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By Larry, February 2, 2016 1:00 pm

Ike and Tina Turner

Listen/Download – Ike and Tina Turner – Good Bye, So Long MP3

Greetings all.

To borrow (and slighty alter) an old phrase, any time is a good time for some Ike and Tina Turner.

As I’ve mentioned here in the past, I kind of backed into the Turner’s early catalog, having only been familiar with what I knew from my childhood, i.e. the ‘Proud Mary’ years.

It was only a few years back – via a clip of them playing on the Big TNT Show – that I really got the bug for their earlier stuff.

This unsealed another can of worms, because their discography – especially the early years – is a masterpiece of label-hopping, with the Ike and Tina moving from Sue, to Modern, to Loma, to WB, to Sonja, to Kent, to Philles, to Tangerine/TRC and on, and on.

Asa result, the records are all over the place, and for an act as important as Ike and Tina, very poorly represented in reissue form.

Today’s selection – ‘Good Bye, So Long’ – is a 1965 killer for the Modern label that made it into the R&B Top 40 in 1965 (just grazing the Pop Hot 100). It is a veritable juggernaut, powered by a positively relentless rhythm guitar, with Tina and the Ikettes dancing nimbly over the whole thing, with Ike jumping in for the ‘OO WAH’s in the chorus.

I mean, this is a POWERFUL record, guaranteed to get people up out of their seats and onto the dance floor, shaking what they brought with them.

I wrote up the live performance (mentioned above) a while back, and it really needs to be seen to be believed, with the thundering guitars, Tina out front with the crazy hat, and the Ikettes bouncing around the stage like they have dynamite in their panties.

Basically a long soul medley, the band is tearing it up, and it is a sure antidote for anyone with ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero’ stuck in their craw.

Heavy stuff, indeed, because I always endeavor to bring you the best.

Dig it,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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 31, 2016 11:45 am

The Monitors

Listen/Download – The Monitors – Number One In Your Heart MP3

Greetings all.

This one’ll get your heart started!

A couple of years ago I was listening to my man Mr Finewine on the mighty Downtown Soulville radio show and he played today’s selection, once again adding to the length of my want list.

Previous to the occasion, I only knew of the Monitors in passing, having seen them listed in discographies of Motown’s VIP subsidiary, alongside artists like Chris Clark and the Velvelettes.

The Monitors recorded a handful of 45s and an LP for VIP between 1965 and 1968, eventually moving on to Buddah for one more release.

Featuring John Fagin, Sandra Fagin, Warren Harris and Richard Street (who would eventually go on to join the Temptations), the Monitors had a couple of minor R&B hits, making it into the Top 40 with ‘Say You’ in 1966, and the A-side of this particular 45, ‘Greetings (This is Uncle Sam)’ grazing the Top 20 later the same year.

When I discovered that ‘Greetings..’ had charted I was shocked. It was certainly topical, and a novelty, but nowhere near as powerful as today’s selection.

‘Number One In Your Heart’, written by Steve Mancha (under his real name, Clyde Wilson) and Wilbur Jackson, and produced by Harvey Fuqua, is a fast moving, hook-laden dance floor killer.

The arrangement is fantastic, and it kind of blows my mind that it wasn’t a hit.

A version of the Monitors was reassembled by UK soul guru Ian Levine and recorded an LP in the late 80s.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 28, 2016 1:07 pm

Willie Mitchell

Listen/Download – Willie Mitchell – Pearl Time MP3

Greetings all.

The end of he week is upon us, and so I will remind you once again to check out the Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast, which drops every Friday, bringing you the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove all on original vinyl. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, groove to it on Mixcloud, or grab and MP3 right here at the blog.

We close out the week with one master of soul – Willie Mitchell – covering another – Andre Williams.

I picked up my copy of Mitchell’s 1968 ‘Soul Serenade’ LP years ago, but only recently realized that it included a cover of Andre Williams 1967 single ‘Pearl Time’.

My best guess is that I couldn’t imagine anyone outside of Detroit or Chicago covering an obscure Williams tune, but as it turns out, it wasn’t quite as obscure as I thought.

After doing a little research (or more than I had done before) I found out that though Williams original version of ‘Pearl Time’ didn’t hit the R&B charts, it was a minor pop hit, generating some heat in the Midwest and the Northeast.

