Lulu – Dirty Old Man / Feelin’ Alright

Lulu

“Listen – Lulu – Dirty Old Man – MP3″

“Listen – Lulu – Feelin’ Alright – MP3″

Greetings all.

Welcome to another week here at the Corners Sixteen, wherein the grooves just keep on coming.
The tunes I bring you today come to you via an artist that many of you (aside from those with Mod/R&Beat credentials) might find puzzling. The singer, a much bigger star in the UK than she was over here (save for ‘To Sir With Love’) is the one, the only – or as Alexei Sayle referred to her in the ‘Young Ones’ – “the Lulu”.
Though she is best known for the song mentioned in the previous sentence, those that are hep to her work before (and after that) will be aware that Lulu always had a strong vein of R&B running through her catalog (her first hit in the UK was a version of ‘Shout’).
The finest example of this is the album she recorded in Muscle Shoals in 1970, ‘New Routes’. Backed by the mighty Muscle Shoals house band, and a young fella by the name of Duane Allman, Lulu laid down a hot, soulful album with a grip of excellent performances of some familiar songs and a couple of tunes by Eddie Hinton (who also played on the session).
Funk 45 heads might very well be familiar with the first song here, via another cover by Irene Reid on the Old Town label. Written by Delaney Bramlett (and as far as I know first performed by Delaney and Bonnie), ‘Dirty Old Man’ may not have the edge of the Reid version, but Lulu does and excellent job, and the backing by the Stompers – especially Barry Beckett on the electric piano – is as always, superb.
‘Feelin’ Alright’ is as close as the late 60s rock era has to a ‘standard’, having been recorded countless times by a very wide variety of performers, including Grand Funk, Gladys Knight, Joe Cocker, Lou Rawls and David Ruffin (and of course the OG by Traffic, featuring it’s composer Dave Mason). The Lulu version leans heavily on the horns, with a very solid foundation of Alabama grit underneath the vocalist’s Glaswegian soul.
I hope you dig the tunes, and I’ll be back midweek with something funky.

Peace

Larry

NOTE: Don’t forget to check out the Funky16Corners feature over at the Dust and Grooves blog.

PS Don’t forget to head over to Iron Leg for a brand new, psyched out edition of the Iron Leg Digital trip Podcast.

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook“

Funky16Corners Radio v.69 – Jazz Trance

Funky16Corners Radio v.69 – Jazz Trance

Playlist

Kool and the Gang – North East South West (Dee Lite)
Wes Montgomery – Up and At It (A&M)
Woody Herman – Light My Fire (Cadet)
Jay Jackson and the Heads of Our Time – Listen Here (Mr G)
Dorothy Ashby – Little Sunflower (Cadet)
Montreal – Summertime (Stormy Forest)
Junior Mance – Thank You Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin (Atlantic)
Peddlers – Impressions Pt1 (Philips)
Brother Jack McDuff – Mystic John (Blue Note)
Sonny Stitt – Heads or Tails (Enterprise)
Gabor Szabo – Fred and Betty (Blue Thumb)
Lonnie Smith – People Sure Act Funny (Blue Note)
Ramsey Lewis – Collage (CBS)
Doc Severinson – In the Court of the Crimson King (Command)
 

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

Greetings all.

