WHAT'S COOK(E)IN'? written by O.W.

Sam Cooke:

Lost & Lookin'
Trouble Blues
From Night Beat (RCA, 1963)

Shake
It's Got The Whole World Shakin'
From Shake (RCA, 1965)

(Editor's Note: The following post was written by Eric Luecking who wanted to speak on the remarkable voice of Sam Cooke. Enjoy. --O.W.)

Written by Eric Luecking:

Where to start? Sam Cooke arguably has the greatest voice on record you have ever heard. Period. But to categorize him as a singer does the man injustice. He was a songwriter, lyrical interpreter, showman, businessman, label owner, and producer. As if that isn't enough, he penned the song that would become the unofficial anthem of the Civil Rights Movement.



As a kid listening to oldies radio with my mom in the car, I always thought Sam Cooke sounded too goody-two-shoes. Radio tends to only remember him for about four tunes: “You Send Me,” “Cupid,” “What A Wonderful World,” and “Chain Gang.” After digging deeper into his catalog a couple of years ago, I discovered an artist who poured his being into creating and interpreting an assortment of styles and songs. While history remembers him as the man with the golden voice singing svelte supper club songs and pretty ditties, he had the ability to flip the script and hit you with some of the most soul-wrenching blues and catchy, horn-filled dance floor stormers.

In February 1963, Sam started to cut Night Beat after his brother, L.C., turned down covering Howlin' Wolf's “Little Red Rooster” during a recording session. Even though RCA had only recently released Mr. Soul, that didn't stop Sam from going in a new direction – a bluesier, more gutsy collection of songs combining the west coast blues of Charles Brown with the midwest gospel fervor of the Soul Stirrers that Sam himself helped to bring to further national prominence.

With a minimal set of session players including a teenage Billy Preston along with longtime collaborator and arranger René Hall as well as a half-dozen others, they cut an indelible classic soul album at a time when albums were not the format of choice for labels. Amazingly, only one single was released from this set – the previously mentioned “Little Red Rooster” b/w “You Gotta Move” (RCA-8247). As an album, this collection of songs is marred only by the Turner cover. It would have made a much better b-side than album cut for this mood-filled opus.

The first selection from this release is the haunting plea, “Lost & Lookin',” in which you can practically hear Sam fall to his knees and beg an ex-lover to come back to his arms. Accompanied by only an upright bass and a cymbal, Sam's voice flies over this beautiful piece like a flock of birds soaring through a sunset-filled sky. His intonation and enunciation are immaculate and his ability to go into falsetto and back are unmatched. Close your eyes and prepare to be entranced.

“Trouble Blues,” a cover of the 1949 Charles Brown Trio tune, finds the arrangement expanding upon the mainly piano-laden Brown version. Sam opens with a solemn hum before being joined by Clifford Hill's upright and Hal Blaine's drum kit for the opening half minute. Preston's organ can later be heard providing a steady back rhythm before opening into a leading solo in the middle.

The year 1964 saw Sam expanding his sound. The craze of dance songs that instructed you how the dance was performed was kicking into higher gear. To start the ‘60s, Chubby Checker had his cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters “The Twist” (of which Sam even had a cover on 1962’s “Twistin’ The Night Away” that included several other twists on the twist) while Bobby Freeman had “C’mon & Swim.” This song, in particular, spurned a keen interest in Sam so much so that he wanted to record his own version of it. He turned that inspiration into “Shake” – a relentless stormer featuring in-your-face drum work by Earl Palmer as well as a more upfront rhythm section. The tempo was the most aggressive Sam had recorded in his career.

Equally as aggressive was “It’s Got The Whole World Shakin’.” Similar in rhythm, this cut was recorded during the same session as “Shake” in mid-November 1964. The sound is very much Muscle Shoals as it shows Sam putting his velvet voice on the backburner and letting more grit emanate, something we had not heard much of in his studio work although his chitlin circuit shows (see Live At The Harlem Square Club album) certainly revealed this side.

