Remembering Freddie McCoy

The Great Freddie McCoy

Listen/Download -Freddie McCoy – Funk Drops

Listen/Download -Freddie McCoy – My Babe

Listen/Download -Freddie McCoy – Pet Sounds

Greetings all.

I come to you today with a couple of tunes, posted in the memory of one of the great soul jazz vibists, Mr. Freddie McCoy. This post was originally planned for Wednesday, but I had to stop and take a minute to remember the great Willie Mitchell, so here we are today.
They also come to you courtesy of one of the stranger stories to find me since the inception of this blog.
Back in October of 2006 I posted one of my the most hypnotic numbers in McCoy’s catalog, the title track from his 1969 LP ‘Gimme Some’. Over the course of the next few years, the post drew some interesting comments, the most interesting being one from McCoy himself (then living in Morocco under the name Dit Ahmed Sofi) in May of this year.
Later that year he contacted me offline, telling me that he had some new music recorded (on guitar, no less) and asking of I knew someone who might be interested in putting it out.
About a month after that, someone posting with McCoy’s WordPress log-in left a message that he had passed away on September 27th.
Naturally, this alarmed the family members (his children, nieces and nephews) and ex-band member Chuck Purro, who had posted in, and were following the thread.
Very soon after the posting of the death notice, I received an e-mail (from McCoy’s account) informing me that he had in fact passed on and that I would receive further information as soon as possible.
It wasn’t until just before Christmas that his children posted a message on the blog that they had gotten in touch with his family in Morocco, and had confirmed his passing.
This is sad news, but especially so when you consider that McCoy was – at least in my opinion – the finest, purely “soul jazz” vibraphonist I’ve ever heard.
There were of course many vibists that traveled through the soul jazz genre, including masters like Cal Tjader, Bobby Hutcherson, Gary McFarland, Gary Burton, Johnny Lytle and past masters like Milt Jackson and Lionel Hampton, but none of them – despite many brilliant recordings – really found their home in that particular sound.
Freddie McCoy did.
Starting out as a sideman with Johnny Hammond Smith, Freddie McCoy recorded his first date as a leader n 1963, and his last in 1971 (almost all for Prestige*).
Working with a supporting cast that included Joanne Brackeen and Bernard Purdie, McCoy, like almost every jazzer not working exclusively on the “out” side, spent much of the 60s mixing his own original compositions with covers of contemporary pop and soul material. A survey of his albums (all out of print and some harder to find than others) reveals that while the results were occasionally pedestrian, they were also at times positively transcendant.
The (very) few details I have picked up about his post-recording years, suggest he spent some time living a quasi-hippy lifestyle in Hawaii (with some members of his band), spent time on an ashram in India, living his last days in North Africa.
1960s soul jazz was by and large the province of organists (a major focus here at the ‘Corners) and guitarists, with vibraphonists often working on the periphery as supporting players. Freddie McCoy took a skill rooted in hard bop, mixed it with rhythm and blues, soul, funk and even psychedelia and produced a truly unique sound that to this day has yet to receive its due.
Oddly enough, after first hearing that Freddie might have passed away, I started working on a mix (which will drop here in a week or two) of soul jazz vibes, that was to include a couple of prime tracks by him. It still will, but confirmation of his death made be dip back into the crates to record a few more cuts to post by themselves, and to pull one more – which had appeared here as part of a previous mix, and is a  particular fave – out of the archives.
The three tracks I bring you today by no means represent all facets of McCoy’s sound, but they should give you the impetus to go out and dig for more, and maybe (just maybe) some enterprising soul at a record company might be inspired to put together a comp of his finest work so that a new generation can groove to his sounds.
The first two tracks come from his 1966 ‘Funk Drops’ session for Prestige. The title cut features a repeating baritone sax figure (by Laurdine Patrick) against Joanne Brackeen’s organ and McCoy’s vibes. While not out and out funk, the sound here is well on its way in that direction, and is the kind of hard hitting stuff that Mods and their ilk have been sliding across dance floors to for decades.
The second track from that album is a reworking of Willie Dixon’s blues/r&b standard ‘My Babe’ which produces an even harder, even Modder dancers groove, with aggressive, choppy guitar by Napolean Allen kicking up the tempo.
The third and final track is something I included in Funky16Corners Radio v.32, Freddie McCoys sublime and absolutely brilliant cover of the Beach Boys’ ‘Pet Sounds’, recorded for his 1968 LP ‘Soul Yogi’. He takes the original, bumps up the tempo a few notches and really moves with Brian Wilson’s wonderful melody. The section of the recording towards the middle, where he starts to swing the tempo is a few, magical seconds of musical perfection that I absolutely live for. I always find myself giving this one repeat spins, and I think you will too.
That all said, take a moment to soak up the great music that Freddie McCoy gave us before he slipped the surly bonds of earth.
I hope you dig these sounds,and I’ll see you all on Friday.