I hope the middle of the week finds you well, and in the mood to open your ears to some downtempo grooves on a jazzy – and funky – tip.
I was going to drop this mix on Monday, but the 12” extended remix of post-op recovery got in the way, and was in a continuous loop (rocking doubles as it were). I don’t know how many among you have endured the wonders of anaesthesia and surgery (I just went through it for the sixth time in my life), but aside from the blissful ignorance of the operative pain (while the operation is happening, hopefully) the emergence from the experience takes a little while. That, and it always seems to take me a few days (often the better part of a week) to come out of the haze fully.
Good thing then that this is such a smooth, nighttime, get your head together as slowly as you like kind of mix. Aside from the banging soul party thing (prepare yourself for a killer coming soon) this might be my favorite kind of mix to put together, and yes, listen to.
Funky16Corners Radio v.69 is a counterpoint of sorts to v.68, with it’s downtempo yang grooving next to the uptempo yin of its predecessor. This is not to say that they should be listened to in sequence or anything like that, but rather a notification of sorts that they sprung from the same place in my fevered brain (and record collection).
Things get off to a moody start indeed with the electric piano, and sinuous groove of New Jersey’s own Kool and the Gang with ‘North, East, South, West’, sampled by none other than Quasimoto.
Next up is a track from an LP that I found when I was down in DC. I dig pretty much everything Wes Montgomery ever did. I love his guitar, but especially so in the many classy settings in which he played it during the 60s and early 70s. ‘Up and At It’ from his 1968 LP “Down Here On the Ground’ is a mellow killer, with a great arrangement by Eumir Deodato.
Woody Herman has appeared in many a Funky16Corners Radio mix, due in large part to the excellence of the two LPs he recorded for Cadet in the late 60s. Herman was an authentic jazz master who did what he could to keep his band together during the lean times of the 60s. Though many a jazzy tried to stay contemporary, Herman excelled, with the help of Richard Evans. His choice of material was excellent (check out his take on Sly Stone’s ‘Sex Machine’), and the execution thereof as well. His take on the Doors’ ‘Light My Fire’ features excellent sax, trumpet and trombone solos.
I had never heard of Jay Jackson and the Heads of Our Time before I grabbed a copy of their 45 while I was down in Richmond, VA. Once I got it home I was glad I did, since both sides of the disc sport excellent cover versions. It turns out that the band on this 45 is the same group that recorded a couple of in demand funk/soul LPs under the name the Majestics. The hailed from Canada, and oddly enough, the group’s namesake, Jackson, was also its vocalist and does not appear on this most excellent version of the Eddie Harris soul jazz chestnut ‘Listen Here’.
The name Dorothy Ashby should be a familiar one to those who travel the back alleys of the universe searching  for grooves. The jazz harpist, whose Cadet albums are lost classics and worth every cent of their high prices (thanks in large part to the arrangements and production by the mighty Richard Evans), made some truly beautiful music in her day. One of my fave tracks by her is a cover of Freddie Hubbard’s ‘Little Sunflower’. Covered countless times by artists like Milt Jackson, Kenny Burrell and Hank Crawford, it has a breezy feel and a beautiful melody.
Montreal were (big surprise) a Canadian group that recorded one album in 1969 for Richie Havens’ Stormy Forest label. Coveted by crate diggers for its folk-psych goodness, the album also has a jazzy side. The finest example of this is their version of George Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’. If the flute sounds familiar, it’s because it was played by none other than Jeremy Steig (Buzzy Linhart and Havens himself also guest on the album).
I’d heard of pianist Junior Mance before, but never actually heard any of his music before I scored the 45 with his version of ‘Thank You (Felettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)’. Not only does it start with a sweet little breakbeat (courtesy of Billy Cobham) but there’s some wild, fuzzed out guitar, and of course Junior’s piano rolling through the whole affair.
We follow Mr. Mance with another taste of the mighty Peddlers, with yet another segment of the tune ‘Impressions’ from their ‘Suite London’ LP. Nice drums, and especially groovy electric piano on this one. Short but sweet.
You know I ride for Brother Jack McDuff, exalted master of the Hammond groove, but even he has b-sides that I hadn’t investigated thoroughly. Case in point, ‘Mystic John’, which resides on the reverse of one of the greatest of all breakbeats ‘Hunk of Funk’. Here we get to hear Brother Jack work it out on both piano and organ, with a taste of harp in the beginning, adding to the spiritual vibe of the tune. Things pick up a little, but the overall vibe is contemplative.
Sonny Stitt is one of the really interesting cases of a serious jazz head who was forced to go the pop route to keep his head above water. He started out playing blazing alto sax in a Charlie Parker stylee, but then came the 1960s, when very few jazzers were making real coin. Stitt tried to rework his sound in a variety of settings, including recording sax solos over existing tracks for a couple of Wingate 45s (‘Agent 00 Soul’ and ‘Marrs Groove’), and recording a wide range of pop material. Until I found his cover of Booker T and the MGs ‘Heads or Tails’ I had no idea that he had recorded for Stax’s Enterprise subsidiary. It sounds like Sonny’s working it out on the Varitone sax (he used it a lot in the late 60s), and while the recording’s not earth shattering, it’s a great song and he does it justice.
Anyone hip to the jazz grooves of the 60s already has an armload of Gabor Szabo albums on labels like Impulse and Skye. However, Szabo did at least one, very nice LP for the Blue Thumb imprint. I’ve already featured the break from his cover of Charles Lloyd’s ‘Sombrero Sam’, but dig (if you will) the mellow sounds of the tune ‘Fred and Betty’.
Back in the day, when Lonnie Smith was not yet bearing the honorarium of doctor, and without his signature turban, he was still a formidable wrangler of the mighty Hammond organ. He recorded some very tasty stuff, including a version of a tune featured here a short while ago, Titus Turner’s ‘People Sure Act Funny’. It is of course an instrumental, and quite the little head nodder.
‘Collage’ is the closing track from Ramsey Lewis’ fantastic ‘Upendo ni Pamoja’ LP, one from which we’ve drawn before. While not as incendiary as ‘Slipping Into Darkness’, ‘Collage’ rolls along at a nice, relaxed groove, and seriously, I could listen to Ramsey work that Rhodes all day long.
This edition of the Funky16Corners Radio podcast closes out with something a little bit over the top, bot of course every bit essential. I speak of Doc Severinson’s epic treatment of the King Crimson’s ‘In the Court of the Crimson King’. Doc manages to remove the song from it’s super heavy, glue sniffing prog bombast, and refit it with a snappy new set of threads, making it a lot less “arena full of stoned grad students”, and a lot more “slightly cheesy version of the Concierto di Aranjuez”. When I say slightly cheesy, I only do so because there’s a certain loss of, how do they say “authenticity” when the leader of the Tonight Show band decides to try on this kind of material. That said, it’s very groovy in an LA 1970 studio jazz kind of way, which isn’t surprising when you take a look at the serious players on the session. I’ve been picking up Doc’s late 60’s/early 70’s stuff when I find it, and I have to say that most of the records have something cool to offer.
Remember, if you haven’t yet checked out the Funky16Corners feature at Dust and Grooves, please do so. Also, the Funky16Corners Radio Show at Viva Internet Radio will return once again this Thursday evening at 9PM.
I hope you dig the mix, and I’ll be back on Monday with something cool.

