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By Larry, March 31, 2015 11:08 am

Tarik Thornton – Scattered, Covered, Smothered and Diced

Ahmad Jamal – M*A*S*H Theme
Art Jerry Miller- Finger Lickin’ Good
Odell Brown & The Organizers – The Look Of Love
James Brown- Spinning Wheel
Lena Horne – Rocky Raccoon
Lonnie Smith- Move Your Hand- Part 1
Joe Williams & The Jazz Orchestra – Get Out My Life Woman
Brother Jack McDuff- Theme From The Electric Surfboard
Bobbi Humphrey- Harlem River Drive
Gene Ammons- Jungle Strut
Charlie Earland- Sing a Simple Song
Billy Cobham- Crosswind
Walter Wolfman Washington & Solar System – Good & Juicy
(Bonus Cut) Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band of New Orleans – Tuba Fats & Drums

Listen/Download – Tarik Thornton – Scattered, Covered, Smothered and Diced 46MB/Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

This is a very fortuitous week indeed, since thanks to a communique from my man Tarik Thornton (veteran of many Funky16Corners pledge drives and guest spots) we have the second brand new mix of the week!

If you have sunk your ears into any of his previous mixes, you know that Tarik has deep crates and excellent taste, and both are on display in ‘Scattered, Covered, Smothered and Diced’. Here you get just about 40 minutes of very tasty soul jazz and jazz funk, well mixed and served up hot.

I’m digging this one for the second time as I write this, and I think you’ll be giving it repeated plays as well.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, March 17, 2015 12:05 pm

Willie Bobo

Greetings all.

I thought I’d whip a little Latin jazz/boogaloo on you to usher you over the hump.

One would assume that most of you were already familiar with the music of the mighty Willie Bobo.

Though Bobo came up as a percussionist with leaders like George Shearing, Cal Tjader and Mongo Santamaria, he made his biggest mark as a solo artist.

His 1960s Verve recordings are not only excellent, but were popular enough that they are still fairly easy to track down.

His cover of Len Barry’s ‘1-2-3’ (rendered here as ‘1-2-3 (Uno Dos Tres)’ was the title track from Bobo’s 1965 LP of the same name.

Taken at a brisk pace, with some tasty horns and the sinuous of guitar by Gabor Szabo, it’s not hard to imagine a discotheque full of swingers grooving to this one.

Grab yourself a copy of the 45, and you also get the mighty ‘Fried Neckbones and Some Home Fries’ on the flip.

If you haven’t got any Bobo heating up your crates, get out there and start digging. You will not regret it.

I hope you dig the sounds.

See you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, March 12, 2015 12:43 pm

Blue Mitchell

Listen/Download – Blue Mitchell – H.N.I.C. Pt2

Greetings all.

The end of the week is nigh, so I will remind you once again that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the shimmering airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night on Viva Radio. If you cannot lend your ears at airtime, you can subscribe to the show as podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device through the TuneIn app, or grab yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

Closing out the week with something funky seemed like a good idea, so I bring you Blue Mitchell and ‘H.N.I.C. Pt1’.
Mitchell was, like the subject of Wednesday’s post, Yusef Lateef, a jazz veteran, coming up in hard bop with Cannonball Adderley and Horace Silver, and moving on to his own dates by the 1960s.

Like many of his ilk, Mitchell found himself at the end of the 1960s finding his way into a soulful bag. Many jazzers did this to varying levels of success, depending in large part on their affinity with and dedication to the material in question.

What is particularly interesting about today’s selection, is that it comes from a two-LP run that Mitchell had in 1968 and 1969 where he was working with Monk Higgins and Dee Ervin.

I haven’t been able to find out how this particular team came together, but the intersection of straight jazz with two figures closely identified with 60s soul is an interesting one.

The two albums, 1968s ‘Collision In Black’ and 1969s ‘Bantu Village’ (where this track originated) were composed almost entirely by Higgins and Ervin.. The dates appear to have been recorded in California, and are an interesting is somewhat mysterious chapter in Higgins’ and Ervin’s stories.

‘H.N.I.C. Pt1’ is also interesting because it is yet another iteration/variation of the Isley Brothers’ ‘It’s Your Thing’, a huge (and very influential) hit in 1969.