Unfortunately, Sam would not see the release of these songs as he was killed less than a month after the session. RCA released “Shake” b/w a shortened edit of “A Change Is Gonna Come” just over a week after his death in December 1964. Both shake tunes would be featured on his posthumous final album Shake released in the spring of 1965. Eerily, the classic “A Change Is Gonna Come,” a song that Sam described to prized apprentice Bobby Womack as sounding “like death,” would be his swan song - closing out a career that started by praising the Almighty and ended with condemning the establishment.

It’s an impossible guessing game as to what would have happened in the long term for Sam musically. He had so many ideas and only so much time. Would he have continued to write and perform more political songs? He was certainly an avid student of African American studies and constantly borrowed books from radio DJ pioneer Magnificent Montague’s huge archival collection on black history. Would he have continued to tweak his sound? We know that in the days leading up to his death he had spoken with longtime friend Lou Rawls and producer Al Schmitt about a downhome blues album, certainly a departure from the frantic “Shake.”

While many may only remember him for ‘50s high school dance love songs, he should also be remembered for his artistry. It’s a testament to his variegated interest in sound and texture as well as his honest soul in being able to relay so many styles that can make you weak in the knees with a cappella to strengthening you with songs of pride to knee-smackin’ backporch Dixieland with your countrified buddies. Sam walked all those lines while helping to narrow the color barrier in popular music. After all, he was the second highest selling RCA artist eclipsing everyone except Elvis on his label.

For all these reasons, we can simply remember him as “Mr. Soul” and enjoy the sounds his sweet tenor makes us feel. He truly was… the man.

--written by Eric Luecking for Soul-Sides.com

My Kind Of Disco, Part 1 written by murphyslaw

Golden Flamingo Orchestra feat. Margo Williams: The Guardian Angel Is Watching Over Us
Taken from the compilation Disco Juice 2 on Counterpoint (2007)

Zafra Bros: Can I See You Tonight
Taken from the 12" on Eastbourne (1981)

Evelyn "Champagne" King: Love Come Down
Taken from the 12" on RCA (1982)

Wild Sugar: Bring It Here
Taken from the 12" on TSOB (1980)

Charanga 76: No Nos Pararan
Taken from the 12" on TR Records (1979)

Milton Wright: Get No Loving Tonight
Taken from the album Friends and Buddies on Alston 1975

The perfect disco set is a difficult amalgam. It requires just the right proportions beat, cheese, strings, handclaps, obscurity, populist appeal, introspective build-up and anthemic deliverance . The old wedding day maxim could almost be jacked verbatim for application in regards to the necessary elements for a proper disco party-rock: Something old, something new... you get the idea. In this case we'll tweak the 'borrowed' to mean a cover song and 'something blue' in the musical sense. Enjoy.

MAMBO MONDAY CON LA PLAYA written by Captain Planet

La Playa Sextet : Hong Kong, Hunca Munca , Olaya & El Chico Boogaloo
taken from the album Bailando El Boogaloo on Musicor (1967)

La Playa Sextet : Le-Lo-Lai & Sugar's Delight
taken from the album Vaya Means Go! on United Artists (196?)

La Playa Sextet : Coco Seco/Anabacca & Mambo Inn
taken from the album The Exciting New La Playa Sound
on United Artists (196?)

I felt inspired to give La Playa (even THEY have a myspace page!) their due respect for several reasons. The first is selfish: I've been carrying these records in my crate consistently, week-in week-out, for probably a year now, and before I wear out the grooves on my favorite tunes, I wanted to retire the vinyl properly and let the music itself live on forever in digitally-preserved mp3/serato heaven. The second reason is because I'd also like to start doing a regular feature on somewhat overlooked latin groups. "Dura Obscura" or something like that. If I highlight a big name artist like Tito Puente or Eddie Palmieri, I'll pick out something that is a bit lesser-known from their catalogue. La Playa seemed like as good a place as any to start. Chronologically, they rose to popularity on the Latin tidal wave that crashed in 1968 with the death of the Boogaloo and the subsequent birth of "Salsa" superpower Fania. Cha-cha, Charanga, Mambo, Bomba, Bolero all got branded conveniently under one banner, and La Playa somehow didn't make the grade.

