Juanita Brooks RIP

Juanita Brooks, back in the day…

Listen/Download – The Explosions – Hip Drop Pt1 – MP3

Greetings all.
I had something else planned for today, but over the weekend one of the good folks at Soulstrut passed along the sad news that the lead singer of the Explosions, Juanita Brooks had passed away at the age of 55 (after complications from back surgery).
If you’re a regular attendee at the club Funky16, you’ll already be familiar, if not with Ms Brooks, then with the Explosions. The group recorded (under the aegis of the late, great Eddie Bo) a couple of the hottest funk 45s to come out of New Orleans, including the unfuckwithable ‘Garden of Four Trees’ (which I am sad to say still eludes me after lo these many years) as well as the tune I bring you today (and have brought you a few times before) the dependable, floor-filling fan favorite, ‘Hip Drop’.
Brooks came from a musical family, and was still a teenager when she recorded with the mighty Bo.
She went on to become a performer on the musical theater stage, in New Orleans and off Broadway. She also spent time as a backing vocalist, and performing live in New Orleans.
Though the Explosions recorded three 45s (the only three records released on Bo’s Gold Cup imprint), Brooks was only he lead singer on two of them, ‘Hip Drop’ and the impossibly rare ‘Jockey Ride’. Oddly enough, the lead singer on ‘Garden of Four Trees’ – which is credited as the Explosions featuring Juanita Brooks – was in fact (according to Bo) actually Marilyn Barbarin (who recorded the insanely good ‘Reborn’ on Bo Sound).
As I said before, ‘Hip Drop’ is a fan fave, and as I have witnessed personally, a guaranteed floor-filler. Though it lacks the ultra-funky punch of ‘Garden of Four Trees’, it’s just over two and a half minutes of fun, with a bright, sing-along chorus, ringing tambourine and interjections from Mr. Bo himself.
It’s a longtime fave of mine, and I can still remember the thrill I felt when I finally scored a copy for my record box.
Juanita Brooks will be missed.
See you on Wednesday.

Peace

Larry

PS Don’t forget to head over to Iron Leg for some groovy folk rock.

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

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Funky16Corners Featured at Dust and Grooves

My youngest son and I discussing psyche 45s…

Greetings all.
I just wanted to let you know that yours truly is featured over at the most excellent Dust and Grooves blog. Owned and operated by photographer Eilon Paz, Dust and Grooves concentrates on crate diggers and their culture, featuring all kinds of digging stories and more importantly Eilon’s excellent photography.
The post centers around the then recently deceased Eddie Bo, and I put together a mini-mix (linked at Dust and Grooves) for inclusion therein.
Many friends of Funky16Corners have already been featured, including DJ Prestige, the mighty Mr. Finewine, Pat James Longo, and Cosmo Baker among others.
It’s a very cool enterprise and I’m proud to be a part of it.
Fall by and check it out when you get a chance.

Peace

Larry

Eddie Bo 1930-2009: Eddie Bo and the Chain Gang – Disco Party Pts 1&2

Bo on the 88’s

“Listen – Eddie Bo and the Chain Gang – Disco Party Pt1 – MP3″

“Listen – Eddie Bo and the Chain Gang – Disco Party Pt2 – MP3″

Greetings all.

