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By Larry, June 1, 2017 11:33 am

Funky16Corners Radio v.90 – Soul In Harmony

Playlist

Thanksgiving week is here (at least in the US), and this year I have lots to be thankful for, as well as lots to do.

I’ve decided to drop this mix today, and pretty much take the rest of the week off.

Funky16Corners Radio v.90 – Soul In Harmony is one of those mixes that has been cooking (in my head, anyway) for a long time.

I’m not sure how much it has been visible here on the blog (anyone have time lapse footage of the last five years?), but my tastes – often spurred on by a periodic excavation in my record room – are always evolving.

Back in the day, when I first started to collect soul 45s, it was all about the rough and ready Southern sound, fast moving and loud.

It would be years before I really started to examine soul ballads, and then I started to dig into funk, and then Northern Soul, then to disco and on and on, hopefully ad infinitum.

The latest spike on the evolutionary time-line popped up sometime in the last year, spurred on by the sounds of sweet soul.

The AM radio of my youth was filled with bands like the Chi-Lites, the Stylistics, Blue Magic and others, and to be honest, it all struck me as a little mushy, but then again I was 10 years old.

As I got older, and started to listen and dig, ever deeper into the sounds of soul, I discovered a fair amount of sweeter, soul harmony stuff, often on the B-sides of more upbeat, aggressive records, and as is often the case, despite the comparative ‘lightness’ of some of these records, I was drawn in by what always grabs me, that being good songs.

The first record in this style that really knocked me out was the Intruder’s ‘A Love That’s Real’ still one of my favorite records.

Thanks to both geographic proximity and the quality of the music, I’ve collected Philly soul for a long time, and one thing the cats in Philly knew how to create was solid harmony soul. Almost a third of the records I put into this mix are by Philly groups, another third from Detroit or Chicago, and the rest spread over the map (including one by my Jersey Shore homeboys the Broadways).

The importance of tight harmony singing has been a hallmark of black music, from the Mills Brothers and the Ink Spots in the 30s and 40s, countless groups in the 50s and of course everything in this mix, from the classic soul era.

There’s really something special about harmony singing. Done well, it’s not just an accidental meshing of random voices, but rather an aural tapestry woven from perfectly complementary elements.

The ‘classic’ soulful blend, with a tenor, or sometimes baritone lead, a bass and often someone capable of singing in falsetto provides a basic sound, but when some (or all) of these roles are filled by extraordinary singers the end result is something magical.

All of the songs in this mix hail from between 1966 and 1970, a period when a certain maturity and creative growth was on the rise in soul music, when the finest groups intersected with great writers and producers to make music of increasing sophistication and depth.

Though there is a general stylistic thread running through this mix, the tempos vary between pure balladry, upbeat, danceable soul and slightly rougher edged sounds.

There are a few songs that have appeared here before, but when I started assembling the playlist, I knew that they had to be included.

Things get started with the truly amazing ‘I Don’t Know How To Say I Love You (Don’t Walk Away)’ by the mighty Superlatives. I have sung the praises of this record before, but it certainly can’t hurt to hear it again. The combination of sweet vocals, heavy drums and that stellar arrangement are truly amazing.

The Broadways, without any question the greatest soul group to come out of the Jersey Shore recorded two solid 45s for MGM. Their ‘You Just Don’t Know’ is a staple of my Northern Soul sets, and while ‘Sweet and Heavenly Melody’ also packs a driving beat, it has a lushness to it (how about those strings) that sets it apart.

I don’t know much about the Hesitations. I’ve seen their records – often packed with covers – for years, but only bought on for the first time a few months ago. ‘Stay In My Corner’ is a marvel, with the singers alternating leads over dynamic backing vocals.

The Ethics recorded a series of excellent 45s for Philadelphia’s Vent label in the late 60s, including the Northern classic ‘Look at Me Now’. ‘Think About Tomorrow’ is a much slower, much sweeter, falsetto-led ballad that was clearly tailored to reflect the sounds that Gamble and Huff were creating at the same time.

One of the rougher sounding, yet oddly pretty songs in this mix is ‘I’ll Be Loving You’ by the Soul Brothers Six. The flipside of the classic ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’, ‘I’ll Be Loving You’ features what is, in comparison to most of the records in this mix, remarkably spare instrumentation, with rhythm guitar, thumping bass, drums and tambourine, all sounding like it was recorded in one take. The real star here, aside from John Ellison’s wonderful lead vocal, is the second guitar, which has a kind of chiming overtone to it that from a distance sounds like vibraphone accents. The more I listen to this one the more I love it.

