Comments (1)

By Larry, July 1, 2012 10:57 am

Linda Lyndell

Listen/Download Linda Lyndell – What a Man

Greetings all.

Welcome to a sweltering new week here at Funky16Corners.

The track I bring to you this fine day is one you certainly know, even if you don’t know it.

Bear with me…

There are a number of 45s in my crates that I carry with me not only because they are fine records in and of themselves (as is this one) but rather because they carry with them the power of surprise.

Few things are more fun for me as a DJ than whipping something onto the turntables and having a whole dance floor full of people perk up there ears because they recognize something that is at once familiar (the song that sampled it) and strange (and the song from which it was sampled).

That portion of the box is reserved for cuts like Jimmy Bo Horne’s ‘Let Me Be Your Lover’ (the Stereo MCs ‘Connected’) and Just Brothers ‘Sliced Tomatoes’ (Fatboy Slim’s ‘Rockafella Skank).

Occasionally you get the angry crank or two who is incensed that you’re not playing the more popular/modern record, but mostly people get a kick out of it.

When I drop Linda Lyndell’s ‘What a Man’, most people’s ears start to hear Salt’n’Pepa’s 1994 hit ‘Whatta Man’.

Though Salt’n’Pepa bring the drums a little heavier, the Linda Lyndell OG is undeniably sexier.

The song is funky – yet not quite funk – with the guitar, bass and electric piano winding around each other. Lyndell’s vocal is outstanding, and the backing vocals have just a touch of gospel in them.

‘What a Man’ made it all the way to #50 R&B in August of 1968.

The rest of Lyndell’s story, though short, is extremely interesting.

Growing up in Florida, singing gospel in both white and black churches, Lindell was brought to the attention of Isaac Hayes and David Porter at Stax by DJ Dave Crawford (who wrote this song).

Despite the production credit going to Crawford, ‘What a Man’ was recorded in Memphis, a fact underlined by those undeniable Memphis horns.

Lydell recorded two 45s for Volt, then, beset by threats from both whites (including the KKK) and blacks upset about her place as a white singer of black music, she left the music business and went on with her life, not singing professionally again until 2003 at the opening of the Stax Museum in Memphis. It was there that she performed ‘What a Man’ live for the very first time.

I hope you dig the cut, and I’ll be back on Wednesday.

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.

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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, June 24, 2012 2:10 pm

Babatunde Olatunji (bottom center) and friends

Listen/Download Olatunji – Soul Makossa (LP Edit)

Greetings all.

Welcome back to the blog-o-riffic polygon with the sixteen funky corners.

I must first and foremost offer my hearty and sincere thanks to all of you that made the 2012 Pledge Drive/Allnighter a big success.

Props to all the selectors who dipped into their crates to whip up some new, tasty mixes for you all, and then double super props to all of you that dipped into your wallets and dropped some cash into the virtual tip cup.

As has been the case over the past six Pledge Drives, all were generous, and some of you exceptionally so.

I am always humbled when my yearly request for funding yields such an enthusiastic response from those of you that read/participate in the discussion at Funky16Corners.

Many of you sent along notes of praise and encouragement and I am here to say that those mean a great deal to me.

Funky16Corners has always been a labor of love, and when some of that comes back my way, it provides the fuel that keeps things going.

So, once again, major, MAJOR thanks to you all!

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The tune I bring to you this fine day, is yet another iteration in what might be termed the great Soul Makossa wars of 1973.

As has been mentioned in this space before, when imported records of Manu Dibango’s mighty ‘Soul Makossa’ began to set fires to the dance floors of America (first in NYC where David Mancuso first spun it at Loft parties after finding a copy in a Jamaican record shop in Brooklyn), the OG by the Lion of Cameroon was only available on a French pressing on Fiesta.

The song was so popular, that a wave of imitation Soul Makossas began to build, with countless versions recorded and pressed for the US market to take advantage of the consumer demand that Dibango and Atlantic records had yet to address.

There were recordings by Afrique (released at the same time as Dibango’s and chasing it on the R&B and Pop charts), Simon Kenyatta Troupe, Mighty Tom Cats, Grupo Guerra 78, Lafayette Afro Rock Band, Johnny Zamot and many others. Even Doc Severinson recorded a version!

The song was a huge worldwide hit with more than half a dozen versions charting simultaneously through 1973.

One of the many ‘copycat’ recordings – in my opinion the best by far – was by the mighty Babatunde Olatunji.

Recorded for his 1973 Paramount LP of the same name, Olatunji’s ‘Soul Makossa’ clocks in at a dance-floor-friendly 6:51. Loaded – as might be expected – with lots of African percussion as well as his own vocalizations, the Olatunji version is a killer.

While I’d go as far to say that none of the cover versions have the sharp kick of Manu Dibango’s OG, Olatunji acquits himself very nicely indeed.

Where many of the other versions were relatively quick, single-length rip-offs of the OG, Olatunji takes the time to dig deep and stretch out, accenting the percussion (natch…) and meeting Manu Dibango toe to toe.

