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By Larry, May 27, 2014 12:08 pm

Jimmy Wisner, tickling the ivories

Listen/Download Mr. Jim and the Rhythm Machine – Mrs. Robinson

Greetings all

The tune I bring you today is a very groovy bit of swinging soul jazz, with an interesting pedigree.

If you are a casual music fan, I wouldn’t expect the name Jimmy Wisner to raise any eyebrows.

However, if – like me – you are one of those obsessives that peruse the label of every record that comes into your possession, then Wisner’s name should be a familiar one indeed.

Based out of Philadelpia – thus his presence on so many local records – Wisner was a pianist, composer, arranger and producer for a very wide variety of artists during the 1960s and 1970s.

He was also a successful recording artist, though he rarely used his own name.

His first success came with the reworked version of Edvard Grieg’s ‘Piano Concerto in A Minor’, released as ‘Asia Minor’ under the artist name of ‘Kokomo’, which was a hit in 1961. Wisner released the record under a pseudonym so as not to compromise his career as a jazz pianist.

He also recorded the Northern Soul sleeper ‘Choppin’ Around’ (itself another classical adaptation, this time of a Chopin piece, thus the pun in the title) under his own name in 1966.

When I first happened upon the version of ‘Mrs. Robinson’ you see before you today, recorded as Mr. Jim and the Rhythm Machine, my first impression was that it was a successful attempt at hopping onto the Ramsey Lewis train and taking it for a ride.

Basically a piano trio record, with some very tasteful strings added in the background, the Mr. Jim version of the Simon and Garfunkel tune is a solid swinger, which I wouldn’t hesitate to whip on the dancers.

Interestingly, this predates the version by Booker T and the MGs (a Top 40 R&B hit) by a year and was competing for airtime with covers by Chet Atkins and bandleader Don Costa.

As far as I can tell it didn’t chart anywhere, which is a shame because it’s quite good, but Wisner had so much on his plate (he was just about to take over A&R at Columbia Records) I think he probably just kept on rolling.

I hope you dig the cut, and I’ll see you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, May 25, 2014 11:33 am

Miss Dorothy Moore

Listen/Download Dorothy Moore – Here It Is

Greetings all

I hope the new week finds you all well.

Before we get started, hop on over to the Peace & Rhythm blog and check out the interview I did with DJ Andujar.

I thought we’d get the week started with something funky, along with a reminder on the benefits of cooperative digging.

Following the old axiom of giving credit where credit is due, I try to give props to my musical influences whenever appropriate.

I have been very luck to have friends over the years that have been generous with their taste, time and knowledge, especially in regard to records.

There is nothing quite like digging alongside someone with complementary tastes, sharing finds and turning each other on to new sounds.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in the record ‘game’, collectors and dealers who subscribe to some variety of the old alpha male secret squirrel bullshit, wherein they share nothing, lest they miss an opportunity to profit, in cash, knowledge or both.

I have always taken the zen approach, in which knowledge given out always finds its way back in some form, building up my vinyl karma whenever possible.

This includes giving up spots (where one might procure said records) as well as facts, so that one’s friends might take off on musical tangents of their own.

It was in that spirit that my man DJ Prestige handed me the record you see before you today, suggesting that I look past the hit ballad on the top-side, and dig the funky goodness on the flip.

‘Here It Is’, recorded in 1975 by Dorothy Moore (and written by none other than King Floyd) appeared on the b-side of her massive hit ‘Misty Blue’, a Top 5 R&B and Pop hit in 1976.

Moore had herself a fairly substantial career before her breakthrough, having recorded as part of the Poppies (who recorded several 45s for Epic in 1966) as well as waxing a couple of excellent and sought after singles (including ‘He’s About a Mover’) for MGM in 1967 and 1968 under the name Dottie Cambridge.

There were a couple of dry years in the late 60s and early 70s, before Moore returned to recording for Avco and then Malaco/Chimneyville.

Her first major hit was ‘Misty Blue’, followed by a string of hits that lasted from 1976 to 1982.

‘Here It Is’ is a great bit of mid-tempo, southern funk with a great horn section and clavinet chugging underneath.

Though she was largely absent from the charts, Moore continued to record LPs for Malaco, and then her own Farish Street label through the 80s, 90s and 2000s.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, May 22, 2014 11:59 am

The Mighty Esquerita!

Listen/Download Eskew Reeder – Green Door

Greetings all

The end of the week is upon us, so that means that it’s also Funky16Corners Radio Show time! You can pile it all into your ears each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, or you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 at the Radio Show Archive here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is a very solid sender indeed, brought to you by the mighty Eskew Reeder (aka Esquerita, aka SQ Reeder).

