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By Larry, October 10, 2013 11:57 am

Listen/Download Kim Melvin – Doin’ the Popcorn

Listen/Download Kim Melvin – Keep the Faith

Greetings all

It is now that must do my Friday duty and remind you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and very Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also keep up with the show by subscribing as a podcast in iTunes, or by grabbing an MP3 at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is a funky little dancer.

I first came upon Kim Melvin’s ‘Doin’ the Popcorn’ a couple of years back when my man DJ Hambone let it fly on the tables at Botanica.

The 45 was added to the old want list and eventually popped up for a satisfactory price, so I bought it.

Kim Melvin (aka Melvin Kimmons) was a Memphis-based singer who recorded a handful of 45s for local labels between the mid-60s and the late-70s.

‘Doin’ the Popcorn’ is a very groovy, very drum-my entry into the 1969 Popcorn sweepstakes (long dominated by James Brown and associated acts).

I really dig the organ on the track, as well as Melvin’s voice, as well as the chorus which has echoes of Junior Walker’s ‘Shotgun’.

The sax-o-mo-phones are cool, too.

If you are so inclined, give the flipside ‘Keep the Faith’ a spin.

The song is a passionate, if oddly executed ballad, with a band that sounds as if they keep losing the key (especially the organist who seems like he might be a touch deaf…).

Melvin’s vocal saves the whole affair, dragging it back into “inspired” territory, where it exists with records like the Twilights ‘Shipwreck’.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, August 13, 2013 11:48 am

The Astors

Listen/Download The Astors – Candy

Greetings all

Hows about something for the middle of the week that is, to borrow a phrase from the mighty Emperor of Vout, Slim Gaillard, is mellow as a cello?

The Astors were a Memphis-based group that recorded several 45s for Stax between 1961 and 1967.

Formed as the Chips, the group included Curtis Johnson, Eliehue Stanback, Sam Jones, Richard Harris, and Richard Griffin. That line-up recorded one single for Stax as the Chips.

After Griffin left the group, they changed their name to the Astors.

‘Candy’ – which borrows part of its melody from Ferde Grofe’s  ‘On the Trail’ from his ‘Grand Canyon Suite’ – was the group’s only hit, almost making it into the R&B Top 10 in the summer of 1965.

Written by Steve Cropper and Isaac Hayes, and featuring sweet group harmonies and a hard-hitting Stax rhythm section (listen to those drums) ‘Candy’ has enough pop for the radio and more than enough heat for the dancers.

The flip side, ‘I Found Out’ is also very cool.

I hope you dig the cut, and I’ll see you all back here 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 (10)

By Larry, May 26, 2013 1:01 pm

Greetings all.

Welcome to the 2013 Funky16Corners Allnighter and Pledge Drive.

Those of you that fall by F16C on the reg will already be familiar with our yearly do, in which I ask some of the finest selectors I know to dip into their crates and put together mixes (from a wide variety of styles, but always soulful) for your listening pleasure.

This being the interwebs, with the selectors coming to you from points all over the map (NJ, New Zealand, NY, UK, Ohio, Minnesota), and all of you good people spread even further afield, we get together for this virtual “Allnighter” (in the tradition of the great soul clubs the world over) once a year.

There are two basic reasons for this, both equally important.

First and foremost, we try to raise some dough (via Paypal donation, see links below) to fund the server costs associated with keeping Funky16Corners (and Iron Leg) up and running. This includes the regular, thrice-weekly blog posts, as well as the Podcast, Soul Club, Guest Mix and Radio Show Archives (collectively holding well over 200 mixes of all kinds).

Second, is of course the fact that music – to paraphrase Willie the Shake – is the food of life, and so we assemble here to play on.

Blogging is for many – creators and readers alike – a transitory thing, but for the selectors here, and for many of the people that stop by here on a regular basis, music, especially soul, funk and jazz is life. These are no mere “collectors’. The mix-makers that you see here (and in all the previous years) have devoted a tremendous amount of time (not to mention,resources) to studying the sounds you will soon hear pouring out of your speakers.

