Comments (3)

By Larry, June 11, 2013 12:02 pm

The mighty Dells, Marvin Junior at the top.

Listen/Download The Dells – Stay In My Corner (LP)

Listen/Download The Dells – There Is (45)

Greetings all

The world of soul was saddened last week to hear of the passing (on May 29) of the mighty Marvin Junior of the Dells.

I have to admit that for many years I was largely ignorant of the breadth of the Dells catalog.

The groups remarkable 1968 hit ‘There Is’ knocked me on my ass when I first heard it as a kid, even though I thought I was listening to the Four Tops.

I eventually figured out the truth, grabbed myself a copy of the 45 and always dug inserting its explosive power (especially that conga break)  into DJ sets.

Other than that, and a couple of their obvious bigger hits (like the 1969 version of ‘Oh What a Night’) I knew little of their vast discography (they were together, with the original line up for over 50 years!).

It wasn’t until I grabbed a copy of the ‘There Is’ LP that I had my mind blown by their epic ballad ‘Stay In My Corner’.

I first had to grapple with the fact that I already knew (and loved) the song, as done in a more uptempo version by the Hesitations.

That, and the fact that the track is over six minutes long, practically unheard at the time outside of the rock world.

Written by Wade Flemons, Barrett Strong and Bobby Miller (the latter producing the album with arrangements by the great Charles Stepney),’Stay In My Corner’ was first recorded by the Dells in 1965 for VeeJay. That version – which grazed the R&B Top 20 – was not only much shorter (2:17) but sung with a different rhythmic pulse.

The 1968 recording, which topped the R&B charts and made the Pop Top 10, was, on both the LP and the 45, a six-plus minute epic and a master class in soul singing.

The Dells had their first hit (the original version of ‘Oh What a Nite’) in 1956, and the traces of that earlier era of R&B harmony are evident throughout ‘Stay In My Corner’.

The first time I listened to the song, the opening struck me as almost schmaltzy, but any hesitations I had disappeared as soon as Marvin Junior started singing.

Though the basic drive train of the song is an almost standard ‘late night soul ballad’ thing, what the Dells do with it over those six minutes is truly remarkable.

The song takes a couple of unusual melodic turns, which the group takes full advantage of, shifting the tone subtly but powerfully.

There’s a section around the 2:40 mark where they harmonize on the word ‘stay’ that just about shoots through your ears like a bolt of lightning.

As I mentioned before, the Dells brought bits and pieces of old school, streetcorner singing into the later soul era, and there are a number of times where Johnny Carter’s falsetto breaks out in (for 1968) unusual, and very cool ways.

The most amazing part of the record, comes at just after the five-minute mark, where Marvin Junior stretches out the word ‘baby’, holding the note for well over 15 seconds, in a move that in the hands of lesser singer would seem pretentious or operatic. Yet Junior’s voice was a remarkable, soulful instrument and you never get the impression that there’s a second of it that he doesn’t feel in the deepest part of his soul. I get choked up every time I hear that section of the song. It boggles the mind and reminds me why music is as close as I get to a religion these days.

‘Stay In My Corner’ is the kind of record you need to sit down with, slap on the headphones and really get inside of with repeated listens.

It’s that good.

The Dells were an amazing group, and Marvin Junior a mighty singer.

He will be missed.

See you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (10)

By Larry, May 26, 2013 1:01 pm

Greetings all.

Welcome to the 2013 Funky16Corners Allnighter and Pledge Drive.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, I’ll offer you my thanks once again, and hopefully we’ll all be together again this time next year for more of the same.

Keep the Faith
Larry

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Click here to donate to Funky16Corners!

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

funky16corners@lycos.com

Thanks

Larry

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Word from DJ Prestige

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Listen/Download DJ Bluewater – Turn To This Sound

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

A Word from DJ RP

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

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

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

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

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

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

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 21, 2013 2:17 pm

Junior Wells

Listen/Download Junior Wells – Girl You Lit My Fire

Greetings all

I have been hard at work preparing for the 2013 Funky16Corners Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

Almost all of the participating DJs are present an accounted for, this year’s groovy premiums are ready to go (more on that on Friday) and we ought to be up an running for next week.

