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By Larry, May 2, 2017 12:48 pm

Sam and Dave

Listen/Download – Sam and Dave – May I Baby MP3

Greetings all.

Stax-week continues with a lesser-heard side from the mighty Sam and Dave.

If you stop by here on the reg, you’ve probably heard me raving about Misters Moore and Prater, especially Sam, who I consider among the first rank of soul singers from the classic era.

‘May I Baby’ was tacked onto the flip side of the duo’s monster 1967 hit ‘Soul Man’, their second Number One hit.

Written and produced by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, ‘May I Baby’ is an understated, mid-tempo with a lovely melody and some interesting touches in the arrangement. Though it starts out with a weird, faux-Asian intro, it quickly turns into a great showcase for both Sam and Dave, who dig into the melody.

It’s one of those records that kind of snuck up on me (God knows how many years I had the 45 before I actually listened to the B-side) and a few years back, when I had the honor to spin in the presence of David Porter himself, I made sure to play it.

It’s a very groovy tune, and I hope you dig it as much as I do.

See you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, April 30, 2017 11:19 am

Rufus Thomas

Listen/Download – Rufus Thomas – Can Your Monkey Do the Dog MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s post begins a full week of Stax 45s.

Stax is, next to Motown, the first American soul label most folks think of, especially the non-record-collecting civilians, which should in no way be construed as a pejorative for the label or the ‘civilians’, since once you’re locked inside the record “thing”, it is at times, straight-jacket-esque (or at least it should be…heh).

As far as Stax being a go-to for those with only a casual acquaintance with soul music, that’s cool too, since it’s a testament to the bedrock quality of the sounds on the label, many of the among the best ever recorded in the genre.

That said, among the best on Stax, are many sides by the mighty Rufus Thomas, many of which have appeared in this space before.

‘The World’s Oldest Teenager’ (and probably one of the oldest folks churning out hits for Stax), Rufus Thomas took his years as a motor-mouth DJ, and a lively sense of humor, and used them to full effect on his records.

Today’s selection hails from 1964, when it was a Top 50 R&B hit in the winter of that year.

It also falls into one of my favorite sub-sub-genres of music, that being multiple-dance-craze 45s. Here Rufus combines the monkey and the dog, the dance that he rode into the charts the previous year with ‘The Dog’ and ‘Walking the Dog’.

Following a horn fanfare, Rufus drops in with a big ‘E-I-E-I-O’ and gets going on a song that follows the ‘Walking the Dog’ blueprint fairly closely.

Like any and all Rufus Thomas 45s, it is a groover, with a lot of dance floor punch, and carries with it the composition pedigree of Rufus and Steve Cropper.

Though I can’t say so with any certainty, I’m pretty sure at some point someone tried to teach their monkey to do the dog (if anyone has film of this achievement, please let me know).

I hope you dig the track, and I’ll be back on Wednesday with some Sam and Dave.

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, April 27, 2017 11:34 am

Timothy Wilson

Listen/Download – Timothy Wilson – Got To Find a New Love 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 got the sad news this week of the passing of the great Timothy Wilson.

Wilson, who was 73 had a long string of singles (and one LP) , starting in Tiny Tim and the Hits in the late 50s, then the Serenaders on VIP (with George Kerr and Sidney Barnes) and under his own name from 1965 on into the late 70s.

Wilson, who had a high, sweet tenor voice has appeared in this space before, with his stellar cover of the Supreme’s ‘Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart’ from 1969.

The 45 I bring you today hails from a few years earlier in 1967, but was also produced by his old bandmate George Kerr.

‘Got To Find a New Love’ starts out slow and mellow, with a repeated piano riff, but picks up steam quickly, with horns, vibes and some nice harmony backing vocals. It definitely packs enough heat for the dance floor and has a following with the Northern Soul crowd. Wilson’s lead vocal is great, at times treading the line between tenor and falsetto.

Interestingly enough, this was the B-side of the 45, and the A-side, the sweet, pleading ‘Baby Baby Please’ hit #45 on the R&B charts in 1967, having some regional pop success as well.

Wilson went on to tour extensively as the lead singer of the modern version of Frankie Lymon’s Teenagers.

He will be missed.

See you 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

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By Larry, April 25, 2017 1:33 pm

Marvin L Sims

Listen/Download – Marvin L Sims – Talkin’ Bout Soul MP3

Greetings all.