Just the other day I saw someone bemoaning the overuse of the word “curating”, but I assure you that it applies to the work of every one of the people involved in this enterprise.

We all collect these sounds because we love them, but we have also all spent time sharing them, on blogs, and more importantly in live venues because we want to spread the word.

When I approach my fellow DJs to put together mixes for the Allnighter, I do so with complete confidence that they will select to impress, and impress they have.

What you here is roughly eight-and-a-half hours (in nine mixes) of the finest in funk, soul, latin, rocksteady, blues, disco, and Northern, put together by some of the best in the biz.

Funky16Corners is – and always has been – a not-for-profit enterprise. I have never taken ads here at the site and hopefully never will.

What I ask, is that if you dig what we do here, and you have the resources to do so, please throw a couple of bucks our way to keep the machine running for another year.

Everyone that donates five dollars or more will receive a Funky16Corners 2013 Allnighter Badge, F16C sticker, and one of our Keep Calm and Stay Funky stickers as well.

The Funky16Corners Blog will enter its 10th year of existence this year and though I’d probably still be at it if no one was paying attention, it’s much cooler doing it for folks like you!

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 to Funky16Corners!

NOTE: It has been brought to my attention that the donation button has been experiencing technical difficulties. If you can’t get it to work, you can always log into Paypal and send the money to this address:

funky16corners@lycos.com

Thanks

Larry

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The Soul City – Everybody Dance Now (Goodtime)
Ross D Wyllie – Do the Uptight (A&M)
Popular Five – Little Bitty Pretty One (Minit)
Chuck Jackson and Maxine Brown – Can’t Let You Out of My Sight (Wand)
The Naked Truth – The Shingaling Thing (RCA)
Brenda Lee – Time and Time Again (Decca)
Derek Martin – Sly Girl (Tuba)
Shirelles – No Doubt About It (Scepter)
Robert Walker and the Soul Strings – The Blizzard (RCA)
The Trends – The Soul Clap (ABC)
The Tempests – Would You Believe (Smash)
Robert John – Raindrops, Love and Sunshine (A&M)
Kim Weston – Helpless (Gordy)
Earl Cosby – Ooh Honey Baby (Mirwood)
Four Pennies – You’re a Gas With Your Trash (Brunswick)
Ray Charles – I Don’t Need No Doctor (ABC)
Jo Armstead – I Feel an Urge (Giant)
Soul Sisters – Good Time Tonight (Sue)
OV Wright – Baby Mine (Goldwax)
The Velvelettes – He Was Really Saying Something (VIP)
Ronnie Love – Chills and Fever (Dot)
Little Caesar and the Empires – Everybody Dance Now (Inst) (Cameo/Parkway)

‘Everybody Dance Now’ is just under an hour of top shelf, hard charging Northern Soul, including some old faves as well as a grip of recently excavated heat that I think you’ll dig (and a couple of surprises too!).

Listen/Download Funky16Corners – Everybody Dance Now!
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Tony C: Feeling Good F16C Pledge drive 2013
Jean Dushon-Feeling good-Cadet
Merced Blue Notes-Whole lotta nothing-Tri Phi
Junior Wells-I’m gonna cramp your style-Bright Star
The Marvels-Forget about that mess-Sensation
Buddy Ace-Baby please don’t go-Duke
Buddy Greco-Twistin’ to the blues-Coronet
JJ Barnes-Won’t you let me in-Rich
The Charmaines-I idolise you-Kent
Joe Simon-Troubles-Hush
The Young Holt Trio-Ain’t there something that money can’t buy-Brunswick
Sonny Raye-Whip it on me-Jetstream
Pearl Woods-Sippin’ sorrow-Charge
BB King-16 tons-Crown
Ricardo Ray-Nitty Gritty-Alegre
Jack Constanzo-Evil ways-Discomoda
Willie Bobo-Be’s that way-Tico
Charlie Palmieri-Uptight-Atlantic
Tito Ramos-Big T-Cotique
The Beginning Of The End-Come down baby-Alston
The Soul Creations-Funky jive-GES
Tommy Wills-KC drive-Juke
Spanky Wilson-You-Mothers
Big Ella-It takes a lot of loving-Lo Lo
Eddie Parker-I need a true love-Triple ‘B’ Records

Tony Crampton is a UK based DJ/Collector whose mixes should be immediately familiar to readers of Funky16Corners. He has excellent taste, and gets frequent shout-outs here at F16C for records that he first put me onto.