Featuring Mitchell and Bobby Bryant on trumpet, Paul Humphrey on drums, Wilton Felder on bass and Freddy Robinson on guitar, ‘H.N.I.C. Pt1’ manages to balance the jazz and funk nicely, with a fine solo by Mitchell.

I dig it (I need to score a copy of the LP), and I hope you do too.

See you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, March 10, 2015 11:58 am

Yusef Lateef

Greetings all.

How about we ease ourselves over the hump with some sweet, sublimely funky jazz?

Yusef Lateef is one of the giants of bop/post-bop eras of jazz, starting with Dizzy Gillespie in 1949 and playing well into his 80s, only passing away in 2013 at the age of 93.

He was a master of many wind instruments, mainly the tenor sax and the flute, but also on oboe and bassoon, as well as working a number of African and Eastern instruments into his music.

‘Nubian Lady’ was recorded in 1971 for his album ‘The Gentle Giant’, with Lateef on flute, Kenny Barron (who composed the song) on piano (with Ray Bryant on electric piano), and Albert Heath on drums among others.

It has a slow, mellow groove, but the drums manage to assert themselves nicely, giving the track a nice, funky feel.

Lateef’s flute states the main theme, and then returns to solo.

Y’all know I’m a huge fan of the flute in jazz and soul, and this is one of those records that you just want to kind of lay back and let it wash over you.

Listening to ‘Nubian Lady’ it sounds like the kind of record that must have been chopped and looped by someone, but as far as I can tell it has yet to be sampled.

It is a tasty groove indeed, and I hope you dig it.
See you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 27, 2015 1:32 pm

The Loading Zone

Greetings all.

What better way to slide through the middle of the week than with some of that funky, head-nodding goodness?

I have made mention of the Loading Zone previously, in relation to the singing of its one-time vocalist Linda Tillery, aka Sweet Linda Divine.

The group formed in the mid-60s, then recruited Tillery, recording an album for RCA before the singer left to go solo.

The Loading Zone’s sound, if they can truly be said to have had one, was an odd mixture of soul, jazz and rock, which doesn’t sound all that complicated, but instead of blending the three strains into a single admixture, they kind of rode it like a sliding scale, moving from one sound to another.

That they did this in 1960s San Francisco (or just in the 60s) explains how they got signed to a major label.

Everybody was experimenting with stylistic blends, and where a band these days might be accused of aimlessness, in the earliest days of progressive (in the truest sense of the word) rock, this was the mark of versatility.

I’m of the school that leans toward the latter characterization, and sees it as a net positive. You have to remember that in 1967, rock was barely a decade old, yet in incubators like San Francisco, Los Angeles and London, (ostensibly) rock musicians were dipping into all kinds of sounds and redefining what that style meant.

There’s hardly a better example of this than the closing track from the Loading Zone LP, ‘Can I Dedicate’.

Sounding at times like Horace Silver and the Holding Company, ‘Can I Dedicate’ (later sampled by the Souls of Mischief for ‘Live and Let Live’) is a nine-plus minute exercise in jazzy, stoned funk. Listening to it today it sounds like something stitched together using soul jazz samples and looped drums, waiting for someone to drop a verse or two on top of it.

There are traces of hard bop, woven around a hypnotic, rolling bass line, tight drums, and the out of the blue, a Fillmore West-style guitar solo (followed, naturally, by a jazz trombone solo…).

It is heavy, wonderful stuff, and one of those tracks I find myself going back to a digging all the time.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 18, 2015 1:49 pm

Funky16Corners @ Spindletop – Early Set 1/10/11

Playlist

Listen/Download 80MB/256kb Mixed MP3

NOTE: Since my unexpected hospital captivity continues unabated, I thought I’d dip into the archives to hold you all until I could get myself back to the Funky16Corners Blogcasting Nerve Center and Record Vault.

So dig this mellow mix from 2011 and I’ll be back as soon as I can.

Keep the Faith

Larry

Greetings all.

The mix I bring you today is yet another live set from the archives, recorded at Botanica in NYC back in 2011.

