Comments (3)

By Larry, November 20, 2011 2:00 pm

Miss LaVern Baker

Listen/Download – LaVern Baker – Batman to the Rescue

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all in a groovy place.

I should take this opportunity to thank you all for your kind words during our family’s difficult time.

The good news is that the first leg of my wife’s treatment is nearing its end, leaving her a little stronger and ready to face what lies ahead.

This has been huge physical and psychological challenge for her, and the prospect of at least returning home until the next round of treatments is a pleasant one. This fight is likely to go on for some time, but it is one that we are all committed to winning, so keep sending those good vibes.

It means a lot.

I don’t recall where I first heard LaVern Baker’s ‘Batman to the Rescue’ but I do know that it was one of those ‘holy shit I have to find that record’ moments, followed (as these often are) with one of those ‘Holy shit that 45’s expensive!’ moments.

I’m not only a soul and funk fan, but also a devotee of the Batman TV show (preferring the pop art vibe to the later grim take on the character).

An in-demand mod soul classic ‘Batman To the Rescue’ is in reality a thinly disguised remake of Baker’s 1956 R&B hit ‘Jim Dandy’.

It’s a killer not only for the Batman connection, but as a great example of what a powerful singer Baker was. It’s a gas listening to her turn ‘rooftop’ into ‘roof-uh-top-uh!’ (not to mention ‘BIFF BAM SOCK POW WOOO!’) and the instrumental backing (heavy on the organ) is great.

Baker was a powerful singer who got her start in the R&B era (with hits like ‘Tweedlee Dee’) and was (like Ray Charles) an important transitional figure in the birth of soul.

She recorded for Atlantic between 1953 and 1965, moving to Brunswick from 1965 to 1968 where she recorded ‘Batman to the Rescue’.

By the time ‘Batman to the Rescue’ came out in 1966 – during the Batman craze of the time – Baker’s hit-making days (though clearly not her amazing voice) were behind her.

By the end of the 60s she had survived a serious illness, relocated to the Philippines and for the next two decades ran an NCO club on the US base at Subic Bay.

She returned to the US –  and showbiz –  in the late 80s, eventually appearing on Broadway and on the festival circuit, before her death in 1997.

I hope you dig the tune, and if you’re not familiar with her earlier stuff, make a point to check it out.
See you later in the week.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (14)

By Larry, November 13, 2011 3:36 pm

Reuben Wilson

Grover Washington Jr.

Listen/Download – Reuben Wilson – Inner City Blues

Listen/Download – Grover Washington Jr. – Inner City Blues

Listen/Download – Grover Washington Jr. – Mercy Mercy Me

Greetings all.

Here’s simultaneously hoping that you all are well and telling you that things are progressing as well as can be expected in our corner of the world.

My incredibly brave wife is standing tall despite chemo beating her like a rented mule.

These are hard times (a la Curtis Mayfield, Gene Chandler and Baby Huey) for her to endure treatment and for us to watch her do it.

It is alternately inspiring and disheartening, since the process reveals her ever deeper well of resilience, but also a seemingly endless supply of physical and psychological pain for her to deal with.

But, deal with it she does.

My thanks go out to the doctors and nurses who are helping her (and all of us) through this experience, as well as all the good folks who have sent messages of hope and prayer.

I’ve never had a huge amount of faith in humanity, but this experience – no matter how harrowing on its face – has also exposed our family to an extraordinary show of kindness and generosity from family and friends.

If there is an upside to this, that is it and it is humbling.

My (our) thanks to all of you.

Since I can’t guarantee more than one post a week while all of this is going on, I figure it behooves me to ensure that it brings with it a healthy dose of sounds, on which you can focus your aural ruminations until the next time I can get it together.

While I was combing the wilds of my hard drive, I happened upon a Reuben Wilson album, with an especially Hammond-groovy take on Marvin Gaye’s ‘Inner City Blues’ from his (Reuben’s) 1972 ‘The Sweet Life’ LP.

As I was giving it a listen, it occurred to me that I had other cool covers of  cuts from ‘What’s Going On’ in storage – of a similar vintage – and that I ought to pair them up in the dual causes of thematic consistency and general good music-ness.

I doubt that anyone reading this will dispute the greatness of Marvin’s 1971 epic, considered by many to be his greatest work, and one of the single finest soul LPs ever recorded.