The rest of the album is quite good as well (the track is also available as a two-part 45).

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all later in the week.

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.

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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (8)

By Larry, June 17, 2012 4:24 pm

Greetings all.

Welcome to the third annual Funky16Corners Pledge Drive/Allnighter!

Though we’ve been doing the Pledge Drive thing since2006, the Allnighter concept first rolled out in 2010, with several hours of mixes by some of the finest selectors I know.

This year we have most of the usual suspects, including several Asbury Park 45 Sessions alumni, as well as my man Tony C from the UK and Tarik Thornton.

The sounds run the gamut of classic soul, funk, reggae, rock steady, old school Hammond 45s and all connective points in between.

If you read the blog on the reg you already know that the past year has been an exceptionally challenging one here.
It wouldn’t be reaching to state that keeping Funky16Corners (and Iron Leg) up and running had a lot to do with maintaining my sanity over the last eight months.

There’s something to be said for keeping a small island of creative stability afloat during a crisis, and that’s what the blog has been.

Much of that has – as always – come from the interchange with the readers, listeners, fellow vinyl travelers, and DJs. Your contributions, whether informational, conversational, sometimes monetary or sometimes all of the above, have kept Funky16Corners rolling along.

This November will mark the 8th anniversary of the blog (something akin to 800 internet years!) and creating and running the blog has become a big part of my life. Through it I’ve learned a great deal, met many incredibly cool people and gotten to DJ in many, many cool places.

The Pledge Drive aspect of this yearly event is an important one.

Funky16Corners – all of the text, graphics and sound files – resides on paid server space, a bill that comes due around this time every year. Your donations help pay for that.

Blogging has always been an ephemeral pursuit, partly because not everyone has the interest in keeping one going for very long, but also because it rarely rises above the level of a casual pursuit for most people. They start a blog, post most files temporarily and depart as soon as their interest wanes.

Funky16Corners may very well have gone the way of most blogs (I don’t know the actual percentage of music blogs that last more than a year, but anecdotally I’d guess that it’s below 10%) but after getting it rolling (with a slightly different format) in 2004, and changing platforms twice (finally ending up with the self-hosting WordPress model) I think we have at long last settled into lasting form.

The basic format of how I communicate with the audience through the blog has always remained fairly constant, with a pictures and labels (what the vinyl nerds of the world know as record porn) and some written context to tie it all together.

Along the way, the Funky16Corners Radio Podcast mixes worked their way into the flow, then the actual Funky16Corners Radio Show (Friday nights at 9PM on Viva Radio and then archived here) and then in 2010 the Funky16Corners Soul Club/Allnighters so I could present mixes by other selectors.

What we have now, in the middle of 2012 is –including this year’s Allnighter mixes – close to 150 mixes and another 110 episodes of the radio show on-line for your (and my) listening pleasure.

And my friends, pleasure is what it’s all about; the pleasure that great music, some rare, some not so rare, can bring to those willing to open their ears.

That’s why I do it, and as always, I hope you dig it.

If you do, and you can afford to, please click on the Paypal link and drop a few coins in the basket.

There’ll be stickers for everyone that donates.

So, I’ll offer you my thanks once again, and hopefully we’ll all be together again this time next year for more of the same.

Keep the Faith
Larry

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CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

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Funky16Corners Presents: Tear It Up
Billy Wade and the 3rd Degrees – Tear It UP Pt1 (ABC)
Alvin Cash and the Scott Bros Orchestra – Keep On Dancing Pt2 (Toddlin’ Town)
Jerry-O – Funky Four Corners (White Whale)
Gunga Din – Snake Pit (Valise)
Lou Donaldson – Say It Loud (Blue Note)
James Young and the Housewreckers – Barking Up the Wrong Tree (Jet Stream)
Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers – Raw Funky (Tower)
Syl Johnson – Annie Got Hot Pants Power Pt2 (Twinight)
African Echoes – Big Time (Phil LA of Soul)
Bill Cosby – I Luv Myself Better Than I Luv Myself (Capitol)
Bobby Byrd – Keep On Doin’ What You’re Doin’ (Brownstone)
Lonnie Youngblood – African Twist Pt1 (Loma)
Little Sonny – Sonny’s Bag (Revilot)
Jimmy ‘Mr Motion’ Lynch – There Was a Time Pt1 (La Val)
Juggy – Buttered Popcorn (Sue)
Creative Funk – Funk Power (Creative Funk)
Freddy King – Funky (Cotillion)
Billy Wade and the 3rd Degrees – Tear It Up Pt2 (ABC)

Listen/Download Funky16Corners – Tear It Up!
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DJ Bluewater – Merritones
The Zodiacs Walk On By
The Ethiopians Miss Nora
Merritone Singers House Upon The Hill
The Renegades Mr. Hops
Don Henry As Long As I Live
Joe Higgs You Hurt My Soul
The Untouchables I Do Love You
The Renegades Big And Fine
Henry Buckley If I Am Right
The Untouchables Mackie Mackie
The Dynamites If You Did Love Me
Roland Alphonso Sounds Of Silence
Lyn Taitt and The Jets Why Am I Treated So Bad
Roland Alphonso Stranger For Durango
Henry Buckley Thank You Girl
The Tartans It’s Not Right
Eddie Perkins I’m Coming Home
Hopeton Lewis Everybody Rocking
Tomorrow’s Children Bang Bang Rock Steady
The Tartans Rolling Rolling