The next cut is by the Blue Notes (as in Harold Melvin and…). Right before they began their run of hits with Philadelphia International, the group recorded two 45s for the Uni label. ‘Never Gonna Leave You’ (from 1969) was the B-side of the funky ‘Hot Thrills and Cold Chills’. The 45 was reissued a few years later, no doubt to capitalize on the success of their PI hits.

‘I’ll Make It Up To You’ by the Magictones is the bottom half of one of the truly great Detroit soul 45s (the A-side being their epic cover of the Parliaments’ ‘Good Ole Music’). Much like the Superlatives record (also released on Westbound), the Magictones juxtapose their harmonies with a heavy background, including some tasty electric sitar.

Though they’re best known for their early, doowop sides, Little Anthony and the Imperials recorded well into the classic soul era, including and excellent run of 45s for the Veep label between 1966 and 1969. ‘It’s Not the Same’ which features Anthony Gourdine’s unmistakable falsetto, and a classy arrangement (in which the Imperials are often doubled by female backing singers), bears a slight (but not overpowering) similarity to ‘Goin’ Out of My Head’ (also from 1966).

Speaking of Philadephia soul, there are few groups who were as successful – artistically and on the charts – as the mighty Intruders. ‘Everyday Is a Holiday’ (from 1969) is a great showcase for their unique harmonies and a muscular production and arrangement by Gamble and Huff. Listen closely to the bass and drums (almost funky), as well as the horns and staccato piano accents in the verse.

Chicago’s Artistics were reliable hitmakers for the Brunswick label in the late 60s. ‘What Happened’ is another record that seems to run on the outskirts of funk, as well as displaying the influence of the Temptations.

Another group with solid roots in the doowop era, that also made some great soul records was the Platters. Though they had few (if any) original members by the time they recorded ‘Sweet Sweet Lovin’ in 1967.
Featuring a great lead vocal by Sonny Turner, ‘Sweet Sweet Lovin’ is typical of the kind of upbeat, danceable soul the group was making in this period.

We head back to the City of Brotherly Love with the Ambassadors. One of the truly great Philly bands of the late 60s and early 70s, the Ambassadors recorded some excellent 45s for Atlantic before moving on to Arctic records where they would record several outstanding 45s and an LP. They were adept a certain brand of funky soul, best displayed on 1969s ‘A.W.O.L.’.

When I wrote about the Precisions ‘You’ll Soon Be Gone’ back in 2008, I compare the sound of the record with a lot of the later period stuff that the Parliaments recorded for Revilot (it probably featured a lot of the same musicians. It has a much harder sound than their other Drew 45s.

Chicago’s Radiants recorded some of my favorite soul 45s of the 60s. By the time they recorded ‘I’m Glad I’m the Loser’, their lead vocalist Maurice McAlister had departed. I’m not sure who’s singing lead on this one, but he tears it up.

The Originals recorded a string of great records for Motown in the late 60s, their biggest hit being 1969s ‘Baby, I’m For Real’. ‘Love Is a Wonder’ is a brilliant bit of late 60s Motown, mixing tight, tight harmonies and a powerful arrangement. The lead vocalist sounds like someone Daryl Hall probably spent a lot of time listening to.

Another great tune that bears a passing resemblance to a previous success is the Intrigues ‘I’m Gonna Love You’. The Philadelphia group hit the charts in the summer of 1969 with ‘In A Moment’, a song with a similar vibe and arrangement to the tune in this mix. They recorded a number of cool 45s for the Yew label and hit the R&B (and occasionally Pop) charts a few times between 1969 and 1971.

If you’re a regular visitor to Funky16Corners, you’ll already know that the mighty Volcanos are one of my all time favorite soul groups. Led by singer Gene Faith (born Eugene Jones), the Volcanos recorded some of the finest soul singles to come out of Philadephia in the 1960s for the Arctic and Harthon labels. They had the instrumental backing of the core of the famed Philly rhythm section and material from some of the best songwriters around. ‘You’re Number One’ is a bright, fast moving dancer with lots of sweet background harmony lifting Faith’s lead. Many of the Volcanos went on to form the core of the Trammps who went on to much success in the 70s.

The Vontastics (who took their name from Chicago’s black radio powerhouse WVON) recorded a couple of truly amazing 45s for a variety of Chitown labels (mostly St. Lawrence) between 1965 and 1969. ‘You Can Work It Out’ sports a stylish arrangement (dig those horns!) and some razor sharp vocals in a song that sounds like a tip of the hat to the Miracles ‘Shop Around’.

I first heard the Unifics a few years back when I scored a copy of their monumental 45 ‘It’s a Groovy World. A product of Washington, D.C.’s Howard University (like Roberta Flack and the Blackbyrds) the Unifics hit the charts a few times in 1968 and 1969, their biggest hit being ‘Court of Love’. They recorded some 45s and an excellent LP for the Kapp label under the guidance of songwriter and producer Guy Draper. The amazing ‘Which One Should I Choose’ was co-written by Draper, lead singer Al Johnson and yet another Howard alumni, the mighty Donny Hathaway (who also plays piano on the track).