Peace

Larry

PS – Make sure to fall by Iron Leg

PSS Make sure to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

Alvin Robinson – Baby Don’t You Do It

Mr. Alvin Robinson

“Listen – Alvin Robinson – Baby Don’t You Do It – MP3″

Greetings all.

I’m back, but not all the way, and I’m a little bit out of it. Head’s a little foggy, body’s a little weak, bits and pieces of pain here and there, but that could really be anything…
That said, I was planning on a mix, which although it has been completed, the associated write up hasn’t even been started, and there was just no way in hell it was going to get done tonight. So, I’m aiming for mid-week on that one, and in the meanwhile I bring you a request of sorts (not the specific song, but the artist), for which I already have a whole “thing” written up back at the Funky16Corners webzine, so I don’t have to really apply my tired, still semi-anaesthetized brain to the task, and you all get something groovy to wrap your ears around to get the week started.
The artist in question is the mighty Alvin Robinson, one of the greatest singers to come out of New Orleans. Though his discography is brief, it is no less than mighty, with a couple of all time classics therein (a la ‘Down Home Girl’).
The tune I bring you today is Robinson’s lively cover of Marvin Gaye’s 1964 hit ‘Baby Don’t You Do It’, also covered ably over the years by the likes of the Small Faces and the Band. Since the production/arranging listed on the label is by Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd I’ll go ahead and assume (you’ll let me know if I’m wrong, won’t you?) that this was recorded when Robinson was in New York.
It’s a burner of the first order, with some tasty electric piano, guitar (probably Robinson) and horns, and of course Robinson’s wild soul shout.
I pretty much swear by anything and everything this man recorded, so if you come across his stuff in the field, purchase it with confidence.
I’ll try to get my shit together on that mix, and as always, I hope you dig the tune.

Peace

Larry

NOTE: Don’t forget to check out the Funky16Corners feature over at the Dust and Grooves blog.

PS Don’t forget to head over to Iron Leg for something trippy.

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

Leon Ferguson & the Groove Tones – Miss Dolores Funk

“Listen – Leon Ferguson & the Groove Tones – Miss Dolores Funk – MP3″

Greetings all.