Listen/Download DJ Bluewater – The Merritone Hour
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DJ Prestige – Hotter Fire

Big Youth – Hotter Fire/Negusa Negast Records
Tapper Zukie – Woman Ah No Me Trouble/ Mobiliser
Success All Stars – Doctor Satan Echo Chamber/ Striker Lee
Augustus Pablo – Fat Girl/ Echo Records
Winston Groovy – Dancing Shoes/ Pioneer International
Barrington Levy – Time Hard/ Puff Records
Gregory Isaacs – Night Nurse/ African Museum (Disco 45)
Marcia Griffiths – Feel Like Jumping/ High Note
Joy White – Tribulation/ Joe Gibbs International
Dennis Brown – Jah Can Do It/ Joe Gibbs International
Jackie Mittoo – Revolting Rockers/ Third World Records
Rockers All Stars – Fire Dub/ Rockers International

Listen/Download DJ Prestige – Hotter Fire
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Tony C – 45 Heaven
Queen City Soul Band-True Patron Of The Arts-Pow
Freddie Scott-I’ll Be Gone-Shout
Betty Everett-Too Hot To Hold-Veejay
Fred Hughes-I Keep Tryin’-Ex
Little Flint-Pain-Beast
Larry Williams-Boss Lovin’-Smash
Garnett Mimms-Prove It To Me-U.A
Gene Chandler-Mr Bigshot-Constellation
Otis Williams-Aint Gonna Walk Your Dog No More-Okeh
Wilson Pickett-Baby Call On Me-Double L
Moss Tolbert-Money In My Pocket-Veejay
Jimmy Ricks-Daddy Rollin’ Stone-Atco
Georgie Fame-Green Onions-Columbia
Solomon Burke-Peepin’-Atlantic
JJ Barnes-Wont You Let Me Know-Rich
Pearl Woods-Right Now-Charge
Jackie Wilson/Linda Hopkins-Say I do-Brunswick
Big Boy Myles-She’s So Fine-V.Tone
B.B.King-Heartbreaker-Bluesway
Peppermint Harris-Wait Until It Happens To You-Jewel
James Duncan-Too Hot To Hold-King
Anna King-Mamas Got A Bag Of Her Own-End
Little Oscar-Two Foot Drag-Toddlin Town
Seven Souls-Groove In-Venture
Patriza&Jimmy-Trust Your Child-ALA
Smokey Brooks-Spin Jig It-Now
Rodger Collins-Foxy Girls In Oakland-Galaxy
Al Reed-94/44/100 Pure Love-Axe
Roland Alphonso-Hip Hug Her-JJ
Eddie Holland-Gotta Have Your Love-Motown
Little Willie John-You’re Welcome To Try-V.R.C
Grady Tate-All Around The World-Skye

Listen/Download Tony C – 45 Heaven

A word from Tony: This is my third year of supplying a mix for the pledge drive and as always it is an honour and a pleasure to be asked by Larry to particiipate.Especially with the great line up of DJ’s sharing their quality tunes.”45 Heaven” is a collection of 45s ,with the exception of one LP track that I have aquired over the last year or so.I have tried to include a bit of everything that I enjoy listening to. Hope you do too.

Cheers TonyC.
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Tarik Thornton – Getting the Corners
1.Sweet Delights- Baby Be Mine – ATCO
2.Jay Rhythm- Soul Emotion- Leo
3.T.S.U. Tornados- The Goose- Atlantic
4.Syl Johnson- I Feel The Urge – Twinight
5.Dell Ingrid – Try It You’ll Like It- Ultra-Class
6.Johnnie Mae Matthews – Momma Didn’t Lie- Big Hit
7.Maurice Mckinnies and the Fabulous Champions – Sock – A – Poo Poo Pt.2 – Black & Proud
8.Count Rockin Sidney – Do You Stuff – Gold Band
9. Ernest Thomas – Soul Time- International
10.Boogie Kings- Do Em All- Pic 1
11.Bobby Rush- Let All Hang Out- Salem
12.Dennis Lee- Do The Funky Penguin- Jenmark
13.O.D. Williams – Funky Belly- Bar Bare
14.Isaac Clark- Do The Dog Funk- Miro
15.Willie Tee- Funky Funky Twist- Gatur
16.George Holmes- Panama- Carol
17.Hamilton Movement – Having A Set- Look- Out
18.Louis Villery- Black Water Gold- Soul Power
19.Jesse Green – Flip- Red Bus Tempo
20.Donald Byrd- Change- Blue Note
21 Young & Holt Unlimited – Black & White- Cotillion

