Posts tagged: 45rpm

Funky16Corners Halloween Spooktacular!

By , October 29, 2020 1:34 pm

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Opening – Criswell
Johnny Sayles – My Love’s a Monster (Chitown)
Delacardos – They Put a Spell On You (Atlantic)
Lee Montgomery – Season Of the Witch (Liberty)
R Dean Taylor – There’s a Ghost In My House (VIP)
Scream Blacula Scream
Ronnie Love – Chills and Fever (Dot)
Bill Doggett – The Worm (Columbia)
Brian Auger and the Trinity – Black Cat (Atco)
Charles Sheffield – It’s Your Voodoo Working (Excello)
Bettye Lavette – Witchcraft In the Air (Lupine)
Souls Unlimited – The Raving Vampire (Wig Wam)
Roger and the Gypsies – Pass the Hatchet (Seven B)
ZZ Hill – I Created a Monster (UA)
Senor Soul – Spooky (Double Shot)
Spinners – Heebie Jeebies (Tri Phi)
Sonny Ross – Alakazam (Revue)
Alvin Cash – The Creep (XL)
Bobby Byrd – Back From the Dead (Brothers Intl)
Johnny Watson – Wolfman (Okeh)
The Thing With Two Heads
Clea Bradford – My Love’s a Monster (Cadet)
Midnight Movers LTD – Frankenstein (Renee)

Funky16Corners Halloween Spooktacular Listen/ Download 97MB Mixed MP3

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Greetings all 

Things being what they are these days, I was not inclined to cook up new Halloween shows. However, I could not let the holiday go by unnoticed, so I distilled the best Halloween jams in my crates into one party mix, guaranteed to raise the dead at your apple-bobbing soiree this year!

So dig into, pull down the ones and zeros, and, of course, BOO!

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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Kip Anderson – A Knife and a Fork

By , May 26, 2019 9:01 am

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Kip Anderson

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Listen/Download – Kip Anderson – A Knife and a Fork MP3

Greetings all.

The first time I heard today’s selection I was pretty much knocked on my ass.

Though I was familiar with the Rockpile version of ‘A Knife and a Fork’ from the 1980 ‘Seconds of Pleasure’ album, I had no idea that the song was a cover.

Kip Anderson was one of those singers that hovered on the border between soul and blues for his entire career. He was born in South Carolina in 1942, recording his first 45 for Veejay in 1959.

He recorded ‘A Knife and a Fork’ in 1966 in Muscle Shoals.

The song – with it’s dark, humorous bent – has a rock solid beat, with guitar, bass, drums and combo organ pushing things along at a brisk pace with a sax solo coming.

Like Tommy Tucker’s ‘Long Tall Shorty’, it seems to almost plod at the beginning, but picks up steam almost imperceptibly until its ready for the dance floor.

Anderson would continue to record for a variety of labels before a heroin dependency led to a 10 year stint in prison.

After he got out of jail he recorded both gospel and soul, recording for the Ichiban label in the 90s.

He eventually passed away in 2007.

I hope you dig the tune and I’ll see you all next week.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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Lonnie Brooks and the 4 Souls – Soul Meeting

By , May 5, 2019 10:55 am

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Lonnie Brooks

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Listen/Download – Lonnie Brooks and the 4 Souls – Soul Meeting MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s selection is a great example of a guy that started out in an R&B/Soul bag, and went on to make his mark in the blues.

Lonnie Brooks (nee Lee Evans Jr) got his start in his native Louisiana, made his way up to Chicago where he started out as Guitar Jr.

By the mid-1960s he was making soul 45s on his own and as part of Lonnie Brooks and the 4 Souls for labels like USA, Chess and Chirrup.

Today’s tune was the b-side of a 1967/68 45 and is one of my fave shout-out records (where one artist mentions another).

‘Soul Meeting’ has a slightly funky underpinning, and starts out with mentions of James Brown, Aretha Franklin, as well as Jackie Wilson, Etta James, Booker T and the MGs. Ruby Andrews, Joe Tex, Temptations, Jackie Wilson, Gladys Knight, Otis Clay, Wilson Pickett, Junior Walker, and Sam and Dave.

There’s not a lot of ‘song’ here, but it’s still a ot of fun hearing Lonnie shout out (and in some cases imitate) the hot artists of the day.

The a-side, ‘Good Soul Lovin’ is a killer as well.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all next week.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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Ronnie Milsap – Ain’t No Soul Left In These Ole Shoes

By , April 21, 2019 8:02 am

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Ronnie Milsap

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Listen/Download – Ronnie Milsap – Ain’t No Soul Left In These Ole Shoes MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s selection is one of my favorite versions of one of my favorite songs (great how is works out that way, n’est ce pas?).

