It’s that time again, by which I mean time to welcome you to another week here at the Funky16Corners, but also, as Miss Shirley Ellis says in today’s selection, it’s “soul time”.
Now, every single day here at Funky16Corners qualifies in some way as soul time, but with the song I bring you today it is explicitly so.
Shirley Ellis was one of the great female soul voices of the classic era and would be memorable if all she ever did was sing the oft-covered ‘The Nitty Gritty’ (1963), or for that matter ‘The Name Game’ (‘Lincoln Lincoln Bo-Bincoln’ etc) (1964) which is probably the song that most people outside of soul fandom know.
Ellis (born Elliston, the name under which she wrote ‘Soul Time’) had a powerful, soulful voice as well as a talent for writing her own material.
Though she is best known for what might be considered ‘novelty’, she managed to imbue those records with actual soul, so much so that even “those” records (especially ‘The Clapping Song’) still get spun with regularity on dance floors.
‘Soul Time’, from 1967 was her last charting hit, making it into the R&B Top 40 (stalling at #67 Pop)*.
The cut is at least to my ears the apex of her catalog, with a distinct flavor that makes it appeal to the Northern Soul crowd (dig the hooks, the vibes and the horns). ‘Soul Time’ has a rousing, propulsive beat and a brief, but anthemic chorus. It’s not hard to imagine the song pulling the dancers out onto the floor.
Ellis pretty much vanishes from the music scene after 1968, at least as a performer, seemingly content top sit back and watch her hits covered by folks like Gladys Knight, Madeline Bell (a killer cover of this very song), Ricardo Ray, Gary Glitter and much later, Southern Culture on the Skids.
I hope you dig (and dance to) the tune, and I’ll see you later in the week.
Keep the faith
Larry
*Other than a reappearance of ‘The Clapping Song’ in the UK Top 100 in 1979
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).
The end of another week is upon us, and it behooves me to remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and very Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, followed the next day, posted in MP3 form right here at the blog.
The tune I bring you today may (should) sound familiar.
It was in that post that I mentioned that the song had been remade a few years later as ‘Funky DJ’ by a group calling themselves Fried Chicken (who were in fact a pseudonymous Bubbha Thomas and the Lightmen).
Both records were used by DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist in their landmark mixes, ‘Funky Black Man’ in ‘Product Placement’ and ‘Funky DJ’ in ‘Brainfreeze’.
Drummer Bubbha Thomas and the Lightmen (also billed as the Lightmen Plus One) hailed from Houston, TX.
I’m not sure how Thomas and his band came to cover Jackson’s record, but the results were certainly interesting (especially to anyone interested in sampling the phrase ‘funky dj’).
It was also co-produced by 60s pop star John Fred!
I stand by my initial appraisal, in which I stated that Jackson’s vocals are superior, but both records are certainly cool and worth hearing.
I hope you dig it and I’ll be back on Monday with something groovy.
Keep the faith
Larry
PS This one goes out to all the funky DJs, you know who you are.
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).
The tune I bring you today is yet another example of why, when you’re out doing the DJ thing you need to keep your ears wide open.
Back in the olden days, when the mighty Asbury Park 45 Sessions crew still walked the earth my man DJ Prestige augmented the Avengers of funk and soul with a stellar slate of guest selectors.
It was in March of 2008 that we were joined by the mighty Dave Withers who came to the decks packing serious heat.
Withers was a formidable selector, not only in the rarity of his 45s but in the diversity and imagination of his selections. I was introduced to at least a half dozen incredibly good tracks during his set, one of which you see before you today.
I had never heard of the Quartette Tres Bien before, but once I heard ‘Boss Trest Bien’ my wig was good and truly flipped.
Quartette Tres Bien got their start playing and recording in their native St Louis, before being picked up for national distribution by Decca in 1964.
‘Boss Tres Bien’ appeared on their debut LP that year, and is a remarkable bit of soul jazz.
The group, led by pianist Jeter Thompson, bassist Richard Simmons, drummer Albert St James and percussionist Percy James (the real key to this particular record) went on to record several albums for Decca through the 60s.