Most of what little I know about La Playa I picked up here and here. But without knowing about all the players and particulars, one of the major aspects of the group's sound that stood out to me from the start, and caused me to seek out other titles, is the killer electric guitar playing by Payo Alicea. Beyond simply taking over the montuno parts traditionally played on piano, Payo really steered the sound of the group in a latin-rock direction (pre-Santana). "Hunca Munca" has that classic bluesy rock progression that sounds pretty dated today (maybe even tacky to some), but back then I imagine this was some pretty progressive stuff. I'm not sure what happened to the group after "Bailando.." was released, but their music is still heating up dancefloors here in Brooklyn on a weekly basis.

BODY AND SOUL written by O.W.

Max Roach with the J.C. White Singers: Were You There When They Crucified My Lord
From Lift Every Voice and Sing (Atlantic, 1971)

Gil Scott-Heron/Brian Jackson: Peace Go With You Brother
From Winter In America (Strata-East, 1974)

When I was in Duke the other month, Mark Anthony Neal was telling me about this Max Roach and J.C. White Singers album and how powerful it was, especially the hymnal, "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord." Unfortunately, it's not the easiest album to track down - it's been out of print on CD for a while - so it took some footwork (read: eBay + patience) to track down the LP but *whistle* was it worth the wait.

Let's just first say that the sound of the song runs deep and for good reason: this is a Joel Dorn production, which is perhaps why - even though I had never heard the song before - it sounded familiar, like a lost Headless Heroes song. J.C. White has such a powerful, resonant voice on the song; the music has a slow, measured power to it too, of course, but it's White's vocals that brings the song down upon you. But wait toward the end, when the full chorus comes in and the song's emotional state changes from morose to uplifting - it's stunning.

For whatever reason, listening to this, I kept thinking about Gil Scott-Heron - stylistically, there's some clear similarities - and it motivated me to pull out one of my favorite albums by him, Winter In America (almost certainly the most successful Strata-East title ever). "Peace Go With You My Brother" begins the album and it sets a tone that, like the Roach/White song, tells you, "this is some serious sh--, listen up." Musically, the texture of the song benefits so richly from the use of electric piano (I'm assuming Rhodes here, given the flange effect). The song sounds marshmallow mellow on one hand but when you listen to what Heron is singing about, there's a abiding darkness that seeps into the otherwise soft musical fabric.

This pair of songs is best heard beginning with a deep breath. Then dive in.

Ok, with that said though, I still wanted to bring the energy level up and the perfect fit, especially with the gospel/spiritual-edge of "Were You There" would be to end this post with a little Joubert Singers:

The Joubert Singers: Stand on the Word
From 7" (Next Plateau, 1985)

I first discovered this through Murphy's Law and not having heard a lot of gospel disco, I wasn't sure what to expect but good god (appropriately enough), this song is - no blasphemy intended - f---ing incredible. According to discogs.com: ""Stand On The Word" was first ever recorded live in the First Baptist Church in Crown Heights, NYC, in 1982. Soon after the church pressed up a couple of hundred copies for the congregation," upon which, it was discovered by local DJs at places like Garage, The Loft, etc. and ended up getting a promo-release on Next Plateau (on both 12" and 7"). There's some disagreement over who actually remixed the song - there's a bootleg 12" you can find that credits Larry Levan but the actual record nods to Tony Humphries so go figure. Either way, it's just great.

I played this at Boogaloo[L.A.] and apparently, someone actually knelt to the floor and gave thanks at the song's completion. I kind of get that feeling too with it.

SOUL SIDES DIGITAL STORE written by O.W.

Thanks to DJ Icewater up in Oakland, Soul Sides now has seven of its cataloged mix-CDs online for digital download.

Format: 256 rate, LAME encoded MP3s (sorry, no alternatives available right now but hey, it's the same as Amazon.com).

(Click CD image for description of mixtape. Order here).

BACK FROM THE CRAZY HORSE written by O.W.

