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By Larry, September 23, 2014 11:12 am

Ross D Wyllie

Listen/Download Ross D Wyllie – Do the Uptight

Greetings all

I picked up today’s selection a while back at a record show, because, in all honesty, how would I ever pass by a 45 called ‘Do the Uptight’?

Good thing I didn’t, because in addition to being a tasty dance floor hitter, ‘Do the Uptight’ has an interesting little back story to it as well.

When I first gave the 45 a spin, my assumption was that the singer was white, but I had no idea that he was also the host of an Australian dance party show!

Ross D Wyllie was a pop singer and host of the popular, 1967-1969 Australian TV show called (what else…) Uptight.

Wyllie had recorded a series of chart hits through the 60s for the Sunshine and Festival labels, eventually hosting Uptight, and then following the cancellation of that show, ‘Happening ‘70’.

Nothing Wyllie had recorded prior to (or after, for that matter) would indicate that he had something like ‘Do the Uptight’ up his sleeve.

The powers that be were probably impressed as well, since ‘Do the Uptight’ managed to get released in the US and the UK as well.

It is a fast moving, soul dancer, cut from a fairly standard pattern but infectiously energetic.

The tune was written by Aussie pop singer Johnny Young, who was also responsible for penning Russell Morris’s psych classic ‘The Real Thing’.

Ross D Wyllie continued to record, as well as working through the years as a TV personality Down Under.

I hope you dig the tune, 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, September 18, 2014 11:03 am

Listen/Download The Naked Truth – The Shing-a-Ling Thing

Listen/Download The Naked Truth – The Stripper

Greetings all

Don’t forget that the end of the week is nigh, so the Funky16Corners Radio Show, dropping every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio isn’t far off. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes.

The track I bring you today is a testament to the value of carrying piles of otherwise useless facts around in your head at all times.

As has been stated here many a time, I spent a lot of years chasing down as much Philly soul as my greedy little hands (and not so little ears) could grab.

One of the things I always do – with records from Philly, or any other area – is to try and get a handle on the major players in any scene, i.e. musicians, songwriters, producers and arrangers. This information will allow you – in the absence of specific discographical data – to gather up 45s you might otherwise have passed over.

While I had never heard of the Naked Truth, when I picked up the 45, aside from the title ‘The Shing-a-ling Thing’ (note to fledgling collectors of 60s soul, pick up any and all ‘shingaling’ records), I noticed several names on the label that indicated that this was a Philadelphia-based record.

The disc was arranged by Richie Rome, a Madara-White production, and co-written by none other than Leon Huff.

Needless to say (though you can already see I’m going to say it anyway…) I put this one in the keeper pile and brought it home.

As it turns out, ‘The Shing-a-ling Thing’ is a groovy, pulsing dancer that has its share of devotees on the Northern Soul dance floors ( I would not be surprised to find out that it is Mr Huff tickling the ivories on the record).

My guess is that ‘The Shing-a-ling Thing’ was a throwaway b-side, with the cover of David Rose’s ‘The Stripper’ being the selling point (thus ‘The Naked Truth’).

Why this crew thought to resuscitate ‘The Stripper’ (which had been a huge hit in 1962) as a fairly hard-hitting organ instro in 1967 is a mystery, though I suspect that it has something to do with a popular commercial for Noxzema shaving cream, that used ‘The Stripper’ as its backing music that year.

Interestingly, the Naked Truth’s version of ‘the Stripper’ charted briefly in Philadelphia in the fall of 1967.

It’s pretty cool, which is why I’m including it here.

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.

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By Larry, September 16, 2014 11:03 am

Bob Brady and the Con Chords

Listen/Download Bob Brady and the Con Chords – Everybody’s Goin’ To the Love In

Greetings all

The tune I have selected to start out the week is a long time favorite, party-starter and dance floor annihilator.

Possessed of one of the great blue eyed soul voices of the classic era (though it was largely ‘borrowed’ from Mr. William Robinson of Detroit, MI…) Bob Brady led the Con Chords through a half-dozen stellar 45s on the Chariot label between 1967 and 1969.

Based in the Baltimore, MD area (check out my interview with Con Chords trombonist Larry Sprigg in the old F16C web zine), the Con Chords were popular up and down the East Coast, having their biggest success with 1967’s ‘More More More of Your Love’ which was a big regional hit in Philadelphia.

The record you see before you today was a minor local hit in 1968.

