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By Larry, September 6, 2016 11:39 am

Booker T and the MGs

Listen/Download – Booker T and the MGs- No Matter What Shape MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the middle of the week finds you all well, embracing the post-Labor Day warmth.

Here at the Jersey Shore, I’m enjoying the sudden excess of elbow room, now that the summer invasion is over. It’s a nice feeling to be able to get a cup of coffee, or some groceries without fighting a mob to do it.

This may not men much to those of you outside of tourist traps, but the psychic weight that is lifted off when the tourists finally go home is remarkable.

That said, today’s selection is a perfect soundtrack for that ‘vacation is over but I’m still digging the warmth’ feeling.

You all know that Booker T and the MGs were giants of Memphis soul, and I’m here to remind you that their album tracks were often as groovy as their hit 45s.

Their cover of the T-Bones 1965 hit ‘No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach’s In)’ was something of a revelation when I first heard it.

You see, the original, while a very groovy instro (played by the cream of the Wrecking Crew), was based on an Alka Seltzer jingle, and not remotely like anything you’d expect the law firm of Jones, Cropper, Jackson and Dunn to lay into.

Even so, Booker and band were so skillful, locked into such a mighty groove, that they were able to take something so utterly un-soulful, and transform it into a wonderfully groovy thing.

Thanks in large part to Duck Dunn and Al Jackson’s sock soul rhythm section, Booker T’s jazzy organ and a subtly tremeloed guitar by Steve Cropper, ‘No Matter What Shape’ is turned from a sprightly, somewhat monotonous AM radio thang, into a perfect, end of summer, you wanna (but don’t hafta) dance, head nodder of the first order.

Included on the MGs 1966 ‘And Now!’ LP (which also included the two-sided R&B hit single ‘My Sweet Potato’ b/w ‘Booker Loo’), it is one of the highlights of an excellent album (the version of ‘One Mint Julep’ is one of my favorite MGs cuts).

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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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, September 4, 2016 9:43 am

Major Lance

Listen/Download – Major Lance – Mama Didn’t Know MP3

Greetings all.

Welcome to another week here where the corners are funky and the music mellow as a cello.

Today’s selection is yet another one of those object lessons in flipping over your 45s.

I was goin through a box of wax and I pulled out Major Lance’s best known number, ‘The Monkey Time’, the first of a long string of hits that started in 1963, making him one of the finest exponents of classic-era Chicago soul.

That 45 was the work of a veritable dream team, with writing by Curtis Mayfield, arranging by Johnny Pate, and production by Carl Davis.

Now, when I took the disc out, I realized that I had no idea what was on the flip, so I flipped it over (naturally) to discover another Curtis Mayfield song, ‘Mama Didn’t Know’.

The title didn’t ring any bells, but as soon as I put under the needle, I realized that what I was hearing was an ‘answer’ record to Jan Bradley’s big hit (from earlier the same year) ‘Mama Didn’t Lie’, also – coincidentally – composed by the mighty Mr Mayfield.

Curtis, genius that he was, manages to ‘answer’ the other record, while dancing around the original melody, yet not getting too close, which is what a perfect answer record is supposed to do.

It helps that the team behind Bradley’s record gave it an entirely different sound, less polished than the Mayfield/Pate/Davis triumvirate, so Lance’s number never gives off rip-off vibes.

It may not be a monumental or essential disc, but it is proof, yet again of the amazing well of talent available in Chicago during the 60s.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

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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, September 1, 2016 11:38 am

Mickey and the Soul Generation

Listen/Download – Mickey and the Soul Generation – Football MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops 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 Funky16Corners.com.

I thought we’d end the week with another groovy instrumental, this time pulled from the catalog of the mighty Mickey and the Soul Generation.

Best known for the awe inspiring ‘Iron Leg’, Mickey and the Soul Generation were a multi-racial funk outfit from San Antonio, Texas, that recorded for the Texas labels Mr G, GC and Omega, and had two of their 45s picked up for national distribution on the Maxwell label (also home to Ben E King and Faith, Hope and Charity).

‘Football’ was released in 1970 as the B-side to ‘Joint Session’ and is as jazzy and fast moving as ‘Iron Leg’ is slow, heavy and grinding.

You get lots of organ, saxophone and guitar, and the band making plenty of party noises in the background.

The cool thing is, that the flip is tasty, too, and as far as hot funk 45s go, Mickey and the Soul Generation’s Maxwell sides aren’t terribly expensive.