This years mixes are blazing hot, with a most of the familiar heads working it out, as well as a couple of new contributors that really bring their best stuff.

Funk, Northern Soul, Reggae, Disco, R&B, you name it, you’ll hear it. So get ready to download (and hopefully donate).

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I will assume that most of you with a passing interest in the blues will have heard the name Junior Wells before.

Over a three decade period, alone and alongside the mighty Buddy Guy (among others) Wells laid down some of the finest vocals and harp wailing to come out of the Chicago scene.

What Junior Wells also did, was cross over – frequently – into the worlds of funk and soul during the mid to late 60s.

While pretty much every blues artist made an attempt to cast a wider sonic net during these years (some more convincingly than others) few had as natural an aptitude for it as Wells did.

The records he made for the Chicago-based Bright Star and Blue Rock (a Mercury subsidiary) labels are great examples of his ability to both rev up the blues and perform convincing soul music.

The tune I bring you today, ‘Girl You Lit My Fire’ was Wells’s second single for Blue Rock in 1968.

Arranged by none other than the great Charles Stepney, ‘Girl You Lit My Fire’ – despite it’s obvious tip of the hat to a certain Doors hit (RIP Ray…) , is a hard charging, horn driven bit of funky soul (the drums are especially tight) with a powerful vocal by Wells.

The flipside (like several of his 45s from the period) leans more in the blues direction, with a cover of GL Crockett’s ‘There’s a Man Down There’ (better known in the Allman Brothers version as ‘One Way Out’).

All of Wells’s 45s from this period are worth picking up, and thankfully not terribly hard to come by.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (5)

By Larry, May 14, 2013 11:30 am

Artee Duke Payne (left) and Curtis Prince (top) with Odell Brown and the Organizers

Listen/Download Duke Payne – The Bottom

Listen/Download Duke Payne – Reaction

Greetings all

Welcome to the midweek festivities.

I thought it might be a good time to dip into the pantry and bring out something on a groovy soul jazz tip.

It was a while back, whilst doing some of what the record hounds refer to as “e-digging” that I happened upon a 45 that piqued my interest.

The name Duke Payne rang a bell, and after racking my brain for a few minutes I recalled that I was used to hearing it with the name ‘Artee’ in front of it, as in Artee Duke Payne, saxophonist with Odell Brown and the Organizers.

I did a little bit of research, discovered that ‘M and M’ was in fact a Chicago-based imprint, and then (once the record fell through the mail slot) saw the name ‘C. Prince’ (as in Odell Brown’s drummer Curtis Prince) credited as the writer on today’s selection and the cipher was complete.

The record, which dates to sometime in the late 60s, is sought after for the slightly funky bagpipe feature ‘The Bottom’ on the A-side. That track features Payne working it out on the bagpipe – much less irritating than you might think – with vibes and some far out wah-wah guitar.

If you dig into the catalog of Odell Brown and the Organizers, it’s Duke Payne, sometimes treading the border between in and out that gave the group its edge.

Though the late 60s saw a lot of jazzers getting loose and trippy, the results were rarely this cool.

The flipside, ‘Reaction’ is a brilliant bit of soul jazz, with electric saxophone, vibes, organ (doesn’t sound like Odell Brown to me, but who knows?) and guitar, all cranking double time in a groovy modal bag.

The M&M label started out in the mid-50s, releasing all manner of R&B, blues and jazz and seems to have continued at least until the early 80s.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, March 14, 2013 11:44 am

Ricky Allen

Listen/Download Ricky Allen – Cut You A Loose

Greetings all

The end of the week is nigh and so must be the Funky16Corners Radio Show, Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you cannot join me at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

Now…I hope you’re all strapped in securely and have ingested your blood pressure medicine and all necessary sedatives.