Listen/Download Tarik Thornton – Getting the Corners
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DJ Prime Mundo – Prime Cuts
gene harris/the three sounds – hey girl (blue note)
melvin sparks – if you want my love (westbound)
johnnie taylor – love in the streets (stax)
jackie edwards – oh manio (direction)
rhetta hughes – sooky (tetragrammaton)
john gibbs & the unlimited sound of steel orchestra – shaft (makossa)
gabor szabo – gypsy ’66 (impulse)
jon lucien – would you believe in me (rca)
osibisa – kotoku (warner bros)
the festivals – checkin’ out (blue rock/mercury)
shall we dance – somebody’s baby (hoctor)
freddy king – funky (cotillion)
giorgio – lord releaseme (dunhill)
delegation – oh honey (state)

Listen/Download DJ Prime Mundo – Prime Cuts
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M-Fasis: ROUND TRIP TICKET: excursions into funk, soul, rock and back’…
1)Paul Revere- Beastie Boys ‘MCA R.I.P. (Def Jam)
2)Down in Black Bottom- Cannonball Adderley Quintet (Capitol)
3)Scuze Uz Y’all- Brenda & The Tabulations (Top and Bottom)
4)Mean Black Snake- J.W. Alexander (Thursh)
5)L.C. Funk- Lee Williams (Rapda)
6)Midnight Flower- The Four Tops (Dunhill)
7)Sweetback- Viola Wills (Supreme)
8)Ready or Not- Delfonics (Bell)
9)Mississippi Foxhole- Midnight Movers (Buddah)
10)You’re the Fool- Three Degrees (Roulette)
11)It’s Amazing- Johnny Taylor (Stax)
12)The Stretch- Detroit Sex Machines (Soul Track)
13)Synthetic Substitution- Melvin Bliss (Sunburst)
14)Too Hot To Hold- Tina Turner (Pompeii)
15)I’m Unconscious- Sugarcane Harris (Epic)
16)Down to the Nightclub- Tower of Power (Warner)
17)Wish you’d Never Been Born- Jodo (Decca)
18)Hard Times- Zoo (Riviera)
19)You Made Me a Believer- Ruby Andrews (Zodiac)
20)What Time It Is- General Crook (Down to Earth)
21)Light My Fire- Rhetta Hughes (Tetragrammaton)
22)El Paso County Jail- The Happenings (Jubilee)
23)And Then There Was…- Cozy Powell (RAK)
24)Utica Club Natural Carbonation Band- Natural Carbonation (RCA)
25)Vitamin C- Can (UA)
26)Keep Him- Barbara Mason (Artic)
27)You Can’t Blame Me- Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum… (Capsoul)
28)Fire and Rain- Ice (Cindri)
29)Un Sueno- Los Terricolas (Discolando)
30)Piu Nessuno Al Campo- Gli Uh! (Kansas)
31)All This- Barbara Jean English (Alithia)

Listen/Download M-Fasis – Round Trip Ticket
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Funky16Corners Presents: Greasy Spoon
The Poets – Devil’s Den Pt1 (Try Me)
Freddie Roach – Next Time You See Me (Blue Note)
David Rockingham Trio – Bee Dee (Josie)
Bill Doggett – Afternoon Jump (King)
Freddy Robinson and Tall Paul Hankins – The Buzzard (Queen)
Gene Ludwig – Mr Fink Pt2 (La Vere)
Delegates – Pigmy Pt1 (Pacific Jazz)
Johnny Hammond Smith – The Stinger (Prestige)
Hank Marr – The Greasy Spoon (Federal)
Russell Evans and the Nite Hawks – The Bold (Atco)
Timmy Thomas – Liquid Mood (Goldwax)
Charlie Nesbit Organ Trio – Triple-O-Soul (Salvador)
Groove Holmes – Groove’s Groove (Prestige)
Baby Face Willette – Roll’em Pete (Argo)
Beverly Pitts – Just Some Soul (Soul Shot)
Butch Cornell Trio – Here ‘Tis Now (Ru-Jac)
James Brown – Shades of Brown (King)
Jimmy McGriff – MG Blues (Sue)
Larry Young Jr Quartette – Groove Street Pt1 (Prestige)
Merl Saunders – I Pity the Fool (Galaxy)
Shirley Scott – Sister Sadie Pt1 (Prestige)
Tall Paul Hankins – My Boo-Ga-Loo (Pop Up)

Listen/Download Funky16Corners – The Greasy Spoon – Hammond organ 45s from the old school
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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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, June 14, 2012 11:50 am

Lonnie Mack

Listen/Download Lonnie Mack – Too Much Trouble

Greetings all.

The end of another week is here, and so is your weekly helping of soulful goodness in the form of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. We take to the airwaves of the interwebs this – and every – Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at the time of broadcast you can always fall by the blog and grab the show (or any of the previous 100 episodes) in MP3 form.

Also, make sure you fall by on Monday when the 2012 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive/Allnighter hits. You’ll get eight new, excellent mixes from some of the finest selectors I know. You won’t want to miss it.

The tune I bring you today is something cool from the rock side of the tracks.

I don’t doubt that many among you are aware of the work of Mr Lonnie Mack, but I don’t think you imagined him doing something quite this funky.