Listen/Download Tony C: Feeling Good
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Kris Holmes – Greenville and Beyond

Slim Willis – I Say That
Little Eddie – There’ll Be A Day
Virgil Griffin – If You Can’t Go
The Trademarques – I Can Set You Free
Chick Willis – My Bowlegged Woman
Heavenly Kings Singers – If You Wake Up In The Morning
Vikki Styles – Mark My Words
The Premiers – Funky Monkey
The Perails – Boss Walk
The Cherries – You Know You Gonna Need Me
Vicki Williams – Your Love Makes Me Stay
L. Johnson Jr. – You Gotta Have Soul
W. Williams & Sonny Wash – Don’t Lie To Me Lover
Spencer Jackson Family – Bring Back Peace To The World
Johnny Littlejohn – Can’t Be Still
Johnny Nix – Matchbox
Pops Porter – Baby Put Your Legs Upside The Wall
Willie Buck – Get Down & Disco To The Blues
Bobby Williams – Soul Party
Ervin Little – Teach Me How To Boogaloo

Kris Holmes ‘Greenville and Beyond’ mix is an extension of the website he created to track the wide variety of records associated with several Greenville, Mississippi labels and their Chicago connections. Kris is one of the premier DJ/Collectors in New Zealand, rocking it in live venues and on his show the Sunday Shuffle on Radio Ponsonby (which can be heard Saturday nights here in the US). He has exquisite taste, and has been a big influence on new additions to the crates here at Funky16Corners.

Listen/Download Kris Holmes – Greenville and Beyond
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Reaching Onward – A FleamarketFunk.com All 45 Excursion
Studio G’s Beat Group – Hi Bird/ Licorice Soul
Quantic and His Combo Barbaro – Enyere Kumbara/ Tru Thoughts
Lonnie liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes – Goddess of Love/ Flying Dutchman
Big Pimp Jones – The Smokeout/ Recordbreakin’
Hard Proof – Dragon/ Kept Records
The Jive Turkeys – No Answer/ Colemine
Yambu – Sunny/ Motuno
The T.M.G.’s – Agravation/ Funk 45
The DT6 – Don’t Doubt Me/ Starla
East L.A. Carpool – Linda Chicana/ GRC
Victor Green – The Ghetto/ Rejoint
Sir Ali Bengal – ABX (Instrumental)/ Our Label Records
Banda União Black – Yeah Yeah Yeah/ Vampi Soul

A Word from DJ Prestige

“Once again I’m honored to put together a guest mix for Larry at Funky 16 Corners. Today I’ve dug into my collection of 45s and pulled out a bunch of sides that I built around the intro from Sun-Ra. For the most part, these 45s represent a lot of the future of Funk, Soul, and who will be carrying on the torch of funky music in general in the years to come playing right along side a few older tracks that lend themselves nicely to this mix. Record labels like Colemine, who offer up The Jive Turkeys, Kept, who give us the Afro Beat of Hard Proof out of Austin, TX, The DT6 on Starla coming out of Scotland, Big Pimp Jones from Philly on Recordbreakin’, Our Records Label and Sir Ali Bengal out of Germany, and Quantic out of the UK represent a small amount of artists doing it like they did in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Some of these limited edition 7″s will be the sought after 45s in years to come. They’re recorded in the same manner as the originators, and each band lends it unique sound to the time line of music. I’ve also included some older sides such as Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes, a Disco Soul cover of “Sunny” by Yambu, a Latin influenced Donnie Hathaway cover from Victor Green, some Psychedelic Library Hammond Funk from Studio G’s Beat Group, as well as some West Coast Lowrider Soul with East L.A. Carpool. Each one of these bands, no matter if it the present day or the past has been reaching outward to put out good music, and that’s what I want to do with this mix. Please enjoy. DJ Prestige, Flea Market Funk 2013″