You can also pick up the awesome reissue comp put out by the Numero Group.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, August 30, 2016 10:27 am

Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers

Listen/Download – The Soul Brothers – Horsing Around MP3

Greetings all.

The tune I bring you today is yet another, perhaps more obscure chapter in the story of Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers.

As has been recounted in this space many a time, Gordon and his band came out of the Carolinas and made themselves a name and a career in New York.

They recorded for a number of labels in the 60s – Enrica, Capitol, RCA, Wand, Estill, Phil LA of Soul – and their 45s are all excellent and worth picking up.

The disc you see before you was a 1968 release, and as the title and the sound of the record will reveal was created in the wake of, and in an attempt to cash in on, the success of Cliff Nobles & Co’s ‘The Horse’, a massive hit in ’68 and an extremely influential disc, in and out of Philadelphia.

Newmiss was a shortlived label with a brief discography that seems to have been based out of Chicago (or at least focused on mostly Chitown artists, Mr Gordon and the band excepted).

‘Horsing Around’ is a funky, fast-moving side that as I said above, works around the basic ‘Horse’ framework, with a galloping beat and a blazing horn section.

As far as I know, this is the only side billed exclusively to the Soul Brothers.

It’s a groovy one, and I hope you dig it.

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, August 28, 2016 10:58 am

The Velvelettes

Listen/Download – The Velvelettes – These Things Will Keep Me Loving You MP3

Greetings all.

Writing and listening to music as much as I do, I often wonder why some groups are considered ‘major’ and others are not.

Sometimes, it’s obvious issues of quality that disqualify a group, but often it’s less objective criteria.

When you consider a group like the Velvelettes, who had three R&B hits (one a year for 1964, 1965 and 1966) only one of which grazed the Top 20, most people – at least casual listeners – would not think of including them alongside much better known acts.

However, to soul fans, who are willing to dig a little deeper and familiarize themselves with slightly less obvious facts (like who produced a record, for instance) the Velvelettes are a group worth reconsidering.

They made seven 45s between 1963 and 1966, almost all classics, and for most of that time were one of the early examples of the genius of Norman Whitfield.

Whitfield wrote and produced all but their first and last singles, and they remain among the finest things to come out of the Motown hit factory in its prime.

The record I bring you today was the group’s swan song, and though Whitfield was no longer involved, the Velvelettes were in good hands, indeed.
‘These Things Will Keep Me Loving You’ failed to chart here in the US, but it was a favorite of the soulies in the UK, where it grazed the Top 40 in 1966 and then returned to it in 1971 (another one of those records that the Northern Soul explosion brought back into the charts).

Written by Harvey Fuqua, Johnny Bristol and Sylvia Moy (and produced by Fuqua and Bristol), ‘These Things Will Keep Me Loving You’ is one of those records whose absence from the charts is positively mind-boggling.

It is beautifully written, performed, arranged and produced, highly danceable, and with enough hooks to make an east crossover into the Pop charts, yet, bizarrely, it did not.

I always attribute these incidents to the veritable deluge of high quality music entering the market in the mid-60s, yet in this case it is especially curious and galling.

Had the Velvelettes had the opportunity to remain with Whitfield, and had lead vocalist Cal Gill not decided to leave music (at least temporarily) it’s possible that we’d be talking about the group in the same breath as the Supremes or Martha and the Vandellas (and certainly their records are at least as good as both) instead of trying to bolster their reputation.

Though their 45s aren’t incredibly hard to find, they’re not cheap, either, and this one can be a little more expensive than most. That said, all of their work is easy to find in reissue, and is, as described above, indispensable.

So dig it, 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.

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By Larry, August 25, 2016 11:21 am

Alvin Robinson

Listen/Download – Alvin Robinson – Fever MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops as a podcast 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 devuice via the TuneIn app, check it out on Mixcloud or grab an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com.

If you stop by here or the podcast on the reg, you have surely witnessed me raving about the mighty voice of Alvin Robinson.

Robinson, a singer/guitarist from New Orleans, who traveled to NY with Joe Jones, where he met up with Leiber and Stoller.

With Leiber and Stoller at the helm, Robinson made a string of brilliant 45s for the Red Bird, Blue Cat and Tiger labels between 1964 and 1966.

First among these was his original recording of one of L&S’s greatest songs, the mighty ‘Down Home Girl’.

The flipside of that 1964 disc, was his version of the  Davenport/Cooley standard made famous by Little Willie John, ‘Fever’.

