{"id":4774,"date":"2014-05-15T11:41:59","date_gmt":"2014-05-15T16:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=4774"},"modified":"2014-05-15T11:41:59","modified_gmt":"2014-05-15T16:41:59","slug":"muscle-shoals-and-aretha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=4774","title":{"rendered":"Muscle Shoals and Aretha"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Aretha Franklin<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Listen\/Download Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NOTE: Our web host has been experiencing major tech problems since yesterday (5\/14). This caused Funky16Corners to be offline completely for several hours last night and this morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though the site is currently up there is no ETA on full restoration of services, so the possibility of another outage is still there.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please bear with me and hopefully everything will be ok soon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

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

 <\/p>\n

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

The end of the week is nigh, so I will take this opportunity to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show<\/strong> hits the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio.<\/strong><\/a> You can also keep up with the show by subscribing to it as a podcast in iTunes, or by grabbing an MP3 in the archive here at the blog.<\/p>\n

I should also let you know that the Funky16Corners 2014 Allnighter and Pledge Drive<\/strong> will be arriving in a few weeks. Once again we’ll have a stellar line up of DJs and mixes, including many of the regulars from past Allnighters and some new blood as well. I’m getting a new Funky16Corners badge made for donors, and there will be some prize giveaways as well. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more details coming soon!<\/p>\n

I recently had the opportunity to check out the \u2018Muscle Shoals\u2019<\/strong> documentary.<\/a> I had missed it in the theaters, thought I\u2019d catch it on Netflix, but lo and behold it popped up on PBS a few weeks back.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d heard a lot about the film \u2013 some good, some bad \u2013 but so much of the music I love was created in those environs I couldn\u2019t pass up the opportunity to check it out.<\/p>\n

There were parts of the film that were genuinely moving, and there was a lot of exciting music, but by the time the movie was over, and I\u2019d survived the idiotic rambling of Bono<\/strong> (can we have some kind of a moratorium on his pontificating in documentaries?), I was left oddly unsatisfied.<\/p>\n

The film seems based on a kind of \u2018producer as auteur\u2019 approach, focusing on Rick Hall<\/strong>, which is all well and good until you discover that it is to the detriment of the musicians that worked for him and were largely responsible for anything you might consider a Muscle Shoals sound.<\/em><\/p>\n

I found the fact that Dan Penn<\/strong> and Spooner Oldham<\/strong> and the Swampers<\/strong><\/a> were left floating in Hall\u2019s wake galling.<\/p>\n

That, and the fact that my recent reading of Joel Selvin\u2019s<\/strong> \u2018Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues\u2019 <\/a>and Robert Gordon\u2019s<\/strong> \u2018Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion\u2019 <\/a>had done nothing but lower my already poor opinion of Jerry Wexler<\/strong> (a prominent voice in the history of Muscle Shoals, and the film) gnawed at me through the viewing.<\/p>\n

That, and the fact that the later part of the film spends too much time focusing on the birth of Southern rock ended up leaving me cold.<\/p>\n

This is not to say that the film is without merit, nor would I suggest you avoid it (there\u2019s too much good stuff in there to dismiss it outright).<\/p>\n

What I would do, is suggest that you go out and get yourself a copy of Peter Guralnick\u2019s<\/strong> indispensable \u2018Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom\u2019<\/a>, which is not only the finest book I\u2019ve ever read about Southern soul (or soul music in general), but would serve as an important companion piece to \u2018Muscle Shoals\u2019.<\/p>\n

Guralnick\u2019s book spends a decent amount of time explaining how these white musicians, especially Penn and Oldham, got to the point where they were so important to the creation of some of the finest rhythm and blues and soul music of the classic era.<\/p>\n

The same can be said about Gordon\u2019s tome, though in that case specifically about the same phenomenon at Stax in Memphis.<\/p>\n

That all said, one of my favorite moments in the film concerned Wexler taking Aretha Franklin<\/strong> down to Muscle Shoals. Franklin had recorded several albums for Columbia following her transition from gospel to secular music.<\/p>\n

She left that label\u00a0for Atlantic in 1967 and Wexler, who had already had success\u00a0recording\u00a0Wilson Pickett<\/strong> at Muscle Shoals, thought that Franklin would flourish in the same environment.<\/p>\n

He had no idea.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The album she recorded there (and also at Atlantic\u2019s NYC studio) \u2013 her first for Atlantic \u2013 was both an artistic and commercial breakthrough.<\/p>\n

\u2018I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You\u2019 provided Aretha with dynamite material (the LP included her epic reading of Otis Redding\u2019s<\/strong> \u2018Respect\u2019, her reworking of Ray Sharpe\u2019s<\/strong> \u2018Help Me\u2019<\/a> as \u2018Save Me\u2019) and a remarkably sympatico backing group.<\/p>\n

The tune I bring you today was one of two big hits for Franklin written by Ronnie Shannon<\/strong> (the second being \u2018Baby I Love You\u2019).<\/p>\n

One of the pivotal scenes in \u2018Muscle Shoals\u2019 describes the recording of \u2018I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)\u2019. Franklin and the band had apparently been struggling to find the right vibe, until Spooner Oldham sat down at the electric piano and whipped out the riff that opens the record.<\/p>\n

If you need proof that the essence of an entire sound can be distilled into one particular moment, one need only listen to the slow rolling piano riff at the beginning of this record. Oldham’s piano, paired with the bass drum, snare and closed hi-hat is pure soul, with one foot firmly in the amen corner.<\/p>\n

When Aretha comes in \u2013 pure perfection \u2013 followed by the organ (very subtle) and eventually the acoustic piano and the horn section shifting gears, what you\u2019re hearing is pure brilliance.<\/p>\n

Though it\u2019s less than three minutes long, the combination of the artful layering of the instruments, coupled with Franklin\u2019s powerful, authoritative reading of the lyric gives \u2018I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)\u2019 an epic depth that places it among the finest recordings of the classic soul era.<\/p>\n

So dig it, educate yourself (or someone who needs it) with a good music book (and maybe a movie<\/em>) and I\u2019ll see you on Monday.<\/p>\n

Keep the faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

\"Example\"<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong> \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

_________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!<\/strong> The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.<\/strong> They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).<\/strong> Click here to go to the ordering page.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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).<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

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

Aretha Franklin Listen\/Download Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)   NOTE: Our web host has been experiencing major tech problems since yesterday (5\/14). This caused Funky16Corners to be offline completely for several hours last night and this morning. Though the site is currently up there is no ETA […]<\/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_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[132,14,30,12],"tags":[166,164],"class_list":["post-4774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-funky16corners","category-lp-tracks","category-soul","tag-funky16corners","tag-soul"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-1f0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4774","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=4774"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4804,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4774\/revisions\/4804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}