Hal Driggers and the Key Brothers – Brown Baggin’ bw Black Pepper

By , February 25, 2018 12:58 pm

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Listen/Download – Hal Driggers and the Key Brothers – Brown Baggin’ MP3

Listen/Download – Hal Driggers and the Key Brothers – Black Pepper MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you well.

The track I bring you today dropped into my crates a few years back, solely on the strength of the sounds packed into the grooves.

I had no idea who Hal Driggers was/is (still don’t). It’s not an expensive record, but – and this is the important part – it cooks.

A cursory listen will reveal that ‘Brown Baggin’ is a very spare rewrite of Robert Parker’s ‘Barefootin’, with the gist moving away from dancing and going all the way over to the surreptitious consumption of alcohol, hidden inside the brown bag of the title.

“Brown Baggin’ is a mover, taking the foundation of the Parker classic and running with it.

The flipside, ‘Black Pepper’ is a wild slice of R&B with some hot rhythm guitar and organ.

The context clues on the label, and a Google-i-zation reveal that the 45 was originally released on the North Carolina Cheeco label as by Hal Driggers and the Six Key Brothers (with the descriptor ‘six’ removed for the Atlantic pressing).

My seasoned ears suggest to me that Mr Driggers is a white fella, which is neither here nor there, though along with the geographical location it suggests to me that he might have been part and parcel of the many white R&B bands working in the south (and on the Beach Music scene) at the time.

I have not been able to track down any information on the Key Brothers, either.

Driggers and the Key Brothers did one more 45, for the Philadelphia-based Star Time label.

If any of you fine folks have any info on Driggers or the Key Brothers, please drop me a line.
Until next week.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Walter Wanderley – Kee-Ka-Roo

By , February 18, 2018 12:00 pm

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Walter Wanderley

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Listen/Download – Walter Wanderley – Kee-Ka-Roo MP3

Greetings all.

Welcome back to the Funky16Corners thing for another week of musical wonderfulness.

The track I bring you today is a long (loooong) time fave, introduced (and initially gifted) to me by my buddy Haim.

Haim used to turn me on to all kinds of cool music, and one day he played Walter Wanderley’s ‘Kee-Ka-Roo’ for me and just about blew my mind.

You all know that I’m a certified Hammond nut, and while I knew of Wanderley (already owning a couple of his boss nova LPs) I had no idea he had anything like this in his arsenal.

Wanderley was a Brazilian organist who had a significant recording/playing career in his native country before hitting the charts in 1967 with ‘Summer Samba’, which became one of the best known/most popular ‘easy’ instrumentals of the 1960s (which would gain ever more reknown via the vocal version he recorded with Astrud Gilberto under the title ‘So Nice’).

‘Kee-Ka-Roo’ originated on his 1967 album of the same name.

Where ‘Summer Samba’ was all smooth bossa jazz, ‘Kee-Ka-Roo’ is a swinging slice of Brazil-au-go-go, mixing sharp, hard-hitting drums with cuica, and guitar.

It sounds like it was custom made for a discotheque scene in a period film.

The band on ‘Kee-Ka-Roo’ is amix of Brazilian and American players (including Bobby Rosengarden who laid down some similarly cool drums on a number of Enoch Light-related things).

It makes me wish that Wanderley had done some more music in this vein.

I dig it a lot and I hope you do too.

Until next time,

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Funky16Corners Valentines Day!