Willie Mitchell recorded his version in 1968, alongside covers of tunes by James Brown, Otis Redding and Bobby Hebb among others.

Mitchell’s take includes a robust horn section and a slightly cheesy (in a good way, natch…) organ over some tight drums, with Mitchell just about speaking the lyrics.

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

Have yourselves a great weekend,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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 26, 2016 12:02 pm

Curtis Mayfield

Listen/Download – Curtis Mayfield – We’re a Winner (Live) MP3

Greetings all.

What say we sail through the middle of the week on the breezes of the mighty Curtis Mayfield.

Curtis is one of the true giants of soul music, as performer, songwriter, producer, and talent scout, first with the Impressions in the 60s, and then on to a stellar solo career in the 70s (and beyond).

Way back when, I worked with an older dude named Gene, who always dug that I – a longhaired white kid – was into soul and jazz. He would regularly bring in records from his stacks for me to check out. One of the ones that made a big impression (no pun intended…) was 1971’s ‘Curtis Live’.

Recorded with a small band at the New York City night club the Bitter End, the set included a number of Impressions classics and a couple of his more current tunes, all delivered in a mellow, almost conversational tone.

This reworking of the Impressions 1967 epic ‘We’re a Winner’ was issued as the b-side to ‘Get Down’ (from the ‘Roots’ LP). It has a relaxed, funky swing to it, and Curtis takes the time in the middle of the song to monologue about the censorship troubles the record had the first time around (namechecking Jet magazine!), and laying out the positive civil rights message of the song in no uncertain terms.

It’s always a pleasure to hear Curtis deliver any of his songs in that smoothest of voices, and if you get a chance to grab a copy of ‘Curtis Live!’, do so, since it is a pleasure from start to finish.

I hope you dig the tune, 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 24, 2016 11:51 am

The Volcanos

Listen/Download – Volcanos – (It’s Against) The Laws of Love MP3

Greetings all.

I thought we’d get things of to a fine start this week with one of my favorite Philly 45s.

Back in the day, when I had just started digging for soul in earnest, I was all over anything I could find from Philadelphia and New Orleans.

One of the early obsessions to come out of my Philly excavations was the mighty Volcanos.

I can say with some certainty that the gateway drug – as it were – was ‘Storm Warning’, the group’s biggest hit and a Northern Soul classic.

Over the course of a few years, the Volcanos, led by Gene Faith (nee Jones) would lay down some of the finest soul 45s to come out of the City of Brotherly Love, first for Arctic, then the storied Harthon imprint, and then finally for Virtue, before Faith went solo, and the rest of the group morphed into the Moods, and then the Trammps.

‘(It’s Against) The Laws of Love’ was the group’s fourth 45 for Arctic, released in 1965. Written by Carl Fisher of the Vibrations, ‘Laws of Love’ followed their regional success with ‘Storm Warning’, but despite its obvious quality, failed to make a dent outside of Philadelphia.

Seemingly crafted from a Northern Soul template (years ahead of the curve) ‘Laws of Love’ features a brisk, four on the floor beat, piano and ringing vibes (Vince Montana!) and pumping baritone sax under a great lead by Faith and solid harmonies by the group.

The song is packed with hooks and the arrangement is a wonder.

This is also one of those records I’m happy to have grabbed way back in the stone age, since it seems to be the rarest of their Arctic 45s, pulling in a couple of hundred bucks (much like their two Harthon discs).

It is the perfect intersection of great to listen to and great to dance to.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 21, 2016 1:29 pm

Listen/Download – The Pop-Ups – Lurking MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, so I will remind you to tune into the Funky16Corners Radio Show Podcast, coming to you each and every Friday with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, check it out on Mixcloud, or grab an MP3 right here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today came as something of a pleasant surprise the first time I heard it.

I already knew the music, but had only previously dug it as the backing on one of my favorite 45s, ‘Golly! Zonk! It’s Scatman’ by Scatman Crothers.

That particular 45 has been a fave for years and holds a place of honor in my playbox. Not only is it a very groovy 45, but i always like to whip it on people who oly know Scatman from 70s TV shows like ‘Chico and the Man’ and ‘Hong Kong Phooey’ (for whom Crothers provided the voice).

Then, a few years back someone (I forget who, so forgive me…) turned me on to the 45 you see before you, ‘Lurking’ by the Pop-Ups.