The end of the week is nigh, and as usual, I hope all is well on your end.
I also hope all is well on my end, since by the time you read this I ought to be up on an operating table looking like and extra in ‘Fantastic Voyage’, as my trusted urologist travels into my lone kidney to laser some stones.
That’s right, laser, like Star Wars, except with kidneys.
This is the proverbial “routine procedure”, but like any such enterprise, routine barely enters into it. I suspect that I’ll be back to my old self in no time, but one never knows. I originally promised a new mix for Monday, but if I am indisposed that may in fact be postponed.
Just in case I’m not in posting form on Monday, I figured I’d close out the week with something extra greasy.
When we last met I promised you some Hammond, and I will not disappoint.
If you combine the web zine and both iterations of the Funky16Corners blog, I’ve been at this for almost a decade, and I’ve posted what the worlds greatest scientific minds would describe as a “buttload” of records. So many, and so obscure, that often when I set sail upon the interwebs in search of information about an artist, I often find myself confronted with….um…myself.
Such is the case with today’s selection by Leon Ferguson and the Groove Tones.
I whipped the band name into the Google-fi-cator, and the very first result was a 2005 blog post about the flipside of the very single, a little burner entitled ‘Stokin’. You can hit that post for what little background there is, but I assure you, as far as the internet is concerned, nothing new has popped up in the interim.
That said, the tune I bring you today, ‘Miss Dolores Funk’ is a slow burner, but make no mistake. Like several lethal creatures of the veldt, ‘Miss Dolores Funk’ may approach slowly, but once she has you in her jaws, it’s lights out brother.
The tune quite literally grinds up to speed, led by repeated organ and sax-o-mo-phone riffs, before a sax solo fall by. This is prime stuff, the kind of tune they might have played while an ecdysiast shed her plumage through a haze of cigarette smoke, but when the organ catches fire, look out! The volume seems to double, and while the rest of the band keeps their cool, Leon (I’m assuming it’s Leon on the organ) takes the opportunity to go – at least momentarily – buck wild.
‘Miss Dolores Funk’ – actually both sides of this killer – are prime examples of the kind of thing a Hammond nut like myself digs through dusty, decaying cardboard boxes (or the dusty corners of the interwebs) looking for.
I hope you dig it.
I’ll be back on Monday with something.

Peace

Larry

NOTE: Don’t forget to check out the Funky16Corners feature over at the Dust and Grooves blog.

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

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

Herbie Mann & Tamiko Jones – The Sidewinder

Herbie Mann and Tamiko Jones

“Listen – Herbie Mann & Tamiko Jones – The Sidewinder – MP3″

Greetings all.

Here we are again, teetering on the fulcrum that divides the week into two, unevenly distributed halves (in which case they’re probably not technically “halves”, but whatever..)
Anyway, in furtherance of the idea that we need to keep things moving forward in a way that is both easy and breezy but never cheesy, I bring you something a little light, and very groovy.
Surely any crate digger worth his (or her, natch) salt is well acquainted by the long and hirsute discography of the flute-meister general, Mr. Herbie Mann.
Starting in the 50s, when he was working in a Latin bag, Herbie Mann was the most prominent representative of the flute and flute-related arts, at least on the jazz side of things. He recorded a grip of excellent albums for Atlantic in the 60s.
Of course, like any other jazz musician with even a passing interest in popular acceptance (i.e. “money”) which would be just about every recording jazz musician not deeply involved in the free or outside movement, Mann recorded a lot of pop-oriented material.
What he also did – and he rarely gets the credit he deserves in this respect – was record in a wide variety of very interesting, sometimes experimental settings. He may have made some poppy recordings, but he also recorded with jazz bagpipe wiz Rufus Harley, as well as making some excellent Brazilian and Middle Eastern sounding records.
As far as I can tell, in all of the dozens of records he recorded between 1954 and his death in 2003, Mann teamed up with a vocalist exactly once. That record, with the self-explanatory title of ‘Herbie Mann and Tamiko Jones: A Mann and a Woman’ was released on Atlantic in 1966.
Jones, originally from West Virginia recorded for a variety of labels (in a variety of styles, though mostly jazzy) through the 60s and 70s, including Checker, Golden World, A&M, 20th Century, Metromedia and Arista.
‘A Mann and a Woman’ is a swinging set, with Mann and Jones grooving on jazz, pop and standards. The highlight of the album (aside from a great version of ‘Day Tripper’ which I’m saving for an upcoming mix) is their vocalization of Lee Morgan’s hard bop classic ‘The Sidewinder’. The tune features a breezy vocal by Jones (sounding a lot like Brasil ‘66’s Lani Hall) and some very solid flute work by Herbie. I don’t know for sure, but I would guess that this is the kind of thing that’d be a big hit on UK dancefloors. If the piano on the track catches your ear, it might be because it’s none other than Joe Zawinul.
I hope you dig the track and I’ll be back on Friday with some more Hammond.