‘Everybody’s Goin’ To the Love In’ – co-written by Brady and Con Chords keyboard player Jim Samuel – is an absolutely brilliant 45, that is guaranteed to set any dance floor on fire (thus its popularity with the Northern Soul folks).

Opening deceptively quietly, with a muted trumpet and piano, it soon builds up to an explosive, pounding opening (dig those piano chords), followed by Brady’s trademark falsetto vocal.

The lyrics are all 1968-heavy peace and love (‘Everybody’s going to see the guru!’) but the arrangement is solid soul, and the record builds the excitement over and over again.

I LOVE this 45 and have played it out many a time.

I hope you dig it as much as I do.

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

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, September 14, 2014 12:47 pm

Cosimo Matassa 1926-2014

Willie Harper – But I Couldn’t (ALON)
Willie West – Hello Mama (Deesu)
Tim Whitsett and the Imperials – Monkey Man (Ace)
The Stokes – Young Man Old Man (ALON)
The Stokes – Whipped Cream (ALON)
Warren Lee – Star Revue (Deesu)
Eddie Lang – Something Withing Me (Seven B)
Oliver Morgan – Roll Call (Seven B)
G. Davis & R. Tyler – Hold On Help Is On the Way (Par-Lo)
Eddie Bo – Fence of Love (Seven B)
Guitar Ray – Patty Cake Shake (Hot Line)
James Rivers – Tighten Up (Eight Ball)
Lee Circle – Other Delights (ALON)
Robert Parker – In the Midnight Hour (NOLA)
Roger and the Gypsies – Pass the Hatchet Pts1&2 (Seven B)
Bobby Powell – Why Am I Treated So Bad (Whit)
Art Neville – Hook, Line and Sinker (Instant)
Chris Kenner – Fumigate Funky Broadway (Instant)
Skip Easterling – Keep the Fire Burning (ALON)
Willie West – Did You Have Fun (Deesu)
Eddie Bo – Skate It Out (Seven B)
Curley Moore – Soul Train (Hot Line)

Listen/Download The Master: A Cosimo Matassa Sampler

Greetings all

I hope the new week finds you well.

It was at the end of last week that news came down that the legendary Cosimo Matassa had slipped the surly bonds of earth at the age of 88.

If you are not familiar with the name, if you are a regular here at the Corners, you are most certainly hip to the sounds that he helped bring into the world.

Matassa was, from the early 1950s, the recording/mastering engineer of record for most (not much, MOST) of the music – rock’n’roll, R&B, soul and funk – laid down in the Crescent City, as well as  a label owner and record distributor.

I won’t go into much detail here, because the extremely long and complicated story has already been told (and is still being added to) at the mighty Cosimo Code website by cats like Davie Gordon, Red Kelly, John Broven, John ‘Sir Shambling’ Ridley and Peter Gibbon.

There, they have endeavored to compile a list of recordings recorded, or mastered by Matassa, using his unique coding system.

Your next stop should be the Cosimo Code site, where anyone with even a passing interest in New Orleans music could get lost for hours.

When I heard that Cosimo had passed, I went back through the chronological lists at Cosimo Code and started pulling recordings out of my own archive as I saw them on the list, so that I could put together a representative (though hardly comprehensive) sampling of the records he helped birth.

These are exclusively 1960s recordings (mostly 1965-1967) with a couple of surprises (as in, I was surprised to see them on the list) and a few unusual things you might not normally find here at Funky16Corners. There’s a just a touch over an hour of solid 45s (and one LP track).

So, click on the link, give the old ones and zeros a spin, and head on over to the Cosimo Code and try to digest the mind-boggling breadth of Mr Matassa’s portfolio.

Condolences to those that knew him, and props to the CC crew for their amazing work.

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, September 11, 2014 10:24 am

Carl Holmes and the Commanders on Italian TV

Listen/Download Carl Holmes and the Commanders – Mashed Potatoes Pt1

Listen/Download Carl Holmes and the Commanders – Mashed Potatoes Pt2

Greetings all

The end of the week is here, and before I blow your brain out through your ears, I thought it wise to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there to dig it at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 here at Funky16Corners.

That said, ka-boom.

That’s right.

How else can you describe a record like ‘Mashed Potatoes Pts 1&2’ by Carl Holmes and the Commanders?

Carl and the boys were one of the more interesting bands hovering on the outskirts of soul success in the 1960s.

