Comments (0)

By Larry, August 2, 2015 3:08 pm

Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez

Listen/Download – Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez – The Question (Do You Love Me) MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well.

The track I bring you today is one of the more interesting b-sides I’ve come across in the last few years.
As a serious Hammond-hound, it should come as no surprise that I have a grip of Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez records in my crates.

Starting with ‘The Happy Organ’ in 1959, Cortez had a number of hits on the Pop and R&B charts into the early 60s.
The cool thing is, despite a lack of chart success later on, he continued to record for a variety of labels, including Chess, Okeh, Roulette and T-Neck well into the 70s.

Today’s selection comes from his 1964 Okeh 45 with the organ instro ‘Popping Popcorn’ on the a-side.

‘The Question (Do You Love Me)’ co-written by Cortez (under his real name, Dave Clowney) and producer Teddy Vann, displays Cortez in the unusual role of vocalist.

His singing on record was not unheard of, but hardly common, and the really groovy thing is that he does a fantastic job.

The song is a pleading ballad, with Cortez trading lines with a female chorus. The backing is fairly simple, with piano, bass and some very cool twangy guitar, and there’s a great, uptempo gospel breakdown in the middle of the song.

It’s a very cool record, and proof once again that you simply must flip over those 45s.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 30, 2015 3:09 pm

Alex Williams (left, found in an old issue of Billboard)

Listen/Download – Alex Williams and the Mustangs – Soul Strut Pt1 MP3

Listen/Download – Alex Williams and the Mustangs – Soul Strut Pt2 MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week os upon us, and so I will remind you once again that Friday nights at 9PM is Funky16Corners Radio Show time. You can listen on Viva Radio, or 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.

The record I bring you today is one of those funk 45s that I knew about for a long time, finally bagged a copy and was dismayed to discover that there was almost no info out there about it.

What I can tell you is that Alex Williams and the Mustangs hailed from the vicinity of Atlanta, GA, and they recorded several 45s (for Rose, Soultrack and Jewel), usually in a bluesy funk style between the late 60s and the early 70s.

‘Soul Strut Pts 1&2’ is an interesting study in contrasts.

Part two, the instrumental half of the record, is a groovy, fairly standard (if a little muddy and abruptly ended) bit of funky southern soul.

Part one, the vocal half of things, contains one of the most stunningly off-key, inept and possibly intoxicated sounding vocals I’ve ever heard. The band is in good shape, but the singer sounds as if he was too wasted to set foot in the studio, so they locked him out in the alley and hung the microphone out the window. It’s that wild.

Either way, it’s a cool 45, and I hope you dig it.

See you 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.

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, July 28, 2015 10:51 am

Larry Williams

Listen/Download – Larry Williams – Boss Lovin’ MP3

Greetings all.

What we have here, ready to usher you all over the hump, is something very groovy from our man Larry Williams.

If you’ve ever heard me talk about Larry on the Funky16Corners Radio Show, you know that I not only dig his music, but think that he is an artist who’s work ought to be much better known.

He was not only a serious early R&B/rocker, writing and performing tunes like ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’, ‘Bony Maronie’, ‘Bad Boy’ and ‘She Said Yeah’ (all of which made his work a cornerstone of the British Invasion in covers by the Beatles and the Stones), but he went on to write and record some fine soul music on his own, in partnership with Johnny Guitar Watson, and producing for acts like Little Richard and the Staple Singers.

All that, and he also lived a life as a colorful figure on the fringes of the law, running through pimping, drugs and guns.

The tune I bring you today is a favorite of mine, and has an interesting history of its own.

As far as I can tell, ‘Boss Lovin’’ was released no less than three times, first on El Bam, then again on Smash (both 1965) and lastly on Okeh (1967). I only own the Okeh version, but I have heard the other two 45s and they appear to be at the very least different mixes (if not completely different tracks). I hear Johnny Watson on the background on all of them, but Larry’s lead vocal is different, especially on the Okeh issue, which I would venture to say is the most confident of them all.

While I wouldn’t describe Williams as a ‘great’ singer, he was certainly capable of bringing the heat, whether in the early days as a Little Richard soundalike, or later on when his voice was a little deeper and had some growl to it.

‘Boss Lovin’’ is a great example of a ‘shout-out’ track (for lack of a better term), filled with references to other songs/artists, along the lines of Johnny Otis’s ‘Keep the Faith’.

It’s got enough kick for the dance floor, and the inside jokes ought to keep the anoraks in the crowd busy.

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 26, 2015 12:05 pm

Grant Green

Listen/Download – Grant Green – Ain’t It Funky Now Pt1 MP3

Listen/Download – Grant Green – Ain’t It Funky Now Pt2 MP3

Greetings all.

I thought it would behoove us all to get the week started on one of those heavy (but not too heavy), funky, head-nodding grooves.

Grant Green, six-string ninja, old-school jazzer, new(er) school jazz funker was one of the true greats of the post-bop into soul jazz era and a mainstay of the Blue Note stable, as both leader and sideman.

His sounds have appeared here at Funky16Corners many times over the years, both in highlighted posts and as part of mixes.

Today’s selection is the two-part 45 version of Green’s cover of James Brown’s ‘Ain’t It Funky Now’ that appeared on his 1970 ‘Green Is Beautiful’ LP.

You already know that any Blue Note ish in this vein is going to be good, but there’s something exceptional about this track, that being the drums of the mighty Idris Muhammad.

This is not to say that Mr Green and the rest of the band aren’t in fine form (especially Claude Bartee working it out on what sounds like a Varitone sax), but that the drums are hitting hard and exceptionally funky, and doing so in an almost weirdly relaxed way.

Idris is deep in the groove, and managing to be supremely funky without doing anything flashy. The way he comes back in at around 1:00, and then drops a couple of bombs right before the guitar solo is a thing of beauty.

Emmanuel Riggins keeps things pumping along on the organ, and the percussion, by Candido (on the congas) and Richie Landrum (bongos) is spot on.

This is a very tasty 45, indeed, and I dare you to listen without starting to move.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, July 23, 2015 3:09 pm

Gene Ammons

Listen/Download – Gene Ammons – Chicago Breakdown MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which you can dial up each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you cannot be there to dig it at airtime, you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

With the weekend coming up, and the summer heat in the air, what better way to get your groove on than with some sublimely funky soul jazz.

The mighty Gene ‘Jug’ Ammons was not only a master of the genre, but also a second generation legend (his father was the boogie woogie virtuouso Albert Ammons).

Ammons worked as one of the preeminent soul jazz tenor men from 1952 to his untimely death at the age of 49 (from cancer) in 1974.

‘Chicago Breakdown’ was recorded for his 1971 Prestige LP ‘My Way’ with a gang of heavies that included Idris Muhammad on drums, Chuck Rainey on bass, Roland Hanna on electric piano and Ted Dunbar on guitar.

‘Chicago Breakdown’ is credited to the album’s producer/arranger Bill Fischer, and the band lays down a very nice, mid-tempo, but still heavy groove. The bass is especially thick, and Hanna’s keyboard adds flavor all the way through.

I’ll ask you to slap on your headphones and focus in at around :45, where Ammons starts to solo, and Dunbar’s guitar is comping in the deep background (it sounds like he’s across the room) and the interplay between the sax and rhythm guitar is something to behold.

This is as tasty a piece of funky jazz as you’re likely to find on 45, so go out and get you some.

I’ll see you 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.

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 21, 2015 12:55 pm

Ricardo Ray

Listen/Download – Ricardo Ray – Cool Jerk MP3

Greetings all.

It was not all that long ago, whilst browsing through the crates looking for something cool to blog about, that I pulled out an old fave, ‘Let’s Get Down To the Real Nitty Gritty’ by Ricardo Ray.

Ray was one of the first line boogaloo exponents during the classic mid-to-late 60s era, waxing heat for the Alegre label on his own and in partnership with Bobby Cruz.

The 45 version of his cover of Shirley Ellis’s ‘Nitty Gritty’ (which was a regional hit in 1968) has been a staple of my playbox for close to 20 years, so when I happened upon a copy of the LP from whence it came, I had to have it.

As boogaloo LPs go, ‘Let’s Get Down to the Real Nitty Gritty’ is very solid stuff indeed. Composed almost entirely of soul and R&B cover material, and played by Ray’s extra-hot band, it packs a punch from beginning to end.

