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By Larry, February 14, 2013 12:14 pm

Nathaniel Mayer (and his hay-er…)

Listen/Download Nathaniel Mayer and the Fabulous Twilights – Village Of Love

Greetings all

The close of another week is at hand, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which hits the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio.

If you cannot join us at airtime, you can always keep up with the soul by subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or by grabbing an MP3 here at the blog.

I know I already posted the Valentines Day mix, but when I sat down to hammer out a few future blog posts, I happened upon something in the on deck circle that I knew I had to post, even if some of you will be getting it the day after the holiday.

I spend a lot of time working my way through the old Billboard R&B charts, and always make my way into the right margin to see if a given record ever made its way into the pop charts. This is always an interesting indicator of how much an artist managed to crossover (if at all). The absence of a pop chart position – especially in the listing for an artist that was very popular in the R&B charts – is also important evidence of the divide that often existed between black and white audiences.

I’m always surprised to find out that artists that I would have assumed were one-hit wonders had substantial chart runs on the R&B side of things.

As someone who spent a lot of time as a kid listening to oldies radio, I am shocked by how many times I find a record that did crossover into the Pop Top 40 that never made it onto oldies playlists.

Such is the case with ‘Village of Love’* by Nathaniel Mayer and the Fabulous Twilights, which was an R&B Top 20 hit (grazing the Pop Top 20) in 1962.

Mayer’s music didn’t pop up on my radar until he made a comeback in the early 2000s on labels like Fat Possum (where he recorded and toured with the Black Keys) and Norton.

The Detroit-born Mayer recorded for the legendary Fortune label from 1961 to 1966 (hitting only once with ‘Village of Love’) and then all but disappeared (with the exception of one 45 in the early 80s) until 2004. His Fortune sides – like ‘I Had a Dream’ and ‘From Now On’ – are as raw and dynamic as they are rare and expensive (very…).

‘Village of Love’ is one of those great records that bridge the gap between R&B/doowop vocal harmony and the early years of soul. The instrumental and vocal backing have a foot planted firmly in the 1950s, but Mayer’s wailing pulls the whole thing into the 60s. I especially dig the part at about 55 seconds in where the guitar starts to solo and the drums and handclaps are bouncing around in the reverb.

It’s the kind of record that played at the appropriate volume verily compels you to get off your ass and move out onto the dance floor.

Sadly, Nathaniel Mayer only managed to squeeze in a few comeback years before being felled by a series of strokes in 2008.

You can find his best stuff, old and newer on iTunes.

I hope you all dig the record, 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.

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By Larry, February 12, 2013 3:38 pm

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

Greetings all.

What you see before you is a mix i put together last year at this time in celebration of love, especially mine for my wife, who was going through an especially rough time in regard to her health.

I am very happy to say that this Valentine’s Day her health has improved dramatically, thanks to a stem cell transplant she received last Spring (make sure to click on the Be The Match link at the end of any F16C post for more information about how you can help).

This mix is filled with dynamite soul including a couple of huge faves of mine (and yours, I hope).

Give it a spin and tell someone you love them.

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, February 10, 2013 1:20 pm

Miss Amanda Ambrose

Listen/Download Amanda Ambrose – Gimme Shelter

Greetings all

Welcome to another week in the land of vinyl.

I drop those three genres because they all have a hand in the tune I bring you today.

Anyone fairly deep (or maybe not so deep) into the soul/funk record collecting ‘thing’ will have crossed paths with singers who (like Amanda Ambrose) made their bread and butter in the world of jazz, but crossed over (for whatever reason) into a grittier sound.

Here at Funky16Corners I’ve featured music by artists like Nina Simone, Irene Reid, Gloria Lynne, and others who felt the need – whether artistically, commercially or both – at some point in their career to step outside of the world of jazz (or bring it with them into another context).

More often than not – as long as the material and delivery were on point – the results ended up being quite groovy.

This is not suggest that singing jazz and soul are interchangeable disciplines (they are not) but rather that one would expect a jazz singer to at the very least bring a level of technical facility to the table.

Whether or not they were able to deliver the goods once they got there was another question entirely.

Someone like Nina Simone – though often thought of as a jazz singer – spent her entire career moving fluidly between genres.

Others – like Amanda Ambrose – had common gospel roots with most soul singers of the classic era, and that tied things together on another level.

