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By Larry, January 22, 2012 12:58 pm

Miss Etta James

Listen/Download -Etta James – Something’s Got a Hold On Me

Listen/Download -Etta James and Sugar Pie DeSanto – In the Basement Pt1

Listen/Download -Etta James – I’m So Glad

Listen/Download -Etta James – Tell Mama

Listen/Download -Etta James – I Got You Babe

Listen/Download -Etta James – I’d Rather Go Blind

Listen/Download -Etta James – I Worship the Ground You Walk On

Listen/Download -Etta James – Out On the Street Again

Listen/Download -Etta James – Groove Me

Greetings all.

I think that it would not be overstating things to say that for fans of the music we call soul, this has been an absolute motherfucker of a week.

First Jimmy Castor, then Johnny Otis, and then on Friday we got the news that the mighty Etta James had gone to her great reward.

Goddamn…

I mean, as we have discussed previously, we are in the midst of an era when these sad events will be coming with increasing frequency, but the inevitability of age doesn’t make these losses any easier to take.

Etta James was as bad-ass as they came.

When you talk about serious, heavy, real performers, they seldom got any realer than Etta James.

She came out of R&B, walked straight on into soul and funk, all the while packing one of the most powerful, emotional voices ever heard.

And that voice carried with it the seasoning of a hard life.

Born Jamesetta Hawkins  in Los Angeles in 1938, she first recorded (discovered by none other than Johnny Otis) in 1954 and hit the top of the charts in 1955 with ‘The Wallflower’ (aka Dance With Me Henry) in 1955.

She remained on the charts, both R&B and Pop, through the 50s, 60s and 70s, wrestling on and off with heroin addiction, yet still making some remarkably powerful records.

James recorded for Modern through the 50s, moving to the Chess organization (recording for Chess, Argo and Cadet) where she remained from 1960 to 1976.

The records she made during this period were some of the best soul of the era.

The songs I’m posting today while not by any means comprehensive, represent what I would consider to be her finest work*.

Starting with the epic ‘Something’s Got a Hold On Me’ from 1962 (I love pulling out a record that’s as old as I am…), you get Etta reaching back to her teenage, gospel roots, gathering some R&B on the way and whipping it all up into a solid blast of soul. The record is a great sampler of her vocal range, from her rich contralto right on through to her piercing growl.

Her epic duet with Sugar Pie DeSanto, ‘In the Basement’ has appeared in this space before, but to attempt to pay appropriate tribute to Etta without including it would be the work of a fool. Not only is one of the truly great soul sides of the 60s – by anyone – but you get to hear two monumental divas trading lines.

Another cut from 1966 (coming from the period right before she headed down to Muscle Shoals) ‘I’m So Glad’ sees James working a slightly different groove. While the vocal is classic, mid-period Etta, the instrumental backing – arranged by Monk Higgins – is pure Chitown soul.

Leonard Chess’ decision to send James down to Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama was without a doubt one of the smartest things he ever did.

If ever a voice existed that sounded purpose-made for the backing of the legendary Fame house band, it belonged to Etta James.

James recorded just under two dozen sides (almost all released) at Muscle Shoals, and they represent not only a high point in her discography, but also in the long stream of genius that emitted from those hallowed halls during the 60s and 70s.

The best known of her Fame-era tracks is undoubtedly 1967’s‘Tell Mama’, which hit the R&B Top 10 and grazed the Pop Top 20. The tune is hard-charging Southern soul with a supremely confident vocal by James and a horn chart that is in itself a soulful bit of genius. It puts the well-known cover by Janis Joplin to shame.

It was only last year, courtesy of my man Vincent the Soul Chef that I was exposed to James’ insanely good cover of Sonny and Cher’s ‘I Got You Babe’. Never in a million years would I have imagined anyone, even a master like Etta James, taking a hippy-dippy pop confection and turning it into hard hitting proto-funk, but that’s exactly what she did.

Interestingly enough, both of the previously mentioned 45s had powerful ballads on the flip side.

‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ (the flip of ‘Tell Mama’) is widely regarded as one of James’ finest recordings, and for good reason. It’s one of those deep, bluesy soul ballads that sounds less like a performance than a late-night confession.

‘I Worship the Ground You Walk On’ (the flip of ‘I Got You Babe’) is cut from the same cloth, if a little less raw. It features a great change-up in the chorus as well.

By the 1970s, James was still with Chess/Cadet, but her sound was evolving. Her 1974 album ‘Come a Little Closer’ was reportedly recorded concurrent with a stint in rehab, and while her voice seems a touch deeper, dare I say smoother (though not to a fault), the power is still there. The track ‘Out On the Street Again’ is particularly interesting, with a a dark, smoky early-70s Motown feel (a la Norman Whitfield) feel to it.

The latest track I bring you today comes from her 1976 LP “Etta and Betta than Evah’. Produced by none other than the great Mike Terry, the album definitely has a 70s feel to it (some era-appropriate synth/clavinet action), but her cover of King Floyd’s ‘Groove Me’ is classic, funky Etta.

The album was her last for Chess, after which she moved to Warner Brothers.

What she left behind after a decade and a half is a veritable mountain of high quality soul music.

Despite her personal struggles, first with drugs and later with failing health Etta James remained an icon continuing to record and perform almost to the end, releasing her final album last year.

What you need to do next – assuming you already haven’t – is get out there and start digging for some Etta James records. There are plenty of them, and aside from a couple of heavily sweated 45s, they shouldn’t cost you all that much, and no matter what they cost, it’s worth it to add so much musical gravitas to your crates.

I hope you dig the sounds.

See you later in the week.

