Comments (4)

By Larry, November 8, 2015 10:49 am

Grant Green

Listen/Download – Grant Green – Sookie Sookie (45 Edit) MP3

Greetings all.

If you haven’t yet ingested your morning coffee, I’d hold off until after you’ve given today’s selection a spin.

I issue such a warning, because the record you see before you, Grant Green’s version of Don Covay’s soul classic ‘Sookie Sookie’ is one of the deepest, funkiest, dancingest, soul jazz grooves ever committed to vinyl.

Grant Green was of course one of the greatest jazz/soul jazz axemen of the 50s, 60s and 70s. He made a grip of classics for Blue Note as both a leader and as one of the label’s more flexible sidemen, and was hip enough that when jazzers started to whip a little soul and funk into the mix, he did it extraordinarily well. So much so that he has appeared here at Funky16Corners a number of times over the years.

‘Sookie Sookie’ – a 45 edit of the 11 minute plus track from the ‘Alive!’ LP, which was recorded in Newark, NJ in 1970 – is one of those records, like the Village Callers’ ‘Hector’ that is just about impossible to listen to without moving in some way, shape or form.

Naturally, any sane person would get up and dance, but head-nodding and foot tapping are also acceptable substitutes.

Featuring Ronnie Foster on organ (just listen to him pumping out the bass on his pedals) , Joseph Armstrong on congas and the mighty Idris Muhammad on drums, ‘Sookie Sookie’ is funky right out of the gate, and only gets funkier as it goes on.

Green plays around a little with the verse, but as soon as the chorus comes up, with a wave of Hammond organ, you know what song it is you’re digging.

The transition from the chorus into Green’s guitar solo (with some nice accents in the background by Willie Bivvens on the vibes) is tasty indeed.

Back in the early 90s, Us3 had themselves a hit when they pretty much lifted the whole song (I think would be unfair to call what they used a “sample”) and rebuilt it as ‘Tukka Yoot’s Riddim’ with toasting by Tukka Yoot (naturally…) over the top.

It is a heavy record, indeed. So get up on your desk and dance.

See you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, November 5, 2015 4:33 pm

Listen/Download – The Relations – Soul Train – Funky Monkey MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is rapidly approaching, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops into your ears (via the interwebs) every Friday (and – starting in December- once a month at SoulGuyRadio.com ). You can soak up the goodness by subscribing to the the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device through the TuneIn app, or grab yourself an MP3 out of the archive.

The tune I bring you today is one of those records that found its way into my crates via one of my many, odd collector obsessions, this one being “soul train” records, of which there are MANY.

The thing is, while many of these have something to do with, or were attempting to capitalize on the popularity of the TV show of the same name, many of them pre-date that show.

The concept of a train delivering the faithful to a better life/world has its roots (like much of soul music) in the gospel repertoire.

Through the 1960s and early 70s there were a bunch of “soul train” themed discs, many of which (including today’s selection) I collected in ‘Funky16Corners Radio v.24 Funky Soul Train’.

I can’t tell you much about the Relations ‘Soul Train-Funky Monkey’, other than it was put out by a record company in Queens, NY (Hollis in particular) in 1972.

It works in the patented recitation of various and sundry dance steps, led by a female singer and male backing singers.

The band is funky,with a piano and organ trading licks, and bass and drums laying the foundation.

As far as I can tell, this record went nowhere in particular, and is still a relatively easy pull for under $20.00.

So dig it – download that mix – and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, November 3, 2015 11:55 am

Listen/Download – The JC Band – Jim Jam MP3

Listen/Download – Jimmy Chandler – I Can’t Turn You Loose MP3

Greetings all.

The record I bring you today is one of those tunes that has a penumbra of information around it, i.e. plenty of circumstantial evidence as to its provenance, but very little that points to the identity of the band.

What I can tell you is that this track by the JC Band, appears on the flipside to a vocal by Jimmy Chandler, and appears on the Jersey City-based J-City label, any of which could hve provided the “JC”.

The record dates to sometime in the early 70s, and was written and produced by Paul Kyser and Tom Vetri, who worked with a bunch of acts out of Jersey City, NJ in the 60s and 70s, including the Nu Sound Express, Ltd., Jimmy Briscoe and the Little Beavers, the Ultimate Truth, Calender and Eight Miles High.

The J-City discography only runs for half a dozen 45s all in and around the same time period.

‘Jim Jam’ is a mid-tempo, funky instrumental with a tasty guitar lead, plenty of piano, bass and drums.

The flip sees Jimmy Chandler (another artist that didn’t leave much of a trail) laying down a nice version of Otis Redding’s ‘I Can’t Turn You Loose’, marred only by some weird, effects-laden guitar.

I hope you dig the track, and if any of you have any more info, please drop me a line.

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, November 1, 2015 1:50 pm

Listen/Download – Robert Walker and the Soul Strings – Stick To Me MP3

Greetings all.

How about we get the week started with some Detroit-manufactured Northern Soul?

If you checked out the ‘Funky16Corners: All Strung Out’ mix a few years back you may already be familiar with today’s selection.

Robert Walker and the Soul Strings made exactly one 45, ‘Stick to Me’ b/w ‘The Blizzard’ in 1967.

Though I have no definitive information, all available clues (especially the presence of arranger Ernie Wilkins) point to this being a Motor City 45.

I haven’t been able to track down any information on Robert Walker. He may very well be the guy that did some writing for Motown, and I’m guessing (due to the billing) that he may be the vocalist on ‘The Blizzard’.

‘Stick to Me’, co-written by Walker and Flery Bursey (who recorded for the Sidra label), is one of those instrumentals that sounds like it was engineered specifically for Northern Soul dance floors (even though there were none when it was made), from the dramatic, plucked bass (and periodic breaks throughout the record) and the storming, string-laden sections for the dancers.

The record did become a favorite at the Wigan Casino (among other NS venues) and is still in demand today. It can be kind of pricey, but I grabbed mine on the cheap a few years back, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

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.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, October 29, 2015 10:38 am

Eumir Deodato & Airto Moreira

Listen/Download – Deodato/Airto – Do It Again MP3

Greetings all.

An important programming note!

The end of the week approacheth, and changes are afoot!

The Funky16Corners Radio Show had a home on Viva Radio for nearly seven years. As of this week, that relationship is coming to an end, I will be leaving Viva, and the show will exist purely as a podcast.

I make this change reluctantly, but due to a string of unfortunate technical difficulties the show did not air in its time slot at least twice in a month, and my requests for explanations or guarantees that these problems would be fixed going forward have gone ignored.

As a result, the Funky16Corners Radio Show will continue to drop every week, on Friday. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or click on the link here at the blog and stream or download the episodes.

So stay tuned, keep digging the show, and I will keep you informed of any further developments.

___________________________________________________________

As a big Steely Dan fan, I can never get enough of cover versions of their songs (a few of which have appeared here before), and the one I bring you today is especially cool.

What you see before you is a 3:30 edit of the original 6:29 track recorded live by Eumir Deodato and Airto Moreira for the 1974 ‘Deodato/Airto In Concert’ LP.

This cut is yet more proof that if you aren’t down with the CTI sound, you are missing out some some of the grooviest, funky (and often smooth) jazz of the early 70s.

The arrangement (aside from its lack of voice) isn’t too far removed from the Steely Dan OG, with an extra layer of Fender Rhodes, plenty of percussion (Rubens Bassini and Gilmore Degap) and nice, heavy horn section.

The hot lead guitar is provided by John Tropea.

Interestingly, though they are billed equally on the cover, Deodato and Airto do not perform together on the record. Airto opened for Deodato at the Felt Forum date from which the performances were taken, and although their tracks are both included on the LP, there is no crossover.

That said, I dig Deodato’s stuff from the period, and this is a great example thereof.

I hope you dig it, 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.

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, October 27, 2015 1:11 pm

OV Wright

Listen/Download – OV Wright – Eight Men, Four Women MP3

Greetings all.

As regular visitors well know, I dig me some deep, deep soul ballads (see several mixes in the archive), and one of the finest creators of said sounds, was the mighty O.V. Wright.

I have been a fan of Wright’s since my earliest days of soul collecting, having picked up ‘Love the Way You Love’ (which quicky became a favorite) more than 30 years ago.