I remember first hearing about Esquerita back in the 80s via the mighty Kicks magazine (the greatest zine that ever was and a HUGE influence on yours truly).

Esquerita was one of the legendary madmen of R&B and rock’n’roll, an influence on none other than Little Richard, and a cat who made some very groovy music of his own over the years.

The song ‘Green Door’ was first recorded in 1956 as a novelty tune by DJ Jim Lowe.

The Eskew Reeder version was waxed way down yonder in New Orleans with the assistance of none other than the mighty Allen Toussaint.

Reeder’s version is largely an organ instrumental. He was mainly a pianist but displays a solid facility on the organ, even if he appears to begin soloing with his elbows about halfway through the record.

You also get a couple of vocal interjections by Eskew along the way.

This version is (like the Wynder K Frog cover from a few years later that leans heavily on it for inspiration) a dance floor banger, and if this doesn’t get the folks twisting and shaking, you need to check them for a pulse.

Esquerita’s career and discography were pretty spotty after the mid-60s, and by the time he was rediscovered in NYC in the 80s he was parking cars and playing in dives.

Sadly, he passed away from AIDS complications in 1986.

His spirit is carried on by the folks at Norton (it’s Esquerita’s mug that greets you when you hit their website) in the form of much music and ephemera.

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, May 20, 2014 10:52 am

Billy Cobham

Listen/Download Billy Cobham – Crosswind

Greetings all

I hope the middle of the week finds you well.

Back in the day when I was but a longhaired troglodyte learning to beat my drum set into submission, the name Billy Cobham seemed to pop up a lot.

Cobham was one of the preeminent jazz rock/fusion drummers of the 60s/70s/80s (and beyond) and his impressive flash made a dent in the heads of those of us that had an adolescent obsession with technique and speed.

This is not to suggest that was all Cobham had going for him, but rather that it was all kids like me were paying attention to.

Cobham, who had been born in Panama, got his start working with hard bop and soul jazz outfits like those of Horace Silver and Shirley Scott, before coming to prominence in Miles Davis’s electric bands of the early 70s.

Later on (much later), as a collector of and listener to things funky, I began to see (and hear) the drummers (and bands) of the fusion/funky jazz era in a new light.

Someone –I don’t recall who – hepped me to the 45 of the track you see before you today, 1974’s ‘Crosswind’, and I dug it.

I eventually got my hands on the LP (still haven’t copped the 45) of the same-ish (the album is called ‘Crosswinds’) and discovered that there was a lot to like.

The funky ‘Crosswind’ is presented at 45-length, and features some groovy electric piano by George Duke and some wild guitar by John Abercrombie.

The overall sound manages to catch fusion when it was still funky and had yet to descend into a swamp of masturbatory soloing.

Interestingly, ‘Crosswind’ was also recorded in an excellent version by one of Woody Herman’s mid-70s bands (featured in this space back in 2012).

You can pick up the LP Crosswinds in reissue.

I hope you dig the track, and I’ll see you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, May 18, 2014 1:00 pm

Miss Helene Smith

Listen/Download Helene Smith – Like a Baby

Greetings all

Welcome to a new week from my outpost in the rapidly warming Northeast.

The record I bring you today was the first indicator I had – back in the day – that not everything on the Phil LA of Soul imprint was from Philadelphia.

I first heard of Helene Smith because of her heavily sweated ‘You Got To Be a Man’,which a certain Mr Prince Rogers Nelson borrowed from to create the song ‘Kiss’.

Smith was a Florida-based singer who worked with Willie Clarke and Clarence Reid and got her start recording as a backing vocalist for Betty Wright (in the early days of that singer’s career).

She originally recorded the tune ‘Like a Baby’ as her first 45 for the Miami label Deep City in 1966.

The song was licensed by Phil LA of Soul and released there in 1967.

‘Like a Baby’ is a superb bit of sweet soul. Taken at a slow pace, with relatively spare bass, piano, guitar and drums, the coed backup vocals provide contrast to Smith’s high voice.

The song didn’t make a dent in the charts, though its flipside, the ballad ‘A Woman Will Do Wrong’ was an R&B Top 20 hit in 1967.

Smith went on to record a couple of 45s for Phil LA of Soul between 1967 and 1969, and then two more for the TK subsidiary Dash in 1971 and 1972.

After that the trail goes cold.