Peace

Larry

*Though I’m not posting her 1961 hit ‘At Last’ it holds a very special place in my heart. It was the first song my wife and I danced to at our wedding.

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, January 20, 2012 2:32 pm

A Younger Johnny Otis

Shuggie, Delmar and Johnny doing the Watts Breakaway

Johnny Otis in later years

Listen/Download -Johnny Otis Show – Country Girl

Listen/Download -Johnny Otis Show – Watts Breakaway

Listen/Download -Preston Love – Cool Ade

Listen/Download -The Mighty Flea – Ode To Billie Joe

Greetings all.

NOTE: I had planned to post this tribute to Johnny Otis on Monday. However, the word came down today that Miss Etta James had passed away, so I’m moving this post up a few days, and will pay tribute to Etta after the weekend.

A few days back I heard that the mighty Johnny Otis had passed away at the ripe old age of 90.

It had occurred to me that here in the year 2012, the name Johnny Otis would very likely be unfamiliar to many and known only peripherally (like they know they name but not the music behind it) to others.

Certainly many of you fine people that fall by here on the reg know and love not only the music he made, but much of the music that he facilitated, whether as talent scout, bandleader or even as father (on account of Shuggie is his son).

The sounds of Johnny Otis have been in my ears since I was a kid.

Though it’s fair to say that much of what I dig these days is his later funk and soul jams, I spent most of my formative years listening to oldies radio, which is why my ears (and head) are where they are now.

Any oldies station worth its salt would have been spinning his best known record, 1958’s ‘Willie and the Hand Jive’, though that was not his first or biggest hit* (he’d topped the R&B charts several times since 1950) but the first one to cross over to the pop chart (where it was Top 10).

Born John Veliotes in 1921, he got his start drumming in swing bands before starting his own outfit and hitting with ‘Harlem Nocturne’ in 1945.

Though he continued to record, he diversified, opening his own nightclub, working as a talent scout (he discovered both Little Esther Phillips and Etta James), A&R man for King Records (among other labels) and disc jockey.

Otis was particularly important because over the many decades of his career he touched on almost all aspects of black music (as it evolved) during that time, recording himself, or with others in blues, R&B, jazz, soul and funk.

It’s almost fitting to look at Johnny Otis as the center of an ever-expanding musical “galaxy” of sorts, with him as the hub around which of a wide variety of performers and supporting players expanded out into the world.

From his earliest days on Los Angeles’ Central Avenue scene, through his work with the revolving cast of the Johnny Otis Show (musicians and vocalists, performing and recording), on through his radio work Otis was constantly making or breaking music in some capacity. That he was able to do this in a professional capacity for almost 70 years is truly amazing.

The four tracks I bring you today have all appeared here at the blog over the years, and represent an interesting cross-section of Otis’ late 60s/early 70s funk and soul recordings.

The first two are the best known funk tracks recorded by the Johnny Otis Show, ‘Watts Breakaway’ and ‘Country Girl’, both featuring Johnny, his son Shuggie (you all know Shuggie, yes?) and vocalist Delmar Evans. Both tracks are prime, dance floor funk with the addition of sharp, often funny lyrics (especially ‘Country Girl’ which hit the R&B Top 40 in 1969).

The second pair of tracks are by Johnny Otis satellites/sidemen saxophonist Preston Love and trombonist Gene ‘The Mighty Flea’ Connors.

Preston Love’s ‘Cool Ade’ has the same humorous vibe (as well as Shuggie’s guitar) but moves at a slightly slower pace.

The Mighty Flea’s version of ‘Ode To Billie Joe’ is one of the funkier outings on that tune, with organ, drum breaks and Connors working the trombone in a Fred Wesley style. Otis and his pals also made some other excellent, in-demand funky 45s (with the same party vibe) for the Eldo label like ‘Keep the Faith’ and ‘Banana Peels’.

It also bears mentioning (once again) that the Vibrettes funk classic ‘Humpty Dump’ emerged from the Johnny Otis laboratory, not – as is often reported – that of Mr Eddie Bo.

That said, there is a lot more music out there to add to the Johnny Otis story.

I for one am going to settle in with a copy of ‘Midnight at the Barrelhouse: The Johnny Otis Story’ and get my learn on.

I hope you dig the tunes, and raise a glass (or perhaps a little hell) in memory of one of the true greats, Mr Johnny Otis.

Peace

Larry

*If mid-60s boogaloo is your bag, make sure you check out Castor’s Smash records material, which is excellent.

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, January 19, 2012 2:42 pm

Listen/Download -Jimmy Castor Bunch – Prelude/It’s Just Begun

Listen/Download -Jimmy Castor Bunch – LTD (Life Truth & Death)

Greetings all.

I hope that you’re all still with us following the black-out yesterday, and that you took the time to educate yourselves on the importance of a SOPA/PIPA blackout.

If something like that gets written into law, the days of music blogs (as you know them) let alone the vast majority of what you read/enjoy on the internet will be over.

Also, a while back someone in Canada sent a request for a Funky16Corners sticker, and the envelope got lost in the maelstrom of our house. Please resend the request and I’ll send the sticker along with something extra.

________________________________________________________________________________

This has been an especially tiring and emotionally draining week.

Things on the health front are status quo, and remain optimistic.

It’s just that the cumulative effects of what has been a radical change/redirection in our lives is always daunting and sometimes, especially when physical and emotional fatigue start to catch up with you, difficult to deal with, at least as the future is concerned.

We are extraordinarily lucky that we have family and friends that we can depend on in times of crisis.

If we did not, an already difficult time would be a logistical nightmare.

If you know someone that is dealing with cancer, or any other major health crisis, take the time to extend your hand, whether it involves offering a ride somewhere, or watching the kids for a day, or even cooking a meal.