Mack is know to most for his 1963 hits ‘Memphis’ which managed to make it into the Top 5 on the R&B and Pop charts and ‘Wham’ (which grazed the Pop Top 20).

He recorded a wide variety of blues and R&B-based covers and originals (influencing countless young guitarists), recording for Fraternity from 1963 to 1967.

Mack was also an excellent soulful vocalist, as seen in tracks like ‘Where There’s a Will There’s a Way’ and ‘Why’.

His career slowed somewhat after his early hits and he spent a lot of the 60s as a session guitarist, working on session for King/Federal artists like Freddy King and James Brown and singers like Joe Simon.

When Mack signed with Elektra records in 1968 he had been largely absent from the charts for a few years. He recorded three albums for the label over the next few years, and Elektra also reissued his early Fraternity hits on the ‘For Collectors Only’ comp.

The track I bring you today, the funky ‘Too Much Trouble’ appeared on his 1969 Elektra debut ‘Glad I’m In the Band’.

‘Too Much Trouble’ is one of those late-60s tracks that seems to have emerged from the same musical swamp as efforts by cats like Joe South and Tony Joe White, musicians who wove together elements of rock, soul, country and blues into something new and groovy.

Mack’s vocals are a little rougher/wilder than his early sides, but his guitar wails and the backing band (organ, bass and drums) are spot on.

The track was co-written by Mack’s bass player Tim Drummond, who had played in James Brown’s band.

If you can find the album grab it as is features an excellent cover of Ted Taylor’s ‘Stay Away From My Baby’ and remakes of Mack’s own ‘Why’ and a new version of ‘Memphis’.

Interestingly, during his time at Elektra, mack continued to work as a session player, playing guitar and bass on the Doors ‘Morrison Hotel’ LP (he is rumored to have played lead guitar on ‘Roadhouse Blues’) and producing Dorothy Combs Morrison’s sides for the label.

Mack spent most of the 70s recording in a country style, moving back to blues and R&B by the 80s.

He’s still playing today.

I hope you dig the tune, and that you’ll join me on Monday for the 2012 Allnighter.

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.

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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, June 12, 2012 1:04 pm

Esther Phillips

Listen/Download Esther Phillips – Use Me

Greetings all.

The middle of the week is here and with all the details in place, must inform you that the Funky16Corners 2012 Pledge Drive/Allnighter is a go!

We have eight new mixes from all of your Funky16Corners faves, including Tony C, DJ Prestige, Tarik Thornton, DJ Bluewater, M-Fasis, DJ Prime Mundo and yours truly.

Things will get going this coming Monday, so get your ears and your hard drives humming because you’re in for a treat.

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The tune I bring you today is a groovy cover of a groovy original, which in the end is (very) groovy.

Redundancy aside, if you’re not hip to Esther Phillips, may I suggest you get so.

I remember first hearing (seeing) her as a musical guest in the early days of Saturday Night Live (actually the fourth episode of the first season) performing her then Top 20 hit of the old standard ‘What a Diff’rence a Day Makes’.

Years later, when I started digging for soul 45s I was surprised to see her name pop up in an earlier context with one of her 60s-era Lenox 45s with Big Al Downing.

It was only (much) later that I discovered that by the time she hit SNL she had been recording (and hitting the charts) for a quarter of a century.

Discovered by none other than Johnny Otis, Phillips had her first R&B hit in 1950 with ‘Double Crossing Blues’.

She had a run on the charts that lasted until 1952, then disappeared for nearly a decade, charting again (sporadically) during the 60s.

One of the reasons Phillips’ career contained those gaps was her long-term battle with drug addiction.

She recorded through the 60s for Atlantic and Roulette, before landing at Kudu in 1972 (which is where we pick up the story).

Phillips recorded her cover of Bill Withers’ hit ‘Use Me’ on her 1972 album ‘Alone Again, Naturally’.

I picked up the album because I always grab Kudu stuff whenever I find it, but I was unprepared for how cool her version of ‘Use Me’ was.

The understated drums (Billy Cobham) and electric piano (Richard Tee), in contrast with her distinctive voice and the interjections of the horn section make for an extremely cool interpretation of the tune.

The arrangement, by Pee Wee Ellis is spot on.

As far as I can tell, though Phillips hit the R&B Top 40 a few times around this period, this particular cut, despite its obvious quality, did not.

Phillips’ struggles with drugs continued for the rest of her life and she passed away, not yet 50 in 1984.

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

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.

Keep the faith

Larry

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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, June 7, 2012 11:34 am

Dyke and the Blazers

Listen/Download Dyke and the Blazers – Funky Broadway Pt1

Greetings all.

I should remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t make it at airtime you can always come by the blog and grab yourself a downloadable MP3 of the show (and more than 100 archived episodes) over the weekend.

Also, it’s looking like the 2012 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive/Allnighter will lift off on 6/18, so get your ears all oiled up and ready!

I was rooting around in the crates a while back in search of delicious, musical truffles when what should I happen upon but the record you see before you today.

