Comments (4)

By Larry, June 5, 2011 4:59 pm

Apologies to the soulies, heh heh…

Greetings all, and welcome to the 2011, Funky16Corners Soul Club/Grogan Casino Allnighter..

This is – as it has been since 2006 – time for yours truly to once again open up the yearly Funky16Corners Pledge Drive, in which we ask that if you dig what goes on hereabouts, with the blog(s), radio show, mixes etc, that you click on the donation link and drop a little something in the basket.

Click Here To Donate

Your donations help to pay for the server space where the blog, all of the graphics and well over 100 mixes (a number that is expanding all the time) reside, as well as upkeep on the equipment used to run the whole non-profit (is there a better phrase to describe an operation that runs at a perpetual loss?) shebang.

As always, I’m aware that times are tough, and getting tougher all the time, so if you can’t swing it, that’s cool too. However, every little bit helps, so even a couple of bucks will help things along.

The readers of Funky16Corners have always been very cool over the seven year history of the blog (as well as the years preceding that at the web zine), generous with their knowledge and vocal in their appreciation and once again I’d like to thank you all.

Funky16Corners has always been an ad-free space (and that includes needless plugs for crap that none of you (or me) is going to listen to) and will always remain that way.

Now, I can’t very well come to you with hand outstretched unless I have something to offer you for your trouble. With that in mind, I bring you the second annual Allnighter, in which I gather together some of my favorite DJs and ask them to contribute mixes.

This year we have a stellar line-up, including my man Tarik Thornton (Hot Pants Crew MPLS), Tony C, DJ Prime Mundo (Asbury Park 45 Sessions), DJ Bluewater (Master Groove, Asbury Park 45 Sessions), and my mighty brother in blogging Vincent the Soul Chef (Fufu Stew), as well as two new mixes by yours truly.

Each of these cats is very, very serious about digging and spinning vinyl heat and when you get the chance to sink your ears into the mixes they’ve contributed you will (as I was when I first heard them) be very happy.

There’s a very nice stylistic breadth to this year’s Allnighter, with deep soul, Northern Soul, rock steady, funk and disco with a connoisseur’s mix of rarities and classics.

This year I’m also posting something cool over at Iron Leg, with a few hours of garage and freakbeat recorded live a few weeks back (by me, natch)  at Spindletop @ Botanica in NYC, so if those are sounds you dig too, make sure to pull down those ones and zeros as well.

That said, click the Paypal link, and then scroll down the page slowly, soaking up all the mixes as you go.

Click Here To Donate

Peace

Larry

___________________________________________________________________

Funky16Corners 2011 Allnighter!

Funky16Corners – I’m Satisfied
San Remo Golden Strings – I’m Satisfied (Ric Tic)
Jr Walker and the All Stars – Come see About Me (Soul)
Parliaments – Look at What I Almost Missed (Revilot)
O’Jays – I Dig Your Act (Bell)
Lee Williams and the Cymbals – Everything About You That I Love (Carnival)
Al Kent – You Got To Pay The Price (Ric Tic)
Major Lance – Gotta Get Away (Okeh)
Shorty Long – Sing What You Wanna (Soul)
Bunny Sigler – Sunny Sunday (Cameo/Parkway)
Jackie Lee – Bring It Home (Keyman)
Gene Chandler and Barbara Acklin – From the Teacher to the Preacher (Brunswick)
Chuck Jackson – Good Things Come to Those Who Wait (Wand)
Precisions – Why Girl (Drew)
John Willams and the Tick Tocks – Do Me Like You Do Me (Sansu)
Eddie Floyd – Big Bird (Stax)
Vibrations – Pick Me (Okeh)
Buena Vistas – Hot Shot (Swan)
Performers – I Can’t Stop You (Mirwood)
Dreams – They Call me Jesse James (DC Sound)
Len Barry – I Struck It Rich (Decca)
Ambassadors – I’m So Proud Of My Baby (Atlantic)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners – I’m Satisfied / 96MB Mixed MP3

NOTE: I’ve been digging a lot of mid-tempo Northern Soul lately, and this is a mix of my faves. – LG

__________________________________________________________________

DJ Bluewater – That Steady Beat

Ken Parker – Change Is Gonna Come
Delroy Wilson – I’m The One Who Loves You
Rocky & The Heptones – Falling In Love
Carlton & His Shoes – Happy Land
Alton Ellis & The Flames – Cry Tough
Lloyd & Glen – Jezebel –
Phyllis Dillon – Don’t Stay Away
Cecille Campbell – Breaking Up
The Soul Vendors – Frozen Soul
The Soul Vendors – To Sir With Love
Prince Buster & The All Stars – The Punishment
The Maytals – Watermelon Man
Derrick Morgan – First Taste Of Love
The Untouchables – Tighten Up
The Jailbreakers – Chatty Chatty
Delano Stewart – That’s Life
Norma Fraser – The First Cut Is The Deepest
King Rocky – The King Is Back
The Ethiopians – He’s Not A Rebel
The Uniques – Watch This Sound

Listen/Download – DJ Bluewater – That Steady Beat / 120MB Mixed MP3

NOTE: DJ Bluewater has gotten deep into the rock steady sound in the last few years

and this mix is filled with goodness! – LG

___________________________________________________________________

DJ Tarik Thornton – Louisiana Sun

Willie Tee – Dedication To You ( Atlantic)
The Festivals – You Got The Makings of A Lover (Smash)
The Impressions – Man Oh Man ( ABC- Paramount)
Dennis Lee & Notables – Sunday Afternoon ( Jenmark)
Bernard Drake – I’ve Been Untrue ( La Louisianne)
Ollie & The Nightingales- I Got A Sure Thing (Stax)
Jo Armstead – There’s Not Too many More (Giant)
The Passions – I Can See My Way Through (Tower)
The Moovers – One Little Dance (Brent)
The ElectroStats – Setting the Mood ( Three Oaks)
The Supreme – Stoned Love (Tamla)

Clifton White – Are You Ready (Anla)
Dell Mack – You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover ( Gold Band)
Eddie Giles – Soul Feeling Pt. 1- ( Murco )
Debanaires – Feel Alright – (WBS)
O.D Williams – Moving Out Of Your Life – (Bare- Bar)
New Birth – I Can Understand it (RCA)
Johnny Williams – Breaking Point – (Twinight)
Johnny Otis Show – Watts Breakaway (Epic)
Gus (The Groove) Lewis – Let The Groove Move You – (Tou- Sea)
Lee Dorsey – Funky Four Corners (Amy)
Big Daddy Rucker – Just Do Your Thing – (GME)
Reggie Sadler – Raggedy Bag – (Aquarius)
Bonus Track : Jackie Harris & The Exciters – Get Funky, Sweat A Little Bit (Black&Proud)

Listen/Download – DJ Tarik Thornton – Louisiana Sun / 85MB Mixed MP3

A Note from Tarik:

So when Larry asked me to do this mix indeed I was honored! Larry and the Soul Chef are the guys who are responsible for inspiring me to get back to digging after taking a 10 year hiatus. I’ve been on a life rollercoaster over the last few years and this has become one of my most profound ways of expressing myself. Honestly, It took me a while to figure out a concept for this one. Always trying to be diverse I created a nice blend of Sweet Soul and Funk this time around. Both are actually sets I did live at KFAI in Minneapolis last week. After listening to them I decided to take the time to tighten them up, then added a bit more soul . The outcome, a sweet selection of songs dedicated to all the people that have taken the time to check out my work over the last year, but also in particular a very special young lady. The “B “side a tight groove of some killer funk selections that will keep you moving. Enjoy ! You can find some of my other mixes at www.mixcloud.com/8KC

___________________________________________________________________

DJ Prime Mundo – Kentucky Fried Prime

curtis mayfield – tripping out (rso)
one g plus three – summertime (paramount)
billy guy – if you want to get ahead, shake a leg (verve)
the soul patrol – saigon strut (shamley)
don downing – thread and needle (roadshow)
gary toms empire – drive my car (pickwick)
bo kirkland & ruth davis – we got the recipe (claridge)
stan ivory – check it out (tese)
le roy – easy livin’ (dream machine)
chick willis – stoop down baby (la val)
billy strange – jaws (gnp crescendo)
the masqueraders – brotherhood (bell)
hummingbird – trouble maker (a&m)
ernie andrews – something (phil l.a. of soul)

Listen/Download – DJ Prime Mundo – Kentucky Fried Prime / 61MB Mixed MP3

Note: One of the OG Asbury Park 45 Sessions DJs, Prime Mundo has extremely deep crates and extremely good taste. He’s one of my favorite DJs, and this mix should tell you why. – LG

____________________________________________________________________

Vincent the Soul Chef – Back to the Corner

I Just Want To Celebrate-Rare Earth (Rare Earth)
Ride Sally Ride-Dennis Coffey and the Detroit Guitar Band (Sussex)
Runaway People-Dyke & The Blazers (Original Sound)
You Met Your Match-Stevie Wonder (Tamla)
Your Love Is Indescribably Delicious-Willis Wooten (Virtue)
Mister Magic-Grover Washington Jr. (Kudu)
Heaven Is There To Guide Us-The Glass House (Invictus)
I Got You Babe-Etta James (Chess)
Vista Vista-Lee Dorsey (Amy)
Funky Boo Ga Loo-Jerry O (Shout)
Do Your Thing-Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band (Warner)
Good Times-Kool & The Gang (De Lite)
Take Me To the River-Fessor Funk (Roxbury)
Let Me Lay My Funk On You-Poison (Roulette)
Keep on Dancin’ (Vocal)-Alvin Cash (Toddlin’ Town)
The Whatchamacalit-The Burning Emotions (Bang)
Country John-Allen Toussaint (Reprise)
Paint Me-Ohio Players (Westbound)
I Turned You On-Isley Brothers (T Neck)
Soul Sister- Allen Toussaint (Reprise)
Baby I Love You-Aretha Franklin (Atlantic)
Nobody’s Fault But Mine-Otis Redding (Atco)
Cook Out-King Curtis & The Kingpins (Atco)
The Court Room-Clarence Carter (Atlantic)
Funky Drummer Pt. 2-James Brown (King)
Make It Funky Pt. 4-James Brown (Polydor)
Hey Ruby Shut Your Mouth-Ruby & The Party Gang (Law Ton)

Listen/Download – Vincent the Soul Chef – Back to the Corner / 104MB Mixed MP3

NOTE: Vincent the Soul Chef is not only a top-notch DJ, but he’s a serious digger with diverse tastes that are reflected in his mixes. After I heard this I headed out to look for a few of the cuts right away… – LG

___________________________________________________________________

Tony C – Dance the Jerk!

Doc Bagby-Mr Hippy-Tifton
Merced Blue Notes-Rufus-Accent
Horace Bailey-Cool Monkey-Delene
Larry Williams-Strange-Sue
Barry’Barefoot’ Beefus-Barefoot Beefus-Loma
Tommy & The Charms-I know what you want-Hollywood
Nathaniel Kelly-Do the jerk-Jubilee
Jay Dee Bryant-Get it-Enjoy
The Pacers-You’ll never know-Razorback
The Magics-Lets Boogaloo-R.F.A
Lou Johnson-Rock me baby-Cotillion
Eddie Simpson-Stone Soul Sister-Back Beat
Vickie Anderson-I love you-Smash
Alder Ray Mathis-Take me baby-Jetstar
Jackie Thompson-Got to right the wrongs-Columbia
Lonette-Stop-M.S
Boogie Kings-Do em’ all-Pic
Charles Hodges-Charles Shingaling-Alto
Little Flint-Pain-Beast
Sammy Lee-It hurts me-Rampart
Jay Jordan-If it wasn’t for love-Verve
The Fantastic Four-Pinpoint it down-Soul
Lovemasters-Pushin and pull-Jacklyn
Timmie Williams-Competition-Bell
Big Maybelle-I can’t wait any longer-Rojac
Trudy Johnson-You’re no good-Capitol

Listen/Download – Tony C – Dance the Jerk! / 62MB Mixed MP3

NOTE: Tony C has done guest mixes for Funky16Corners in the past, and he is always turning me on to new stuff. Great taste and deep crates, once again a dynamic combination.  – LG

___________________________________________________________________

Funky16Corners – Honey Trippin’
BT Express – Express (Scepter)
Louie Ramirez – Do It Any Way You Wanna (Cotique)
Cymande – Anthracite (Janus)
Virtue Orchestra – High Horse IV (Virtue)
Mystic Moods – Honey Trippin’ (Soundbird)
KC and the Sunshine Band – Let It Go (TK)
Instant Funk – Philly Jump (TSOP)
Jay Berliner – Getting the Message (Mainstream)
Love Child’s Afro Cuban Blues Band – Love and Death in G and A (Roulette)
Gene Faith – Lowdown Melody (Virtue)
Doc Severinson – Soul Makossa (RCA)
Soul Searchers – Boogie Up the Nation Pt2 (Polydor)
Philly Sound – Waitin’ For the Rain (Phil LA of Soul)
Mongo Santamaria – What You Don’t Know (Vaya)
Philadelphia Society – 100 South of Broad Street (American)
Larry Page Orchestra – Erotic Soul (London)
Roy Ayers Ubiquity – Virgo Red (Polydor)
Barrett Strong – Stand Up and Cheer For the Preacher (INST) (Epic)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners – Honey Trippin’ / 110MB Mixed MP3

NOTE: This is one of those mixes that had its start in a single cut, and took form slowly as I stockpiled complementary cuts. I like it a lot, and I hope you dig it too. – LG

____________________________________________________________________

Click Here To Donate

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 recr 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 (4)

By Larry, May 5, 2011 4:09 pm

The young doctor as intern…

Listen/Download – Mac Rebennack and the Soul Orchestra – The Point

Greetings all.

Following yet another Sisyphean (Sisyphusian?) slog the end of the week is finally upon us.

This has been another one of those weird weeks where any attempt to fall into the lockstep of routine was thwarted by the intrusion of both the necessary and the unexpected.

I had some doctor type ish to deal with as well all that brings with it, as well as the flotsam and jetsam of daily life, including still recovering from vacation.

Despite any number of valiant attempts to switch my mind to cruise control, I was given to contemplation, and came to the realization that despite all my crabbing about how busy I am and haw many things I have to do, I am in the end extraordinarily lucky.

Aside from the obvious (and sometimes not so) joys of married life and fatherhood, I also have the opportunity, via the blog, the Funky16Corners Radio Show (this and every other Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio) and DJ gigs to share the music I love so much with you good people.

Aside from any adolescent aspiration to become a 21st century Hugh Hefner, the fantasy that preoccupied me in the past was to engage in what I just described.

Sure, it probably manifested itself in an image closer to Wolfman Jack in ‘American Graffiti’, howling in the depths of the night while transmitting musical hoodoo over the airwaves, but as I listen (in the furtherance of both quality control and ego gratification) back to the interwebs radio show I put together each week, and then get feedback from folks that actually listen to the show, I get just enough of that spark running willy nilly up my spine and stabbing me right in the old pleasure centers to make do.

The days of the great masters of the ether are long gone, but if I can rub two sticks together and whip up just a little bit of that heat each week, I’m happy.

The tune I bring you today is yet another white whale of mine that I chased like Melville’s crazed mariner for many a year.

I do not recall where Mac Rebennack’s ‘The Point’ first made its way into my earholes, but as I am a connoisseur of both the sounds of New Orleans and the mighty electric organ (Hammond or otherwise), and a devotee of the mighty Dr. John (Mr. Rebennack’s later nom de musique), I did not merely want a copy of this particular record, but rather needed it quite desperately.

While I would not say that the Crescent City is particularly well known for organ 45s, it does have some spectacular examples of the subgenre to its credit, including James Booker’s ‘Gonzo’,  Bo Jr.’s ‘Coffee Pot’, the instro flipside to Candy Phillips’ ‘Timber’ (in actuality a certain Mr. Bocage on the keys) as well as the tune I bring you today.

As the story goes, young Mac Rebennack was set on spending his career squeezing sounds out of a guitar until he got shot in the hand and found his way (thanks be to the strange ways of fate) onto a piano bench. The rest as they say is history, with the good Doctor being one of those cats to whom one might spend a happy eternity listening to as he tickled the ivories. He is part of the long line of masterful New Orleans piano masters that includes Professor Longhair, James Booker and Eddie Bo, and as such probably ought to have a retinue following him around, with someone to hold his drink, another to dust off the keys and yet another to spread rose petals in his path on account of he deserves no less.

That said, ‘The Point’ was waxed in 1962 for the storied AFO (All For One) label, an organization founded as a self-determined black musicians collective. During the label’s original 1961-1963 run they issued just over a dozen singles by artists like Barbara George (with the million selling ‘I Know’), Tammy Lynn, Ellis Marsalis, Prince La La (as in ‘Who Shot the…’) and Willie Tee.

Though ‘The Point’ was not his first 45 (the crazed guitar instro ‘Storm Warning’ came first in 1959) it was his debut as a leader on the keys, and it is a record of singular brilliance.

This is not to say that it is any kind of display of technical virtuosity, but rather a small vinyl artifact that carries in its grooves all manner of soul, menace, night-time atmosphere, up to an including the ability to place in the listener’s mind the image of a young woman in some sort of brief and suggestive (perhaps fringed) outfit shaking (upon a purpose-built, raised platform of some sort) what the gentlemen of the time would refer to as her ‘moneymaker’ (if you know what I mean and I think that you do) in a smoky bar filled with cold beer and broken dreams, and whether or not someone’s out back in the alley turned upside down so that the contents of their pockets might spill out and satisfy a debt matters not because the kid behind the organ and his band (and the young lady) have you hyp-mo-tized with the groove.

It’s that kind of record, and as far as I know Mister Rebennack, either inside or outside his duties as Dr John the Night Tripper never really stepped into something like this again.

The flipside of the record is a nice enough jam, yet it lacks the whiff of eau de roadhouse (though the horns are real nice).

The aforementioned Mr Booker, a renowned master of the 88s also recorded some very tasty organ sides, but they are every bit as elegant and fine as his piano work, which is not a bad thing at all, but compared to the jagged edge of Mac’s sound here is something else entirely.

A very tasty record indeed, and one that filled a miniscule but important hole in my crates. Also a groovy window into the soul of young Mr. Rebennack before the left coast called and he packed up his John the Conqueror Root, Mardi Gras feathers and attitude and headed out to Cali-For-Ny-Yay.

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

Oh, but before I go, you will most definitely want to check this out:

”

Some very groovy folks down in DC and Virginia have put together what promises to be the show of the year under the name the Chocolate City Soul Revue, with performances by Marva Whitney, Martha High, Vicki Anderson, both Clyde Stubblefield and Jabo Starks (?!?!?) legendary James Brown MC Danny Ray, original members of the JBs, the Impressions, and 21st century soul man Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed and his band the True Loves.

I mean, honest to god people, does it get any better than that?

The shindig goes down on June the 4th at the D.A.R. Constitution Hall in Washington, DC.

You can get yourself tickets via Ticketmaster.

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 recr 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 (5)

By Larry, April 26, 2011 11:22 am

Lurking in the shadows with a loaded turntable…

OV Wright – Love the Way You Love (Backbeat)
Billy Butler – Right Track (Okeh)
Lynne Randell – It’s a Hoe Down (Epic)
Thelma Jones – Stronger (Barry)
The Platters – Sweet Sweet Lovin’ (Musicor)
Christine Cooper – SOS (Heart In Distress) (Parkway)
Irma Thomas – What Are You Trying To Do (Imperial)
Henry Lumpkin – Soul Is Taking Over (Buddah)
Barbara Banks – River of Tears (Veep)
Luther Ingram – If It’s All the Same To You (Hib)
Chuck Wood – Seven Days Is Too Long (Roulette)
Maurice and the Radiants – Baby You’ve Got It (Chess)
Parliaments – Don’t Be Sore At Me (Revilot)
O’Jays – I Dig Your Act (Bell)

(Full set list at the bottom of the post)

Listen/Download – F16C Soul Club Presents – Soulshake! Funky16Corners Live at the Subway Soul Club 61MB/256K Mixed MP3

Yours truly, Luther Ingram (spinning) and Chuck Wood (cued up)

Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus

Girlsoul selects another winner!

The mighty M-Fasis on the dance floor.

The crowd

Everyone’s records, ready to go.

Greetings all.

I have – like the prodigal son – returned from my wanderings tired, but satisfied.

The past week saw a mini-burst of DJ activity, with the Subway Soul Club (which we’ll be rapping about this fine day) last Saturday (4/16), then driving up to Massachusetts for Sweet Exorcist on Friday 4/22 in Greenfield, and Wooly Bully on Saturday 4/23 in Northampton (which we will cover next week).

I even managed to get in some unexpected 45 digging in New York, which turned up a couple of nice funk 45s, a few disco things and a couple of doubles for the old trade box.

Wrapped around all of this tomfoolery was a family vacation, with the swimming, the sightseeing, the fine dining (pho and New Haven pizza on the same trip!!) and a lot of close quarters, but much fun (if little actual relaxation) was had, and now here we all are, back in the daily groove.

As I mentioned, I spent the evening of Saturday 4/16 alongside Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus, Girlsoul and PJ Lozito (Connie T Empress had to cancel) whipping the best in soul on the crowd at the storied Subway Soul Club, at Public Assembly in Williamsburg, BK.

Despite the fact that the area was in the midst of a near-monsoon, which made motoring to Brooklyn a real hoot, there was a nice turnout, and by midnight the floor was full of good people soaking up the sounds of soul and cutting themselves what the old folks used to refer to as a slice of rug.

I have probably said this numerous times, but it bears mentioning once again, I love nothing more than to spin soul and funk for people that like to dance. There is something magical about pulling an especially cool record out of your box, slipping it onto the turntable and watching the crowd react when the sounds make their way out of the speakers.

Subway Soul Club is really a dancers scene, with people grooving steadily for several hours (I honestly have no idea where some people get the energy), especially to Northern Soul. This was a very appreciative/receptive crowd who dug what we all were spinning, and the experience was, as you can imagine, exceptionally rewarding.

The mix you see above is the second set I spun that night, and features a number of favorites, all floor-fillers, including a bunch of things that have had a home in my crates for many years, as well as a few recent acquisitions.

I also managed to snap a couple of pictures, and while I’m no Scavullo, I think the results manage to capture the vibe fairly well.

Big thanks go out to Phreddie and our host Lady Dawn, the other DJs (who were uniformly excellent) and especially the dancers, without whom it wouldn’t have been nearly as groovy.

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back on Friday with some funk for your weekend.

If things go as planned, I’ll have some live mixes (and pics) from Massachusetts for you next week.

See you on Friday

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recr 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.

Funky16Corners Subway Soul 4/16 Set List

Set 1
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes – Get Out (Landa)
Bettye Lavette – Feel Good All Over (Calla)
Dean Courtney – We Have a Good Thing (RCA)
John Williams and the Tick Tocks – Do Me Like You Do Me (Sansu)
Peggy Scott and Jo Jo Benson – Soul Shake (SSS Intl)
Felice Taylor – Under the Influence of Love (Mustang)
Frankie Valli – You’re Gonna (Hurt Yourself) (Smash)
Four Larks – Grooving at the Go Go (Tower)
Broadways – You Just Don’t Know (MGM)
Volcanos – (It’s Against) The Laws of Love (Inst) (Arctic)
Bob Brady and the Conchords – Everybody’s Going to the Love In (Chariot)
Jean Wells – With My Love and What You Got (Calla)
Danny White – Natural Soul Brother (SSS Intl)
The Contours – Just a Little Misunderstanding (Gordy) (Fade out)

Set 2

OV Wright – Love the Way You Love (Backbeat)
Billy Butler – Right Track (Okeh)
Lynne Randell – It’s a Hoe Down (Epic)
Thelma Jones – Stronger (Barry)
The Platters – Sweet Sweet Lovin’ (Musicor)
Christine Cooper – SOS (Heart In Distress) (Parkway)
Irma Thomas – What Are You Trying To Do (Imperial)
Henry Lumpkin – Soul Is Taking Over (Buddah)
Barbara Banks – River of Tears (Veep)
Luther Ingram – If It’s All the Same To You (Hib)
Chuck Wood – Seven Days Is Too Long (Roulette)
Maurice and the Radiants – Baby You’ve Got It (Chess)
Parliaments – Don’t Be Sore At Me (Revilot)
O’Jays – I Dig Your Act (Bell) (fade out)

Set 3

Mickey Lee Lane – Hey Sah Lo Ney (Swan) (partial)
R Dean Taylor – There’s a Ghost In My House (VIP)
Scatman Crothers – Golly! Zonk! It’s Scatman (HBR)
Eyes of Blue – Heart Trouble (Deram)
Rodge Martin – Lovin’ Machine (Bragg)
Cooperettes – Shing-a-ling (Brunswick)
Darrell Banks – Our Love Is In the Pocket (Revilot)
Spellbinders – Help Me (Get Myself Back Together Again) (Columbia)
Olympics – Mine Exclusively (Mirwood)
Chubby Checker – (At the) Discotheque (Parkway)
Peaches and Herb – I Need Your Love So Desperately (Date)
Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers – I Gotta Go Now (Out On the Floor) (Like)
Dean Parrish – I’m On My Way (Laurie) (fade out)

End of Night Wrap Up

Timmy Willis – Mr Soul Satisfaction (Sidra)
Clydie King – Bout Love (Lizard)
Producers – Love Is Amazing (Huff Puff)
Pat Lewis – Look at What I Almost Missed (Solid Hit)
Poets – She Blew a Good Thing (Symbol)
Chuck Jackson – Good Things Come To Those Who Wait (Wand)
Intruders – All the Time (Excel)

Comments (8)

By Larry, March 8, 2011 12:32 pm

Dixie Cups (above) and Billy Vera (below)

Listen/Download – Dixie Cups – Two-Way-Poc-A-Way

Listen/Download – Billy Vera – Big Chief (Tu-Way Poca-Way)

NOTE: After you’re done reading, make sure to check out the comments for additional information on the roots of these songs.

Greetings all.

Here’s yet another unscheduled post, brought on by some deep thinking, spawned by a lack of same on my part, but ultimately remedied (at least I think so, but you’ll have to decide for yourself).

When I posted Billy Vera’s ‘Big Chief (Tu Way Poca Way)’ yesterday, preceded by a few weeks by the Dixie Cups record of the almost identical title, ‘Two-Way-Poc-A-Way’, it didn’t occur to me to think anything other than that both songs were drawing water from the same well, i.e. Mardi Gras Indian tradition.

The Indian Tribes are a New Orleans-based African American tradition that goes back to the mid-19th century, likely born out of the shared minority experience of blacks and native Americans.

The celebrations by these tribes are centered around several holidays climaxing with Mardi Gras, the final day of celebration prior to the Christian feast of Lent (which itself ends with Easter).

The tribes dress in fantastically ornate feathered costumes and parade through the city, doing symbolic battle for primacy.
If you are a big fan of New Orleans music, you have certainly heard, through countless versions of ‘Iko Iko’ (itself based on Sugarboy Crawford’s ‘Jock-A-Mo’, a situation that led to legal action which saw Crawford leave without gaining authorship of the later record, yet being given monetary rights to the Dixie Cups recording), as well as tunes like Professor Longhair’s ‘Big Chief’ words and phrases with a direct connection to the Wild Indian tribes, like ‘big chief’ ‘spy boy’ and ‘flag boy’, as well as a wide variety of seemingly meaningless, rhythmic phrases (check out Professor Longhair’s ‘Tipitina’ for a master class in same*).

When the Dixie Cups recorded ‘Two-Way-Poc-A-Way’ for ABC in 1965 (following their success with ‘Iko Iko’ on Leiber and Stoller’s Red Bird label) they were working with the same basic material, albeit in a much rawer way.

Billy Vera recorded ‘Big Chief (Tu-Way-Poca-Way)’ in 1974, creating his own bit of Mardi Gras funk, borrowing the main phrase from the Dixie Cups record or, and this is entirely likely considering the obscurity of the Dixie Cups recording, from a separate ‘third party’, i.e. Mardi Gras Indian tradition, or earlier R&B source itself.