Peace

Larry

NOTE: Don’t forget to check out the Funky16Corners feature over at the Dust and Grooves blog.

PS Don’t forget to head over to Iron Leg for some righteous garage folk.

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

Freddy Scott & the Four Steps – Same Ole Beat

Mystery solved!! The group Miami, Freddy Scott at left.

“Listen – Freddy Scott & the Four Steps – Same Ole Beat – MP3″

Greetings all.

I hope everyone had a most excellent weekend. It was grey and damp here in Jersey, but the sun peeked out just enough to keep things from getting too gloomy.
In other news, I have a grip of nice stuff lined up for this week, and should be dropping yet another edition of the Funky16Corners Radio podcast next Monday.
The tune I bring you today is another longtime want list item that I turned up when I was digging down in DC.
The first time I ever heard of Freddy Scott – not to be confused with the singer Freddie Scott, who it with ‘Hey Girl’ and ‘You Got What I Need’ among others – was via the absolutely storming number ‘Pow City’ on the compilation of the same name.
The Freddy Scott who is featured on today’s selection was a Florida based drummer and vocalist who recorded a number of slamming soul and funk sides for Henry Stone’s Marlin and Dade labels. He recorded 45s as Freddy Scott and his Orchestra, Freddie and the Kinfolk, the Five Steps and as listed on today’s single, Freddy Scott and the Four Steps. Though I haven’t been able to track down a discography I’m willing to make an educated guess and say that most of this stuff falls in the 1966-1968 time frame.
The one thing all of these records have in common is a certain variety of slamming, party time soul, spilling over into the funk vibe.
‘Same Ole Beat’ is no exception, with a pounding beat, organ, drums and sax and Freddy getting wild over the whole thing.
Scott went on to be a member of the group Miami, where in addition to their own records – like ‘Party Freaks’ – they served as the house band at TK records, playing on countless Florida funk, soul and disco hits.
The picture above is of Miami, and one of those guys is Freddy Scott. If anyone knows for sure which one of those slick dudes is the man in question, please let me know.
I hope you dig the tune and I’ll be back on Wednesday with some very groovy soul jazz.

Photo by Eilon Paz

Me taking Roger & the Gypsies out for some air…

As stated in Saturday’s post, 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

PS Don’t forget to head over to Iron Leg for some righteous garage folk.

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

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

Shirley Scott – I Want You Back

Miss Shirley Scott

“Listen – Shirley Scott – I Want You Back – MP3″

Greetings all.

As promised I have returned to close out the week with a Hammond groove.
If you are a Hammond aficionado, or merely grab your organ grinding via the Funky16Corners Radio podcast, you will already be familiar with the sounds of the mighty Shirley Scott.
Scott was unusual in that she was a female organist (alongside players like Rhoda Scott and Bu Pleasant), and typical in that she hailed from the great city of Philadelphia, which cranked out Hammond giants like they had them stacked up in a warehouse somewhere.
She got her start as a fairly straight ahead jazz player, recording for Prestige and Impulse from the late 50s through the 1967, often alongside her then husband saxophonist Stanley Turrentine. She signed to Atlantic in 1968 and her sets took on a new, more contemporary edge with Scott covering – with considerable style – current pop and soul material. Her 1969 cover of the Isley Brothers’ ‘It’s Your Thing’, from the ‘Shirley Scott and the Soul Saxes’ LP is a killer.
The tune I bring you today is from the album after that, 1970’s ‘Something’. Her cover of the Jackson Five’s ‘I Want You Back’ starts out with the opening theme being restated almost four times, before the organ comes in. The backing band (all session players like Eric Gale and Chuck Rainey) is solid, with an especially nice “live” drum sound (the session was produced by the late Joel Dorn). I dig the slightly distorted organ sound, and though Scott doesn’t get to stretch out much, it’s still a groovy number.
I hope you dig the tune and I’ll be back on Monday.

NOTE: Don’t forget to fall by Viva Internet Radio Tonight at 9PMEST for the latest edition of the Funky16Corners Radio Show. You can always check out the show (and many pastshows) in the archive.

Peace

Larry

PS Don’t forget to head over to Iron Leg for some 60s pop

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

Gene Chandler – In My Body’s House

Gene Chandler

“Listen – Gene Chandler – In My Body’s House – MP3″

Greetings all.