You can pick up a number of her tracks on the Numero Group’s comp Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label, available on iTunes or on CD.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (9)

By Larry, May 15, 2014 11:41 am

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 on full restoration of services, so the possibility of another outage is still there.

Please bear with me and hopefully everything will be ok soon.

Thanks

Larry

Greetings all

The end of the week is nigh, so I will take this opportunity to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show hits the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. 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.

I should also let you know that the Funky16Corners 2014 Allnighter and Pledge Drive 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!

I recently had the opportunity to check out the ‘Muscle Shoals’ documentary. I had missed it in the theaters, thought I’d catch it on Netflix, but lo and behold it popped up on PBS a few weeks back.

I’d heard a lot about the film – some good, some bad – but so much of the music I love was created in those environs I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to check it out.

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’d survived the idiotic rambling of Bono (can we have some kind of a moratorium on his pontificating in documentaries?), I was left oddly unsatisfied.

The film seems based on a kind of ‘producer as auteur’ approach, focusing on Rick Hall, 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.

I found the fact that Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham and the Swampers were left floating in Hall’s wake galling.

That, and the fact that my recent reading of Joel Selvin’s ‘Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues’ and Robert Gordon’s ‘Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion’ had done nothing but lower my already poor opinion of Jerry Wexler (a prominent voice in the history of Muscle Shoals, and the film) gnawed at me through the viewing.

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.

This is not to say that the film is without merit, nor would I suggest you avoid it (there’s too much good stuff in there to dismiss it outright).

What I would do, is suggest that you go out and get yourself a copy of Peter Guralnick’s indispensable ‘Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom’, which is not only the finest book I’ve ever read about Southern soul (or soul music in general), but would serve as an important companion piece to ‘Muscle Shoals’.

Guralnick’s 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.

The same can be said about Gordon’s tome, though in that case specifically about the same phenomenon at Stax in Memphis.

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

She left that label for Atlantic in 1967 and Wexler, who had already had success recording Wilson Pickett at Muscle Shoals, thought that Franklin would flourish in the same environment.

He had no idea.

The album she recorded there (and also at Atlantic’s NYC studio) – her first for Atlantic – was both an artistic and commercial breakthrough.

‘I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You’ provided Aretha with dynamite material (the LP included her epic reading of Otis Redding’s ‘Respect’, her reworking of Ray Sharpe’s ‘Help Me’ as ‘Save Me’) and a remarkably sympatico backing group.

The tune I bring you today was one of two big hits for Franklin written by Ronnie Shannon (the second being ‘Baby I Love You’).

One of the pivotal scenes in ‘Muscle Shoals’ describes the recording of ‘I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)’. 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.

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.

When Aretha comes in – pure perfection – followed by the organ (very subtle) and eventually the acoustic piano and the horn section shifting gears, what you’re hearing is pure brilliance.

Though it’s less than three minutes long, the combination of the artful layering of the instruments, coupled with Franklin’s powerful, authoritative reading of the lyric gives ‘I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)’ an epic depth that places it among the finest recordings of the classic soul era.

So dig it, educate yourself (or someone who needs it) with a good music book (and maybe a movie) and I’ll see you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 13, 2014 11:27 am

Listen/Download Aaron Chico Bailey and the Family Affair Band – The Point Pt1

Listen/Download Aaron Chico Bailey and the Family Affair Band – The Point II (Eclipse 5-24-75)

Greetings all

The middle of the week is approaching so I thought I’d fire up a tasty little funk 45.

I first heard ‘The Point’ by Aaron ‘Chico’ Bailey and the Family Affair Band way back on one of those old Mod Jazz CD comps.

It was a while before I tracked down a copy of the 45, and when I did I was surprised to discover that it was from 1975.

Though I’ve tried to find out something (anything) about the band over the years, I have been almost entirely unsuccessful.

The Kris label, founded in the early 60s by southern transplant Mel Alexander, was based in Los Angeles. Its discography included a lot of blues, R&B, soul and funk, and stretched on (at least as far as vinyl is concerned) into the late 70s.

Kris released a bunch of sides by Jimmie Preacher Ellis (who also recorded for another west coast label, ROUND), funky bluesman Chick Willis, Little Joe Blue and Harmonica Fats.

Aaron ‘Chico’ Bailey appears to have been active on a few labels in the mid-70s (I find at least one other 45 on the LaVal label) and though he only had one 45 under that name for Kris, there is another single by Chico and the Family Tree Band, ‘What’s Your Point Pts 1&2’ that I’d be willing to bet is the same guy.

