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By Larry, May 13, 2012 2:44 pm

The Mighty Duck

The Law Firm of Jones, Dunn, Cropper and Jackson Esqs

Listen/Download Booker T and the MGs – Sing a Simple Song

Listen/Download Booker T and the MGs – Chicken Pox

Listen/Download Booker T and the MGs – Melting Pot

Greetings all.

I had other plans to start the week (how many times have I typed those words in the last year?) but when I woke up this morning and turned on my phone, the very first thing I saw, while I was still rubbing the sleep from my eyes was news of the passing of the mighty Duck Dunn.

Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn, the longtime bassist for the legendary Booker T and the MGs died in his sleep while on tour in Japan.

He was 70 years old.

It is at this point that I make a somewhat embarrassing confession (at least as far as soul is considered) that being that the first time Duck Dunn really came onto my radar was as a member of the Blues Brothers.

I was 16 years old when ‘Briefcase Full of Blues’ came out, and like zillions of others my age (and otherwise) I bought the album.

Though I knew who Booker T and the MGs were – ‘Green Onions’ was then, and still is an elemental part of my musical foundation – I had never heard the names of Dunn and guitarist Steve Cropper before the Blues Brothers came onto the scene.

That album was the first place my fragile young mind touched base with the sounds (once removed) of Junior Wells, King Floyd, the Chips and a few others. As odd as it may seem, that first Blues Brothers album (I never bought another) was a serious jumping off point for me (as many other unlikely records would also be in the following decades).

What I didn’t know at the time, was that I was already deeply in love with the sound of Booker T and the MGs, via their role as Otis Redding’s band on the Monterey Pop recording.

I didn’t start buying soul 45s until I was in my mid-20s, but when I did I grabbed each and every Stax 45 that popped up in front of me, whether at record shows or at dusty flea markets (there twarn’t no interwebs back then, kids…), and many of them were either by Booker T and the MGs, or featured some or all of them as the backing band.

The decades that followed saw me – like any other self respecting soul fan – picking up Booker T albums wherever I found them.

While their oeuvre was, like every other instrumental band of the era, seasoned liberally with filler, they had more high points (and quite a few Everests) in their catalog than just about any other similar outfit.

The MGs were as tight as they came, with Dunn and uber-drummer Al Jackson creating as deep a pocket as has ever been heard.

The selection of songs I bring you today is by no means comprehensive, but I think you’ll find it quite groovy nonetheless.

There will be no Green Onions served, since Dunn wasn’t yet a member of the group* when it was recorded.

I have included a very tight Sly and the Family Stone cover, and two brilliant tracks from the last album the band did together.

Their cover of Sly’s ‘Sing a Simple Song’ comes from their 1969 LP ‘The Booker T Set’ and opens with a bit of a drum break from Jackson, soaked thoroughly in reverb, before the band kicks in. It sees the heavy kick of Jackson’s bass drum move into a more explicitly funky place, and while it never really moves into Sly-esque overdrive, it is tasty indeed.

‘Chicken Pox’ the first track from the group’s 1971 LP “Melting Pot’ (the last by the classic line-up) is the sound of the Meters breathing down the MG’s collective neck. The band is moving into a funkier place, and doing so with style, but the spectre of their Crescent City competition always seems to be there. Oh, how I wish this one was on a 45…

The last cut I bring you today is the title cut from ‘Melting Pot’, and by far one of the most interesting things they ever did.

Lasting in excess of eight minutes, ‘Melting Pot’ is important not only because it shows signs of the MGs stretching out into more progressive directions, but also because it became one of David Mancuso’s deeply influential Loft parties in New York City.

I’ll spare you an excess of words here, but if you have any interest in digging a little deeper, you can refer back to the piece I wrote on the record in early 2010.

Suffice to say, if all you ever knew was ‘Green Onions’, ‘Melting Pot’ will be a revelation.

Duck Dunn was – in addition to his better known gigs – a prolific session musician, both during and after the Stax era.

He was a legend, and he will be missed.

See you later in the week.

Keep the faith

Larry

*Though Dunn was a longtime part of the Stax/Memphis crew, being a boyhood friend of cats like Cropper and Packy Axton (Dunn was in the Mar-Keys) he didn’t join the MGs until he replaced Lewis Steinberg in 1965

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.