Every act of kindness makes a difference.

As I said, we are very, very lucky. Not everyone is as fortunate.

________________________________________________________________________________

That said, speaking strictly in the realm of soul and funk, this has been another really bad week, with the passing of not only Jimmy Castor (to whom we pay tribute today) but also the legendary Johnny Otis (on whom I have a post planned for Monday).

I know that I just put up the Benny Gordon post this morning, but I didn’t want to wait to put up some Jimmy Castor, so here you go.

Jimmy Castor had one of the most interesting careers in soul and funk, having started in doo-wop (he went to school with Frankie Lymon and later replaced him in the teenagers), moved on to Latin soul and boogaloo and then on to funk and disco in the 70s.

I first heard Jimmy Castor when I was but a wee lad of 10, when my next-door neighbor (oddly, also named Larry) and I thought that ‘Troglodyte’ was the funniest thing we’d ever heard. There was something about the name “Bertha Butt” that had us rolling on the floor.

It was years later when I got into soul that I heard ‘Hey Leroy, Your Mama’s Callin’ You’ and ‘Ham Hocks Espanol’*, but I had no idea how deep a cat Jimmy Castor was until a few years ago.

The fam and I were down in DC doing our tourist thang and I managed to snap off a few minutes of time to dig for vinyl.

I stopped into my favorite DC wax repository, Som Records, and while I was browsing the stock, my man Neal (the proprietor) whipped a record on the in-store turntable and in the course of a few short minutes I was all “What’s that?” and discovered that the sounds that were blowing my mind were none other than those you see before you today.

I knew of ‘It’s Just Begun’ as a heavily sampled classic, but never actually got around to picking myself up a copy of the record. In that I was undoubtedly remiss, and the situation was remedied forthwith.

If all you ever heard before was ‘Troglodyte’ or even ‘Hey Leroy’, which in its own way was a solid dose of comedy, the sophisticated orchestral opening to the LP version of ‘It’s Just Begun’, or the stylistic mix of ‘LTD’ could come as quite a surprise.

The LP “It’s Just Begun’ shows that Castor was much deeper than any novelty might indicate.

Where he started with a base of solid, early-70s funk, your also getting bits of Hendrixian psychedelia, and a rocked up take on his earlier Latin sounds.

Castor went on to place a number of records into the R&B (and occasionally pop) charts well into the 80s.
He will be missed.

I hope you dig the tunes, and make sure you check out the Funky16Corners Radio Show, Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, or pick up the MP3 here at the blog over the weekend.

Peace

Larry

*If mid-60s boogaloo is your bag, make sure you check out Castor’s Smash records material, which is excellent.

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, January 19, 2012 6:25 am

Benny Gordon
(pic borrowed from Red Kelly at the B-Side)

Listen/Download -Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers – I Can’t Turn You Loose

Greetings all.

The tune I bring you today is the result of a longtime obsession.

I have been picking up 45s by Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers for well over a decade, when, and wherever I find them.

For years they remained an almost complete mystery, aside from one 45 that suggested to me (correctly as it turns out) that they hailed from South Carolina.

Then, a few years back, my man Red Kelly, captain of the mighty B-Side blog (and many others) put up a couple of different posts that blew the whole thing wide open, revealing that Benny Gordon and Sammy Gordon (of the Hip Huggers) were first cousins and bandmates, but also that although they started out in the Carolinas, they did most of their heavy lifting in New York City.

The Benny Gordon discography stretches from about 1962 to 1973, with the Soul Brothers label being employed from 1964 to 1967.

The first Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers 45 I ever found was their cover of JD Bryant’s ‘Get It (Come and Get It)’ and since then have come to consider them among the finest of what I have often referred to as ‘journeyman’ soul groups, i.e. artists that seemed to have worked long and hard, for a variety of labels, without ever really breaking through to a higher level of success.

The group was the house band at Trude Heller’s discotheque in New York City and even played at Truman Capote’s famous Black and White Ball in 1966.

Their extremely energetic cover of Otis Redding’s ‘I Can’t Turn You Loose’ sounds every bit the work of a seasoned soul band.

Moving at double (and a half?) speed Benny and the band really work it out.

I would relish the opportunity to whip this one on a crowd of well-oiled dancers.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Friday.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, January 15, 2012 5:19 pm

Charly and the Bourbon Family

Listen/Download -Charly and the Bourbon Family – Boogachi

Greetings all.

Welcome to yet another week of funky and soulful goodness under the auspices of the Sixteen Funky Corners.

As has been demonstrated here many a time, sometimes you can find very funky things that have been produced by artists for whom funk was not a first (or functional) language.

Today’s selection is yet another of those examples.

I first heard ‘Boogachi’ by Charly and the Bourbon Family sometime last year and was shocked that I hadn’t heard it before.

Not that it is so wildly spectacular a 45 that it should have appeared on my radar screen (though it is quite groovy), but rather because it that rarest of funky nuggets, a Meters cover.

But how can this be Professor Grogan? I do not recall a Meters tune by the title of ‘Boogachi’.

That’s because there’s not one, says I.

However, once you pull down the ones and zeros and give the tune a spin you will realize in short order that what you are hearing is in fact a version of the Meters ‘Look Ka Py Py’.

A stolen version (i.e. with no credit whatsoever given to the writers, Messrs Nocentelli, Neville, Modeliste and Porter), to which lyrics have been appended.

Now, I’m not going to slip you the old rubber peach and try to tell you that they beat the Meters at their game, because they don’t.

‘Boogachi’ (the title derived from the chant at the beginning of the OG) lacks much of the subtle funkiness of ‘Look Ka Py Py’, but I will tell you that it makes up for it with a surprising amount of whatever the German word is for balls.

Charly and co bring a certain aggressive Euro vibe to the proceeding (the singer’s thick, occasionally impenetrable accent being a big part of that) and there’s also the novelty of hearing ‘Look Ka Py Py’ delivered with lyrics (even if it is hard to understand them all).

Charly and the Bourbon Family were a German show band that recorded some 45s and one album under a couple of different names (the Untouchables, Charly and the Diamonds) and in a few disparate styles.

One need only look at the song list from their album (which includes the tunes ‘Bobby the Flobby’ and ‘Who Stole the Keeshka’) to realize that they could charitably be described as ‘all over the place’.

There’s a video of the group on Youtube doing a cover of Buck Owens ‘Tiger By the Tail’ that has all the charm of one of the musical numbers from the old Benny Hill Show.

That said, ‘Boogachi’ is very cool indeed and would fit well in a set of funky 45s.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Wednesday.

However…before I take my leave I should let you know that there is a very groovy show happening in NYC on Thursday night February 2nd at Southpaw in Brooklyn, with the mighty Impressions being back by Binky Griptite and the Dee-Kays (featuring members of the Dap Kings, natch). You also get to enjoy the DJ prowess of DJ Pari, Mr Robinson, Eli Paperboy Reed and DJ Honky, so you are assured a night of fine, soulful goodness.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, January 12, 2012 12:59 pm

Odetta

Listen/Download – Odetta – Hit or Miss

Greetings all.

I hope everyone is well, and that you’re all ready to end the week with something groovy.

If I might make a related detour, I will remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show hits the airwaves of the interwebs this (and every) Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. This week is another very greasy Hammond 45 special, with all manner of burners stacked up and set alight by yours truly. If you can’t be there when it airs, you can pick up the show on Saturday as an MP3, right here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is another bit of that rare but delicious subgenre known as folk-funk (funky folk, folky funk, what have you).

If you are my age or older, the name Odetta should be a familiar one.

Odetta (known almost exclusively by her first name for the duration of her career) was one of the queens of the American folk revival.

Though her earliest work was on the musical theater stage (she was involved briefly with the very interesting Turnabout Theatre in Los Angeles), she was working as a folk singer by the mid-50s and by the end of that decade was known as much for her powerful voice as she was for her work in support of the civil rights movement.

She is best remembered as part of the folk movement, but Odetta’s work was also influenced by jazz and the blues.

By the time the end of the 60s rolled around, there were very few standard bearers of the folk movement who hadn’t already branched out into the world of rock and pop to some degree, and Odetta was no exception.

The 1970 LP. ‘Odetta Sings’ was recorded in both Muscle Shoals (with support from the house band as well as cats like Eddie Hinton) and in Los Angeles with a group of studio heavies as well as Carole King on piano.

The album was composed almost exclusively of cover material, by folks like James Taylor, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Randy Newman. There were only two originals on the album, and today’s selection was one of them.

‘Hit or Miss’ is heavily sweated by crate diggers because of the extra-sweet break that opens the tune (that would be Russ Kunkel on the drums) but I invite you to stick around for the rest of the song, which is excellent.

Odetta was possessed of a powerful, unique voice, perfectly suited for delivering heavy, “message” material, so it’s interesting to hear her put that same instrument to work in a more relaxed, soulful setting. There’s more than a touch of 1970-specific, laid back, quasi-hippie groove at work, which is not a bad thing at all.

The 45 of this cut can be kind of pricey, so do yourself a favor and grab the whole album, which ought to be much cheaper, and of course has eight more songs for your money.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Monday.

Peace

Larry

PS Thank you Leah…

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, January 10, 2012 1:50 pm

Listen/Download – Sam Wright Group – Green Onions

Greetings all.

I’m going to have to make this quick today since I am currently bedeviled (like the egg, see?) with an infection of some kind that is making feel like old, wet garbage.

The tune I bring you today will certainly be a familiar one, if the version in question is not.

You know that I am an inveterate Hammond 45 junky, and will always pick up any and all interesting looking organ instro 45s, which is why I grabbed the one you see before you.

I’d certainly never heard of the Sam Wright Group, but since ‘Green Onions’ is one of my all time fave instrumentals, I figured it was worth picking up.

Which it was.

What is especially interesting is the fact that as it turns out, there probably was no Sam Wright.

The smoky, late-night take on the Booker T classic is in actuality just another product of the Synthetic Plastics Company.

Formed in Newark, NJ after World War Two, SPC had a variety of plastics-related endeavors, but the most important of them – at least as far as we’re concerned – is the one that made records.

Over the next five decades SPC (doing business under a variety of label names, such as Curio, Peak, Power, Diplomat, Guest Star , Spin-O-Rama, and most famously Peter Pan) released all kinds of stuff, from kids music and stories (mostly the Peter Pan label) to a panoply of knock-offs of the hits of the particular day, in a wide variety of genres, on the others.

I have absolutely no idea who played on these records, but from hearing more than one of them, my guess would be a range of talent from experienced club/studio musicians to utterly disinterested hacks.

Fortunately, whoever was wearing the Sam Wright Group mask was better suited to the material they were covering than some of their fellow exploiters.

Since the aim of the label seems to have been taking advantage of the current popularity of songs, I’d date this 45 somewhere in the vicinity of late 1962, early 1963.

Interestingly, I’ve also seen a listing for the Sam Wright Group doing a cover of the Tornados ‘Telstar’. Whether or not it was the same group of musicians I cannot say.

I hope you dig the record, and I’ll be back on Friday.

Peace

Larry

PS Thank you Leah…

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (5)

By Larry, January 8, 2012 3:07 pm

Listen/Download – Lloyd W. Williams – Be Mine Tonight

Listen/Download – Lloyd W. Williams – I Need You Now

Greetings all.