I only mention this because the record I’m going to whip on you this fine day is likely to blow your doors off, set your hair on end and (if you’re lucky) drive you into the kind of convulsions often recognized as “dancing”.

I first heard Ricky Allen’s ‘Cut You A Loose’courtesy of my friend Michael Newman’s ‘Hinky Dinky Time’ radio show.

It was one of those times where I heard a record for the first time (happens a lot at DJ nights) and the intersections of the pleasure and acquisition centers of my brain light up at exactly the same time.

Gotta hear that record again, and gotta get me a copy to stash in my play box, in that exact order.

It didn’t take me too long to find a nice, clean copy of the 45, and when it did fall through the mail slot I digimatized it forthwith and put the digital copy on a loop.

Like Bobby Parker’s ‘Watch Your Step’, ‘Cut You A Loose’ is one of those records that lives in the mystical land where blues and soul (and rock’n’roll) coexist peacefully, breeding at will and producing offspring like this.

‘Cut You A Loose’ was a Top 20 R&B hit in August of 1963 and Allen (who was born in Nashville but relocated to Chicago in the late 50s) went on to record a handful of 45s in a similar vein through the 60s.

After I’d digested this tune, it occurred to me that it sounded familiar. It wasn’t until I’d played it a dozen or so times that it occurred to me that ‘Cut You A Loose’ bore an interesting resemblance to another record, that being Dave Baby Cortez’s ‘Getting To the Point’.

As far as I can tell, ‘Cut You A Loose’ came first (by a few months), with ‘Getting To the Point’ being a rather savage, Hammond-driven “homage”, if you will.

‘Cut You A Loose’ became a Chicago blues standard of sorts, with cover versions by James Cotton, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, and Koko Taylor among others (I have no idea how this song didn’t become a staple of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s repertoire).

Allen apparently retired in the early 70s to run a limousine business and a laundry, before returning to the festival circuit years later.

This record is as powerful 2:47 of music as you’re likely to find, and I hope you dig it as much as I do.

See you soon.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, March 12, 2013 11:54 am

Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee

Listen/Download Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee – People Get Ready

Greetings all

Here’s an odd one.

Many, many moons ago I was out digging and happened upon the 45 you see before you today.

When I saw a version of ‘People Get Ready’ by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee I had to double check and make sure it was in fact the Curtis Mayfield song.

Indeed it was.

This was a record that cried out for further investigation, and since it was on sale for a shiny United States quarter, I paid the man and brought it home, where it languished for a good long time.

When I first recorded it I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee were known mostly as a folk blues act, having joined forces for the first time in 1942.

McGhee, the singer and guitarist (brother of Stick McGhee of ‘Drinkin’ Wine Spo-dee-o-dee’ fame) had played with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels and followed/studied with Blind Boy Fuller.

Harp player Sonny Terry had been accompanying Fuller until the latter’s death, after which he teamed up with McGhee.

Now, I mentioned that Terry and McGhee were best known (to me, anyway) as folk blues players, but as it turns out, they spent the early part of their career working at a more popular/mainstream success. They recorded jump blues and R&B under a few different names during the 40s and 50s, only really getting firmly into their better known bag riding the wave of the folk/blues revival in the late 50s/early 60s.

When I first listened to this version of ‘People Get Ready’ I was surprised by the arrangement, in which Terry and McGhee change the tempo, moving away from the gospel feel of the original (and many ensuing covers) and settling into a rootsy, ever so slightly funky groove that reminds me of some of Taj Mahal’s ish from around the same time.

As it turns out the single was pulled from the 1973 LP ‘Sonny and Brownie’, which featured an all-star backing group (Arlo Guthrie, Sugarcane Harris, John Mayall, Michael Franks) and a variety of contemporary covers, including Randy Newman’s ‘Sail Away’, a couple of Franks’ songs and some originals.