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By Larry, May 6, 2012 4:17 pm

The Samplers – Beastie Boys

The Sampled – clockwise from top left – Johnny Hammond Smith, Norman Whitfield,
Jimmy Smith, The Commodores, Jeremy Steig

Listen/Download Johnny Hammond Smith – Big Sur Suite

Original release – Higher Ground LP (Kudu 1974) – Sampled on Pass the Mic (Check Your Head LP 1992)

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Listen/Download Commodores – Machine Gun

Original Release – Machine Gun LP (Motown 1974) – Sampled on Hey Ladies (Paul’s Boutique LP 1989)

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Listen/Download Jeremy Steig – Howling For Judy

Original Release – Legwork LP (Solid State 1969) – Sampled on Sure Shot (Ill Communication LP 1994)

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Listen/Download Jimmy Smith – I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More Babe

Original Release – Blacksmith LP (Pride 1974) – Sampled on Professor Booty (Check Your Head LP 1992)

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Listen/Download Norman Whitfield/Rose Royce – Yo Yo

Original Release – Car Wash OST (MCA 1976) – Sampled On Shake Your Rump (Paul’s Boutique LP 1989)

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Listen/Download Afrique – Kissing My Love

Original Release – Soul Makossa LP (Mainstream 1973) – Sampled on Bodhisattva Vow (Ill Communication LP 1994)

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Greetings all.

Welcome to another week here at the Corners du Fonque…

As has been mentioned several times recently most of what you’ve been reading here in the last few weeks was – due to necessity – prepared a few weeks in advance so as to facilitate the massive amount of commuting and other life-disrupting activities involved in my wife’s treatment (which, now that I mention it seems to be going well, so let’s keep those fingers crossed).

This weekend has been especially tiring, but the news of the passing of the mighty MCA, Adam Yauch could not be ignored, so as soon as we got home and rolled out of the Funky16Corners-mobile, I rolled into the record vault and got to work.

I have listened to hip hop, first passively (way back in the day) and then as a lightweight consumer with a focus therein on what I would consider dynamic use of sampled material.

You can’t really talk about that aspect of the game without giving props to the Beastie Boys.

Over the years the Beasties have played a big part in piqueing my interest in samples and by association the sounds sampled (why else would I have owned a copy of Alphonse Mouzon’s ‘Funky Snakefoot’) long before I was spinning (or writing about) funk, soul, jazz and rare groove.

Sampling/cut and paste is an art in which it’s not terribly difficult to separate the lazy slobs from the masters, i.e. being able to differentiate from someone who can lift a song wholesale and slap something new on it and someone who can hear a really interesting sound within another piece of music and re-purpose it in a way that makes your ears (and brain) perk up in admiration.

One of the dangers of trainspotting is that the listener runs the risk of getting lost in the component parts, losing sight of the forest for the digitally borrowed trees.

However, secure in the knowledge that good taste is sometimes its own reward, the best samples sound as good (or better) in their original form as they do when placed as a cog in another ‘machine’. Often (not always, obviously) groovy bits of sound are not sui generis, and are traceable back to an equally groovy “whole”, which is the case in the music I bring you today.

I like to think that the first time I had my mind blown by ‘Paul’s Boutique’ or ‘Check Your Head’ my crates (and ears) were deep enough that I recognized some of the coolest stuff, but at the same time I’m honest enough to admit that the ensuing years witnessed my recognition of some of that music for the first time (like the time my man Marshall down in DC dropped Jimmy Smith’s previously unknown – to me – version of ‘I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More Babe’ and the light bulb went off over my head).

It was in those moments of recognition that new digging targets were registered and I followed them into flea markets, record stores on onto the interwebs.

The cuts I bring you today are examples of some of my favorite Beastie Boys samples (drums, bass and guitar) out of my crates.

Some of them were things I already had, others, like the bass in ‘Big Sur Suite’ and ‘Yo Yo’ or the guitar in ‘Machine Gun’, I picked up first and discovered/recognized the sample(s) after the fact.

What all of them have in common, aside from the fact that they appealed to the Beasties, is that they are all worth listening to in their entirety.

Maybe some of you will be hearing the complete songs for the first time.

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

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.

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By Larry, April 26, 2012 11:54 am

Bubbha Thomas and the Lightmen

Listen/Download Fried Chicken – Funky DJ

Greetings all.

The end of another week is upon us, and it behooves me to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and very Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, followed the next day, posted in MP3 form right here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today may (should) sound familiar.

A few years back I posted Earnest Jackson’s 1974 45 ‘Funky Black Man’.