Ronnie Milsap was one of the biggest country stars of the 1970s and 1980s, but believe it or not he got his start as a soul singer.

Milsap, who was born almost completely blind, learned how to play the piano, and though he was supposed to go to law school, he left his academic pursuits behind for a career in music.

He was lucky enough to sign with Scepter records, and managed to score his first hit with the Ashford and Simpson tune ‘Never Had It So Good’ (backed with another of their songs ‘Let’s Go Get Stoned’) in 1965.

His follow up was the first recording of Artie Resnick and Joey Levine’s ‘Ain’t No Soul (Left In These Old Shoes), which would go on to be something of a 1960s soul standard with recordings by Major Lance, the Corvairs, Kenny Bernard, and Tami Lynn among others.

Milsap’s version is among the rawest of them all, starting out with a fuzzy combo organ, prominent drums and a wailing vocal by Milsap. The arrangement by Tommy Kaye is fantastic, with a great horn chart and a hard-charging tempo that made the record a huge fave on Northern Soul dance floors in later years.

Milsap kept a bit of R&B flavor in his later successes, yet nothing as full on soulful as this.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all next week.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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Florence Ballard – Forever Faithful

By , March 24, 2019 6:50 am

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Florence Ballard

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Listen/Download – Florence Ballard – Forever Faithful MP3

Greetings all.

Every once in a while, if you’re lucky, you’ll encounter a record that sets you right back on your heels.

‘Forever Faithful’ by Florence Ballard is one of those.

A few years back, Gene Meredith was kind enough to invite me to come up and spin at the Steel Stax Soul Club.

As is the case every single time I’m lucky enough to spin with someone with good taste and a heavy collection, my ears were wide open and my want list ready to update.

When Gene dropped the needle on ‘Forever Faithful’ I got chills up and down my spine.

Here we have a record that is both a great dancer, but also possessed of a dramatic edge and filled from end to end with memorable hooks.

‘Forever Faithful’, written by Robert Bateman and James Wicker, and produced by Bateman (who has appeared in this space before as a frequent collaborator of Lou Courtney’s), was Florence Ballard’s final 45, about a year after leaving the Supremes and 8 years before she would pass away.

The arrangement, opening with strings and angelic backing chorus, quickly adds pulsing bass and drums, and after a short verse, the absolutely beautiful chorus comes in, a perfectly constructed, economic work of art, perfectly engineered for Northern Soul dance floors.

Unfortunately ‘Forever Faithful’ didn’t catch on at the time of release. It’s flipside, ‘Love Ain’t Love’ got airplay on a handful of Northeast pop stations, but doesn’t appeared to have made any inroads on the R&B side of things.

I hope you dig it as much as I do, and I’ll see you all next week.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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Dottie Cambridge – He’s About a Mover

By , March 17, 2019 9:29 am

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Dorothy Moore aka Dottie Cambridge

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Listen/Download – Dottie Cambridge – He’s About a Mover MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s certified banger has been steaming up my crates for a long time.

I first heard Dottie Cambridge’s distaff take on the Sir Douglas Quintet’s ‘(S)He’s About a Mover’ back in the day on the fantastic ‘Pow City!’ comp.

I was already inclined to dig it as a huge SDQ fan, but when I heard Dottie Cambridge and band lay into it, speeding it up and adding that crazy organ, I had to find myself a copy of the 45 (which I did in short order).

Interestingly enough, Dottie Cambridge was in fact Dorothy Moore, who went on to have a huge hit with ‘Misty Blue’ in the 70s. As far as I can tell this was her first solo 45, after recording as part of the Poppies forEpic.

‘He’s About a Mover’ was released in 1967 and produced by Huey Meaux, who produced the original by the Sir Douglas Quintet two years before.

It’s a hot, hot 45 and a dance floor mover, and might set you back a little bit more these days (than it cost me way back when).

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

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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Best of F16C – The Mad Lads – No Time Is Better Than Right Now

By , February 17, 2019 12:00 pm

ExampleThe Mad Lads

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Listen/Download – The Mad Lads -No Time Is Better Than Right Now MP3

Greetings all.

The tale of “sometimes a record just sneaks up and knocks you on your ass” is one as old as time (and one that has been told in this space many a time).

That said, it bears retelling with every new incident because, a. a new record is involved, and b. that feeling of discovery/gratitude is such a gas.

The record in question this fine day was brought to my attention by my man Tarik Thornton (a giant among collectors/selectors and a righteous dude in all other ways) who included it in his guest mix ‘To Russia With Love’, right here, last September.