The Formations were another Philadelphia group with a Northern Soul classic – ‘At the Top of the Stairs’ – to their credit. ‘Love’s Not Only For The Heart’ shows a harder edged side of the group that went on to perform and record as the Corner Boys (for Neptune), the Silent Majority (for Hot Wax) and Hot Ice (for Atlantic).

The next track is a personal favorite of mine. One of my earliest ‘cool’ Philly 45 scores, the Producers 45 (on Gamble and Huff’s short lived Huff Puff label) is a very solid two sider. ‘Love Is Amazing’ (the only tune in this mix with a female lead, provided by Mikki Farrow) is one of those records that should have been a substantial hit, yet never really (as far as I can tell) made a dent anywhere, even in Philly). It does have it’s partisans in the UK, but remains (unjustly) obscure.

The Parliaments, led by George Clinton are best known as the group that started the Parliament/Funkadelic empire, but recorded some of the finest soul 45s to come out of Detroit in the 60s. ‘Time’ (from 1968) was the upbeat flipside of the psyched out breakbeats of ‘Good Ole Music’.

The Four Sonics – another Detroit group – had connections to Nolan Strong and the Diablos. The unusual, bass-heavy vocals of ‘It Takes Two’ (not the Marvin Gaye song) appeared on the B-side of their epic version of Dusty Springfield’s ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’.

I recounted the tale of the Masqueraders in this space not too long ago, but I couldn’t very well do a mix dedicated to soul harmony without including their incredible ‘I Don’t Want Nobody To Lead Me On’. A group of Texans, who relocated first to Detroit, and then ended up recording their best stuff in Memphis, the Masqueraders ought to be much better known. This song was also covered by the Dynamics.

This edition of Funky16Corners Radio closes out with the only white group in the mix, Pennsylvania’s Magnificent Men. ‘Peace Of Mind’, written by lead singer Dave Bupp and trumpeter Buddy King, which hit the R&B charts in 1966 is an outstanding example of the influence of Curtis Mayfield specifically, and Chicago soul in general. Bupp has been quoted as saying that the song was written with Walter Jackson in mind, and it’s not hard to imagine the master balladeer doing a fine version of the song. The Magnificent Men were one of the few white soul harmony groups to have success with black audiences in the 60s, though there must have been something in the water in Pennsylvania, with folks like Len Barry, Billy Harner and the Temptones (featuring a young Daryl Hall).

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, May 28, 2017 10:19 am

Miss Mable John

Funky16Corners Presents: Same Time, Same Place

Eddie Jones – Let’s Stop Fooling Ourselves (Fairmount)
Andy Butler – Take Me (TRC)
Mable John – Same Time Same Place (Stax)
Steve Colt and the 45s – So far Away (RCA)
Vanguards – Somebody Please (Whiz)
Invincibles – Heart Full of Love(WB)
Tyrone Davis – Knock On Wood (Dakar)
Barbara Perry – Unlovable (Goldwax)
Ike and Tina Turner – Too Many Ties That Bind (Minit)
Carl Hall – You Don’t Know Nothing About Love (Loma)
Gloria Jones – When He Touches Me (Minit)
Soul Brothers Six – Somebody Else Is Loving My Baby (Atlantic)
Jackie Verdell – I’m Your Girl (Decca)
Grover Mitchell with St John and the Cardinals – Sweeter As the Days Go By (Josie)
Homer Banks – Lady of Stone (Minit)
Johnny and the Expressions – Something I Want To Tell You (Josie)
McKinley Travis – Baby Is There Something On Your Mind (Soultown)
Soul Clan – That’s How I Feel (Atlantic)
Walter Scott and the Kapers – I Want To Thank You (Ivanhoe)
William Bell – You Don’t Miss Your Water (Stax)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Presents: Same Time Same Place 110MB/Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

This begins a “best of” week here at Funky16Corners, devoted to classic ballad mixes from the past.

I am in the process of organizing this year’s Funky16Corners Allnighter/Pledge Drive, as well as working on some crucial reorganization here and at Iron Leg.

Funky16Corners had been a going concern, from 2000 as a webzine, and then from 2004 on as a blog.

I started doing the Funky16Corners Radio Show back more than 8 years ago on Viva Radio, and when that stopped being viable, went independent as a podcast in 2010 (almost exactly seven years ago), and starting the Iron Leg Radio Show in May of 2011.

If you have been following the goings on hereabouts, you will have noticed that as of two weeks ago, I have commenced a live, weekly show called Testify! for WFMU”s Give the Drummer Radio.