‘The Point’ and “The Point II (Eclipse 5-24-75)” sounds like it was recorded at least five years earlier than it was. The sound is raw, and the funk (dig the bass player) definitely has a late 60s/early 70s vibe to it. The a-side is listed as ‘instrumental w/voice effects’, but there’s not much in the way of vocals. I dig the percussion breakdown near the end of Pt1.

“The Point II (Eclipse 5-24-75)” includes some extended saxophone soloing.

I have no idea what happened to Aaron ‘Chico’ Bailey after 1975.

If any of you do, please drop me a line.

Until Friday….

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 11, 2014 10:42 am

Dave says, ‘Keep wearing sweaters like this and some day you’ll be funky, too!’

Listen/Download Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez – Twang Taang

Greetings all

Welcome to another week of musical stuff here at Rancho Del Funky16Corners.

The tune I bring you today is something from a little bit later in the discography of one David Clowney, better known to one and all as Dave ‘Baby Cortez’.

Cortez, who had his first hit in 1959 with ‘The Happy Organ’ was one of the most interesting performers associated with organ sounds in the classic era.

He was at ease working in the gray area between pop and soul, often bouncing between R&B (like the savage ‘Hurricane’ from 1960) to soul (like ‘Countdown’ from 1965) to funk (like ‘I Turned You On’ from 1970).

He was mainly an organist, but also recorded as a vocalist from time to time, having gotten his start singing doowop in the 50s.

Cortez spent the early part of his career recording for Clock Records, then spending most of the 1960s bouncing between Mercury, Chess, and Roulette before a short period working under the aegis of the Isley Brothers on T-Neck.

The tune I bring you today is from a brief, two-single run Cortez did with the Sound Pak label in 1971.

Sound Pak was, like Clock Records the brainchild of James J. Kriegsmann (who is listed on many Cortez tunes – perhaps dubiously – as co-writer). If that name is familiar it is because he is better known as one of the premier promo photographers of performing artists in the 50s, 60s and 70s, his famous logo appearing on countless glossy photos.

‘Twang Taang’ is a funky vocal, heavily influenced by his time in proximity to the Isley’s organization. The tune is marked by heavy bass, horns and a great vocal by Cortez. I also dig the guitar solo, with just the right amount of fuzz dialed up.

Cortez went on to record for All Platinum through the mid-70s,before going off the grid.

He returned in 2011 to record an LP for Norton, backed by none other than Lonnie Youngblood.

I hope you dig the track, and Ill see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, May 8, 2014 12:08 pm

Lonnie Youngblood

Listen/Download Lonnie Youngblood – African Twist Pt1

Greetings all

The end of the week is here, so I must remind you to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can keep upby subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grabbing yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is an old favorite of mine.

The name Lonnie Youngblood should be a very familiar one to fans of funk and soul.

The vocalist/saxophonist recorded some excellent 45s under his own name – while working as a backing musician for many soul and blues artists – during the 1960s.

Some of these – in particular the 45s he recorded for Fairmount, ‘Go Go Shoes’ and ‘Soul Food’ – are, in addition to their own excellence, sweated by fans of the back up guitarist on the sessions, a certain James Marshall Hendrix.

Today’s selection, ‘African Twist Pt1’ was recorded for the Loma label in 1967. It was the first of Youngblood’s two 45s for the label (the second being 1968’s ‘Roll With the Punches’) and is a wild bit of funky soul.

Layered with fake crowd noises, ‘African Twist Pt1’ features a crazed lead vocal by Youngblood, some excellent guitar and percussion and a wailing horn section.

Youngblood went to to record several albums in the 1970s, and continues to perform today.

I hope you dig the track, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, May 6, 2014 12:04 pm

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1965
(L-R) Bloomfield, Butterfield, Lay, Bishop, Arnold (not pictured, Mark Naftalin)

Listen/Download The Paul Butterfield Blues Band – Born In Chicago

Listen/Download The Paul Butterfield Blues Band – Get Out of My Life Woman

Greetings all

The middle of the week is here, so I thought I’d whip something a little unusual (for here, anyway) into your ears.
Those of you past a certain age will likely be familiar with the name Paul Butterfield.

Butterfield – harp player and vocalist – was one of the movers and shakers of the blues scene in the 1960s.

The band he led – unsurprisingly going by the name The Paul Butterfield Blues Band – was hot as hell, as well as serving as an incubator for talent, incubating  guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop.