As noted, I went to go see Joe Bataan play the Crazy Horse in West Covina. It was cool insofar as there were a lot of older, hardcore fans of his who rolled through and that's always great to see. But for once, I'd like to see him play a venue where the average age isn't 42 - he deserves a wider audience but so far, promoters out here in Los Angeles seem to only book him in places where things skew considerably older. If someone wants to help me work on this, holler.

A small, unexpected, very pleasant surprise: at the beginning of the show, Joe came into the audience and was handing out photocopies of this. It reminds me: I really should scan the original in since the issue is sold out.

In the meantime, enjoy these:

CONTINUE READING...

HUA HSU DOES THE BOOGALOO written by O.W.

This week at Boogaloo[L.A.]:

It's me (O-Dub) with special guest Hua Hsu, all the way from Poughkeepsie.

Last time he was out, we rocked the Redwood Bar; now it's time to turn Boogaloo[L.A.] out.

And, oh yeah, our new flier is finally out - look for it 'round town.

O-Dub and Hua Hsu
The Short Stop
Thursday, 10pm - 2am
Always free!
1455 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles (Echo Park)

REMEMBERING THE FUTURE written by Captain Planet

Santogold : Shove It
taken from her self-titled alum on Downtown (2008)

MGMT : Electric Feel
taken from the album Oracular Spectacular on Sony (2007)

Plantlife : Rollerskate Jam & Fool For U
taken from the album Time Traveller on Decon (2008)

As a person who spends perhaps too much time digging into the past, it's important to be reminded that there's still just as much life being lived now as there ever was back in the day. For anyone who finds themselves waxing nostalgia over a lost golden era of greatness, I recommend going out to some live concerts and picking up an album or two by artists, like the ones I'm posting today, who remind us all that music history is happening right now and we still have a very bright future to look forward to. THESE ALBUMS ARE FREAKING UNBELIEVABLY GREAT, so stop asking why you don't like what's on the radio and start spending your loot on the good stuff.

I won't act like I had too much of a role in Santi's recent explosive exposure, but me and my bandmate buddies can at least take credit for putting her on for her first solo show in NYC, so we're helping the cause. This girl deserves every bit of shine she gets. In addition to being a suuuper mellow, down-to-earth, and incredibly talented person, she has crafted a broad-reaching, unique sound (read- NOT an M.I.A. imitation like some fools may claim) on her new album that warns the villagers of the oncoming flash-flood of more that is sure to come. Her voice slashes through the punchy, punky, electro-funky, reggae-bottomed beats like a blazing light saber. When I listen to her record, I hear the demolition of an invisible wall that separates CBGB's (R.I.P.) from a big bass club like Brooklyn's Studio B, where the mosh pit reaches a new fervor with the introduction of the sub-woofer and the multicolored mohawks get a glitter treatment from the disco ball overhead. I picked "Shove It" just because it's getting hotter each day now as summer draws nigh, and there's a nice little guest appearance from the one MC Spank Rock on here too, and the beat was produced by the late great Disco D (R.I.P.). Now go SUPPORT THIS ARTIST and get yourself the goods.

Now I've spent almost all my precious little writing time on Santi, but you need to check out MGMT who are more of that next shit out of Brooklyn! Psychedelic, dance-inducing, electro-rock with a catchy factor that is devastating. Don't sleep and then feel bad later when your little brother tells you, "I told you so" - PICK UP THE ALBUM NOW.

And it's the return of PLANTLIFE! Here's an album that brings more falsetto and funk than all the funky falsetto records of the past few years combined (since the release of the first Plantlife album). Jack Splash gives us 19 tracks worth of casio party beats, quasimoto-styled chipmunk raps, dirty samples, and raw unabashed SOUL. There's so many tracks I could have highlighted on this one to show you a different reason why you need the whole record, but isn't "Fool For U" enough? This is quite possibly the sweetest soul tune I've heard a young man sing since the Chi-Lites stopped recording. Time traveller indeed. Get it while it's hot.

BONUS BEAT- Mark Ronson ft. Santogold : Pretty Green
(originally by The Jam)
taken from the album Version on Columbia (2007)

(EXTRA)ORDINARY: JOE BATAAN written by O.W.