The weeks spent assembling/configuring the home studio, and the freedom (literal and figurative) associated with doing live radio have moved me in the direction of some changes.

The first change, still conceptual but very likely to take form soon, will be to originate all of the podcasts as ‘live’ shows and then archiving them as podcasts to be downloaded/streamed at your leisure in the usual places, i.e. iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher etc.

The second change will be to limit the amount of actual ‘blogging’ published at Funky16Corners and Iron Leg, commencing the evolution from old-school blogs to a full scale podcasting/broadcasting outlet.

I have been giving a change of this nature quite a lot of thought over the years, especially because of the drastic reduction in blog traffic since the early days of the boom.

This is not to say that I don’t enjoy the written aspect of the blog, but that in my own heart, and seeming in the hearts of the audience, the audio end of things seems to have supplanted it.

I still have a lot of work to do, and will be applying myself to that work in earnest over the coming weeks.

I’m aiming for the launch of the 2017 Allnighter near the end of June, and will likely spread the launch of the mixes over a longer period of time, as well as reworking the fundraising aspect of the event.

As these things come into a finer focus I will communicate them to you here and on the various and sundry radio shows.

So, dig the mixes this week, keep your ears pointed toward all of the broadcasts, and I will keep you all in the loop.

KTF

Larry

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Speaking of original vinyl, the flow of it into the Funky16Corners Blogcasting Nerve Center and Record Vault has continued unabated, and inside that tidal wave of wax has been a goodly amount of those classic soul ballads.

As a collector/appreciator, I came to the world of ballads fairly late in the game, but I have been making up for lost time.

So prodigious has been the accumulation, that I felt the time was right for a new ballad mix, so here it is.

There is a lot of southern soul in here, but also a couple of stylish west coast items, with stops in Chicago and Philadelphia as well.

As they say on the streets, ‘It’s all good’, but there are some highlights that bear mentioning.

You have to check out Andy Butler’s very groovy take on Bobby Womack’s ‘Take Me’, hardcore honky Steve Colt’s old-school JB-isms in ‘So Far Away’, the lo-fi, gospel-inflected perfection of the Invincibles’ ‘Heart Full of Love’, Ike and Tina bringing it on the b-side with ‘Too Many Ties That Bind’, Carl Hall’s epic ‘You Don’t Know Nothing About Love’, Gloria Jones covering Rodge Martin’s ‘When He Touches Me’, the mighty Soul Clan and ‘That’s How I Feel’ and reliably genius contributions from Mable John, Homer Banks, the Soul Brothers Six, Grover Mitchell, William Bell and many more.

What you get here is ‘Funky16Corners Presents: Same Time, Same Place’, an hour of the finest soulful pleading, shouting and wailing, reaching back into the amen corner, and out into heartbreak alley.

I’ve been spinning this one non-stop since putting it together, so you know it’ll be good.

I hope you dig it (spread the word), and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, May 25, 2017 12:45 pm

Pervis Staples and Carla Thomas

Listen/Download – Pervis Staples and Carla Thomas – It’s Unbelievable (How You Control My Soul) MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops each and every Friday with finest in soul, funk, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the Stitcher and TuneIn apps. Check it out on Mixcloud, or gran yourselves an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com

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I am in the process of gearing up for this year’s fundraiser, as well as a reassessment of blogging/podcasting workload.

All podcasts, Funky16Corners Radio Show, Iron Leg Radio Show and my weekly live bag, Testify! on WFMU’s Give the Drummer Radio will continue going forward.

The actual written end of the blogs may undergo some truncation to accommodate the increased production schedule.

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We close out the week with the groovy version of song first recorded by Jeanne and the Darlings (on Volt) in 1968.

This version of the song ‘It’s Unbelievable (How You Control My Soul)’ was recorded by the duet of Pervis Staples and Carla Thomas as part of the massive (and quite good) Stax project ‘Boy Meets Girl’, issued as a 2-LP set in 1969 and featuring the cream of the Stax/Volt stable.

Most of the duet pairings were new, i.e. no long standing pairings were included, but the results were always interesting.

Both Pervis and Carla were second-generation singers, Pervis as part of the Staple Singers (along side his father Roebuck, aka Pops, and his sisters Mavis, Cleotha and Yvonne) and Carla the daughter of Stax legend Rufus Thomas.

It’s interesting to hear Pervis outside of the framework of the Staples sound, and to realize how mush his voice sounds like his father.

Carla, of course, had had solo hits prior to this session, and had duetted with both her father and the mighty Otis Redding.

Their version of ‘It’s Unbelievable…’ is very cool. The song was co-written by Homer Banks (a big fave hereabouts) and Don Davis, and the session was co-produced by Davis and Al Bell.

