{"id":323,"date":"2010-02-25T18:54:57","date_gmt":"2010-02-25T23:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.lunarpages.net\/?p=323"},"modified":"2015-02-04T08:31:26","modified_gmt":"2015-02-04T13:31:26","slug":"jerry-lee-lewis-shotgun-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=323","title":{"rendered":"Jerry Lee Lewis – Shotgun Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The Killer, in a quiet moment…<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Listen\/Download -Jerry Lee Lewis – Shotgun Man <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

I hope every has spent the week ingesting Funky16Corners Radio v.82<\/strong>, on account of it\u2019s packed from end to end with positively stellar soul 45s, each and every one deserving of close, individual scrutiny, but also groovy in a bunch (like bananas).
\nI\u2019m already ruminating on the composition of my next Master Groove<\/strong> set, and a couple of recent acquisitions seem to be pointing me in a specific direction (yet to be revealed). Since it appears we\u2019re going to spend the weekend buried in snow (again) I\u2019ll have plenty of time to mull the subject over.
\nAlso, a special word of thanks to Gregorious<\/strong> over at Ourstage<\/strong> for a very nice write-up on Funky16Corners!<\/a>
\nToday\u2019s selection is yet another in an ever growing string of tasty records, knowledge of which was imparted to me by the mighty Tony C <\/strong>over in the UK. Every once in a while Tony will drop me a line singing the praises of a record, and I know by now, if I\u2019m not already familiar with it, I\u2019d better find myself one because I\u2019m going to dig it. That\u2019s what they refer to as brand loyalty. Over the decades of my digging career (aren\u2019t careers supposed to make you money?<\/em>?) I\u2019ve been very fortunate in that any generosity I\u2019ve given has come back to me tenfold.
\nThis has a lot to do with hanging with other vinyl heads who know their stuff. If you head out on an expedition, and you have the benefit of another person\u2019s digging skill set, shared information will always result in more cool records. My man Haim <\/strong>has been namechecked in this space countless times, because he has turned me on to an equal number of amazing records.
\nI\u2019ve never had the opportunity to dig with Tony, but it is clear, via our correspondence that we dig the same kinds of music. Thanks to the fact that nobody knows all the great soul and funk records, and most people don\u2019t know the same records, we are informed by one another when something cool comes along.
\nI\u2019ve always thought that those in the collector\/dj community who thrive on exclusivity – i.e. crate digger \u2018secret squirrel\u2019-isms* \u2013 were doing themselves, and the rest of us a huge disservice. There\u2019s something unbelievably childish\/selfish about things like that. Congratulations! You\u2019ve found a wonderful piece of music and you\u2019re going to keep it to yourself, so you, and only you can listen to it while locked in your mother\u2019s basement, covered in potato chip crumbs and your own, special stink.
\nKinda sad, n\u2019est ce pas?<\/em>
\nThe record I bring you today is one of those 45s that I\u2019d never come across until Tony brought it to my attention. I grabbed myself a copy, dug it a lot, and as a result I\u2019m able to pass it along to you fine people this very day.
\nI have always been a fan of Jerry Lee Lewis<\/strong>. Of the giants that are blasted into rock\u2019n\u2019roll\u2019s Mt Rushmore \u2013 Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley<\/strong> \u2013 it has always been a close race between Mr Penniman<\/strong> and Mr Lewis (with Mr Diddley coming in a very close third) as to who should be placed at the top of the pantheon.
\nDespite a very uneven career, it has always been clear to me that the Killer is one of the realest of the real, and this is in spite of the fact that he is a world class reckless badass. Head over to YouTube and take a gander at the man in performance, wrestling with his piano (and his unraveling pompadour), shooting sparks out of every part of his being and generally rolling like a juggernaut through the teenagers of the late 1950s. Only Little Richard \u2013 like Jerry Lee with a caboose full of dynamite \u2013 rocked harder, crazier and badder, specially since he was doing it in a segregated society.
\nAs I said before, for one of the true giants of his era Jerry Lee didn\u2019t have a tremendous amount of success. He only had about a half dozen significant hits (mostly in 1957\/58) and by the early 60s most of his chart appearance consisted of covers of other people\u2019s material. By the mid-60s he had switched labels, leaving Sun for Smash, and was weaving in and out of his stylistic lane.
\nIt\u2019s important to note at this point that while Lewis spent much of the 60s jumping back and forth between rock, country and soul (yes, soul<\/em>) this wasn\u2019t really much of a change. All of those elements were present to varying extents from the very beginning of his career, and it\u2019s likely that any point where one of those influences became more pronounced than the others, someone else (like his record company) were attempting to push him where they thought he\u2019d sell some records.
\nToday\u2019s selection, \u2018Shotgun Man\u2019, which appeared on Lewis\u2019s 1967 LP \u2018Soul My Way\u2019 \u2013 while unmistakably Jerry Lee Lewis \u2013 veers off into unusual directions. Those in the know might slap a \u2018Mod soul\u2019 label on this one, partly because of who the artist is, but also because it combines aspects of mainstream soul music (as it was in 1966\/67) with older R&B roots and just a touch of propulsive rock\u2019n\u2019roll. I\u2019d even go as far as to say that a little more emphasis on \u2018the one\u2019 would have nudged this into proto-funk territory (or at least hard edged sock soul). Penned by Jerry Lee\u2019s road manager\/brother-in-law Cecil Harrelson<\/strong>, \u2018Shotgun Man\u2019 makes references to a number of songs (\u2018Seventh Son\u2019 \u2018Agent 00 Soul\u2019) and people (Howling Wolf,<\/strong> disc jockey John R<\/strong>) and at times sounds like James Brown<\/strong> pushed through a hillbilly strainer. There are points where it reminds me of some of his old labelmate Charlie Rich\u2019s <\/strong>more soulful material.
\nI hope you dig it, and I\u2019ll be back on Monday<\/p>\n

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

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

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

*In saying this, I don’t include the Northern Soul practice of ‘cover-ups’, or exclusive dubs in the world of reggae soundclash, which are more a part of the theatricality of the experience. There’s an element of competition, but it’s less about keeping it to yourself than it is about bringing something special to the night.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some proto-Velvet Underground<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Killer, in a quiet moment… Listen\/Download -Jerry Lee Lewis – Shotgun Man Greetings all. I hope every has spent the week ingesting Funky16Corners Radio v.82, on account of it\u2019s packed from end to end with positively stellar soul 45s, each and every one deserving of close, individual scrutiny, but also groovy in a bunch […]<\/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":[37,17,18],"tags":[166,38,164],"class_list":["post-323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blue-eyed-soul","category-funk-45","category-soul-45","tag-funky16corners","tag-jerry-lee-lewis","tag-soul"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-5d","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323","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=323"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5407,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323\/revisions\/5407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}