I’m sad to say that it’s time to bring our week of tributes to the mighty Eddie Bo to a close.
The Funky16Corners blog has been around for almost five years, and though I’ve made it a regular practice to mark the passing of great musicians, this is the first time that an entire weeks posting has been so directed.
I’m sure there are some among you who might question a decision like that, with what our French brethren saying Chacun à son gout and all, but this has been a special (and especially sad) occasion.
The whole Funky16Corners bag has always been set up around the idea that the world is full of great music and a lot of it hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. The catalog of Eddie Bo is an especially egregious example of this problem.
Bo was making records for well over 50 years, as a sideman, vocalist, composer, arranger and producer, and much of it was incredible, some of it, notably the records in his funk period, were game changing, laying down ideas and grooves that still have the power to make you take a step back almost 40 years down the line.
Yet today, very few outside of the collector world know who Bo was.
That’s never been a problem here, and as long as I’m still turning up Eddie Bo records, it will continue.
I’ve read that there’s going to be a tribute/gathering at the Rock’n’Bowl in New Orleans on April 1st, and it’s a certainty that at the Jazz Fest, and at the Poderosa Stomp his name will be called from many a stage. I only wish I could be there to hear it in person.
That all said, the passing of Bo leaves a huge space in the great river of sound (to borrow a phrase) that won’t soon be filled. According to Eddie’s official site, there will be no traditional funeral service, so any images of a New Orleans jazz funeral, with a strutting second line will have to be conjured up in your own mind as you listen to his music.
I’d like to close out the week with a record of Bo’s that doesn’t get much shine. Whether it’s because it carries in it’s grooves one of the more relaxed vibes in his catalog, or because it carries the word “disco” in it’s title, or more likely because like so many of his records it’s only known to the dedicated few doesn’t really matter, If you haven’t heard ‘Disco Party Pts 1&2’ before, you will have done so after pulling down the ones and zeros.
‘Disco Party’ – as far as I can tell the only record credited to Eddie Bo and the Chain Gang – has long been a fave of mine. I’ve carried it in my DJ box for a while, whipping it out when the mood hits, always to appreciative nods. I’m not sure of the release date, but I’d guess sometime in the mid-70s. It’s the second to last Bo Sound 45 (‘When Your Finger’s On the Funk’ being the last), and though I wish I had a cleaner copy to digi-ma-tize, I hope you dig it anyway.
Keep Eddie Bo and his family in your hearts and on your minds, and I’ll be back on Monday.

Peace

Larry

NOTE: I just saw this over at the B-Side:

A bank account for the Eddie Bo Memorial Fund to help cover funeral costs has been set up. Those who wish to help can send contributions to:

Eddie Bo Memorial Fund
P. O. Box 57175
New Orleans, Louisiana 70157-7175

Eddie Bo 1930-2009: Funky16Corners Radio v.67 – Eddie Bo In Soulville

Funky16Corners Radio v.67 – Eddie Bo in Soulville

Playlist

Barbara George – Satisfied With Your Love (Seven B)
Eddie Bo – Just Like a Monkey (Cinderella)
Eddie Bo – Let’s Let It Roll (Chess)
Mary Jane Hooper – That’s How Strong My Love Is (World Pacific)
Eddie Bo – What You Gonna Do (Seven B)
Eddie Bo – Fallin’ In Love Again (Seven B)
Rainbows – Good Thing Goin’ (Instant)
Rainbows – Key To My Heart (Instant)
Eddie Bo – Fence of Love (Seven B)
Eddie Bo – Skate It Out (Seven B)
Eddie Bo – All I Ask Of You (Seven B)
Skip Easterling – Keep the Fire Burning (Alon)
Skip Easterling – The Grass Looks Greener (Alon)
Skip Easterling – Just One More Time (Alon)
Eddie Bo – S.G.B. (Seven B)
Eddie Bo – A Solid Foundation (Seven B)

To hear this mix, head on over to the Funky16Corners Radio Podcast Archive

Greetings all.