The sound is a little more restrained than the Jeanne and the Darlings version (also produced by Davis), but I attribute that to the difference in the vocals, which are much harder-edged in the latter.

The pair duet on one other song (‘I’m Crying’) and participate in the group opening of ‘Soul-a-Lujah’.

That said, it is an excellent number, and I recommend the ‘Boy Meets Girl’ LP very highly. The original vinyl isn’t terribly expensive or hard to find, and some of the CD reissues truncate the track list significantly.

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

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 23, 2017 12:22 pm

Clyde McPhatter

Listen/Download – Clyde McPhatter – A Shot of Rhythm and Blues MP3

Greetings all.

Before we get rolling….

My new weekly radio show for WFMU’s Give the Drummer Radio, Testify! had it’s inaugural episode last Wednesday and is archived over there. If you dig Funky16Corners and/or Iron Leg I think you’ll dig it. I’ll be on the air every Wednesday night (tomorrow!) from 10-12, live, so tune in when you get a chance!
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I am endlessly fascinated with artists who are associated with the earlier days of R&B who continued to make music (often overlooked or forgotten) well into the classic soul era.

Today’s performer is a great example thereof.

Clyde McPhatter sang with Billy Ward and the Dominoes, was a founding member of the Drifters and had a string of solo hits stretching from 1955 to 1965 (though most of those fell between 55 and 61).

Though he dropped off the charts for good in 1965, he continued to record well into the 70s for a variety of labels (his great cover of ‘In My Tenement’ appeared her a while back).

Today’s selection hails from a brief run (1966-1967) that McPhatter had with the Amy label.

His smoking cover of Arthur Alexander’s classic ‘A Shot of Rhythm and Blues’ (a landmark of early soul which became something of a Beat group standard in the UK) was recorded in Muscle Shoals with Rick Hall at the board, and it shows.

Opening with rock solid drums and horns, McPhatter drops in followed by guitar and bass and a groovy combo organ and he is joined in the chorus by female backing singers.

It’s a great update of the tune, and packs plenty of soul power, which is why it’s so disappointing to see that it doesn’t appeared to have gained an audience anywhere, even regionally.

Perhaps audiences associated McPhatter with an earlier style/sound, but someone missed the boat by not promoting the 45, since it sits right up there with pretty much anything else coming out of the Southern soul sound at the time.

An object lesson is keeping your ears (and mind) open.

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

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 21, 2017 10:38 am

Harvey Scales and the Seven Sounds

Listen/Download – Harvey Scales and the Seven Sounds – The Yolk MP3

Listen/Download – Harvey Scales and the Seven Sounds – The Funky Yolk MP3

Greetings all.

Before we get rolling….

My new weekly radio show for WFMU’s Give the Drummer Radio, Testify! had it’s inaugural episode last Wednesday and is archived over there. If you dig Funky16Corners and/or Iron Leg I think you’ll dig it. I’ll be on the air every Wednesday night from 10-12, live, so tune in when you get a chance!
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Hows about we start the week with the musical defibrillation of Harvey Scales and the Seven Sounds?

I forget where I picked up on this particular 45, but Harvey and his Sounds have popped up in this spot on numerous occasions, in posts, mixes and on the radio show.

The group, based out of Milwaukee, WI released a number of smoking 45s during the 60s (mostly on the local Magic Touch label) and Harvey himself doing 45s and LPs for labels like Casablanca through the disco era.

Today’s selection comes from a two single run for Chess in 1970. Both of the 45s originated with their local operation in Milwaukee, having been produced (and cowritten) by Magic Touch owner Lennie LaCour.

What you get here are variations on a theme, that being the Yolk, which appears (an assumption based solely on anecdotal, record collector information) to have been a dance of some kind.

‘The Yolk’ and its continuation ‘The Funky Yolk’ are both fine examples of prime, late 60s/early 70s kick-ass funk, and are among the finest things Harvey and the Sounds ever laid down. They are both packed from end to end with blazing horns, Harvey’s fine singing and some pounding drums. ‘The Yolk’ is your basic statement, with ‘The Funky Yolk’ following as a more heavily instrumental continuation.

I don’t recall dropping a lot of dough on this smoker, but Popsike seems to indicate that it has been changing hands for north of 50 bucks, often close to (or over) 100, and considering the heat contained in the grooves, it’s worth every penny.

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

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, May 18, 2017 10:33 am

Nolan Porter

Listen/Download – Nolan Porter – If I Could Only Be Sure MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so I will remind you once again to dig into the weekly celebration of all things soulful that is the Funky16Corners Radio Show. You ccan subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, follow it in Stitcher and TuneIn, check it out on Mixcloud, or grab yourself an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com
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In related news, my new weekly radio show for WFMU’s Give the Drummer Radio, Testify! had it’s inaugural episode last night and is archived over there. If you dig Funky16Corners and/or Iron Leg I think you’ll dig it. I’ll be on the air every Wednesday night from 10-12, live, so tune in when you get a chance!
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The track I bring you today is one of those examples of how if you wait long enough, the record gods will smile on you, even if it’s only for a moment.