It was in that post that I mentioned that the song had been remade a few years later as ‘Funky DJ’ by a group calling themselves Fried Chicken (who were in fact a pseudonymous Bubbha Thomas and the Lightmen).

Both records were used by DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist in their landmark mixes, ‘Funky Black Man’ in ‘Product Placement’ and ‘Funky DJ’ in ‘Brainfreeze’.

Drummer Bubbha Thomas and the Lightmen (also billed as the Lightmen Plus One) hailed from Houston, TX.

Thomas had studied under Conrad Johnson (later director of the legendary Kashmere Stage Band) and with the Lightmen released two albums ‘Energy Control Center’ in 1972 (the track ‘The Phantom’ was included on the Stones Throw ‘Funky 16 Corners’ compilation) and ‘Country Fried Chicken’.

I’m not sure how Thomas and his band came to cover Jackson’s record, but the results were certainly interesting (especially to anyone interested in sampling the phrase ‘funky dj’).

It was also co-produced by 60s pop star John Fred!

I stand by my initial appraisal, in which I stated that Jackson’s vocals are superior, but both records are certainly cool and worth hearing.

I hope you dig it and I’ll be back on Monday with something groovy.

Keep the faith

Larry

PS This one goes out to all the funky DJs, you know who you are.

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.

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By Larry, April 19, 2012 5:01 pm

Miss Lyn Collins

Listen/Download Lyn Collins – We Want To Parrty, Parrty, Parrty

Greetings all.

Welcome once again to Funky16Corners.

I should start by letting you know that the Funky16Corners Radio Show train continues forward unabated, and can be boarded this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. As always, if you can’t be there in person you can always fall by the blog over the weekend to pick yourselves up an MP3 of the show (or of any of the more than 100 past episodes stored in the archive).

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In other news, though circumstances prevent me from participating this time out, I do want to let you know that the HPRS will be open again on 4/21, Record Store Day. This will be the 6th anniversary of the HPRS collective and I can assure you that there is plenty of excellent vinyl to be had.  The sale runs from 11-5 at 960 Green Street in Iselin, NJ (not too far off of Rt1). There will be another guest dealer (bringing 45s!) so if you’re in the area and vinyl is something you dig, make sure you stop by.

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You all know me, and how wherever possible I like to end the week on an up note with the kind of sounds that might convince you and your mates to slip on your dancing shoes, let loose with the juice and get down a bit.

Miss Lyn Collins – like so many members of the James Brown galaxy of stars – has been featured in this space before.

She had one of the more powerful voices of JB’s divas, and very rarely left the recording studio without laying down something heavy.

Today’s selection is the party (or more appropriately PAARTY) side of a very excellent two-sided killer on the People label from 1973 (the flip being a fantastic ballad that I simply must feature here sometime soon).

‘We Want to Parrty Parrty Parrty’ is marked not only by one of Miss Collins’ patented intros (she wasn’t called the Female Preacher for nothing) but a very tasty, heavy electric piano groove. The JBs line up for some of that razor sharp wah wah guitar, high stepping drums and perfectly arranged horns.

Things are a little bit slower than some of her better known 45s, but they are also without a doubt funky, extremely danceable and filled with head nodding goodness.

Interestingly, the rhythm track was recycled as the b-side of a JBs 45 (retitled ‘Crossover’) on Polydor in 1977.

So pull down the ones and zeros, slap this one on your pod-thingy and let’er rip.

Your party guests will thank you.

Have a great weekend and I’ll see you all on Monday.

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.

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By Larry, April 15, 2012 2:18 pm

Terry Callier

Greetings all.

The beginning of a new week is here.

No ordinary week, mind you.

This is the week where my wife goes into the hospital for her stem cell transplant.

As you might imagine this is very heavy stuff for her and for our entire family, immediate and extended.

This entire week, and likely most of the next few weeks will be written and prepared in advance of this all, so if things seem somehow less than timely, be forewarned of its “canned” nature.

This will also mark the commencement of a slightly abbreviated posting schedule (2x weekly), at least until things settle down a bit.

Look at the next few weeks at Funky16Corners as a trip into the root cellar of funk and soul, during which I will ask you kindly to please keep your fingers crossed that all goes well in our corner of the world.

Really.

That said, I thought that I would whip something a little heavy on you to start the week(s), so here we go.

Soul aficianodos may very well be hip to the sounds of Mr Terry Callier.

Callier, Chicago born and bred is one of those musicians for whom the phrase “hard to pin down” was invented.