The middle of the week is here, and the tune I have for you is a certified killer.
Like Friday-heavy, the kind of thing I might drop to get a weekend started, or more likely a record that you’d whip on a crowd you want to kick it up to the next level (like I did in DC).
‘In My Body’s House’ is one of those records that I knew about, having seen it on countless playlists, knowing (without having ever heard it) that it was one of the heaviest pieces in the Gene Chandler catalog.
Gene Chandler “The Woman Handler” (as he was christened by none other than Jerry-O) was one of the true kings of 1960s Chitown soul. He got his start as a member of the Dukays, then he whipped ‘The Duke of Earl’ on the world in 1962 and became a star.
He recorded for Vee-Jay until 1963, for Constellation from 1963 to 1966 and then (in an unusual simultaneous contractual obligation) for both Checker and Brunswick (where he recorded his smoking version of ‘I’ll Bet You’ and a couple of nice duets with Barbara Acklin) for the remainder of the decade.
‘In My Body’s House’, written by none other than the God of Chicago soul Mr. Curtis Mayfield is –first and foremost – a banger. The record opens with whip crack drums, wah wah guitar and organ before the horns, and then Gene falls by. The song has an aggressive, funky tempo with a solid vocal by Chandler. Interestingly I’ve often found that if you listen closely to some of the artists that recorded with Mayfield (or using his material) have a tendency to recreate his phrasing, whether picking it up in person or via demos. If you listen to Chandler’s version of Mayfield’s ‘You Can’t Hurt Me No More’ (also recorded by the Opals) this is especially evident. Though the influence isn’t overpowering on ‘In My Body’s House’, there are sections of the song where it sounds like Chandler is channeling Mayfield (listen for the phrase “creed and race”).
I also dig the intermittent bits of fuzz guitar, as well as the wild little bit of scat with which which Chandler closes out the song.
If the song sounds at all familiar, you may have heard it redone – by Baby Huey and the Babysitters, and later Mayfield himself – under the title ‘Hard Times’. I haven’t heard the Curtis version, but Baby Huey takes it at a somewhat slower pace.
I hope you dig the tune, and I shall return at the end of the week with some groovy Hammond.

Peace

Larry

PS Don’t forget to head over to Iron Leg for some dreamy prog

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

Titus Turner – People Sure Act Funny (When They Get a Little Money)

Titus Turner

“Listen – Titus Turner – People Sure Act Funny – MP3″

Greetings all.

Welcome to another week here at the Corners du Funk, where I sit securely inside the air-conditioned bunker while the streets look like they’re going to start melting.
As predicted, the brisk spring weather has taken a sudden bizarre turn, and it’s closing in on 90 degrees. I was actually digging it for a while, until a half hour in the direct sunlight had me feeling like a frankfurter over the coals, so the boys and I hightailed it inside for some lunch and cold beverages.
I hope all is well on your end, and that if you are in one of the area so affected, you can take advantage of the warm weather without too much trouble.
The tune I bring you today was a chance find during my DC digs back in March.
If you’re a collector of R&B and soul, then the name Titus Turner should loom large. Turner – though no slouch in the performing department – made his mark as a writer of some of absolutely dynamite songs, among them ‘Sticks and Stones’, ‘All Around the World’ (aka Grits Ain’t Groceries), and ‘Leave My Kitten Alone’.
Turner himself had a two decade long career as a recording artist, spending most of the 50s recording mostly for Okeh and King, and then the 60s waxing sides for no less than a dozen different imprints.
Turner originally recorded ‘People Sure Act Funny’ for the Enjoy label in 1962. The OG is a bit of Ray Charles-y heat with a great vocal by Turner.
Flash forward half a decade and none other than Arthur Conley dipped into the Turner catalog and recorded his own version of ‘People Sure Act Funny’, with which he had a hit.
Sometime that year it would appear that Turner himself ran back into the studio – not willing to let Conley steal his thunder – and re-recorded the song, this time with a somewhat heavier – dare I say funky – edge to it.
Conley’s version was a Top 40 Pop hit, and generated a couple of other covers by folks like Shorty Long and Hammond master Lonnie Smith (who recorded a version for Blue Note that will be appearing in an upcoming mix).
Turner – who I hope had a nice little nest egg of royalties to rest upon – only recorded a few more 45s before vanishing into the woodwork.
He passed away in 1984, only 51 years old.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Wednesday with some funk.

Peace

Larry

PS Don’t forget to head over to Iron Leg for some dreamy prog

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook