RADIOPHONIC ODDITIES: AUGUST 2009

(image courtesy Dan McPharlin)

Just in time to help you cool down a bit, as summer slowly winds its way inevitably down, is another volume in the continuously expanding universe that is the Radiophonic Oddities series. So clean out the wax in your ears, pour yourself a cold one, hell...invite the Boss and his wife over. Tell him how much you want that promotion. Tell him unless they make you partner, you walk.

We'll be back sooner than you know with another entry.

"Get ready to feel." -DJ Clarence Duffy

Tracklist:
1-Intro (Hipsters)
2-Fingertips/Little Stevie Wonder
3-Modern Times/Midas Touch
4-Flintstones & Winstons
5-This Is My Country/Little Joe & the Latinaires
6-Black Beauty/Ike Turner & the Kings of Rhythm
7-Algo Mais/Os Mutantes
8-PBR
9-Take A Taxi/Etienne Cap
10-Hey Now Baby/Professor Longhair
11-I Got A Groove/JJ Callier
12-Beavis & Butt-Head/Gin and Juice
13-Cantinflas/Dom Salvador
14-Al's Tune/Kashmere Stage Band
15-Strung Out/Gordon Staples & the Motown Strings
16-Robin Harris Gives the Cops A Piece of His Mind.
17-Rhythm on Rhythm/The Sookie All Stars
18-The Horse/Marvin Holmes & The Uptights
19-Apache Talk/Luiz Bonfá
20-Kerouac.
21-Up Above My Head/Al Green
22-Momma's Gravy (Yum Yum)/Calypso King & The Soul Investigators
23-Carry Me Back to Old Virginny/Ray Charles

Running Time: 54:41

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THE UPSET

Paul Kelly is best known for the soul songs "Stealing in the Name of the Lord", which was a major hit in 1970, and "Hooked, Hogtied & Collared". He also wrote "Personally", which has been widely-covered, and was a hit for soul singer Jackie Moore, as well as country singers Karla Bonoff and Ronnie McDowell. Other songs have been covered by gospel artists, including the Mighty Clouds Of Joy and The Staple Singers.

Kelly was born in Overtown Miami, Florida, the fourth of six siblings. Kelly was brought up by his grandmother. In about 1956, Kelly's brother Henry formed a vocal group, with Paul as lead vocalist. It only lasted a few months, before Henry left Miami to go to college. Paul then formed a group with school friends from 20th Street School — The Spades, later known as The Valadeers. Another member was Jimmy Cherry, who later sang with The Fantastics.

In 1960, Kelly went left the group to go solo, recording the standard, "I'll String Along With You" for Dade Records, which was never released, following a dispute between Kelly and the label. A Miami-based singer/songwriter/producer, Clarence Reid (who would later perform as Blowfly), heard Kelly rehearse and asked him to fill in on lead vocals with his group, The Delmiros, whose lead singer had laryngitis. Kelly recorded a single, "Down With It, Can't Quit It"/"Sooner Or Later", which was released on Selma Records in 1963, under the name Clarence Reid & The Delmiros. Kelly began performing the song live in clubs and became associated with the song. Reid asked him to join The Delmiros on a permanent basis.

Kelly's official debut solo single appeared on the Lloyd label in 1965, and featured the classic soul tune "The Upset (inspired by the surprise boxing victory of Cassius Clay over Sonny Liston.) The track features big, dramatic horn stabs, chunky rhythm guitar, and a compelling, bold arrangement that make it a standout from that era.

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TURN TO ME

Immensely catchy soul courtesy of a group that is pretty much UnGoogleable, "Turn to Me" is propelled by a simple piano line and fantastic vocal harmonies. It is just under 2 minutes of pure, early 60's soul songwriting perfection.

This one's been stuck in my head all week.

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JUST PLAIN FUNK

James Polk comes from one of the most musical of American cities: Austin, Texas. There was and still is stiff competition amongst the numerous bands and musicians in the town, and in 1969 James Polk managed to rustle up some of Austin's finest to create his band The Brothers.

Good enough for James Brown himself to ask them to open for him, they promptly won the local talent contest 2 years in a row! Polk then knew it was time to commit his sound to wax. In the spirit of many other funk 45s, Polk bypassed the local and major record labels to release his music on his own label, Twink Records.

Polk released two singles on Twink: "Power Struggle" and "Just Plain Funk," the latter of which is a loping head-nodding deep funk groove that'll leave you looking to the sky craving an explanation as to why this fantastic band didn't record more like this.