Formed in 1964 in Chicago with Mike Bloomfield (both he and Butterfield were Chitown natives) and University of Chicago student Bishop, local heavies Sam Lay (on drums) and Jerome Arnold (brother of Billy Boy Arnold on bass) and later adding Mark Naftalin on keyboards, the Butterfield Blues Band had a sound that was rooted firmly in electric Chicago blues.

What made it stand out – aside from an embarrassment of riches in the talent department – was a willingness to experiment with rock and jazz styles and interesting cover material.

The first tune featured today – ‘Born In Chicago’, written by Nick Gravenites who would later join Bloomfield and Buddy Miles in the Electric Flag– was the lead-off track from the groups self-titled 1965 debut. It is a wailing slice of rocking blues, featuring blazing harp solos by Butterfield and wailing leads by Bloomfield.

The second track is a cover of Lee Dorsey’s ‘Get Out of My Life Woman’, from the group’s second LP, ‘East-West’ from 1966. Unlike most covers of the tune, the Butterfield Blues Band dispenses with the opening drum break. They take the tune a slightly more brisk pace than the original, adding in some tasty piano work by Naftalin.

‘East-West’ also includes a very groovy version of the Monkees ‘Mary Mary’.

Though the original lineup was all but gone by 1967’s ‘The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw’, the BBB continued to meld blues and R&B and kept rolling on into the 1970s.

They played at Woodstock (with none other than David Sanborn on sax) but were not included in the original film (there are clips of the band playing the festival).

That all said, you can find all of the BBB’s best stuff in digital reissue, and copies of their stuff turns up frequently in used bins (those first three LPs are all worth grabbing).

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll see you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 4, 2014 11:34 am

The Rimshots

Listen/Download The Rimshots – Save That Thing

Greetings all

In furtherance of commencing the week’s festivities on a funky note, I bring you the Rimshots.

The tune in question – ‘Save That Thing’ – rolled off the presses in 1972 and was a Top 40 R&B hit in December of that year.

The Rimshots were the de facto ‘house band’ at Sylvia Robinson’s family of labels, including Stang, A-I and All Platinum.

They recorded two LPs and a grip of singles (including their cover of the Ramrods ‘Soul Train’) for A-1, All Platinum, Stang and Astroscope between 1972 and 1977, as well as providing backing for artists like the Moments, Hank Ballard and the Whatnauts.

They are especially interesting – to me, anyway – in that they’re a prime example of a unit that straddled the funk and disco eras with success.

‘Save That Thing’ is a slow burner, with the electric piano and the bass pushing things along, with the occasional vocal interjection.

It is very groovy indeed.

I hope you dig it as much as I do.

See you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 1, 2014 10:59 am

Say what,now?

Listen/Download Plookie McCline – Gorilla Walk

Greetings all

The week is nearing its inevitable conclusion, so that means it’s time to remind you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will return once again to the airwaves of the interwebs this (and every) Friday night at 9Pm on Viva Radio. You can also keep up with things by subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or by grabbing an MP3 here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is a slice of gritty, slightly deranged R&B from the streets of Chicago.

I picked up this 45 years ago during the early days of my Jerry-O obsession, when I cast my dragnet far and wide, picking up whatever I could find associated with the master.

Charles ‘Plookie’ McCline is something of a mystery (he doesn’t even get a mention in Robert Pruter’s comprehensive ‘Chicago Soul’). He appears to have recorded a handful of 45s for the Jerry-O/Larry-O labels around 1963, some of which were also issued under the name ‘Willie Logan and the Plaids’.

Today’s selection, which was released late in 1963 was the flipside of ‘Uncle Willy’, a tune no doubt meant to tie in to the local dance craze of the same name.

As fine as that side is, you simply must flip it over to wrap your ears around one of the roughest, craziest bits of Chicago madness ever pressed into wax.

There are points where ‘Gorilla Walk’ sounds like it was lifted from the soundtrack of one of those old Bela Lugosi tropical zombie movies.

To describe the proceedings as ‘lo-fi’ would be both accurate and charitable.

It sounds like the band and the singers were crammed into a broom closet with equipment from the early days of sound recording*.

The backing vocals are – not to put too fine a point on it – wailed, and the saxophone sounds like it and its player had only a passing acquaintance.

The lead vocal by Mr McCline is pretty straight ahead, and the guitar is pretty groovy too.

Make sure to slap this one on the next time you’re in the midst of a drunken mob.

Have a great weekend and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

 *Interestingly enough, the production is credited to Jerry-O and the arrangment to Milt Bland aka Monk Higgins!

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