This one was an early set, where I was allowed to indulge my taste for some low-to-mid-tempo soul jazz and moody soul instrumentals.

This is another late night groover, so pull down the ones and zeros and let it fly while you’re in a mellow mood.

I’ll be back on Friday with something new.

Keep the faith

Larry

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OAlso, 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.

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By Larry, January 15, 2015 11:47 am

This guy? Funky?!

Greetings all.

The end of the week is nigh, so I will take this opportunity to remind you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva-Radio.com. You can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

Having started the week with some Northern Soul, and moved on to Library, I thought I’d keep the spirit of diversity alive and bring you some funky big band ish to close things out.

You know I love to dig up examples of old-school jazzers dipping their beaks into funk and soul, but when I heard there was a joint worth seeking out by Stan Kenton, my bullshit detector blew a fuse.

Kenton was one of the coolest (some might say cold) of the West Coast jazzers running a cerebral, heavily brassy, outfit from the 40s on through the 70s.

He started out as a pianist, and eventually concentrated on arranging and working as a bandleader, running an orchestra that produced alumni like Maynard Ferguson, Art Pepper and Shorty Rogers.

Kenton was very successful and always kept an experimental edge to his sound, but at no point did he produce anything that would suggest to me that he had anything like today’s selection in him.

Of course, by the time he recorded ‘2002 Zarathustrevisited’ in 1973, Deodato had already had a substantial hit with his own funky reworking of the Strauss classic ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’.

The early 70s were not a great time for big jazz bands in America, and the few old heads that were still working it, guys like Kenton, Woody Herman and Buddy Rich, were doing everything they could to stay relevant and commercially viable.

Though I can’t say for sure, it seems likely that Kenton (or the arranger on this number Dale Devoe) heard the Deodato arrangement and thought piling a truckload of brass on top of it would send it into the stratosphere, and decided to take a shot at it.

While it lacks some of the subtlety of the Deodato version, the Kenton version has a substantial amount of kick to it, from the drums (very nicely recorded) and of course, the brass, which comes on in wave after wave.

There’s a groovy sax solo, and some Maynard Ferguson-esque high-note antics, but the drums and percussion keep coming on strong, all the way to the end.

Oddly enough, I owned the LP version of this for years (which also features a nice version of ‘Live and Let Die’) but when a 45 popped up I had to grab it, because…come on…funky Stan Kenton on 45. You can’t leave that sitting in the bin.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 31, 2014 12:10 pm

Miss Della Reese

Listen/Download – Della Reese – It Was a Very Good Year

Originally posted in 2011…

Note: It was indeed a very good year. Funky16Corners celebrated its 10th anniversary, the music kept flowing and all was well.

I thought it would be cool to repost this banger to ring in the New Year.

I hope you all had an excellent 2014, and I look forward to more music in the coming year.

Happy New Year!

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 (4)

By Larry, December 11, 2014 1:03 pm

Marvin Gaye and Grover Washington, Jr.

Listen/Download – Grover Washington, Jr. – Trouble Man

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so I must remond you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t dig the show at airtime, you can subscribe to it as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device through the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

Also, make sure to stop by next week. The Christmas soul posts start on Monday, and the Funky16Corners Radio Show Christmas Special drops next Friday!

The tunes I bring you today are two versions (OG and cover) from one of the more interesting chapters in the career of the mighty Marvin Gaye.

We featured one of the mighty Marvin’s early classics here some weeks ago, and today we take a look at classic (though underplayed/underappreciated) mid-period ish.

When 1972 rolled around, Marvin had just layed ‘What’s Going On’ on the world.

How would he follow one of the greatest albums of all time?

Gaye took a step back, and decided to compose the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film ‘Trouble Man’.

He was in good company, alongside other soul stars, like Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield, who had done stellar work on the soundtrack tip.

Gaye’s soundtrack for ‘Trouble Man’ was smooth and atmospheric, perfect for late nights.

The title track of the album was a substantial hit, making it to #4 R&B and #7 Pop in December of 1972.

‘Trouble Man’ has a slow, jazzy groove, with falsetto vocals by Gaye and instrumental backing from a mixture of Funk Brothers and West Coast players.