It was one of those occasions when I look at what most would consider a very basic, meat and potatoes funk/soul 45 and marvel at the fact that in more than seven years of blogging in this space, that it has never been featured.

Whether this is due more to the fact that it is so common, i.e. ignored passively, or because the innate record snob in me thought it beneath me (or the blog, or whatever) and thus taken for granted, I cannot say.

It is a fact that I own ever single 45 ever recorded by Dyke and the Blazers (excepting of course the ultra-rare original issue of this very song on the Artco label).

It is also a fact that from the release of that 45 in 1967, Arlester ‘Dyke’ Christian and band recorded several great 45s all of a remarkably consistent quality.

That ‘Funky Broadway’ was hugely influential – even if the Wicked Pickett eclipsed Dyke et al, riding the song all the way to Number One where the Blazers stalled in the midst of the Top 20 – bears mentioning, since it was recorded over and over (and over) again by singers, instrumentalists (especially organists) and was one of (if not THE) first ‘Funky’ tunes (in name) to hit the charts in a big way.

‘Funky Broadway’, in the fashion of so many great funk records – especially those by James Brown – was in essence a groove dug deep. What you get over the course of two and a half minutes (part one, only) is a greasy, lo-fi vamp with prominent organ comping, rudimentary(but heavy) bass and drums and horns that are right, tight and out of sight, all basically laying the foundation for Dyke and his raspy voice.

The history of the “band” is decidedly convoluted, but the capsule history is that Dyke came out of Buffalo, found his way to Phoenix, AZ with a touring band, where he recorded ‘Funky Broadway’ for Artco, which was then picked up by Original Sound. Over the course of the next few years Dyke and the Blazers ended up as Dyke and a Bunch of LA Studio Heads, with which he stayed in the R&B Top 40 (and hovered in and around the Pop Hot 100) well into 1970, his career eventually hitting a wall when he was shot dead on the streets of Phoenix in the Spring of 1971.

I don’t think I’d be telling tales out of school if I were to to state that Dyke and the Blazers are both underplayed (on what’s left of radio and on turntables in the clurrrrb) and underappreciated (everywhere else).

Their unfortunately brief catalog contains several prime examples of heat, including ‘Let a Woman Be a Woman Let a Man Be a Man’ and ‘We Got More Soul’ and despite the revolving cast of backing musicians, Dyke’s voice maintained a consistency over the few years they were recording.

‘Funky Broadway’ is among his best.

I hope you dig, and I’ll be back 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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, June 5, 2012 5:13 pm

Johnny Williams

Listen/Download Johnny Williams – Slow Motion Pt1

Greetings all.

Now here’s an odd one (not the record, but the story).

A while back one of my Facebook friends posted a Soul Train clip to illustrate a dance step, and after that part of the clip, Don Cornelius introduced another song.

It’s a good thing I stuck around for the tune (and that Don mentioned the name of the singer) because it was very cool indeed.

The singer was Johnny Williams, and the song was the cut I bring you today, ‘Slow Motion’.

This is another great example of how a song can graze the R&B Top 10, but not really make any noise at all on the Pop side of things.

When ‘Slow Motion’ hit in 1972 I was listening to the radio – at least the AM side of the dial – quite a bit, but when I heard the song in the aforementioned clip, I had no recollection of it whatsoever.

My first instinct was that this funky gem was a southern soul cut, but the tiniest bit of research revealed that the song had been written and produced by Gamble and Huff in Philadelphia!

I haven’t been able to find much info on Johnny Williams, other than that he recorded for a couple of labels (Chess, Cub, Twinight) before making it to Philadelphia International.

The Billboard R&B chart book mentions that he moved from his native Alabama to Chicago in the mid-50s and sang gospel, but not much else.

‘Slow Motion’ opens with some heavy drums and a soulful grunt from Johnny, before the band kicks in. The smooth electric piano underpinning and the stylish horns are the only hints that this might be a Gamble/Huff jawn.

Though Williams recorded a few more sides for PI, he failed to hit the charts again, and passed away in 1986.

‘Slow Motion’ is included in the recent boxed set of Tom Moulton/Philadelphia International remixes.

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

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.

Keep the faith

Larry

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).

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, June 3, 2012 11:50 am

Leroy Hutson and a ladyfriend in 1973

Listen/Download Sugar and Spice – Ah Hah Yeah

Greetings all.

The preparations for the Funky16Corners 2012 Pledge Drive/Allnighter are coming together nicely with some very groovy mixes on tap. Things should get rolling in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for more details.

The track I bring you today is something I picked up on a hunch while out digging.

___________________________________________________________________________

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.

___________________________________________________________________________

I’d never heard of Sugar and Spice or the song ‘Ah Hah Yeah’, but a certain name on the label piqued my curiosity, so I grabbed it and took it home.

When I got to Googling it turned out that my hunch was correct, and the the arranger ‘L. Hutson’ was singer Leroy Hutson, who also happened to be a member of the group.

If the name Leroy Hutson is familiar to you, it may be because he was the man who replaced Curtis Mayfield in the Impressions in 1971.