Since Monday’s selection was sweet and easy, I thought I’d take this midweek opportunity to stomp my size 16 foot down on the gas and get this thing moving.

However, before we get started, I wanted to make note of the anniversary of the change of the Funky16Corners Radio Show into podcast form in 2010. I had already been doing a show for Viva Radio for a while when some listeners and followers of the blog requested that I make the show available in downloadable/podcast form. I made that change seven years/364 episodes ago, and I like to think that in the ensuing years the show has evolved for the better in both style and substance.

If you are a reader of the blog, but not a listener, please take the time to subscribe (in iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher or any podcast aggregator).

Though I have no hard and fast plans in this direction, it seems inevitable that the day will come when podcasting becomes the main focus of this operation, so if you dig what goes down in this space, do yourself a favor and tune in.

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Marvin L Sims is an interesting (if minor) soul singer who recorded for a variety of labels – Mellow, Maxi, Revue, Rivertown – from 1966 on, until he dropped out of the music biz to get an advanced degree in psychology.

Sims was from Missouri but settled in Chicago after his time in the service, where he hooked up with (and recorded for) Charles Colbert Sr (father of Chuck Colbert of the American Breed and Rufus).

The blazing ‘Talkin’ Bout Soul’ was released in 1968 where broke out regionally, then became a national hit, making it to #50 on the R&B charts.

Pushed along but smoking guitar and horns, ‘Talkin’ But Soul’ features Sims’ raw, Wilson Pickett-esque voice sending out namechecks to a variety of soul greats, including Pickett, the O’Jays, and Sam and Dave.

The record is packs a lot of dance floor heat, and has a following with the Northern crowd in the UK.

Sims came out of retirement in 1998 to record the album ‘Heart Talk’

‘Talkin’ Bout Soul’ is (thanks to its minor hit status) not terribly expensive (maybe 30-50 on a good day) and is definitely worth adding to your want list.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, April 23, 2017 8:24 am

Listen/Download – Johnny and the Expressions – Something I Want To Tell You MP3

Greetings all.

Considering that many of you return to work filled with dread and shattered nerves, every now and then I like to get the week rolling with something sweet and mellow.

Johnny and the Expressions hit the charts (Top 20 R&B, #80 Pop) in 1966 with ‘Something I Want To Tell You’, one of those great transitional records that brought the harmonies of doowop into the soul era.

I don’t know much about the group, other than they recorded a string of 45s for Josie in 1965 and 1966, and that lead singer Johnny Wyatt had also recorded with the earlier group Rochell and the Candles who had a hit in 1961 with ‘Once Upon a Time’.

‘Something I Want To Tell You’ is one of those records that could have emerged right out of doowop, but the arrangement gives away that this is from the soul era.

Opening with rhythm guitar and bass, Wyatt comes in with his falsetto lead, followed by the rest of the group in harmony. A subtle horn section, in league with some ringing vibes makes for a great, romantic, late night side.

The record has since become a fave on the lowrider soul scene.

The flip ‘Where Is the Party’ is a faster moving number, but sounds like a much earlier side.

It’s very groovy record indeed, and not at all expensive, so go and get yourself one for your playbox.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, April 20, 2017 11:10 am

The Wicked One!

Listen/Download – Wilson Pickett – Love Will Keep Us Together MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then I must ask you once again to tune in the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which comes to you each and every Friday with the best 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 TuneIn and Stitcher apps, check it out on Mixcloud, or grab yourself an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com

We close out a week of familiar songs in unfamiliar renditions with a very solid souping up of one of the biggest slices of AM Gold from the 70s.

The first time I heard (thanks Mike Schaefer!) that Wilson Pickett had done a cover of the Captain and Tennille’s ‘Love Will Keep Us Together’ (a song I actually dig in the original version) I could scarcely believe it.

When I finally heard it, I was pleasantly surprised.

It’s not that I thought that Pickett wasn’t capable, but rather that I suspected that he might be too powerful a singer, and would blow through it like a bullet through a wet tissue.

Recorded in 1976 and released on Pickett’s ‘Chocolate Mountain’ LP (a one off on his TK distributed Wicked label), ‘Love Will Keep Us Together’ was a #69 R&B hit (no notice on the Pop charts, other than some minor regional success in L.A.).