By , February 14, 2018 12:15 pm

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F16 Presents: Super Duper Love
Soul Brothers Six – Some Kind of Wonderful (Atlantic)
Marvelows – Talkin’ Bout You Baby (ABC)
Pat Lewis – Look At What I Almost Missed (Solid Hit)
Platters – I Get the Sweetest Feeling (Musicor)
Etta James – I’m So Glad (Cadet)
Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers – It’s Growing (Gordy)
Eddie Holman – Stay Mine For Heaven’s Sake (Parkway)
Exciters – Blowing Up My Mind (RCA)
Intruders – Every Day Is Like a Holiday (Gamble)
Johnny Nash – Ooh Baby You’ve Been Good To Me (Epic)
Mad Lads – No Time Is Better Than Right Now (Volt)
Aubrey Twins – Love Without End Amen (Epic)
Benny Spellman – I Feel Good (Atlantic)
Sam and Dave – You Don’t Know What You Mean To Me (Atlantic)
Felice Taylor – I’m Under The Influence of Love (Mustang)
Foundations – Baby Now That I’ve Found You (UNI)
Bettye Lavette – I Feel Good All Over (Calla)
Marva Whitney – This Girl’s In Love With You (King)
Contributors of Soul – Look What You Done For Me (New Miss)
Darrell Banks – Open the Door To Your Heart (Revilot)
Four Tops – Something About You (Motown)
Sugar Billy – Super Duper Love (Are You Digging On Me) (Fast Track)
Willis Wooten – Your Love Is Indescribably Delicious (Virtue)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Presents: Super Duper Love 108MB Mixed MP3
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Frank Wilson – Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)
Charlie Rich – Dance Of Love
Darrell Banks – Our Love Is In the Pocket
Jackie Wilson – I Get the Sweetest Feeling
Eddie Bo and Inez Cheatham – Lover and a Friend
Charlie Earlands Erector Set – Cherie Amour
JJ Barnes – Hold On To It
Spinners – Sweet Thing
Sand Pebbles – Love Power
Platters – Sweet Sweet Loving
Lee Dorsey and Betty Harris – Love Lots of Lovin’
Len Barry – I Struck It Rich
Producers – Love Is Amazing
Lee Williams and the Cymbals – It’s Everything About You That I Love
Broadways – You Just Don’t Know Good You Make Me Feel
Velvelettes – Since You’ve Been Loving Me
Soul Brothers Six – Your Love Is Such a Wonderful Love
Wilson Pickett – Everybody Needs Somebody To Love

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Valentine’s Mix: Dance of Love – 86MB Mixed Mp3/256K
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Greetings all.

Just a quick, mid-week re-post of the two previous Funky16Corners Valentine’s Day mixes if you are (like so many) in both a soulful and romantic mood, pull down the ones and zeroes and get to lovin’!

Until next time,

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Funky16Corners Mardi Gras Pt2 – Keep the Fire Burning

By , February 11, 2018 11:52 am

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Warren Lee – Star Revue (Deesu)
Mac Rebennack and the Soul Orchestra – The Point (AFO)
Candy Phillips – Timber Pt1 (Atlantic)
Tommy Ridgley – In the Same Old Way (Ronn)
Eddie Lang – Something Within Me (Seven B)
Aubrey Twins – Love Without End Amen (Epic)
Bates Sisters – So Broken Hearted (Nola)
Benny Spellman – I Feel Good (Atlantic)
Chitlins – Sugar Woman (Pala)
Curley Moore – Soul Train (Hot Line)
Danny White – Cracked Up Over You (Decca)
Eldridge Holmes – Emperor Jones (ALON)
Irma Thomas – What Are You Trying To Do (Imperial)
Lee Dorsey – Do Re Mi (Fury)
Robert Parker – Secret Service (Nola)
Zodiacs – Surely (Deesu)
Betty Harris – Trouble With My Lover (Sansu)
Eddie Bo – Fence of Love (Seven B)
Jesse Hill – My Children My Children (Chess)
John Williams and the Tick Tocks – Do Me Like You Do Me (Sansu)
Lee Calvin – You Got Me (Sansu)
Mary Jane Hooper – That’s How Strong My Love Is (World Pacific)
Aaron Neville – A Hard Nut To Crack (Parlo)
Skip Easterling – Keep the Fire Burning (ALON)
Alvin Robinson – Seaching (Tiger)
Dr John – Big Chief (Atco)

 

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Keep the Fire Burning MP3

Greetings all.

