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F16C @ After the Laughter Soul Club 2/4 – CANCELLED
Just a quick note to let you know that this Friday’s gig at the After the Laughter Soul Club at Lulu’s in Greenpoint has been cancelled. I’ll make sure to publish an update when it gets rescheduled.
I will still be spinning at Spindletop @ Botanica on 2/21, so hopefully I’ll see some of you there.
I’ll be back tomorrow with a new post.
Peace
Larry
Funky16Corners Radio v.92 – Regular Funk
Playlist
Listen/Download 115MB/256kb Mixed MP3
I hope you’re all ready to step into a week.
I should let you know that this coming Friday (2/4) I’ll be guesting at the After the Laughter Soul Club at Lulu’s, 113 Franklin St., Greenpoint, NY. I’ll be joining DJ Hambone and Ben Carey for a night of funk, soul and R&B, all on 45. Things get going at 10PM and go into the wee hours of the morning, so make sure you fall by for some beer, pizza and hot wax.
That said, who wants to pull down the ones and zeros for some of what we record collectors refer to as ‘the funk’?
This is not to say that Funky16Corners Radio v.92 – Regular Funk is all one kind of thing, since it was assembled and mixed under a somewhat larger umbrella than some of you might be accustomed to.
You get some funky soul, some in the regular funk 45 stylee, and some jazz funk as well. I think it all fits together nicely, and hopefully once you stuff it into your ears, you will too.
Things get started with a little taste of Memphis groove, with the Bar-Kays and ‘Don’t Do That’. The flipside of 1967’s ‘Give Everybody Some’, ‘Don’t Do That’ is positively dripping with that Stax/Volt sound, including some very twangy gitbox, which comes to the fore when the horns aren’t blazing.
Buddy Miles is one of those groovy artists who kind of dwell in a gray area between soul and rock, working ably on both sides of the line, and mixing the two together whenever he got the opportunity. ‘Easy Greasy’ is an instrumental from his 1970 ‘We Got to Live Together’ album, and it carries with it much of the horn heavy vibe of the time, with the BST’s and the Chicago’s and naturally the Electric Flag’s, and Buddy manages to whip it all into a nice swaggering groove, that when you least expect it drops in a little bit of a quote (today’s kids might think of it as a sample) from Led Zeppelin’s ‘Bring It On Home’. Things even manage to get a tiny bit psychedelic – which was the style of the time – so settle in and dig it.
The mighty Syl Johnson appeared in this very spot but a few short weeks ago. He was – as has been stated previously – 100% badass – and his take on the Temptation’s ‘Get Ready’ has a lot of grit in its groove.
Despite a bit of searching, I haven’t been able to nail down Nate Turner, but Venetta Fields (big time backup singer of the day) and the Mirettes were familiar. The tune ‘Rap, Run It On Down’ is a cut from the soundtrack to the 1969 Sidney Poitier vehicle ‘The Lost Man’. I dig the vibe on this one (co-written by Quincy Jones, Dick Cooper and Ernie Shelby*), and the flip side (on which Venetta sits out), ‘Sweet Soul Sister’ is also cool, in a more downtempo way.
I always assumed that the Toddlin’ Town Sounds were an anonymous amalgamation of Chitown sessioners, or perhaps an instro track that someone leased to the label. Either way, their funky stomper ‘The Dud’ (flip of their better known cover of the Isleys ‘It’s Your Thing’) is a killer (dig that chopping rhythm guitar).
‘Funky Tambourine’ by C and the Shells has always been a fave of mine, simply because it defies narrow categorization. It is funky, but it also has an odd, fast moving time signature, as well as some stinging fuzz guitar. There might even be a little bit of gospel flavor weaving in and out of this one as well.
The Crusaders, once a tight soul jazz outfit (as the Jazz Crusaders) evolved into the funky R&B band that hit the charts in the 70s. Led by keyboardist Joe Sample (lots of tasty electric piano here), drummer Stix Hooper and saxophonist Wilton Felder (all three of whom did a lot of work on other people’s records in the 60s and 70s) lay down a very tasty groove indeed on 1973s ‘Gotta Get It On’.
‘Sams Funck’ is blues legend Magic Sam’s entry into the blues guys get funky sweepstakes. Based loosely on the ‘It’s Your Thing’ template, recorded in the lowest of fi’s (as it were) you still get to hear some of the guitar action that made the man a legend. If you find yourself a copy of this one, flip it over, since the vocal version ‘I’ll Pay You Back’ is quite nice indeed.
The Backyard Heavies got their start as a North Carolina show band called the Tempests. ‘Expo 83’, one of the funkiest piano driven 45s in my crates was sampled by Pete Rock for ‘The Basement Intro’.
Does Bobby Byrd need and introduction to the likes of you? Since you’re one of the fine folks that falls by Funky16Corners I’d say no. Mr. Byrd was for years James Brown’s on-stage wing man, but also stepped out to make some hot as hell 45s under his own name. ‘Back From the Dead’ is from a period when Byrd had separated from the Brown organization and found his way to Henry Stone’s Florida-based TK label subsidiary International Brothers. Bobby is in fine form, and lays down a solid bit of dance floor funk.