It was a significant hit for Gaye, and it’s influence was far reaching, generating many cover versions across the soul, funk and jazz spectrums.

The first track I bring you today is the aforementioned Reuben Wilson take on ‘Inner City Blues’ (see Funky16Corners Radio v.24.5 for a very nice cover of this tune by Brian Auger).

Wilson is one of my favorite jazz funk organists of the classic era, never flashy but always stylish and on point. While he doesn’t always get the shine that some of his better known contemporaries do, his work with the Wildare Express (on Brunswick) and solo sides for Blue Note and Groove Merchant are essential.

His take on ‘Inner City Blues’ grooves hard, with some very nice soloing on the Hammond and tight, funky backing by his group.

The second and third cuts in this post are from an artist that continually shows up in surprising places.

Grover Washington Jr is a cat that I only knew from his big hits, and always assumed to have sprung up, fully formed as one of the standard bearers of smooth, R&B inflected jazz.

However, it was during my obsessive Hammond digging that I discovered that he had played with the Mark 3 Trio, and had done time in Philly area combos with none other than the mighty Charles Earland also recording as a sideman for other Prestige artists like Boogaloo Joe Jones, and Leon Spencer.

A few years back someone hepped me to his first solo album ‘Inner City Blues’, recorded for the Kudu label in 1971.

Backed by a serious group of sidemen, including Idris Muhammad, Ron Carter, Eric Gale, Bob James and Richard Tee, Washington displayed a tougher side of his sound.

I was surprised when I discovered how much work he did as a sideman for organists like Johnny Hammond Smith and Dr Lonnie Smith (were they giving everyone named Smith a Hammond organ??), as I was to discover how much I dug this album.

I was initially going to post only his lyrical, mellow cover of ‘Mercy Mercy Me’, but as I was writing this post I was listening to the album and decided that I had to include the title cut from the album as well.

Washington’s version of ‘Inner City Blues’ features some wild guitar as well as some very cool sax work by the man himself that I rougher than just about anything I’ve ever heard him play.

And really, could anyone possibly not dig the opportunity to hear two very cool versions of a song like this?

I thought not.

So, dig the Marvin worship and if I’m not back before Friday, remember that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be back Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, and then posted as an MP3 on Saturday.

Keep the faith and I’ll see you when I see you.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (10)

By Larry, November 8, 2011 2:48 pm

All hail the King

Clean cut but wild.

Listen/Download – King Curtis and the Noble Knights – Sack O’Woe

Listen/Download – Viceroys – Sack O’Woe

Greetings all.

Despite all handicaps temporal or emotional, my pathological need to share sounds with you all has elbowed its way onto the scene.

To begin, a brief update.

All is proceeding as expected with my wife currently reaching her treatment benchmarks.

This is not to suggest that she is up and doing a sprightly jig either, because as anyone who has ever endure chemotherapy will attest, there’s nothing quite like having a war going on inside your body at the microscopic level.

She is beyond tired, perpetually uncomfortable – though the term ‘uncomfortable’ seems sorrowfully inadequate to describe what she’s experiencing – worried (about the rest of us first, herself second), perplexed and most importantly angry, since one must meet the offending disease on all fronts, chemically and spiritually.

We all miss her terribly (especially the little Corners) but know that we all have to hang tough and keep her as “up” as we possibly can (while doing the same for each other).

Your good wishes are very much appreciated, and I assure you that they are being relayed to the missus as they roll in.

Of course, what better way to express these travails in music than a couple of recently acquired versions of one of my all time favorite soul jazz classics, Cannonball Adderley’s mighty ‘Sack O’Woe’.

I’ve never approached this great song in any way but instrumental, and since Mr Adderley laid it down that way, it behooves yours truly to eschew any investigation of the lyrical content (Jon Hendricks’ poetic appendage notwithstanding).

That said, were I to venture a guess as to the overall intent of the song, starting with the title and then digesting the feel of the music (especially Adderley’s versions) one would be forgiven for assuming that the vibe is not any mere gripe, but a defiant fist in the air aimed squarely at any and all oppressions, be they racial, economic, romantic or other, in the style of

‘Like, you know man, when I survey the world around me it occurs to me that what I have slung over my shoulder here is a sack o’woe.’

Which of course is a bag we Grogans find ourselves in right now, but just as soon as we find out where this leukemia cat lives, we’re gonna drop that sack on his doorstep and burn his fucking house to the ground.

