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By Larry, November 26, 2017 11:39 am

Cliff Nobles

Listen/Download – Cliff Nobles – Love Is Alright MP3

Greetings all.

The track I bring you this week is one of those 45s that is probably in 99% of every soul collection, yet I wonder how many people have flipped it over to play this side.

The flipside, ‘The Horse’ by Cliff Nobles and Co was one of the biggest hits of 1968, hugely influential, spawning dozens of ‘horse’ and horse-related records and making its way into the repertoire of every hip marching band in the land.

That said, today’s selection, the vocal version of the tune – retitled as ‘Love Is Alright’ is a bit of funky genius, and in a lot of ways is my preferred side of the record.

I always thought it was deely ironic that a vocalist like Cliff Nobles had his biggest hit on a record where his voice does not appear, and a look at the charts would suggest that almost nobody (except the New Orleans station WYLD) thought to flip the record over and play the ‘Love Is Alright’.
This is a damn shame because Nobles’ vocal is right tight and outtasight.

His discography (before and after ‘The Horse’) is fairly brief, and his only other chart success was a minor regional hit with ‘The More I Do For You Baby’ few months before ‘The Horse’ broke.

It’s a groovy number, and I hope you dig it.

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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By Larry, March 16, 2017 7:02 am

Listen/Download – The Soul Set – Mickey’s Funky Monkey MP3

Listen/Download – The Soul Set – Flunky Flunky MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, and so it’s Funky16Corners Radio Show time again. The podcast 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 Stitcher and TuneIn apps, check it out on Mixcloud, or grab yourself an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com

Today’s selection is one of those records that has been stewing in my crates since forever, picked up in my broad sweep of everything Philadelphical back in the day.

I remember grabbing this out of certain cigar smoke stained vinyl treasure trove withing the Philly city limits, along with a grip of funk and Northern Soul things, mainly on the strength of the title, and the fact that it had Philly music names (Frank Virtue and Bernie Binnick) on it.

When I got it home I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that in addition to the funky version of the Miracles ‘Mickey’s Monkey’, there was a groovy organ instro version (Flunky Flunky) on the flip.

I know nothing at all about the Soul Set, other than the fact that they probably had no relation to the Jersey Shore unit (that secorded for Selsom and Johnson).

BB was a Philadelphia imprint that released a bunch of 45s in the mid-to-late 60s including two by the Soul Set, one by Guy Maurice (who also recorded for Fairmount), and discs by Frantic Freddy, the Centurys and (dig this name) Ernie Fields and Cockroach.

The group’s version of ‘Mickey’s Monkey’ is groovy, with lots of dance floor punch.

The organ instro version ‘Flunky Flunky’ is also excellent, with lots of overmodulated Hammond sailing over the pounding drums.

Interestingly, ‘Mickey’s Funky Monkey’ charted in a bunch of Philly-area markets in the summer of 1967 (their earlier 45 had some minor regional success as well.

If anyone out there knows who was in this band, please let me know.

That said, I hope you dig the 45, 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, August 11, 2016 1:27 pm

Al Thomas solo, and with the Sweet Delights

Listen/Download – Al Thomas – I Had a Good Thing (But I Blew It) MP3

Listen/Download – Al Thomas Ork – Cornbread and Molasses MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, so I will beseech you once again to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show. You can subscribe to the show as podcast in iTunes (maybe review and rate it while you’re there?), listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, check it out on Mixcloud, or grab an MP3 right here at the blog.

We’re going to close out the week with a groovy Philly 45 that I’ve had in my crates for years but only just recently made a discovery about.

I picked up the Al Thomas Ork 45 ‘Cornbread and Molasses’ after hearing it in a mix back in the day. I was already buying up any Philly soul and funk I could get my hands on, especially anything on the Virtue label.

My assumption at the time was that Al Thomas was the same cat as ‘Big Al T’ who did the two-sided instrumental funk 45 of ’25 Miles’ b/w ‘Do the Slide’ which I already had.

So – as is often the case – I didn’t really dig into the flipside, the vocal version of the song ‘I Had a Good Thing (But I Blew It)’ until years later.

When I did, with my aptitude and taste for sweet soul more highly developed, it really made a mark. It has that groovy, slightly funky, late 60s (1968) vibe that you heard a lot coming out of Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit.

So I started digging around, looking for information on the participants and I discovered some interesting things.