As I said before, the re-arrangement might see a little jarring at first, but after a listen or two it starts to make complete sense (at least to me, your mileage may vary…).

Something unusual to feed your ears in the middle of the week.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, February 24, 2013 2:55 pm

Funky16Corners Presents: No Bad Trip – Black Wah-Wah 1969-1974

Magictones – Good Old Music (Westbound)
Doug Anderson – Hey Mama Here Comes the Preacher (Janus)
Earth Wind and Fire – Bad Tune (WB)
Bloodstone – Bo Diddley (London)
Bo Diddley – Pollution (Chess)
Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers – Searching for Soul Pt2 (Mutt)
Nat Turner Rebellion – Plastic People (DelValiant)
Fantastic Epics – Fun and Funk Pts 1&2 (Tories)
Jackson 5 – I’ll Bet You (Motown)
Eddie Bo and the Soul Finders – The Rubber Band Pt1 (Knight)
Young-Holt Unlimited – The Devil Made Me Do Dat (Cotillion)
Joe Simon Band – Oon-Guela Pt2 (SS7)
Jimmie Preacher Ellis – I Gotta See My Baby (Round)
The Eight Minutes – Here’s Some Dances (Jay Pee)
Fugi – Mary Don’t Take Me On No Bad Trip Pts1&2 (Cadet)
E. Rodney Jones, Larry and the Hippies Band – Right On Right On (Sex machine) (Westbound)
Brothers of Hope – Nickol Nickol (Gamble)

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents No Bad Trip – 109MB Mixed Mp3/256K

Greetings all.

The mix you see before you is another one of those jams that I previewed on Mixcloud for a while before whipping it on you here at the Corners.

Though you may recognize a couple of the tracks as things you’ve seen here in the past, No Bad Trip is one of those things that was bouncing around in my head for a good long time, taking form gradually,adding tracks here and there as I remembered something groovy that fit just right. It was revised and reworked a few times until I thought I had happened upon the perfect admixture.

The overall feel – as it were – is one of the time after psychedelia and all of its practical trappings – wah wah pedals, echoplex and freak flags of all varieties hoisted high – began to make their way into black music.

Though there were other people of color getting heavy at the time, much of this can be traced directly to the dayglo doorstep of Jimi Hendrix – with the Experience and Band of Gypsys – as well as Sly Stone,  Funkadelic, Norman Whitfield and any other artist during that time period liberally mixing psychedelics into their funk and vice versa.

This is really a story of “gates swinging both ways”, with all manner of “you got your funk in my rock”, “but you got your rock in my funk” going on, as well as an expression of the general eclecticism of the time, with African sounds making themselves heard with Joe Simon and Earth Wind and Fire, the evolution of Bo Diddley from old-school charger into fairly convincing new-style far outness and the explicit psyche out of Fugi.

As your physician I strongly recommend that you ingest this mix through headphones of some kind, so that you don’t miss any of the sonic goodness.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, February 21, 2013 11:07 am

Lou Bond

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

Listen/Download Lou Bond – To the Establishment

Greetings all

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, January 3, 2013 11:23 am

Miss Fontella Bass

Listen/Download Fontella Bass and Bobby McLure – Don’t Mess Up a Good Thing

Greetings all

Since the end of the week is upon us it behooves me to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show is as well, airing each and every Friday night at 9pM on Viva Radio. If you can’t fall by at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

We have to start off 2013 in much the same way as we did 2012, that is eulogizing the fallen greats of funk and soul (Miss Marva Whitney a few days ago and Jimmy McCracklin this coming Monday).

Today we mark the passing of Miss Fontella Bass.

Those that know me have heard my complaints about Ms Bass’s biggest hit, 1965’s ‘Rescue Me’ as a song so ubiquitous that I would feel safe never having to hear it again.