I hope everyone had themselves a nice weekend.

The fam and I managed to get out of the house to commune with my sister and her kids, up from the distant South for a late bit of Christmas, which was very groovy indeed.

Last week’s Northern Soul fest was also quite interesting, with an extremely lengthy comments thread at the end of last Monday’s post. I really dig when something I post here generates interesting conversation and this really fit the bill.

The tune I bring you today is yet another testament to the coolness of my man Tony C over in the UK.

I have gone on at length in this space about the many times Tony has turned me on to something cool, and this record is another one of those.

Mr C and I were chatting and he mentioned that he had doubled up on a record and would be sending one of the copies my way.

I dipped into my trade box and sent him some goodness as well.

I’d never heard of Lloyd W. Williams before, so when the package fell through the mail slot and I got a chance to play the record, I was blown away.

‘Be Mine Tonight’ is proof that there is always something cool out there that I haven’t heard yet, which makes the searching all the more fun.

I haven’t been able to turn much up on Williams, other than the fact that the record was recorded in 1969, is of Detroit origin, and was originally released on the Soul Beat label before being picked up for national distribution by ABC.

‘Be Mine Tonight’ is high octane funk with a wailing vocal by Williams and red hot instrumental backing. Whoever was working it out on the organ did a superb job.

It should be mentioned that this record also has an outstanding flipside, the mid-tempo ‘I Need You Now’ which sounds like it was recorded a few years earlier.

I can’t find any indication that the talented Mr Williams ever made another record.

I hope you dig both sides of this one, and I’ll be back on Wednesday.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, January 5, 2012 4:48 pm

Dean Parrish

The US OG issue (above) and the 1970s UK reissue (below)

Listen/Download – Dean Parrish – I’m On My Way

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here and I am all but exhausted.

Lots to do hereabouts and despite the fact (or because of it) that everything is going as planned all I want to do right now is find a spot on the couch and nod off for an hour or two.

That said, a certain level of excitement is working its way through my stupor.

I have happened upon a couple of exceptional records in the last few weeks – which will naturally appear in this space soon – I got news of a very groovy DJ gig coming up this spring, and, best of all (at least for this moment) I get to end this week of Northern Soul with a truly stunning record.

I do not recall exactly when or where I first heard ‘I’m On My Way’ by Dean Parrish (I suspect it was on a mix tape many years ago) but it blew my mind and dug its claws deep into my brain (and my want list).

I searched for thus record high and low for a long time, getting outbid time and time again (it is a very popular record), eventually picking up a 1970s UK reissue so I could have it in my record box, and then, in a near mystical stroke of kismet, a nice, minty OG fell into my lap.

I don’t know if you’re familiar with my Timmy Thomas ‘Have Some Boogaloo’ saga –  wherein I chased the record forever, won a copy, seemingly lost it and then via a series of trades and the vagaries of the international postal maelstrom, ended up with not one but two copies of said record –  but ending up with doubles was a very groovy thing indeed.

On the very day I got that extra copy of Timmy, a DJ buddy contacted me to ask if I might be up for a trade, I asked what he had to swap and who should be sitting at the top of his list, but Mr Dean Parrish.

It was as if the hand of fate had slipped this monster of a 45 directly into my record box.

Released in 1967, the last of a string of a half dozen 45s Parrish (born Phil Anastasia) had recorded since 1964, ‘I’m On My Way’ is one of those 45s (particularly Northern Soul faves) that sounds every bit a huge, hit record, but was actually – like so many others – an abject commercial failure.

Though Parrish had had a regional success with his 1966 record ‘Tell Her’, ‘I’m On My Way’ – written by Eliot Greenberg and Doug Morris (who had written ‘Sweet Talking Guy’ for the Chiffons, and another Northern killer ‘The Next In Line’ for Hoagy Lands) went nowhere*.

This is (as I alluded to earlier) not a unique story, but once you’ve heard the record in question it is especially puzzling.

‘I’m On My Way’ grabs your attention instantly with its opening fuzz guitar line, leading into a brief opening verse before launching into a chorus that is so mind-bendingly anthemic you’re likely to bruise yourself rushing to turn up the volume.

Though Northern Soul favorites are often noted for their steady, four on the floor dance beat, ‘I’m On My Way’ bucks that trend with verses that could almost be described as rhythmically awkward, but when you take the chorus – so much musical rocket fuel – into account, it is very easy to understand why the record was the last of the legendary “3 before 8”** at Wigan Casino (the records played before closing time at every allnighter).

The chorus of ‘I’m On My Way’, with its mix of soulful vocals (by Parrish and the backing vocalists) and the soaring melody, from the moment where Parrish shouts ‘Baby!’ to the reprise of the fuzz guitar that closes the chorus, what you are hearing is 30 seconds of purely blissful music.

It’s easy to picture a room full of nearly exhausted dancers whipping themselves into one last frenzy, grabbing the last few minutes of the night and wringing all that they can out of them, a tableaux played out on countless dance floors all over the world since people started spinning records for people to dance to.

It is an anthem in every sense of the word and a fitting way to close out the week.

Make sure you grab yourself an earful of the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, or pick it up as an MP3 over the weekend here at the blog.

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

Peace

Larry

*It has to be noted that after it gained Northern popularity ‘I’m On My Way’ was reissued on Jonathan King’s UK records in 1975 and proceeded to enter the UK Top 40.

**The ‘3 before 8’ were “Time Will Pass You By” by Tobi Legend, “Long After Tonight Is Over” by Jimmy Radcliffe, and “I’m On My Way” by Dean Parrish.