Eddie Harris has appeared in this space many times. He was one of the true giants of soul jazz, and as 1974’s ‘Get On Down’ illustrates, he could also be quite funky. The cool thing is that you get to hear Eddie double on keys and sax (which he also did on earlier albums like ‘Mean Greens’).
The Fame Gang was the house band at the storied Alabama studio of the same name. Their cover of the Isley Brothers ‘It’s Your Thing’ is another groovy cover of that funky classic. Much like Archie Bell and the Drells ‘Tighten Up’, ‘It’s Your Thing’ is one of those records that was not only had scores of straightforward covers, but was also (see Magic Sam above) ripped off, reprocessed and renamed countless times.
From the funk 45 column comes Pt2 of the Showmen Inc.’s ’Tramp (from Funky Broadway)’, working one of my favorite vibes, that being an intertwining of two separate dance crazes in the same record. The famed break is on the other side, but I’ll make sure to get that one up onto the blog sometime soon.
Jr. Walker and the All Stars are one of those Motown groups that had a huge, omnipresent radio hit in the 60s (Shotgun) that is so much a standard on oldies radio that it tends to make you take them for granted. Well, get yourself out and grab some of their records, because they’re filled with solid, hard hitting gems like ‘Baby You Ain’t Right’.
Now Andre Williams is a dude that has yet to get his props. Williams, acting as performer, writer and producer had his hand in some incredibly good records out of Chicago and Detroit in the 60s. He was an OG badass, with that gangsta lean, lots of greasy soul and attitude for weeks. ‘It’s Gonna Be Fine in ‘69’ is another one of his masterpieces for the Chess/Checker/Cadet family of labels. It features some wild guitar, snapping drums, and of course Mr Williams on the vocal.
Wilbur Bascomb and the Zodiact recorded under their own name, as well as backing other artists. ‘Just a Groove in G’ features a classic drum break, some wailing organ, and some imspired if spasmodic guitar action.
Billy Cobham is one of the great drummers of the jazz fusion era. His 1974 ‘Crosswind’ (also covered, very nicely by Woody Herman!) is a funky killer, with tight drumming by Billy, grooving electric piano and tasty horns. Sampled by Gang Starr among others.
Another jazz hero with funky tendencies was the mighty Grant Green. A seriously talented hard bopper who contributed to countless classic Blue Note sessions as a sideman, also had quite the discography under his own name. As the 60s rolled to a close, he got progressively more funky, so much so that his albums from that period are crate digger faves and his 1971 set ‘Shades of Green’ is no exception. His ‘James Brown Medley’ is a laid back, funky, extended take on the Godfather.
This edition of Funky16Corners Radio closes out with a cool bit of Motor City funk, ‘Tick Tock Baby (It’s a Quarter To Love)’ by the Quickest Way Out. Groovy because it shares a backing track with Reggie Milner’s raging ‘Soul Machine’. The Quickest Way Out take on the tune is a little more laid back, and the break is open, so what’s not to like.
I hope you dig the mix, and I’ll be back later in the week with something cool.
Peace
Larry
Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press
Etta James and Sugar Pie DeSanto
Listen/Download – Etta James and Sugar Pie DeSanto – In the Basement Pt1
Greetings all.
The end of the week is finally here, and in one of the great feats of meteorologic redundancy, we are once again buried in snow.
Were I a resident of the Arctic I would have nothing to complain about, but this is New Jersey, where we are supposedly exempt from this kind of foolishness.
There’s not a damn thing we can do about it either, which is why I’m bitching.
This is the part of the week-ending post where I remind you all to fall by this week’s Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio, where I’ll be whipping Part 2 of the Northern Soul Dance Party on your ears. Remember, if you can’t listen Friday at 9PM, you can always stop by the blog over the weekend and pick up the show in MP3 form.
However, like the postal service, neither rain, nor sleet, snow, ice globs the size of baseballs or falling space junk can keep me from my appointed rounds, so here I am.
In the spirit of priming the engine for the weekend, so that the festivities can get off on the good foot, I dug down into the crates and pulled out a certified soul party burner.
We recently heard the sad news that the mighty (and I mean that in every sense of the word) Miss Etta James is ailing once again. Hers has been a long, troubled but musically amazing life, straddling the eras of R&B, soul and funk.
She had the skills to sing (now) standards like ‘At Last’, dance floor killers like ‘Something’s Got a Hold On Me’ and ‘Payback’ , the Muscle Shoals heat of ‘Tell Mama’ right on through solid funk like ‘Tighten Up Your Own Thing’.
The tune I bring you today is what is considered to be a genuinely legendary Mod soul side, and has the extra added power of a dynamite duet partner, Miss Sugar Pie DeSanto.
Released on Cadet in 1966, ‘In the Basement’ is just under two and a half minutes of white hot, hand clapping, foot sliding, hip swinging soul power with two truly great voices trading lines.
What you have here – in a sane world – would be elevated to the level of National Soul Anthem, on account of this is really what it’s all about. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of spinning hot 45s for a groovy crowd, or cut a rug to some laying it down, you have some of the musical DNA of this record running through your veins.
Ohh, now tell me where can you party, child, all night long?
In the basement, down in the basement, yeah.
Oh where can you go when your money gets low?
In the basement, whoa down in the basement
And if a storm is taking place, you can jam and still be safe
In the basement, down in the basement, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Where can you dance to any music you choose?
In the basement, whoa down in the basement
Oh, you got the comforts of home, a nightclub too.
In the basement, whoa down in the basement.
There’s no cover charge or fee and the food and drinks are free,
In the basement, down in the basement
This is, as they say, the shit, and then some. What Friday nights are all about.
As a matter of fact, I can guarantee you that when I take to the decks next week at the After the Laughter Soul Club at Lulus in Greenpoint, I will have this 45 in my box, and when the moment is right, when the crowd has consumed just the right combination of greasy soul, cold beer and good times, I will whip this onto the decks and push the whole affair to the next level.
Solid.
Have yourselves a great weekend, and I’ll be back on Monday with a funky mix.
Peace
Larry
If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.
Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press
PS Head over to Iron Leg for some classic 1965 LA garage folk.
Chic
Listen/Download – Chic – Dance Dance Dance (Savarese 45 Edit)
Greetings all.
Here’s hoping you’re all warm, dry and happy.
As has been discussed here several times, I am in the midst of a decades long effort to wrap my ears around disco.
Like any music, but especially music that has at times been reviled by a large segment of the population, disco has been misunderstood, if not totally written off by many. This happened for lots of reasons including race, musical subculture, homophobia, and as is also often the case, poor musical quality.
This is by no means an indictment of disco, but rather an acknowledgment of the fact that when any kind of music becomes hugely popular, it is often the worst of it, i.e. the most homogeneous, with the widest possible appeal to the lowest common denominator, that makes the most lasting mark.
There are of course always exceptions to the rule. But 30 years on, it’s not subtleties that get remembered.
It’s also important to note that by the time disco emerged from the nightlife underground and burst onto the national consciousness, much of the finest music that had gotten people out onto the dance floors had been supplanted by horrible, poorly constructed knock-offs, and all of the ephemera of disco culture.
Ask people old enough to remember the denouement of the disco era and you’re likely to get a word stew, equal parts Studio 54, cocaine, pre-AIDS sexual abandon and plodding, awful music.
However – there’s always one of those, isn’t there??? – do some digging (and as today’s records illustrate, you don’t have to go very deep) and there are lots of great sounds to be heard.
The real story of disco, a sound that is desperately in need of a new, better name that it will never get because nothing accurate (like 70s, urban, R&B based club dance music) rolls off the tongue quite as easily as what we already have, is a huge, interconnected saga of musicians transitioning out of the 60s soul era, pioneering DJs, producers and engineers, and of course the dancers, who for a few years in the mid -70s built a huge wave that is still breaking today.
Sadly, it seems that despite some very astute journalism on the subject (see links in this post), the true story of disco will likely never break out beyond the people that experienced it’s glory days first hand, and of course, record nerds. And to be totally honest, as is often the case, even though I know more about it than some folks, I’m barely scratching the surface. There are people out there that have spent years collecting this music, delving into the wildly varied permutations available with some records.
Unlike the music it replaced on the R&B spectrum, disco is harder to nail down because it had fundamental, structural differences.
Though a lot of the soul music the preceded it was meant to be danceable, disco, once it started to be ‘purpose built’ in the era of the 12 inch single, i.e. after the day of Loft classics like Eddie Kendricks ‘Girl You Need a Change of Mind’, was an entirely new kind of dance music.
There were auteur-producers before the 70s, but once disco began to happen, musicians, producers and engineers began deconstructing and rebuilding many of these records to fit the long-form dance experience.
Sometimes, when the raw materials were worthy, and the remixers talented (and occasionally visionary) the results were transcendent.
Of the Loft-era records that have been discussed here, specifically Booker T and the MGs ‘Melting Pot’ and the aforementioned Eddie Kendricks tune, what you were getting was an ‘organically’ long record with its own set of rhythmic and dynamic shifts that just happened, thanks to groundbreaking DJs like David Mancuso, to capture, and propel dancers.
As the mid-70s approached, and dance club culture (and the need for product) expanded, remixers stepped in and created longer – and in the best cases, better – records from raw material.
They also created a lot of pulsating, sonically uninteresting stuff as well, but as today’s selection illustrates, when it was good, it was REALLY good.
When I mentioned earlier that you didn’t have to dig very deep, Chic’s 1977 debut, ‘Dance Dance Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)’ is the perfect example.
Released in 1977 (on Buddah, right before Chic signed to Atlantic*) was a Top 10 Pop and R&B hit.
Chic is an especially interesting example, because in an era, and a style of music often thought of as the product of faceless session musicians, they were an actual band. Formed by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards in 1976 (the pair had been playing together since 1970), with drummer Tony Thompson and vocalist Norma Jean Wright, the music that they made in the 70s and 80s is proof that disco could be much more than just a thumping beat.
‘Dance Dance Dance’, which was mixed/edited by Tom Savarese a popular NY area DJ (one of the first disco DJs to receive a label credit for his mix), in both 45 (3:40) and 12 inch (8:21, you can get the long version on iTunes) versions.
The cool thing – at least to me – is that ‘Dance Dance Dance’ is not in any way (other than purely musical) a ‘deep’ record. The lyrics are spare (calling out popular dances, with the intermittent ‘Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah’**), but the music is nothing short of brilliant. It is the kind of record that forces you to move.