This is of course no fault of hers, but rather the tastemakers/compilers of oldies radio and movie soundtracks who have made that particular record an all but inescapable shorthand for 60s soul, much like James Brown’s ‘I Feel Good’, or the Four Tops ‘(I Can’t Help Myself) Sugar Pie Honey Bunch’, all in their way great records, but beaten so soundly into my brain as to have sucked all the joy out of the music.

Every time ‘Rescue Me’ is cued up it just conjures up images of ‘The Big Chill’ and makes me want to strangle a Baby Boomer with a tie-dyed shirt. And the remarkable thing is that it’s not even on that soundtrack, but rather just another house picked up by and forever swirling around inside of that horrifying tornado of nostalgia.

Though I have owned a copy of ‘Rescue Me’ for years, I have not pulled it out of the crates to play it, and for all intents and purposes, Fontella Bass was well off my radar.

That was, until one lazy day, when I was sprawled on the couch channel surfing and happened upon a soul documentary that while generally unpromising, was light years better than everything else on the tube.

It was during this program (on one of the VH-1s) that a clip came on with a song that I hadn’t heard before and my ears perked right up.

There on the screen were Fontella Bass and Bobby McClure belting out a tune called ‘Don’t Mess Up a Good Thing’.

There’s no question that my lack of interest in all things Fontella Bass was unfair, but in my defense, I had no idea that she’d done anything else, especially anything this cool.

I listen to a tremendous amount of music (especially soul and funk), much of it pulled out of dusty boxes and shoved directly into my ears, and I was, unfortunately, unaware of this record, but that’s the way things go. Despite what some people might say or think, you must be humble enough to admit that you cannot know every good record there is (and I do not, though maybe someday…).

That said, ‘Don’t Mess Up a Good Thing’ hit the R&B Top 5 and the Pop Top 40 in February of 1965.

Fontella Bass, Bobby McClure and the bandleader on the date Oliver Sain (the flipside of the 45 was ‘Jerk Loose’ by Sain and his orchestra) all hailed from St Louis, MO.

Bass had started out as a gospel singer, her mother Martha Bass being a member of the Clara Ward Singers. She got her start in the world of secular music playing piano in Little Milton’s band (alongside Oliver Sain).

She signed with Chess/Checker in 1964, had the duet hit with McClure in early 1965 and went on to have her biggest hit with ‘Rescue Me’ in September of that year, making it to the Number One spot on the R&B charts and the Pop Top 5.

Bass had three more R&B Top 40 hits in 1965 and 1966 but left the label after being denied a co-writing credit on ‘Rescue Me’.

She married avant garde jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie, with whom she moved to Paris in the late 60s where she recorded two albums with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, including the sought after ‘Les Stances a Sophie’.

Following her return to the US, Bass recorded more soul sides for the Paula label through 1972 but eventually retired from music.

She returned to record both gospel and jazz later in life but suffered a series of strokes in the last few years of her life and was in hospice care when she succumbed to a heart attack.

She will be missed.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, December 24, 2012 11:36 am

The LP (above), Miss Dorothy Ashby (below)

Listen/Download – The Soulful Strings – Jingle Bells

Listen/Download – The Soulful Strings feat. Dorothy Ashby – Merry Christmas Baby

NOTE: This year – as in years past – the run up to Christmas will be filled with re-postings of some of my (and your) fave soulful and funky holiday tunes.

This gives you all a chance to catch up on some soulful Christmas jams, and gives me time to rest my blogging muscles and enjoy the holiday.

There are also two previous years of Funky16Corners Radio Christmas Specials (12/24/10 and 12/23/11) as well as this year’s show (12/21) in the Archive.

This will be my final post for the week, so here’s hoping that those of you that celebrate have a very Merry Christmas, and that for the rest of you, things stay mellow as a cello.

This post is dedicated to the memory of the mighty Miss Marva Whitney, who passed away a few days ago. I will most definitely be paying tribute to her in the coming weeks.

Enjoy!