Listen/Download DJ Prestige: Reaching Onward
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Tarik Thornton: TCB
James Black and the Southern University Stage Band- Ole Wine ( Intro)- Whit
Oliver Morgan- Roll Call- Seven B
Gene Chandler- Soul Hootenany Part 1- Constellation
Temptations- Girl, Why You Wanna Make Me Blue- Gordy
Little Eva- Get Ready/Uptight- Spring
Seven Souls – I Still Love You- Okeh
Natural Four-I Thought you Were Mine – ABC
Claude Huey- Drifting – M.I.O.B
Richard Brown- Sweet & Kind- SteeleTown
Gino Washington- What Can A Man Do- Washpan
Charles Brimmer- This Feeling in My Heart- Broadmoor
The Pearls – Shooting High- Lamp
The Symphonic Four- Who Do You Think Your Fooling Part II- Sudan
Bob & Gene- It’s Not What You Know It’s Who You Know
Aaron Neville- Hercules- Mercury
Willie Joe – Funny Thing- Pure Black Soul
Detroit Emeralds- You’re Getting Too Smart- Westbound
Eddie Floyd- Stealing Love- Stax
The 13th Amendment – The Stretch – Slave
James Brown – I’ll Go Crazy – King

Tarik Thornton is a New Orleans native who has relocated to the Midwest. He has worked as part of a number of top DJ crews, and guested at some of the hottest nights around the country. He is always digging, and never fails to bring the heat.

Listen/Download Tarik Thornton – TCB
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Prime Mundo: Positive/Negative – A Live Mixtape
alzo & udine – c’mon and join us (mercury)
jim ford – i wanta make her love me (sundown)
truth – i can’t go on (roulette)
southside movement – i’ve been watching you (20th century)
stevie wonder – i was made to love her (tamla)
trapeze – what is a woman’s role (threshold)
bo diddley – go for broke (chess)
yardbirds – baby what’s wrong (sire)
fiesta dance party – summertime (fiesta)
jesse morrison – tell me, can you feel it (a-bet)
edwin starr – easin’ in (motown)
charles spurling – popcorn charlie (king)
the watts 103rd street rhythm band – 65 bars and a taste of soul (warner bros)
gilberto sextet – yes i will part 1 (tico)
albert collins – thaw out (blue thumb)
jerry maccain – juicy lucy (jewel)
charlie earland – sing a simple song (prestige)
aluar horns (nonesuch)
mongo santamaria – fingers (vaya)

DJ Prime Mundo is one of the OG Asbury Park 45 Sessions crew. He’s got a spectacular ear for the finest in funk, soul and jazz his turntable skills are next level. No matter how much you think you know, you will always find  something new to dig in his mixes.

Listen/Download DJ Prime Mundo – Positive/Negative
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DJ Bluewater Presents: Turn To This Sound
The Vibrators – I’m Depending On You
Alton Ellis – The Preacher
Roland Alphonso – How Soon
The Fugitives – Cantelope Rock
The Maytals – Bim Today Bam Tomorrow
Roy Shirley – The Prophet
Prince Buster’s All Stars – All In My Mind
The Gaylads – Joy In The Morning
The Uniques – My Woman’s Love
The Modifies – Death In The Arena
Slim Smith – Burning Desire
Glen Adams – Mighty Organ
The Dee Set – I Know A Place
Max Romeo – She’s But A Little Girl
Roy Shirley – Don’t Be Afraid
The Gladiators – Fling It Gimme
Sound Dimension – More Scorcher
Tony Brevett – Don’t Get Weary
The Ethiopians – Selah
The Rulers – Let My People Go
Lee Perry – Whup Whop Man
Teddy King & Prince Buster – Mexican Divorce
Derrick Morgan – Too Bad
The Soul Brothers – Windell
Ken Boothe & Norma Frazer – Give Me The Right

DJ Bluewater is another member of the Asbury Park 45 Sessions crew. He is as deep into the rocksteady 45 game as he is with funk and soul. He has been contributing mixes to the Funky16Corners Pledge Drives since the beginning.

