Skull Snaps    GSF Records.  A legendary soul/funk original from 1973, rediscovered and sampled by dj’s and rappers in the early 90’s. Titles include the monster break track “It’s A New Day”, the uptempo groover “Trespassing”, and the righteous funky soul cut “I’m Your Pimp”!  Other titles include “My Hang Up Is You”, “Having You Around”, “I’m Falling Out Of Love”, and “All Of A Sudden”.  The familiar opening drum pattern of It’s A New Day can be heard in songs by Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Das EFX, Eric B. & Rakim, Digable Planets, DJ Shadow, Rob Dougan and The Prodigy.  The group was originally known as the Diplomats, which released numerous singles between 1963 and 1970. ”  If you’re a dj, you’ve gotta have the Skull Snaps in your collection.

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(44 votes, average: 2.57 out of 5)

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The Coasters on Broadway on King Records   (1973)   A Leiber-Stoller Production     Re-recordings of classic Coasters’ cuts like “On Broadway,” “D.W. Washburn,” plus others like “Mohair Sam,” “Mustang Sally”and “Cool Jerk”.   But the funky stand-out is perhaps “Down Home Girl” which has been sampled many times.   This is what Funky 16 Corners says:

First waxed in 1964 by the mighty Alvin Robinson for the Red Bird label (one of my all time fave records), ‘Down Home Girl’ was written by Jerry Lieber and Art Butler. In it’s original form (produced by Lieber and Mike Stoller and arranged by Joe Jones) it is one of the grittiest pieces of New Orleans-associated soul ever to hit wax.   The following year, the Rolling Stones, knowing a good thing when it crawled into their ears, recorded a version of their own.   The version I bring you today see’s Lieber and Stoller taking the song out for a stroll once again, with one of their favorite groups, the legendary Coasters.   By 1966, when the group went into the studio with L&S (Stoller producing) they were a few years past their last big hit (‘Little Egypt’ hit the Top 40 in 1961).

The Coasters version of ‘Down Home Girl’ – taken at a slightly more deliberate pace than Robinson – opens with a horn/drums/vibes riff that is verily begging to be looped by some enterprising producer, and features some classic group harmony. Much of the humor associated with the Coasters is there, though it gets delivered not via the performance itself, but rather through Lieber’s hyperbolic lyrics. Where Robinson’s reading of the song is dripping with unbridled lust (thanks in large part to his awesome, soulful growl) the Coasters vocal arrangement, with tenor and bass trading lines allows them to highlight the absurdity of some of the lines.   It really is a lost classic, and one of the finer versions of a truly great song.

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(53 votes, average: 3.53 out of 5)

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We’re off to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival – we’ll be back next week (maybe)!

(42 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)

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Al Green’s 2nd album, 1969’s “Green is Blues.”   His first on Hi Records and first time with co-writer/producer Willie Mitchell and the tight arrangements of Memphis’ renowned Hi Rhythm Section   Includes a mix of a originals and great covers done with “The Memphis Sound.” “Talk to Me”;   Smoky Robinson’s “My Girl”; the Box Tops’   “The Letter”; a funky James Brown-inspired “Get Back Baby”; the Beatles’ “Get Back”; and Gershwin’s “Summertime,”   done with a slow, mellow stream as opposed to Billy Stewart’s rat-a-tat version from a few years earlier.   This is a variation of the original cover, but a nice one that captures in the spotlight the glistening, clench-fisted soul of Green’s deep emotional delivery.   “A young man who is a red hot rhythm and blues singer with a difference that is gonna be greatly dug by all who tune an ear to the variegated tones and shades of this album”.   – Original liner notes, 1969.

(37 votes, average: 3.49 out of 5)

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Kool and the Gang “Raw Hamburger”     From K to the G’s debut LP (1969)   Released stateside on the De-Lite label. (This Gemini released picture sleeve might be from Norway.)

(41 votes, average: 3.39 out of 5)

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“MINDBLOWERS”     The VAST Majority

(47 votes, average: 4.06 out of 5)

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“Free Indeed!”   Rick McKnight   Rainbow Records

“Free Your Mind…And Your Ass Will Follow”   Funkadelic   Westbound Records (1971)

(59 votes, average: 3.92 out of 5)

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Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings   “I Learned the Hard Way”   Release Date:   April 6, 2010 Daptone Records Our first post of a new record!   Because we love Sharon Jones and the sound of the Dap-Kings and Daptone records.     The single just gets better with every spin.

Produced by Bosco Mann and recorded on an Ampex eight-track tape machine by Gabriel Roth in Daptone Records’ House of Soul studios, this record drips with a warmth and spontaneity rarely found since the golden days of Muscle Shoals and Stax.   Sharon’s raw power, rhythmic swagger, moaning soulfulness, and melodic command set her firmly alongside Tina Turner, James Brown, Mavis Staples, and Aretha as a fixture in the canon of soul music.   From the lush Philly-Soul fanfare that ushers in “The Game Gets Old” at the top of the record, to the stripped down Sam Cooke-style “Mama Don’t Like My Man” at the tail, the Dap-Kings dance seamlessly through both the most crafted and simple arrangements with subtlety and discipline. I Learned the Hard Way is the “Daptone Sound” at its finest.

(64 votes, average: 3.84 out of 5)

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Richard “Groove” Holmes   “Six Million Dollar Man” (1975) Flying Dutchman Records   Arrangements by Oliver Nelson.     300 lps of funky organ jazz from the big man behind the B3!

One of Groove Holmes’ best albums of the 70s — thanks to some electric blacksploitation arrangements from the great Oliver Nelson! The format’s a bit tighter here than on some of Holmes’ Groove Merchant albums from the earlier part of the decade — an approach that’s almost like soundtrack scoring at times, but which allows Groove to stretch out a bit more on the solos, and take things way past the already-funky head arrangements penned by Nelson. Mike Wofford’s also on the record, throwing in some great electric piano and Arp in underneath Holmes’ own funky Hammond — and other players include Tom Scott, David T Walker, and Oscar Brashear — who all contribute nicely to the record. Titles include “Disc-o-Mite”, “Salsa de Alma”, “Dumpy Mama”, “Mama’s Groove”, “125th & 7th Ave”, and “Six Million Dollar Man”, the theme from the TV show! © 1996-2010, Dusty Groove America, Inc.

(59 votes, average: 2.95 out of 5)

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The Soulful Dynamics “Wildcats” London Records   (1972) The Soulful Dynamics from Liberia.

(47 votes, average: 3.38 out of 5)

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