Though Eddie Bo has been featured prominently in several editions of the Funky16Corners Radio podcast, as well as the mix I reran on Sunday, the news of his passing made me dig a little bit deeper.
I’ve featured something from just about every stage of Eddie Bo’s career over the years, but the main focus has always been on what I consider to be his greatest work, i.e. the 1967-1973 funk sides. Despite the undeniable greatness of his entire catalogue my belief is that he hit his artistic zenith with the funk 45s he created under his own name, several pseudonyms and for other artists.
However… in the years running up to that period (and crossing over in 1967/8) Bo was also making great, pure soul music. During this period Bo’s triumphs were (in my opinion) greatest as composer and performer. None of the records in this mix could be fairly described as falling on the wrong side of the style vs substance equation. This is not to say that his funk records did, but rather that pure funk is much more of style driven sound, less know for it’s songs per se and more for it’s grooves (and Bo crafted some of the finest ever heard in the funk genre).
Of course there are those among you who might disagree where I’ve drawn a line here, but that’s kind of the way it always is on the soul/funk divide, i.e. is it more soul, funky or all the way over into funk? Ultimately it doesn’t matter, because between the previous mix, the individual tracks I’m posting this week and the previous New Orleans funk mixes in the Funky16Corners Podcast Archive, the bases have all pretty much been covered (and of not completely, enough to get anyone going).
That said, this is not by any means a comprehensive mix. The earlier things get in the Eddie Bo discography, the more I discover that there are tons of records (mostly things he did with other artists) that I haven’t dug up, or even heard yet. So, if there’s a favorite missing, know that the search always continues, and a record not included as of yet may very well appear sometime in the future.
Things get going with a record that I long considered the lost treasure of the mid-period Bo discography. Barbara George had had one of the biggest New Orleans hits with 1962’s ‘I Know (You Don’t Love Me No More)’. She recorded for AFO and Sue in 1962 and 1963 and then dropped out of sight for a time, only to return to recording briefly in 1967 with none other than Eddie Bo. The tune he recorded with George (and wrote, under the pseudonym ‘Joan Parker’) , ‘Satisfied With Your Love’ is one of those great “shoulda been a hit” numbers. It’s the perfect combination of singer and song, with a sophisticated arrangement. George would not return to the studio until the 70s, and then would promptly vanish from vinyl once again.
‘Just Like a Monkey’, one of Bo’s sides for the Cinderella label is an energetic bit of dance craze boilerplate, mixing a modified Bo Diddley beat (one step removed from the Miracles’ ‘Mickey’s Monkey’) with a repetitive horn riff, and Bo trading vocals with a female backing group.
‘Let’s Let It Roll’ from 1964 sees Bo borrowing liberally from Curtis Mayfield, though all of the Impressions polish is gone, with the familiar sounding tune given a nice, rough Crescent City reading. It’s also a great Bo vocal.
Mary Jane Hooper should be a familiar name to followers of all things Bo. She recorded a few 45s for Bo’s Power/Power-Pac label, including the mighty ‘I’ve Got Reasons’, and the selection in this mix ‘That’s How Strong My Love Is’. This tune was issued locally, and later picked up for national distribution by World Pacific. It has a great, driving beat with a dynamite vocal by Hooper and backing from Eddie in the chorus.
Interestingly enough, the 45 with ‘What You Gonna Do’ and ‘Fallin’ In Love Again’ was the very next single released on Seven B after ‘Pass the Hatchet’. Both sides are energetic soul with great guitar, vocals by Bo and horn backing.
The next two tracks were from Bo’s brief period providing tracks for the Instant label. I’ve never been able to find out anything about the Rainbows. Both sides of their 45 (‘Good Thing Goin’ and ‘Key To My Heart’) were Bo compositions, and it sounds like he provided the arrangements (and backing vocals) on the 45. ‘Good Thing Goin’ is a mid-tempo shuffler with the guitar placed oddly high in the mix (and the organ oddly low). ‘Key To My Heart’ is a ballad with another odd mix.
Bo’s ‘Fence of Love’ is one of my favorite from his time with Seven B. It’s simply a great song, his piano rides high in the mix and his vocal is outstanding. I really dig the way the tempo picks up ever so slightly toward the chorus, as well as the drum/piano breakdown in the middle of the song.
Aside from the Barbara George side, ‘Skate It Out’ sounds to me like the hit that got away. It’s one of the few cuts here that isn’t in any way idiosyncratically ‘New Orleans’, treading on more traditional soul/pop grounds, working a dance craze vibe with Bo on the organ and a great blaring horn section that builds toward the end.
The flipside of ‘Skate It Out’, ‘All I Ask of You’ is a great bit of waltz-inflected southern soul, with an outstanding vocal performance by Bo, and a great arrangement.
The next three tracks are from Bo’s collaboration with blue-eyed soul singer Skip Easterling. Easterling, who later made some excellent funky sides for Instant had the opportunity to work with both Bo and Allen Toussaint, and for my money his Bo sides are his best. The finest of these is ‘Keep the Fire Burning’. A record with a Northern Soul following ‘Keep the Fire Burning’ is a relentless, pounding side with a wild vocal by Easterling that at times sounds like he was following a guide vocal from Bo himself.
The flip of that record, ‘The Grass Looks Greener’ is a wonderful southern soul ballad, as is ‘Just One More Time’.
The last two tracks in this mix are both sides of the second to last 45 that Bo would record under his own name for the Seven B label. The last would be ‘Lover and a Friend’, which in this case can serve as the dividing line/jumping off point into the funk years. ‘S.G.B.’ (or stone graveyard business) is really the soulful side of Bo edging up into proto-funk territory, with a breakdown that borrows from James Brown’s ‘Out of Sight’ and an opening line played by what sounds like a soprano saxophone.
The flipside, ‘A Solid Foundation’ is a kinder/gentler Bo, with a mellower soul sound and one of the more sophisticated arrangements from this period. The horn section is tasteful and subdued, the female backing vocals are excellent and Bo’s piano gets lots of space to shine through.
Hopefully this mix will give the listener a good jumping off point for the mid-period sounds of Bo. Unfortunately, no quality reissue company has stepped forward to give Bo’s work the attention it deserves. As I said earlier, no matter how much Bo I bring you here, I can guarantee you that there’s a lot more out there that I haven’t been able to get my hands on. The time is long since past for someone like Sundazed to head down to New Orleans, sort out the rights and present the music of Eddie Bo to a modern audience with the proper sound quality and annotation it deserves.
I hope you dig the mix, and I’ll be back on Friday with one more record.