When I posted the Vera 45 yesterday, a commenter stated that although he liked the record, it was merely an imitation of the Dixie Cups recording. I also had a brief exchange of e-mails on the subject with the mighty Dan Phillips of  Home of the Groove.

I rolled this around in my head for a little while, and since I was out running errands when the comment came in, bounced back and forth between the two songs on the iPod, which in the car is a huge (and potentially dangerous) pain in the ass.

When I got home, I decided that the only way to get to the bottom (or at least close to the bottom of the situation) was to do my best to transcribe both songs and compare.

I’m not qualified to do this on a melodic level, but I do have enough of an ear to see that the Dixie Cups record is almost melody-free, more of a chant than a song. It has a sui generis feel that is both mysterious and extraordinary, where Vera’s record is straight ahead funk.

Lyrically, my assumption was that any similarities I was hearing were likely the result of, as I said before, both artists pulling phrases from the same tradition, which predated both recordings.

When I finally got both sets of lyrics typed out – and I hope you’ll forgive me if some of the words are incorrect – it would appear that aside from the title (which I can’t trace beyond the Dixie Cups record, which may in itself be a problem with countless spelling and punctuation variables) and a pair of common two-line phrases (placed in italics below), the songs are not the same.

There are certainly several common motifs, i.e. the Big Chief, spyboy (or spy), the second line and the battle fire (all of which appear in Professor Longhair’s ‘Big Chief’, which was itself written by Earl King) , but what you end up with is two songs about the same basic set of events (the meeting of the Indian tribes), which include many similar details.

Whether Vera lifted the repeated phrases (rhyming ‘on the bayou’ and ‘world on fire’ and then ‘tambourines ringing’ and ‘second line singing’) directly from the Dixie Cups record, or if they also arise from a third source that I am unaware of (which is also possible) I do not know.

If any of you do, please let me know and I will make note of it in this piece.

That said, there’s also the question of whether or not Vera, a California native, was engaging in a form of stylistic carpetbagging by drawing so heavily from these sources. If he’d recorded his record in 1966, I might say so, but ‘Big Chief (Tu Way Poca Way)’ was recorded in 1974.

Vera was an R&B/soul vet by this point, already familiar with the sounds of the Crescent City. As I mentioned in the previous piece, he is not only a musician with an almost 50 year long career, but also a historian.

As has been displayed in the space for the last six years (and in the web zine before that) the music and culture of New Orleans is brilliant, very deep, and very, very contagious.

My only visit there was as a teenager almost 35 years ago, but every time I put on a record by Professor Longhair, Eddie Bo, Dr John, the Meters, Huey Piano Smith and the Clowns, Irma Thomas, Eldridge Holmes, Roger and the Gypsies or any of the other NOLA artists that I hold so dear, I feel New Orleans in the room, and I can’t really think of any other American music that transports the listener to a region with as much ease.

I’d like to think that Billy Vera was trying to recreate that feeling when he wrote and recorded ‘Big Chief (Tu Way Poca Way)’.

Either way, he created a great 45.

The Lyrics: Note – I omitted repeated uses of the title since I’m not much of a typist, and I fear I may be approaching my lifetime quota on hyphens.

______________________________________________

Dixie Cups – Two-Way-Poc-A-Way
Early in the morning
Indians coming
Go and get the Big Chief
Big Chief ready
Down on the bayou
World on fire
Lord ain’t he pretty
Talkin’ bout big chief
Talkin’ bout big chief

Spy met a gang now
Spy went the signal
Big chief holla
Spy boy walla
Straight on to me

Go up fast now
Tell everybody
Goin on down
Down town

Spy boy leaving
Big chief holla
Second line follow
Tambourines ringing
Second line singing

Sun goin down
Sun going down
Jump all around now
All fall down
Goin’ on in now
Goin’ on in now

______________________________________________

Billy Vera – Big Chief (Tu-Way-Poca-Way)
Onda wondo wonda day
Onda wondo wonda day
Onda wondo wonda day
Onda wondo wonda day

Big Chief march out to the bayou
Dance around the battle fire
Say at night it can’t be done
Won’t come back ‘til battle is done

Goin on in now
Big chief leaders
Across the river

Where my spyboy Big Chief holla
Goes behind the second line follow
Enemy see your see turn tail
Tribes is fighting tooth and nail

Keep on fighting
Big chief leaders
On the bayou
World on fire

Battle is won we go downtown
Big parade when the sun go down
I want to paint my face turn green
Try to find my voodoo queen

Bayou bayou
World on fire
Big Chief holla
Second line follow
Tambourine ringing
Second line singing
See my queen now
Yours is green

Peace

Larry

*Much of this language has roots in Creole and what is referred to as Mobilian jargon

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 for some interesting late 60s pop.

Comments (14)

By Larry, February 15, 2011 3:15 pm

The Dixie Cups on TV = Groovy…

Listen/Download – Dixie Cups – Two-Way-Poc-A-Way

Greetings all.

I don’t know about you, but I unwisely spent my Sunday evening staring at the TV set while the ‘music industry’ took a hot steaming dump.

I understand that ranting about this brings with it the possibility of being branded as old and out of touch, but honest to god, what a lot of shit.

Oh, by the way, I’m talking about the Grammy Awards.

It’s not like this is a new development, because what manifested itself on the screen this week was only the latest incremental step in a decades-long slide to the bottom.

It has been years since popular music ceased worrying about sounding good and began obsessing with spectacle, i.e. how many pyrotechnics, backup dancers and how much postmodern filigree could be wrapped around a song (and I use the term loosely) to keep the saucer-eyed worker ants tossing their hard earned money into the wood chipper, but the blending of the tabloid sensibility with what passes for music these days is scraping the street like a damaged muffler, throwing up sparks and shrapnel while revealing the finely tuned engine of commerce for the loud, greasy beast that it really is.

The really revealing thing is how much of this can be laid at the feet of old-schoolers, who allow their egos to be over-inflated by essentially empty (publicist driven) idolatry from their descendants while phoning it in in the laziest possible way.

There, on the stage next to the current crop of freshly wrapped, forgettable crap (nothing new there, just the latest version of the oily film that has always floated atop the music industry) were folks like Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger (who in paying “tribute” to Brother Solomon Burke, got the first line of ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’ WRONG), Aretha Franklin and Kris Kristofferson (among many others) who really ought to have known better, basically tossing dirt on top of their own caskets.

It wouldn’t be so bad if they were performing something new, of their own creation, but they allow themselves to be wrapped around all manner of contemporary awfulness, like juicy slices of bacon embracing a succession of turds (anti-Rumaki?) , while we all sit by like waterboarding subjects, gasping thankfully for that brief respite from a musical drowning like our torturers are doing us a favor.

Just awful on every conceivable level, ultimately more about the ‘red carpet’, the iconography of crass stupidity and commerce than anything that might be mistaken for art and soul.

Of course I sat there like Statler and/or Waldorf (OG Muppets represent), sneering at my TV set when the off-button was always in reach, which makes me a special brand of rube, but I was also e-commiserating with others of my ilk on the social network that will remain unnamed, so I guess it was a kind of digital anti-focus group, in which we all bonded together in hatred for those that would presume that we were stupid enough to find any of this appetizing, which is where things are in the 21st century (where’s my jet car and Martian vacation home???).