You dig?

I thought that you would.

The two sacks I bring you this day come from the horn of King Curtis of Ousley and his Noble Knights, and another royal outfit from the PNW hinterlands by the name of the Viceroys.

Both recordings are of a similar, early 60s vintage, with the King plowing into the songs like a soulful bulldozer, and the Viceroys taking a slightly more laconic approach.*

Either way, both versions cool in their own way, and as soon as I find some more that I like, I shall share them too.

Make sure that you head over to MNtothat to pick up the Funky16Corners 7th Anniversary Mix. I’ll eventually post links and info here, but why wait when you can dig it now?

Make sure to check out this week’s Funky16Corners Radio Show, Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, and I’ll see you all as soon as I see you.

Peace

Larry

*Keep in mind that both of these albums contain other treasure worth hearing, which have been, or will be played on the Funky16Corners Radio Show

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (19)

By Larry, November 4, 2011 5:12 am

Head over to Amen Brother to check out the mix and the set list!

Greetings all.

I know that after my post on Monday, it seems incongruous that I should be returning to this very space on Friday.
However, there are explanations aplenty.

I should start by giving a brief recap of the situation, that being, that after a week of feeling fatigued, my beloved wife has landed in the hospital with a case of leukemia.

In a short two weeks our world has been turned upside down, with everything we considered secure and normal shaken to its roots.

She’s weathering this disturbing (understatement alert) experience with a good deal of grace and courage, and I can only hope that I can try to match that from my side of things.

This is proving to be a painful lesson in the value of rolling with the punches, or at least attempting to do so, since no one likes to go through life catching punches, literal or figurative.

That said, we’re just trying to hang on, adjusting to the new (abnormal) ‘normal’, and doing what we can to stitch the whole mess back together as best we can.

Earlier this week, we were discussing life in general and Jen said that she’d had an opportunity to read Monday’s post (wireless internet and hand-held devices facilitating such things in the hospital setting) and she expressed her wish that I continue writing during this time.

I won’t argue with her, but I will state that anything I get posted here or over at Iron Leg will have to be wedged into the schedule as time (and sanity) allows.

I certainly have tons of stuff recorded and ready to go, so it’s only a matter of the writing and the interwebbing.

There is definitely something to be said for the restorative nature of creative pursuits, but if the old engine isn’t firing on all cylinders (said engine being what’s left of my brain) I can’t even take advantage of that, so bear with me.

I have to say that I am especially thankful for all the messages of support.

This Friday marks the seventh anniversary of the Funky16Corners blog.

It was on November 4th of 2004 that I transitioned from the old web zine format into something different, which in the beginning didn’t bear much resemblance to what you see today, unless of course you were to take Funky16Corners and Iron leg and stitch them together.

It wasn’t very long until things were purely soulful, and here we all are, seven years later, still riding the rails of the interwebs, engaged in a shared love of music.

I have always found the most satisfying part of this thing to be when one of you good people steps forward to add some info to the conversation, or merely to say thanks.

I guess that the blog is my way of expressing my thanks to all of you, at least as a reflection of how much I have always loved when someone turned me on to new sounds.

The really groovy thing is, that where I used to have those same conversations with my crate digging buddies in person, through the Funky16Corners blog I get to have the same kinds of exchanges with people from all over the world.

In this day and age where McLuhan’s Global Village seems like a dark place, it’s heartening to discover that some of us can find our own rays of light in the murk.

What you see before you is a brand new mix, conceived of and completed long before our current problems.

My man Pete Cadden of the Amen Brother crew over in Ireland saw that the anniversary of the blog was approaching and asked if I might be interested in putting together a guest mix for their site to mark the occasion.

Naturally, I said yes, and got to work on the mix you see before you (details over at MNtothat), just about an hour of tasty mid-tempo funk seasoned liberally with breaks.

There are a couple of familiar tunes, some very groovy b-sides and perhaps a few things you’ve never heard of before.

Also, make sure you check in with the Funky16Corners Radio Show, Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio (archived here on Saturday as an MP3).

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, October 25, 2011 11:58 am

Ellen McIlwaine

Listen/Download – Ellen McIlwaine – Toe Hold

Listen/Download – Ellen McIlwaine – Up From the Skies

Greetings all.