First off, for my Angelinos, Joe Bataan is playing at the Crazy Horse in West Covina on Sunday. See you there!

I recently finished up a set of liner notes for an upcoming anthology on Joe's rich recording catalog for the Fania label. As folks probably know, I'm a huge fan of Joe and it's been a genuine honor to be able to interview him over the years and bring attention to his remarkable career.

This post is part of the boogaloo series (and I'll do some more closer to the date the comp drops) but was really inspired by what is Joe's best-known song, "Ordinary Guy." It's not just a fan favorite - he's recorded it five times (and released it six) - but it's also a song integral to his own sense of self; he may be a star but in his own mind, he's still just a regular Joe (you saw that coming, right?) From the man himself: "While in prison, we did a lot of experimenting with songs. I had first heard the title “Ordinary Guy” in prison in Coxsackie, so I eventually rewrote the words, came back home, put ‘em to music. The song makes me cry sometimes when I see the reaction of people. In New York, it is so popular. People just love that song, and I guess the words mean a lot. “Hey, I’m just an ordinary guy, don’t expect anything else. That’s me” and I’ve always been that way. Having sung the song and how I have endeared a lot of people, how they felt about it, only influenced me more [to] give more of my heart than almost any other song. It describes me."

CONTINUE READING...


Joe Bataan: Ordinary Guy
From Gypsy Woman (Fania, 1967)

The original version of "Ordinary Guy" was recorded for Gypsy Woman, Joe's debut album for Fania. He and his band, the Latin Swingers, recorded the album in one single studio session, a relatively unusual practice. By the end of the day, Joe had this - his last song - left to record but his voice was starting to give out. Session engineer (and Fania co-founder) Johnny Pacheco asked, "'Don’t you want to come back tomorrow?’ and I said no," said Joe. "Actually, my fear was that they were going to change their mind and not use it." So, even with his voice at the point of breaking, they recorded this and completed the entire album that day.

Ordinary Guy
From 7" (Fania, 1967)

For reasons not entirely clear, Fania decided to re-record the song to release on single. For the most part, this 7" version isn't wildly different from the LP except that Fania brought in pianist Richard Tee. Tee changes the opening to the song, giving it a stronger presence, especially with a striking arrangement that sounds very much like the beginning of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Precious Love." This is probably my favorite version of the song, precisely for that intro which gives the tune such a rich, soulful feel to it. (Thanks to Reynaldo for digitizing).

Interestingly, at the Crazy Horse show, when Joe sang "Ordinary Guy", he opened it with that same Tee melody.
Ordinary Guy
From Riot! (Fania, 1968)

By Joe's third album, the gold-selling Riot!, Fania convinced him to record the song again, but this time with a dramatic makeover as the song was given a new arrangement by Broadway's Harold Wheeler. Joe admits, "I didn't particularly like it...I love it now but at the time, I just thought he was altering my music because he gave it this jazzy feel. It had to grow on me because I thought it was too fast." This new version, in my opinion, is lovely and a great change-up from the original. Wheeler adds in some vibes, speeds up the tempo a bit, and has Joe open with some soaring vocals and well-timed drum hits.

It's worth noting, Fania put this same recording - albeit longer by a few seconds - onto Joe's Singin' Some Soul album. I'm guessing it's because they thought it'd fit well with the concept of that album. That would be the last time Joe recorded "Ordinary Guy" for Fania.

Muchacho Ordinario
From Salsoul (Mericana, 1973)

The next incarnation of the song is perhaps the most unique: a Spanish-language version that appeared on Joe's first post-Fania album, Salsoul. The arrangement is completely different too - here, the song isn't really in the R&B vein, it's much more like a son montuno. Bueno!

Ordinary Guy
From Afrofilipino (Salsoul, 1975)

The final version of the song came on the next album, Afrofilipino. This is a version I know a lot of Soul Sides folks are familiar with - I comped it for Soul Sides Vol. 1. I like to think of it as a bridge version between the Latin-fied flavor of "Muchacho Ordinario" and the more R&B stylings of the earlier versions. The song is more in a soul vein in the beginning but at the end, he yells, "salsa!" and the ballad then transforms into a whirling dance tune.