What you see before you is a special, all-new (all New Orleans!) mix for Mardi Gras 2018.

Funky16Corners Boogaloo Mardi Gras, first posted in 2012 has rerun in this space every year since then.

As I have procured lots of excellent New Orleans vinyl in the interim, I thought that it behooved me to dig back into the crates and whip something new on y’all.

F16C: Keep the Fire Burning is just a hair over an hour of high quality New Orleans soul 45s, all of which are suitable for rug-cutting, second lining and however you are moved when the music comes on.

Allen Toussaint and Eddie Bo are both heavily represented as songwriters, producers, arrangers and in Eddie’s case, performer, and there are lots of other Crescent City masters (and mistresses) getting down in the grooves.

So pull down the ones and zeroes, get out your um-ba-rella and Mardi Gras!

See you next week

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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So Much Soul: Funky16Corners Live at Reggae Got Soul 1/21/18

By , February 4, 2018 11:51 am

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Precisions – If This Is Love (I’d Rather Be Lonely) (Drew)
The Soul City – Everybody Dance Now (Goodtime)
Mary Love – Lay This Burden Down (Modern)
Dorothy Berry – Shindig City (Planetary)
Incredibles – I Can’t Get Over Losing Your Love (Audio Arts)
Theresa Lindsey – I’ll Bet You (Golden World)
Corvairs – Ain’t No Sole In These Old Shoes (Columbia)
Marketts – Stirrin’ Up Some Soul (WB)
Taj Mahal – A Lot of Love (Columbia)
Producers – Love Is Amazing (Huff Puff)
Eddie Holman – Eddie’s My Name (Parkway)
Four Larks – Groovin’ at the Go Go (Tower)
Betty Lavette – I Feel Good (All Over) (Calla)
Barbara Banks – River of Tears (Veep)
Chuck Wood – Seven Days Is Too Long (Roulette)
Mary Wells – Can’t You See (You’re Losing Me) (Atco)
Marvelettes – I’ll Keep Holding On (Tamla)
Mickey Lee Lane – Hey Sah Lo Ney (Swan)
R Dean Taylor – There’s a Ghost In My House (VIP)
Ike and Tina Turner – Somebody Needs You (Loma)
Marvin Gaye – One More Heartache (Tamla)
Edwin Starr – Back Street (Instrumental) (Ric-Tic)
Sugar Pie DeSanto – Go Go Power (Checker)
Monitors – Number One In Your Heart (VIP)
Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers – I Gotta Go Now (Up On the Floor) (Like)

Listen/Download – So Much Soul F16C Live at Reggae Got Soul 1/21/18 MP3

Greetings all.

What you see before you is a live set that I recorded a few weeks back at Reggae Got Soul, a very groovy recurring night at the Asbury Park Cigar and Tobacco Co in (you guessed it) Asbury Park, NJ.

The night is run by my man Jay Boxcar, who you may remember as a charter member of the Asbury Park 45 Sessions crew.

I hadn’t been out DJing live in a long, long time, so the opportunity to do so, especially in a chill setting right around the corner (OK, not literally, but less than 30 minutes away) was irresistible.

Since it had been so long, I decided to whip together a box full of Northern Soul faves. Nothing beats hearing some of these records played on a nice, loud sound system.

The evening started with Jay whipping a little reggae and ska on the room, after which I hit the decks, and then DJ Scott Boyko opened up his 45 box and closed things out in style.

I’ll be returning to RGS on February 10th with a box full of New Orleans funk and soul to help celebrate Mardi Gras, so if you’re in the area, tip on in.

See you next week

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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The Shells – When I’m Blue

By , January 28, 2018 12:07 pm

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Listen/Download – The Shells – When I’m Blue MP3

Greetings all.

The record I bring you today is the b-side of one of my al time favorite 45s.

I wrote up the a-side ‘Whiplash’ thirteen years ago in the earliest days of the Funky16Corners blog.