Starting in the early 60s, when he was working the folk music side of things, and then on to his Cadet-era recordings when he mixed those sounds with jazz, soul and funk, Callier made some remarkably deep music.

Between 1972 and 1974, working with the visionary producer/arranger Charles Stepney (as well as using the arranging talents Cadet’s other genius Richard Evans) he created three incredible albums, ‘Occasional Rain’, ‘The Color of Love’ and ‘I Just Can’t Help Myself’.

Today’s selection, ‘You Goin’ Miss Your Candyman’ hails from the second of those albums and is a great example of the kinds of threads that Callier was weaving together.

Opening with plain, fingerpicked acoustic guitar, a funky bass, and congas soon fall in, followed by the drums, and finally Callier himself.

The lyrics, borrowing from (but transcending) folk sources are delivered in Callier’s powerful baritone, and before you know it the folky has gone all funky and then Stepney opens up the floodgates and you’re getting strings and horns as well and things get kicked up to another level entirely.

Over the course of more than seven minutes (it doesn’t end up seeming anywhere near that long) you get drawn into the groove, digging what a fantastic singer Callier is, but then wanting to double back to savor the arrangement.

It is potent stuff indeed.

Though he was dropped by Cadet in the mid-70s, Callier continued to record for a variety of labels, and composed new material. he even hit the R&B charts in  1979 with ‘Sign of the Times’ on Elektra.

By the time he had been discovered by a new generation in the 90s, he had been embraced by acid jazzers and triphoppers alike.

Most of his catalogue is available in reissue.

I hope you dig the tune.

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 (13)

By Larry, April 8, 2012 9:20 am

Johnny Otis

Listen/Download Johnny Otis Show – Keep the Faith Pt1

Listen/Download Johnny Otis Show – Keep the Faith Pt2

Greetings all.

I’m going to get the week started with an update of the medical situation here at the Funky16Corners compound.

I do so not only because many of you have sent along your prayers and good wishes for my wife’s health, but also because the next steps we take will likely effect the weekly workings of the blog*.

Back just before last Halloween my wife was diagnosed with leukemia.

It was, and has been for the last 5+ months been a rather harrowing roller coaster ride for the whole family, but especially Jen.

She has been facing cancer with a remarkable amount of courage.

The next few months will see us moving on to the next, crucial stage in her treatment, a stem cell transplant.

This is not only time consuming (in the hospital for nearly a month and then a few months of frequent outpatient visits) but – as you might imagine – a very serious medical process.

We have been extraordinarily lucky that Jen was able to find a stem cell/bone marrow match in a fairly short period of time, unusual because she doesn’t have any siblings (the first place they generally look to for a transplant).

Jen will be getting her transplant from an unrelated donor.

The donor pool needs to grow so that when people are in need of transplants the doctors have a large and diverse field of samples in which to find a match.

Getting tested for inclusion in the pool is short and painless process.

The bigger (and more diverse) the donor pool is, the greater the likelihood that someone else will be able to find a match and survive leukemia.

If you have the time, watch the video for the Be The Match foundation and/or follow the link to their site.

Once there you can read up on your read ups, register to become a donor (they send you the kit) and increase the possibility that someone out there will find a match.

I’m telling you from personal experience, this is very important, and you can change someone’s life without any risk to your own.

Today’s selection is appropriate not only because the title of the song has become a motto of sort for Funky16Corners, but particularly because the last several months have been all about keeping the faith.

When we marked the passing of the mighty Johnny Otis back in January, I made mention of (but did not own, at the time) the 45 you see before you today.

An unusual omission, when you think of it, since the title is practically inscribed on the Funky16Corners coin of the realm, and it is undeniably an exceptionally groovy bit of soul.

Though Johnny Otis hit the charts consistently in the late 50s and then again a decade later, the period in between produced some remarkable sides.

‘Keep the Faith Pts 1&2’ is one of those classic sounds that skirt the border that runs (and fluctuates) between soul and funk. It is also something that might to lesser ears be filed under ‘novelty’, solely on the basis of the numerous direct and indirect quotes (musical and lyrical) from the popular records of the day.

There are shouts to ‘Try a Little Tenderness’, ‘You Got Me Hummin’, ‘I’m Losing You’, ‘Knock On Wood’, ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor’, ‘Mustang Sally’ and in all likelihood a couple more I’m missing.