Larry

Originally Posted 12/2007

Greetings all.

As I’ve stated repeatedly in the past, I’ve never been much of a holiday music collector. However, once in a while a personal obsession of mine also happens to have a Christmas record. In the case of Richard Evans and the Soulful Strings, their 1968 LP ‘The Magic of Christmas’ is a real gem.

The first tune I selected was the obvious choice (at least for me) because I can’t think of another version of ‘Jingle Bells’ that opens up with an honest to goodness drum break. I’m not sure who’s laying it down here (though I’m guessing that it is in fact Morris Jennings Jr.).

The second selection is a lush, sublime reading of Charles Brown’s classic ‘Merry Christmas Baby’ which features the brilliant Dorothy Ashby on harp. If you aren’t familiar with Ashby – I included her ‘Soul Vibrations’ on my collab with DJ Prestige ‘Beat Combination Pt2’ (check out the Flea Market Funk Mixes page)– she was one of the few harpists who could actually play jazz on the instrument, and the three albums she recorded for Cadet between 1968 and 1970 (in collaboration with Evans) are brilliant.

If your nerves are frayed (like mine) and the consumerist madness of the holiday season has you down, give this version of ‘Merry Christmas Baby’ a listen and all will (at least for a few minutes) be well, as it is positively sublime.

I’ll be taking the next week off to enjoy the holiday with my family and do a little visiting. I will most definitely be back with something for New Years Eve, so hang tight, enjoy your Christmas and I’ll see you all soon.<<

Peace

Larry

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

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

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (8)

By Larry, November 8, 2012 2:22 pm

Ted Taylor – Love Is Like a Ramblin’ Rose (Okeh)
Stereos – I Feel Soul a Comin’ (Cadet)
Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers – I Can’t Turn You Loose (RCA)
Choker Campbell and his 16 Piece Band – Wild One (Motown)
Joe Jeffrey Group – My Pledge of Love (Wand)
The Contours – First I Look at the Purse (Gordy)
Derek Martin – Sly Girl (Tuba)
Exciters – Blowing Up My Mind (RCA)
Ferris Wheel – Number One Guy (Philips)
Carl Carlton – Hold On To What You Got (Big Beat)
Ella Fitzgerald – Get Ready (Reprise)
High Keys – Living a Lie (Verve)
Dobie Gray – Out On the Floor (Charger)
Ronnie Dyson – Fever (Columbia)
Shirelles – No Doubt About It (Scepter)
The Tams – Trouble Maker (ABC)
Garnet Mimms – Prove It To Me (UA)
Marvelle and the Blue Mats – Mellow Man (Dynamic Sound)
Billy Butler – Boston Monkey (Okeh)

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents Out On the Floor – 86MB Mixed Mp3/256K

Greetings all.

I hope all is well on your end.

It’s the end of the week again, so that means it’s Funky16Corners Radio Show time, this (and every) Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also come by this very spot on the weekend and pick yourself up an MP3 version of the show, or more than 100 previous episodes in the archive.
__________________________________________________________________________________________

I come to you this day a happy/relieved man.

The election is finally over, and by and large the results were ones that I would consider not only positive but encouraging.

I realize that not everyone agrees with that assessment, but I have also come to see that having stated my peace, there’s not much I can do about that.

I’m certainly not going to worry about it either.

There are those on the fringes that start with the violent rhetoric, but my suspicion is that they have neither the courage nor the wherewithal to follow through on their angry, anonymous threats.

The vast majority of the population will either get back to work in furtherance of their agenda, or will likely ignore the political scene until whipped once again into a fever pitch for the mid-terms.

I’m going to savor this all a little bit, and then go back to staying informed, a little less on edge that I have been for the past few months.

The other good news is, that this week marks the eighth anniversary of the founding of the Funky16Corners blog.

It was back in early November of 2004 that I made the leap from the Funky16Corners web zine (est. 2000) and decided to continue whipping the sounds and words on you all in a slightly more economical form.