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, January 3, 2012 3:24 pm

The Exciters

Listen/Download – The Exciters – Blowing Up My Mind!

Greetings all.

I hope that all of you have had a chance to dig into Monday’s mix, but also the lively exchange of ideas that popped up in the comments thereof.

What started out as a stylistic defense/cri de couer for Northern Soul (in response to some hostile commentary I had encountered elsewhere) ended up spurring a convo about the nature of scenes/genres and the way ideas and perceptions are formed about both.

Heady stuff, indeed, but I didn’t want the original thrust of the post to be lost, that being that I dig me some Northern Soul.

There have been several Northern-themed mixes posted in the space over the years (see the Podcast Archive and Soul Club tabs), and if I haven’t gotten my point across by now, I’m not sure what else I can, or should do.

I realize that it’s not like there’s some kind of crusade against Northern Soul out there that demands a response, but blogging being a personal pursuit, sometimes I am inclined to personalized an issue or two, toss it into my mental Cuisinart and give it a few spins.

Ultimately, I don’t suppose I’m going to change anyone’s mind, but it is always possible that the music will.

It is in furtherance of that cause that I’m going to spend the rest of the week posting a couple of particularly lively Northern faves that you might whip on doubters whenever they might cross your path.

The first of these is a song that I only heard for the first time last year, and as is often the case, my wig was good and truly flipped.

Previous to that moment, my knowledge of the Exciters was limited to ‘Tell Him’ – their huge, Golden Oldie hit from 1962 – and ‘Do Wah Diddy’ (from 1963) their OG of a tune that would be catapulted to similar status a year later by Manfred Mann.

I knew that their discography continued on for several years, but had no inkling that it contained anything of value.

Until – that is – I heard ‘Blowing Up My Mind’.

Released in 1969, not a year one would expect to associate with a Northern Soul classic, ‘Blowing Up My Mind’ is not only very popular with the soulies (as well as with collectors and DJs, making it fairly pricey) but an unusual, exceptional record in its own right.

The first few times I heard this record, the main impression upon the pleasure centers of my mind was limited to the melody and tempo. ‘Blowing Up My Mind’ moves forward at a very brisk pace, abetted by a pulsing bass line, combo organ signature and of course the driving lead vocal by Brenda Reid.

What I didn’t pick up until I got myself a copy of the 45 and gave it countless repeat spins, was the groovy, slightly crazy lyrics.

“Dynamite and nitroglycerine is like a firecracker compared to you…”

“It’s like a mountain climber took a ton of lead and dropped it from the highest peak right on top of my head…”

Etc etc

And the extra cool thing is that the hyperbolic nature of the lyrics is 150% justified (see what I did there…) by the explosive nature of the tune.

Northern Soul playlists are generally packed as tightly as possible with floor-filling anthems, and there’s no denying that ‘Blowing Up My Mind’ fits the bill perfectly.

Though the record sounds like it might have come out a few years earlier, one need only flip it over to get the 1969-y vibe, with the surprisingly funky ‘You Don’t Know What You’re Missing (Til It’s Gone!)’ (which I included in my recent guest mix for Amen Brother).

The bottom line, is that ‘Blowing Up My Mind’ is a killer 45, no matter how you roll stylistically.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Friday with something cool.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (33)

By Larry, January 1, 2012 2:17 pm

Wigan

Carl Carleton – Competition Ain’t Nothing (Backbeat)
The Tams – Shelter (Probe)
Ambassadors – I’m So Proud of My Baby (Atlantic)
Billy Butler – Boston Monkey (Okeh)
Billy Harner – I Struck It Rich (OR)
Robb Fortune – Crazy Feeling (Now)
Tony Clarke – Landslide (Chess)
Patti and the Emblems – Please Don’t Ever Leave Me (Kapp)
Pat Lundy – Soul and Nothing But the Blues (Columbia)
Felice Taylor – Under the Influence of Love (Mustang)
Parliaments – Don’t Be Sore at Me (Revilot)
Jackie Lee – P-E-R-S-O-N-A-L-I-T-Y (Mirwood)
Platters – With This Ring (Musicor)
James and Bobby Purify – The Last Piece of Love (Bell)
Baltimore and Ohio Marching Band – Condition Red (Jubilee)
JJ Barnes – Sad Day A’Coming (Revilot)
Stagemasters – Baby I’m Here Just To Love You (Slide)
Soul Twins – Quick Change Artist (Grapevine)
Paul Kelly – Chills and Fever (Dial)
Bob Brady and the Conchords – More More More of Your Love (Chariot)

Listen/Download – F16C Radio v.96 – Condition Red – 84MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

First off, Happy New Year!

Let’s all raise a figurative (or literal, if you have one handy) glass in the hopes that 2012 will be a healthy and prosperous year for everyone.

Despite the fact that we ended last week – and the year – with a mix (albeit of recycled material) something happened during Christmas week that had me back in the crates again.

I – like many of you – spend a fair amount of my on-line time connected to Facebook. Despite the fact that a lot of people find the application to be a nuisance, I find it extraordinarily valuable in its ability to create a sense of virtual community.

I’m able to log in and interact with family and friends, close and far afield, connect to people of like mind (political and philosophical) and stay connected with other DJs/record collectors.

It has been mentioned here more than once that I first got turned on to some very cool records via Facebook posts.

That said, one of the distracting aspects of the site is the ‘ticker’, which runs highlights of my friends activity, even if it involves people who are not mutual ‘friends’, which is where our little story begins.

A few weeks back I glanced over at the sidebar, noticed the name of a DJ I respect and saw the words ‘Northern Soul’. My curiosity piqued, I clicked on the ticker and read the thread.

What I saw did not make me happy.

