{"id":274,"date":"2010-02-09T17:47:03","date_gmt":"2010-02-09T22:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.lunarpages.net\/?p=274"},"modified":"2012-11-17T12:39:12","modified_gmt":"2012-11-17T17:39:12","slug":"disconot-disco-pt2-eddie-kendricks-girl-you-need-a-change-of-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=274","title":{"rendered":"Disco\/Not Disco Pt2 – Eddie Kendricks – Girl You Need A Change of Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

Eddie Kendricks<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Listen\/Download – Eddie Kendricks – Girl You Need a Change of Mind <\/em><\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greetings all. <\/strong>
\nAs I write this, I still can\u2019t feel the lower right side of my face, having spent the morning with the dentist and her assistant rummaging in my mouth like it was an old sofa and they’d lost a hundred dollar bill. I even got soup for lunch and STILL managed to bite my lip. Fortunately, the good doctor informs me that aside from an extraction, my dental worries for the year are at an end (until next year and the insurance starts paying again).
\nA look out the window at the foot or so of snow on the lawn is bad enough, but the weatherman is now forecasting another foot or so for tonight into tomorrow. Once again I ask, WTF? <\/em>I don\u2019t mind the weather as much as I\u2019m terrified of venturing out onto the roads, alongside the large number of New Jersey residents who have no idea how to drive in the snow. Half of them are going way too slow, and the other half, cruising around in their gas sucking luxury behemoths are going way too fast, thus making the NJ highways \u2013 already a gauntlet of sorts \u2013 into a veritable death trap. With any luck, the wife and kids will have the day off, so we can stay home and sit beside the fire.
\nThat said, it\u2019s time to continue our week long tribute to David Mancuso<\/strong> and the records he played at the Loft.
\nEarlier this week, not long after I finished writing the post about Booker T & the MGs<\/strong>, it occurred to me that the vibe I got when reading about Mancuso, and his work as a DJ reminded me of a phrase I learned from a friend many years ago.
\nBack in the day, though (wisely) I never set foot on a surfboard, I became fascinated with the history of the sport \u2013 especially the big wave riders \u2013 and I had a couple of friends (thanks to living and working by the beach) who actually surfed. Now, the \u201cwaves\u201d (quotes added for sarcasm) at the Jersey Shore rarely rise above a height considered safe for small children and old ladies (aside from those whipped up by the occasional Nor\u2019Easter or hurricane). Despite this fact, no matter what time of year it is, if I take a ride along the beach \u2013especially in the morning \u2013 there are surfers out there, making the best of what the ocean has to offer.
\nWhy do I mention this? Because, (also) back in the day, my buddy Joe<\/strong> introduced me to the concept of the \u2018soul surfer\u2019<\/em>. Obvious puns aside, what this refers to is an individual who is technically adept enough to compete with the big dogs, yet rides the waves solely for the sheer pleasure of it, making it into a spiritual endeavor. The more I thought about Mancuso, the Loft and the ideas he brought to the game (and how he inspired me) the more it occurred to me that it made sense to apply that term to Mancuso and those that follow(ed) in his footsteps.
\nI realize that there are all kinds of DJs out there, separated not only by genre, but also by their approach to spinning (though god knows the cats that actually use records are becoming an endangered species). Ideally, when you enter the DJ booth, your ultimate goal ought to be that the folks dancing, listening or both, have a good time. How good a time they have is dependent on a number of factors, the most important being the quality of the music, and the way you (the DJ) present it to the crowd.
\nThe corner of the musical universe I tend to kick around in is generally concerned with soul and funk, of the vintage persuasion. The folks that come to hear and dance to this music are usually a mix of aficionados, i.e. your Mods and soulies that know their way around and are probably already acquainted with some of the rarer discs in my record box, and regular folks who just want to hear something they can dance to.
\nIt probably goes without saying (but I\u2019ll say it anyway) that the vast majority of DJs in this field are \u2013 like myself \u2013 what our friends in the UK refer to as anoraks and trainspotters<\/em>, i.e. detail-oriented obsessives with an eye turned to the rare an obscure. The duty of this type of DJ is to balance their own love for the obscure against the true quality of the records in question (on account of the rarity of a record often- not always<\/em> – has an inverse relation to the quality), and to offer up a playlist that is interesting, but ultimately satisfying to the largest possible number of people. Finding this balance isn\u2019t always easy. I\u2019ve seen people with incredible record collections step up to the tables and drop one ultra-rare stinkbomb after another. I\u2019ve also seen people with less impressive crates (but spectacular taste) light up a dancefloor with dollar bin wonders.
\nToday\u2019s selection from the Loft, Eddie Kendricks\u2019<\/strong> mighty \u2018Girl You Need a Change of Mind\u2019 is from the less-obscure end of the spectrum. The song appeared on Kendricks\u2019 landmark 1972 LP \u2018People Hold On\u2019, and though it wasn\u2019t a hit*, he was well known from his years in the Temptations, and had scored a chart hit with that album\u2019s opening track \u2018If You Let Me\u2019. Like Monday\u2019s tune \u2018Melting Pot\u2019, I first heard \u2018Girl You Need a Change of Mind\u2019 as a 45 edit. Unlike \u2018Melting Pot\u2019, \u2018Girl\u2026\u2019 made an impact on me, even in its shortened version.
\nWritten by Motown legend Frank Wilson<\/strong> and Anita Poree<\/strong> (though the 45 credits it to Poree and ex-Radiant Leonard Caston<\/strong>, who co-wrote a number of other songs on \u2018People Hold On\u2019), \u2018Girl You Need a Change of Mind\u2019 is the ultimate illustration of the \u2018disco\/not disco\u2019 tag.
\nEddie Kendricks is unquestionably one of the fathers of what came to be known as disco. The two years after \u2018People Hold On\u2019 saw him have big hits with two of the genre\u2019s important early songs, \u2018Keep On Truckin\u2019 and \u2018Boogie Down\u2019. While \u2018Girl\u2026\u2019 isn\u2019t quite as explicitly \u201cdisco\u201d as either of those tracks, all of the stylistic cues are present, albeit not fully formed. Like \u2018Melting Pot\u2019, \u2018Girl\u2026\u2019 contains multitudes in its seven and a half minute span. Though it works wonders as a three and a half minute soul single, it passes over into the realm of dance floor epic in the album version.
\nThe opening riff, with a simple piano riff over spare percussion \u2013 soon joined by snare drum and horn flourishes, opens up into a relatively slow (yet danceable) verse. It\u2019s around the two and a half minute mark, with Kendricks repeated \u2018What you say to that?\u2019 refrain, that the tempo escalates, backed by a muscular rhythm guitar (right about where the 45 version fades out). Things change again around 3:45, where everything except the lead guitar and tambourine drop out, the band gradually coming back in (the piano and rhythm guitar are especially sweet here) until the drums come in strong at about 5:10. It\u2019s at this point where the picture of \u2018Girl You Need a Change of Mind\u2019 as dance floor epic comes into full focus. Unlike many 12\u201d singles that would drop in the coming years, \u2018Girl\u2026\u2019 is both song enough for the radio, and (in it\u2019s LP form) long enough for the dancers.
\nThings change yet again at 5:55 \u2013 and again this must have been absolutely magical over the Loft\u2019s sound system \u2013 as we\u2019re left with just the congas and Kendrick\u2019s falsetto, followed in short order by the band returning to full power by the end of the record (sounding \u2013 at this stage \u2013 several years ahead of its time).
\nInterestingly enough, as proto-disco goes, it\u2019s another \u2018People Hold On\u2019 track, \u2018Date With the Rain\u2019 \u2013 another big hit in the clubs that failed to score on the radio \u2013 a remarkable (but tragically short, at 2:40) dance record, that more closely fits the mold. It is also available (but much rarer) on 45.
\nI hope you dig the track(s), and I\u2019ll be back on Friday with another great record.<\/p>\n

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

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

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

*CORRECTION – I just dug out my Billboard R&B Chart book, and discovered that ‘Girl You Need a Change of Mind Pt1’ (the 45 edit)\u00a0 was in fact a Top 20 R&B hit.<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

PS: Don’t forget this Wed 2\/10 at Master Groove @ Forbidden City – <\/strong>DJ BlueWater, DJ Prime Mundo, DJ Prestige<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

PS Head over to Iron Leg for something by the Beach Boys<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

You can also follow Funky16Corners on Twitter <\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eddie Kendricks Listen\/Download – Eddie Kendricks – Girl You Need a Change of Mind Greetings all. As I write this, I still can\u2019t feel the lower right side of my face, having spent the morning with the dentist and her assistant rummaging in my mouth like it was an old sofa and they’d lost a […]<\/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":[32,20,30,31],"tags":[34,33,166],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disconot-disco","category-dj-gigs","category-lp-tracks","category-the-loft","tag-david-mancuso","tag-eddie-kendricks","tag-funky16corners"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-4q","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","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=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions\/277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}