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All posts for the month October, 2017

Newbury Park – My God and I b/w Green Tambourine

Posted by funky16corners on October 29, 2017
Posted in: cover versions, Culture, folk, Iron Leg, Music, pop, Sunshine Pop. 1 Comment

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Newbury Park

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Listen/Download – Newbury Park – My God and I

Listen/Download – Newbury Park – Green Tambourine

Greetings all.

Today’s selection is proof yet again that following musical obscurities down the rabbit hole often leads to good things.

Though I remember seeing Newbury Park’s LP show up in old finds lists back in the days of Soulstrut, it wasn’t until I became obsessed with the music of John Buck Wilkin that I set out to find myself a copy.

Though Wilkin was a fairly obscure (but excellent) artist in his post-Ronny and the Daytona’s years, his songs really got around, being covered by Bobbie Gentry, Odetta, and Bobby Vee among others.

Newbury Park appears to have been Southern California-based, recording two (increasingly) obscure albums for Cream and Creative Sound in 1971 and 1972.

They also appear to have had a Christian bent, which may be why they covered ‘My God And I’.

Their self-titled Cream LP is a great slice of sunshiney, well-produced pop, with an interesting selection of cover material (Wilkin, Lemon Pipers, Nilsson and Dorsey Burnette) alongside several group originals (which lean in a folkier direction).

The group’s version of Wilkin’s ‘My God and I’ replaces the weariness of the original with a kind of earnestness that changes the basic feel of the song.

Their version of the Lemon Piper’s ‘Green Tambourine’is very groovy indeed, with a subtly funky underpinning to an arrangement that replaces the psychedelicisms of the original with sunshine pop harmonies.

Though it never really rocks. if groovy harmony pop is your thing, you’ll probably find a lot to dig on this record.

I hope you like it, and I’ll see you all next week.

Peace

Larry

 

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The Gentle Soul – You Move Me

Posted by funky16corners on October 22, 2017
Posted in: 45s, Culture, folk rock, Iron Leg, Music, pop, Rock, Sunset Strip, Uncategorized. 1 Comment

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The Gentle Soul

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Listen/Download – The Gentle Soul – You Move Me

Greetings all.

Today’s selection is one of my favorite recent finds, grooving on that good-timey, LA folk rock thing.

The Gentle Soul were the duet of Pamela Polland and Rick Stanley. They recorded a pair of 45s for Columbia in 1967 and then an LP for Epic in 1968.

‘You Move Me’ sounds like it could have been recorded in 1965 or 1966, leaning heavily on a Mamas and Papas, early times Jefferson Airplane vibe, with 12 string guitars, tight harmonies and tasty pop hooks.

The flipside, ‘Tell Me Love’ moves in a more psychedelic direction, with a great arrangement by Jack Nitzsche.

Their 1968 LP (that I have yet to score a copy of) was produced by Terry Melcher and features the cream of LA studio heads, as well as an appearance by Van Dyke Parks on harpsichord.

Pamela Polland went on to tour and record with Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen. Rick Stanley seems to have gone off into a Hare Krishna bag, recording what looks like a devotional album in 1970.

I hope you dig the sounds and I’ll see you next week.

Peace

Larry

 

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Dick Hyman – The Minotaur

Posted by funky16corners on October 15, 2017
Posted in: Uncategorized. 1 Comment

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Dick Hyman and the Lunar Module

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Listen/Download – Dick Hyman – The Minotaur

Greetings all.

I have something very groovy indeed for you to slide into your earholes this week.

I have had the album you see before you on my shelves for many years, but it had been unjustly neglected until I was flipping through LPs and decided to pull it out and give it a spin.

My instincts tell me that although I own a grip of Dick Hyman records (he has appeared in this space before) , this one did not grab me when I bought it.

That said, exploring it this week, I found much to dig, especially today’s selection (which, oddly enough I own in a truncated version on 45).

Hyman was a prominent NY based studio keyboardist and jazz pianist ( I actually got to see him play back in the 70s when I was a kid) who was associated for years with Enoch Light’s various and sundry projects.

He was also a dedicated explorer and early advocate for the Moog synthesizer. His experiments on the instrument are some of the finest, intellectually stimulating exercises in that particular sub-genre (his version of James Brown’s ‘Give It Up and Turnit A Loose’ from ‘The Age of Electronicus) is a huge fave of mine).

‘The Minotaur’ is a deeply hypnotic piece that presages electronic music of the 70s/80s/90s and beyond, especially stuff like Neu and their followers Stereolab.

Using only the Moog and a rhythm box, Hyman creates a sound with roots in Mediterranean trance music yet firmly on the space age tip.

It is quite trippy once you let it bounce around between your ears for a while.

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

See you next week.

Peace

Larry

 

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Iron Leg Radio Show #78

Posted by funky16corners on October 8, 2017
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment

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Why hello there!

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Playlist

ILRS#78 – Boettcher-rama Pt1

Goldebriars – Pretty Girls and Rolling Stones (Epic)
Goldebriars – Shenedoah (Epic
Action Unlimited – My Heart Cries Out (Parkway
Action Unlimited – Thinking To Myself (Parkway)
The Association – Don’t Blame It On Me (Valiant)
The Association – Message of Our Love (Valiant)
The Association – Along Comes Mary (Valiant)

Jacobson and Tansley – Dream With Me (Filmways)
Jacobson and Tansley – I Knew You Back When Babe (Filmways)
Jonathan Moore – I Didn’t Ever Know (Columbia)
Jonathan Moore – London Bridge (Columbia)
Lee Mallory – That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be (Valiant)
Lee Mallory – Many Are The Times (Valiant)

Plastic People – It’s Not Right (Kapp)
Plastic People – This Life of Mine (Kapp)
Something Young – Oh Don’t Come Crying Back To Me (Fontana)
Something Young – The Words I’m Seeking (Fontana)
Summer’s Children – Too Young To Marry (Date)
Summer’s Children – Milk and Honey (Date)
Your Gang – Tomorrow’s Dreams (Mercury)

Listen/Download -Iron Leg Radio Show Episode #78 – 144MB/256kbps

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Greetings all.

This month begins (finally) my look at the work of Curt Boettcher as performer, composer, producer and arranger starting in 1964 and moving on into the early 70s.

There are a bunch of very cool obscurities and a couple of utterly non-obscure things, all with that special Boettcher touch.

There will be two more episodes (and maybe more…) next month and then again in December.

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Also…

It’s time for the 2017 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive.

Since Iron Leg, and the Iron Leg Radio Show podcast are dependent of the continued health of Funky16Corners, and continue under the banner of the Funky16Corners Radio Network, it behooves me to post these links here, too.

The pledging will also take a slightly different form this year, moving to Patreon (click here or on the logo below to go to the Funky16Corners page) , where you will be able to spread your contributions out over the entire year, which will help cover the ongoing server/broadcast/hardware expenses. This year has seen the upgrade of a couple of crucial pieces of equipment, and any help you fine people can provide will keep the machinery moving here at Funky16Corners central. So please dig deep so we can continue to do the same!

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So pull down the ones and zeros, dig it and I’ll see you next week.

Make sure you subscribe to the podcast in iTunes!

Peace

Larry

 

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PS Head over to Funky16Corners

Kenny Rankin – Peaceful

Posted by funky16corners on October 1, 2017
Posted in: Culture, folk rock, Iron Leg, Music, Original versions, pop, Rock, Uncategorized. Leave a comment

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Kenny Rankin

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Listen/Download – Kenny Rankin – Peaceful

Greetings all.

I come to you this week with something especially groovy, and in the words of Slim Gaillard, “mellow as a cello’.

I always knew of Kenny Rankin as a kind of pop/jazz singer, but it was only a few years ago that someone hepped me to his 1967 debut album ‘Mind Dusters’.

Though Rankin had done some work as a songwriter and pop singer prior to ‘Mind Dusters’, his 1967 album is a really nice collection of the kind of folk/jazz/pop fusion (with a tiny bit of period specific psych touches) that was making the rounds back in the day.

The track I bring you today is a song that I knew for years, but had no idea was a Kenny Rankin original.

‘Peaceful’ was first recorded on ‘Mind Dusters’ but soon became a minor pop standard of sorts, being covered by Bobbie Gentry, Georgie Fame (who had a UK hit with it in 1968) and the Friends of Distinction, and then a few years later by Helen Reddy, who had her third US hit (after ‘I Don’t Know How To Love Him’ and ‘I Am Woman’) with the song.

Rankin’s version moves along at a brisk pace, with orchestra backing and a sitar in the chorus. The song has especially lovely chord changes, and his singing is great.

Rankin’s 1969 LP ‘Family’ is also excellent, continuing in a similar vein with covers of the Beatles, Buffalo Springfield and Bert Jansch.

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

Peace

Larry

 

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________________________________________________

If you dig what we do here or over at Funky16Corners, please consider clicking on the Patreon link and throwing something into the yearly operating budget! Do it and we’ll send you some groovy Funky16Corners Radio Network (and related) stickers!

Example

_______________________________________________

PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.