Wright was one of the truly great southern soul singers, with a flexible, raspy voice that was as adept delivering upbeat, danceable fare, as it was songs like today’s selection.

‘Eight Men, Four Women’ is one of those songs that seems almost impossibly slow, sorrowful and deep, yet it was a Top 5 R&B hit in 1967*.

Wright is pushed along by a tight lead guitar, subtle, almost churchy organ, and a saxophone that sounds like the player was wandering in and out of the studio unpredictably.

The female backing chorus has a looseness that sounds to my ears like a moonlighting gospel group, and you can almost picture Wright, perched on the edge of the stage, delivering his tale of woe.

The song is credited to Don Robey’s ‘D. Malone’ pseudonym, and I for one would love to know who really wrote it (Robey apparently had a habit of taking copyright for himself, sometimes at the point of a gun).

It’s a very solid number, and if you’re not already down with O.V. Wright, it should provide a gateway to appreciating a truly great singer.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

*I compare this to records like ‘Heart Full of Love’ by the Invincibles and ‘Crying In the Street’ by George Perkins and the Silver Stars as songs that were big hits in the 1960s that would probably be excluded from the charts today by virtue of their rawness.

____________________________________________________________________________

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, October 25, 2015 1:02 pm

The Fifth Dimension

Listen/Download – The Fifth Dimension – Viva Tirado MP3

Greetings all.

I woke up in mellow mood this morning so I thought I’d ease us all into the week with something suitably laid back.

The Fifth Dimension were one of the most misunderstood (yet very successful) groups of the 60s and 70s.

At first listen/glance they seemed to be taking the Mamas and Papas vibe in a soulful direction (though their discography is packed with as much (or more) art pop than it is outright soul), over the years they managed to employ the many distinct voices in their number in laying down some very groovy stuff.

The selection I bring you today is a little unusual, in that it is very mellow indeed, as well as a vocal take on a tune that is almost exclusively performed as an instrumental, Gerald Wilson’s oft-covered ‘Viva Tirado’.

Known to most via the hit version by El Chicano, the song has been recorded many times, as a big band feature (how Wilson did it originally) to smaller groups in a soul jazz, or slightly funkier style.

Here we have the Fifth Dimension (from the 1971 LP ‘Love, Lines, Angles and Rhymes’), with lyrics supplied by Norman Gimbel (who had a long and very successful career creating English lyrics to foreign language songs like ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ and ‘Summer Samba’ as well as adding lyrics to instrumentals like today’s tune), easing into the song as softly as humanly possible.

The lyrics aren’t terribly profound, yet there’s something cool about hearing the Fifth Dimension’s velvety harmonies sailing over the Latin foundation of the song. There are points where the simplicity of the lyric almost gives way to a vocalese feel, with the group’s voices taking on an almost instrumental role.

It’s neither heavy nor profound, but it is an interesting new way of hearing an old familiar song, and that’ll do for a Monday.

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.

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, October 22, 2015 11:27 am

Johnny Sayles

Listen/Download – Johnny Sayles – The Concentration

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here so I will remind you once again to join me Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio for the Funky16Corners Radio Show. You can also 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.

The burner I bring you today is a smoking bit of Chitown soul by the mighty Johnny Sayles.

Though Sayles never really had any chart success to speak of (outside of Chicago) he recorded a grip of excellent, hard-edge 45s for a variety of Chicago labels like Mar-V-Lus, Chi Town, Chess, St Lawrence, Dakar and Brunswick between 1963 and 1973.

Sayles was born in Tennessee, and later moved to St Louis where he hooked up with Ike Turner.

He toured with a variety of bands before ending up in Chicago in the early 60s, where he would work as a singer, as well as having a second career as a prison guard!

Sayles recorded ‘The Concentration’ in 1965, and the song (written by the mighty Andre Williams!) comes off like a much wilder/rougher take on the same basic source material as Junior Walker and the All Stars ‘Shake and Fingerpop’ which was released earlier that year.

‘The Concentration’ leads off with a wailing saxophone, before Sayles drops in with a fiery vocal. The whole thing is driven along by a punchy horn section and a deceptively low-key lead guitar line.