Compare it to a record like Bobby Freeman’s 1964 ‘C’Mon and Swim’, which although basically a laundry list of popular dance steps is still a brilliant dance record because of the combination of Freeman’s spirited delivery and a dynamic instrumental backing. It’s as basic as it gets, and in the wrong hands the formula can be leaden and idiotic, but in when done properly it can be anthemic and inspirational.
Opening with Edwards powerful, pulsing bass, Thompson’s sharp drumming and Rodgers slinky rhythm guitar, it also has (and this is the part I really dig) vocals that double as a device to carry both the melody and pure, rhythmic punch. The way the singers (including a young, unknown Luther Vandross) deliver the ‘BAH BAH BAH BAH BAH’s is as visceral as (occasionally more so than) the bass and drums and is truly a thing to behold.
I love the way the strings and the horns weave in and out of each other, as well as the latin percussion accents and hand claps.
Produced by Rogers and Edwards with Kenny Lehman (who gets a co-writing credit) is a record that bears up to close, repeated listening, as well as (naturally) dancing.
I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Friday.
Peace
Larry
*The 12 inch version was eventually released on both Buddah and Atlantic
**The chant originated in the 1920s with orchestra leader Ben Bernie and was resurrected in the 1969 film (about 1930s dance marathons) ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They’
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Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press
PS Head over to Iron Leg for some classic 1965 LA garage folk.
Gene West (aka Barry White)
Listen/Download – Gene West – In the Ghetto
Greetings all.
I hope the world is treating you all well at the dawn of a brand new week.
It was a groovy – if frigid – weekend, with me and the little corners having a boys day on Saturday, and then on Sunday Miles and I went out for some digging and Vietnamese food.
We headed over to the once great Record Store That Shall Not Be Named (even though it’s near a major NJ Ivy League university…) and much to my surprise I scored some cool LPs, despite the fact that whoever is pricing the new arrivals section appears to also be sniffing glue. The place really is a huge crapshoot these days, which – when you have to drive almost an hour to get there – makes it difficult to get motivated, but sometimes it’s actually worth the trip.
I don’t know about you all, but I’m sure that if they ever lock me up in a padded cell, it will have something to do with my obsession with cover songs, who was being covered and who was doing the covering.
The tune I bring you today is something I knew nothing at all about until stumbling over it recently, the musical equivalent of finding a twenty dollar bill in the street.
What caught my eye was not the song title (I was still unaware that this was the same song that Elvis made famous), but the mention that the artist in question, a certain Gene West, was in actuality the master of sexy, soulful sounds, Mr. Barry White.
Once I got my hands on the record (at what turned out to be a very nice price, always cool) it was immediately apparent that this was the same ‘In the Ghetto’, written by Mac Davis and taken onto the charts by Elvis.
The voice delivering the tune was unmistakably that of Barry White.
As it turns out, in the short time between the end of his tenure working with Bronco/Mustang records, and the launch of his extremely successful solo career, Barry White was at loose ends. During this time (1967 – 1970) White did a lot of studio work, as well as writing lost gems like ‘Doin’ the Banana Splits’ for – of course – the Banana Splits. And recording today’s selection.
Why he (or the folks at Original Sound) thought that ‘Gene West’ sounded better than Barry White I do not know (perhaps contractual entanglements, though his real name appears on the label as arranger), but the record, released in the summer of 1970 is a lost classic.
Despite any fondness one might have for Elvis’s version (I haven’t got much…), White takes the tune from a dark, almost maudlin place and funks it up, adding a layer of defiance to the lyrics that are completely absent in the earlier recording.
Oddly, White was a big Presley fan. I’ve read anecdotes that state that when a teenaged White, just having finished a jail sentence for stealing $30,000 worth of tires, heard Presley’s ‘It’s Now Or Never’ he decided to devote himself to a career on music, for which I will say for the first and last time in my life, ‘Thanks Elvis!’
I hope you dig the tune.
Peace
Larry
If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.
Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press
PS Head over to Iron Leg for some classic 1965 LA garage folk.
Listen/Download – The Impacts – Thunder Chicken
NOTE: If you downloaded the file in the first half hour or so after I published this post, you got a shortened version of the track that cuts off about 15 seconds too soon. I have since uploaded a new file that should be OK.
Greetings all.
How’s about some smoking, hard charging soul jazz to close out the week?
First, might I remind you that this Friday night at 9PM the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be back on Viva Radio with another hour of the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on vinyl.
I can’t tell you much about today’s selection, other than it kicks a boatload of ass.
I picked the Impacts ‘Thunder Chicken’ 45 (gotta love that title) years ago during an attempt to complete the Marmaduke discography.
A Philadelphia-based imprint started by Len Barry and Bernie Binnick, Marmaduke was originally home to the Electric Indian (before a move to UA) and a few much more obscure bands like the Hidden Cost, Norma and the Heartaches, Race Street Chinatown Band and Daley’s Diggers.
The only thing I’ve been able to track down about the Impacts is that they seem to have been the backing band on a number of Philly 45s for artists like Rocky Brown, Monica and Herb Johnson on the Toxsan label.
None of those recordings would indicate that that had a killer like ‘Thunder Chicken’ in their repertoire.
I can’t say for sure, but it seems to me that like many other musicians working in the soul recording studios of America’s cities in the 60s, the Impacts may have been frustrated jazzers churning out pop, soul and funk to get a paycheck.