My mind was good and blown. What you get is the basic instrumental track with Scatman removed, but the guitar and organ are bumped up in the mix, making ‘Lurking’ every bit as good for the dance floor as ‘Golly! Zonk!’ and then some.

As fars as I can tell, the Pop Ups were a studio group. One of the writers of the tune is Larry Goldberg who was in charge of the rock’n’roll side of things at the famously diverse Hanna-Barbera Records label.

The Pop Ups 45 was released before Scatman’s, so my suspicion is that he was offered the existing track and laid his vocal (which sounds improvised, anyway) on top of it.

The Pop Ups 45 is considerably harder to find than the Scatman version.

Either way, it’s a very cool track, and I hope you dig it.

Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you all next week.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 19, 2016 12:03 pm

Ramsey Lewis (l), Ansil Collins and Dave Barker (r)

Listen/Download – Ramsey Lewis – Party Time MP3

Greetings all.

Welcome to the middle of the week.

Nothing grooves me more than finding out the source of a sample/cover, especially when I had no idea the record in question was a cover.

Such was the case last year when someone dropped a Youtube clip of the record you see before you today, ‘Party Time’ by Ramsey Lewis.

The ‘cover’ in question is one of the great skinhead reggae 45s of all time, Dave and Ansil Collins’ ‘Double Barrell’.

There are a lot of reggae/ska tunes that borrow (a charitable assessment…) from US/UK pop, jazz and soul, but I never knew that ‘Double Barrel’ (an all-time fave, of which I own at least three different copies) was one of them.

‘Party Time’ composed for Lewis by none other than the mighty Richard Evans, and arranged and produced by him for the 1967 ‘Up Pops Ramsey’ LP, is a groovy number with some punchy drums and upright bass setting the foundation for Lewis’s piano soloing.

The arrangement by Evans is first-rate, up there with the best of his Soulful Strings efforts.

Dave and Ansil Collins either heard the LP or the 45 of ‘Party Time’, and with the addition of some toasting by Dave Barker, ‘Double Barrel’ took Evans melody and turned it into an island classic in 1969.

‘Up Pops Ramsey’ is also worth hearing in its entirety, packed with groovy covers and of course those Richard Evans arrangements.

I hope you dig the tune, 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 17, 2016 10:57 am

Listen/Download – The Jagged Edge – Baby You Don’t Know MP3

Greetings all.

We start the week with a 45 that is something of a mystery.

The first time I heard ‘Baby You Don’t Know’ by the Jagged Edge I knew I had to find a copy.

It is a fast-paced, dance floor friendly mover, with some falsetto/harmony vocals, and a choppy rhythm guitar. It (understandably) has something of a following on the Northern scene in the UK.

Though I can date the record to 1966, other than the presence of producer Felton Jarvis (that would likely place the recording in the south, probably Nashville), there isn’t much to go on.

There were a number of groups operating with the name ‘Jagged Edge’ around the same time, including rock groups in New York and Detroit (this is neither of those groups).

All that, and the fact that the flipside, ‘Deep Inside’ defies categorization, sounding almost like the Four Seasons, with the addition of a bizarre sounding, primitive wah-wah/distorted guitar.

If anyone knows anything else about the 45, please drop me a line in the comments.

I hope you dig it, 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 14, 2016 12:47 pm

Razzy Bailey

Listen/Download – Razzy – I Hate Hate MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast, bringing you the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove all on original vinyl.

You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab yourself an MP3 here at the blog, or for the first show of the month at SoulGuyRadio.com

The tune I bring you today is something completely groovy and unusual.

If the name Razzy Bailey is at all familiar to you, it is probably because he was a country music hitmaker in the 1980s.

Bailey wrote/recorded today’s selection, ‘I Hate Hate’ in 1974, and had a sizable hit with it, first on Aquarian and then picked up for national distribution by MGM.

The song is a sweet, danceable, ever so slightly funky number that has – over the years – become something of a fave on the Northern Soul and crossover scenes.

The MGM version of the 45 is a slightly stripped-down take, with the children’s chorus (billed as the Neighborhood Kids on the Aquarian 45) mixed way down, and the drums and percussion higher in the mix.

Bailey, who got his start alongside cats like Joe South, went on to rack up a bunch of country hits (including a cover of Wilson Pickett’s ‘Midnight Hour’) in the 1980s.