It’s the ultimate manifestation of everything bad about post-modernization (not the conceptual po-mo but what the powers of commerce have done with it).

What we need is something solid with a direct line to the soul, and what you get is Justin Beiber, dancing ninjas with fireworks shooting out of their asses and a “song of the year” (really? Bad year…) largely cribbed from a thirty year old pop song. It’s as if the recording industry, already choking to death on its own spew (and lack of foresight) decided that insulting the intelligence of its audience was a waste of time since there was no longer anything there to be insulted so why not serve up the contents of their dumpster and make believe it’s caviar and lobster?

That said, when I decided I was going to fill this space with gripe, I realized that I couldn’t very well do that without countering the suck with something especially good, representative of the kind of musical kick in the sack required to cleanse the palate in a case like this.

I have my man Dan at the Home of the Groove to thank for turning me on to today’s selection a few years back.

I – like anyone else with a radio or a seat at a wedding – was already aware of the Dixie Cups, with the ‘Chapel of Love’, and ‘People Say’ and that tip of the feathered headdress to their home in the Crescent City ‘Iko Iko’, but when I first heard ‘Two-Way-Poc-A-Way’ my hair (and my prominent ears) stood on end, as they should when presented with something so powerful.

Recorded in 1965 after they moved from Red Bird to ABC/Paramount, and produced by none other than Joe Jones, ‘Two-Way-Poc-A-Way’ is the Wild Indian chant of ‘Iko Iko’ taken to a whole ‘nother extreme, removed from the pop element and placed firmly in the Mardi Gras parade as if you were cakewalking alongside the Big Chief with a head full of spirits (liquid and deceased).

Not much more than the Dixie Cups and a grip of percussion (more than enough if you ask me) ‘Two-Way-Poc-A-Way’ was – even for 1965 when things were really starting to change – an awfully strange record to toss at AM radio – but that’s one of the many reasons (maybe the main one) why it’s so cool.

I’ve dropped this one at funk 45 fests (and in a previous mix) but I figured that in a situation like this, it deserved to be put up where it might be savored on its own.

Real stuff for an increasingly unreal world.

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 for some prime UK psyche/prog.

Comments (25)

By Larry, October 28, 2010 9:14 am

Funky16Corners Radio v.89 – Things Got To Get Better (Get Together)

Playlist

Funky16Corners Radio v.89 – Things Got to Get Better (Get Together)

As first hinted at, then promised, and finally warned about (for those of you who are diametrically opposed politically), Funky16Corners Radio v.89 – Things Got To Get Better (Get Together), aka the ‘election mix’ has finally arrived, been posted at the top of the blog, where it will remain until the election is over.

I know I normally run Halloween themed posts this time of year, but we have real things to be scared about.
There is a Halloween set in this week’s Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio (Friday night at 9PM) so you can get your fix there.

As far as I can recall, I haven’t approached the readers of the Funky16Corners blog with anything sociopolitical since the ‘Two From the Stonewall Jukebox’ post back in July of 2009, and before that the posts about the Presidential election of 2008.

Though I think most of you have some idea of my political orientation, it’s not a frequent subject here, because ultimately Funky16Corners is about music.

However (big however coming here)…

We are currently in the midst of a very dark time, not just in the US, but worldwide.

The rise of the ultra-right and the ensuing anti-immigrant, anti-gay and ultimately anti-intellectual wave that is poised to wash away decades of important social gains in this country is the single most important issue at hand.

Having grown up in the 1970s, I find the idea that this great country would ever descend again into a maelstrom of religious lunacy, open hatred of immigrants and homosexuals, demonization of organized labor (especially teachers) and hateful, empty Rand-ian ‘libertarianism’ is beyond insane.

The economy is in terrible shape, and is unlikely to get better any time soon, and those that have been able to return to work often find that the salaries are lower and the benefits non-existent.

How have some of our countrymen reacted to these challenges?

Not well.

An increasingly angry minority, funded by the mega-rich have become a political force, eager to build fences (literal and figurative) to keep those they consider ‘undesirable’ from participating fully in our democracy.

The rise of these deeply ignorant ‘patriots’ (they love to wrap themselves in the flag, unable to embrace its true meaning), marching alongside religious ideologues and plutocrats has woven together a rancid fabric, its warp and weft rife with xenophobia, racism, class warfare, homophobia and various and sundry fringe hatreds.

You may step back and see these negative forces as smaller, separate issues, but the truth is that they are all part of the same, ugly reaction.

When the going got tough, the right got nasty.

Those institutions tasked with keeping us informed have collapsed under the collective weight of corruption by and collusion with those that have the most to gain by a population ignorant of the truth.

I still have a basic faith in the goodness of the human race, but it is being sorely tested.

I want my children to grow up in a world where they are indifferent to the color of a person’s skin, the language they speak or their sexual preference, but we are surrounded by those that would deny them that future.

This includes people of supposed deep religious faith who forget that their own freedom to worship and express the tenets of their faith includes the freedom of others to find their own path. These are the people who continually fight to deny gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans their civil rights.

These are the people who want to rewrite the textbooks in our schools to cleanse them of science and fill them with creationism and revisionist (racial and political) history.

This also includes a lot of people, many of them radicalized after the attacks of 9/11, who have turned against American citizens of Muslim faith, and stoked fears (alongside similarly radicalized anti-Muslim forces in Europe and Scandinavia) of all Muslims, as well as immigrants in general.

These are the people who allowed 30 years of Republican propaganda to turn them against organized labor, while simultaneously building an obscene faith in big business that allowed massive deregulation and tax cuts, as well a cheering our way into two insane wars.

This is the same big business that – thanks to a bizarre Supreme Court decision – is now allowed to flood the political system with piles of cash (anonymously) to attack those that would put a stop to our slow (but seemingly inevitable) march to plutarchy.

Please don’t mistake this as an endorsement of President Obama specifically, or the Democrats in general.
Despite promises to the contrary, the President has continued to fight the right of gays to serve in the military, and has stated that he opposes the idea of gay marriage.

Many of those that serve with the (D) next to their name have also thrown their lot in with the ‘whatever big business wants’ crowd as well.

There may be something “trickling down” onto the middle class and the poor, but it’s not money.

However (another big one here), the alternative is people like Joe Miller in Alaska, Sharon Angle in Nevada, the execrable Rand Paul in Kentucky, deeply ignorant Christine O’Donnell in Delaware, Ken Buck in Colorado, Marco Rubio in Florida and countless others who have embraced the insane ideas of the radical right.
These people are only the larger public face of this movement.

While they run for national office, their foot soldiers are poised to fill seats in state legislatures, county and local office, and worst of all, school boards.

There are those that would have you believe that the system is utterly broken, and that an appropriate response is not to vote at all.

This is insane.

Is there any among you that really think that the way to right a staggering democracy is to withdraw from it?
Not only should every one of you exercise your right to vote, but you should do what you can to convince your family and friends that they should as well, because one thing the forces of the radical right do, religious or otherwise, is vote.