First off, ‘Al Thomas’ was in fact Albert Thomas Byrd. Secondly, Al Thomas was the sole male member of the Sweet Delights, who made an excellent 45 for Atco ‘Baby Be Mine’ that same year.

As it turns out, ‘I Had a Good Thing (But I Blew It)’ is in fact the Sweet Delights. It should have been their second 45, but someone decided that they’d be better off marketing it as a solo single by Thomas/Byrd.

Unfortunately, neither 45 seems to have made a dent either inside or outside of Philadelphia, though the funky, instrumental side of the Sweet Delights ATCO 45, ‘Paul’s Midnight Ride’, credited to the Delights Orchestra got some regional airplay in the Midwest and the South.

It’s an excellent 45, and I hope you dig it.

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, August 9, 2016 11:07 am

Ruth McFadden

Listen/Download – Ruth McFadden – Rover Rover MP3

Greetings all.

Back in the day, when I was digging up (and taking home) all the Philadelphia soul I could find, I was lucky enough to find all three 45s released on a short-lived label called Huff Puff.

The ‘Huff’ was of course Leon Huff (of Gamble and…) and the releases, by the Landslides, The Producers and Ruth McFadden (all 1968) were all arranged by Bobby Martin (though he’s not explicitly credited on the Producers 45) and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

The music – as is to be expected – is all first rate, played by the Philly rhythm section guys (Baker, Harris, Eli, Montana etc) and of course amazingly written songs.

They’re all interesting (I wrote up the Producers a while back and all three 45s have been played on the Funky16Corners Radio Show), but the Ruth McFadden 45 especially so.

McFadden had had a career as an R&B singer back in the 1950s, and then dropped off the radar almost completely (other than a 1965 one-off for Sure Shot) until she reappeared on Huff Puff with ‘Rover Rover’ in 1968.

‘Rover Rover’ is a funky, atmospheric (dig those strings) number with a great, gritty vocal by McFadden and a Bobby Eli guitar line that would pop up again in the Brothers Of Hope 45 ‘Nickol Nickol’ on Gamble that same year.

Though she would go on to record another great single for Gamble and Huff (‘Ghetto Woman Pts 1&2’ in 1972) none of her stuff charted (even locally in Philly) and she remains a fairly obscure artist (though there appears to be a compilation of her earlier recordings).

That said, this is a very groovy 45 that grows on you with repeated listens.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, August 4, 2016 11:24 am

Clockwise from top left: Thom Bell, Bobby Martin, Sam, Erv & Tom

Listen/Download – Fabulous Emotions – Number One Fool MP3

Listen/Download – Fabulous Emotions – Funky Chicken MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, so I will remind you all to dig into the Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast, which drops each and every Friday with the best in soul, funk, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can subscribe to the show in iTunes, listen on TuneIn, Mixcloud or grab an MP3 right here at the blog.

The tunes we end the week with compose both sides of one of my favorite Philadelphia 45s, and part of an interesting story as well.

I first picked up the local, Nico release of the Fabulous Emotions ‘Number One Fool’ b/w ‘Funky Chicken’ more than ten years ago from my buddy Haim.

The a-side is a hard charging number with a following on Northern Soul dance floors. Produced by Philly mainstays Bobby Martin and Thom Bell (with writing credited to an otherwise unknown ‘F. Hill’, but more on that in a minute), ‘Number One Fool’, is a really well produced, prefect representation of the late 60s Philly sound.

The flip, ‘Funky Chicken’ is merely an instrumental dub of ‘Number One Fool’, but this time is credited to Martin and Bell! It was actually a minor local hit, charting on two different Philly stations, WDAS and WHAT (home of the Mighty Burner Sonny Hopson, Make no mistake-a Jake-a!).

The story takes an interesting turn when the track was released again on the Tamboo label, then recycled/reissued yet again (also on Tamboo) this time credited to the NY Jets!?!

Check out this old Funky16Corners web zine article where I go into detail on the multiple releases, but I will say that the 45 picked up a new track in its last version, this time with writing and singing by Sam, Erv and Tom of ‘Soul Teacher’ fame!

All versions of this record are excellent, as well as fairly hard to put your hands on these days. It is highly recommended that you grab one for your playbox should you encounter one in the field.

I hope you dig the tunes, 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, July 5, 2016 11:42 am

Sonny Ross and a Euro Picture Sleeve for ‘Alakazam’

Listen/Download – Sonny Ross – Alakazam MP3

Greetings all.

