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Funky 45's
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| Ben
Atkins & The Nomads - Love Is A Beautiful Thing (Goldwax)
- Very cool Rascals cover from a group I'd never heard of before. They mess with the chords a bit in the anthemic chorus, but it's still a great slice of Southern soul with a solid horn chart. |
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| Gentleman
June Garner / Sonny & Cher - It's Gonna Rain (Emarcy/Atlantic) Imagine my surprise a couple of years ago when I discovered that one of my favorite New Orleans soul/funk records was in fact a cover of a Sonny & Cher record? Imagine again my surprise when I discovered that the Sonny & Cher version kicks ass? Gentleman June Garner was a long-time NOLA session drummer who released a number of soul and funk 45s, and a full length LP (which actually got issued in Australia on Philips). His take on 'It's Gonna Rain' was instrumental, and it's a sure-fire dancer. The original by Mr & Mrs Bono is a surprising bit of soul/garage with some nice, heavy production. I can only assume that Gardner was hepped to the tune by his NOLA homeboy Harold Battiste who worked on S&C's early albums as a musician and arranger. |
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Lonnie
Youngblood - Soul Food (That's What I Like) (Fairmount) Lonnie's career at Philly's Fairmount label only lasted for two 45s, but they're both cool, and this one is a KILLER! Known outside of funk/soul circles for the participation of a pre-Experience Jimi Hendrix on guitar, 'Soul Food' is a classic, with Youngblood reciting a litany of his faves - among them 'taters and 'maters . This is a fantastic example of proto-funk (I think it's from '66 or so). Highly recommended. |
| Steve Colt - Dynamite
(Big Beat) Speaking of brilliant proto-funk, Steve Colt's 'Dynamite' is as heavy as it comes. If ever another white guy laid down a 45 as heavy as this I haven't heard it. Colt grunts and screams his way through the tune backed by slamming drums and bass deep enough to throw the tone arm off the wax. I always assumed that Colt was a Philly artists (due to his presence on Big Beat) but it appears he may have hailed from Boston. |
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Rhetta Hughes - Light
My Fire (Tetragrammaton) I'd been looking for a copy of this one for a long time and finally got it for about 50 cents in a huge lot of 45s. The bluesy flipside 'Sooky' is cool, but 'Light My Fire' is a revelation. It manages to be simultaneously smooth and funky and the production by Mike Terry and Jo Armstead is fabulous. |
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