‘If I Could Only Be Sure’ by Nolan Porter is a fairly costly 45, thanks to its rarity, as well as its embrace by the Northern Soulies and other collector cadres. It has been known (in its promo form) to pull in several hundred dollars, and in its stock version well over a hundred dollars.

A while back I was on one of my periodic, online vinyl safaris, checking out the usual nooks and crannies/dealers etc, when what should I see in the ‘New Arrivals’ section but the copy of the record you see above, listed in VG condition, for twenty measly dollars.

I gave the matter about ten seconds of consideration before pulling the trigger, always in fear that someone else had spotted the record and was at the same time, attempting to purchase the very same copy.

As luck would have it, I was there first, and in a few short days the record slid through the mail slot and onto my turntable.

I have made a fairly regular practice of picking up harder to find things that are listed in slightly poorer condition (especially is the dealer is trustworthy and a good grader, as he was in this case) because more often than not, the record plays better than grade, and the savings are considerable. I’ve been exceptionally lucky in this regard, only having been burned a few times, and at five or ten dollars, it’s not taking much of a chance, all things considered.

The song itself is exceptionally haunting and unusual record, and in many ways atypical of a Northern Soul favorite, but so then is his other number that rings the bell with the soulies, the heavy ‘Keep On Keeping On’, which is as weird a “Northern” side (in a good way, as opposed to countless inexplicable novelties that have entered the canon) as you’ll find. It’s an interesting example of a transitional period on the UK dance floor and collector scene, moving away from the usual, classic 60s sound and indicating a broadening of the palate.

‘If I Could Only Be Sure’ approaches a mournful vibe, thanks in large part to the repeated guitar line, and several points where Porter flies into a pleading falsetto.

Porter’s albums are also very interesting because of the backing band, which included several members of the Little Feat/Mothers of Invention axis, including Lowell George, Richie Hayward, Jimmy Carl Black and Roy Estrada.

Original copies of the LP on which the track appeared, 1972’s ‘Nolan’ also command high prices, though both of his early 70s albums have been reissued.

It’s a spectacular track, and one that I find myself putting on a loop whenever I call it up.

I hope you dig it too, and I’ll see you all next week.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 16, 2017 1:02 pm

Keith Mansfield (left) and Alan Hawkshaw

Listen/Download – Keith Mansfield and His Orchestra – Soul Confusion MP3

Greetings all.

Before we get started, just a reminder about some important news.

Starting this Wednesday, 5/17 from 10PM to 12, and every Wednesday going forward at that time I will be doing a new weekly show on the WFMU Give the Drummer Radio stream called Testify! This show (which had a couple of dry runs elsewhere, earlier on) will see yours truly in a more free-form bag, taking the worlds of Funky16Corners and Iron Leg and mashing them together, with soul, rock, funk, pop, garage, psyche, R&B, Now Sound, jazz and anything else I think sounds good. The show will originate live from the Funky16Corners Subterranean Blogcasting Nerve Center and Record Vault, and will be archived thereafter.

So if your ears are free Wednesday night, turn them toward WFMU.org, click on the Give The Drummer stream and dig what it is that I am putting down.
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The track I bring you today is an old favorite, the flipside of which (the amazing ‘Boogaloo’ appeared in the eareliest incarnation of the blog 12 years ago!).

I have no idea why I waited so long to serve up the flip, but here it is.

Keith Mansfield was one of the great library masters on the UK scene, recording a grip of stuff for the storied KPM label as well as a number of mainstream releases under his own name.

Today’s selection has kind of an odd history.

‘Soul Confusion’ is a 45-only track, and was only released in the for you see today here in the US on an Epic promo.

In the UK the (same) track was billed under the name ‘Sugar with the Keith Mansfield Orchestra (Sugar being the vocalist, Sugar Simone who does not appear on the track) under a different title altogether, ‘11AM Tuesday Morning Taxi’ on CBS/UK. I have no idea why.

The other side of the US 45, ‘Boogaloo’ had appeared the year before on the excellent ‘All You Need Is Keith Mansfield’ LP, alongside the very groovy, breakbeat version of Mansfield’s oft covered ‘Soul Thing’.

‘Soul Confusion’, featuring (naturally) Hammond master Alan Hakshaw, is a funky, brassy groover with great rhythm guitar trading lines with the organ and hard hitting drums. There is a small drum break as well.

The 45 has gone up in price considerably since I found my copy (in the field, and on the cheap, luckily). Decent copies pull in between 75 and 100 dollars.