Every once in a while, no matter how deep your crates, or how jaded you’ve become, a record comes along from out of nowhere and knocks you right on your ass. One of those 45s that explodes from confounding obscurity, a hit, fully formed, that just never happened.

I forget exactly where I first heard Sonny Ross’s ‘Alakazam’, but it just blew me away. I couldn’t believe that I’d never heard it, or that it hadn’t been a hit when it was released in 1971.

Opening with what sounds like an overmodulated kick drum, and then vibes accents, the snare and some fantastic fuzz guitar (how has this not been sampled?) come in with the main riff. Ross then comes in with a raspy voice, just this side of Teddy Pendergrass.

I haven’t been able to find out much about Ross. He appears to have been from Philadelphia and was a member of a mid-60s incarnation of the Flamingos alongside Eddie Edgehill who was connected to the Sweet Delights/Delights Orchestra, and was brought to Event Records in a licensing deal by Philly singer/songwriter George Tindley (who co-wrote the song).

Why ‘Alakazam’ failed to break through in 1971 is a mystery. It is a great song/record, well produced and arranged and on a major label. Whether it just didn’t get into the right hands, or there were some other forces at work, I cannot say.

Aside from two Midwestern markets (Cleveland and Wichita) it didn’t make a dent (though it did get released in the UK on Mojo, and on Polydor in Germany the following year).

And so, it languished in obscurity, the province of some of your hipper UK collectors (Northern, Funk and Modern) and DJs, waiting to be rediscovered.

It isn’t a terribly expensive record – the highest price I can find is just over 50USD – but it is hard to put your hands on. I had it as a saved search for a long time before a copy surfaced, so keep your eyes peeled if you want to add it to your playbox.

I hope you dig it as much as I do, 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, June 19, 2016 11:25 am

Larry Grogan – Kings

Artistics – So Much Love In My Heart (Okeh)
Millionaires – A Rather Hip Shing (Philips)
Volcanos- You’re Number One (Arctic)
Sims Twins – A Losing Battle (Omen)
Spirit of St Louis – Wait Until Tomorrow (Philips)
Eddie Purrell – The Spoiler (Volt)
The Spellbinders – A Little On the Blue Side (Columbia)
Bobby Bland – Shoes (Duke)
Bull and the Matadors – Move With the Groove (Toddlin’ Town)
Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers – It’s Growing (Gordy)
Billy Leonard – Tell Me Do You Love Me (Fairmount)
George Guess – No Matter What (Pearl Harbor)
Olympics – Baby Do the Philly Dog (Mirwood)
Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers – I’m Gonna Give Her All the Love I Got (Wand)
Marketts – Stirrin’ Up Some Soul (WB)
Trade Martin – Moanin’ (RCA)
Bobby Newton – Do the Whip (Mercury)
The Groovers – I Got To Go Now (Up On the Floor) (Groovy)

Listen/Download – Larry Grogan – Kings 103MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all 

Welcome back to the Funky16Corners 2016, Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

Today I give you the final mix of this year’s Allnighter, the complementary/second half of this years mix from yours truly, ‘Kings’.

This is an hour of the finest male soul 45s – all dancers – from the classic era. You get soul from Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Los Angeles, St Louis, Memphis and Houston, all with the sounds to put some pep in your step.

Make sure to spin this one with the ‘Queens’ mix posted on 6/5 for the full effect.

I want to thank all the selectors that participated this year for putting together these great mixes, as well as everyone that donated.

If you haven’t donated, please click on the Paypal link and drop something in the bucket to help cover the 2016 operating costs.

Don’t forget to click that Paypal button and donate, and we’ll be back later in the week with some more of the soul and funk goodness you’ve come to expect from Funky16Corners!

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Your donations help to keep Funky16Corners up and running, with the blog, Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast and hundreds of hours of archived mixes.

Everyone that donates will get the new 2016 Funky16Corners badge and bumpersticker, with which you can adorn the garment and flat surface of your choosing.

Also, everyone that donates will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of the new 45 by the M-Tet!

So pull down the ones and zeros, dig deep and Keep the Faith!

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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 10, 2016 1:27 pm

Patti and the Emblems

Listen/Download – Patti and the Emblems – Please Don’t Ever Leave Me Baby MP3

Greetings all.