Though the tune is built on a basic ‘dance craze’ frame, Sayles’ vocal and the deep, reverbed production take it to a higher level.

It is a groovy record, indeed, and I hope you dig it as much as I do.

Have 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.

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, October 20, 2015 11:44 am

Homer Banks

Listen/Download – Homer Banks – A Lot of Love

Greetings all.

The track I bring to you today is like Monday’s tune, a precursor to (if not an outright OG) of one of the big tunes of the British Invasion.

Homer Banks was both a fine songwriter, and an excellent (if underappreciated) soul singer.

Banks recorded a string of brilliant Memphis-based 45s for Minit between 1966 and 1968, all the while writing for other artists, many in the Stax organization.

If you give a listen to any of the records that banks made under his own name, it leaves you shaking your head, wondering how he wasn’t a success on his own (and why Jim Stewart never signed him to his own deal at Stax).

Banks had a high, flexible tenor that reminds me of a lighter version of Sam Moore (which is interesting since Banks co-wrote ‘I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down’ for Sam and Dave), able to soar on ballads but with enough grit to deliver harder edged material.

‘A Lot of Love’ (co-written with Deanie Parker) was the A-side of Banks’ first Minit 45 in 1966 (he had already recorded a pair of 45s for the small, Memphis-based Genie label) and while it wasn’t a hit, it did make it over to the UK where a young cat by the name of Steve Winwood heard it and lifted its basic riff, reworking it into ‘Gimme Some Lovin’, a huge hit in the US and the UK, and ultimately a much better-known record than Banks OG.

I’m here to tell you (though your ears ought to be able to figure it out on their own) that while ‘Gimme Some Lovin’ is a classic, ‘A Lot of Love’ is in the end a much better record, with an outstanding lead vocal by Banks, and a fine arrangement with enough kick for the dance floor.

Oddly enough, Banks would be ripped off (by proxy) again, when Flavor (who may or may not have been aware of ‘A Lot of Love’) re-ripped the tune as ‘Sally Had a Party’, which is also an amazing record.

Homer Banks went on to write/cowrite a number of hits, including Luther Ingram’s smash ‘If Loving You is Wrong (I Don’t Want To be Right)’, and would hit the charts himself in a duo with Carl Hampton in 1977 with ‘I’m Gonna Have To Tell Her’.

Banks passed away in 2001 from cancer.

All of Banks’ Minit 45s are excellent and worth picking up when you can find them.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’l 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, October 18, 2015 10:42 am

Bessie Banks

Listen/Download – Bessie Banks – Go Now MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you all well.

The record I bring you today is one of those 45s that haunted my want list for years (maybe decades) before I finally bagged a copy.

It’s not that ‘Go Now’ by Bessie Banks is an incredibly expensive record (probably grab-able for around 50 bucks on a good day) but thanks to the fact that it was later made into a hit (their first) by the Moody Blues, and its status as a mod soul classic, there is a high level of competition when copies do come on the market.

I probably could have had myself a copy sooner, had I been willing to throw a pile of money at it, but I don’t always have a pile of money ready to throw (or I may have already thrown it elsewhere…).

That said, the record you see above is proof that me and my money finally found ourselves a copy of this most excellent 45, which is why I can bring it to you fine people today.

Bessie Banks had been performing and recording for a few years before she found herself in a New York studio with none other than the mighty Leiber and Stoller working the board.

The song was written by Larry Banks (Bessie’s husband) and Milton Bennett, and though it is taken at a slightly slower pace, it is immediately evident that the Moody Blues (the early Denny Laine version of the band, not the psychedelic Justin Hayward version) didn’t change much at all.

Banks’ original garnered some airplay and made a small dent on the R&B charts, but was pretty much a done deal (having been released in January 1964) when the Moody Blues cover was released in the US a full year later.

Their version was a much bigger hit, making it into the US Top 20 early in 1965.

Banks’ version was released on two Leiber/Stoller imprints, Tiger and Blue Cat, both with the same excellent flipside, the slow-burning R&B of ‘Sounds Like My Baby’.