Listen/Download DJ Bluewater – Turn To This Sound

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Funkdefy: Take Time To Know Her
Roy “C” – I Found-A-Man In My Bed – Pan Records
The Esquires – Listen To Me – Bunky Records
Tony Fox – Do It To It – Calla Records
The Soul Sisters – Think About The Good Times – Sue Records
Bobby Lewis – Tossin’ and Turnin’ – Beltone
Charles Spurling – Popcorn Charlie – King
William Alexander, Jr. and the Dukes – Give Me One More Chance – Aphrodisiac
Mary Jane Hooper – That’s How Strong Love Is – World Pacific Audition Records
Harvey Scales – What’s Good For You (Don’t Have to be Good to You) – Stax Records
Jay Dee Bryant – Get It (Come On and Get It) – Enjoy Records
Johnnie Taylor – Take Care Of Your Homework – Stax
J. J. Jackson – But It’s Alright – Calla Records
Otis Redding – Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag (Live) – ATCO Records
Tony Clarke – Ghetto Man – Chicory Records
Don Gardner – My Baby Likes To Boogaloo – Tru-Glo-Town
Dyke And The Blazers – Funky Bull Pt. 1 – Original Sound
George Torrence & The Naturals – Lickin’ Stick – Shout
Billy Stewart – Summertime – Chess
Percy Sledge – Take Time To Know Her – Atlantic

A Word from DJ RP

FUNKDEFY, located in Columbus Ohio, is the longest running Funk-N-Soul dance party of Central Ohio. Founded in 2004, the Crew is an ensemble group of crate diggers and beat battlers. Not only have they been throwing monthly all vinyl dance parties, but in years past introduced live Soul to Columbus, heating up the city with their combination of dance parties on wax mixed with some incredible live bands, including The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker, The Budos Band and Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves. The following contribution was put together by founder DJ RP for your audio pleasure. You can hear other mixes of theirs on Soundcloud and see updates about them on Facebook. The crew hopes you will become part of, and a friend of, the funky collective.

Listen/Download Funkdefy – Take Time To Know Her
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F16C Presents: Are You Ready For This
Jackson Sisters – I Believe In Miracles (Prophecy)
Brothers – Are You Ready For This (RCA)
Papa John Creach – Joyce (Tom Moulton Mix) (Buddah)
Johnny Hammond Smith – Los Conquistadores Chocolates (Milestone)
Eddie Kendricks – Going Up In Smoke (Tamla)
Muscle Shoals Horns – Breakdown (Bang)
Charles Mann – Do It Again (ABC)
Touch – Love Hangover (Breaking Down) (Brunswick)
Lyn Collins – Rock Me Again & Again & Again & Again & Again & Again (People)
JBs – All Aboard the Funky Soul Train (Polydor)
Silvetti – Spring Rain (Salsoul)
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes – Bad Luck (Tom Moulton Remix) (Philadelphia International)
Ray Charles – Compared to What (Atlantic)

‘Are You Ready For This’ includes all manner of funky disco, disco-y funk, and even a couple of similarly inclined tunes from the Northern Soul canon. Mostly 45s, a couple of 12’s and an LP track here and there.

Listen/Download Funky16Corners – Are You Ready For This?
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Click Here To Donate to Funky16Corners

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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 (2)

By Larry, February 21, 2013 11:07 am

Lou Bond

Listen/Download Lou Bond – That’s the Way I Always Heard It Should Be

Listen/Download Lou Bond – To the Establishment

Greetings all

This is the end of another week, so it is – as always – time to remind you to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show. It airs this and every Friday night at 9pm on Viva Radio, and can be subscribed to as a podcast in iTunes or picked up as an MP3 here at the blog.

I was saddened the other day when word came down the line that Lou Bond had passed away.

Bond (born Ronald Edward Lewis) , who in his short career laid down just two 45s and one amazing LP is less a “cult” artist than an unjustly/tragically forgotten one.

Bond recorded two very cool 45s in 1966 and 1967 while in Chicago (rooming with none other than Sidney Barnes!), the groovy midtempo ‘What Have I Done’ for Fontana and the uptempo Northern flavored ‘You Shake Me Up’ for Brainstorm.