The LP edit of ‘Boss Tres Bien’ (the in-demand 45 edit is about two minutes shorter) starts out with some brilliant interplay between St James and James (dig that crazy bass drum action) trading licks on the traps and the bongos, before the bass and piano join in.
Once things build up a full head of steam a hand-clapping audience pushes the group harder and faster. You have to hang in for when the drummer and bassist start passing the baton back and forth.
It is a thing of wonder, and ought to be much better known.
Now you know it.
Dig it, and I’ll be back later this week.
Keep the faith
Larry
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).
I should start by letting you know that the Funky16Corners Radio Show train continues forward unabated, and can be boarded this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. As always, if you can’t be there in person you can always fall by the blog over the weekend to pick yourselves up an MP3 of the show (or of any of the more than 100 past episodes stored in the archive).
In other news, though circumstances prevent me from participating this time out, I do want to let you know that the HPRS will be open again on 4/21, Record Store Day. This will be the 6th anniversary of the HPRS collective and I can assure you that there is plenty of excellent vinyl to be had. The sale runs from 11-5 at 960 Green Street in Iselin, NJ (not too far off of Rt1). There will be another guest dealer (bringing 45s!) so if you’re in the area and vinyl is something you dig, make sure you stop by.
You all know me, and how wherever possible I like to end the week on an up note with the kind of sounds that might convince you and your mates to slip on your dancing shoes, let loose with the juice and get down a bit.
Miss Lyn Collins – like so many members of the James Brown galaxy of stars – has been featured in this space before.
She had one of the more powerful voices of JB’s divas, and very rarely left the recording studio without laying down something heavy.
Today’s selection is the party (or more appropriately PAARTY) side of a very excellent two-sided killer on the People label from 1973 (the flip being a fantastic ballad that I simply must feature here sometime soon).
‘We Want to Parrty Parrty Parrty’ is marked not only by one of Miss Collins’ patented intros (she wasn’t called the Female Preacher for nothing) but a very tasty, heavy electric piano groove. The JBs line up for some of that razor sharp wah wah guitar, high stepping drums and perfectly arranged horns.
Things are a little bit slower than some of her better known 45s, but they are also without a doubt funky, extremely danceable and filled with head nodding goodness.
Interestingly, the rhythm track was recycled as the b-side of a JBs 45 (retitled ‘Crossover’) on Polydor in 1977.
So pull down the ones and zeros, slap this one on your pod-thingy and let’er rip.
Your party guests will thank you.
Have a great weekend and I’ll see you all on Monday.
Keep the faith
Larry
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).
Listen/Download Terry Callier – You’re Goin’ Miss Your Candyman
Greetings all.
The beginning of a new week is here.
No ordinary week, mind you.
This is the week where my wife goes into the hospital for her stem cell transplant.
As you might imagine this is very heavy stuff for her and for our entire family, immediate and extended.
This entire week, and likely most of the next few weeks will be written and prepared in advance of this all, so if things seem somehow less than timely, be forewarned of its “canned” nature.
This will also mark the commencement of a slightly abbreviated posting schedule (2x weekly), at least until things settle down a bit.
Look at the next few weeks at Funky16Corners as a trip into the root cellar of funk and soul, during which I will ask you kindly to please keep your fingers crossed that all goes well in our corner of the world.
Really.
That said, I thought that I would whip something a little heavy on you to start the week(s), so here we go.
Soul aficianodos may very well be hip to the sounds of Mr Terry Callier.
Callier, Chicago born and bred is one of those musicians for whom the phrase “hard to pin down” was invented.
Starting in the early 60s, when he was working the folk music side of things, and then on to his Cadet-era recordings when he mixed those sounds with jazz, soul and funk, Callier made some remarkably deep music.
Between 1972 and 1974, working with the visionary producer/arranger Charles Stepney (as well as using the arranging talents Cadet’s other genius Richard Evans) he created three incredible albums, ‘Occasional Rain’, ‘The Color of Love’ and ‘I Just Can’t Help Myself’.
Today’s selection, ‘You Goin’ Miss Your Candyman’ hails from the second of those albums and is a great example of the kinds of threads that Callier was weaving together.