However – big however here – what you get on top of the references is a stellar vocal by Johnny himself (where a few years later you’d probably be hearing Delmar Evans), sweet female backing harmonies, some nice, hard drums and a delicious bed of greasy organ.

You also get (this starting to sound like a Ginsu knife commercial yet?) is a very groovy Part 2, in which the offering is mostly (but not entirely) instrumental, the bottom a little more audible and young Shuggie gets to drop a lick here and there.

This is one of those records I am honestly shocked is not a much bigger deal (Part 1 or 2) with the collectors, and the DJs and the dancers.

Eldo is an interesting label in that the bulk of its releases fall between 1960 and 1962, and the rest after it appears to have been reactivated by Otis for a short time in 1968 (when ‘Keep the Faith’ dropped) with a couple of sides by Johnny and a couple by Gene ‘The Mighty Flea’ Connors.

The later stuff isn’t terribly common or cheap, but their not crazy expensive either, falling into that gray area between your run of the mill collectors and (probably ignored by) the high-dollar ballers who think it beneath them to drop anything less than a fat wad on a 45.

It is exceedingly cool, hot enough for any soul night and anyone that says different is gonna get a poke in the eye.

There, I said it.

Dig it, and I’ll see you when I see you.

Peace

Larry

*Though I’m not 100% sure what I’m going to do yet (this is all a day to day process) I suspect that I may have to reduce the posting frequency for a time

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC  (click on the logos).

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.

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By Larry, April 5, 2012 4:24 pm

Bobby Byrd

Listen/Download Bobby Byrd – Back From the Dead

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.

The tune I bring you today comes from late in the career of one of my favorite funky singers, Mr Bobby Byrd.

Though he is best known as a part of the James Brown galaxy of stars, Byrd recorded today’s selection under the auspices of Henry Stone’s Florida-based TK label.

Byrd recorded some of the finest non-James Brown JB-related 45s of the 60s and early 70s.

Among them was the epic, hard charging and undeniably ass-kicking ‘I Know You Got Soul’ (later flipped and reworked by no less than Eric B and Rakim) ‘Hot Pants – I’m Coming, I’m Coming’ as well as all manner of right-hand-man-isms alongside the Godfather himself (‘What you g’on play now? Bobby I don’t know, by whatsoever I play it’s got to be funky!).

Byrd was an original member of the Famous Flames, a pianist and a great, rough-edged singer.

It’s almost impossible to separate Bobby Byrd from the mighty James Brown, but that that’s what happened in 1973 when Byrd left the fold and went out on his own.

He recorded for a few different labels before ending up on the TK subsidiary International Brothers in 1974.

‘Back From the Dead’, co-written and produced by none other than Clarence Reid is a slightly slicker confection than folk used to his King sides might expect. It is a little jarring to hear Byrd working outside of the familiar James Brown aural landscape, but he works well with the proto-disco of the TK crew.

You also get to hear Bobby drop gems like

‘Like a vampire from a horror movie, girl you gave me something groovy!’
‘Brought me back from the dead!’

Whether or not the title of the song was supposed to be prophetic is tough to say. Byrd either entered or orbited near the Top 40 more than half a dozen times during the James Brown years. After leaving his last two charting singles (of which ‘Back From the Dead’ was the final one) hit #82 and #57 respectively.

Bobby Byrd (who was married to another JB stalwart, Vicki Anderson) passed away not long after Brown in September of 2007.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Monday.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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, April 3, 2012 1:04 pm

Azie Mortimer

Listen/Download Azie Mortimer – Prove It

Greetings all.

How about a little sister funk to get you through the middle of the week?

I have my man Tony Crampton to thank for this very tasty slice of vinyl as he dropped it on me last year out of the goodness of his heart (along with a few other killers).

Always happy to pick up another 45 on the mighty Okeh label, I was also happy to finally hear the voice of Azie Mortimer.

Her name was very familiar but I had never heard her music.

Mortimer’s discography (mostly 60s) was not extensive, and from what I can tell she spent a fair amount of time recording as a jazz singer, which makes ‘Prove It’ all the more surprising.

Hailing from the late end of the Okeh catalog (it was released in late 1969 or early 1970 and is the second to last single they issued) ‘Prove It’ is a funky mover (dig that thick and juicy wah wah guitar). Mortimer has a rich, sexy voice and the production by Don Clay is excellent.