He recorded his only LP, the self-titled ‘Lou Bond’ for the short-lived Stax subsidiary We Produce in 1974.

‘Lou Bond’, which was reissued by Light In the Attic in 2010 (there was a brief digital reissued by Stax prior to that) is a truly remarkable piece of work.

Record collectors/music hounds are constantly bombarded with “lost” albums and rediscoveries that – following the flavor of the month pattern – are often less interesting than they first appear.

‘Lou Bond’ is a rare and powerful exception to that rule.

I first heard about the record years ago when it was popping up with regularity in ‘finds’ lists on a message board I used to frequent.

I finally got my hands on a copy of the album back in 2007 and had my mind blown.

Though he was unmistakably a soul singer, one need only look at the pictures of Bond on his album cover to get the message that he was in other bags as well.

Bond was starting off in a soul groove, but also mixing jazz, folk and contemporary pop into his sound.

‘Lou Bond’ draws from a wide range of influences, most notably Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes, but also a variety of early 70s singer songwriters (soul and non).

It’s important to note that among the album’s six tracks, three of them were written or co-written by Bond, the other three being covers of songs by Bill Withers, Carly Simon and Jimmy Webb.

The album moves effortlessly between intimate moments and lush orchestration, with Bond touching on love, the environment and politics.

The two tracks I bring you today are my favorites from the album.

I’ve always found Carly Simon’s ‘That’s the Way I Always Heard It Should Be’ to be one of the most haunting and uniquely dark singles of the early 70s. Bond’s take on it rinses out some of the darkness, replacing it with a hopeful tone (due in large part to a short, spoken prelude).

The eleven-minute-plus ‘To the Establishment’ bears the influence of Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’, with Bond taking things in a looser, free-form direction that might almost be described as a hippie vibe.

Both tracks are solid stylistic indicators of the sounds that can be found on the rest of the album.

The big mystery in relation to Bond has always been two-fold.

First, how did Stax/We Produce decide to let an unknown commodity like Bond stretch out like he did, with the backing of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra?

Second, why didn’t an album this good make a bigger impression?

The answer to the first question may very well be that this was 1974, and record companies were still taking chances like that all the time. Bond was prodigiously talented, and it’s not hard to imagine someone hearing Bond singing his (and others) songs and handing him a blank check.

The answer to the second question probably has something to do with the impending collapse of Stax.

Bond was already on one of the most sparsely populated Stax sub-labels. We Produce only released albums by three artists – the Temprees, Ernie Hines and Bond, releasing a 45 by one additional artist – Lee Sain (who brought Bond to the attention of Stax), at a time when when the mothership was spreading itself mighty thin.

As far as I can tell ‘Lou Bond’ was poorly promoted/distributed, and Bond himself had to contend with the fact that the concept of a black singer/songwriter (outside of the accepted funk/soul mold) was not an easy fit in the musical landscape of the time.

The sad fact is that after his one LP, Bond never recorded again.

His music was sampled a number of times (by Outkast and Prodigy among others), and the Light In the Attic reissue brought his amazing talent back into the light of day.

If you get the chance, check out the nearly hour-long interview (audio) with Bond posted at the Light In the Attic web site.

You can still get the Light In the Attic reissue (with bonus tracks) on iTunes. If you dig what you’re hearing here today, I assure you that you’ll like the rest just as much.

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 (1)

By Larry, February 3, 2013 1:56 pm

Ace Cannon and his sax-o-ma-phone

Listen/Download Ace Cannon – Drunk

Greetings all

Welcome to another week here at the Corners.

I do not recall where I first heard today’s selection, but I do remember my surprise when I heard it.

The name Ace Cannon was already a very familiar one.

Cannon had a string of saxophone instrumental hits beginning in 1961 with ‘Tuff’ (#3 R&B #17 Pop) and continuing through the 60s and 70s. he recorded more than three dozen singles and several albums for the Hi label.

Though his best known numbers were in a blues/R&B vein, he recorded a wide variety of pop material through his career, but as far as I can tell, nothing else like ‘Drunk’.