Those of you that read the blog on a regular basis will be familiar with the fact that I spent some of my musically formative years (back in the 80s) as part of the NY/NJ garage/mod scene.

While I met many, many very cool people, and had my musical horizons expanded greatly – especially in regard to soul music – there was always a contingent on the scene of people who came at the garage music ‘thing’ from a decidedly primitive/lo-fi angle, not unlike the bug-eyed, knuckle-dragging characters in a Big Daddy Roth cartoon.

My direct involvement with the scene came to an end toward the end of the 80s, but I still have many friends and acquaintances from that period, many of whom stuck with it a lot longer than I did, some all the way into the present.

This is not to say that I gave up on the music I was turned on to back in the day, because I still listen to vintage garage, psyche and pop on a daily basis.

However, the breadth of my musical tastes has widened considerably in the decades since then, and it has become apparent (at least to myself) that I approached the music in question from a more inclusive vantage point (which if you have any interest in this, you can dig into it over at Iron Leg).

I only belabor this point to make another one (look out), which is that there are people out there – the aforementioned primitive/lo-fi crowd, who look at soul much the same way they did garage punk, i.e. with an elevated appreciation for ‘rawness’, which isn’t such a bad thing, unless of course it precludes appreciation (and invites denigration) for anything that rises above that very simplistic criteria.

When I read that Facebook thread, what I basically saw was a group of these people enthusiastically shitting all over Northern Soul (not really including my friend the DJ who took what I would consider a much more measured tack).

Now, as our friends in France are wont to say, chacun à son gout (a phrase I picked up from my old man), which basically means ‘everyone to his taste’, i.e. not everyone is going to dig the same stuff.

Certainly words to live by…

But – big but here (heh heh…) – it is always important to make distinctions between matters of taste and fact, a line that was blurred drastically here, not to mention (to paraphrase Dean Vernon Wormer) that drunk and stupid is no way to go through life.

I understand that many people only dig a certain, wilder ‘flavor’ of soul music which is cool, but to suggest (as some of these people did) that Northern Soul is somehow not soul music, is dangerously uninformed about the music, as well as the Northern Soul phenomenon in general (about which many know little other than the name itself).

Anyone who has followed this blog over the years knows that my definition of ‘soul’ music casts a wide net, reaching from the early transitions from gospel and R&B all the way up into (and including) the disco era. I think that it’s important to realize that soul was (and is) in a state of evolution, influenced my many outside sources, musical and cultural.

There are artists whose careers are of such a depth and longevity that this evolution becomes visible (audible) over the course of their discography.

More often than not though, soul singers, by virtue of the fact that they didn’t get to make very many records, end up being identified with one specific sound (whether or not that specific sound is indicative of their talent in the broader sense).

It is important to note that Northern Soul is unusual (though not unique) in that it is a retroactively formed genre classification, when a certain kind of record (often but not exclusively obscure) was initially gathered and played out by DJs in UK soul clubs like the Twisted Wheel and the Golden Torch to which soul fans gravitated.

No one set out to “create” Northern Soul, but rather the name ended up being applied parenthetically to a group of sonically similar records (listen for the popping snares, sweeping strings, honking baritone sax and chiming vibraphone accents), many unjustly neglected when they were released, that were being listened and danced to in the North of England by a largely white, largely working class audience.

The sound – in brief – was bright, uptempo, imitation-Motown, i.e. pop-inflected, well-produced urban soul.

That Northern Soul is approached differently by most American collectors/fans and DJs is without question. Our experience is almost exclusively second-hand, and as a definable ‘taste’, it is often marginal.

This is not to say that there aren’t any Northern Soul fans out there, but that here in America, the scene as it were has never risen above a level of specialization (as opposed to the original scene in the UK where it was a genuinely popular movement, often placing older records into the contemporary pop charts).

There are certainly regular nights where Northern is prominently spun (I was lucky enough to DJ at one of them last year), as well as several rare soul weekenders, but almost nothing like the UK scene at its peak where thousands of fans would come out on a weekly basis to places like the Wigan Casino (voted the Best Disco in the World in 1978 by Billboard magazine) and the Blackpool Mecca.

This only goes to explaining that I understand that to many people, Northern Soul is at best a curiosity, and at worst hugely misunderstood.

It also bears mentioning that many musical scenes (at least in my experience) are clannish and parochial, in which the denizens of one group find little to like or relate to in those of another, whether it’s soul fans who can’t abide anything funky or primitivos who won’t listen to anything that sounds like it was actually created with aspirations to chart success.

In the end, the point I wish to make, and have endeavored to do so in this space before, is that Northern Soul is not only extremely vital and exciting, but is also, indisputably “soul”.

This is music made by some of the finest singers, producers, arrangers and musicians of the day, and is with rare exception well within the accepted confines of soul music in both style and substance.

The mix you see before you is a response to the uninformed ranting I saw – or at least a brief placed in evidence – that you can download and pass on to the haters in your corner or the world.

The set list of Funky16Corners Radio v.96 – Condition Red is assembled from all over the map, with cuts from Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Georgia, Florida and even that heretofore unsung soulful stronghold of Reading, PA.

There are contributions from some of the finest soul labels of the era, from Revilot, to Okeh, to Chess, Mirwood and of course Atlantic. You get solo singers (like Tony Clarke and the underrated Billy Harner), great harmony groups (like Philly’s mighty Ambassadors) and naturally some of the tightest backing groups of the day.

If there is a connecting thread, aside from the aforementioned instrumental building blocks, it is that these records are to the last anthemic, engineered to grab a floor full of dancers and lift them ever higher (not hard to picture when you’re working with BPMs often in the high 140s!).