Pickett’s version is slightly funky with enough pop polish to keep the AM audience interested, but no so much as to scare away his diehard fans.
It’s really cool to hear the song removed from Toni Tennille’s buttery voice and recast with Pickett’s razor-sharp growl.

I dig it, and I hope you do, too.

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.

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By Larry, April 18, 2017 7:16 pm

The O’Jays

Listen/Download – O’Jays – Four For the Price of One MP3

Greetings all.

Today I come to with 45 in hand, offering another very familiar song in a very unfamiliar version.

Larry Williams and Johnny Watson’s 1967 ‘Two For the Price of One’ has been a HUGE favorite of mine since I first heard it back in the 80s (when my buddy Johnny and I used to duet on the song).

It was only a few years ago when my buddy Jeff hepped me to the fact that the O’Jays had done a cover of the song.

I set out in search of the record, and managed to pick one up at a record show a while later.

The 45 you see before you today was released in 1973 – it was the O’Jays final 45 for the label – but the recording is from several years earlier, having appeared for the first time on the 1968 ‘On Top’ LP.

Sporting some fake crowd noise, and a groovy arrangement (with some strings that sound like they were lifted from a Temptations sessions) the O’Jays version of the song included slightly altered lyrics (to accommodate the extra singers) and the whole thing charges along at a very brisk pace indeed (brisk enough, and with enough strings/vibes seasoning to get any Northern Soul dance floor moving).

How it ended up tacked onto a 1973 release is a mystery, but at least it allows you to have this most excellent track on 45.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, April 13, 2017 1:02 pm

Robert Parker

Listen/Download – Robert Parker – Get Ta Steppin’ MP3

Greetings all.

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

The record I bring you today is surely known to aficionados of New Orleans music, especially its funky side, but to precious few others.

To most people that know Robert Parker’s music, that knowledge begins and ends with ‘Barefootin’, not only Parker’s biggest hit, but one of the biggest hits to ever come out of New Orleans, having become a perennial on oldies stations, a favorite of the soulies as well as having been covered a bunch of times, and even having been used as a commercial jingle.

Parker recorded a grip of great stuff for the NOLA label in the mid-60s (including the excellent ‘Barefootin’ LP), but never really hit the charts after 1967, even though he continued to record for SSS Intl and eventually (from 1974-1977) Island records.

‘Get Ta Steppin’ was released on Island in 1974, and it is as good a slice of 1970s New Orleans funk as you are likely to find.

Written by Parker, and produced and arranged by Wardell Quezerge, ‘Get Ta Steppin’ has an impossibly heavy bass line and twangy guitar (possibly Meters George Porter Jr and Leon Nocentelli) and funky drums. Parker himself is in rare form, and the song is so catchy, so funky, that it seems a crime of sorts that it wasn’t a hit. As far as I can tell it didn’t get any traction in the R&B or Pop charts, even regionally.

After his brief run with Island, Parker seems to have (aside from a fake “live” set on a compilation) ceased recording entirely.

This is – as is the case with so many great New Orleans singers – a huge drag.

Fortunately for you good folks, ‘Get Ta Steppin’ is not a terribly well known or expensive 45, so get yourself a copy, drop the needle, turn up the bass and watch the dancers get down.

I hope you dig the tune, 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.

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By Larry, April 9, 2017 1:53 pm

E. Rodney Jones at the mic!

Listen/Download – E. Rodney Jones – R&B Time Pt1 (Vocal) MP3

Listen/Download – E. Rodney Jones – R&B Time Pt2 (Instrumental) MP3

Greetings all.

The new week is dawning, and what better way to slide into the groove than with the intersection of Chicago soul, motor mouth DJs and a certified Northern Soul classic?

We have covered the work of the mighty E. Rodney Jones here many times before, usually in connection with the oeuvre of Jerry-O.

Jones was one of the top DJs in Chicago during the 1960s, and like many of his compadres (see Funky16Corners Radio v.44 ‘Hey Mr DJ’) waxed a few records of his own.

‘R&B Time Pts 1&2’ was released in 1965 and was a minor hit in St Louis, as well as getting play in NY and Miami (why it didn’t chart in Chicago, where it was no doubt in heavy rotation, I do not know).

Fully credited to Jones (though I’d say it was a safe bet there were actual musicians involved) the tune is a hard charging dancer (thus the Northern Soul popularity) with a bizarre faux-Asian introduction and Jones rapping over the tune with instructions for the dancers. The flip is a straight instrumental dub (minus the weird intro).