You can still get the LP (but no ‘Soul Confusion’, though the RPM/Retrodisc reissue from 2008 includes the track) at a much more reasonable price.

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

And, while you’re at it, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 14, 2017 9:45 am

Listen/Download – Dennis and the Supertones – Superman Lover MP3

Listen/Download – Dennis and the Supertones – Doin’ the Superman MP3

Greetings all.

Before we get started this week I have some important news.

Starting this Wednesday, 5/17 from 10PM to 12, and every Wednesday going forward at that time I will be doing a new weekly show on the WFMU Give the Drummer Radio stream called Testify! This show (which had a couple of dry runs elsewhere, earlier on) will see yours truly in a more free-form bag, taking the worlds of Funky16Corners and Iron Leg and mashing them together, with soul, rock, funk, pop, garage, psyche, R&B, Now Sound, jazz and anything else I think sounds good. The show will originate live from the Funky16Corners Subterranean Blogcasting Nerve Center and Record Vault, and will be archived thereafter.

So if your ears are free Wednesday night, turn them toward WFMU.org, click on the Give The Drummer stream and dig what it is that I am putting down.
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The tracks I bring you today are yet another small, but groovy chapter in the very interesting career of Ed Townsend.

Townsend got his start as a hit singer in his own right, with ‘For Your Love’ in 1958, went on to write songs for Theola Kilgore (For the Love of My Man), later co-wrote ‘Let’s Get It On’ with Marvin Gaye, and in between was part of Perry and the Harmonics, and the group I bring you today, Dennis and the Supertones.

The group recorded only one 45 – ‘Superman Lover’ b/w ‘Doin’ the Superman’ – in 1963, and that, as they say, was that.

Both tunes (which are separated by a hair’s breadth of originality) lean heavily in the direction of the mighty Rivingtons (the “ZOOM ZOOM ZOOMS” are right out of he Papa Oom Mow Mow playbook) and are a very cool slice of R&B-going into-soul.

Interestingly enough, ‘Superman Lover’ was covered later that same year by a group called Andy and the Marglows (brothers Andy, Jimmy and Terry Huff) on Liberty.

It’s the kind of party-starting stuff that I dig the most, and I hope you dig it, too.

See you all on Wednesday.

And, while you’re at it, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 11, 2017 1:50 pm

(Everything I Do Is Funky Like) Lee Dorsey

Listen/Download – Lee Dorsey – Operation Heartache MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast, which comes to you each and every Friday with the finest in soul, funk, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the Stitcher and TuneIn apps, check it out on Mixcloud, or grab yourself an MP3 at Funky16Corners.com

We close out New Orleans 45 week with a great one by Lee Dorsey.

Written, produced and arranged by the mighty Allen Toussaint, ‘Operation Heartache’ had a dual life, with releases (which share a backing track) by both Lee Dorsey (on Amy) and John Williams and the Tick Tocks (on Sansu).

Both versions were issued in 1966, but considering Dorsey’s prominence and hit-making track record, my assumption is that he had the initial release.

The record’s A-side ‘Holy Cow’ was a pretty big hit for Dorsey in the Fall of 1966, making it into the R&B Top 10 and grazing the Pop Top 20.
As far as I can tell ‘Operation Heartache’ didn’t hit the charts (even locally), which isn’t that odd.

Despite it’s high quality, ‘Operation Heartache’ has kind of an odd meter and melody. It’s a little slow for dancing, and clocks in at a hair over a minute and a half!

Dorsey’s vocal is typically excellent, and the arrangement, with a great horn section, accented by honking baritone sax, is very cool too.
If you are inclined to grab a copy for your playbox, you can have one for well below ten bucks any day of the week.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back next week with some more soul.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, May 9, 2017 12:32 pm

Miss Betty Harris

Listen/Download – Betty Harris – Mean Man MP3

Greetings all.

New Orleans 45 week continues with one of the finest records by one of my all time favorite singers, Miss Betty Harris.

If you’ve been following Funky16Corners for a long time you have seen Betty Harris pop up in this space, first on the web zine, in mixes and in individual posts.

She is one of the truly great 60s soul divas, and fortunately for all of us was one of Allen Toussaint’s go-to singers in the 1960s.

Though she wasn’t from New Orleans, and had a career before she started working with Toussaint, the work she did with him in New Orleans, first for Sansu and then for SSS Intl forms the core of her discography, and includes some of the very finest 45s to come out of the Crescent City during the classic soul era.

Among those 45s, ‘Mean Man’ holds a special place of honor as one of the best.

Recorded in 1968, written, produced and arranged by Toussaint, it exists in that sweet spot when soul was starting to evolve into funk. It features a stunning arrangement (one of his finest) with a hard-charging horn section, aggressive rhythm guitar, piano accents and female backing singers, all forming the foundation on which Harris constructed a landmark vocal.