I was hepped to the 45 way back in the day by my buddy Haim and it quickly moved into a permanent place in my Top 10.

Though the record was produced by Jerry Butler, when I managed to ask him about it years ago he absolutely to recollection of the session.

The group – brothers Charles and James Calvin,Willie Exon, and Billy Harper (not the same Shells that recorded doowop out of NYC) – went on to record one other 45, ‘Hot Dog’ for Volt, but it’s their debut effort that ought to cement them a spot in the soul hall of fame.

While both sides of the 45 manage to keep a foot in an earlier vocal group harmony style there is no mistaking that they are pure 1965 soul.

Though ‘Whiplash’ is the unmistakable dancer, ‘When I’m Blue’ has always held a special place in my heart. It combines unusual production and arrangement (the band almost sounds like a rock/garage outfit) with a haunting melody, with the Shells sounding like their being piped in from another dimension.

Both sides combined make this one of the most unusual and unique 45s to come out of Chicago in the 1960s.

It appears to have garnered some regional airplay (‘Whiplash’ was an R&B Top 20 hit in St Louis and ‘Hot Dog’ was popular in NY and Philadelphia) , but nothing significant.

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll see you all next week.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Best of F16C – Forbidden City Organs

By , January 21, 2018 12:33 pm

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Funky16Corners Radio v.80 – Forbidden City Organs

Recorded Live in NYC 1-27-10

Playlist

Louis Chachere– A Soulful Bag (Central)
Hank Marr – The Out Crowd (Wingate)
Turtles – Buzz Saw (White Whale)
Albert Collins – Cookin’ Catfish (20th Century Fox)
Wynder K. Frog – Oh Mary (UA)
Don & the Goodtimes – Turn On (Wand)
Dave Lewis – Searchin’ (Piccadilly)
Earl Van Dyke – Soul Stomp (Soul)
Toussaint McCall – Shimmy (Ronn)
Georgie Fame – El Bandido (Imperial)
La Bert Ellis – Batman (A&M)
James Brown – Shhhhhhhh (For a Little While) (King)
Mohawks – Champ (Philips/NL)
Ross Carnegie – The Kid (El Con)
John Phillip Soul and His Stone Marching Band – That Memphis Thing (Pepper)
Bill Doggett – Honky Tonk Popcorn (King)
Lou Garno Trio – Chicken In the Basket (Giovanni)
Hindal Butts – In the Pocket (M-S)
Warm Excursion – Hang Up Pt1 (Pzazz)
Soul Tornado’s – Crazy Legs (Westwood)
Charles Earland – Sing a Simple Song (Prestige)
Art Butler – Soul Brother (Epic)
Memphis Black – Why Don’t You Play the Organ Man (Ascot)

Funky16Corners Presents: Forbidden City Organs –
Recorded Live 1/27/10

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Greetings all.
This is another dip into the Funky16Corners archives, a live, all-Hammond set that I did at Forbidden City (with my man DJ Bluewater)  almost exactly eight years ago.
It’s packed with 45RPM goodness, so pull down the ones and zeroes and dig it.
Keep the Faith
Larry
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Greetings all, and welcome back to the Funky16Corners-adelic-superfragelistic thing for another week.

Before we get started, I want to say that after serious consideration with the Funky16Corners board of directors, and close consultation with some serious heads (not the least of whom being my man DJ Prestige) I have decided not to deep six the old versions of the blog (WordPress and Blogger). While I did deactivate all active content links on both sites (replacing them with redirects where necessary), since I was unable to do a full export of the WordPress blog, and could not bring over the comments on the old blog posts, AND since I consider reader commentary to be an important part of the process (mainly because so many of you contribute information via those posts) I figured it would benefit all parties to keep the old sites up and running (with any luck as long as this sentence).

Anything you might travel back there to hear, can now be heard here in the new Funky16Corners Radio Podcast and Guest Mix Archives.

The mix you see before you today was supposed to be up in this space on Friday, but I just had too damn much to do, and so I had to put it off for a couple of days. I think, however that you will be pleased when you pull down the ones and zeros and stuff it in your ears.

For you see (hear), Funky16Corners Radio v.80* is just about an hour of high octane, Hammond fueled groove grease guaranteed to get you off your ass, slipping and sliding across the floor, with the hip-shaking, and the wild gesticulation, and the shaking of the hair, gospel wailing and general good times.

Big words those, but I think once the sounds have been ingested, you will concur.

It all started thusly…

Back before Christmas, my lovely wife asked me what I wanted as a holiday gift. I generally reply to these queries with a shrug and a ‘Don’t worry ‘bout me on account of I pretty much have everything I need’. However, this year there was something I had my eye on, so I sent my wife the link, and ‘Bob’s yer uncle’ a brand new digital recorded dropped into my stocking.

My main motivation in requesting this new bit of hardware was so that my casting of the pods would be facilitated, but as is the norm when I get a new toy, I find some other, more interesting way to put it to work, and so I did.

It was at the last Asbury Park 45 Sessions that I brought my recorder along and attempted to record my set right off the board. I thought everything had gone swimmingly, until I got up the next morning, transferred the file onto my laptop and discovered that Einstein (that’s me, heh heh…) hadn’t read the instructions properly, and what I had recorded was not the mix off the board, but all the ambient noise surrounding it. I tossed that one into the old electronic wastebasket and set my sights on my next set at Master Groove.

Well my friends, it was a success.

I had spoken to my host the esteemed DJ Bluewater about what I would play this time, and I suggested a ‘theme set’ of sorts. He thought this was a good idea, so I sat down in the midst of my record vault and started digging. I had originally thought I might do a Northern Soul thing (next time out maybe) but I happened upon a clump of solid Hammond 45s, so I took that as a sign and continued in that direction.

What you have here is an actual live mix, recorded directly from the booth monitor line on the mixer, no fiddling/editing involved.

If you’ve visited with me here over the years, you’ll already be aware that I am a first class Hammond organ nut, and my crates run deep. When I started pulling stuff to compose my set, I extracted enough records for three or four sets, and then sat down with the turntable and selected a little over an hour’s worth of faves.

The records you’ll hear in this mix are the very cream of the dancefloor Hammond crop, with lots of your big keyboard wranglers (Messrs Earland, Doggett, McCall, Lewis, Van Dyke, Frog and Carnegie) a couple of unusual sources (Albert Collins and the Turtles, yes, the Turtles) and a few things you may not have heard before.

As stated previously, my intention here was to whip something up to get the dancers moving, so if you’re playing this inside your corporate veal pen, try not to spill your coffee/disturb your neighbor. If you’re on the bus, piping it in via earbuds, don’t be surprised if your neighbor attempts to administer first aid, since you may appear to be involved in convulsions of some sort.

That said, I will refrain from further comment, letting the sounds speak for themselves.

I hope you dig the mix, and rest assured that I will endeavor to bring you more of the same (both live, and organ mixes) in the coming months.

Peace

Larry

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Best of Funky16Corners: Queens

By , January 14, 2018 11:12 am

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Funky16Corners Presents: Queens
Vicki Gomez – Boys Are a Dime a Dozen (ABC/Paramount)
Rita and the Tiaras – Gone With the Wind Is My Love (Dore)
Apollas – Mr Creator (WB)
Clara Ward – The Right Track (Verve)
Gloria Jones – Heartbeat Pt1 (Uptown)
Sandy Wynns – Love Belongs To Everyone (Champion)
Tina Britt – The Real Thing (Eastern)
Brenda Lee – Dancing In the Street (Decca)
Candy and the Kisses – Keep On Searching (Scepter)
Dorothy Berry – Shindig City (Planetary)
Marie Queenie Lyons – Drown In My Own Tears (Deluxe)
Mirettes – Now That I Found You Baby (Mirwood)
Bobbettes – Tighten Up Your Own Home (Mayhew)
Funky Sisters – Soul Woman (Aurora)
Ella Fitzgerald – These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ (Salle)
Sari and the Shalimars – No Reason To Doubt My Love (Veep)
Judy Clay – Sister Pitiful (Atlantic)
Lesley Gore – Take Good Care (Of My Heart) (Mercury)
Barry St John – Cry Like a Baby (GRT)