The song was ‘No Time Is Better Than Right Now’ by the Mad Lads.

I can remember vividly my feelings the first time I heard this song, starting with the usual “Where has this been all my life?”, followed by “Where can I get my own copy?” and then “Holy shit, what a cool tune!”.

‘No Time Is Better Than Right Now’ – written by Stax bassist Allen Jones and produced by no less a light than drumming master Al Jackson, Jr. (who had quite a sideline producing artists like Albert King, The Bar-Kays and Johnny Taylor for Stax), is a remarkable mix of heavy beat (which presages the feel of New Jack Swing), brilliantly applied harmony vocals (the way the Mad Lads soar into falsetto during the chorus is a thing of beauty), horns and funky piano.

That this wondrous song languished on the B-side of a minor R&B hit (Whatever Hurts You) and was never included on one of the group’s albums is criminal.

I mean, what were the folks at Stax thinking? Surely 1967 was a banner year for the label, and sometimes even great records get lost in the shuffle, but honestly, ‘No Time Is Better Than Right Now’ is so different, so tuneful, so artfully arranged and produced, so joyful a representation of where Memphis soul was (and was going), its obscurity boggles the mind.

The Mad Lads were formed at Booker T Washington High School in Memphis by John Gary Williams, Julius E. Green, William Brown and Robert Phillips and recorded for Stax/Volt between 1964 and 1973.

This record features a different lineup of the group – Sam Nelson, Quincy Billups, Julius Green and Robert Phillips – that recorded when John Gary Williams was in the Army.

I have no idea who did the arrangement, though I would be shocked to discover that it was anyone but Jackson on the drums (that swinging, sock soul sound was like no other).

The group released more than a dozen 45s and three LPs during their first incarnation.

None of the group’s records are terribly expensive (though their debut 45, and their LPs, especially the second one can be pricey), with this one usually gettable for around 20-25 bucks.

It’s a killer 45, and I hope you dig it as much as I do.

Keep the faith

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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The Spellbinders – Chain Reaction

By , February 3, 2019 1:04 pm

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The Spellbinders

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Listen/Download – The Spellbinders – Chain Reaction MP3

Greetings all.

The Spellbinders – New Jersey’s own – have been featured in this space before with their epic 1967 floorfiller ‘Help Me (Get Myself Back Together Again)’.

The group made a string of outstanding singles for Columbia and Date between 1965 and 1967, all with the involvement of soul genius Van McCoy.

‘Chain Reaction’ from 1966 is a stellar midtempo number with echoes of the Miracles. As the song builds the group harmonies come in to fatten up the sound, which is – like many McCoy records – filled with hooks.

Interestingly, ‘Chain Reaction’ got released twice in the UK with a pair of b-sides, first on UK CBS with ‘For You’ on the flip and then again on Reaction with ‘Help Me’ on the flip, both in 1966.

Sadly, for a group with such a great sound and the assistance of Van McCoy, they onky had limited success, with ‘For You’ grazing the R&B Top 20 in 1965 and ‘Chain Reaction’, ‘We’re Acting Like Lovers’ and ‘Help Me’ scoring regional pop radio success.

The group broke up in 1967, with female lead Eloise Pennington moving on to join the Ad Libs.

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll see you all next week.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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The Sims Twins – A Losing Battle

By , January 27, 2019 12:14 pm

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The Sims Twins

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Listen/Download – The Sims Twins – A Losing Battle MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s selection is one of my favorite 45s to come out of what I call the Los Angeles/New Orleans connection.

I use the term to cover the diaspora of New Orleans musicians, including Harold Battiste, Mac Rebennack, Jesse Hill and Earl Palmer among others that ended up working in a wide variety of settings in the studios of LA in the 1960s.

The Sims Twins were originally from New Orleans, before being discovered by Sam Cooke and moving out to the West Coast where the recorded a grip of singles for Cooke’s SAR records between 1961 and 1963 (including the original version of ‘Soothe Me’ later covered by Sam and Dave) and going on to record for Omen, Parkway, Specialty and Crossover, eventually running out of steam by the mid 70s.

Today’s selection was recorded for Omen Records in 1966. Written by Mac Rebennack and John Dauenhauer and arranged by Harold Battiste, ‘A Losing Battle’ is a great slice of upbeat soul with a fantastic arrangement.

Oddly enough, a while back, I was listening to Little Royal’s 1972 album, and one of the songs sounded vaguely familiar. It turns out he had covered ‘A Losing Battle’ but slowed the tempo way down, turning into a mournful ballad, rendering it almost unrecognizable.

That said, I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all next week.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

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