Released as a single in 1971 (it also appeared on the ‘Blowing Wild’ LP that same year) ‘Drunk’ is an outlier in the Cannon oeuvre.

I would not hesitate for a second to classify ‘Drunk’ as funk, with the drums, bass, the chanky guitar and the organ, and of course Ace, “singing” the song and chanting the title over and over again.

A cover (and radical reworking) of Jimmy Liggins 1953 jump blues tune, ‘Drunk’ is the kind of record that ought to be better known, not only as an anomaly in the catalog of an otherwise well known performer, but also as a solid funk outing.

I have no idea who’s backing Ace on this one, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of the Hodges brothers were in the house.

That said, as far as I can tell, ‘Drunk’ made no impact whatsoever (I can’t find any evidence of Cannon charting after the mid-60s).

I hope you dig the tune, and maybe find one for your own record box.

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, November 18, 2012 2:08 pm

Papa Don Schroeder

Listen/Download Papa Don Association – Souled Out

Greetings all

Welcome to another fine week here at the Funky16Corners.

The tune I bring you today is one of those records that I knew of, but hadn’t heard until very recently, when it turned up in a friend’s sale list.

If any part of the name Papa Don Association rings a bell, it might be because the man behind the record is in fact famed southern soul producer/songwriter Papa Don Schroeder.

Known to soul fans for his work with artists like James and Bobby Purify and Mighty Sam (and his familiar PDP logo on their 45s) Schroeder was a significant presence on the southern scene during the 1960s.

Released in 1968, the sole 45 by The Papa Don Association featured the song you see before you today – ‘Souled Out’ (credited to Schroeder) – and a reworking of Procol Harum’s ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ on the flipside.

‘Souled Out’ is a certifiably mighty piece of funky southern soul.

The opening bass (some goddamn funky bass!) and drum combo out to be in some kind of hall of fame, and the rest of the song has a muscular, Booker T and the MG’s edge to it.

If you get the chance, slap on the headphones and turn up the volume and really listen to the drum sound. The back and forth between the snare roll and the bass drum (which almost echoes) is really something else.

I have had no luck in discovering who the ‘Papa Don Association’ actually was, but my suspicion leans in the direction of the American Studios crew in Memphis, with whom Schroeder worked extensively during the period. There’s a similarity here to Rosie Grier’s ‘Slow Drag’ that pushes me in that direction as well.

This is one you want to slap on in the heat of a particularly sweaty dance if only to kick things up just a little bit more. The pulse of ‘Souled Out’ conjures up the image of any number of fine frames being shaken and stirred vigorously.

This is a heater indeed, and I hope you dig it as much as I do.

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 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 (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.

Comments (10)

By Larry, February 22, 2012 11:56 am

Packy Axton (2nd from left) with some Memphis heavies…

Listen/Download -Martinis – Hung Over

Greetings all.

First, some important news.

The day before yesterday I found out that I was going to have to change the domain where the Funky16Corners Blog and web zine reside. Unfortunately I had very little notice and the change was made rather hastily.

As a result, a lot of people that come looking for the blog using the old funky16corners.lunarpages.net links are going to find NOTHING. If you use the www.funky16corners.com, or just funky16corners.com (no WWW) you’ll still get here.

The problem is, blogging being what it is, a lot of the incoming links are located in places where they aren’t likely to get changed any time soon, and it’s going to take Google a while to rediscover the content here.

In the interim, I would appreciate it, that if you’re associated with a blog or website that links here, please adjust the links accordingly. If not, please just pass the word along, via Twitter or Facebook, that we have moved.

As I explained briefly yesterday, the switch over to the new domain should appear largely seamless – completely so in regard to new content – but there will be some effect on older stuff.

The graphics have to be restored to all posts prior to last November.

The links should be working in the Radio Show, Podcast, Guest Mix and Soul Club archives. If you find any broken links, please let me know.

This is an especially hectic and stressful time already, and I may have missed something here or there.

Thanks – as always – for your patience.

__________________________________________________________________________________

That said, today’s selection is one of those records that have been staple in my crates for a long, long time, and I can’t honestly say why I never featured it before.

Why am I posting it now, you may ask?