Peace

Larry

PS –  Make sure to fall by Red Kelly’s ‘B-Side’ blog for a nice piece on Eddie Bo’s Chess sides

Eddie Bo 1930-2009: If It’s Good To You (It’s Good For You)

The Mighty Eddie Bo

“Listen – Eddie Bo – If It’s Good To You (It’s Good For You) Pt1 – MP3″

“Listen – Eddie Bo – If It’s Good To You (It’s Good For You) Pt2 – MP3″

Greetings all.

Welcome back to the simultaneously sad and joyous vibe that comes along with a week dedicated to marking the passing of one of Funky16Corners musical heroes, Edwin Bocage aka Eddie Bo.
First off I was pleased this morning when I saw that Bo finally got his props on the New York Times obit page. Say what you want, but the NYT is still the paper of record (as long as papers exist, and that may not be all that long) and their obit age is really the last stop for all manner of interesting and important people on their way to Valhalla. I’ve discovered all kinds of people there, and hopefully someone will read about Bo, have their curiosity piqued and start digging.
The tune I bring you today is another Eddie Bo funk classic that like ‘Check Your Bucket’ somehow fell through the cracks. It’s entirely possible (likely) that I was holding it back for use in another NOLA funk mix, or it’s also possible that it got lost in my crates and I kept passing it by/forgetting about it when assembling said mixes.
Either way, it’s a moot point because today I bring you parts one and two of one of Bo’s serious funk burners ‘If It’s Good To You (It’s Good For You)’.
Released in 1969 (I believe the immediate follow up to ‘Hook and Sling’) ‘If It’s Good…’ is a machine running on two distinct layers. The first is mainly composed of Bo’s wild vocal and a simple three note (and two chord) guitar riff. The second – and this is where things do get all New Orleansy – is the frenetic drumming of the mighty James Black. If it is to be said that Bo ever had a “muse”, during the years when he was creating next level funk 45s it was none other than Black.
I spent a lot of years playing the drums (not at a high level of skill, but whatever) and the first time (and the second, ninth and seventy-fifth) I heard Black’s drumming on Chuck Carbo’s ‘Can I Be Your Squeeze’ my hair verily stood on end. The things he was able to do with his right foot on that bass drum, and the interplay between the snare – where Black brought the essence of New Orleans second lining to bear – and the rest of the kit (and the band) were absolutely remarkable. It was only years later that I found out (completely by accident) that James Black had also had a long and fruitful career as a jazz drummer.
That all said, both parts of ‘If It’s Good To You (It’s Good For You)’ are exceedingly groovy, and worth listen.
I’ll back tomorrow with a new Funky16Corners Radio mix.