They recorded an album and some 45s for Atlantic, as well as singles for Cameo, Verve and the local Philly labels Black Jack and CRS, included a young Jimi Hendrix in their performing line-up for a short time, and were – believe it or not – one of the models for Otis Day and the Knights in Animal House*. They even managed to make their way over to Italy and onto TV! (performing ‘Shout’ no less…)

The tune I bring you today, 1962’s ‘Mashed Potatoes Pts 1&2’ is a positively explosive, maniacal slice of R&B.

The band takes off like a buffalo stampede as soon as the record starts going, with a wild vocal, but things really get going in Part 2, where the singer (Pervis Herder, I think) loses his mind and starts scatting like a madman.

It is not hard at all to imagine a basement full of completely polluted undergrads rolling in their own filth as the band sets fire to the stage (just like in the movie, see?).

Carl Holmes went on to form the funky Sherlock Holmes Investigation and recorded the ‘Investigation #1’ LP in the early 70s.

I hope you dig the track, and give it a spin or three (or five) after you’ve gotten mellow as a cello.

See you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

*See the movie’s co-writer Chris Miller’s 2007 book The Real Animal House: The Awesomely Depraved Saga of the Fraternity That Inspired the Movie where he namechecks Carl Holmes and the Commanders and Lonnie Youngblood as among the frequent bands at the frat that inspired Delta House during his early 60s time at Dartmouth.
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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, September 9, 2014 11:10 am

Otis Redding

Listen/Download Otis Redding – Good To Me

Greetings all

Seventy-three years ago today, the greatest soul singer that ever was, Otis Redding, was born in Dawson, Georgia.

I have previously recounted in this space the story of how Otis was my gateway into the world of soul almost 40 years ago, and have reiterated many times that I hold no singer (soul or otherwise) in higher esteem.

Though his career only lasted for six years, it spanned most of the classic soul era, and influenced countless performers.

Redding was possessed of a mighty voice, a dynamic stage presence and was also a gifted songwriter.

I came to today’s selection the long way ‘round, as it were.

The first version I picked up was by Irma Thomas* (recorded in Muscle Shoals in 1968), and it was a while before I realized that it had been co-written (with Julius Green of the Mad Lads) and originally recorded by Otis in 1966.

The arrangement on Redding’s original is fairly spare, fitting since the structure of the songs is deceptively simple. The verse builds slowly, shifting ever so much when he states:

I’m going to keep loving you woman
For 20 more years
After that I’m going for 40
‘Cause I’ve got my will to try

The song has an almost gospel feel to it, a song of praise, not to God, but rather to a woman.

It moves at an almost glacial pace, but that’s the kind of environment where Otis redding thrived.

Unlike so many that came after him, he was able to fill what would seem like an insurmountably empty space, not with theatrics, but with concise, perfectly delivered emotion.

That’s why he was the man.

Happy Birthday Otis.

Keep the faith

Larry

* There’s also a very nice instrumental version by Odell Brown 

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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, September 4, 2014 4:00 pm

Ray Barretto

Listen/Download Ray Barretto – Mercy Mercy Baby

Listen/Download Urban Dance Squad – A Deeper Shade of Soul

Greetings all

The end of the week is finally here, so that means it’s time to hoist your antenna, fire up the radiola and twist the knobs until the dulcet tones of the Funky16Corners Radio Show come spilling out of the speakers. This can be experienced every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, and you can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab and MP3 here at Funky16Corners.

I have posted many a tune by the mighty Ray Barretto in this space over the years, including a couple from the album you see before you today.

You could ascribe this to laziness or lack of imagination on my part, or you could come correct and deal with the fact that Barretto’s 1968 opus ‘Acid’ is one of the greatest albums in the history not only of Latin soul, but music in general.

I mean, honestly…’Soul Drummers’, ‘A Deeper Shade of Soul’ and today’s selection, ‘Mercy Mercy Baby’ on the same LP??

Barretto was on fire, laying down ‘Hard Hands’, ‘Acid’, ‘Together’ and ‘Barretto Power’ all between 1968 and 1971, working the boogaloo/Latin soul/funk vibe as well as crafting more traditional sounds.

‘Mercy Mercy Baby’ opens with rolling bass and piano, before a tasty horn section joins in, along with the master’s congas, and vocals by Jimmy Sabater and Willie Torres.

It’s a great one for the dance floor, and ought to have folks singing along with the band.

I also have a bit of a bonus track for you today.

I have to be honest when I tell you that the first time I ever heard Ray Barretto, wasn’t on one of his records, but through a sample.

Back in 1989, I picked up the first album by the Dutch group Urban Dance Squad, having heard and dug the cut ‘Deeper Shade of Soul’ (probably via MTV, so there’s that…).

