It’s one of those records that sounds like a genre unto itself, which it ought to be, but instead it’s the sole purvey of 45 collector types like you and me, which is fine, too.

As far as I can tell, this is of an early 70s vintage. Willis recorded singles for a variety of labels, and you can probably grab yourself a copy of this one in the $40.00 range (results may vary..).

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you on Friday.

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).

 

Example Example

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Teddy and the Fingerpoppers – Soul Groove Pt1

By , August 9, 2015 10:11 am

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Jimmy Bishop

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Listen/Download – Teddy and the Fingerpoppers – Soul Groove Pt1 MP3

Greetings all.

What better way to start the week than some certified, Phila-ma-delphia heat?

Back in the olden days, I was hoovering up everything Philly-related that I could get my hooks into. I ended up with a lot of great music, a fair amount of dreck, and some absolutely brilliant things as well.

‘Soul Groove’ by Teddy and the Fingerpoppers falls into the last category.

The crazy thing is, I can’t tell you who they were.

As far as I can tell, this is the only 45 they ever did. My instinct is to attribute the cut to the Philly “house band” that played on so many 45s – often pseudonymously – and ended up forming the core of MFSB. However, I have no firm evidence in that direction.

That said, the track, credited to Jesse James and Jimmy Bishop got around. The original came out on Arctic in 1968.

The following year the tune (which I’m pretty sure is a rerecording) formed the basis for the Cliff Nobles & Co side ‘Gettin’ Away’ on Phil LA of Soul.

There was also – and I will forever kick myself for not writing down the info when I had it in front of me – a Jamaican 45 that lifts the backing track as well. If any of you good folks know what that particular record was, please let me know.

The Teddy and the Fingerpoppers 45 is largely instrumental (some interjections aside), with a jangling guitar setting the pace, and the bass and drums laying down hard, so hard indeed that the record has attracted the ears of some on the Northern scene.

This is one of those records that I have had in my crates for-freaking-EVER, and had to go back and check to make sure that I hadn’t already written about it.

I hope you all dig it, 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).

 

Example Example

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

F16C Soul Club Presents: M-Fasis – Funk’s a Helluva Drug

By , August 6, 2015 2:24 pm

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M-Fasis – Funk’s a Helluva Drug
1)intro-Ray Scott-cocaine skit
2)the rock-atomic rooster (union crest)
3)public service message-Kenny rankin (atlantic)
4)don’t down me people-memphis soul (AR)
5)funkadelic sound-little beaver (CAT)
6)you keep me hanging on-hugh masekela (chisa)
7)i’d like to see more of you-the mob (colossus)
8)give me a happy day-heart (king)
9)yolanda-bobby bland (abc)
10)midnight snack-mystic moods (sound bird)
11)papa was too-joe tex (dial)
12)macumba-titanic (epic)
13)i wanna be-zuelma (rca)
14)ain’t no love-bobby bland (dunhill)
15)there’s a dj-samson & Delilah (indigo)
16)tuck’s theme-Bill Deal & the rhondells (mgm)
17)hot pants-norma & the heartaches (marmaduke)
18)what do you want-natural gas (firebird)
19)if i could make…-rance allen (stax)
20)natural carbonation-utica club (rca)
21)i get off on you-lydia pense & cold blood (abc)
22)yellow sunshine-yellow sunshine (tsop)
23)tierras lejanas (basillo) 24)football-mickey & the soul generation (maxwell)
25)gotta keep you dancing-ken willis (quicksilver)
26)y te quiero y te adoro-kico mindoza (lumi)
27)mr. starlight-Jonny barfield (ss international)

Listen/Download – M-Fasis – Funk’s a Hell of a Drug MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us once again, so I will remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will hit the airwaves of the interwebs this Friday night at 9pM on Viva Radio. If you cannot be there at airtime, you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

What you see before you is a brand spanking new mix from my old-school Asbury Park 45 Sessions compadre, M-Fasis.

As has been stated in this space many times in the past, M-Fasis is a master crate digger. I always looked forward to see what heat he would drop in his sets. He has great, wide-ranging taste and a fantastic ear for hidden beats and breaks that most people would miss.

His new mix – ‘Funk’s a Helluva Drug’ – is a great collection of grooves. I dig it a lot, and I think you will, too.

So pull down the ones and zeros, and get your listen on.

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).

 

Example Example

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

James Duncan and the Duncan Trio – I’ll Be Gone

By , August 4, 2015 2:30 pm

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Listen/Download – James Duncan and the Duncan Trio – I’ll Be Gone MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s selection comes from the ‘Songs I Learned from Mr Finewine’ file.

A couple of years back I had the honor of spinning next to the master at his long-running residency at Botanica in NYC.

As is often the case when spinning with a serious collector, I left the bar that night with a longer want list than I brought with me.

One of the newly added items on that list is the record you see before you today, ‘I’ll Be Gone’ by James Duncan and the Duncan Trio.

Duncan was a Georgia singer who recorded for a variety of labels in the 60s and early 70s, but mostly for King and Federal.

The raving soul of ‘I’ll Be Gone’ was recorded in 1964, but sounds as if it could have been waxed at any time in the previous five years.

I’ve kind of found 1964 to be an unofficial boundary line where the transition from old-school R&B to out and out soul finally set in completely, and ‘I’ll Be Gone’ is a great example of the remainders of the earlier sound.

Duncan sounds like a slightly deeper-voiced Little Richard, backed by group harmonies, walking bass and some well-placed organ.

It’s a wild, dance-floor-packing side.

Duncan went on to make some funkier sides in the late 60s, one of which will surely make it into this space in the future.

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

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).

 

Example Example

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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