She was – like every singer that Toussaint chose to work with in the 60s, remarkably expressive, capable of heartbreaking balladry, hard-hitting sock soul and funky hollars, and there are moments in ‘Mean Man’ that are among the best ever laid down by anyone during the classic era.

This is one of those records – of which there are scores from New Orleans – where it boggles the mind that it wasn’t a hit. It did gain some traction in the Northeast (and of course in New Orleans) but nothing significant. Despite the consistent high quality of her recordings (before, and with Toussaint) Harris had her biggest hit in 1963, and despite making it into the R&B Top 20 with ‘Nearer To You’ in 1967, never really got the kind of acclaim she deserved.

Fortunately Miss Harris is still with us, and still performing.

There are a couple of compilations of her best work out there, but she really deserves a major rediscovery/reappraisal.

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

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 7, 2017 10:25 am

Curley Moore

Listen/Download – Curley Moore – Sophisticated Sissy Pt1 MP3

Greetings all.

Thanks in large part to the odd working of my brain – especially as it pertains to the selection of blog content – we commence the second “theme week’ in a row.

Last week we looked at three Stax 45s.

This week we head south for three (excellent) New Orleans-based 45s.

As we did last week, we get things rolling with a dance craze 45, which oddly enough shares a title with a different Rufus Thomas 45, ‘Sophisticated Sissy’ by Curley Moore (Rufus’s came out in 1967, Moore’s in 1968).

Curley Moore is one of my favorite journeyman New Orleans soul singers, having recorded through the 60s and 70s for a variety of labels (Ace, NOLA, Teem, Sansu, Instant, House of the Fox) starting out with Huey Piano Smith and the Clowns and moving on to a series of outstanding solo 45s.

Moore was, like Willie Harper, possessed of one of the really interesting voices in New Orleans soul and R&B, and like Harper got to work with the mighty Allen Toussaint.

‘Sophisticated Sissy’ came out right on the cusp of what I like to call ‘The 33s’, i.e. records released on the Instant label with a catalog number higher than 3300, the dividing line (though there are some exceptions) between the soul and funk eras of the label, and right around the time (1968) when it seems that Instant was pressing their 45s in progressively smaller quantities (thus the increased rarity of their titles).

‘Sophisticated Sissy’, written by Huey Smith (who was doing a lot of work for Instant in this era) and Brenda Brannon (a frequent collaborator of Smith’s), sounds like a revved up version of Moore’s classic ‘Soul Train’, with a helping of heavy drums (sounds a lot like Smokey Johnson to me), twangy guitar and a pulsing piano like (Smith, no doubt).

The tune isn’t exactly a vocal showcase – it follows the dance craze template pretty closely – with Moore’s vocal being doubled by a female singer, but it does have a lot of New Orleans soul-into-funk flavor.

As funky New Orleans 45s go, ‘Sophisticated Sissy’ is fairly slept-on, still coming in at under 50 bucks, which I find kind of mind-boggling, but if you want to slip a copy into your playbox, that will work to your benefit.

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

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, May 4, 2017 10:41 am

Eddie Floyd

Listen/Download – Eddie Floyd – Got To Make a Comeback MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and I will remind you once again to tune into the Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast, which drops each and every Friday with the finest in soul, funk, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. Youy can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the Stitcher and TuneIn apps, check it out on Mixcloud, or grab an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com

And, while you’re at it, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

We close out Stax Week with a record that I consider to be one of the greatest Southern soul ballads ever recorded, and like Wednesday’s selection, it languishes on the flip side of a monster hit.

‘Knock On Wood’ was Eddie Floyd’s very first hit, making it to Number One on the R&B charts and Top 30 Pop in the summer of 1966. It remains to this day one of the best-known soul records of the 1960s, and has been covered countless times by soul, rock and disco artists in since the time of its release.

‘Got To Make a Comeback’, written by Floyd and DJ Joe Shamwell, is from its very first notes, a truly remarkable record.

Opening with deep, tremeloed guitar (which keeps rolling through the song, courtesy of co-producer Steve Cropper) ‘Got To Make a Comeback’ is as deep and pleading a ballad as ‘Knock On Wood’ was a sock soul shouter.

Floyd digs deep into the lyric, and the backing – basically the MGs and the Memphis Horns – is classic Stax/Volt.

Once again, it seems like ‘Got To Make a Comeback’ was relegated to obscurity by the overwhelming power/success of it’s a-side. I’m shocked that it hasn’t been covered very mch over the years (though Robert Cray did a very nice, very faithful cover in 1983).

It’s a great, great song/performance, and a great way to close out a week of Stax.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.