There have been redirections (Blogger to WordPress to self-hosted WordPress) and a few minor policy changes (the unfortunate removal of the zip files) but there have also been improvements as well (like the Funky16Corners Radio Show and its archive).

Either way, the flow of music and history continues in force, and my passion for both remains as strong as ever.

My thanks goes out to all of you that have participated in the conversation along the way (readers and fellow bloggers), some of whom have become friends.

With any luck, we’ll all be celebrating these anniversaries for years to come.

The slogan of the Funky16Corners blog – borrowed from the Northern Soul movement in the UK – is ‘Keep the Faith’. These are words to live by, not only as a dedicated soul fan, but as someone with an eye on improving the world, in any way possible.

I “keep the faith” here by preaching and spreading the gospel of good music, not only to help keep it alive, but to remind as many people as possible of the importance of its transformative nature.

2012 has been an especially trying time in our house on a very deep, very frightening level.

The other day my son asked me what was most important to me in the world and I answered that family was number one, but music was next.

All great music is “soul” music in the broad sense because that’s where it hits you. It gets deep inside your brain and has the power to move your emotions (in many directions) and often enough, move your physical body, whether simply nodding your head, tapping your feet or lifting you out of your seat to dance.

If there is a guiding force behind Funky16Corners – the blog, or when I’m lucky enough to get out and spin records – that is it.

And that it shall stay.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

What you see before you is a new mix (previewed on Mixcloud a while back) composed of 45 solid minutes of dancers, most in the Northern Soul style.

There are lots of groovy 45s, a couple of unjustly ignored b-sides and an album track here and there.

A couple of these tracks have seen the light of day in this space individually, and a couple more may do so in the future.

Either way, they all ought to make you get up out of your seat and outon the floor (thanks Dobie!).

I hope you dig the soul, and I’ll see you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, October 9, 2012 1:39 pm

Listen/Download The Krystal Generation – Unsatisfied With the Merchandise

Greetings all

Welcome to the middle of another spectacular week.

The tune I bring you today came into my record box via a chance meeting at an unexpected record digging stop a few years back.

I was out with the fam, headed in the direction of some delicious Thai food and we found ourselves with a little time to kill in the vicinity of the old Highland Park Record Sale.

I managed to grab a couple of very cool things that day, and today’s selection was one of those.

Flipping through a box of 45s, I was compelled to stop when I spotted the smiling face of Gene Chandler on the Mr. Chand label, familiar to me via a couple of very tasty Simtec and Wylie* 45s already extant in my crates.

I had never heard of the Krystal Generation before, but since I’m always on the lookout for Chitown soul, and the price was right, I grabbed the record and took it home.

When I finally had a chance to give it a spin I discovered what sounded an awful lot like an attempt by Mr Chandler et al to capitalize on the success of the Honey Cone ( a group that had a number of hits, some of them substantial, for the Hot Wax label between 1969 and 1972.

The Krystal Generation – who actually grazed the R&B Top 50 with an even more blatant grab at the Honey Cone with 1971’s ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’- were a femme vocal ensemble featuring the talents of Joyce Smith, Darlene Arnold, Mary Shelley and Mary Lead.

‘Unsatisfied With the Merchandise’ a very groovy side on its own merits, displays all the marks of a serious attempt to replicate the Invictus/Hot Wax sound, both instrumentally and vocally.

The history of popular music is filled with examples – somemore successful than others – with acts trying to get ahead by “borrowing” the sound and style of another, and the Krystal Generation, though competent, were a pretty obvious example thereof.

‘Unsatisfied With the Merchandise’ falls a few catalog numbers after ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’, so I’d assume that it was either from late 1971 or early 1972.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

* Simtec and Wylie were having their hits for the Mr Chand label at the same time as the Krystal Generation, and Simtec Simmons very own T-Box’s band provides the backing on this 45
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

Click here to go to the ordering page.

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

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.