The versions of ‘Nitty Gritty’ and Don Covay’s ‘Sookie Sookie’ are especially hot, but the one I’m here to preach about today sees Ricardo heading to Detroit.

When he covered the Capitols’ ‘Cool Jerk’ the tune was only a few years old, and a significant hit. Ray and band really lay into the song, with a heavy bass line, latin percussion and some very heavy drums (please to dig the breakdown at around 1:25).

In other hands, covering the song may have seemed a fools errand (why mess with perfection?) but Ray and his orchestra really bring something new and hot to the tune.

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, July 19, 2015 10:03 am

Herman ‘Hack’ Bartholomew

Listen/Download – hack Bartholomew – La La You MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you well.

I thought we’d get things started this week with an absolutely certifiable banger.

The sounds of Hack Bartholomew first found their way into my ears some time back, via a Facebook post (I think) and I set out immediately in search of a copy for my own playbox.

This is one of those singles that not only ought to be better known, but should also be in the midst of a thick, juicy discography, instead of being a spectacular one-off, which it is.

What I have been able to find out about Hack Bartholomew is both very interesting, and only serves to make this 45 all the more mysterious.

His real name is Herman, and he was (and is) a trumpeter/vocalist from the mighty Crescent City of New Orleans.

As far as I can tell, this is not only the only record he ever made for CTI (more on that in a minute), but also the only record he ever made for a major label, PERIOD.

Bartholomew recorded ‘La La You’ and it’s flipside ‘Let Me Tell You What I Found’ sometime in 1969 or 1970 at Rudy Van Gelder’s legendary studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

How Bartholomew found his way to CTI in the first place is unkown, but I suspect it may have had something to do with his New Orleans homeboy Leo Morris, better known as drum master Idris Muhammad, who was recording in the New York area, for CTI and Prestige during the time period.

‘La La You’ is remarkable in many ways, but first and foremost because it’s an anomaly in the CTI bag, as it were. You all know I dig the smooth, urbane CTI sound, and ‘La La You’ is light years funkier, rougher and wilder than just about anything else I can think of on the label.

Was it a speculative one-off, meant to make inroads into the world of soul and R&B? As far as I can tell he never recorded more than the two sides on the 45 (there is a much rarer stock issue of the 45 with both tracks. The copy I have is the two-sided promo).

As it is, ‘La La You’ is an amazing record, combining heavy, churning, guitar-heavy funk with an homage to the Delfonics ‘La La Means I Love You’ (from the previous year) in the chorus. You also get some sassy female backing vocals, and a trumpet solo by Hack!

This is one of those funk 45s that – were it rarer, as is you can probably find one for 30 to 40 bucks – people would be killing each other to get their hands on a copy.

Batholomew apparently spent more than a decade in New York, before returning to New Orleans where he continues to play the trumpet outside the Café Du Monde (his playing has been featured on the soundtrack to the TV series ‘Treme’), as well as playing in church.

I hope you dig the 45, and if you have any information on who else might have played on the session, please let me know.

See you 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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 16, 2015 1:20 pm

Willie Henderson

Listen/Download – Willie Henderson and the Soul Explosions – Funky Chicken Pt1 MP3

Listen/Download – Willie Henderson and the Soul Explosions – Funky Chicken Pt2 MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so I will remind you to tune into the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can follow the show by subscribing to it as a podcast in iTunes, listening on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grabbing an MP3 here at the blog.

I thought we’d close out the week with something funky (and coincidentally, ‘chickeny’ as well).

Though I certainly knew of the ‘funky chicken’ dance as a kid, I don’t ever remember hearing Willie Henderson’s ‘Funky Chicken’, though, since I was 7, and not listening to black radio at the time (it barely made it into the Pop Hot 100) it was pretty easy for a white, suburban child to miss.

That said, thirty years hence, I grabbed myself a copy of the 45 and dug in with gusto.

If you area devotee of Chicago soul, the name Willie Henderson ought to be a familiar one. Starting in the late 60s, Henderson was a significant presence as a session musician (baritone sax), composer, arranger and producer, especially for Brunswick and Dakar.

He wrote for and produced a wide variety of Chicago-based artists, like Mamie Galore, Syl Johnson, the Chi-Lites, Artistics, Gene Chandler, Major Lance and many others.