Listening to the raging ‘Thunder Chicken’, with its unison jazz guitar and saxophone leads, swinging drums and hand claps, you get a picture of a Saturday night party in a smoky Philly bar.
The flipside, ‘Brown Finger’ (?!?!) is a much slower, laid back affair with none of the fire of ‘Thunder Chicken’.
A brilliant, but obscure record that needs to be heard.
So there you go.
Have a great weekend!
Peace
Larry
If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.
Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press
PS Head over to Iron Leg for some obscure, New England garage pop.
Miss Ruby Andrews
Listen/Download – Ruby Andrews – Casanova (Your Playing Days Are Over)
Listen/Download – Wayne Bennett – Casanova (Your Playing Days Are Over)
Greetings all.
I hope that the middle of the week finds you all well.
The tune(s) I bring you today represent one of the finest ‘love gone bad’ soul songs of the 60s, as well as a groovy instrumental spin on same.
Ruby Andrews was a Mississippi-born, Chicago-based singer who recorded for, and scored a string of R&B hits with the Zodiac label between 1967 and 1971.
I first heard Ruby via a mix tape that included the pulsing funk of ‘You Made a Believer Out of Me’, which was a Top 20 hit in 1969. That record was a big fave of mine for a few years before I finally scored a copy of Ms. Andrews biggest hit, the tune I bring you today, ‘Casanova (Your Playing Days Are Over)’.
An R&B Top 10 hit (and Pop Top 50) in the summer of 1967 (with Casanova spelled ‘Casonova’ on the label), ‘Casanova (Your Playing Days Are Over), co-written by Joshie Armstead and Milton Middlebrook, and bearing a characteristically fantastic arrangement by the mighty Mike Terry, is a dramatic, emotional record that sounds years ahead of its time.
The second version of the tune came to me quite by accident.
Last year, during the Funky16Corners Pledge Drive and the premier of the Funky16Corners Soul Club, my man Tarik Thornton included the track ‘Rocking Funky Broadway’ by Wayne Bennett in his mix.
Not too long after that I spied that record on a sale list and picked it up.
It wasn’t until it fell through the mail slot that I discovered that the flip was a version of ‘Casanova’.
Bennett was a journeyman jazz/blues guitarist who had played on some of Bobby Bland’s landmark recordings.
His version of ‘Casanova’, basically his guitar lead overdubbed onto the original backing track from Andrews’ 45, was released on the Chicago-based Giant label (for which Armstead herself recorded some excellent 45s) in 1968. Bennett lays down the melody line with a bold, jazzy flair, creating a more memorable performance than one would expect from such a reworking.
There were later cover versions of the song by Loleatta Holloway (1975 Aware) and the disco group Coffee (1980 DeeLite).
I hope you dig the tunes, and I’ll see you all on Friday.
Peace
Larry
If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.
Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press
PS Head over to Iron Leg for some obscure, New England garage pop.
Willis ‘Gator Tail’ Jackson
Listen/Download – Willis ‘Gator Tail’ Jackson – Bow Legged Daddy
Greetings all.
I don’t know about how things are where you reside, but I am good and freaking sick of snow. We got clobbered right after Christmas with 34 inches, and got almost another foot the other night. The landscape around here is getting crazy, with the rivers of snow, edged with piles of dirty snow (up against even dirtier snow), which just get dirtier every single day. I keep hoping for a thaw, but I know when that comes it’s just going to uncover stuff that needs to be fixed or cleaned up.
No fun…
That said, I still have my records to keep me warm!
The tune I bring you today is something that I acquired passively, i.e. as part of a big lot of 45s. I originally made the purchase to get one particular single (a psyche thing I’d been after for years) and managed to get about 200 other records in the deal.
Aside from the whole thing being packed in what appeared to be shredded newspaper (which I was cleaning up for a couple of weeks afterward) there were about two dozen keepers in the bunch, bringing the per-record cost (after junking most of them) to about 50 cents per, which is not bad at all when you consider that the record I bought the lot for was worth about three times what I paid for the whole thing.
It was a nice grab bag, with some groovy 60s pop, a couple of cool soul 45s, and a few funky things as well, which included today’s selection.
When I pulled out a 45 by Willis ‘Gator Tail’ Jackson my interest was piqued, Jackson – a tenor saxophonist – was one of the OG soul jazzers, having recorded a string of dates for Prestige, Verve and even Muse in the 70s.
The second point of interest on the 45 was that it was on Paul Winley Records.
Winley was a New York based label owner who issued a bunch of doo wop and early rock in the 50s and early 60s, before moving into funk and soul in the early 70s, and then on into the early days of hip hop.
This 45 features vocal and instrumental versions of the song ‘Bow Legged Daddy’, the vocal credited to Paul’s daughter Ann Winley (uninspired) and the instro (which we feature today) to Willis ‘Gator Tail’ Jackson.
Though the tune seems to have it’s roots in standard R&B/blues, it’s a shuffle, laid down in a funky style with some groovy organ.
The interesting thing seems to be that this may very well be the group otherwise known as the Harlem Underground Band.
Sometime in the early-to-mid 70s Winley recorded a session that was rumored to include George Benson, Willis Jackson, Ann Winley, Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez and/or Reuben Wilson on organ and released the session under the name ‘Harlem Underground Band’. That album included the track ‘Smoking Cheeba Cheeba’ which went on to have its break harvested for a number of rap records.