THE HAPPY SOUL SUITE written by O.W.

Unraveling musical mysteries is part of what motivates me as a music journalist. I don't claim to be very good or thorough at it, but the process alone is a way to appreciate the beauty and complexity of music-making that isn't necessarily transparent through listening alone (or, er, the sonic equivalent of "transparency").

This post is one such example and it begins, for me at least, with a song called "Happy Soul" that appears on an album by The Moon People that I picked up at the Groove Merchant a few years back. (Note: ironically, "Happy Soul" is the one song I did NOT include in the Suite but for reasons that will become clear shortly). "Happy Soul" is very striking, especially for a Latin soul song because 1) it's fast and 2) it's funky. Really funky. Funkier than most Latin soul songs one can think of. I would play it out when I could, especially because it's a great "transition" track between Latin and funk sets. It's not surprisingly then that, in 2006, when the DJ Premier-produced Xtina Aguilera single, "Ain't No Other Man" came out, I recognized the sample immediately.

At least I thought I did.


CONTINUE READING...

A little while later, I heard "Happy Soul (With a Hook)" by Dave Cortez with the Moon People and it was basically the same instrumental track as "Happy Soul" but with Cortez' trademark organ vamping all over it. Then, last year, I discovered the Latin Blues Band and their album, Take a Trip Pussycat. On there, they have a song called, "I'll Be a Happy Man" and it is basically, the same exact song as "Happy Soul" only with vocals (and without the Cortez organ).

The plot thickened.

The LBB, the Cortez single and the Moon People album are all on Speed, a smaller Latin label of the late '60s that specialized in Latin soul and boogaloo bands, including Frankie Nieves, and one of the rare female Latin groups, Dianne and Carole and the Latin Whatchamacallits. It's one of the great, great Latin boutique labels of that era and the Big Ol' Bag O Boogaloo series comps heavily from their catalog (with some odd omissions but that's for another time). It was on that album that I heard The Moon People's "Hippy Skippy Moon Strut" which sounded like the Cortez' song but minus the organ and with a new piano arrangement.

WTF?

Around the same time I acquired a copy of the LBB album (thanks Rodney!), I also stumbled across this feature on the great Spectropop website (Latin fans should check out their thorough Tico feature). They finally helped me put many of the details together and I'm trying not to duplicate their already great work but, there was one element yet to add here: the testimony of Bobby Marin.

Marin is a composer and producer and he and his brother Richard were major players in the NY Latin scene in the 1960s and '70s. I spoke to Marin while putting together the liner notes for an upcoming Fania anthology on Joe Bataan and wanting to take advantage of being able to speak to such a storied veteran in the scene, I asked him what some of his favorite compositions were and he named "I'll Be a Happy Man." At that point, I didn't own the album yet so I had no idea he, along with Louie Ramirez and other players, were in the Latin Blues Band and I asked him to trace for me the history of the song. Between the Spectropop site and Marin's own information, here's what I was able to pull together (and to be sure, I really should talk to Marin again to fill in blanks):

Morty Craft - who ran Speed and was the main producer for the label - reassembled the Latin Blues Band into The Moon People. I'm not clear why he did this nor why he would have the group essentially record over their own LBB backing tracks with slight changes (but sans vocals) and then release it as its own album. I guess Craft felt like he could sell consumers the same songs twice. "Happy Soul," from what I can tell, is simply "I'll Be a Happy Man" without vocals. Well, almost without vocals...Marin told me that when he was in the studio, editing the Land of Love album, he insisted that they keep something of his original vocals, which ended up being a "whoooo!" somewhere in there. (In any case, I didn't include "Happy Soul" in the suite since it's a subtraction with no additions, unlike the other songs).