Released as by Willie Henderson and the Soul Explosions, ‘Funky Chicken Pts 1&2’ was an R&B Top 20 hit early in 1970. Packed with heavy drums, chiming guitars, and of course, chicken sound effects, the song (produced by the legendary Carl Davis) is a dance floor mover, with a very tasty drum breakdown in Part 2.

Though the LP might set you back a few bucks, you should be able to file a copy of this most excellent 45 in your play box for less than ten dollars.

I hope you dig it, and 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.

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 14, 2015 12:22 pm

Dorothy Morrison

Listen/Download – Dorothy Morrison – Ain’t That Peculiar MP3

Listen/Download – Dorothy Morrison – Higher and Higher MP3

Greetings all.

The name Dorothy Morrison ought to be familiar to longtime readers of the blog, as she has been featured here twice before, with her groovy cover of ‘Spirit In the Sky’ and her Loft classic ‘Rain’.

Morrison, who got her start in gospel, working with the California State Youth Choir and then the Edwin Hawkins Singers (that’s her on ‘Oh Happy Day’), eventually appearing in the 1969 film ‘Celebration at Big Sur’ (Dorothy Combs Morrison and the Combs Sisters, singing her first secular single ‘All Gods Children Got Soul’).

Morrison had a relatively brief career in the soul realm, running from 1969 to 1972 (with one last, rare 45 for the Brown Door label in 1975), but the records she did lay down are all excellent.

The record I bring you today is her 1972 version of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Ain’t That Peculiar’ (with a cover of Jackie Wilson’s ‘Higher and Higher’ on the flip).

Morrison had a deep, sultry voice with a remarkable amount of control, and it is displayed to great effect on ‘Ain’t That Peculiar’.

The arrangement starts out smooth, but builds up a nice head of steam, especially when the percussion and flute come in midway through.

The flipside, ‘Higher and Higher’ gets off to a very heavy start, indeed, before settling into a nice groove, which is refreshing when you consider what Rita Coolidge did to the song a few years later.

Oddly, despite the high quality of her records, Morrison was met with almost complete commercial indifference (aside from ‘Rain’ becoming something of an underground dance classic).

After her Brown Door 45 (co-produced by labelmate and fellow Oakland-ite Marvin Holmes), Morrison returned to gospel.

I hope you dig the 45, and I’ll see you all on Friday.

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, July 12, 2015 2:29 pm

Kool and the Gang

Listen/Download – Kool and the Gang – Funky Stuff

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well, not overly warm, and righteously funky.

______________________________________________

Before we commence with the week’s festivities, I threw the names of all the donors to the Funky16Corners 2015 Allnighter/Pledge Drive into a hat (donors who gave more than once went into the hat as many times as they donated) and the following folks won the following things, courtesy of the fine folks at Secret Stash and one prize from Fantastic Voyage:

Linda Ferguson –  2 2LP sets of the Mar-V-Lus and One-Derful labels

David Beasley  – 2 2LP sets of the Mar-V-Lus and One-Derful labels

Robert Gorney –  2 Valdons reissue 45s 

Randy Sherman  – 2 Valdons reissue 45s

Tony Crampton –  3CD set Jump Blues Jamaica Way: Jamaican Sound System Classics 1945-1960

Thanks to all of you that took the time to donate! Everything will go into the mail this week!

___________________________________________________

It is in that spirit that I relate to you a brief tale of father/son musical bonding, combined with just a touch of home team rooting.

Whilst out motoring some place or other, with the radio cranked to a suitable volume, who should pop up on the playlist but the mighty Kool and the Gang.

I took the opportunity to let my son know, that if he were ever asked to provide evidence of homegrown (New Jersey) musical greatness, he need go no further than Jersey City’s own, Kool and the Gang.

I have spoken in this space previously about how Kool and the Gang were the purveyors of some of the first funk I ever really dug (listening on the lunchroom record player back in the 5th grade in Milford Brook School, when I was the same age my son is now), with the big hits from 1973’s ‘Wild and Peaceful’, ‘Jungle Boogie’ and ‘Hollywood Swinging’ (which is what was playing on the car radio…).

Though they are best known to a younger audience for their smoother stuff (‘Joanna’) and the ne plus ultra of wedding staples ‘Celebration’, Kool and the Gang got their start as purveyors of straight up funk, with jazz on the side (good jazz, too).