Many times over the years, I’ve talked about getting inured to an unfamiliar tempo.

Doing so (many times over the years) has expanded my musical horizons exponentially.

Though I started collecting fast-moving, dance floor killers back in the day, I have come to love ballads, deep soul, as well as all the wonders of mid-tempo stuff.

One such record is today’s selection, ‘Please Don’t Ever Leave Me Baby’ by Camden, NJ’s own Patti and the Emblems.

Though it is certainly brisk enough to dance to, ‘Please Don’t Ever Leave Me Baby’ is one of those songs that you reserve for the beginning/build up of a set. It’s not likely to drag people out onto the floor, but if they’re already their, they’ll get into the groove and keep moving.

Patti and the Emblems were a discovery of Frank Bendinelli and Leroy Lovett of B&L productions. They had their first (and only) hit in 1964 with ‘Mixed Up Shook Up Girl’ on Herald, eventually moving on to Kapp Records in 1967.

During their career they were fairly prolific, recording 10 45s over a four year period.

They were lucky to have a great lead singer in Patty Russell, and the help of a young Leon Huff on piano.

‘Please Don’t Ever Leave Me Baby’ (penned by Bendinelli and Lovett) is a hook-filled, very nicely produced number with all the hallmarks of a great Philly soul side (I live the vibraphone accents).

As far as I can tell, this 45 isn’t terribly expensive these days, so go and get yourself one for your play box.

I hope you 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 26, 2016 10:58 am

The Soul Survivors

Listen/Download – Soul Survivors – Tell Daddy MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s selection comes to you courtesy of the Funky16Corners ‘Hey, I didn’t Know They Had Another Record’ department.

The Soul Survivors (of Philadelphia, PA) are best known as the band that put Gamble and Huff on the map with their huge 1967 hit ‘Expressway To Your Heart’.

Though they had a minor hit with 1967’s ‘Explosion In Your Soul’, their chart presence was in steady decline throughout their career.

Their Crimson LP and 45s are all cool, but for most people (myself included for a long time) that was the end of the story.

So, imagine my surprise some years ago when I found their 1969 Atco LP ‘Take Another Look’ at a garage sale. I honestly had no idea they’d ever recorded post-Crimson (they even went on to record for TSOP into the 70s!), so I grabbed the album and took it home.

While I wouldn’t describe the record as a complete success, I will say that it has some definite highlights.
Recorded partly in Philly with Gamble and Huff at the boards, and partly in Muscle Shoals with Rick Hall, ‘Take Another Look’ is definitely worth a listen.

My favorite track on the album is the Soul Survivors return to the original “masculine” version (the song was after all written by Clarence Carter, prior to its legendary recording by Etta James as ‘Tell Mama’) of ‘Tell Daddy’.

The arrangement adds a slightly more modern/swampy edge to the familiar sound, but the overall effect is classic soul, with great vocals by the band and some tight hornwork. There’s very little of the 1969, bare feet in the mud white boy over-singing, with the Soul Survivors keeping it right, tight and outtasite.

This LP doesn’t turn up a whole lot, but it is definitely worth picking up if you find it.

I hope you 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, March 22, 2016 12:24 pm

The Four Larks

Listen/Download – The Four Larks – Groovin’ at the Go Go MP3

Greetings all.

I come to you, mid-week, with one of the greatest 45s ever made, and a story to accompany its dulcet tones.

Many years ago, in the early days of the Funky16Corners blog, I got an e-mail from a reader (whose identity is sadly lost in the sands of time) saying how much they dug the blog, and asked for my address so that they could send me something.

So, a couple of weeks pass, and then I get a package in the mail. I opened it, only to be greeted by a genuinely shocking sight.

There in the package was one of my personal holy grail 45s, ‘Groovin’ at the Go Go’ by the Four Larks, in stone mint condition, with a note saying how the sender had come across it at a stoop sale in Brooklyn, knew that I had sung its praises on the blog (mentioning of course how I had been unable to score a copy), and thought they’d send it my way as a token of their appreciation for my efforts.

Now, I should mention – for those of you who are not record collecting obsessives, or Northern Soul fans – that this is no ordinary garage sale/flea market find. This is a record that regularly fetches between 200 to 350 dollars in this kind of condition (way out of my price range) and this sainted soul dropped a mint copy in my lap for nothing.

That, my friends, is what the Jewish members of my family would describe as a mitzvah. A really big mitzvah.