He also went on to a solo career through the 70s and 80s, hitting the R&B charts a dozen times between 1973 and 1979 while on the Curtom label.

Hutson grew up in NJ, eventually attending Howard University in Washington, DC where he met (and roomed with) none other than Donny Hathaway.

He followed Hathaway to Chicago where they recorded as members of the Mayfield Singers.

Hutson was joined in Sugar and Spice by singer Deborah Rollins, with whom he recorded ‘Ah Hah Yeah’ in 1968 for the Kapp label.

The tune is a very tasty slice of funky soul, with a great opening bass line, some tight drums and great duet harmonies from Hutson and Rollins.

The producers credit for Guy Draper leads me to believe that this is a Chicago 45.

I haven’t heard any of the other Sugar and Spice 45s but I will be on the lookout for them.

I hope you dig the tune and I’ll be back later in the week.

Keep the faith

Larry

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).

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, May 27, 2012 4:05 pm

Bobby Womack

Listen/Download Bobby Womack – Simple Man

Listen/Download Bobby Womack – Across 110th Street

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well.

If you are a longtime follower of the Funky16Corners blog, you’ll already know that this time of year usually brings our Pledge Drive, complete with a grip of new mixes.

If you know that, you’re also probably familiar with the difficulties here at the Funky16Corners compound.

This has been an especially trying year, with all kinds of challenges related to my wife’s treatment, as well as all the logistical issues that come with it.

I’m here to tell you that things are on track, and summer is nigh, so the Funky16Corners Pledge Drive will be happening (if a bit later than usual)  this year.

The mix requests have been sent out (some positive replies have already arrived) and I have a very groovy premium in the works, so stay tuned over the next few weeks for updates in that regard.

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The last few months have seen funk and soul fans on the edge of their seats waiting for news about the health of the mighty Bobby Womack.

The 68 year old singer/songwriter had been diagnosed with what was thought to be colon cancer.

This week he was operated on and the tumor they removed proved to be benign.

We have been best by a seemingly endless string of deaths of soul, funk and disco greats in the past year, and the idea that Bobby Womack might be next was indeed chilling.

This all made me think that instead of another in memorium, it would be nice to celebrate Mr Womack while he was still with us.

The two cuts I bring you today are both exceptionally cool.

The first, ‘Simple Man’ is one of my favorite cuts from his 1972 album ‘Understanding’, which also yielded his Number One R&B hit ‘Woman’s Gotta Have It’.

‘Simple Man’ is a great slice of funky soul with some fuzzed out guitar, pulsing bass, rolling electric piano (with just a touch of synthesizer) and a very nice vocal by Bobby. If you can get your hands on the album, do so since it is packed with great music.

The second cut – please forgive the scratchy nature of the 45 – is the title cut from the 1973 crime drama ‘Across 110th St’.

Credited to Bobby Womack and Peace, the song, which made it into the R&B Top 20 in 1973 transcends the generally accepted ‘blaxploitation’ sound. It has a funky underpinning and some judiciously applied string flourishes. The album (I don’t have a copy of the whole soundtrack…yet) is split between songs written and performed by Womack and instrumental tracks written by famed jazz trombonist JJ Johnson (both men are credited with this song).

I hope you dig the music, and keep Bobby Womack in your thoughts that he makes a complete recovery.

Keep the faith

Larry

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).

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (5)

By Larry, May 22, 2012 3:02 pm

The Mighty Imperials LP

Listen/Download The Mighty Imperials – Thunder Chicken

Greetings all.

I am happy to pop back up here with an unexpected mid-week surprise post.

First off, I wanted to let you all know that there is a new, extra groovy Funky16Corners-related sticker on the way.

I’m not going to say what it is right now, but I assure you that you will dig it and want to use it to deface both your own, and other people’s personal property, marking your territory like any proper soul fan would.

I’ll be selling these stickers at a nominal cost. There are a few old Funky16Corners bumper sticker requests pending (thanks to the clusterfuck our lives have become around here) but if you good folks will hang tight I’ll toss one of the new stickers in the envelope and mail them out as soon as they get here.

That said, I have often used the term “slept on’ in this space to indicate when I (or anyone else) ought to have been aware of a particularly good piece of music (or artist) and was not.

Such is the case with the bone-rattling 45 I bring to you today.

While I would not describe myself as a rabid fan of a lot of modern soul and funk in the retro stylee, I do know what I like and when I hear it it goes into the rotation, both personally and on the Funky16Corners Radio Show (Friday nights at 9PM on Viva Radio, or whenever you feel like it on your iPod).

A while back I was tuned into my friend Michael Newman’s Hinky Dinky Time Radio Show and he dropped a bomb that grabbed me by the ears and shook hard.

Michael does not focus solely on soul and funk, but has impeccable taste in pop, soul and rock, so what he does choose to air is outstanding, and today’s selection is no exception.

While I had heard of the Mighty Imperials – they are after all a part of the consistently remarkable Daptone organization – I had not heard any of their stuff.