Born in St Louis in 1925, Ambrose spent the early part of her career recording jazz for small labels (though she did an album for Dunwich in the mid-60s).

Her storming take on the Rolling Stones ‘Gimme Shelter’ was recorded for Bee Gee records in 1973.

I know little about the label, other than that it seemed to specialize in funk and soul.

Where Merry Clayton’s better known cover of the song remains in the stylistic orbit of the original, Ambrose’s take on the tune has the feel of a Leon Russell session, with a pounding rhythm section (especially the piano) and powerful horns.

Ambrose’s vocals are equally powerful and it’s a shame that this record didn’t catch on with a wider audience, though by 1973 this sound was on its way out.

She passed away in 2007 at the age of 82.

I hope you dig the track 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.

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By Larry, February 7, 2013 1:00 pm

Cat suits and Go-Go boots! The mighty Shangri-Las! (Mary Weiss at right)

Listen/Download The Shangri-Las – Right Now and Not Later

Greetings all

The end of the week is here, and so it’s time for the Funky16Corners Radio Show. Coming to you every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, the Funky16Corners Radio “thang” brings with it the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on vinyl. If you are unable to join me at airtime, you can always keep up by subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or you can come here to the blog and  pick yourself up an MP3 in the archive.

The record I bring to you today might at first glance (with the eyes, see…) seem an unusual selection for Funky16Corners, but once you let the music flow, and bring your ears into the equation I think your doubts will be assuaged.

I think it was a friend’s Facebook post of a Shangri-Las appearance on the old LA dance party show Shivaree that first turned me on to this amazing record.

Not ever having been a fan or collector of ‘girl group’ sounds (something I’ve been working to remedy these last few years) – excepting where they intersect with the sounds of soul – I don’t recall what made me click on the video, but it wasn’t long before I was glad that I did.

The Shangri-Las had a string of hits starting with ‘Leader of the Pack’ in 1964 that epitomized a heavy, East Coast alternative to the kinds of records Phil Spector was crafting in the West.

Guided by writers and producers like George ‘Shadow’ Morton and Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, the Shangri-Las – composed of various and sundry combinations of two sets of sisters from Queens, NY, Mary and Betty Weiss and Marge and Mary Anne Ganser – the Shangri-Las made some of the most undeniably powerful (and successful) records of the era.

Singles like ‘Remember (Walkin’ In the Sand)’ and ‘Give Him a Great Big Kiss’ and ‘Out In the Streets’ had a big (BIG) sound, often comparable to a group like the Ronettes but with a rougher, tougher edge to it.

I won’t belabor the point, but I would suggest that if you dig 60s pop and haven’t yet gotten hip to the Shangri-Las, you should pick up the nearest ‘Best Of’, slap on some headphones (or find an AM radio) and turn it up.

Of course, if the story was strictly 60s pop, you’d be reading this over at Iron Leg.

We’re here to talk about the time the Shangri-Las got some soul.

Now, when I clicked on the YouTube link – and got past the rush I always get when I see what a party Shivaree was – I realized I was hearing something unexpected.

That song was ‘Right Now and Not Later’. As is often the case with a record like this, the second thing I thought (after “where can I get myself a copy”) was “How groovy would it be to spin this at a soul night?”

When I finally got the copy you see before you – which took a surprisingly long time – and had a chance to scan the label, most (if not all) of my questions were answered.

Where I expected to see the names Shadow Morton or Barry/Greenwich, instead I saw another very familiar name, Robert Bateman.

Bateman was best known to me as one of Lou Courtney’s frequent writing/producing partners, as well as a journeyman soul songwriter who had co-written tunes like ‘Please Mr Postman’ for the Marvelettes, ‘If You Need Me’ for Solomon Burke, ‘Soul Is Taking Over’ for Henry Lumpkin** and ‘Mama’s Got a Bag of Her Own’ for Anna King.

‘Right Now and Not Later’ was written by Bateman, Ronald Mosely and Kenny Hollon and produced by Bateman and Mosely and is a fairly stark departure for the Shangri-Las.

Though the group had R&B flowing through much of their catalog and had covered tunes like the Chantels ‘Maybe’, the Isley Brothers ‘Shout’ and the Ikettes ‘I’m Blue’, ‘Right Now and Not Later’ is an unmistakable attempt to recreate the Motown sound (something Bateman and Mosely were very familiar with).