I was wandering (not aimlessly) through the vast expanse of digimatized music looking for something to tickle my fancy and after picking out a few particularly tasty things and setting them aside for the full blogging treatment, I tripped over something very cool indeed.

Ellen McIlwaine is another one of those artists that I read about long before I heard any of her music.

I used to see her early records (including the album she recorded with her first band, Fear Itself) were perennials on crate diggers ‘finds’ lists, and then back in the 90s I picked up a compilation of her Polydor recordings.

What that collection revealed was a very talented and multi-faceted performer.

McIlwaine, who spent her early years in Japan (her family were missionaries) found her way to New York in the mid-60s where she shared stages with a wide variety of blues and folk performers.

Like many of her contemporaries, she was less interested in being shoehorned into a single genre, instead choosing to weave her own mixture of blues, rock, jazz, soul and folk/world sounds.

The two tracks I bring you today come from her first solo album, 1972’s ‘Honky Tonk Angel’, one side of which was recorded live at the Bitter End in NYC.

The first – her cover of the Isaac Hayes/David Porter* classic ‘Toe Hold’ is a great example of how a largely acoustic band can still manage to be funky (thanks in large part to McIlwaine’s guitar playing).

McIlwaine is also a particularly talented and interesting singer who manages to kind of sail all over the map without ever losing her way. While I was digging for information about the record I happened upon one of Robert Christgau’s old Consumer Guide reviews of this album where he makes the point that while at first impression her vocals might seem ‘overambitious’ she manages to succeed by virtue of the power of her instrument.

I’ve never been a big fan of ‘oversingers’ but I have to agree with the old sage that unlike so many others (especially in these times where vocal acrobatics seem to be the go to substitute for soul), McIlwaine has the wherewithal, balancing talent with taste, to stay just inside the lines.

The second track is a particularly groovy cover of the Jimi Hendrix Experience track ‘Up From the Skies’. It always bugs me that so many people seem to forget that Jimi had a soulful side. McIlwaine’s treatment of ‘Up From the Skies’ taps into – and expands on – that sound.

If you can find either of her first two solo albums (or the CD comp that collects them) grab them. Her later stuff moves further into an electric/rock sound but is still pretty cool.

She still records and performs today, and her recent stuff is particularly interesting, mixing her guitar with tabla and harmonium (dig her cover of ‘Take me To the River’).

I hope you dig the tunes, and I’ll be back on Friday with something cool.

Peace

Larry

* Recorded by Johnnie Taylor, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave among others

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, October 23, 2011 11:34 am

Curley Moore

Listen/Download – Curley Moore – Soul Train

Greetings all.

How’s things?

Allow me to welcome you all to a new week here at Funky16Corners.

The tune I bring you today has something of a saga attached to it, at least in reference to the quest to acquire it.

Way back in the day, one of the comps that was instrumental in pointing me in the direction of New Orleans was an import collection on the Charly label that included two songs that would become longtime favorites, Diamond Joe’s ‘Gossip Gossip’ and Curley Moore’s ‘Don’t Pity Me’.

When I started down the long, dusty road of digging for original New Orleans 45s, I happened upon a copy of ‘Gossip Gossip’ fairly quickly, mainly because it is a record of undeniable greatness that also happens to be, how the kids say, ‘slept on’.

However, lo these many years later, Curley Moore’s ‘Don’t Pity Me’ still eludes me, in fact holding the position of the only 45 on the Sansu label that I do not own (and probably never will unless I get astoundingly lucky and find it out in the field). The few times it has shown up in the last few years it has sold for several hundred dollars, once for over a thousand! It’s one of those 45s that has dual appeal, with one side slightly funky and the other Northern-ish, so that it is not only rare, but coveted by two very eager constituencies.

That of course is neither here nor there, but to get closer to somewhere, I should also mention that the first time I heard ‘Soul Train’, it was not by Curley Moore, but rather by another New Orleans group by the name of Bobby and the Heavyweights (you can hear their cover in Funky16Corners Radio v.24).

Their version was included on the stellar Soul Jazz ‘Saturday Night Fish Fry’ comp (which is where I first heard it). Bobby and the Heavyweights slightly faster take on the song was released in 1967, first (locally) on the Mor-Soul label and then nationally on Atlantic (I’ve managed to find both).

It was only a few years later that I discovered that Curley Moore had done it first in 1965, at which point I set out to get myself a copy.

Here’s where we take a turn down Easier Said Than Done Street.