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

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 12, 2016 12:57 pm

Lonnie Youngblood

Listen/Download – Lonnie Youngblood – Roll With the Punches MP3

Greetings all.

Here’s a groovy one for you.

If you’re going to dig, you have to be able to read a label with some level of skill, i.e. pick up on the pedigree of a particular record, able to make a relative judgement about the quality of a disc by seeing who put it together.

I am always in the market for a Lonnie Youngblood 45, but when I see the name Jerry Ragovoy on the disc, and then that of James ‘The Mighty Hannibal’ Shaw, you know I’m putting that one on the ‘keeper’ pile.

Released in 1968, ‘Roll With the Punches’ is a fast moving, dance floor ready number with a great vocal by Lonnie, and some tasty backing vocals by the ladies.

I especially dig the bass (thumping!) and horns on this one, and the production by Ragovoy is predictably first-rate.

I can’t say with certainty how Hannibal placed this tune with Youngblood (or Ragovoy) but this 45 comes from the same time Hannibal was recording his own excellent 45s for Loma, so proximity would be a safe bet.

That said, it is very cool.

I hope you dig it, 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, January 10, 2016 2:47 pm

Chuck Brooks

Listen/Download – Chuck Brooks – Baa Baa Black Sheep MP3

Greetings all.

How about some nice, funky Memphis soul?

I forget where I first heard this 45 (I’m guessing on Facebook somewhere) but when I did, I knew I had to find myself a copy.

Chuck Brooks was a Memphis-based singer/songwriter who waxed 45s for AGP, Volt, Mercury, Chimneyville, and Malaco between 1969 and 1977.

Today’s selection, ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ was recorded/released in 1969, recorded in Memphis and produced by Tommy Cogbill.

It was also released in the UK that year on Dave Godin’s Soul City imprint.

A tough, funky number with some hard-hitting guitar, and organ, as well as a strong vocal by Brooks, ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ failed to hit the charts, though it certainly should have (his 1970 45 for Volt got some play in Philadelphia).

Interestingly enough, after his recording career, Brooks went into business with none other than Homer Banks, forming the Sound Town label, and co-writing, producing early 80s hits for J Blackfoot.

I hope you dig the 45, and I’ll 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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, January 7, 2016 12:28 pm

Jesse Hill

Listen/Download – Jesse Hill – My Children My Children MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is near, and so I will beseech you once again to subscribe to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops each and every Friday in iTunes and Mixcloud. You can also listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab and MP3 here at the blog.

Jesse Hill is one of the more interesting, second-rank, New Orleans performers of the classic era.

He first came to prominence in 1961 with the classic (and as close to a NOLA ‘standard’ as there is) ‘Ooh Poo Pah Do’.

Hill had gotten his start as a drummer, but moved out front as a vocalist. He had a wild growl –not unlike his homeboy Chris Kenner – and a talent for writing songs as well.

Hill was part of the New Orleans contingent – along with Harold Battiste, Mac ‘Dr John’ Rebennack and Alvin Robinson – that made their way to Los Angeles in the 1960s, working as session musicians, songwriters and performers. While in California Hill would write/cowrite songs for Cher, The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Cake, Delaney and Bonnie, and Dr John among others.

Somewhere along the way, in 1967, Hill made the 45 you see before you today. Co-written with Rebennack, and produced by Huey Meaux (which makes me think that this was recorded in Louisiana or Texas and then leased to Chess in Chicago) ‘My Children My Children’ is a solid slice of New Orleans soul.

The song sounds like it has roots in the same gospel song that Chris Kenner borrowed from for ‘Land of 1,000 Dances’ (‘Children Go Where I Send Thee’).

The song is pushed along by the bass and saxophones, as well as a female chorus that does a call and response with Hill.

Interestingly, this was recorded and released round the same time as the rare and coveted ‘Zu Zu Blues Band’ 45 (another Hill/Rebennack collab).

I can’t say anything about the flipside (written by Meaux) because my copy is a one-sided promo.

A few years down the line Hill would record some excellent 45s, and an LP for LA-based Pulsar Records.

He eventually returned to New Orleans, where addiction and other health issues left him destitute. He passed in 1996, and according to his Wiki is buried in a pauper’s grave.

That said, I hope you dig the tune, and if you don’t know Jesse Hill’s other stuff, get out there and check it out.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.