So, pull down the ones and zeros, and if you are so inclined, pass a copy on to someone who needs convincing.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back later in the week with some more.

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo)

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some very tasty UK Folk Rock.

Comments (14)

By Larry, December 27, 2011 7:58 pm

On the scene at Subway Soul

Willis Wooten – Your Love Is Indescribably Delicious (Virtue)
Bobby Doyle – River Deep Mountain High (WB)
Etta James and Sugar Pie DeSanto – In The Basement (Checker)
Barbara Lynn – Club a Go Go (Tribe)
Billy Butler – Right Track (Okeh)
Impacts – Thunder Chicken (Marmaduke)
Idris Muhammad – Express Yourself (Prestige)
Lavell Kamma and the Afro Soul Revue – Soft Soul (Tupelo Sound)
Sam Dees – Lonely For You Baby (Soul City)
Spellbinders – Help Me Get Myself Back Together Again (Columbia)
Jimmy Ruffin – 96 Tears (Soul)
Ella Fitzgerald – Savoy Truffle (Reprise)
Ray Bryant – Up Above the Rock (Cadet)
Mac Rebennack – The Point (AFO)
Della Reese – It Was a Very Good Year (ABC)
LaVern Baker – Batman to the Rescue (Brunswick)
Norman T Washington – Jumping Jack Flash (Pama)
Rivingtons – Pop Your Corn Pt1 (RCA)
Upsetters – Down Home (ABC)
Vernon Garrett and Marie Franklin – Second To None (Venture)
Curly Moore – Soul Train (Hot Line)
Dobie Gray – Out On the Floor (Charger)
Eyes of Blue – Heart Trouble (Deram)
Washington Smith – Fat Cat (Okeh)
Gene West – In the Ghetto (Original Sound)
Candido – Jingo (Salsoul)
Touch – Love Hangover (Breaking Down) (Brunswick)
Gene Ammons – Son of a Preacherman (Prestige)

Listen/Download – F16C Radio v.95 – 2011 Year In Review – 140MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the year is upon us, and so, as it has been in many years past, is the Funky16Corners Year In Review mix.

This assemblage of the finest individual tracks from this space over the last calendar year has become a tradition in which we sweep up around the Funky16Corners Blogcasting Nerve Center and Record Vault (Funk and Soul Division) and piece together a puzzle of sorts that once assembled (correctly) should give a picture of where my head – and my crates – were at over the last year.

And what a year it’s been.

If you’d sat me down last December and laid out the coming year in front of me, I would have laughed, filled with excitement and then probably crawled under the nearest table in search of shelter.

The year got off to a great start with the beginning of my residency at Spindletop @ Botanica in NYC. Over the course of the next eight months I had the opportunity to spin pretty much whatever I felt like (within certain tasteful guidelines) and it was a blast.

Botanica was a very chill location, with some very cool people, and despite the whole thing crashing down in a somewhat bittersweet pile of ashes, I would say that it was on the whole a very positive experience.

You all know that there is nothing I love better than spinning the music I love for an appreciative audience, and I had many very groovy opportunities to do so this year.

In addition to Spindletop, I was honored to get a chance to participate in one of the last Subway Soul nights, alongside Phast Phreddie, Girlsoul and Jumpy. It was a serious gas, where I got to spin some of my Northern Soul faves and hear the other selectors whip some heat on the ones and twos (I left with a slightly inflated want list that night).

The real treat of the year, though was spinning at Elliott and Jonna’s wedding down in Philly, which was an amazing experience.

Great people into great music with the extra added benefit of some delicious food. I can think of no better way to spend a summer night.

There was also the ongoing pleasure of doing the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which has really been a gas this year. If you haven’t yet tuned in, you can join the party every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, or pick up the show as an MP3 over the weekend (they’re all archived here at the blog, too).

I also got to spin records at a couple of local autism fundraising events which was especially rewarding for reasons very close to my heart.

Speaking of things close to my heart, 2011 was also the year that my wife was diagnosed with leukemia, an event that has verily turned our world inside out.

Though some superficial things have remained on a somewhat even keel, the axis on which my family’s life spins was shaken to its core this fall, and we have all learned to look at the world through slightly different eyes.

Things are on a solid, progressive track as far as my wife’s health is concerned, and we have many reasons to be optimistic, which doesn’t change the fact that no matter how sunny things look ahead of us, there’s always that shadow in the rear view mirror.

I have to make note of the fact that the readers of this blog have been extraordinarily supportive during this crisis, and that has been heartwarming and very much appreciated.

When I take a look at this playlist, it occurs to me that although there are some old faves and some longtime want list items finally bagged, there are also many, many new discoveries that came into my ears and then my crates over the past year, and that is the main reason that the Funky16Corners train stays on the rails.

It has always been my hope that those of you that stop by here on the reg are discovering something new and groovy, but also that you realize that this is a journey of discovery for me as well.

Big ups go out to fellow selectors like Tony C, Tarik Thornton, M-Fasis, Agent 45 and Midnite Cowbwoy for hepping me to cool stuff that I hadn’t heard before, all of which I passed on to you good people through the blog.

I will continue to do so.

I have no idea what 2012 holds for me, since things have really taken on a day-to-day vibe these last few months.

My main hope is that everyone here at home base stays healthy and happy.

Aside from that, I only hope that the next year brings some new sounds my way, and hopefully the opportunity to spread the love, whether through the blog, or in person as a DJ.

Either way, the very least any of us can do is follow that basic prescription in the Funky16Corners logo:

Keep the Faith.

See you next week (make sure to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio for the Year End Funk and Soul Dance Party!)

Peace

Larry

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo), in regard to the April 2nd walk.

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some very tasty UK Folk Rock.