These are the people that are counting on apathy to help them get their hooks into the government where they can start to punch holes in the Constitution they ironically wave like a battle flag.

So what does this have to do with Funky16Corners?

Like the mighty James Brown says:

People, people we got to get over before we go under!

Tell’em Godfather!

The majority of the soul and funk music we celebrate here was created during a time when the forces of the right were attempting to tighten the screws of the status quo, while the forces of peace, racial equality and sexual liberation were battling in the streets (and the ballot box) to upend it and seize their rights.

Soul and funk are the sounds of struggle and liberation. Not every number here has an explicit political/social message, but the music of black America, created in the 60s and 70s in its core rarely says anything else.
Funky16Corners Radio v.89 is an attempt to string some of the more powerful musical statements of the time together, along with spoken intervals by important thinkers.

Things get off to a depressing, yet wholly realistic start, but work their way up through anger, defiance and ultimately (hopefully) triumph.

Not every number here carries an explicit message, but taken together they make an important statement.
The voices heard between the songs include some very well known (civil rights figures like Dr Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Jesse Jackson), and some lesser known (Dorothy Day*), and in a few cases dreadfully misunderstood and demonized (Saul Alinsky**, Noam Chomsky), but their words all have in common is their relevance to the world we live in today.

I’m not saying that things are going to be fixed if the opponents of democracy are defeated in this election (since many of them clearly won’t be), but rather (to borrow an old saw) the journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, and stepping into the voting booth and making yourself heard is that step.

Far too many Americans take a pass on that important responsibility, and if they continue to do so, they’ll have no one to thank but themselves when the world around them gets worse.

So, once again in the words of James Brown:

Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved.

Educate yourself.

Educate others.

Don’t allow hatred and disinformation to go unchallenged.

Don’t be afraid.

Peace

Larry

*Dorothy Day is an especially important figure in the history of social justice and charity. If her name is unfamiliar, dig a little deeper and read about this great woman.

**Saul Alinsky has been demonized by the right to the point where his name has become a kind of shorthand (with just the tiniest bit of anti-semitism attached to it) for leftist subversion. I doubt most of the people that throw his name around as an epithet have read anything about him. His voice – like most of those in this mix – was an important one in the struggle to transfer power from the haves to the have nots (which goes a long way to explaining why those that shill for the mega-rich hate him so). If all you’ve ever heard about him are bad things, do yourself a favor and read up on his life (outside of right wing web sites).

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PPS – Make sure to fall by Iron Leg

PPPS Make sure to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

Comments (2)

By Larry, August 22, 2010 1:18 pm

Earl King

Listen/Download – Earl King – Tic Tac Toe

Greetings all.

I’m sitting here, and it’s early. No one (except the kids, natch) has had enough sleep, but it’s relatively quiet so I figured I’d better get some writing in before the day gets rolling.
The summer – bracketed by Memorial Day and Labor Day – is almost over, and that, surprisingly enough, is a good thing.

Labor Day is approaching, and with it comes the exodus of the tourists. This glorious occasion is followed by a month of great weather, a serious drop in traffic and crowds, and with it the gradual restoration of my peace of mind (which seems in constant danger of extinction).
The tune I bring you today is a kicking slice of New Orleans funk, with as solid a pedigree as these things ever have.

The artist in question is the mighty Earl King.

You do not know him?

I say ‘au contraire, mon frere!’, because while Earl King may not have had any big hits, he was directly or indirectly responsible for many great pieces of music, including Professor Longhair’s legendary ‘Big Chief’ (which King wrote and sang on), the blues/soul standards  ‘Come On’ (which Jimi Hendrix covered on ‘Electric Ladyland’) and ‘Trick Bag’, in addition to being an indispensable part of New Orleans music in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

One need only dip into their New Orleans crates (you can substitute theoretical boxes of New Orleans 45s if you don’t have real ones) and see how many great records were either recorded by King, or bear the mark of his pen and/or performance (often under his real name, Earl Johnson).

The tune I bring you today is one of the few vinyl remnants of a 1970 King session, helmed by no less a light than Allen Toussaint and backed by a certain local combo called the Meters. This conglomeration recorded an album’s worth of material, but since a satisfactory deal never materialized, all that ever saw the light of day at the time was a few 45s.
One of these, ‘Street Parade’ (on the hard-to-find Kansu label) was featured in this space back in ought-seven. As Mardi Gras tributes go, they don’t get much better (or funkier) than ‘Street Parade’.

‘Tic Tac Toe’ which hails from the same sessions is lyrically uninspiring (pretty much standard issue dance craze boilerplate) but King is in fine voice, and the backing band featuring most of the Meters (Dan Phillips at the mighty ‘Home of the Groove’ noted previously that Art Neville’s keyboards seem to be MIA) is tight.

There’s a great, repeated bass guitar riff that kind of pushes the rhythm, Zig Modeliste’s snappy drums, and a nice horn chart riding in the background.

Despite the uninspired lyrics, it’s always great to hear King’s voice, and in the end what you are supposed be doing with this record is dancing, not parsing the meaning of the words, so take it all as a very groovy whole, and shake your thing a little bit.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Wednesday with something mellow.

Peace

Larry

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for a Lennon/McCartney tune.

Comments (4)

By Larry, July 15, 2010 5:53 pm

Wardell Quezerque – ‘The Creole Beethoven’

Listen/Download – Willie Harper – A Certain Girl

Greetings all.
Before we get started I should note that I heard the sad news this morning that one of my all time faves, Gene Ludwig,  – master of the Hammond organ –  has passed away. I wanted to put together a suitable tribute, so I’ll be pulling some records from the crates and digimatizing them for a tribute post on Monday. Please keep his wife Pattye in your thoughts.
The tune I bring you today is a cut by one of my favorite New Orleans singers.
Oddly enough, as obscure as he is, Willie Harper is one of the first NOLA vocalists I had in my crates, via the fairly common and extremely cool ‘But I Couldn’t’ on ALON records. This was the very first single released on Allen Toussaint and Joe Banashak’s ALON imprint and the flipside ‘A New Kind of Love’ was a local hit. He would go on to record five singles for ALON.
I don’t know anything about Harper’s life, but as a huge fan of both New Orleans music and Allen Toussaint his voice has been a familiar one for years.
Harper recorded on and off through the 60s, like many other singers, almost exclusively with Allen Toussaint. He recorded under his own name for ALON and Sansu (two 45s under his own name, ‘You You‘ and ‘Here Comes The Hurt‘) , and as one half (with Toussaint) of Willie and Allen (’I Don‘t Need No One‘) , as part of the Rubaiyats (the storming ‘Omar Khayyam’, also basically Willie and Allen) and as a backing singer on a number of Toussaint productions for Benny Spellman and Ernie K Doe.
Speaking of K Doe, it was he that first recorded Toussaint’s ‘A Certain Girl’ in 1961. It went on to be a British Invasion favorite, with covers by the Yardbirds, the Animals, the First Gear, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders and the Paramounts (featuring Gary Brooker and Robin Trower, later of Procol Harum).
Willie Harper recorded ‘A Certain Girl’ for Tou-Sea in 1968, and it’s turned into one of my favorite, purely soul sides out of the Crescent City.
I’ve always found the Tou-Sea (that’s Toussaint & Marshal Seahorn) label to be an interesting footnote in late 60s New Orleans music. As far as I can tell the label’s discography isn’t very lengthy*, and the releases I’ve come across are all on the grittier side. How they decided to place these particular sides (including 45s by Warren Lee, Harper and Gus ‘The Groove’ Lewis), I don’t know, but as Dan Phillips of the mighty Home of the Groove blog has noted, some of the Tou-Sea sides were not specifically Toussaint projects. Some of them, including today’s selection, were produced and arranged by none other than Wardell Quezerque (billed here as both ‘Big Q’ and ‘DC Wardell’.
It is a constant source of regret that I haven’t made a closer study of Quezerque’s production and arranging work (god knows my crates are filled with his work).
He was prolific, and probably, among the “Big Three’ in New Orleans – Toussaint, Eddie Bo and himself – the biggest hitmaker. He was the man behind NOLA records, and produced and arranged for just about anyone who was anyone in the Crescent City, hitting the charts with Professor Longhair, Earl King, Tami Lynn, Robert Parker, King Floyd and Jean Knight among many others. He also worked as a producer and arranger for many non-New Orleans artists like the Pointer Sisters, BB King, and Ruth Brown.
Harper’s version of the tune features a prominent horn section, with just a touch of that relaxed, New Orleans tempo. Harper is – as always – in fine voice (improvising new lyrics here and there) , backed by a female chorus.
It’s a great 45, and maybe proof that someone out there ought to collect the stuff that Harper recorded during the 60s (and early 70s) into a comp.
I hope you dig it and I’ll be back on Monday.