The arrangement – by Bateman – sounds straight outta Detroit, from the opening tom toms, to the vibes, the baritone sax and the soaring chorus to the backing vocals.

I haven’t been able to track down any firm info as to why Bateman and Mosely were brought in to work on the track (they did work with other Red Bird acts like the Bouquets), and my assumption is that the label was basically trying something different (though the flip was a Barry/Greenwich tune ‘Train From Kansas City’, produced by Morton and Barry).

While there wasn’t a tremendous amount of time between their previous and subsequent hits, in the mid-60s Top 40 world, forward momentum was everything and label owners and producers were throwing everything they could at the charts to see what would stick.

The real tragedy in this situation is that ‘Right Now Or Not Later’ was not a success. While it got some traction in the Northeast (it reached #99 in the Hot 100) it faded quickly.

The song and arrangement were a perfect vehicle for Mary Weiss’s rich, powerful voice and as imitation-Motown goes, it doesn’t get much better than this.

The Shangri-Las’ short history ended when the group broke up in 1968.

Tragically, Mary Ann Ganser died at the age of 22 in 1970,  followed by her sister Marge in 1996.

Fortunately Mary Weiss has returned to recording (for the mighty Norton label) and performing.

I hope you dig this record as much as I do, and I’ll see you all soon.

Keep the faith

Larry

*It’s fortunate that the Shangri-Las’ peak success intersected with the era of the great televised dance party shows. There are clips of them performing on a number of shows including Shivaree, Shindig, and a pre-catsuit era shot on I’ve Got a Secret, with Robert Goulet standing in for the ‘Leader of the Pack’

**the flip of the Lumpkin 45 was another Bateman/Mosely/Hollon tune ‘If I Could Make Magic’
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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.
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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, February 5, 2013 3:23 pm

Franki Valli being held aloft by the Four Seasons (and himself, oddly enough)

Listen/Download Frankie Valli – (You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself

Greetings all

If you were surprised when you showed up at Funky16Corners and saw Frankie Valli’s mug staring back at you, you really oughtn’t to have, since he popped up here with the Four Seasons and the mighty ‘Beggin’ a few years back.

The tune I bring you today is for a variety of reasons a big favorite of mine, but mainly because it was hiding in my crates for years before I discovered it.

Way, waayyy back, many a year ago, I picked up the 45 containing this gem because I had been informed that it had an organ instrumental on it called ‘Night Hawk’, credited to the Valli Boys.

As organ instrumentals go, it was kind of uninspiring (groovy, but light years outside of the ‘hammond burner’ belt), which is why it went into the crates and gathered dust for a few years.

So, as I entered one of those stretches where outside record digging is precluded due to lack of funds or free time, I pulled out a bunch of record boxes and started doing a little bit of internal re-digging, i.e. looking for things unjustly ignored the first time around, a method by which many, many interesting records have made their way onto the blog.

I pulled out a stack of 45s, went through them, and managed to harvest a grip of excellent stuff, including some instrumentals, ballads, and a couple of stellar examples of Northern Soul, of which today’s selection was one.

‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself’ was released in 1966, and eventually included on the LP “The Four Seasons Present Frankie Valli Solo” which compiled many of his previous solo 45s (including the original version of ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’) as well as new material like the huge hit ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You’.

Ironically, ‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself’ isn’t even considered the big Northern Soul cut off of that album, that honor being reserved for ‘You’re Ready Now’ which is at #96 in Kev Roberts’ ‘Northern Soul Top 500’ and actually charted in the UK in 1970 due to its popularity on the dance floors over there.

It is my humble opinion that ‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself’ is the superior record.

Written by Bob Crewe and Charlie Calello, ‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself’ features plenty of hooks, a stylish arrangement (listen closely for the electric piano bubbling under everything) and a great beat for the dance floor.

Valli’s vocal is excellent, staying away from his famous falsetto and settling into a style no doubt engineered to separate his solo work from the Four Season’s records.

I whipped this one on the folks at Subway Soul a few years back, and it was met with great pleasure by the dancers there.

It’s a great record and as our friends on the other side of the Atlantic say, ought to be cheap as chips.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back 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, February 3, 2013 1:56 pm

Ace Cannon and his sax-o-ma-phone

Listen/Download Ace Cannon – Drunk

Greetings all

Welcome to another week here at the Corners.

I do not recall where I first heard today’s selection, but I do remember my surprise when I heard it.

The name Ace Cannon was already a very familiar one.

Cannon had a string of saxophone instrumental hits beginning in 1961 with ‘Tuff’ (#3 R&B #17 Pop) and continuing through the 60s and 70s. he recorded more than three dozen singles and several albums for the Hi label.

Though his best known numbers were in a blues/R&B vein, he recorded a wide variety of pop material through his career, but as far as I can tell, nothing else like ‘Drunk’.

Released as a single in 1971 (it also appeared on the ‘Blowing Wild’ LP that same year) ‘Drunk’ is an outlier in the Cannon oeuvre.

I would not hesitate for a second to classify ‘Drunk’ as funk, with the drums, bass, the chanky guitar and the organ, and of course Ace, “singing” the song and chanting the title over and over again.

A cover (and radical reworking) of Jimmy Liggins 1953 jump blues tune, ‘Drunk’ is the kind of record that ought to be better known, not only as an anomaly in the catalog of an otherwise well known performer, but also as a solid funk outing.

I have no idea who’s backing Ace on this one, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of the Hodges brothers were in the house.

That said, as far as I can tell, ‘Drunk’ made no impact whatsoever (I can’t find any evidence of Cannon charting after the mid-60s).

I hope you dig the tune, and maybe find one for your own record box.

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, January 31, 2013 1:17 pm

Roger and the Gypsies – Pass the Hatchet Pt1 (Seven B)
Professor Longhair – Big Chief Pt2 (Watch)
Bobby Marchan – Shake Your Tambourine (Cameo/Parkway)
Diamond Joe – Gossip Gossip (Sansu)
Eddie Bo – Hook and Sling Pt1 (Scram)
Lee Dorsey – Four Corners Pt1 (Amy)
Dixie Cups – Two Way Poc A Way (ABC)
Earl King – Street Parade (Kansu)
Meters – Cardova (Josie)
David Batiste and the Gladiators – Funky Soul Pt2 (Instant)
Bobby Williams – Boogaloo Mardi Gras Pt2 (Capitol)
Curly Moore – Sophisticated Cissy (Instant)
Ernie K Doe – Here Come the Girls (Janus)
Larry Darnell – Son of a Son of a Slave (Instant)
Explosions – Hip Drop Pt1 (Gold Cup)
Rubaiyats – Omar Khayyam (Sansu)
Warren Lee – Funky Belly (Wand)
Willie Tee – Sweet Thing (Gatur)
Danny White – Natural Soul Brother (SSS Intl)
Lee Dorsey – Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further (Polydor)
Oliver Morgan – Roll Call (Seven B)
Eddie Bo – Can You Handle It (Bo Sound)

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Presents Boogaloo Mardi Gras! – 85MB Mixed Mp3/192K

Greetings all.

I hope you all are well.

I should start by reminding you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will air (as it does every week) Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grab yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

The mix you see before you is something I put together last year to commemorate Mardi Gras, and in a rare show of foresight on my part I got it up and ready to go on time this year.

It is packed with old faves including some stellar Mardi Gras-specific numbers with which you can second line to your heart’s content.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back with some more groovy stuff 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, January 29, 2013 11:44 am

Listen/Download Al Kent – Where Do I Go From Here

Greetings all

Once you’ve spent a lot of time listening to, and reading about soul and funk music, you become aware of the fact that sometimes, record labels, by virtue of the creative people involved can be depended on for a certain level of quality.

This is more evident in labels with smaller runs that had less opportunity to dilute their overall power with dozens of substandard or off-genre releases (i.e. no back alley detours into country, rock or crooners).

Sometimes, as in the case of Sansu records (one of the few labels through which I have become infected with the completest virus), you’re digging on the artistic vision of a singular talent, in that case Mr Allen Toussaint, who wrote, produced and arranged the vast majority of the catalog.

In the case of Detroit’s storied Ric-Tic/Golden World labels, the vision is spread out a little bit wider, encompassing the talents of label owners Ed Wingate and Joanne Bratton, producer/arrangers like Mike Terry, the instrumental talents of the Funk Brothers (and associated studio guns) and writer/performers like Al Kent.