The following year, Grover Washington, Jr.  recorded his two-part ‘Soul Box’ project, in which he layed down extended versions of ‘Trouble Man’ and the Temptations’Masterpiece’, with a host of CTI stalwarts like Bob James, Ron Carter and Idris Muhammad.

Washington’s version of ‘Trouble Man’ isn’t much of a departure from the original, with the exception of Creed Taylor’s horn and woodwind production fleshing out the sound a bit. There’s also a very nice organ solo by Richard Tee around the five-minute mark.

What is exceptional is the fact that Washington has almost 16 minutes in which to stretch and expand upon Gaye’s theme. If you dig the CTI sound (and you know I do) that is a very groovy thing indeed.

So, turn the lights down low, pour yourself a drink, let these two play back-to-back, and slide yourself into the weekend.

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 (2)

By Larry, November 27, 2014 8:11 am

Mmmmmmmm!

Greetings all!

I first gathered these food-related mixes together for Thanksgiving 2011.

Since the Grogans will be chilling together this extended weekend, I thought I’d repost them for you to stuff into your ears/iPods/whatever.

There’s even a turkey song!

Don’t forget to tune into the Funky16Corners Radio Show this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t dig it at airtime, make sure to subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen in on your mobile device through the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, have a great weekend with your friends and family, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

 
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Funky16Corners Radio v.3 – Soul Food (That’s What I Like) Pt1

Track listing

Brother Jack McDuff – Hot Barbecue (Prestige)

 Soul Runners – Chittlin’ Salad Pt1 (MoSoul)

Lionel Hampton – Greasy Greens (GladHamp)

Albert Collins – Cookin’ Catfish (20th Century)

Andre Williams – Rib Tips (Avin)

Maurice Simon & The Pie Men – Sweet Potato Gravy (Carnival)

Mel Brown – Chicken Fat (Impulse)

Lonnie Youngblood – Soul Food (That’s What I Like) (Fairmount)

Prime Mates – Hot Tamales (Sansu)

Just Brothers – Sliced Tomatoes (Music Merchant)

Leon Haywood – Cornbread and Buttermilk (Decca)

Bobby Rush – Chicken Heads (Galaxy)

Booker T & The MGs – Jelly Bread (Stax)

Gentleman June Gardner – Mustard Greens (Blue Rock)

West Siders – Candy Yams (Infinity)

Hank Jacobs – Monkey Hips and Rice (Sue)

George Semper – Collard Greens (Imperial)

Billy Clark & His Orchestra – Hot Gravy (Dynamo)

Listen Download Mixed MP3

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Funky16Corners Radio v.9 – Soul Food Pt2

Playlist

1. Simtec Simmons – Tea Box (Maurci)

2. Johnny Barfield & The Men of S.O.U.L. – Soul Butter (SSS Intl)

3. Ronnie Woods – Sugar Pt2 (Everest)

4. Stan Hunter & Sonny Fortune – Corn Flakes (Prestige)

5. Fabulous Counts – Scrambled Eggs (Moira)

6. Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band – Spreadin Honey (Keymen)

7. Freddie Roach – Brown Sugar (Blue Note)

8. Albert Collins – Sno Cone Pt1 (TCF Hall)

9. Chuck Edwards – Chuck Roast (Rene)

10. Willie Mitchell – Mashed Potatoes (Hi)

11. Booker T & The MGs – Red Beans & Rice (Atlantic)

12. Righteous Brothers Band – Green Onions (Verve)

13. George Semper – Hog Maws & Collard Greens (Imperial)

14. Lee Dorsey – Candy Yam (Amy)

15. Roosevelt Fountain & his Pens of Rhythm – Red Pepper Pt1 (Prince Adams)

16. Bad Boys – Black Olives (Paula)

17. Willie Bobo – Spanish Grease (Verve)

18. American Group – Enchilada Soul (AGP)

DOWNLOAD – 39.3 MB Mixed MP3

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Funky16Corners Radio v.60 – Finger Lickin’ Good!

Funky16Corners Radio v.60 – Finger Lickin’ Good!