Peace

Larry

*I’ve seen listings for – but largely haven’t heard – releases on Tou-Sea by Mill Evans, Jay Roy, Ray Algere, Zilla Mayes and Johnny Green (Algere being the only one of those I’m familiar with)

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some great LA folk rock

Comments (3)

By Larry, April 22, 2010 8:21 pm

Listen/Download -Hank Herb – Ali Funky Thing Pt1

Listen/Download -Hank Herb – Ali Funky Thing Pt2

Greetings all.

I hope that the end of the week finds you well.
Me, not so much… I have been assailed by a bug that has left me feverish and singularly unmotivated. Had I not experience the tiniest bit of improvement as the day wore on, I wouldn’t be posting at all. But you know how I am, neither rain, nor sleet or whatever…

I’ll start with a bit of news, that bring that the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva internet radio just got a prime timeslot upgrade, and will now be airing Friday evenings at 9PM EST. I’ve been doing this show for a while now, but got bumped out of my original slot and into a severely crappy one. That has now been remedied, and there will be some changes in the offing. Thanks to the completion of the Funky16Corners Record Vault and Podcasting Nerve Center, all of my shows at Viva (starting with next week 4/30) will be recorded and mixed live on the old ones and twos. I have yet to work out getting the spoken parts done that way (right now I record them after I’m done) but I will try to figure it out.
So, if you’re hanging at home (or god forbid, the office) at 9PM on Friday, tune us in over the interwebs for the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove.
The tune I bring you today is a bit of a mystery. I can’t honestly remember where I picked this 45 up (though I’m certain it was an E-dig), I do remember getting it home and scratching my head a bit.
The record in question is ‘Ali, Funky Thing Pts 1&2’ by Hank Herb. The record is also (quite clearly to anyone that’s heard the OG) ‘Al, Funky Thing’ by Chuck Cornish (sampled by Cypress Hill). Why this was pressed and credited to the pseudonymous Mr. Herb (they still give songwriting credit to Chuck Cornish, and it’s on the ‘Chuck’ label), I have no earthly idea. I’m sure I thought I was getting some obscure cover version (of an already obscure song) when in fact I was getting the same exact record on a different label.
I don’t know much about Chuck Cornish. He was from New Orleans, and he only recorded a handful of 45s. One of these, the laid back but funky ‘Blue Eye Brother and Soul Get Along’ was featured in this space a few years ago and is a fave.
‘Ali, Funky Thing’ is as you might expect, a funky tribute to the boxing great, with some fantastic twangy guitar and a great horn section. Other than that, as Gertrude Stein once said of her childhood home, ‘There’s no there there’. If anyone has any more info, as to Cornish, or why this was issued in the form you see before you today, please drop me a line.
I’m going to bed.
Have a great weekend.

Peace

Larry

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for an obscure mid-60s 45…

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

You can also follow Funky16Corners on Twitter

Comments (3)

By Larry, March 9, 2010 5:03 pm

Mr. Willie Tee

Listen/Download – Willie Tee – Sweet Thing

Greetings all.
I hope that the middle of the week find you all well, especially those of you within driving distance of the Big Apple. I’ll be spinning tonight (Wednesday 3/10) at Master Groove @Forbidden City, and it’d be great to meet up with some more of you good people. I have a very special, downtempo Mod Soul set line up, which I think you’ll dig. The beer will be cold, the food is excellent, and of course the vinyl (spinning at 45RPM) will be worth the trip. I hope to see you there.

A few weeks back, when I dropped the Northern Soul mix, I made mention of the fact that one of the best records in that mix (the Four Larks ‘Groovin’ at the Go Go’), which was a long time white whale of mine eventually made it’s way into my crates via a very cool, and extremely generous reader who found a mint copy of the record and sent it to me. Today’s selection arrived at the Funky16Corners record vault in much the same way.
Late last year, my man Tarik (who’ll also be spinning tonight at Botanica alongside the mighty Mr. Finewine) connected with me via the interwebs to tell me about some digging he’d been doing down in New Orleans. Naturally I was jealous, but also glad to hear that someone was excavating vinyl in the Crescent City. Not long after we’d chatted, a package arrived in the mail, and in addition to some cool stuff for the little Corners, Tarik sent me some very cool 45s, my favorite of which is today’s selection.
If you’re a fan of New Orleans soul and funk, the name Willie Tee (nee Turbinton) ought to be a familiar one. In addition to mid-60s records under his own name for NOLA and Atlantic (1965s ‘Walking Up a One Way Street’ is a big fave with the soulies), Willie went on to form the Gaturs* with his brother Earl, and made some of the best instrumental funk 45s to come out of New Orleans in the early 70s. He was also an accomplished jazz musician.
In the years before and after the Gaturs, Tee made a number of excellent records for a variety of local (Hot Line, Bonatemp, Gatur) and national (Atco, UA, Capitol) labels, up until his untimely passing in 2007.
Today’s selection, ‘Sweet Thing’ was released on the Gatur label in 1973. It’s one of Willie Tee’s funkiest outings, with a real, slick uptown sound that sounds like it could have been pulled from a blaxploitation soundtrack. Not only do you get Willie’s fine vocals and funky electric piano, but there are layers of wah-wah guitar and classy strings. I also dig the mix of drum set and hand drums. The last time I dropped this at the Asbury Park 45 Sessions it had a couple of the other DJs running up to the turntables to see what it was.
Yet another great funk 45 from the Big Easy.
I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Friday

Peace

Larry

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some Midwest garage folk.

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

You can also follow Funky16Corners on Twitter