{"id":2596,"date":"2012-03-11T11:40:49","date_gmt":"2012-03-11T16:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=2596"},"modified":"2012-04-07T14:16:26","modified_gmt":"2012-04-07T19:16:26","slug":"rip-jimmy-ellis-of-the-trammps-1937-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=2596","title":{"rendered":"RIP Jimmy Ellis of the Trammps 1937-2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong>
\nThe Trammps – Jimmy Ellis at left<\/strong>
\n <\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download The Trammps – Hold Back the Night<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/del>
\n Listen\/Download The Trammps – Scruboard (Inst)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/del>
\n Listen\/Download The Trammps – Medley – Penguin at the Big Apple\/Zing Went the Strings of My Heart<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/del>
\n Listen\/Download The Trammps -Penguin at the Big Apple (Inst)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/del><\/p>\n

Greetings all.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

I heard late this week that Trammps<\/strong> lead singer Jimmy Ellis<\/strong> had passed away at the age of 74 after a long struggle with Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Though known to the general public mainly for their 1977 hit \u2018Disco Inferno\u2019 (which had the good fortune to be included on the Saturday Night Fever OST) hardcore soulies and Philly aficianados know that the Trammps legacy was much bigger than that.<\/p>\n

It bears mentioning \u2013 especially here \u2013 that the Trammps had their roots in the Volcanos<\/strong> <\/a>(of \u2018Storm Warning\u2019 fame) and through their multi-decade career included not only the exceptionally soulful voice of Jimmy Ellis, but the backing – instrumentally, songwriting and production \u2013 of some of the finest talent in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

The four tunes I bring you today hail from the Trammps 1975 LP \u2018The Legendary Zing Album\u2019.<\/p>\n

A slightly deceptive bit of packaging \u2013 the \u2018album\u2019 was actually a compilation of earlier (circa 1972) tracks, remixes, instrumental dubs and new tracks \u2013 \u2018The Legendary Zing Album\u2019 is nonetheless remarkable.<\/p>\n

First and foremost it highlights the Trammps as one of the more soulful acts associated with the disco era, i.e. heavy on actual songs\/singing as opposed to injection molded\/assembly line dance floor fodder. Though you don\u2019t get a hell of a lot of vocals here, what you do get are outstanding.<\/p>\n

Jimmy Ellis had one of those rare, perfect soul voices that combined a remarkable level of control that allowed him to swing effortlessly between moderation and soaring gospel-inflected shouts.<\/p>\n

\u2018Hold Back the Night\u2019 which was the Trammps\u2019 first R&B Top 10 hit (also making into the Pop Top 40 and the Top 5 in the UK). Written by Norman Harris, Ronnie Baker, Earl Young and Allen Felder<\/strong>, \u2018Hold Back the Night\u2019 combines smooth, yet danceable soul with pop hooks. It has a certain pre-disco feel to it, and managed to get a fair amount of play on Northern Soul dance floors when it hit in the UK.<\/p>\n

\u2018Scruboard\u2019 (or \u2018Scrub-Board\u2019 as it was titled on its 1972 45 release) is actually the instrumental track that would later be used for \u2018Hold Back the Night\u2019. It first appeared as the B-side of the group\u2019s version of \u2018Sixty Minute Man\u2019.<\/p>\n

Though the Trammps had their first hit with their version of the old standard \u2018Zing Went the Strings of My Heart\u2019 in 1972, the medley of that song and its instrumental dub \u2018Penguin at the Big Apple\u2019 was a \u201cnew\u201d assemblage created for the \u2018Legendary Zing Album\u2019 by none other than mix-meister Tom Moulton.<\/strong> It has a much more disco-friendly mix – approaching the five-minute mark \u2013 and you get to hear more of that fantastic rhythm guitar.<\/p>\n

The Trammps run of hits came to a close in 1978, though they continued to perform (with and without Ellis) for many years.<\/p>\n

I hope you dig the tracks, and that you raise a glass (or more appropriately, cut a rug) in memory of Jimmy Ellis.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Peace<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Larry<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Trammps – Jimmy Ellis at left Listen\/Download The Trammps – Hold Back the Night Listen\/Download The Trammps – Scruboard (Inst) Listen\/Download The Trammps – Medley – Penguin at the Big Apple\/Zing Went the Strings of My Heart Listen\/Download The Trammps -Penguin at the Big Apple (Inst) Greetings all. I heard late this week that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[58,32,14,30,67,74,12],"tags":[166,169,164],"class_list":["post-2596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cover-songs","category-disconot-disco","category-funky16corners","category-lp-tracks","category-obituary","category-philly-soul","category-soul","tag-funky16corners","tag-northern-soul","tag-soul"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-FS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2596"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2666,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596\/revisions\/2666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}