Clay was a Chicago-based writer/producer that worked for a variety of local labels (including Chess) during the 60s. According to Robert Pruter’s excellent ‘Chicago Soul’ Clay worked as Azie Mortimer’s road manager and producer in the late 60s, taking what was basically a singer with a jazzy inclination and pushing her (wisely it seems) to do harder, more soulful material for his own Number One label (which also featured sides by Roy Hytower among others) and then for Okeh.

She only recorded two 45s for Okeh (and only one more after that that I’m aware of).

I’d love to know more about her.

I hope you dig the tune and I’ll be back on Friday.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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, March 27, 2012 11:27 am

Brother Jack McDuff Brand Toilet Tissue and Corn Flakes!

Listen/Download Brother Jack McDuff – Soul Yodel

Greetings all.

I come to you midweek with a very tasty groove indeed.

A while back one of my Facebook friends (I forget who, so forgive me) posted the track you see before you today and I was, as they used to say, gassed.

You know that I ride hard for the Hammond grooves, whether they be packed tightly into 45s or spread out generously over an LP. It is in that subset that Brother Jack McDuff holds an especially high place of honor.

His discography is stuffed to the rafters with goodness, from the old-school, smoky bar groove grease to the new(er) school funky workouts, of which today’s selection is among the latter.

McDuff’s funky sounds – it must be noted – are of superlative quality, as inventive as they are purely funky, as the legendary ‘Moon Rappin’ album testifies.

Brother Jack was never one to sit back and ride the groove, and was able to take what one might consider to be ‘unusual’ raw material (like, say a yodel…) and work it up into something extraordinary.

‘Soul Yodel’ (sounds like a welcome addition to the snack cake aisle) is a very cool number indeed.

Included on the 1972 album ‘Check It Out’ was recorded live at the Mandrake Club in Berkeley, California and is at times reminiscent of Jimmy Smith’s ‘Root Down’.

The tune opens with a thumping bass figure (provided by Richard Davis) with some tasty drum work by Ron Davis. Where things get really interesting is upon the arrival of guitarist Vinnie Corrao who lays down some delicious wah-wah-ology.

This is of interest to NJ funk fans because it was none other than Mr. Corrao who played guitar on the sole 45 by The Touch, ‘Pick and Shovel’ b/w ‘Blue On Green’.

Oddly, as deep as the groove is here, it does not include a lot of organ (certainly not a solo). It’s mainly a feature for the band – especially Corrao – which is groovy too.

That said, I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Friday.

Peace

Larry

PS Don’t forget that I’ll be joining the HPRS vinyl collective to sell some records this coming Saturday 3/31. The sale runs from 11-5 at 960 Green Street in Iselin, NJ (not too far off of Rt1). I’ll have a couple of boxes of LPs (lots of soul jazz and 60s rock) as well as a few boxes of 45s (funk, soul, jazz, rock etc) and some ephemera. If you’re in the area and have a taste for records come by and sample the wares.

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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, March 22, 2012 3:11 pm

The Fatback Band

Listen/Download Fatback Band – (Are You Ready) Do the Bus Stop

Greetings all.

I hope you all find yourselves in a groovy place (literal, figurative or both).

It is – as always – time to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the airwaves of the interwebs this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t join us at airtime, make sure to fall by the blog and pick yourself up an MP3 of the show (or dip into the extensive Radio Show archives with almost 100 past episodes).

I was wandering around inside my iPod the other night and fell upon a couple of rather hypnotic grooves, one provided by the Krautrockers Neu, and the other one you see before you today, as laid (very heavily) into the groove by the mighty Fatback Band.

Though I knew their name, they first entered my ears via my man DJ Prestige who whipped ‘I’m Going To See My Baby’ on me back in the day during our collaborative mix Beat Combination Pts 1&2.

If that is a record with which you lack familiarity, might I suggest you grab said mix.

That said, I became hip to Fatback’s Perception stuff, but it was only last year, whilts down in DC that my man DJ Birdman delivered unto me a stack of funky records, some of which I’d asked he grab in his travels, and some he just laid on me because he is the very personification of a righteous dude, who never lets me visit without sending me away with some new sounds.

The Fatback record he gave me that day was 1975’s ‘Raising Hell’.

I’d heard of (but not heard) a couple of the tracks therein, but once I dropped the needle, the one that really stuck with me was today’s selection ‘(Are You Ready) Do the Bus Stop’.

Fatback were one of those bands that straddled the funk and disco eras with ease, providing some transitional grease for those so inclined to take that particular trip.