Sadly, I soon lost the box with the sender’s name and address, and despite asking on the blog for contact info, have not heard from them again (if you’re still out there, PLEASE drop me a line).

They should know, that over the years, when I wasn’t feeling the love (blog-wise), that act of kindness was a well that I could return to over and over again to restore my faith in the readership, and mankind in general.

That all said, it is undeniable (at least to me and most Philly soul heads) that the Four Larks ‘Groovin’ at the Go Go’ is a monument to the greatness of the Harthon sound specifically, and Philadelphia soul in general.

The lead vocal by Vivian McDougal is first rate, and the backing by the Four Larks (including her then-husband, the mighty Weldon), and the instrumental backing (flawless) are both among the best of the era, and the tune, written by Philly giant Thom Bell is amazing.

‘Groovin’ at the Go Go’ is a Northern Soul favorite for all of the obvious reasons, including the hooks, bright pop-soul sound and that driving beat.

The 45 holds a place of honor in my playbox, and when I had the opportunity to spin at the legendary Subway Soul night in NYC, I made sure to give it an airing.

I hope you dig it as much as I do, 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, January 24, 2016 11:51 am

The Volcanos

Listen/Download – Volcanos – (It’s Against) The Laws of Love MP3

Greetings all.

I thought we’d get things of to a fine start this week with one of my favorite Philly 45s.

Back in the day, when I had just started digging for soul in earnest, I was all over anything I could find from Philadelphia and New Orleans.

One of the early obsessions to come out of my Philly excavations was the mighty Volcanos.

I can say with some certainty that the gateway drug – as it were – was ‘Storm Warning’, the group’s biggest hit and a Northern Soul classic.

Over the course of a few years, the Volcanos, led by Gene Faith (nee Jones) would lay down some of the finest soul 45s to come out of the City of Brotherly Love, first for Arctic, then the storied Harthon imprint, and then finally for Virtue, before Faith went solo, and the rest of the group morphed into the Moods, and then the Trammps.

‘(It’s Against) The Laws of Love’ was the group’s fourth 45 for Arctic, released in 1965. Written by Carl Fisher of the Vibrations, ‘Laws of Love’ followed their regional success with ‘Storm Warning’, but despite its obvious quality, failed to make a dent outside of Philadelphia.

Seemingly crafted from a Northern Soul template (years ahead of the curve) ‘Laws of Love’ features a brisk, four on the floor beat, piano and ringing vibes (Vince Montana!) and pumping baritone sax under a great lead by Faith and solid harmonies by the group.

The song is packed with hooks and the arrangement is a wonder.

This is also one of those records I’m happy to have grabbed way back in the stone age, since it seems to be the rarest of their Arctic 45s, pulling in a couple of hundred bucks (much like their two Harthon discs).

It is the perfect intersection of great to listen to and great to dance to.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back 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.

Comments (0)

By Larry, September 10, 2015 3:06 pm

Timmy Carr

Listen/Download – Timmy and the Persianetts – Timmy Boy MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, so I simply must ask that you take an hour out of your Friday and tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

The record I bring you today is a fantastic slice of Philly R&B/soul that I picked up wayyyyy back in the day, when I was grabbing everything I could with a Philly pedigree.

And as pedigrees go, this one has a long one.

Timmy and the Persianetts (sic) recorded two 45s for Olympia and Guyden in 1963 and 1964.

Timmy, aka ‘Timmy Carr’ was Timothy Carstaphen, and the Persianetts (later Persianettes) were Vera Carey, Lucille Dunbar and Helen Hutchinson.

Carr went on to record the epic (unreleased when recorded but issued years later) ‘Got No Time’, one of the most brilliant Philly soul tunes ever waxed, and the Persianettes recorded one of my favorite soul 45s, ‘It Happens Every Day’ b/w ‘Call On Me’ for the OR label.

That said, ‘Timmy Boy’ has been lauded previously as one of the finer bits of imitation Phil Spectoriana ever laid down, which it is, but it is also groovy on its own merits.

Featuring a great lead vocal by Carr, and backing by the Persianetts on a tune based on the old folk song ‘Darling Billy’, the record builds, layer upon thundering layer until it ladles out that rich sonic soup with the Gold Star Studios sound.

This isn’t an easy record to find, but when you do (find it, that is) it isn’t terribly expensive.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.