While Moore’s version of ‘Soul Train’ was released on two different New Orleans labels, first on Hot Line and then on Nola, it is fairly hard to find, especially in good condition. My first copy (on Nola) was exceedingly over-graded (@!!?%$) and not suitable for either home listening or posting here on the blog.

It was a few more years before I finally got myself a decent copy (on the groovy, if incredibly faded Hot Line label), which you see and hear before you today.

Curley Moore was the owner of one of my favorite soul voices to come out of the Crescent City, a little bit thin, kind of high pitched, but possessed of a tremendous amount of soul.

He recorded a 45 for Nola, three more for Sansu, at least one for Teem (which I’ve never heard), one for Scram and the excellent (drum heavy) ‘Sophisticated Sissy’ for Instant. He was also the voice heard at the beginning of Eddie Bo’s (billed as Curley Moore and the Kool Ones) House of the Fox 45 ‘Shelly’s Rubber Band’.

His version of ‘Soul Train’ is a positively sublime bit of soul with the tiniest pop edge to it. Arranged and produced by the mighty Wardell Quezerge, the instrumental backing is fairly spare, with piano, bass and very understated drums, with a subtly arranged horn chart that bubbles under, breaking in periodically for emphasis.

The record was pressed at least three times (I’ve seen two Hot Line variations and the one on Nola), so I’m guessing that it must have had some local success, but as my man Dan Phillips at the Home of the Groove notes, the record has a kind of odd, underlying sadness to it which makes it so special, but might have kept it a connoisseurs choice, falling short of chart success.

It was definitely worth the years it took to track it down, and I hope you like it too.

See you on Wednesday.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, October 20, 2011 11:43 am

Freddy King

Listen/Download – Freddy King – San-Ho-Zay

Greetings all.

The end of yet another week has arrived which means it’s time for me to remind you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be back pulsing through the airwaves of the interwebs this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio with the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove all engineered to keep your ears wiggling and your feet sliding across the floor. If you can’t make the soiree, fall by this very blog on Saturday to pick up the show in easy to use MP3 form to be listened to at your leisure.

I come to you today to tell you that Freddy King was a mighty man.

Nine feet tall, hands like country hams, feet like canal boats and a high, shiny conk that outshone the sun whenever he picked up his tiny guitar.

Of course none of that is true, but were this a just world Freddy King would stand astride the world of the guitar the same way Paul Bunyan towered over any run of the mill forest.

He was a master of the guitar, but not in any of the teenage wet dream virtuoso way of so many of those he influenced.

Freddy King made it look easy.

I have to thank my buddy the Bluesman, who lo these many years ago hit me up with a handful of cassettes (remember those?) of cats like Slim Harpo, Albert King and of course Freddy, all of which helped me lock into the blues, at least enough so that I could proceed on my own.

The thing I remember most, especially with Freddy and Albert (no relation) is how much of the UK rock ‘masters’ I realized had appropriated their sounds and styles. Had either of these gents succumbed to a childhood illness old Slowhand would still be mopping up a chip shop somewhere instead of rolling around naked in piles of hundred pound notes.

That said, I don’t dig out my Bluesbreakers albums much these days, but I do find myself dialing up Freddy King on the old iPod, digging the way the power of his guitar solos rise up and transcend the pops and crackles of the 45s they were recorded from.

As I mentioned a few weeks back, I pick up JBs 45s wherever I find them, and the same goes for Freddy King. While some of his rarer discs have evaded me, I have all the bigguns, and they don’t get any bigger than the mighty ‘San-Ho-Zay’.

He laid down today’s selection for the good folks at Federal in Nineteen and Sixty One, and though he barely hit the pop charts, ‘San-Ho-Zay’ was a Top 5 R&B hit. It wasn’t his biggest (the influential ‘Hideaway’ would hit Top 5 R&B and Top 40 Pop that same year) but it’s among his boldest, led by his axe in a way that guitar instros just don’t seem to be capable of anymore.

Interestingly, ‘San-Ho-Zay’ might also ring a bell because it was, how do they say, borrowed from a couple of New Orleans cats (see Dan Phillips great article on the history of the tune at the mighty Home of the Groove blog).

It’s a killer record and a great start to the weekend.

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, October 18, 2011 12:22 pm

Hi Rhythm

Listen/Download -Hi Rhythm – Black Rock

Greetings all.

