{"id":3192,"date":"2012-09-27T12:43:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-27T17:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=3192"},"modified":"2012-10-20T11:00:29","modified_gmt":"2012-10-20T16:00:29","slug":"the-vibrations-expressway-to-your-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=3192","title":{"rendered":"The Vibrations &#8211; Expressway To Your Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong> <\/strong><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/pictures\/vibrations_pic.jpg\" alt=\"Example\" width=\"600\" height=\"523\" \/><br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>The Vibrating Vibrations!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> <\/strong><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/pictures\/vibrations_expressway_45.jpg\" alt=\"Example\" width=\"600\" height=\"594\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><del><strong><strong><strong><em>Listen\/Download The Vibrations &#8211; Expressway To Your Heart<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/del><\/p>\n<p><strong><strong><strong>Greetings all<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The end of the week is finally here, and so then must be the <strong>Funky16Corners Radio Show<\/strong>, which magically appears on <a href=\"https:\/\/viva-radio.com\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Viva Radio<\/strong><\/a> every Friday night at 9PM. If you have other plans at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or drop by the blog to pick yourself up an MP3.<\/p>\n<p>The tune I bring you today is one of those familiar song\/unfamiliar source deals I like to whip on y\u2019all every now and again.<\/p>\n<p>This is another example of a record that I swept up almost indiscriminately back in the early days of my Philly obsession. Drawn in by the (<strong>Gamble\/Huff<\/strong>) Neptune label and the familiar name of the <strong>Vibrations<\/strong>, I grabbed this 45, and while I can\u2019t say that my memory is 100% reliable in this instance, it is likely that I thought that what I was getting was the \u201coriginal\u201d version of the song that was a huge hit for the <strong>Soul Survivors.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I was (of course) incorrect\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That tune, \u2018Expressway To Your Heart\u2019 was among the earliest Gamble\/Huff chart hits (maybe THE earliest) in 1967, with the Vibrations version not hitting until two years later.<\/p>\n<p>The Vibrations have one of the longest, most interesting histories in all of soul music.<\/p>\n<p>Hailing not from Philly but from Los Angeles, they got their start in the 1950s as the <strong>Jayhawks<\/strong>. It was under that name that they recorded the original version of \u2018Stranded In the Jungle\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>They also recorded under the name of the <strong>Marathons<\/strong>, with which they hit in 1961 with \u2018Peanut Butter\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Reconstituted as the Vibrations, they spent most of the 1960s recording for Checker and Okeh \u2013 with a brief stop at Epic in 1968 \u2013 before signing with Neptune in 1969.<\/p>\n<p>They recorded three 45s for the label, including their remake of \u2018Expressway\u2019 in 1969.<\/p>\n<p>The Vibrations had worked with Gamble and Huff during their time at Okeh (G&amp;H produced the group\u2019s 1968 hit \u2018Love In Them There Hills\u2019 for the label) and member <strong>Carl Fisher<\/strong> had some of his songs (like \u2018Storm Warning\u2019 and \u2018(It\u2019s Against) the Laws of Love\u2019) covered by Philly groups like the <strong>Volcanos.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Vibrations version of \u2018Expressway to Your Heart\u2019, arranged by the great <strong>Bobby Martin<\/strong>, is taken at a slightly slower, grittier pace than the Soul Survivors OG. You get lots of electric piano, organ, some very cool guitar work and lots of great harmonies by the group.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a very groovy record indeed, and one that ought to be better known.<\/p>\n<p>I hope you dig it, and I\u2019ll see you all on Monday.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keep the faith<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><strong><strong>Larry<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong><strong> <\/strong><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/helium.lunarpages.com\/%7Efunky4\/pictures\/new_funky16_logo.jpg\" alt=\"Example\" width=\"179\" height=\"181\" \/><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><br \/>\n___________________________________________________________________________________________<br \/>\n<strong> <\/strong><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/pictures\/sticker_pic.jpg\" alt=\"Example\" width=\"600\" height=\"377\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Also, the brand new Funky16Corners &#8216;Keep Calm and Stay Funky&#8217; stickers have arrived!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The stickers are 4&#8243; x 3&#8243; and printed on high quality, glossy stock.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?page_id=1109\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Click here to go to the ordering page.<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>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).<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/marrow.org\/Join\/Join_the_Registry.aspx\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/pictures\/bethematch_logo.jpg\" alt=\"Example\" width=\"417\" height=\"80\" \/><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.poacwalk.com\/faf\/donorReg\/donorPledge.asp?ievent=445040&amp;lis=0&amp;kntae445040=06F02A2514664ED5AF867AB9D4CA7071&amp;supId=323196696\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/pictures\/poac_logo_600.jpg\" alt=\"Example\" width=\"274\" height=\"83\" \/><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?page_id=1109\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><strong><strong>Check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cafepress.com\/Funky16Corners\" target=\"_blank\">Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ironleg.wordpress.com\" target=\"_blank\">PS Head over to Iron Leg too.<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Vibrating Vibrations! Listen\/Download The Vibrations &#8211; Expressway To Your Heart Greetings all The end of the week is finally here, and so then must be the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which magically appears on Viva Radio every Friday night at 9PM. If you have other plans at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show [&hellip;]<\/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":[58,11,17,14,74,12],"tags":[163,166,25],"class_list":["post-3192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cover-songs","category-funk","category-funk-45","category-funky16corners","category-philly-soul","category-soul","tag-funk","tag-funky16corners","tag-philly-funk"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-Pu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3192","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=3192"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3266,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3192\/revisions\/3266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}