Soon thereafter, Craft sold the mechanical rights to that instrumental to Morris Levy at Roulette. At that point, the song transforms into "Happy Soul With a Hook." The original piano is stripped off and replaced with Cortez' organ playing plus some spacey wah-wah guitar. Speed ends up releasing this "new" song as a single. According to Spectropop, "Hippy Skippy Moon Strut" appears just a few months later and it is basically "Happy Soul With a Hook" minus organs, keeping the wah-wah, and throwing on that new piano arrangement I mentioned plus some vocals yelling, "hippy skippy!" and similar phrases. That single appears on Roulette rather than Speed (possibly because the latter had been purchased by Roulette by this point). Then fast forward nearly 40 years and DJ Premier flips "Hippy Dippy" for Xtina and the story ends.

Well, not quite.

My convo with Marin yielded two more tidbits of information. First of all, RCA apparently didn't clear the sample correctly. My guess is that they cleared the mechanical rights but not the songwriter rights and when Fania (who, by now, owned the Speed catalog) figured this out, they got ready to sue. The problem is: they didn't know who the original composer was either and one day, when Marin was visiting, they asked him, "hey, would you happen to know who the composer is?" upon which Marin replied, "yeah...me." So as it turns out, Marin is waiting to see if a settlement happens, and if so, he likely stands to make a nice piece of change off this.

The second piece of info I gleaned from him was around who the hell was the drummer on the song. After all, one reason why the song stands out so much, why it probably got remade three times and then sampled, is because of those drum breaks. They're unusual for a Latin soul song - I can't think of many other songs in that era that featured open breakbeats - so I had to ask Marin about it. His reply, "well, that was Bernard Purdie."

Jaw drop.

That explains quite a bit...and it makes total sense (Purdie did a grip of studio work in NY in that era, plus the drumming sounds like something he'd put together) but it's a detail that, as far as I can tell, no one has ever noted before. And that, my friends, is the kind of discovery that motivates me to get up every morning. With all that, thanks for reading...here's the "Happy Soul Suite" for your edification:

Soul-Sides.com presents...The "Happy Soul Suite"

Created from...

The Latin Blues Band feat. Luis Aviles: (I'll Be A) Happy Man
From Take a Trip Pussycat (Speed, 1968)

Dave Cortez with The Moon People: Happy Soul (With A Hook)
From 7" (Speed, 1968). Also on El Barrio: The Bad Boogaloo.

The Moon People: Hippy, Skippy Moon Strut
From 7" (Roulette, 1969). Also on Big Ol' Bag O' Boogaloo Vol. 1.

Christina Aguilera: Ain't No Other Man
From Back to Basics (RCA, 2006)

FULL-FLEDGED RECORD NERD written by Captain Planet

Etoile De Dakar : Tolou Badou Ndiaye
taken from their self-titled album on SACEM (1980)

Elias Rahbani : From The Moon
taken from the 12" single on EMI (1978)

Formula 7 : Trouble
taken from their self-titled album on Castelinho (1970)

Erick Cosaque Et Les Voltages 8 : Decere Nou De Maye
taken from the album "Chene A Kunta Kinte" on SACEM (197?)

In case you didn't already know by now, I get more geeked off vinyl than your average DJ. Moreso even than your run-of-the-mill skinny-necked record nerd. I even have nightmares that I will oneday join the ranks of those golem-esque record-fiending freaks who stop bathing and lose all social skills in the sole pursuit of posessing the holy plastic grail. If you see me start to get like that, please intervene.

However, in the meantime what that means for you all is that I've been hoarding some serious monsters for a special occaision. As a frequenter of the Soulstrut.com forums, I found my occaision in the form of what we strutters call an "ISH". This ISH business provides a place for similarly crazed crate-diggers to show off some of their favorite obscurities to fellow record nerds. Being the geek that I am, I went for it. Today's tunes are culled from the same stash that made it into my ISH. For those that are new to this website, I highly recommend hanging out for a little while. Amid the flurry of non-record-related bullshwank, there's the occaisional nuggets of real-world knowledge- not to mention a whole lot of music sharing. Without further ado, onto the music...

READ MY "ISH" TO GET THE INFO

BOOGALOO[LA] GETS ITS OWN MUXTAPE written by O.W.