How’s things?

Hereabout, things is groovy, aside from the fact that I am in dire need of heading out into the wild and getting my dig on. You can prowl around on Ebay all day long and no matter how many cool things you see, there’s no substitute for real world, dusty fingers digging

Unfortunately, the last couple of record shows that rolled through the area coincided with family responsibilities and the actual ‘digging’ spots within reach aren’t always worth hitting up, so I pretty much have to bide my time and be happy with the gigantic, heaving pile of vinyl I already have.

Part of that pile is the 45 I bring you today.

The way things work on the old Funky16Corners blog is that I tend to digimatize vinyl as it comes in, and if it’s something I plan on blogging, I photograph the label, tag the MP3 and stockpile it.

Many (most) of those tracks end up here on the front page in individual posts, while some end up in mixes.

However, if the gods of wax are smiling on me, I usually end up outpacing the outflux and end up with a good-sized pool from which to select what you end up seeing here.

However, as that process unfurls, I sometimes end up with things that have either been put on the back burner (for a variety of reasons, including need for further research or proximity to something similar that just got posted), or, in the case of today’s selection, plain old forgotten.

Because of that, I try to go back through the lists of things waiting to be blogged and try to move some unjustly bypassed tracks to the front of the line, harkening back to my days in the grocery profession, rotating stock for freshness.

The tune I bring you today is one of those ‘haven’t heard it but know it’s good’ deals which I picked up almost three years ago mainly on the strength of the group name and other important info on the label.

Back in the day, when I picked up my first Willie Mitchell album, the thing that hit me first was the prevalence of the surname Hodges in the credits.

This had everything to do with the fact that Mitchell’s back up band was composed in large part of a set of brothers bearing that name, Charles, Leroy and Teenie (Mabon) Hodges (organ, bass and guitar), who along with Howard Grimes (drums) and Archie Turner (keyboards) laid down that other wonderful Memphis sound.

They not only backed up Willie Mitchell, but did the same, extremely well, for pretty much everyone else who recorded for the Hi label, including (and most importantly) Al Green.

It was Mabon Hodges (composer of this very track) who co-wrote some of Green’s best songs, including ‘Love and Happiness’ and ‘Take Me To the River’.

The strange thing (for me anyway) is that for as long as the Hi Rhythm section (billed here as Hi Rhythm) was playing for so many other folks, they didn’t get the chance to step out on their own until 1975 with the release of their album ‘On the Loose’.

The single from that album, and today’s selection was the very groovy ‘Black Rock’.

While the title sounds like a giveaway, the rock side of things doesn’t come in too heavy, and when it does it’s still pretty swampy.

The overall vibe of ‘Black Rock’ is funky and it’s very interesting how a band with such a ‘trademark’ sound manages to escape that sound here.

Things chug along, with solid guitar from Mabon, group vocals and a cool, understated horn section. There’s even a crazy sound effect (heavily treated guitar?) that sounds like someone scratching vinyl!

I’m still on the lookout for a copy of the album, since the one I found a while back was crazy warped in the chip-and-dip style.

I hope you dig the track, and I’ll 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 recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (8)

By Larry, October 16, 2011 12:42 pm

Lavell Kamma today. Still making music!

Listen/Download -Lavell Kamma and his Afro Soul Revue – Soft Soul

Greetings all.

Hows about we get the new week started with some sublimely delicious funk of the 45RPM variety?

I knew you’d dig that.

I picked up today’s selection while back from a friend’s sale list, mainly because I’d heard of it (but not heard it) and because the price was reasonable.

Naturally, there are those of you who might question the purchase of a record that one has not actually heard yet, but I would respectfully counter with the proposition that any self respecting digger that would pass up any recording by a group calling themselves Lavell Kamma and his Afro Soul Review, should be forced to surrender their turntables and walk away in shame.

This is not to say that every single record with a cool name is going to be good and funky, but rather that the unwritten laws of such things suggest that the law of averages would be on your side in such a transaction.

And in this case, they were (big time).

There’s isn’t a whole lot of info out there on Mr Kamma, other than the fact that he seems to have hailed from the Sunshine State (FLA) and that he recorded 45s for at least three labels, Tupelo Sound (this one), Sure Shot and Jewel, between the mid-60s and the early 70s.