It was an early days mixture of live band, rap and turntablism, with a mellow, stoner vibe that I dug then, and still dig today.

It wasn’t until a few years later, when my man Haim passed on the CD reissue of ‘Acid’ that I realized that ‘Deeper Shade of Soul’ was built on a Barretto sample, and having dug the source and the source-erer, I dug it all the more.

Flash forward to earlier this year, and while out a-digging, what do I find but a 45 issue of the UDS tune, and I figured, since I was whipping a little Barretto on you to close out the week, I’d toss the Urban Dance Squad into the pot to thicken the stew, as it were.

So, dig that, 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 (2)

By Larry, September 2, 2014 11:39 am

James Ray

Listen/Download James Ray – I’ve Got My Mind Set On You

Greetings all

The middle of the week is upon us, so I felt it only fitting that I dip into the crates and whip a little history (and a groovy song) on all of you.

It ought to be obvious by now that my record collector spidey sense is often set a-tingling by original versions of popular songs.

This is often the case because the originals are often much better, especially when the source material is R&B/soul/funk based.

If you had your ears pointed at a radio (or MTV) in 1987, you most certainly heard George Harrison working it out on a song called ‘I’ve Got My Mind Set On You’.

It was one of his biggest solo hits, and as it turns out, a cover of an obscure 1962 R&B tune by a singer named James Ray.

Now, I heard Ray’s OG years before I laid my hands on a copy (thanks to one of those ‘Who Played It First’ type comps), but only set out to get myself an original after my memory was jogged by none other than the mighty Mr Finewine, when he graciously invited me to share the decks during his long-running Wednesday night thing at Botanic in NYC.

Since the 45 was more expensive/elusive, I ended up getting a copy of James Ray’s self-titled 1962 LP.

In addition to today’s selection, the disc also includes his minor hits ‘If You Gotta Make a Fool Out Of Somebody’ (later covered by Freddie and the Dreamers) and ‘Itty Bitty Pieces’.

Produced and arranged by Hutch Davie, and largely composed by Rudy Clark (who also wrote ‘It’s In His Kiss (the Shoop Shoop Song)’ and ‘Good Lovin’), the LP runs the gamut from R&B to fairly mainstream pop.

The arrangements, including on ‘I’ve Got My Mind Set On You’ tend to be oddly ornate (dig, if you will, the chorus and the banjo…), though not at all out of character for 1962.

Ray had a high, slightly raspy tenor that has touches of Ray Charles in it.

Sadly, he passed away only a few years after recording this, victim of a drug overdose, still in his early 20s.

I hope you dig the track, 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.

Comments (0)

By Larry, August 31, 2014 11:41 am

Alvin Robinson

Listen/Download Alvin Robinson – Let the Good Times Roll

Greetings all

Since the summer is rolling slowly to its conclusion, I thought I’d post something hot and sweaty out of the Crescent City (in more ways than one, son).

If you have rolled with the Funky16Corners thing for any length of time, you will already be familiar with the fact that I hold the mighty Alvin Robinson in very high esteem.

One of my favorite singers (soul or otherwise), Robinson was also a guitarist, who recorded several excellent 45s under his own name between 1961 and 1969 for a variety of labels.

The best stuff he ever did was during his association with the Leiber and Stoller machine on the Red Bird, Blue Cat and Tiger labels in 1964 and 1965.

Robinson’s best known track (to those that even know) is his original recording of the classic ‘Down Home Girl’, later covered by the Rolling Stones and the Coasters (among others).

It is an epic 45, and ought to be much better known.

Robinson sounds to me, what Chris Kenner might have sounded like had he a slightly better voice and a more sober disposition.

It’s all gravel and soul with a gift for phrasing that boggles the mind.

Today’s selection is Robinson’s 1965 cover of his New Orleans homeboy Earl King’s classic ‘Come On’.

King’s original came out in 1960 on Imperial, and is itself an R&B landmark.

Robinson’s cover rolls at roughly the same speed (hewing closer to the OG than the Jimi Hendrix Experience would a few years later), with some tasty horns and distorted guitar (Alvin, himself).

The production is credited to Leiber and Stoller, with arranging credit going to yet another New Orleans-ian (who first brought Robinson to L&S’s attention), Joe Jones.

Though Alvin Robinson would continue to record as a session guitarist, as far as I can tell he didn’t record another vocal after the 1960s.

He passed away in 1989, only 51 years of age.

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

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 (0)

By Larry, August 28, 2014 12:18 pm

Funky16Corners Radio v.60 – Finger Lickin’ Good!