(Courtesy Jazzman Records )

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AMOR BUENOS AIRES

Jorge López Ruiz is a highly respected Argentinian arranger, composer and bassist. He played with a legendary quintet led by Lalo Schifrin in 1956-1957; the featured saxophonist was Gato Barbieri. López Ruiz had also been Schifrin's big band bassist along with Gato. López Ruiz always played with the best musicians in Argentinean jazz.

Originally recorded in 1971 under the LP title Bronca Buenos Aires, it was mysteriously re-released by the Catalyst label as Amor Buenos Aires. While the original album featured spoken word lyrics based on the writings of Jose Tcherkaski, the extremely rare Catalyst pressing interestingly featured only instrumental versions of the same songs.

Dusty Groove's review:

"...A great set [featuring] funky, cinematic big band swing and choral arrangements... featuring arrangements that range from big band with heavy horns and strings and a very late 60s/early 70s soundtrack feel, to intimate solo work from players that include Chivo Borraro on tenor sax and Fernando Gelbard on piano...It's got a lot of sweeping, cinematic funk things going on -- for great kinda early 70s soundtrack
jazz vibe!"

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YO YO

Conceived by label owner Adrian Gibson and made into reality by The Bamboos’ Lance Ferguson, the Black Feeling project is all about taking it back to the source to the music that has inspired, instigated and accompanied many a musical journey over the years. Following a sell out gig at the Jazz Café, band leader Lance rounded up a bunch of fellow minded musicians from the Aussie funk scene to collaborate on a covers album. Consisting of members of The Bamboos, Cookin On 3 Burners and many more guest musicians, listening to the tracks would give even the most discerning pair of ears the impression of a rare, lost-in-time album you would find digging in a Caribbean record shop or American thrift store.

One of the tracks on the record is a cover of a mysterious 45 called "Yo Yo" by the band Richard's People. "Yo Yo" features one of the sickest and most oft-sampled opening drum breaks in funk lore. The fine gentlemen at Funky16Corners did an amazing piece about the 45 in March of 2008 that I won't attempt to summarize.

Below is a killer version of "Yo Yo" by the Alvarado Rodriguez Trio that captures the greasy, raw spirit of the original.

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LIBERTAD @ THE GOODFOOT

Come out and celebrate the 4th by hearing some great tunes by our partner-in-crime, Standing 8.

HEY JOYCE

When Lou Courtney is remembered nowadays, which isn’t too often, he’s usually remembered for early his 70’s smooth soul sound, which was sort of in the realm of Marvin Gaye or Donnie Hathaway. But in the mid-60s he was working a funkier, Staxy boogaloo dance craze style, similar to like Arthur Conley. A one-time member of legendary band The Fifth Dimension, Lou cut an absolute classic with the mega-funky "Hey Joyce."

The opening drum break has made this 45 quite a popular item in recent years.

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GIVE A MAN A BREAK

The youngest of three brothers hailing from Orangeburg, SC, Charles Mintz would sing together with his siblings for friends and family until a cousin hooked him up with a band called The Majestics. Charles began to sing covers at record-hops, high schools, and college shows. His English teacher got on his case about his developing talent, she said, "If you use all that energy to sing someone else's songs, why don't you write and sing something of your own?" And that's how it all started. Charles wrote a song in school called "There's No Need Crying," and the young ladies would go crazy when he would perform. Charles moved to Philly in the late 60's and in the early 70's he met up with manager and producer Gene Lawson.

Mr. Lawson is best known as Otis Redding's Publicist, and also for recording Teddy Pendergrass, before joining Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes. In fact, Pendergrass sang background vocals on Charles' first recording session. Gene Lawson eventually introduced Charles to Otis Redding who took an interest in Charles's voice, and his writing ability. Otis Redding recorded one of Charles' songs called "Free Me" and wanted to bring him into the Stax record family, but fate would not let it happen. Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash Dec. 10, 1967.

Then Gene Lawson decided he wanted to start his own record label called UpLook Records, and he signed Charlez Mintz as his first artist. The first song was called "Since I Found You" and was written by Mintz. "Give A Man A Break", the second single, was written by Eugene Jones of the Volcanoes. (Courtesy In Dangerous Rhythm)

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WE GOT MORE SOUL

Arlester "Dyke" Christian was born in Buffalo, NY, in 1943, and by the mid-'60s was singing and playing bass with the O'Jays backing band, the Blazers. After a tour in 1965, the band was left stranded in the unlikely--and not altogether funk-friendliest city--of Phoenix, Arizona after the O'Jays could not afford to bring them back to Buffalo.