Peace

Larry

Eddie Bo 1930-2009: Three Faces of Check Your Bucket

The OG Bo-Sound issue

The UK pressing on Action

The Jamaican pressing on Grimm Ben

“Listen – Eddie Bo – Check Your Bucket Pt1 – MP3″

“Listen – Eddie Bo – Check Your Bucket Pt2 – MP3″

Greetings all.

We continue our week long tribute to the genius of the late, great Eddie Bo by dropping one of his more popular sides, which ironically has never been featured here before*.
‘Check Your Bucket’ was Bo’s 1970 follow up to 1969s ‘Hook and Sling’ which was a Top 10 R&B hit. The record is not only fine and dandy on a purely musical level, but is a great example of post-hit momentum, and how the charts don’t always tell the whole story.
As dynamic as ‘Hook and Sling’ was – understandably a hit – when the sweet funky strains of ‘Check Your Bucket’ first make contact with your ears, you can’t help but wonder why this particular record didn’t take Bo even further into the public consciousness.
The tune has a strong, driving bass and drums combo with dueling rhythm guitars, subdued horns and a fantastic vocal by Bo. The female backing vocals provide great interplay with Bo (check when the fall in with ‘Satisfaction!’) like a reverse of his own backing contributions to records like the Explosions ‘Hip Drop’. It’s a dancers record if ever there was one.
Bo released the record in 1970, and as far as I’ve been able to discover it didn’t make a dent in the charts. What ‘Check Your Bucket’ did have going in its favor was national distribution, and what I can only guess was the kind of ‘underground’ success that can follow serious word of mouth, perhaps via popularity in the dance clubs. Not only did ‘Check Your Bucket’ get released in the UK (on the Trojan records subsidiary Action**) but there was also a Jamaican pressing on the incredibly cool looking (and very obscure) Grimm Ben label***. It is posible that the record gained some popularity in the islands due to the Action pressing and its connections to the Trojan label. The b-side of the Grimm Ben 45 is a reggae cover of ‘Snoopy vs the Red Baron’.
Though several Bo and Bo-related sides had local New Orleans pressings and then stepped up to national labels (like ‘Lover and a Friend’ and Chuck Carbo’s ‘Can I Be Your Squeeze’) I can think of only one other instance of one of his sides getting released locally and then again overseas, that being the Curley Moore and the Kool Ones disc which was issued in the UK on Pye. Even though its popularity wasn’t registering “officially” via the charts, ‘Check Your Bucket’ was in demand.
When I first considered this situation I thought that this may have had something to do with the popularity of ‘Hook and Sling’, in the sense that people liked that record, saw it as successful so they figured they’d bank on Eddie Bo one more time. The flaws in this argument are as follows. The UK pressing of ‘Check Your Bucket’ wasn’t released until almost two full years after the Bo Sound issue, and the Jamaican version appears to be, uh..how do they say “unofficial”. Also, ‘Check Your Bucket’ does not appear to have been the immediate follow-up to ‘Hook and Sling’ (that was ‘If It’s Good To You It’s Good For You’ on Scram***).
Unless one of you good folks has the answer, it shall remain for all intents and purposes a mystery.
It’s a sweet one though.
I’ll be back tomorrow with one of Eddie’s heavier funk sides.

Peace

Larry

* ‘Check Your Bucket’ was one of the old ‘Eddie Bo Jam of the Month’ features back in the days of the Funky16Corners web zine

**The Action label had an interesting history, mainly reissuing US funk and soul 45s for the UK market, including sides by Betty Harris, Bobby Marchan, Clifford Curry, OV Wright and others.