Aided by an arrangement by Stoller (with production by both L&S), Robinson lays into the song with a skillful, emotional touch that should have cemented his reputation as one of the great singers of the classic soul era, instead of the footnote he is to most people.

The band is fairly standard, but Stoller drops in vibes accents throughout the tune that add an air of mystery to the proceedings.

Robinson alternates between beautiful subtlety and his trademark growl, making this one of the highlights of his all-too-brief catalog.

Following his time with L&S, Robinson made a few more 45s in New York, before joining the New Orleans exodus to the West Coast (following Harold Battiste, Mac Rebennack, Jesse Hill and King Floyd) where he would make some excellent records for the Pulsar label, and continue working as a studio guitarist into the 70s. He eventually returned to New Orleans, and passed away in 1989, only 51 years old.

He was a mighty singer, and all of his work is highly recommended.

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.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, August 23, 2016 10:10 am

Ken Boothe

Listen/Download – Ken Boothe – Let’s Get It On MP3

Greetings all.

How’s about a little mid-week soulful reggae?

Ken Boothe, one of the truly great Jamaican voices, from the rock steady era on, has appeared in this space a few times before, with his epic reading of Syl Johnson’s ‘Is It Because I’m Black’ as well as his groovy take on the Royalettes ‘It’s Gonna Take a Miracle’.

Today’s selection is the title track from his 1974 LP ‘Let’s Get It On’ (also home to the aforementioned Syl Johnson cover).

One of the best crossover LPs of the 70s, ‘Let’s Get It On’ features a number of cool covers from the Four Tops (That’s The Way Nature Planned It), Paul McCartney (My Love), Neil Young (Down By the River, oddly credited to Boothe and producer Lloyd Charmers) and as in today’s selection, the mighty Marvin Gaye.

I’ve often proffered that much of the classic Jamaican music of the 60s and 70s is merely soul music with a specific riddem, and there is hardly another singer (all props to Toots Hibbert, natch) that demonstrates that as well as Ken Boothe.

Boothe is a fantastic singer, capable of smooth, loverman style as well as a rougher, Otis Redding-esque rasp, both on prominent display in ‘Let’s Get It On’.

Boothe lays into the lyric with passion, and the song’s already relaxed pace/structure lends itself readily to reggae.

The instrumental backing is basic (though the lead guitar is distinctive without getting in the way), and the backing vocals aid and abet Boothe nicely.

There’s a lot of Boothe’s material available in reissue an in iTunes, but as far as I can tell this album (at least in whole) is not. That said, original copies are not terribly expensive, and start to finish you’d be hard pressed to invest in a better reggae LP.

I hope you dig the track, 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, August 21, 2016 8:52 am

Dig that crazy label design!

Listen/Download – The Grand Prees – Jungle Fever MP3

Greetings all.

It occurred to me, since it was Monday and all, and most of the world is dragging themselves to work or school, that I might whip something a little crazy on you to help get you moving.

Not too long ago I was perusing a sales list and I happened upon the disc you see before you today. Since I am constitutionally unable to pass by a record entitled ‘Jungle Fever’, I clicked on the link, listened to the sample, and knew I had to grab it for my crates.

The Grand Prees (with alternating lead vocalist – Douglass Pettijohn on this side) only ever recorded one 45, which was released twice, first on Candi (in 1961), and then again on the much cooler looking Golden Grooves imprint (in 1962).

These labels (and the Barvis label) were both the work of one JJ Chavis, who operated out of Wilmington, Delaware in the early to mid 60s recording Philadelphia-area R&B, soul and gospel 45s.

Opening with a very Chips/Rubber Biscuit-like doo-wop vocalization (Mr Pettijohn I presume?), a high female voice, organ and guitar drop in, and grooviness ensues.

The whole thing is rough (not Plookie McCline ‘Gorilla Walk’ rough, but pretty rough) with the lead vocal straying off-key, and the backing, especially the male voice and the organ, verily reeks of inspiration, as in ‘these people will never be this good, on anything else again’.

Chavis worked a lot with gospel groups, and ‘Jungle Fever’ sounds like a bunch of gospel records fell on the floor and were pieced back together by someone that was good and lit.

The organist especially, sounds like someone shackled to the amen corner that was yearning to let his (or her) freak flag fly.

The flip side is your basic, yearning ballad, without much to recommend it.

That said, ‘Jungle Fever’ is worth repeat plays.