Relocating in Phoenix, the newly minted Dyke & The Blazers began to come together as a group, with Dyke taking role as the lead singer. The group were discovered by local producers Art Barrett and Austin Coleman of Artco records. The label put out a tune that Dyke had written to go with a dance he had also created called "Funky Broadway". The record had a rapid play in South west and was licensed by DJ Art "Oldies But Goodies" Laboe for his Original Sounds label in Los Angeles in 1966. Many of the musicians on the Blazers sessions would later play in the Watts 103rd Street Band (guitarist Al McKay would later be in Earth, Wind & Fire). According to Original Sound producer Art Laboe, most of the singles came from 15-to-20-minute jams that were edited down to a length that could fit on the 45 RPM format.

After Dyke signed with Original Records, he churned out hit after hit on the label. "Funky Broadway" was so popular that even Wilson Pickett released a cover version of the song and took it straight to the R&B and Pop charts in the summer of 1967. By 1969, Dyke & the Blazers had Top Ten R&B singles with "We Got More Soul" and "Let a Woman Be a Woman -- Let a Man Be a Man," and smaller sellers with "Uhh, " "You Are My Sunshine," and "Runaway People." Dyke Christian, sadly, was fatally shot on the street in Phoenix on March 13, 1971 over a reputed drug debt. Understandably, the band never recovered.

When Dyke & The Blazers sang "We Got More Soul," they MEANT it--you can hear it in their fiery performances. (Biographical information courtesy of Wikipedia and Allmusic)

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LUPITA

Nico Gomez was a Belgian orchestra leader with Dutch roots (born in Amsterdam, came to Belgium in 1947). He had his mark in Belgium where he lead a series of different bands (and recorded under his own name). Active during the 50's, 60's and 70's with latin flavoured big band jazz. Father of Belgian rocker Raymond Van Het Groenewoud.

His best known outfit were the Chakachas who scored a cult hit in the '70s with "Jungle Fever" (on Polydor no less) but he also headed up the El Chicles. There are few Belgium composers from that era with a more consistent track record for straight up funky and Latin-flavored tracks.

Recorded in the early 70s in Belgium, Ritual is a tasty batch of Latin funk grooves, with a deep Afro-soul sound thrown into the mix, and some slight Chicano rock touches, like fuzzy guitar and heavy organ. The conga sound is right up front, and the tracks roll along with a nice heavy funk beat that cuts across from a lounge/library groove to a killing super deep percussion battering vibe.

Here's the classic dancefloor jam "Lupita."

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FOOTBALL

Another 45 tangentially related to late Kashmere Stage Band director Conrad Johnson, Acres of Grass was a group featuring members from Houston legends TSU Toronadoes. Former Toronadoes drummer Dwight Burns claims the group was pulled together by guitarist Michael Spencer, not in the group, who studied under the tutelage of late Johnson. This gritty guitar-led instrumental (except a few shouts about doing the football, baby) is one hell of a 45.

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FUNKY D.J.

Here's a classic deep funk 45 from 1976 courtesy of Bubba Thomas & The Lightmen (moonlighting as an outfit called "Fried Chicken").

The Lightmen originally hailed from Houston, Texas and were led by their drummer Bubba Thomas, teacher of Ronnie Laws, and formerly a student of Conrad Johns who later directed the Kashmere Stage Band.

The track was recorded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at Deep South Recording Studios. Interestingly, "Funky D.J." is basically a note-for-note rewrite of Earnest Jackson’s “Funky Black Man” from 1974 (again on the Stone label, also produced by Ron Shaab).

CHRIS CROSS

Recorded in September 1969, Jimmy McGriff's LP Electric Funk is, as the title would suggest, one of the funkiest records of his career.

It featured McGriff on organ, Horace Ott on electric piano (also writing the arrangements), and an anonymous band in support. The focus is all on Jimmy; the horns just play background section arrangements that would sound right at home on a Booker T & the MG's record with the Memphis Horns. The album is filled with stuttering drum breaks, lite fuzz guitars, elastic bass, smoldering organ and punchy, slightly incongruous horn charts.

Below, a classic 45 from that record, "Chris Cross."