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Presents: Queens 86MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

What you see before you is one of the mixes I did for the 2016 Funky16Corners Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

‘Queens’ has long been a fave of mine, and a few weeks back, while using it as the pre-show for the Funky16Corners Radio Show, I was digging it so much that I thought it deserved a re-posting.

So here it is, just about an hour of the finest female 45s, mostly in a Northern bag but with just a touch of funky soul, and album tracks in my crates.

So pull down the ones and zeros and give it a spin.

I hope you dig it.

See you all next week.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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The Pazant Brothers – Toe Jam b/w Skunk Juice

By , January 7, 2018 12:25 pm

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The Pazant Brothers

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Listen/Download – The Pazant Brothers – Toe Jam MP3

Listen/Download – The Pazant Brothers – Skunk Juice MP3

Greetings all.

The single you see before you today is one of those “Holy shit, look at those titles, how can I not buy this?” 45s.

I knew of the Pazant Brothers via their sought after work with the Beaufort Express, but hadn’t heard of either of these cuts (Toe Jam and Skunk Juice, from 1969) before.

At least that’s what I thought, until I gave the 45 a spin and the tune(s) sounded awfully familiar.

It took me a few minutes to arrange/assess the sounds coming off the record, bt it wasn’t long before I figured out what I was hearing were two ‘variations’ on Lionel Hampton’s mighty soul jazz banger, ‘Greasy Greens’.

I did a little digging and discovered a few things.

First off, ‘Greasy Greens’ wasn’t written by Hampton, but rather by Ed Bland, who happened to be the guy credited with both sides of the Pazant Brothers 45.

Second, I dug a bit more and found out that Eddie Pazant, the woodwind playing brother in the duo had been a member of Hampton’s band when he recorded ‘Greasy Greens’, both in the studio version on Glad Hamp in 1967 and the live version on the ‘Newport Uproar’ LP from 1968.

Alvin Pazant, the trumpeter had played with Pucho and the Latin Soul Brothers.

While the OG of ‘Greasy Greens’ lives up to its title, the reworkings of the song as ‘Skunk Juice’ and ‘Toe Jam’ (seriously?) are funkier, slightly shambolic (featuring some wild guitar) and both feature a young sister shouting out the titles over the music.

The Pazant Brothers recorded a handful of 45s for GWP, RCA and Priscilla in the late 60s and early 70s, before waxing their album ‘Loose and Juicy’ (which featured some of the 45 tracks) for Vanguard in 1975, with production (and five compositions) by Ed Bland.

It is a great, funky 45, and I hope you dig it.

See you all next week.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Isley Brothers – Testify Pts 1&2

By , December 31, 2017 10:57 am

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The Isley Brothers (with some obscure sideman)

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Listen/Download – The Isley Brothers – Testify Pt1 MP3

Listen/Download – The Isley Brothers – Testify Pt2 MP3

Greetings all.

I feel secure telling you that the 45 I bring you today is undisputably one of the most mind-bendingly, blazing soul 45s of all time.

As much as I thought I knew the Isley Brothers, I was for a long time largely ignorant of their earlier, pre-funky work.

I found my way to their 1964 45 ‘Testify Pts 1&2’ via two similar paths, those being the eary work of Jimi Hendrix (who wails on this record) and the work of one of his most prominent disciples, Stevie Ray Vaughn.

I was lucky enough to have seen Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble in the early days of their national renown, including one ear-shredding performance at a local night club.

One of the tunes Stevie did on his first album was a cover version of ‘Testify’, which I had no idea was a cover version for literally decades.