They had their first R&B Top 40 hit in 1969 with the eponymous ‘Kool and the Gang’, but it would take six more stabs at the charts before they entered the R&B Top 10 with today’s selection, ‘Funky Stuff’ in 1973.

‘Funky Stuff’ is – like most of the best Kool ish – filled with blazing horns, thumping bass and drums (listen to the depth of the kick drum) and tasty guitar.

The record made it into the Pop Top 30, also a first for the group, which would blow the f*ck up with ‘Jungle Boogie’ in December of ’73, making it to Number 1 R&B and Number 4 Pop.

This is first-rate, hip-bumping party music, straight outta the Garden State.

So dig it, and I’ll see you all 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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 9, 2015 11:55 am

Donny Hathaway

Listen/Download – Donny Hathaway – The Ghetto MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week os upon us, and so I will remind you once again that Friday nights at 9PM is Funky16Corners Radio Show time. You can listen on Viva Radio, or 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 better way to wind your way into a sultry summer weekend than with a superior groove from the mighty Donny Hathaway.

Donny Hathaway, was for a long time, more of a name than a sound for me, i.e. I knew who he was, and I saw all the artists that namechecked him as an influence and a giant of soul, but all I ever really knew were is duets with Roberta Flack.

Then, right around the time I started digging into Richard Evans and the Soulful Strings, I started to notice Hathaway’s name in the credits of those albums (his ‘Valdez In the Country’ having become a favorite of mine), as songwriter and keyboardist, and with my curiosity piqued, I started picking up his albums where I could.

Donny Hathaway was the first black singer/songwriter that I “got”, eventually filing him with Bill Withers, and later on guys like Lou Bond. He was a prodigiously talented vocalist, songwriter and performer who – after his tragic death in 1979 – left us with a painfully brief discography.

His first solo album was 1970’s ‘Everything Is Everything’, which mixed his covers of tunes by Ray Charles, Nina Simone and Errol Garner, with his own originals (some in collaboration with Leroy Hutson). The sound of the album mixes straight ahead soul, gospel, and soul jazz (there’s definitely a Les McCann vibe), and Hathaway is joined by many of his Chess/Cadet sessioners like Phil Upchurch and Morris Jennings, as well as heavies like King Curtis (which whom Hathaway had recorded).

‘The Ghetto’, which sits in the middle of side two, is a slow, groovy number led by Hathaway’s voice and electric piano, with drums and Latin percussion keeping things moving. The vocals are (for the first half of the record) little more than a repeated chant of the title, with Donny coming in a little more in the second part.

An edit of the track grazed the R&B Top 20 in the beginning of 1970 (though it wasn’t his first hit, having been preceded by his 1969 duet with June Conquest (as June & Donnie) ‘I Thank You Baby’ which had almost made it into the R&B Top 40.

While it may not be the deepest thing he ever laid down, it’s a very nice groove indeed, and one that I’m sure will have you nodding your head.

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

______________________________________________

Don’t forget the drawing for 2015 Allnighter Donors (open until the end of next week).

The good folks at Secret Stash Records have sent along some very groovy promos as incentives for you good folks to donate to the 2015 Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

We have two pairs of two 2-record sets comprised of rare and unreleased material from the legendary Chicago soul labels Mar-V-Lus and One-Derful Records!

At the end of next week I will randomly select two winners from the list of this year’s donors to receive these incredible prizes. All you need to do (unless you’ve already kicked in, in which case you’re already eligible) is click on the Paypal button and donate at least $5.00USD to be entered for a chance to win.

All the names will go into a hat and one of the little Corners will select the winners, who will be announced in this space on Monday, as well as notified via e-mail.

So get to clicking!

___________________________________________________

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 7, 2015 10:40 am

Little Bob and that mighty 45!

Listen/Download – Little Bob and the Lollipops – I Got Loaded MP3

Greetings all.

I had something else in the on-deck circle for today, but then this morning, what should pop up in my feed by word that Camille ‘Little’ Bob had passed away at the age of 78.

The record he made in 1965 with his band the Lollipops, ‘I Got Loaded’ is one of the all-time great party platters, and one of my personal favorites.

I originally wrote it up a decade ago in the early days of the Funky16Corners blog, so I thought that I’d repost that article, and the song again in tribute to the man.