Opening with plain, fingerpicked acoustic guitar, a funky bass, and congas soon fall in, followed by the drums, and finally Callier himself.
The lyrics, borrowing from (but transcending) folk sources are delivered in Callier’s powerful baritone, and before you know it the folky has gone all funky and then Stepney opens up the floodgates and you’re getting strings and horns as well and things get kicked up to another level entirely.
Over the course of more than seven minutes (it doesn’t end up seeming anywhere near that long) you get drawn into the groove, digging what a fantastic singer Callier is, but then wanting to double back to savor the arrangement.
It is potent stuff indeed.
Though he was dropped by Cadet in the mid-70s, Callier continued to record for a variety of labels, and composed new material. he even hit the R&B charts in 1979 with ‘Sign of the Times’ on Elektra.
By the time he had been discovered by a new generation in the 90s, he had been embraced by acid jazzers and triphoppers alike.
Most of his catalogue is available in reissue.
I hope you dig the tune.
Keep the faith
Larry
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).
The end of another week is here, and so is your weekly dose of soul power on the Funky16Corners Radio Show. We take to the airwaves of the interwebs this – and every – Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at the time of broadcast you can always fall by the blog and grab the show (or any of the previous 100 episodes) in MP3 form.
Today’s selection is another one of those records I might never have known about had I not had the good fortune to spin beside one of the greats of the game, the mighty Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus.
It was last Spring when I was fortunate enough to spin at one of the last Subway Soul nights in New York City that I got to spin the good stuff, sharing the decks with Phreddie, Girlsoul, and my old friend Jumpy, spending a fair amount of time (as is often the case in these situations) lengthening my want list.
There were many cool sounds that were new to my ears, but the one that really grabbed me is the 45 you see before you today.
As soon as the Boog dropped the needle on ‘Prove It To Me’ my ears perked up and I sidled up to the decks to see what the record was.
I have to be honest when I say that for the longest time I pretty much thought the Garnet Mimms story started and finished with the epic ‘Cry Baby’.
Back in ’63, when the mighty Jerry Ragavoy and Bert Berns put pen to paper, and then went into the studio with Mimms, they created one of the great soul ballad records of the classic era.
Today’s selection, ‘Prove It To Me’ – recorded and released in 1966 – was written (again) by Ragavoy (co-written by Edward Marshall who also helped pen Ragovoy’s first chart hit, the Majors ‘A Wonderful Dream’), who also produced and arranged.
It is a stunning, moody slice of Northern soul with a repeating horn line that digs deep into your ears. The record also features a great vocal by Mimms and some just this side of incongruous gut-bucket lead guitar.
Oddly enough – though this may be a testament to what listeners were expecting from Mimms – ‘Prove It To Me’ didn’t make a dent on the charts, but its flip side, the (excellent) slow ballad ‘I’ll Take Good Care Of You’ was a Top 20 R&B hit in the Spring of 1966.
It’s a killer 45, and I hope you dig it as much as I do.
See you on Monday
Peace
Larry
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).
Listen/Download Brian Auger and the Trinity – Black Cat
Greetings all.
The tune I bring you today comes from one of the most reliably groovy acts to emerge from the British beat boom, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll and the Trinity.
Auger is one of the truly great Hammond slingers to come out of the UK in the 60s, alongside giants like Georgie Fame, Steve Winwood, Graham Bond, Jon Lord and Dave Davani.
Brian Auger wasn’t any run-of-the-mill organ grinder hammering out blues riffs with his elbows either. His roots were in jazz and he had the chops to bring the heat.
Auger and Driscoll fist worked together as part of the legendary Steampacket, where they grooved alongside none other than Long John Baldry and a soulful Scots gravedigger by the name of Rod Stewart.
When the Steampacket disbanded Auger and Driscoll remained together, with the Trinity as the backing band.
It was in that incarnation that the created a grip of enduring dance floor classics, melding jazz, R&B, beat and psychedelia.
The group in that form lasted from 1967 to 1969, and created some smashing singles such as ‘Indian Ropeman’, ‘This Wheel’s On Fire’, ‘Why Am I Treated So Bad’ and the disc you see before you today.