***Which will be featured here tomorrow, followed on Wednesday with a new edition of Funky16Corners Radio devoted to the soul sounds of Eddie Bo

Eddie Bo 1930-2009: Eddie & His Heavy Friends

NOTE: This mix, featuring the wide range of work Eddie Bo did with other artists (as writer, producer, arranger and often all of the above) was originally featured here in May of 2008. It’s not complete but it does give a pretty good overview of this side of Eddie’s career.
As the week goes on I plan on featuring a few more individual tracks, as well as a new “odds and sods” mix featuring some of Eddies earlier work and a couple of tunes by others that didn’t make it into this mix.
I hope you dig it.
Peace
Larry

Funky16Corners Radio v.49 – Eddie Bo Gets It Together Behind His Many Heavy Friends

Playlist

Roger & the Gypsies – Pass the Hatchet Pts 1&2 (Seven B)
Art Neville – Hook Line and Sinker (Instant)
Candy Phillips – Timber Pt1 (Atlantic)
Chris Kenner – All Night Rambler (Instant)
Eddie Lang – Something Within Me (Seven B)
Little Buck – Little Boy Blue (Seven B)
Mary Jane Hooper – I’ve Got Reasons (Power Pac)
Oliver Morgan – Roll Call (Seven B)
Chuck Carbo – Can I Be Your Squeeze (Canyon)
Bobby Williams Group – Boogaloo Mardi Gras Pts 1&2 (Capitol)
Curley Moore & the Kool Ones – Shelley’s Rubber Band (House of the Fox)
Roy Ward – Horse With a Freeze Pt1 (Seven B)
Curly Moore & the Kool Ones – Funky Yeah (House of the Fox)
Oliver Morgan – The La La Man (Seven B)
Sonny Jones – Sissy Walk Pt1 (Scram)
The Explosions – Hip Drop Pt1 (Gold Cup)
James K Nine – Live It Up (Federal)
Doug Anderson – Hey Mama Here Comes the Preacher (Janus)

To hear this mix, head on over to the Funky16Corners Radio Podcast Archive

Greetings all.

The mix I bring you today – Funky16Corners Radio v.49 – is one that I’ve been thinking about since I started doing these podcasts two years ago. If you stop by here on the reg you already know that I ride for New Orleans legend Eddie Bo in a big way.

Bo, who’s career stretches from the late 40’s up until the present day made many a fine record under his own name (the biggest hit he was ever associated with was his own ‘Hook and Sling’, an R&B Top 10 hit in 1969) it is perhaps fair to say that his biggest mark was made behind the scenes. As composer, producer and arranger, Eddie Bo worked on some of the finest soul and funk records to come out of the Crescent City in the 60’s and 70’s.

Bo had the good fortune (and the smarts) to work with many a fantastic vocalist and perhaps the greatest of all the great New Orleans drummers, James Black.

Back in 2000 when I started the Funky16Corners web zine, I made the music of Eddie Bo a regular feature. When I moved into the blog-o-mos-phere four years later, I continued to salute the man and his work via write ups on individual tracks and inclusion of many of these records in New Orleans funk and soul mixes.

My discovery of Bo’s side projects has been itself a work in progress, digging up new records all the time. Through the years I’ve always wanted to put together a mix of these records that would show the breadth of Eddie Bo’s talents as a discoverer of talent, crafter of records and writer of great songs.

This past weekend, I was thinking about how I was going to lead up to Funky16Corners Radio v.50, which I plan on dropping during this year’s pledge drive, inspirado struck and I decided that in the spirit of keeping the funk flag flying, and the maintenance of forward motion, the time to collect these songs was nigh.

Though many of the records in this mix have appeared on the blog over the years, there are a few killers here that I’ve never shared. I won’t go into great detail, only because I have before, so if you have any specific questions (that can’t be answered via a “Funky16Corners _____________” Google search) ask them in the comments and I’ll do what I can to answer them.

One final note, in the spirit of full disclosure, the recording of ‘Little Boy Blue’ by Little Buck (which employs the same backing track as Eddie Bo & Inez Cheatham’s ‘Lover and a Friend’ is lifted from a tape made for me years ago by a reader of the web zine. I’ve never been able to score a copy of my own, but it’s such a great record I couldn’t put this mix together without it.

That said, I hope you dig the sounds and I’ll be back later in the week with some new discoveries.

.Peace
Larry