Bessie Banks would go on to record a few more 45s during the 60s (for Wand and Verve), and then a few more in the 70s for Volt and Quality.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, October 15, 2015 12:02 pm

The Younghearts

Listen/Download – New Young Hearts – A Little Togetherness MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is finally here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show. We come to you each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. If you can’t be there at airtime 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 right here at the blog.

I wanted to close out the week with a bang, so I dipped into my Northern box and pulled out one of my all-time favorites.

The Young Hearts (Younghearts, New Young Hearts) were together for about a decade, releasing records from 1967 to 1977 for a variety of labels like Canterbury, Pick A Hit, Minit, Zea and 20th Century.

The LA-based group, which recorded under the aegis of songwriter/producer Bobby Sanders, hit the R&B charts a number of times between 1968 and 1975, but they are best remembered for their 1967 record, ‘A Little Togetherness’ which became a Northern Soul classic.

The song/record has an interesting history. It was originally recorded and released on the Canterbury label in 1967. The Younghearts went on to record several singles and an album for Minit in 1968, which included a re-recorded, slowed down version of ‘A Little Togetherness’ (as well as a new version of the other big Northern 45 on Canterbury, the Tempos ‘Countdown (Here I Come)’).

Sometime after the Minit recordings, Sanders and the original Younghearts split, with the producer putting together a new group, the New Young Hearts. It was under this name that the 45 you see before you today was released, the catch being, that even though Sanders was using a new name, the version of ‘A Little Togetherness’ was the exact same version that was released on Canterbury three years before!

There’s even another New Young Hearts 45 of ‘A Little Togetherness’, released on the Zea label in 1971, but I can’t say for sure if it’s the same track or a rerecording.

That said, one listen to ‘A Little Togetherness’ will instantly reveal why it became an anthem on the Northern scene.

Opening with chiming guitar and piano, the song soon takes off into the stratosphere with soaring lead and backing vocals and a relentless four-on-the-floor dance beat. The falsetto lead vocal floats along on a brilliant, hook-filled melody, and the when the chorus hits the record shoots to another level entirely.

Like the best Northern Soul, ‘A Little Togetherness’ is packed with drama and dynamic tension that lifts the dancers.

It’s one of those records that I want to play over and over again.

As it is, if you want to get yourself a copy of this work of soulful genius, the Soultown version of ‘A Little Togetherness’ isn’t cheap, but it is usually cheaper than the Canterbury issue, which can go for a couple of hundred dollars.

Until you get that lucky, you can grab yourself this recording and put it on repeat.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, October 13, 2015 1:17 pm

ZZ Hill

Listen/Download – ZZ Hill – Don’t Make Promises (You Can’t Keep) MP3

Greetings all.

There are few things better (for me anyway) than finding a new version of one of my favorite songs.

I have always been a big fan of Tim Hardin’s first few Verve albums, which yielded a number of folk rock standards, like ‘If I Were a Carpenter’, ‘Reason to Believe’ and the original version of today’s selection, ‘Don’t Make Promises (You Can’t Keep)’.

Oddly enough, it wasn’t Hardin’s original that introduced me to the song, but rather a cover version by Rick Nelson.

Then, last year a friend posted the version you see before you today, by southern soul legend Z.Z. Hill, on Facebook, and as is often the case, I set out immediately in search of a copy for my playbox.

Hill is one of those guys that I knew of for years, but never really dug down into his music because he was best known for a kind of blues-inflected soul that was never really my speed.

As it turns out, I should have kept digging.

Hill’s recording of ‘Don’t Make Promises (You Can’t Keep)’ is from 1968, and it features his warm, slightly raspy voice, female backing singers, and a really nice arrangement with enough kick that this record has become a favorite on soul dance floors in the decades since it was first released.

The bass and drums are tight and crisp, pushed along by rhythm guitar, handclaps and just enough strings to give the record a touch of uptown class.

Despite the fact that Hill had been recording for Kent since 1964, he didn’t really start hitting the R&B charts until 1971, after which he had a steady string of hits that lasted until his untimely passing in April of 1984, from injuries suffered in a car accident a few months earlier.

I will certainly be exploring the Z.Z. Hill discography in more depth.

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.

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.