Interestingly, ‘Black Cat’ is a Driscoll-free affair, as is its flip side, a very cool cover of Wes Montgomery’s ‘In and Out’.
Released in 1968 (there’s a very cool promo video for the tune) ‘Black Cat’ is a positively storming, monster of a tune, with a vocal by Auger (not all that common), heavy horn chart and some absolutely fiery Hammond action.
Like many of the band’s best tracks it has more than enough momentum for the dancers (it’d fit right in if anyone ever decided to do a recreation of Swinging London right, I’m giving you the stink eye Austin Powers).
After Driscoll split the group in 1970, Auger and the Trinity continued to record, if in a more jazzy, progressive style for one more LP before evolving into Oblivion Express.
I hope you dig the tune – maybe whip in on your friends at your next rent party – and I’ll see you all on Friday.
Peace
Larry
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).
Listen/Download Johnny Otis Show – Keep the Faith Pt1
Listen/Download Johnny Otis Show – Keep the Faith Pt2
Greetings all.
I’m going to get the week started with an update of the medical situation here at the Funky16Corners compound.
I do so not only because many of you have sent along your prayers and good wishes for my wife’s health, but also because the next steps we take will likely effect the weekly workings of the blog*.
Back just before last Halloween my wife was diagnosed with leukemia.
It was, and has been for the last 5+ months been a rather harrowing roller coaster ride for the whole family, but especially Jen.
She has been facing cancer with a remarkable amount of courage.
The next few months will see us moving on to the next, crucial stage in her treatment, a stem cell transplant.
This is not only time consuming (in the hospital for nearly a month and then a few months of frequent outpatient visits) but – as you might imagine – a very serious medical process.
We have been extraordinarily lucky that Jen was able to find a stem cell/bone marrow match in a fairly short period of time, unusual because she doesn’t have any siblings (the first place they generally look to for a transplant).
Jen will be getting her transplant from an unrelated donor.
The donor pool needs to grow so that when people are in need of transplants the doctors have a large and diverse field of samples in which to find a match.
Getting tested for inclusion in the pool is short and painless process.
The bigger (and more diverse) the donor pool is, the greater the likelihood that someone else will be able to find a match and survive leukemia.
Once there you can read up on your read ups, register to become a donor (they send you the kit) and increase the possibility that someone out there will find a match.
I’m telling you from personal experience, this is very important, and you can change someone’s life without any risk to your own.
Today’s selection is appropriate not only because the title of the song has become a motto of sort for Funky16Corners, but particularly because the last several months have been all about keeping the faith.
When we marked the passing of the mighty Johnny Otis back in January, I made mention of (but did not own, at the time) the 45 you see before you today.
An unusual omission, when you think of it, since the title is practically inscribed on the Funky16Corners coin of the realm, and it is undeniably an exceptionally groovy bit of soul.
Though Johnny Otis hit the charts consistently in the late 50s and then again a decade later, the period in between produced some remarkable sides.
‘Keep the Faith Pts 1&2’ is one of those classic sounds that skirt the border that runs (and fluctuates) between soul and funk. It is also something that might to lesser ears be filed under ‘novelty’, solely on the basis of the numerous direct and indirect quotes (musical and lyrical) from the popular records of the day.
There are shouts to ‘Try a Little Tenderness’, ‘You Got Me Hummin’, ‘I’m Losing You’, ‘Knock On Wood’, ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor’, ‘Mustang Sally’ and in all likelihood a couple more I’m missing.
However – big however here – what you get on top of the references is a stellar vocal by Johnny himself (where a few years later you’d probably be hearing Delmar Evans), sweet female backing harmonies, some nice, hard drums and a delicious bed of greasy organ.
You also get (this starting to sound like a Ginsu knife commercial yet?) is a very groovy Part 2, in which the offering is mostly (but not entirely) instrumental, the bottom a little more audible and young Shuggie gets to drop a lick here and there.
This is one of those records I am honestly shocked is not a much bigger deal (Part 1 or 2) with the collectors, and the DJs and the dancers.
Eldo is an interesting label in that the bulk of its releases fall between 1960 and 1962, and the rest after it appears to have been reactivated by Otis for a short time in 1968 (when ‘Keep the Faith’ dropped) with a couple of sides by Johnny and a couple by Gene ‘The Mighty Flea’ Connors.