When Michael dropped ‘Thunder Chicken’ into his playlist I was all like ‘What the hey?’ (in a good way) and all “I got to get me some of this!’

As soon as I discovered that this was in fact a new(ish) record I was even more pleased.

I have a fair amount of modern soul/funk/afrobeat on the Funky16Corners Radio Show, but there’s a lot more that I do not spin, because – as was the case 25 years ago in the retro garage/mod scene – sometimes, despite the best intentions, people end up sounding like they’re trying too hard, by which I mean the music ends up (for a variety of reasons) lacking a certain organic quality.

Nothing sucks more than soul or funk without one or the other (or both) and because I endeavor to provide the folks that come here (and to the radio show) with a certain level of quality, when I am served weak sauce, I send it back to the kitchen.

This, however, is not one of those times.

‘Thunder Chicken’ is, in a word, slamming.

As far as I can tell it is close to (or a little bit more than) a decade old, and I am embarrassed to admit to having missed the boat in the first place on account of I would have been spinning this one out in funk sets if I had it, which I didn’t, but I will now, ‘cuz I can, so there.

The whole band is cooking but extra special big ups go out to drummer Homer Steinweiss who comes correct.

So dig the mighty Imperials, and if you do, head on over to Daptone (or Amazon, or Ebay where their stuff is plentiful) and grab yourself some.

I’ll see you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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).

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (7)

By Larry, May 20, 2012 1:27 pm

Freddie Scott

Listen/Download Freddie Scott – (You) Got What I Need

Greetings all.

I hope all is well in your corner of the universe.

I thought  – after what turned out to be an entire week of obituaries – we’d get the new week off to a killer start with a record that I chased for a long time.

There can hardly be a person left on the face of the earth who hears the opening bars of ‘(You) Got What I Need’ and doesn’t immediately think ‘Biz Markie!’

However, there are without a doubt a large portion therein who cannot follow that thought with the name of the original recording artist,  Freddie Scott.

I love playing this record for people whose eyes light up with the opening, and then get even wider when they hear an unfamiliar voice and song follow.

When Biz Markie hit in 1989 with ‘Just a Friend’ it’s hard to imagine that many of his contemporaries (other than the DJs) had any idea at all about the sample source.

Though Freddie Scott had a Top 40 R&B hit with ‘You Got What I Need’ in 1968 (the second to last hit in a chart run that started in 1963 with ‘Hey Girl’), the record did not subsequently find a spot in the rotation of oldies radio. His music was strictly the purvey of soul collectors and members of an older generation when the Diabolical Biz Markie slapped on a powdered wig and let loose.

As groovy as the Biz was (is) the really cool thing is, when you sit down and give the Freddie Scott OG a good listen and realize what a fantastic record it is.

Then you take a look at the label and get your second surprise, that being that ‘You Got What I Need’ was written and produced by none other than the mighty Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff!

Though Gamble and Huff had written and produced a grip of amazing local Philly stuff, when Bert Berns handed Scott over to them they had only had one national hit, 1967’s ‘Expressway To Your Heart’ by the Soul Survivors (the Intruders ‘Cowboys to Girls’ would hit the charts only a few months before ‘You Got What I Need’).

Scott had hit the R&B and Pop charts more than half a dozen times in five years. He had moved from Colpix/Columbia to Shout in 1966.

‘You Got What I Need’ manages to be both tuneful and funky (dig those drums), and a great showcase for both Scott’s voice and Gamble and Huff’s producing/arranging talents.

I’m surprised that the record didn’t make a bigger dent in the charts, but following Bert Berns’ death in late 1967, Freddie Scott would only record one more 45 for the label.

He went on to record briefly for Probe, and then Mainstream, but my the mid-70s had moved on to writing advertising jingles.

He passed on in 2004.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all later in the week.

Keep the faith

Larry

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).

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, May 16, 2012 4:20 pm

Chuck Brown

Listen/Download Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers – Bustin’ Loose Pt1

Greetings all.

Well….

A crappy week just got even worse with word coming down that the mighty Chuck Brown, longtime DC fixture and the Godfather of Go Go had passed away at the age of 75.

Though he is known to most for heat like the Soul Searchers’ uber-break/mega-sample ‘Ashley’s Roachclip’  (featured here back in 2008, I just reactivated the link) Brown was bringing the funk from the 1960s (the early Soul Searchers recorded a fantastic, and rare cover of James Brown’s ‘There Was a Time’) , first backing other artists before forming the Soul Searchers.

It was with that band that he recorded a couple of outstanding albums for Sussex, ‘We the People’ (1972) and ‘Salt of the Earth’ (1974).

The Soul Searchers hit the R&B Hot 100 five times (many of those in the Top 40) between 1972 and 1975, and then again in 1978 with the hot biscuit I bring you today, ‘Bustin Loose Pt1’ which made it all the way to Number One (hitting the outer edges of the Pop Top 40 as well).

The cut is a burner from start to finish, and might be familiar to some of the younger heads from its recent appearance in a commercial for chocolate chip cookies.

Chuck Brown was a master, and he will be missed.

Keep the faith

Larry

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).

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.