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Considering how many Eddie Bo
obscurities and side projects there are, some funk fans might find this to
be too obvious a choice for Jam of the Month. ‘Hook & Sling Pts
1&2’ is by far the easiest of Eddie Bo’s funk era discs to find
(it was after all a national Top 10 hit in 1969) and it has become for
many their introduction to the wonders of New Orleans funk in general, and
Eddie Bo in particular. It is also one of his best.
It’s easy to see why the record was
a hit. It is extremely catchy and funky without being too rough. Featuring
Eddie on vocals (and how can you resist the opening ‘ Ready? Yeahhhhh!
Let’s go! One, two, one, two three four! The name of this thing is Hook
and Sling!’), and the almost unfathomable brilliance of James Black’s drumming, ‘Hook &
Sling’ catches the ear immediately. The guitar line (which sounds as if
it was lifted from ‘Mexican Shuffle’ by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana
Brass) is a great contrast (and counterpoint) to the drums and is a great
illustration of Bo’s complex brand of funk.
In a lot of ways, if one sees James Brown as the
Charlie Parker of funk – the main architect of the sound as Parker was
to bebop – than Eddie Bo is in many ways the music’s Thelonious Monk
– taking the basic concepts and twisting them into unsual and compelling
new shapes. The drums of James Black have a lot to do with that. Black
took the percussion of the New Orleans ‘second line’ and translated it
into the sound of funk better than almost anyone else (Ziggy Modeliste and
Smokey Johnson included). His
playing has an infinite complexity that while
dizzying, always maintains an internal logic and attachment to the beat.
Juxtaposed with Billy Higgins’ New Orleans influenced playing on Ornette
Coleman’s Atlantic albums of the early 60’s, the two styles, while
wildly different seem to be objects rotating on the same axis.
Part 2 - which for some reason is marked as the plug side on the 45 –
doesn’t differ too much from the a-side, with Eddie raving wildly
(calling to the ‘…girl over there in the green dress with the great
big old yams!” – YAMS?!?! Hmmmmm…) and riffing over the track.
The track did inspire imitators in it’s time. Abraham’s ‘Hook &
Boogie Pts 1&2 (Hy Sign) is close enough to the original to be
treading in rip-off territory, and sounds like it was put out to take
advantage of confused or intoxicated record buyers. The Fantastic Johnny
C’s ‘Let’s Do It Together’ (Branding Iron/Kama Sutra) is more in
the line of homage/follow-up, with it’s chorus of ‘Lets hook it babe,
let’s do it together!’ and a guitar lead that references the original
without repeating it.
I would suggest that those that don’t have a copy of the original, stay
away from E-bay and look for a copy at record shows (where I recently
picked up a new, mint-y copy for $10.00). The Eddie Bo reissues on Tuff
City/Funky Delicacies mess with the original mix/length of the track, and
their annotation sucks. You can however hear ‘Hook & Sling Pt2’ on
the Soul Jazz comp ‘New Orleans Funk’. The Abraham track has been
comped a few times on bootlegs, but as far as I know the Fantastic Johnny
C cut is only available in the original.
- LG |