It was only researching the early soul/R&B work of Jimi Hendrix that I found out that ‘Testify’ had originally been done as a vocal by the mighty Isley Brothers.

To say that the Isley Brothers version of ‘Testify’ is amazing is to damn it with faint praise.

Their performance amounts to six minutes of amen corner cum Apollo Theater wildness in which the Isley’s perform their asses off, all the while tipping their hats to Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Jackie Wilson, James Brown, and even themselves.

The band is ON FIRE, and you can almost see the Isley Brothers moving around the stage.

‘Testify’ is one of the live-est sounding 45s I have ever heard, and moves at a breakneck pace from start to finish.

I hope you dig it as much as I do, and I’ll see you all next week.

Happy New Year!

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Harold Johnson – Greensleeves

By , December 24, 2017 1:34 pm

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Harold Johnson

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Listen/Download – Harold Johnson – Greensleeves MP3

Greetings all.

I hope that the new week and the holiday season finds you all well.

The tune I bring you today is a Christmas favorite that got its start as decidedly secular English folk ballad in the 1500s, eventually being appropriated as the Christmas song ‘What Child Is This’ in 1865.

It has been recorded countless times in a variety of styles by a long list of performers.

Today’s selection, by jazz pianist Harold Johnson appeared on his 1970 LP ‘Wide Open’.

‘Wide Open’ is a fantastic example of alternately funky/straight soul jazz piano laying down a selection of originals and contemporary covers.

Johnson’s version of ‘Greensleeves’ gets off to a hot start with congas and bass, before being joined by a hard-hitting drummer, and then Johnson himself.

It is an aggressive arrangement of a song that is usually delivered in a much more languid style, and it works very well indeed.

Johnson and his group had recorded two earlier albums, one on the small LA H.M.E. label and the second (like this one) for Revue.

Oddly, after 1970 Johnson worked mostly as a sideman on a string of LPs by Eddie Kendricks, Willie Hutch and others and as a composer and arranger.

I hope you dig the tune, and that you all have a happy holiday.

See you next week

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Stretch/Margaret Singana – Why Did You Do It

By , December 17, 2017 12:37 pm

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Stretch

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Margaret Singana

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Listen/Download – Stretch – Why Did You Do It MP3

Listen/Download – Margaret Singana – Why Did You Do It MP3

Greetings all.

As has been said here many a time before, one must keep their ears peeled and open at all times if the flow of interesting music is to continue into one’s crates. The reords you see before you today at a testament to that very thing.

A while back I was immersed in a viewing of ‘Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ when a funky song popped up on the soundtrack that got my ears perked right up.

A dash of Googling and IMDB-ing led me to the track ‘Why Did You Do It’ by Stretch.

I had never heard of the band or the song, but dug it a lot, so I started looking around and discovered the the tune was a UK Top 20 and dance floor hit in 1975.

The group was led by Elmer Gantry (aka Dave Terry) former lead singer of UK psych group Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera and former Curved Air member Graham ‘Kirby’ Gregory.

They released the 45 on the UK Anchor label also home to Ace, and (for some odd reason) all of the UK versions of Alice Cooper’s albums.

The original Stretch version of ‘Why Did You Do It’ is a very groovy piece of funky rock with a solid backbeat and bass combo that butts right up against disco without trading too heavily on that territory, and a fantastic vocal by Gantry.

The other version I bring you today was recorded a few years later by South African vocalist Margaret Singana.

Her take on the song, from her ‘Tribal Fence’ album was released here in the US on the Casablanca label.

Singana’s album is a mix of traditional African sounds, soul and disco, and featured production and guitar work from future Yes member Trevor Rabin (also a native South African).

The production on Singana’s version is a little slicker (with a very nice guitar solo by Rabin) , but her excellent voice features heavily. Her album also contains a nice version of James Brown’s ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s World’.

I hope you dig both versions of the tune, and I’ll see you all next week.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

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