The later stuff isn’t terribly common or cheap, but their not crazy expensive either, falling into that gray area between your run of the mill collectors and (probably ignored by) the high-dollar ballers who think it beneath them to drop anything less than a fat wad on a 45.
It is exceedingly cool, hot enough for any soul night and anyone that says different is gonna get a poke in the eye.
There, I said it.
Dig it, and I’ll see you when I see you.
Peace
Larry
*Though I’m not 100% sure what I’m going to do yet (this is all a day to day process) I suspect that I may have to reduce the posting frequency for a time
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos).
The end of another week is here, and so is your weekly helping of soulful goodness in the form of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. We take to the airwaves of the interwebs this – and every – Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at the time of broadcast you can always fall by the blog and grab the show (or any of the previous 100 episodes) in MP3 form.
The tune I bring you today comes from late in the career of one of my favorite funky singers, Mr Bobby Byrd.
Though he is best known as a part of the James Brown galaxy of stars, Byrd recorded today’s selection under the auspices of Henry Stone’s Florida-based TK label.
Byrd recorded some of the finest non-James Brown JB-related 45s of the 60s and early 70s.
Among them was the epic, hard charging and undeniably ass-kicking ‘I Know You Got Soul’ (later flipped and reworked by no less than Eric B and Rakim) ‘Hot Pants – I’m Coming, I’m Coming’ as well as all manner of right-hand-man-isms alongside the Godfather himself (‘What you g’on play now? Bobby I don’t know, by whatsoever I play it’s got to be funky!).
Byrd was an original member of the Famous Flames, a pianist and a great, rough-edged singer.
It’s almost impossible to separate Bobby Byrd from the mighty James Brown, but that that’s what happened in 1973 when Byrd left the fold and went out on his own.
He recorded for a few different labels before ending up on the TK subsidiary International Brothers in 1974.
‘Back From the Dead’, co-written and produced by none other than Clarence Reid is a slightly slicker confection than folk used to his King sides might expect. It is a little jarring to hear Byrd working outside of the familiar James Brown aural landscape, but he works well with the proto-disco of the TK crew.
You also get to hear Bobby drop gems like
‘Like a vampire from a horror movie, girl you gave me something groovy!’ ‘Brought me back from the dead!’
Whether or not the title of the song was supposed to be prophetic is tough to say. Byrd either entered or orbited near the Top 40 more than half a dozen times during the James Brown years. After leaving his last two charting singles (of which ‘Back From the Dead’ was the final one) hit #82 and #57 respectively.
Bobby Byrd (who was married to another JB stalwart, Vicki Anderson) passed away not long after Brown in September of 2007.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Monday.
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.
How about a little sister funk to get you through the middle of the week?
I have my man Tony Crampton to thank for this very tasty slice of vinyl as he dropped it on me last year out of the goodness of his heart (along with a few other killers).
Always happy to pick up another 45 on the mighty Okeh label, I was also happy to finally hear the voice of Azie Mortimer.
Her name was very familiar but I had never heard her music.
Mortimer’s discography (mostly 60s) was not extensive, and from what I can tell she spent a fair amount of time recording as a jazz singer, which makes ‘Prove It’ all the more surprising.
Hailing from the late end of the Okeh catalog (it was released in late 1969 or early 1970 and is the second to last single they issued) ‘Prove It’ is a funky mover (dig that thick and juicy wah wah guitar). Mortimer has a rich, sexy voice and the production by Don Clay is excellent.
Clay was a Chicago-based writer/producer that worked for a variety of local labels (including Chess) during the 60s. According to Robert Pruter’s excellent ‘Chicago Soul’ Clay worked as Azie Mortimer’s road manager and producer in the late 60s, taking what was basically a singer with a jazzy inclination and pushing her (wisely it seems) to do harder, more soulful material for his own Number One label (which also featured sides by Roy Hytower among others) and then for Okeh.
She only recorded two 45s for Okeh (and only one more after that that I’m aware of).
I’d love to know more about her.
I hope you dig the tune 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.
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