That session was issued under a few different names/covers, one clearly meant to capitalize on the success of Benson, whose picture was displayed prominently on the cover of the later version. Benson had recorded with Jackson years earlier. There’s also a record on the Upfront label (a notorious recycler/re-labeler of sessions) that appears to be the same group (if not the same exact session).
I can’t say for sure if this is the exact same group, but since Winley and Jackson were part of the original recording, and the organist on this session sounds like he has some chops, I wouldn’t be surprised.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Wednesday.
Peace
Larry
If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.
Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press
PS Head over to Iron Leg for some obscure, New England garage pop.
Funky16Corners @ Spindletop – Early Set 1/10/11
Playlist
Listen/Download 80MB/256kb Mixed MP3
The end of another week is upon us, and as promised I have recreated part of my three-hours worth of soul jazz from this past Monday’s Spindletop night at Botanica in NYC.
When I was pulling 45s to bring with me last week I started to build my set and decided that I’d get things started with a slower, moodier set than I normally do, kind of easing my way onto the burning Hammond groovers.
What I ended up with was a very interesting mix of soul jazz, soul instros and even laid back funk, all of which seemed to stick together when all was said and done.
I mentioned on Wednesday that we were unable to get a signal out of the mixer to my digital recorder, so I had to re-record this selection on my decks at home. I was originally thinking of re-recording the whole night, but then I realized that I’d played no less than 60 45s and I just didn’t have the time to do it.
I enjoy presenting the live mixes here at the blog, so hopefully next time I hit Botanica we’ll have figured the problem out.
At the request of a number of people who were at the gig, I have included the entire set list below.
The mix features some old faves and some stuff that hasn’t been heard in this space before. As I mentioned above, it’s a mellow affair, so pour yourself a snifter of brandy (or a mug of cocoa, whichever), dim the lights, sit back and let the sounds flow gently into your ears.
If you’re close to the interwebs this Friday at 9PM, make sure to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio. This week we have an hour of funky 45s from New Orleans to get the party started. The show will of course be archived and ready to download at the blog over the weekend.
I’ll be back next week with more of the funk and soul you love.
Have a great weekend.
Peace
Larry
The rest of the evening’s music:
Harry J All Stars – Liquidator (Harry J)
Winston Wright – Heads or Tails (Green Door)
Gary McFarland – Fried Bananas (Verve)
Cal Tjader – Moneypenny (Skye)
Dave Davani Four – The Jupe (Capitol)
Sonny Knight Quartette – Let’s Get It On Pt1 (Aura)
Odell Brown and the Organizers – No More Water In the Well (Cadet)
Freddie Roach – One Track Mind (Prestige)
Merl Saunders – Soul Groving (Galaxy)
Alan Price Set – Iechyd Da (Decca)
Hank Marr – White House Party (Wingate)
Georgie Fame – El Bandido (Imperial)
Brown Brothers of Soul – Cholo (Specialty)
Mel Brown – Chicken Fat (Impulse)
Federalmen – Soul Serenade (Steady)
Freddy McCoy – Funk Drops (Prestige)
Afro Blues Quintet Plus One – La La La La La (Mira)
Benny Poole – Pearl Baby Pearl (Solid Hit)
Cha Cha Hogan – Grit Gitter (Soulville)
Perry and the Harmonics – Do the Monkey With James (Mercury)
Gentelman June Gardner – It’s Gonna Rain (Emarcy)
Lionel Hampton – Greasy Greens (Glad Hamp)
Fabulous Counts – Jan Jan (Moira)
Boogaloo Joe Jones – Right On (Prestige)
Fred Ramirez – Hold On I’m Coming (WB)
Dee Felice Trio – There Was a Time (Bethlehem)
Louis Chachere – The Hen Pt1 (Paula)
Toussaint McCall – Shimmy (Ronn)
Lou Garno Trio – Chicken In The Basket (Giovanni)
Albert Collins – Cookin’ Catfish (20th Century Fox)
Andre Brasseur – The Duck (Palette)
Memphis Black – Why Don’t You Play the Organ Man (Ascot)
Cal Tjader – Soul Sauce (Verve)
Soulful Strings – Burning Spear (Cadet)
Keith Mansfield – Boogaloo (Epic)
Mohawks – The Champ (Philips)
Wynder K Frog – I’m a Man (UA)
Goldie & the Gingerbreads – The Skip (Decca)
Tony Newman – Soul Thing (Parrot)
John Philip Soul and His Stone Marching Band – That Memphis Thing (Pepper)
La Bert Ellis – Batman Theme (A&M)
James Brown – Shhhhhhhh For a Little While (King)
The Impacts – Thunder Chicken (Marmaduke)
Dave Baby Cortez – Getting’ To the Point (Chess)
RD Stokes – My Sandra’s Jump (II Bros)
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Quincy Jones
Listen/Download – Quincy Jones – Money Runner
Greetings all.
The middle of the week is here, and while I should be exhausted, I am oddly energized. I suspect a serious crash is on the way, but I’m gonna keep plowing ahead until it arrives.