‘Soft Soul’, despite a title that might lead you to think you were about to travel down the boulevard of ballads, is one of the finest example of tasty, mid-tempo funk I have ever heard.

First off, those freaking drums….whoever was massaging the traps had a light and talented hand indeed, and the rest of the band were right, tight and out of sight as well. Lavell’s vocals are high and slightly raspy (in a groovy way), and whoever’s playing the guitar gets a gold star at the top of his report card as well.

The flip is quite nice as well (watch for it in an upcoming mix).

It’s also not a terribly expensive 45. There are at least three label variations/pressings I’ve seen.

Lavell Kamma is still playing today. You can check out his MySpace page for a video of him doing his one man band thing.

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, October 11, 2011 1:10 pm

The Chambers Brothers

Listen/Download – The Chambers Brothers – Funky

Greetings all.

You know, as we here at the Funky16Corners blog approach our seventh anniversary (oh yeah), which in blog years is like an eon or some such, every once in a while I have to lean on my Google crutch to make sure I haven’t already expounded on a particular track, so lengthy is the list thereof.

Such was the case when I started contemplating today’s selection, in which the thought process went something like this:

Did I already write up ‘Funky’?

I must have.

No, wait, I didn’t.

Are you (me) sure?

Let me check again.

Nope.

Well how about them apples?

You see, when you talk about the first time the funk hit me (deep) one must consider the day the teenaged me brought the Chambers Brothers ‘New Generation’ album home from the dusty, local flea market and dropped the needle, and got whomped upside the melon by ‘Funky’, which is as solid a ‘truth in advertising’ thing as has ever been committed to wax.

I mean, those opening bars, with the congas, the traps, the cuica and then the oddly Mexicali guitar riff and of course that earth shaking bass (really the linchpin on which the whole enterprise hangs) are as earth shattering and elemental as any funky music, ever recorded, anywhere (at least here on earth).

The mighty Chambers Brothers have always taken a back seat to brother Sly  – which in terms of general funk is an accurate assessment –  since they always trod a little bit more on the rock side of the tracks, but aside from the deadly and unfuckwithable guitar/bass/drums combo of ‘Sing a Simple Song’, even the Family Stone had to step back and take notice when the Chambers Brothers lit up ‘Funky’ and took a deep drag.

Not only is ‘Funky’ great funk is the general, bad ass, ‘classic’ sense, but it also carries with it some of the Chambers unique hippie festival stomp, in that it sounds less like a ‘band’ than it does like a field full of party where everyone got themselves something to bang on, and in a once in a millennium roll of the dice, managed to all come down on the one.

‘Funky’, in addition to the basic, obvious funk power, also manages to be a veritable seven layer dip of complexity, with the cowbell, and especially that weird, bottleneck-y guitar twang that keeps bubbling up into the mix.

Had the Chambers Brothers managed to whip together a half dozen such monsters (excepting of course the sui generis ‘Time Has Come Today’ which is verily the warp and weft of the psychedelic zeitgeist) – or, if ‘Funky’ was a hens teeth rare 45 – they might be more fondly remembered by the crate diggers. As it is, you could probably get your own copy (at least of the album) for less than a dollar at any respectable flea market which in some circles is grounds for disqualification.

There is also the fact that A Tribe Called Quest thought enough of the song to repurpose a serious chunk of it for ‘I Left My Wallet In El Segundo’, which of course rules.

I hope you dig it and I’ll see you all later.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (7)

By Larry, October 9, 2011 11:05 am

Earth Wind Dashikis Afros and Fire

Listen/Download – Earth Wind and Fire – Moment of Truth

Listen/Download – Earth Wind and Fire – Bad Tune

Greetings all.

It is now time for all good men (and women, natch) to get themselves together and ease on into a brand new week.

Fall is in full swing, with the cool air, and the leaves and all that mess and I’m feeling productive.

I haven’t been doing much fieldwork (of the vinyl variety), but what I have managed to pick up has been excellent, not to mention the products of in-house excavation, in which yours truly gets down into the crates and spends some time with unjustly neglected records.

Today’s selections are the fruit of just such a search, and their neglect was decidedly unjust (undue/unfair?).

A while back when I was fortunate to be down spinning the records in Washington I was lucky enough to slip in some quality digging time alongside my man DJ Birdman. I brought home a grip of tasty stuff that trip (DC always treats my crates well) and among the haul were the first two albums by Earth Wind and Fire.