The price of the record seems to have varied wildly, running anywhere from 30-100 dollars, and there is also a local pressing on Charisma that goes for big bucks.

It is a groover, and I hope you dig it.

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, April 6, 2017 11:36 am

Listen/Download – Steve Dixon – A Good Love Is Hard To Find MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show. You can subscribe to the show as podcast in iTunes, listen on Stitcher and TuneIn (dig the show on Crusing Radio UK on Friday nights) and Mixcloud, or grab yourself an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com

We close out our week of ‘dead-enders’ with a great New Orleans 45 from the twilight of the mighty Instant label.

Instant released the cream of New Orleans R&B, soul and funk from 1963 until it trailed off in the late 70s.

Steve Dixon recorded two 45s for the label in 1974 and 1975 (and another for the Spotlite label in 1966) all with producer Jerry Powell.

Dixon’s real name was Dickinson, and (thanks to Sir Shambling for the info) he hailed from and (mostly) recorded in Alabama.

His Instant 45s were recorded in New Orleans, and their sound suggests the mid-60s, instead of the mid-70s.

‘A Good Love Is Hard To Find’ opens with a slow, churchy vibe, with Dixon singing backed by an organ, before a guitar establishes a shuffling rhythm and is joined by the horns (arranged by Tex Liuzza who worked on Skip Easterling’s Instant 45s). There’s a groovy organ solo (that quotes from ‘One Mint Julep’) and Dixon’s voice manages to break out into a vaguely Wilson Pickett-y rasp now and then.

It’s kind of a great, lost/overlooked 45 (the flip ‘Sunday Afternoon in Memphis’ is a nice ballad) and I hope you dig it.

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.

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By Larry, April 4, 2017 12:05 pm

Listen/Download – Dynamic Eight – Sardines and Turnip Greens MP3

Greetings all.

We continue our week of ‘dead-enders’ with one of several one-off funky 45s that came out on Atlantic in the late 60s.

The Dynamic Eight (originally James Stuart and the Dynamic Eight) were a Nashville-based blues/soul band that recorded for the J&J label, and had this 45 (with the flipside ‘Sweet Woman’ misspelled as ‘Street Woman’) picked up for national distribution by Atlantic in 1969.

It’s not hard to see why, since ‘Sardines and Turnip Greens’ is a thumping slice of harmonica-led funk.

Pushed along by a fat-assed bass, horns and the wailing harp (Stuart?), and sporting the kind of title guaranteed to lure in any self-respecting crate digger, ‘Sardines and Turnip Greens’is the kind of record that probably rocked a grip of inner city jukeboxes, but as far as I can tell never bothered the charts (R&B or Pop) in the least.

The flipside of the 45, ‘Street (Sweet) Woman’ is funky blues (as opposed to the bluesy funk on the A side) with a raspy vocal.

The group recorded a second 45 for J&J which was not issued anywhere else.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, April 2, 2017 9:25 am

Chuck Bridges and the L.A. Happening

Listen/Download – Chuck Bridges and the L.A. Happening – Keep Your Faith Baby MP3

Greetings all.

I was digging through the crates and decided to pull out a handful of what I like to call ‘dead-enders’, i.e. records by artists that recorded only a handful of 45s and then vanished into the ether, leaving little behind aside from the music they recorded. This should not be percieved as any kind of artistic judgment, but rather that the artists left very little in the way of a trail, other than their records.

The first of these is by Chuck Bridges and the LA Happening.

Bridges (a black singer leading an almost all-white band) recorded an LP for Vault records in 1969 (the 45 you see before you included LP tracks) and that – as they say – was that.

Their resulting, self-titled LP has since become a crate diggers favorite.

Oddly enough, though the band is called the L.A. Happening, a 1969 article in Billboard magazine suggests that they hailed from San Francisco.

The track I bring you today, ‘Keep Your Faith Baby’ is indicative of the brassy, funky sound of the band, planted firmly on the soulful side of the late 60s horn band thing.

Co-written by Bridges and Vault Records house producer Lucky Young, the tune is melodic and hard driving, with Bridges trading lines with female backing singers, and some groovy electric piano flowing underneath everything.

It’s a very solid side, and honestly, how can I pass up ANY ‘Keep the Faith’ song?

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.