Because it is, quite suddenly, timely.

A while back I provided some very minor assistance in the research for the folks assembling the Light In the Attic compilation ‘Charles Packy Axton: Late Late Party: 1965-1967’ for which they very graciously (and surprisingly) thanked me in the liner notes.

Long-time readers of the blog will be aware that packy Axton features prominently in one of my favorite sagas, that being the story of the Packers ‘Hole In the Wall’ (more here) and its reappearance as a single by a cat named Joe S Maxey (as well as the vocal cover by the Other Brothers).

Ever since being clued into the various recorded exploits of Charles Packy Axton in Rob Bowman’s excellent book ‘Soulville USA: The Story of Stax Records’ I have picked up Packers record where and whenever I find them.

Axton, the son of Stax co-founder Estelle Axton, was a saxophonist and a hard living party animal who expired prematurely in 1974 at the age of 32.

He was, through the 60s a member of the Mar-Keys, and recorded with a revolving cast of characters (that often included Stax heavies and the Hodges brothers of the Hi records house band) under the names the Packers, the Martinis and the Pac-Keys, as well as providing backing for singles by singers LH White and Stacy Lane.

Thes 45s are collected in the aforementioned Light In the Attic comp, which if greasy, low down R&B and soul is your bag, ought to be on your shopping list.

The tune I bring you today, ‘Hung Over’ is the very essence of smoky, late night grooves, until it is rudely interrupted by the sound of someone making a very loud noise, which I (and many others) assumed was simulated (?) vomiting, but according to the liner notes of the comp, was actually Packy’s version of an angry growl.

The flip side, ‘Late Late Party’ is built on the same frame.

The various and sundry Axton-related 45s run from not too expensive to very much so, so if you’re not dedicated to finding them and shaking out your wallet, picking up the CD might be a better idea.

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

Peace

Larry

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 (5)

By Larry, February 2, 2012 4:11 pm

Booker T and the MGs

Listen/Download -Booker T and the MGs – Plum Nellie

Greetings all.

The end of another week is finally upon us.

Things are so busy/topsy turvy these days that the end of the week has lost almost all meaning (other than the fact that the boys get the weekend off).

It seems sometimes as if we’re lost in a blur marked by the analog “hospital/no hospital”.

This is not to say that that my wife’s health situation has gotten worse, because it hasn’t, but rather that the grind of treatment and the ensuing disruption of what little routine we could depend on tends to leave us in a fog of sorts, composed of equal parts confusion, boredom and angst.

That said, one of the things you can depend on is that if Friday is here, so is the latest episode of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. We have a very special episode this week, composed entirely of a tribute to Etta James and Johnny Otis. It will hit the airwaves of the interwebs this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t make it at airtime, you can always fall by this very spot over the weekend when and where I post a downloadable MP3 of every week’s show (see the Radio Show tab in the header).

The tune I have chosen to close out the week this time is a veritable audio grease fire from the Memphis law firm of Jones, Cropper, Jackson and Dunn.

I am not ashamed to admit that the first time I heard the song ‘Plum Nellie’ is was on a Small Faces record, since Messrs Marriott, Jones, McGlagan and Lane were a big part of my ear-filling during the Mod/garage days of the 80s.

Though the Small Faces version (released in 67, but a part of their repertoire prior) of the tune is a killer, there is simply no getting past the fact that when Booker T and the MGs set foot in the Stax studio in 1963 they were gunning for bear.

Though – like every other largely instrumental unit of the day – the MGs recorded their share of filler (though even that was soulful) when they were at their best they were very, very heavy, and ‘Plum Nellie’ is a great example of that very heaviosity.

Opening with some whipcrack guitar from Steve Cropper, the tune settles into a ‘Green Onion’-y pace, but with a much grittier overall vibe. The horn arrangement is inspired, boiling up menacingly when needed. There’s a particularly inspired moment (at around 1:20) when the horns rise up and seemingly morph into Cropper’s guitar which then opens up into a raging solo.

The whole affair comes to a close at around the two-minute mark, and my thought is, had they taken it any further, they may have burned the studio down.

It’s that hot.

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

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.