Playlist

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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 (2)

By Larry, November 20, 2014 12:24 pm

Gabor Szabo and Bobby Womack

Listen/Download – Gabor Szabo and Bobby Womack – Breezin’ MP3

Listen/Downoad – Sammy Gordon and the Hiphuggers – Breezin’ MP3

Greetings all

The end of the week is here,and so I must remind you to tune into the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio, Friday night at 9PM. If you can’t dig in at airtime, make sure to subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes (or anywhere else you get your Pods handled) or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

Today’s selections can be filed in the ‘roots of familiar songs’ section of your brain.

If you’re over 40 (or otherwise well-listened) I suspect that you already know George Benson’s 1976 hit ‘Breezin’’, which in addition to regular airplay seemed for the longest time to be the background instro of choice on all kinds of TV shows. It was, in many ways, the ultimate, smooth jazz instro of its time.

What I didn’t know until many years after its initial release, was that the song ‘Breezin’ had deep, and very interesting roots.

Back in 1970, in the midst of his long, itinerant and occasionally very successful career, Bobby Womack ended up in the studio with Gabor Szabo.

Womack provided half the songs, and much of the rhythm guitar on Szabo’s 1971 LP ‘High Contrast’*.

One of those songs – used as the LPs opening track – was ‘Breezin’.

The Szabo/Womack version is mellow, but sports a nice, fat bottom as well, and some tasty soloing from the always dependable Gabor (a big fave hereabouts).

The second version of the song you’ll hear today (which I originally posted when Bobby passed away, back in June) came into my crates in a kind of roundabout way.

I already had a couple of 45s by Sammy Gordon and the Hiphuggers in my crates when I found their version of ‘Breezin’ (previously featured here when Mr Womack passed away) about five years ago.

The thing is, I didn’t know it was the famous song until I got it home, picking it up simply because it was Sammy.

The SG and the HH version of ‘Breezin’ (from 1972) is by far my fave,and I suspect it’ll be yours as well.

The drums and bass are heavy, and the intro is as tasty a piece of head-nodding funk as you’re likely to turn up.

The overall vibe maintains the sweetness of the melody, but those drums keep punching through the mix.

It’s a killer 45, and despite a couple of price spikes in the past, not too hard to come by these days.

I hope you dig the compare/contrast action, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

 *Interestingly, Womack is listed as a co-leader on the LP and 45 labels, but not on the album cover

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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 (0)

By Larry, October 23, 2014 12:49 pm

Jeff Afdem

Listen/Download Jeff Afdem and the Springfield Flute – Watermelon Man

Greetings all

The end of the week is here, so I will take this opportunity to invite you all to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which hits the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen in on the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 download here at the blog.

I should also let you know that  the 10th Anniversary of the Funky16Corners blog is coming up in two weeks. That’s right, ten years in, so I’m working on some special mixes to mark the occasion, so keep you eyes and ears peeled for those.

Today’s selection is a very groovy cover of a very familiar song from a very unusual place.

If you follow the comings and goings over at my other blog, Iron Leg, where I travel the roads of (mostly) 60s pop, psych and garage sounds, you may have noticed that I have a special place in my heart (and my crates) for the Pacific Northwest Sound (PNW).

This includes all kinds of stuff, but especially bands like the Sonics, Wailers, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Don and the Goodtimes, and the Springfield Rifle.

Jeff Afdem was a flute and sax player in a number of PNW bands, including Jimmy Hanna and the Dynamics (who did a killer version of ‘Leaving Here’), and the last band on the list above, the Springfield Rifle.

I happened upon Afdem’s version of ‘Watermelon Man’ quite by accident, which searching for 45s on the storied Jerden label.

I spotted the cover, figured it was worth a try, and was not disappointed.

The song was a non-LP 45* released around the same time as Afdem’s 1969 LP ‘Jeff Afdem and the Springfield Flute’ which included a number of pop covers, as well as a couple of soul jazz groovers like ‘Florence of Arabia’ (also covered by Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band).

Afdem’s version of ‘Watermelon Man’ gets off to a great start with booming bass, latin percussion and piano, before the flute comes in to solo. He takes the tune at a brisk tempo making this one great for the dance floor.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

*Though it looks like it was included on a 1977 re-issue of the album 

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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.