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, August 18, 2016 11:46 am

Producer Tony Eyers

Listen/Download – Tony Cody – Walk On By MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is upon us, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops as a podcast 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 devuice via the TuneIn app, check it out on Mixcloud or grab an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com.

I first heard Tony Cody’s ‘version’ of ‘Walk On By’ a while back thanks to the Funk For the People blog, and I was blown away.

First and foremost, because it is undeniably a straight up lift of Isaac Hayes legendary arrangement of the Bacharach/David classic from the 1969 ‘Hot Buttered Soul’ LP.

Cody’s take on the song boils it down to its essence, from Hayes epic 12-minute reading into a much more (45RPM) manageable 4:27.

Who was Tony Cody, and how did this happen?

There’s really not much to say in that regard. Cody is a fairly anonymous figure, with only this record to his credit.

Interestingly enough, the backing track originated on a UK exploit LP called ‘The Hits of Bacharach’, credited to the ‘Singers and Chorus of Manhattan’. That version (which you can hear on Youtube) featured a female singer. The cash-in aspect of the LP makes it easy to understand the copying of the arrangement.

That album was produced by the same guy who produced the Tony Cody single, a cat named Tony Eyers, who had a long history of cranking out similar albums for the UK/Euro market through the 70s, with a couple of more legit projects along the way.

The Cody 45 takes the Hayes arrangement and softens the edges a little bit, but not enough to ruin the overall effect, and Cody’s voice – while not possessed of the depth of Isaac Hayes – gives the record a kind of fuzzed out, lounge vibe.

Oddly enough, this 45 charted in Thailand (and nowhere else) in 1972!

It is groovy, indeed, and I hope you dig it.

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.

Comments (3)

By Larry, August 16, 2016 12:36 pm

Bobby Hutcherson

Listen/Download – Bobby Hutcherson feat. Harold Land – Ummh MP3

Listen/Download – Bobby Hutcherson feat. Harold Land – Goin’ Down South MP3

Greetings all.

I woke up this morning to the extremely sad news that one of my musical heroes, the mighty vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson had passed away.

I have been a jazz fan my entire life, but there was a period in the late 80s and early 90s, in the years right after I stopped playing in bands and decided to spend my time intently listening, that I bought, studied and listened to almost nothing but jazz.

Though I was digging everything from Bix Beiderbecke to Archie Shepp, the broadest area of my focus was applied to the post-bop/modal/out years from the late 50s to the early 70s, and in large part to the sounds of the Blue Note label.

At the time, Blue Note was engaged in an aggressive CD reissue campaign, part of which was the Connoisseur Series, in which they pressed up some of the more obscure, challenging and interesting titles from their back catalog in limited quantities. I picked up the discs in that series religiously, as well as anything else I could find that I dug, sometimes to the tune of three or four albums a week.

It was during that time that I discovered and fell in love with the music of Bobby Hutcherson.

If you come here on the reg, or dig the podcast, you know that I am a certified vibes nut, and Hutcherson was a master of the instrument (as well as the xylophone and marimba) who played in a wide variety of settings as a leader and a sideman, and in styles ranging from bebop, to modal, to inside/outside to free jazz with just about every great musician associated with Blue Note.

Head on over to Discogs and take a look as his own catalog, as well as his work as a sideman.

I was lucky enough to see him play (and meet him briefly) back in the 90s when he played in New York City.

The tracks I bring you today are from the funkiest date he did, 1971’s ‘San Francisco’, recorded with the giant of the tenor saxophone, Harold Land.

Land, who had been working steadily since the late 40s, and had been a crucial member of the Clifford Brown/Max Roach band, formed a partnership with Hutcherson in the late 60s, with the pair recording a number of albums (trading the leader’s position) over the next decade for a variety of labels.

‘San Francisco’ was a west coast date, featuring Joe Sample (of the Crusaders) on electric and acoustic piano (he also wrote ‘Goin’ Down South’),  Hutcherson and Land stretching out on some more groove-oriented material, and great production by Duke Pearson.

You’ve heard ‘Ummh’ and ‘Goin’ Down South’ in mixes here at Funky16Corners, but neither has been featured on the blog.

Both tunes have been sampled, ‘Goin’ Down South’ by Us3 and ‘Ummh’ by Ice Cube.

I’m also re-posting below, an all-vibes mix I put together in 2010 called ‘Positive Vibrations’, which features Hutcherson, as well as a number of his contemporaries from the 60s and 70s laying down funky and soulful vibes.