They are memorable because they managed to keep the funk burning while spreading things out enough that the bellbottomed, wide lapelled folk would follow them out onto the disco dance floor.

‘(Are You Ready) Do the Bus Stop’ (which grazed the R&B Top 40) has one of the pumping-est bass lines you’re ever likely to hear, as well as some of that delicious clavinet partisans of 70s funk know and love.

The lyrics – as they are – are fairly dance floor chant-y, and the groove is as much late night drive through the city as they are bump it on the dance floor, thus the previous description as hypnotic.

You can feel free to swing your ass about, or just nod your head, depending on your situation/locale.

Either way you will be compelled to move.

I hope you dig the cut as much as I do, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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, March 20, 2012 10:12 am

Fugi hits the Top 30 in the Motor City!

Listen/Download Fugi – Mary Don’t Take Me On No Bad Trip

Greetings all.

I hope the middle of the week finds you all well.

The tune I bring you today is one that was a long time fave but a more recent acquisition.

I first heard Fugi’s ‘Mary Don’t Take Me On No Bad Trip’ back in the early 90s when Rhino included it on one of their ‘In Yo Face’ comps (the very same one that introduced me to Laura Lee’s ‘Crumbs Off the Table’, still a huge fave).

I had no idea who Fugi was, but the very groovy mixture of funk and psychedelic rock was amazing and I filed it away in the to-be-dug file.

Unfortunately, there it remained for a long-ass time.

It was only a few years ago that a reasonably priced copy popped up on a friend’s set-sale list and I grabbed it.

Fugi (or Fuji as he is sometimes billed) was in fact singer/somgwriter Ellington Jordan, co-composer of the Etta James classic ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’.

His backing band on the track was a Detroit group otherwise known as Black Merda (who also worked previously as the Soul Agents, backing Edwin Starr).

‘Mary Don’t Take Me On No Bad Trip’ was a regional hit in Detroit in the fall of 1969 (check out the survey below where no less an act than the mighty Funkadelic were nestled securely in the Top 10), never really breaking anywhere else, no doubt doomed by the fact that the record was so difficult to pin down stylistically.

The 45 definitely comes swirling out of the same musical zeitgeist as Hendrix and the Band of Gypsys, Funkadelic, Whitfield-era Temps and lesser known groups like Iron Knowledge (‘Showstopper’) and Curly Moore and the Kool Ones (‘Funky Yeah’).

That said, there is no denying that ‘Mary Don’t Take Me On No Bad Trip’ is a decidedly kick-ass affair.

Fugi also recorded an LP’s worth of material for Chess/Cadet that went unreleased at the time, but was later issued by Tuff City/Funky Delicacies.

I hope you dig the cut, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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 (6)

By Larry, March 18, 2012 12:43 pm

Mister Rufus Thomas

Listen/Download – Rufus Thomas – The Preacher and the Bear (Live)

Greetings all.

The tune I bring you this fine day is one of those lucky finds that manages to work on multiple levels.

First and foremost, it is undeniably funky, and I love few things more than stumbling upon a funk record that I haven’t heard before.

Second, it brings with it a very interesting story, in which our man Rufus Thomas gets to step inside a song – three quarters of a century old (when he recorded it) – and turn it inside out.

It was a short while back that I managed to find myself at the intersection of free time and a few extra dollars on the corner of look, record for sale.

There was another one of those record/garage sales at the Asbury Lanes, which have over time fluctuated between an embarrassment of riches (as far as vinyl is concerned) and occasionally yielding what folks have since time immemorial referred to simply as jack shit.

I didn’t have much green lining my pockets this time out, which didn’t matter since the first box I flipped through yielded a half dozen very nice 45s, all in the one or two dollar range, and the next table I hit coughed up a couple of cool LPs, one of which gave up the track you see before you.

With that, the bank was broken and I decamped for a fish sang-weech and the ride home.

Now, when I picked up the ‘Rufus Thomas Live Doing the Push and Pull at PJs’ album, and finished staggering through the very lengthy and awkward title, I decided to grab it because it contained live versions of a couple of his favorites, which I surmised might be very cool.

What I did not suspect, is that there would be a track that would good and truly blow my mind.

Rufus Thomas was a righteous dude, for a variety of reasons (all good, all having to do with music) and anyone that would waste your time arguing otherwise deserves little more than a kick in the shins.

He made some of the finest, funkiest records that Stax ever put out, many when he was well into middle age.