You see, I was out last night spinning 45s at Spindletop @ Botanica in NYC and did not arrive home until well past my normal hour for commencement of slumber. However, since I got to spin 45s for nearly three straight hours to a very groovy and appreciative crowd (special thanks to the Funky16Corners readers who came by!) and I had a blast.
Botanica is very cool spot (home base for no less than the mighty Mr Finewine!), and my man Perry Lane has a very cool thing going with Spindletop.
I’ve rattled on in this space a few times about how I like stepping outside of my DJ comfort zone to stretch a little, and last night was the perfect opportunity. Spindletop is all about Hammond grooves and soul/Mod jazz with just a touch of international flavour, and I spent a lot of time and care pulling records and formulating my sets.
The only downer of the night was that we were unable to negotiate a line out of the mixer to my digital recorder, so I was unable to do a live recording. However, as I type this I am spinning the identical stuff and mixing it live here in the Funky16Corners Record Vault and Podcasting Nerve Center so that you can check it out.
Right now I plan on doing only the early set, which was a mellow affair, which I’ll drop on Friday, along with a full set list of the night (60 45s!).
I’ll be back in NYC on February 4th at After the Laughter Soul Club at Lulus, 113 Franklin St in Greenpoint (Brooklyn) and I’ll be returning to Spindletop February 21st, so if you like what you hear, head on over.
When we last discussed the mighty Quincy Jones, it was almost a year ago and his groovy theme to the Ironside TV show.
The tune I bring you today is another theme, but sees Le Q jumping from the small screen to the silver one.
The tune in question, ‘Money Runner’ appeared in the 1971 film ‘$’ (often listed, for obvious reasons as ‘DOLLAR$’).
‘Money Runner’ was released as a 45 in 1972 and actually hit the charts, working its way into the R&B Top 50 and hovering just outside of the same listing on the Pop side of things.
The only other tune I’ve heard from the soundtrack is Little Richard’s ‘Money Is’*, which is cool, on account of it’s Mr. Penniman, but if you want something funky, ‘Money Runner’ is the way to go.
The soundtrack album features a grip of West Coast jazz/studio cats, but the group also included Billy Preston, Paul Humphrey and David T Walker, so it probably wouldn’t be much of a stretch to attribute some of the funk quotient herein to them.
‘Money Runner’ starts out fast, with what sounds like clavinet and guitar, then electric piano and more guitar (of the wah wah persuasion) before the clavinet moves out in front for most of the song. It sounds like a more aggressive cousin to Isaac Hayes ‘Theme From Shaft’ (especially the guitar interludes), but goes off in an odd and especially interesting direction in the last minute of the record, with a shift in tempo, the addition of an ominous chorus, and eventually a bizarre shattering sound.
The tune was covered later the same year by the John Schroeder Orchestra.
I hope you dig the record, and I’ll see you all on Friday.
Peace
Larry
*There’s another version of this 45 with the Little Richard tune on the A-side
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Syl Johnson
Listen/Download – Syl Johnson – Different Strokes
Greetings all.
How’s by you?
I had a groovy weekend hanging with the extended family (some of whom had to truck up from South Crackalack for late Christmas) and doing my level best to chill (as opposed to freeze, which is what I’ve been doing lately).
If anyone hasn’t already been hipped to the fact by my constant mentions, I will be spinning many groovy rackords this Monday with the one Perry Lane at Spindletop at Botanica in NYC. If you are in the neighborhood, you really ought to fall by and soak up some of the groove grease. I will be bringing much Hammond goodness, some groovy vibes and some au go go swingers and the vinyl will start to cook at 10PM. I hope to see some of you there.
That said, who feels like getting a good swift kick in the ass?
I have paid tribute to the mighty Syl Johnson in this space a number of times over the years.
He is perhaps the greatest of the cats who started out working the blues and made the passage into soul and funk, and thanks to a swanky – and comprehensive – set by the Numero Group, Mr. Johnson is as they used to say, the man of the hour.
It should go without saying – though you already know I’m gonna go ahead and say it anyway – that Syl was badass, never bringing just 100 percent when 200 would do, and that was never more obvious than with today’s selection.
Syl Johnson is very close to the top of the list of soul singers that, whenever I see one of his 45s in the field, if I don’t have it, I grab it, and if I’m not sure (and with someone of my advanced vintage and declining mental capacity, this happens more than I like) I grab it anyway, because there’s just no such thing as too much Syl.
However, as long as I’ve been prowling the crates, I never happened upon a copy of ‘Different Strokes’, and there’s a good reason for that.
Thanks to the age hip hop and turntablism, even if a record is a killer all by its own bad self, should it contain a drum break, loop, ill horn stab or other sample bait, it ends up on the want lists not only of regular old record collectors, but also of beatheads and producers, who hope to emulate those that have found success slicing and dicing before them, or maybe just to say that they pack all the tastiest breaks and beats in their record box (or on their laptop, or whatever).
‘Different Strokes’ is one such record. It is unquestionably what Slim Gaillard would anoint a ‘killer diller’ on it’s own, but since it has been sampled a few dozen times (see the list below*) it is sweated by many, and as a result, it is harder to nail than many other Syl Johnson 45s.
Fortunately for me (and now you all) I was eventually able to scoop up a nice, clean copy, which I will whip on you presently.