Kent (born Al Hamilton), who had recorded in the late 50s with his brothers as the Nite Caps for Groove, then went on to make solo sides for labels like Checker, Wizard and Baritone before hooking up with Wingate’s various labels in the mid-60s (and, among other things, co-writing ‘Stop Her On Sight S.O.S.’ for Edwin Starr).

Stepping back to my original point, the sounds on Detroit labels like Ric-Tic and Golden World are so good, that I will often grab any disc I do not know on the labels whenever I find them, which is what I did with the record you see before you today.

Oddly, it was the instrumental side of this 45 ‘You’ve Got To Pay the Price’ that was a hit, grazing the R&B Top 20 in 1967, and becoming a Northern Soul standard of sorts*.

I dug that tune when I heard it, but it’s the side I’m posting today that really grew on me.

‘Where Do I Go From Here’ is one of those amazing records that gives off waves of Detroit-ness from its every groove.

Masterfully arranged by Mike Terry (when is he getting his boxed set??), with vibes, sweeping strings, bass and guitar (Dennis Coffey), and with a righteous vocal by Kent, ‘Where Do I Go from Here’ is just about perfect.

It is richly detailed and fully realized without passing into overkill, propulsive enough to dance to but with lots to listen for as well, it should have been a hit.

Al Kent went on to do some work for Motown after Berry Gordy bought out the entire Ric-Tic organization in 1968.

The tune was also recorded by the Four Tops (produced by Kent) but remained unreleased until ‘Lost Without You: Motown Lost & Found (1963-1970)’.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

*It was also recorded in a vocal version by Gloria Taylor for the Silver Fox label in 1969
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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, January 27, 2013 12:33 pm

The Ohio Players: Sugarfoot at top left (sporting that awesome conk)

Listen/Download -Ohio Players – Find Someone To Love

Greetings all.

I had something else lined up for today, but then word came down that the mighty Leroy ‘Sugarfoot’ Bonner, guitarist and singer of the Ohio Players had passed away.

Though details are scarce at this time, Bonner was in his early 70s and had previously suffered one or more strokes.

He joined the Ohio Players in the mid-60s after the group’s initial incarnation as the Ohio Untouchables and recorded with them during their time with Compass, Capitol and their peak years on Westbound.

I first posted today’s selection a little less than two years ago, and it’s a great window into the kind of thing the group was doing in their early years.

I hope you dig it, and raise a glass in tribute to one of the true icons of 70s funk.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Originally posted 3/17/11

The tune I bring you today is a bit of instrumental genius from the early days of the mighty Ohio Players.

With a lineage that goes back to 1959 (when the group came together as the Ohio Untouchables), on into their mid-decade rebirth as the Ohio Players, after which they worked in New York as the house band for Compass Records (releasing two singles for the label in 1967 and 1968).

They were working with producer Johnny Brantley’s Vidalia productions when they hooked up (for one album) with Capitol Records.

The tune I bring you today comes from that partnership.

Interestingly, their recording from this period, for both Compass and Capitol had been recirculated on the exploit/ripoff label Trip/Upfront as the album ‘First Impressions’, which is where I first heard ‘Find Someone To Love’. Their Capitol LP, ‘Observations In Time’ isn’t incredibly rare, or expensive (copies go for between 40 and 100 bucks) but it doesn’t show up that often.

The group’s vocal material from this period has always reminded me of the Parliaments stuff from the mid-60s, with a slightly more raucous edge.

‘Find Someone To Love’ features Sugarfoot Bonner’s wobbly, deeply funky guitar prominently, as well as hard hitting drums, droning organ and the band’s horn section. It’s a much deeper, grittier groove than the flashy, fonky stuff they’d hit the charts with a few years later.

Not exactly the Love Rollercoaster, more like the funhouse on the way there.

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

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By Larry, January 24, 2013 12:28 pm

JB at the B3

Listen/Download James Brown – You Know It

Greetings all

The end of the week is nigh so it’s time to remind you about the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grab an MP3 from the archive here at the blog.

The last instro of the week is a testament to the truism that sometimes you just never know what’ll turn up in your crates.

I was digging around for Christmas material late last year when I flipped over ‘Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto’* (never having done so before) wondering if the b-side was also a holiday track.

What I found was not more jingling bells, but in fact another of that rare species, the James Brown organ instrumental.

Many times over the years have I waxed wistfully about my love for the Godfather’s repeated dalliance with that giant mound of wood and wires known as the Hammond organ.