When I first dropped the needle on the live version of ‘The Preacher and the Bear’, I was grabbed by the spoken intro:

‘Here’s a song I understand is very popular out this way, out here on the coast.
Now, it is done differently in the club.’

But Rufus pronounces the last word ‘cluurrbb’ with an emphasis that implied that the live venue was something quite different from the studio*.

He wasn’t kidding.

What I didn’t know when I first heard the record and not until I sat down to research this piece, was that Rufus had recorded a studio version of ‘The Preacher and the Bear’ in 1970 (#42 R&B).

It has been reissued a few times (you can get it here), and it has to be said while the 45 version is lively, it is a radically different construct than what Rufus and his band laid down at PJs, and in comparison very weak broth indeed.

The title of the song was vaguely familiar, and when I listened to the lyrics they were similarly so (for good reason).

As it turns out, ‘The Preacher and the Bear’ had been around for ages. It was first published in 1903 and recorded a few years later by Arthur Collins (reportedly the first million selling recording).

It was, in it’s original form, what was known as a ‘coon song’, i.e. one that portrayed a racist image of blacks (in a wide variety of settings) often sung in what was supposed to pass for negro vernacular and often exaggerated accent.

The basic story – of a hypocritical preacher gone hunting on the Sabbath and getting treed by a bear for his sin – changed little over the years (aside from the removal of the overt racist context and the term ‘coon’).

‘The Preacher and the Bear’ was re-recorded/reinterpreted many times over the years, in a variety of musical settings, actually becoming a hit in versions by Phil Harris (1947) and Jerry Reed(1971).

Since Thomas was performing with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels in the mid 1930s , it’s possible that he had been hearing (if not actually performing) the song for decades.

The song was almost always delivered as a humorous tale with the preacher petitioning the lord to deliver him from the bear as he had delivered Daniel, Jonah and others in the bible from their travails.

While Rufus Thomas made humor and important component of his discography, what he does with ‘The Preacher and the Bear’ is something else entirely.

As he said in the intro, the song was indeed ‘done differently in the club’.

Where the studio version of the song is briskly paced, with an almost Chicago blues style to it, the live version is much funkier, with a guitar line that sounds like a not so distant cousin to Ike and Tina Turner’s ‘Bold Soul Sister’.

Thomas and his band attack the song from an entirely new angle, using the hard edge of the music to add a touch of actual danger to the tale.

The lyrics of the song follow a familiar path until Thomas reaches the chorus where he makes some subtle but (very) important changes.

Earlier versions of the song generally reference Daniel, Jonah, and the “Hebrew children in the furnace” (aka Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) all tales from the Old Testament where people were saved from certain death by the intercession of god.

Thomas replaces Noah with Samson and ends the chorus with a reference to David and Goliath, both stories where the heroes were endowed directly with supernatural strength that allowed them to triumph in their time of troubles.

When Thomas charges into the chorus there is fire in his voice.

You remember Daniel from the lion’s den
Samson strong as a hundred men
The Hebrew children in the furnace of fire
David when he killed Goliath
The good book do declare!

It is as if he is no longer in the cluurrbb, but in chu’ch, which gets even clearer when the band falls back and Rufus starts to preach, adding a whole new chapter to the tale, in which (in the midst of hand-to-claw combat) the preacher reminds god that he protected him from bombs, guns and shrapnel when he was over in Vietnam.

Rufus engages in a little back and forth with the audience that has momentarily been converted (transubstantiated?) into a de facto amen corner with the organist in the band playing as if he were adjacent not to the bar, but rather the choir loft.

When Rufus starts to invoke Vietnam he adds a layer of sadness to the song that was never really there before, and the listener is compelled to wonder if in fact the struggle with the bear hadn’t become (at least in this case) a metaphor for the black experience in the 1960s.

All of those old bible stories told people that if they were faithful and followed the commandments that the good lord would be there for them in their time of need.

When I listen to Rufus drop down into the ‘Vietnam’ section of the song it sounds like he’s relating the story of someone who feels that they’ve finally been forsaken.

Is it possible that the ‘World’s Oldest Teenager’ had reached back into the early years of the century to take an old “coon song” reconstruct it on an angry frame and shoot it back out into the ether?

I think it is.

I hope you dig it too.

Peace

Larry

*It should be noted that over the last century the music behind ‘The Preacher and the Bear’ has often changed drastically in different settings. I have heard a similar tune behind some of the country versions of the song from the 30s on, but the Rufus Thomas recordings of the song diverge from those (and each other)

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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.