‘Different Strokes’ isn’t quite what I’d call pure funk. It is undeniably funky, but it’s really a hard charging bit of high octane sock soul with enough groove to put a dip in your hip. It’s like an angry bear showing up on funk’s front stoop, clawing at the door, but never really busting into the house.
This is not to say that I would for a minute hesitate to drop it during a funk set, on account of if you can’t get your dance on to this record you need a soul transplant (or at least a few more drinks).
That all said, if you were not hip to Syl, you are now, and you should either run out onto the intertubes and score that Numero set, or hunker down into the crates and find you some 45s.
See you all on Wednesday.
Peace
Larry
*Songs sampling ‘Different Strokes (from the Breaks.com)
Boogie Down Productions’s “Criminal Minded”
Boss’s “Recipe of a Hoe”
Brand Nubian’s “Try to Do Me”
Compton’s Most Wanted’s “Give it Up”
De la Soul’s “The Magic Number”
DOC’s “Beautiful But Deadly”
Dr. Octagon’s “Bear Witness (Extended Mix)”
EPMD’s “It’s My Thing”
Fear of a Black Hat’s “Fuck the Security Guard”
Ice Cube’s “Robbin’ Hood (Cause It ain’t All Good)”
King T’s “At Your Own Risk”
Kool G Rap’s “F U Man”
Kool G Rap’s “Talk Like Sex”
Kwame’s “Ownlee Eue (Reprise)”
Louise’s “Beautiful Inside”
Michael Jackson’s “Blood on the Dancefloor”
Mr. X & Mr. Z’s “Respect”
NWA’s “Real Niggaz Don’t Die”
Poison Clan’s “Jeri Curl”
Public Enemy’s “Fear of a Black Planet”
Rodney O & Joe Cooley’s “Wake up New York”
Scarface’s “Mr. Scarface”
Style’s “The Assassinator”
TLC’s “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg”
Tupac’s “Nuthin’ But Love”
West Coast Rap All Stars’s “We’re All in the Same Gang”
Whodini’s “Funky Beat”
Wu-Tang Clan’s “Shame on a Nigga”
Yomo & Maulkie’s “Mockingbird”
Young Black Teenagers’s “Sweatin’ Me”
Zhigge’s “Toss it Up”
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Miss Lorna Bennett
Listen/Download – Lorna Bennett – Breakfast In Bed
Greetings all.
I hope that you’re all weathering the weather (there’s got to be a better way to phrase that) better than I am. This cold is kicking my ass. The first few hours of the day should be spent wrapped securely in a warm blanket, easing into a mellow state of awake-ness, instead of rolling out of the sack and into 20 degree temperatures in the space of 45 minutes, which is what I did this morning.
Fortunately, after getting the little Corners on the bus, and running various and sundry errands I have returned to my desk, deep inside the well-heated, secure Funky16Corners command center.
Before we get started, I should remind you that this Friday night at 9PM – as is always the case – the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be taking to the airwaves, this week with an upbeat, hard-charging Northern Soul special guaranteed to get you out on the floor. Make sure to fall by Viva Radio, or if plans preclude timely listening, hit the blog on Saturday to pick up an MP3 of the show, which you may listen to at your leisure.
I will remind you once again that I’ll be taking part in the Spindletop night with DJ Perry Lane next Monday night (1/10) , beginning at 10PM at Botanica, 47 East Houston Street (between Mulberry and Mott) in New York City. There will be many shades of organ grooviness, as well as vibes, snappy drums and what not.
Now that I’ve wasted space complaining about the cold, what better time for a little bit of island soul?
I have to admit, although I featured the Baby Washington version of ‘Breakfast In Bed’ in this space back in 2006, the first time I ever heard the song was via the 1988 cover version by UB40 and Chrissie Hynde.
At the time it was getting some airplay on the local alternative station, as well as on MTV. I dug the tune a lot, and eventually picked up a radio station promo CD single (no doubt liberated from the aforementioned local station and resold), which I still have banging around somewhere.
I was unaware that the song was a cover until I saw the writing credit for Eddie Hinton and Donnie Fritts, and even then I had no idea who did the original version.
What I wouldn’t discover until many years later, was that the UB40/Hynde version was in its way a cover of a cover (cover once removed??).
The song was written by Hinton and Fritts for Dusty Springfield’s 1969 ‘Dusty in Memphis’ album. Shortly after that, Baby Washington recorded her own – in my opinion, superior – version of the song (eventually released on Cotillion)*.
Oddly enough, for such a finely crafted piece of Southern soul neither Springfield nor Washington’s version of the song met with any chart success.
Flash forward to 1972, when a young Jamaican singer named Lorna Bennett recorded her own version for the Harry J label.
Produced by Geoffrey Chung, Bennett’s version of the tune was a #1 hit in Jamaica, also garnering a substantial amount of airplay in the UK (which is likely where the boys in UB40 heard it first).
Though Bennett’s version of ‘Breakfast In Bed’ lacks the dynamic shifts and drama of the Springfield and Washington recordings, it does have a certain pleasant, laid back vibe (repeated in the UB40/Hynde version) that locks in with the reggae beat.
Bennett went on to have a few more Jamaican hits (including a cover of the Dixie Cups’ ‘Chapel of Love’) before retiring to practice law in 1974. She returned to performing in 2001.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Monday.
Peace
Larry
*There were also early covers by Carmen McRae (1970) and Shirley Bassey (1971)
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