Peace

Larry

*His last LP ‘Gimme Some’ was released on the Buddah subsidiary Cobblestone, but in his first reply to my original post he stated that he never actually recorded for that label. Whether or not those sessions were done for Prestige and then farmed out to the other label, I can’t say for sure. If anyone knows please drop me a line.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some Washington, DC garage punk.

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

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

Sam Butera RIP

Mr. Sam Butera

“Listen – Sam Butera and the Witnesses – Ode To Billie Joe – MP3″

“Listen – Sam Butera and the Witnesses – Symphony For the Devil – MP3″

“Listen – Sam Butera and the Witnesses – Pick Up the Pieces- MP3″

Greetings all.

I hope all is well on your end.
I come to you mid-week (and a little late) with a tribute to one of the great swingers and sax-o-mo-phone slingers of all time, Mr. Sam Butera.
Last week I was browsing the New York Times obit page (a consistently interesting source of interesting reading) and was saddened to see that Mr. Butera had passed away at the age of 81.
If you’re unfamiliar with the man or his music (which has been featured here a number of times in the past), Sam Butera is best known as the bandleader and arranger for Louis Prima’s backing group the Witnesses. Butera, like Prima was a New Orleans native and brought a big helping of that city’s raucous energy to his playing.
Among other highlights in a stellar resume, Butera is the man who arranged the original ‘Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody’ medley that was a hit for Prima, and then again years later for David Lee Roth.
Butera was also largely responsible for making sure the Witnesses were always a smoking band (including players like unsung organ legend Little Richie Varola), and that their book was always current. Today I’m reposting three tracks by the 70s edition of the band that have been featured here over the years, including a wild reworking of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy for the Devil’, Bobbie Gentry’s ‘Ode to Billie Joe’ and a funky take on the Average White Band’s ‘Pick Up the Pieces’.
A number of years ago, completely by chance my wife and I were lucky enough to see Butera and the Witnesses laying it down in the lounge at Caesar’s Palace in Atlantic City, NJ (the same place where we saw the Treniers a year later). Even then, when Butera had to be past 70 he was still killing it, leading the band as vocalist and with his horn. It was a sight to behold, and I consider myself lucky that we got to see him.
So, dig the tunes, remember Sam and I’ll be back on Friday with something funky.

Peace

Larry

NOTE: If you haven’t yet checked out the new funk 45 mix I did for Galactic Fractures, head on over there and pull down the ones and zeros.

In other important news, this Friday, June 12th sees the return of the Asbury Park 45 Sessions for the first, slamming all-45 banger of the summer. If you are in the vicinity, please fall by and say howdy.

PS Don’t forget to head over to Iron Leg for some pop.

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

Mel Brown RIP – Swamp Fever +2

The Late Great Truly Funky Mel Brown

“Listen – Mel Brown – Swamp Fever – MP3″

“Listen – Mel Brown – Ode to Billie Joe – MP3″

“Listen – Mel Brown – Son of a Preacher Man – MP3″

Greetings all.

So, we spent the last week marking the passing of the great Eddie Bo, and I get this week’s posts all ready to roll, and then my man Tony C drops me a line to let me know that the great Mel Brown had died.
Honestly…
Will it ever stop?
Of course it won’t. We’re in a period where classic artists of the 50s and 60s are passing at an alarming rate, and once again it behooves us here at the Corners to take a moment and recognize.
This is especially appropriate when we’re talking about Mel Brown, one of the funkiest guitarists to ever roll down the pike, who recorded a string of amazing albums for the Impulse label in the 60s, and the man behind one of my fave 45s, ‘Swamp Fever’.
Back in the olden days (of yore, natch) I used to have a fave digging spot out in the Pennsyltucky Dutch Country, which was sadly depleted a long time ago. However, back when I first made it out there (with my man Haim) one of the first very cool 45s I unearthed (also one of the first tasty breakbeats I ever found) was ‘Swamp Fever’. I’d never heard of Mel Brown, but the title, the fact that it was on Impulse and a cover of ‘Ode to Billie Joe’ on the flip made me put it on my ‘to be previewed’ stack. These were pre-portable days, but the store had a listening station so all was groovy.
This was especially so when I dropped the needle on ‘Swamp Fever’, which opens with a break, drops out into a couple more, and in between all that featured some very funky guitar from Mr. Brown.
It’s a 45 that I’m carried in my DJ box often and started me on the road to Mel Brown fandom.
Oddly enough, though I’ve gotten a bunch of his 45s over the years I have never scored one of his albums in the field.
Today I’m going to serve up both sides of the ‘Swamp Fever’ 45, and his very solid version of ‘Son of Preacher Man’.
I hope you dig the sounds, raise a glass in remembrance of Mel Brown, and we’ll be back on track by mid-week (assuming we don’t lose anyone else).

Peace

Larry

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some melodrama from the Walker Brothers

PSS Make sure to fall by DJ Prestige’s Flea Market Funk for a hot new funk 45 mix…

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: 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: 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