James was not a superior technician, but he did bring a certain joie de vivre to his playing which – though it occasionally descended into flights of fancy that sounded as though he had eschewed his hands for his elbows – were often quite cool.

This track, ‘You Know It’ is an especially groovy surprise since it is both funky, and has a cool arrangement, with the strings and the horns and what not.

This is proof that no matter how much you think you know, the James Brown discography is filled with all kinds of blind alleys, dark corners and cul de sacs.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

*’You Know It’ also appeared as a track on the ‘Soulful Christmas’ LP
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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 (4)

By Larry, January 22, 2013 4:13 pm

Rubin Mitchell

Listen/Download Rubin Mitchell – Loosen Up

Greetings all

The middle of the week is here, and so is our second groovy instro.

This is another one of those 45s that I happened upon when perusing a friend’s sale list.

Never heard if it before, but as soon as I played the clip, knew I wanted a copy.

The tune – ‘Loosen Up’ – is a titular, if not sonic response to Archie Bell and the Drells and the sounds within are every interesting indeed.

A close look at the label and a little digging provide some perspective as to why.

The first thing I noticed – after listening, of course – was the name ‘Curtis Ousley’ on the label. This was of course, the mighty King Curtis, whose publishing company Kilynn is given production credit. King Curtis co-wrote ‘Loosen Up’ and gets full credit for the flipside ‘Summer Dreams’.

The artist, Rubin Mitchell was an Albany, NY-area based lounge pianist who was described in a local paper at the time as having a repertoire that included “funky jazz, showcase numbers like ‘Sabre Dance’ and straight classical’. Once you give ‘Loosen Up’ a listen you begin to realize how telling that description is.

Mitchell – who recorded at least one private issue LP and two more for Capitol (I think this is a non-LP 45) sounds like a guy in the vein of Liberace, who made putting on a show of skill a crucial part of his act, with lots of speed and flourish.

That’s what you get here, sprinkled in liberally atop a soulful sounding rhythm section (dig that drum break at the beginning!) that may or may not include some Kingpins.

It’s not the kind of thing I’d spin for dancers, but it certainly is interesting to slip into your ears.

The flipside is a much mellower, bluesier number that sounds (unsurprisingly) like a cousin of ‘Soul Serenade’.

From what I’ve been able to discover about the rest of his catalog, my suspicion is that this single is a stylistic outlier.

I’m not sure what happened to Rubin Mitchell after his tenure with Capitol, but my suspicion is that it included a hotel lounge or two.

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.

Comments (0)

By Larry, January 20, 2013 11:33 am

Listen/Download X-Citers Unlimited – Soul To Billie Joe

Greetings all

Welcome to the week, this one devoted, in a completely arbitrary manner, to instrumentals.

I just happened to be wading through the digimatization/storage folders deciding what to post, and one instrumental led to another and before you know it – Bob’s yer uncle – here we are.

We begin the week with a record that fits the very definition of ‘un-Google-able’.

First and foremost, the band in question, the X-Citers Unlimited, had a name that invites all manners of misspelling and misplaced punctuation (a hyphen…really?).

Second, and this is the real killer, both sides of the disc are covers of other people’s material, meaning that you have no “in-band” songwriting credits to expand a search.

Third, it would appear that this is the only record ever released by this band, making it impossible to triangulate using other 45s.

The only available clues come courtesy of the fact that the X-Citers Unlimited recorded for a well-known label – which makes it possible to date the record to 1967 – and that it was produced by a guy that should be familiar to fans of 60s soul, Mr Wally Roker.

Using that date and name, and combining it with previous knowledge of Mr Roker’s working environment during that time, I’d be willing to venture a guess that this was a West Coast band.

And that – as they say – is that.

Dead Endsville.

That said, one can always take solace in the quality of the music in the grooves, which in this case is fine indeed.

The reworking of Bobbie Gentry’s ‘Ode To Billie Joe’ (presented here as ‘Soul To Billie Joe’) is a hard charging bit of funky soul with some tasty Latin percussion and plenty of brass.

It’s groovy because unlike the vast majority of the probably hundreds of cover versions of the tune, it does not hew to the original tempo.

The flip, a cover of ‘Hang On Sloopy’ is much more explicity boogaloo-ish.

It is a very cool 45 indeed, and I hope that you dig it (and that, if you know anything else about it, you’ll drop me a line).

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.