So dig it.

– Larry

_________________________________________________________________

Originally posted 7/25/05

“I like to sing in the car.

There…I said it. Some people sing in the shower. I sing in the car.

When I’m driving to or from work (usually the only time I’m alone in the car), and a great song comes on, I’ll start singing at the top of my lungs, drumming on the steering wheel and generally making a fool of myself.

I can’t vouch for how this looks from other cars, but I’d guess it falls somewhere between amusing and disturbing (I guess depending on how you process the image of a great big guy covered in tattoos who looks like he’s yelling at no one in particular…).

Not every song will send me into such a state. One song that does (every time) is ‘I Got Loaded’ by L’il Bob and the Lollipops.

In the service of complete disclosure, I should mention that prior to a few years ago, I had no idea that ‘I Got Loaded’ wasn’t a Los Lobos song (the version I first became familiar with was when they covered it back in 1984). ‘I Got Loaded’ appeared on their LP ‘How Will the Wolf Survive’ and got a fair amount of college radio play at the time. I always liked their recording of the tune, but as I said, had no idea it wasn’t an original.

So a few years ago, my buddy Keith sent me a CD called ‘New Orleans Party Classics’, a Rhino comp of old school Mardi Gras hits including cuts by the Hawketts, Al Johnson, Oliver Morgan and others. I popped the disc into the CD player and about halfway through my ears perked up. “HEYYY!”, I thought, “I know this song!”. The tune in question was ‘I Got Loaded’, but the artist was new to me. I popped open the booklet and there was all I needed to know (at least for the moment), about L’il Bob and the Lollipops.

I was surprised a second time when I checked the writing credits for the song and discovered that “L’il Bob” was also known as Camille Bob, a name I knew from the very funky 1972 cut ‘Brother Brown’ (Bob recorded funk 45s for the Soul Unlimited and Master Trak labels). It wasn’t too long before I tracked down a copy of the original 45 on the La Louisianne label (a label that still exists to this day).

Camille Bob formed the Lollipops in the mid-50’s, recording for the Goldband (see Count Rockin’ Sidney), Jin and LaLouisianne labels.

By the mid-60’s (“I Got Loaded” came out in 1965) they were performing live every Saturday on the Lafayette, LA TV station KLFY’s “Saturday Hop”. They were equally adept at swamp pop, R&B and soul, and ‘I Got Loaded’ while still a Louisiana fave, is also popular with the Beach Music crowd. They recorded an LP for La Louisianne, a second LP for Jin a few years later and are still playing today (based out of Houston, TX).

“I Got Loaded’ opens with a great guitar riff and is followed quickly by L’il Bob’s high tenor vocals and the horn section. They lyrics are as straight-forward as you’d imagine with a title like ‘I Got Loaded’. Unlike many similar tunes, this not a cautionary tale but rather an endorsement of the intoxicating pleasures of gin, whiskey and wine (variety of course, being the spice of life…).

‘I Got Loaded’ has a swinging, dance friendly tempo and is a perfect mix of swamp pop, R&B and soul (all of which the Lollipops played with equal relish).

In addition to the Los Lobos version, ‘I Got Loaded’ has been covered by Robert Cray, Van Broussard, the Boogie Kings and Elvis Costello, as well as appearing on the soundtrack to ‘Bull Durham’ (I have also seen a number of references that suggest that that L’il Bob and the Lollipops are covering Texas bluesman Peppermint Harris’s tune of the same name, but having heard his recording I can say that aside from the same title the songs have virtually nothing in common).

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

______________________________________________

Don’t forget the drawing for 2015 Allnighter Donors (open until the end of next week).

The good folks at Secret Stash Records have sent along some very groovy promos as incentives for you good folks to donate to the 2015 Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

We have two pairs of two 2-record sets comprised of rare and unreleased material from the legendary Chicago soul labels Mar-V-Lus and One-Derful Records!

At the end of next week I will randomly select two winners from the list of this year’s donors to receive these incredible prizes. All you need to do (unless you’ve already kicked in, in which case you’re already eligible) is click on the Paypal button and donate at least $5.00USD to be entered for a chance to win.

All the names will go into a hat and one of the little Corners will select the winners, who will be announced in this space as well as notified via e-mail.

So get to clicking!

___________________________________________________

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.