“Earth Wind and Fire!” you say. “I can get those at my local Goodwill for the cost of a shiny quarter!”

Not these you can’t my friends, because you’re probably thinking of their CBS stuff when they were having all of those big hits we all know so well (or maybe you can but you’ll need to give me the address of your local Goodwill).

However, did you know that they did two albums for Warner Brothers in the early 70s?

Neither did I (initially) but when I found out some years ago those records went on the old want list, because if you dig some EWF, you know that an earlier, grittier version thereof would very well kick some ass.

And it (they) did.

Maurice White and Wade Flemons (who had some collectible, pre-EWF 45s under his own name) had been working together in Chicago during the 60s, before relocating to Los Angeles near the end of the decade, where they were joined by Verdine White and a large crew of others to form the first version of Earth Wind and Fire.

Their first, self-titled album was recorded in 1970 and released in 1971, and while it does display tastes of the later EWF, there’s a heavier funk at work here, crossed with progressive elements.

The two tunes I bring you today illustrate both sides of that coin.

‘Moment of Truth’ is a serious mover, with some incredibly solid bass playing by Verdine (he’s so much more than just a fine and fancy head of hair) and a horn section that won’t quit.

‘Bad Tune’ has something of a flavor of the times, with a little bit of that Afrocentric hippy thing weaving in and out of the funk (electric kalimba anyone?), opening quietly, getting heavy and then dissolving into a trippy, jazzy sound with some nice guitar by Michael Beal, before picking up heat yet again with some fuzz bass.

And – this is the cool part – they manage to pack all that into less than five minutes, displaying a shocking economy for the time.

If you dig what you hear, while the individual albums are hard to come by, after their mid-70s success with CBS, WB reissued both of their EWF albums as a budget two-fer which is a little bit easier to find.

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

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, October 4, 2011 2:10 pm

The one, the only, Jackie Wilson!

Listen/Download – Jackie Wilson – Soul Galore

Greetings all.

I hope all is well in your corner of the soulful universe.

As mentioned on Monday, the fam and I had ourselves a nice little vacation down in Washington, and while I did no digging whatsoever, I was lucky enough to have a buddy in the area who had done some for me, picking me up a nice stack of records (some at my specific request) which he was kind enough to pass along while we were visiting.

I got some of it digimatized already, and it will surely appear in this space, as well as on the Funky16Corners Radio Show in the near future.

That – in addition to the stuff that finds its way into the crates via the mailslot – makes for a grip of excellent material now aging in the ‘to-be-blogged’ folder, so stay tuned.

The tune I bring you today is another great example of how I sometimes need to grab my ears and aim them away from the more obscure things in my orbit and concentrate on the bedrock (as it were).

Jackie Wilson is one of the most important soul/R&B artists of the 60s, and while I have a fair amount of his 45s and LPs, I cannot honestly say that I’ve made a serious study of his oeuvre. This is certainly true of many big-name/big-talent, marquee artists of the classic soul era, but I feel especially bad about my neglect in this case, since so many people whose opinions I respect hold Jackie in such high esteem.

One such person, a good friend in records and otherwise is my man Tarik Thornton.

He was up in the hinterlands of Minnesota a while back sitting in with the Hot Pants crew, and I was listening in to his radio set remotely when I heard the tune I bring you today for the first time.

My ears are seasoned enough that I recognized Jackie Wilson’s voice instantly, yet it was immediately obvious that I had never heard the song – ‘Soul Galore’ – before.

I set out to find myself a copy post haste.

Though the tune was first issued in the US by Brunswick in 1966, my copy is a late 60s (1969?) issue from the UK, where it was pressed as a kind of ‘double A-side’ with ‘I Get the Sweetest Feeling’, where both cuts were big with the English soulies.

Where ‘I Get the Sweetest Feeling’ is one of the finest examples of stylish, finely honed Northern Soul (and a melodic masterpiece as well), ‘Soul Galore’ is a storming, dance floor explosion with a relentless drum beat and a powerful horn section, both of which just happen to pale in comparison to Wilson’s vocal.

What is particularly perplexing is the fact that ‘Soul Galore’ does not appear to have charted in either the US or the UK, which might explain why it escaped my notice for so long.

That said, it is without any shadow of a doubt and ass-kicker of the first order.

I hope you dig it and I’ll see you all 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 recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

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

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.