Funky16Corners Radio v.79 – Positive Vibrations!

Playlist

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By Larry, August 14, 2016 9:15 am

Listen/Download – The Mystic Moods – Cosmic Sea MP3

Greetings all.

The tune I bring you today has been a huge fave since I first heard it pumping from the speakers of the Asbury Park 45 Sessions, courtesy of my man DJ Prime Mundo.

‘Cosmic Sea’ by the Mystic Moods (Orchestra) is one of those records that simply has to be heard on a big sound system, or at least on some high quality headphones.

It is a breakbeat classic ans sought after by funk 45 heads, but it has a really unusual history.

The Mystic Moods Orchestra was founded in the mid-60s by Brad Miller, one of the founders of the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (which record collector types will recognize as the source of the sought after MFSL/Original Master records), who got his start recording and releasing audiophile sound effects records (like stereo recordings of trains, etc). The “group” released over 20 albums between 1966 and 1990 (mostly for Philips and Warner Brothers), composed of a mixture of symphonic mood music, pop and easy listening, meant for the high end HI-FI sets in the bachelor pad listening rooms of the world. Over the course of more than two decades Miller, assisted by a group of arrangers and studio musicians, created a successful series of ‘musical environments’ meant to be used as the soundtrack of a variety of relaxing pastimes, up to and including lovemaking.

Their albums are not terribly hard to find, and for the most part, not anything that most Funky16Corners fans would be interested in.

However, a couple of times in the 70s, Miller and Co decided to get funky, and the finest of their efforts in that direction was ‘Cosmic Sea’.

‘Cosmic Sea’ was included on the 1973 LP by the Mystic Moods (they dropped the Orchestra the previous year), and was also released as a 45 (see above).

The record is – as you would expect from a dedicated audiophile – great sounding, with lots of phasing, and panning of synthesizers and drums for full use of stereo (especially on headphones). It is also quite funky, with some hard-hitting drums, clavinet solos, and just enough sweeping strings to capture the Barry White/boudoir market.

‘Cosmic Sea’ seems to have gotten some airplay on Pop stations (mostly on the west coast) and it’s presence on a major label has guaranteed that despite demand, it still isn’t terribly expensive.

It is a very groovy disc, indeed, and I hope you dig it.

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.

Comments (0)

By Larry, August 11, 2016 1:27 pm

Al Thomas solo, and with the Sweet Delights

Listen/Download – Al Thomas – I Had a Good Thing (But I Blew It) MP3

Listen/Download – Al Thomas Ork – Cornbread and Molasses MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, so I will beseech you once again to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show. You can subscribe to the show as podcast in iTunes (maybe review and rate it while you’re there?), listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, check it out on Mixcloud, or grab an MP3 right here at the blog.

We’re going to close out the week with a groovy Philly 45 that I’ve had in my crates for years but only just recently made a discovery about.

I picked up the Al Thomas Ork 45 ‘Cornbread and Molasses’ after hearing it in a mix back in the day. I was already buying up any Philly soul and funk I could get my hands on, especially anything on the Virtue label.

My assumption at the time was that Al Thomas was the same cat as ‘Big Al T’ who did the two-sided instrumental funk 45 of ’25 Miles’ b/w ‘Do the Slide’ which I already had.

So – as is often the case – I didn’t really dig into the flipside, the vocal version of the song ‘I Had a Good Thing (But I Blew It)’ until years later.

When I did, with my aptitude and taste for sweet soul more highly developed, it really made a mark. It has that groovy, slightly funky, late 60s (1968) vibe that you heard a lot coming out of Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit.

So I started digging around, looking for information on the participants and I discovered some interesting things.

First off, ‘Al Thomas’ was in fact Albert Thomas Byrd. Secondly, Al Thomas was the sole male member of the Sweet Delights, who made an excellent 45 for Atco ‘Baby Be Mine’ that same year.

As it turns out, ‘I Had a Good Thing (But I Blew It)’ is in fact the Sweet Delights. It should have been their second 45, but someone decided that they’d be better off marketing it as a solo single by Thomas/Byrd.

Unfortunately, neither 45 seems to have made a dent either inside or outside of Philadelphia, though the funky, instrumental side of the Sweet Delights ATCO 45, ‘Paul’s Midnight Ride’, credited to the Delights Orchestra got some regional airplay in the Midwest and the South.

It’s an excellent 45, and I hope you dig it.

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.