Playlist

Greetings all

What you see before you is the last of this week’s mixes from the archive.

It’s a ‘themed’ mix, originally posted back in 2008. It’s a whole bucket-full of chicken songs (with a couple of turkeys thrown into the pot as well).

Funky16Corners Radio v.60 Finger Lickin’ Good, is funky enough for Friday night, so dig in, stuff yourself with the good stuff 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 24, 2014 7:48 pm

Pt1
Intro

Temptations – Papa Was a Rolling Stone (inst)

Brothers of Hope – Nickol Nickol

Earnest Jackson – Funky Black Man

Joe Zawinul – Soul of aVillage

Pat Lewis-I’ll Wait

Lowell Fulsom-Pico

Merl Saunders-Ode to Billie Joe

Syl Johnson- Is It Because I’m Black

Winston Wright – Heads or Tails

Brian Auger and the Trinity – Bumpin’ On Sunset

William DeVaughn – Be Thankful For What You’ve Got

The Cals – Stand Tall

Brother Jack McDuff – Moon Rappin’

Art Jerry Miller – Moonshot

Roy Meriwether Trio – What’s the Buzz

El Chicano – Viva Tirado

Bobby Christian – Mooganga

Freddy Robinson – Black Fox

Pt2
Intro

Dorothy Ashby – Soul Vibrations

Ernie Fields – Watch Your Step

Cal Tjader – Alonzo

Gaturs – Booger Man

Moe Koffman – Forest Flower

Neal Creque – Kenya

Ramsey Lewis – Slipping Into Darkness

Rhetta Hughes – Light My Fire

Roy Budd – Carter

Raymond Winnfield – Things Could Be Better

Jackie Edwards and Soulmakers – Che Che

Mary Lou Williams – The Credo

Marlena Shaw – Woman of the Ghetto

Fuzzy Kane Trio – Monday Monday

Rotary Connection – Respect

Peddlers – Impressions Pt3

Timothy McNealy – Sagittarius Black

Listen/Download Funky16Corners After Dark Pt1

Listen/Download Funky16Corners After Dark Pt2

Greetings all

Summer is on the wane, and the fam and I are trying to shoehorn in some R&R before school starts again.

As a result, i’ve gone back into the archives and pulled out a couple of my favorite mixes that I’ve done for other blogs or radio shows in the past, tohold you over until I return to my keyboard and start tapping away once again.

I’m going to get the week started with a two-part set I did for the Delirious Insomniac show back in 2010. The mixes were actually done for the end segment of the show, known as Delirious Sunrise.

I was tasked to put something together for the dark, still hours before dawn, so I dipped into the crates and grabbed a couple of handfuls of ‘head music’.

I use that old term in the old-school ‘feed your head’ sense, which is what I generally do with records like this, just before I close my eyes and allow Hypnos to take me by the hand and lead me to the world of dreams.

There’s just under two full hours of sounds here, running the gamut from soul, to late night funk, to jazz, all good for your ears and (of course) your head.

So dig it, and I’ll see you again on Wednesday with some more grooves.

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 (0)

By Larry, August 21, 2014 4:01 pm

Listen/Download The Trends – Soul Clap

Greetings all

The end of the week is approaching so I will remind you once again to twist the dials on your interwebs radiola to tune in the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You’ll get an earful of the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab yourself an MP3 out of the archive here at the blog (where more than 200 episodes are stored!).

The record I have selected to close out the week is a tasty little disc I picked up last year while hunting for wax out in the New York hinterlands.

I was rifling through the crates in the basement of a groovy little record store, and making myself a nice bigstack of 45s to take home when I happened upon ‘Soul Clap’ by the Trends.

I had never heard of thr group or the song, but who am I to pass up a record with a title like that?

Fortunately the store had a turntable on which to preview platters, and I gave it a spin.

What I got was a very nice dancer, brought to you by the production skills (and pen) of the mighty Johnny Pate.

Naturally, the record has plenty of soul clapping, punchy bass and rhythm guitar, and some of those tasteful Chitown strings.

The flipside, ‘The Big Parade’ is a nice, sweet group harmony side.

As it turns out, the Trends (Eddie Dunn, Emmett Garner Jr., Ralph O’Neill and Jerome Johnson) had a string of 45s, first on Smash, and then on ABC between 1964 and 1968.

They didn’t have much commercial success – aside from some airplay in Chicago – but their 45s are cool and worth picking up.

I hope you dig the sounds, 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.