Want to know what kind of music we roll to at Boogaloo[LA]? Peep:

FUNKY OUT written by O.W.

Editor's Note: This following reflection on funky jazz is by David Jaffe. This should have been posted a long time ago (my bad) but I think people will take away something great from his insights - and excellent tastes. --O.W.

From David Jaffe:

For a long time I’ve wanted to write about the funky side of free jazz. Like most styles of Black American music of the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s, jazz in general, and free jazz in particular, served as spiritual, protest and dance music. One might more easily recognize the spiritual side of the genre in meditations of John Coltrane or cry of Albert Ayler. Also evident is the demand for equal rights in the colorations of Archie Shepp or the staccato of Rashied Ali. What is less obvious, unless one is careful, is the music that draws less on the intellectualism of the out-jazz, new-thing scene and more on git-out-the-chair-and-shake-your-thang sound created by many of the musicians associated with the free movement.
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It is likely that most of the African-American musicians commonly classified as out players had at one time or another played in R&B outfits. Many out instrumentalists, particularly those on the rosters of labels like Prestige and Blue Note, had also played in funky soul-jazz bands. For alert listeners the influences of R&B, soul and funk can be found in the recording of the musicians regularly associated with the New Thing in jazz, even so much as the music crosses over into the realm of pure funk. In this out jazz absent is the free improvisation, tonal experimentation and textured playing most familiar to free jazz fans, and present is the in-the-pocket playing with a groove and a break down most commonly associated with the music of James Brown and deep funk.

Sun Ra was the original Method Man of the out big band scene (“mad different methods to the way he do his shit”). His musical universe covered big band, free jazz, doo wop, R&B, funk, soundtracks, and so much more. Sun Ra had a fair number of funky recordings, the most famous, or at least well known, of which is Lanquidity. The album has been described as lounge jazz, or dance jazz where dance in this case equates to disco. Neither of these descriptions apply, as was true of many of the descriptions of Sun Ra’s work. The closest approximation to a labeled style of the present example might be blaxploitation. On the track included here, the seriously funky Where Pathways Meet, even the lead solo by Eddie Gale brings the stanky stuff. The Disco Kid guitar solo is so Funkadelic, and the multiple percussionists keep the groove in the pocket.

Sun Ra: Where Pathways Meet
From Lanquidity (Philly Jazz, 1978)

Eddie Gale also recorded two lesser known lp’s for Blue Note. As an aside, it is worth noting that all of the tracks included here, like most free jazz, was recorded for smaller independents or self-released for as much as a lack of interest by the public as the lack of understanding by the majors. On this track, Black Rhythm Happening, the traps duty falls to Elvin Jones, one of the greatest jazz drummers ever. While little of Jones’ playing could be considered pure funk, he did play on many funky soul jazz sides. Unlike Jones, Gale did not have enough opportunities to record, possibly because of his militant themes. His playing was very influential, however, and the Black Rhythm Happening lp was a direct influence Archie Shepp’s better known Attica Blues.

Eddie Gale: Black Rhythm Happening
From Black Rhythm Happening (Blue Note, 1969)

One band that did have tremendous opportunities to record was the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Their soundtrack to the French film Les Stances A Sophie is a classic among jazz film soundtracks as well as some of the bands funkiest music. The film was part of the French New Wave, and not the only film of the genre to use funky accompaniment. On the cut "Theme De Yoyo" the ACOE is joined by soul and funk singer Fontella Bass, wife of trumpeter Lester Bowie. Following Bowie’s death three decades later Bass would record "All That You Give" with Cinematic Orchestra for Ninja Tune. Cinematic Orchestra would then cover "Theme De Yoyo" for their ex post facto soundtrack to Man With A Movie Camera, a silent-era Russian propaganda film).

While both Cinematic Orchestra tracks are very good and worth tracking down for downtempo fans, neither can approach the outright funky of the original "Theme De Yoyo."

Art Ensemble of Chicago: Theme De Yoyo
From Les Stances A Sophie (EMI France, 1970)

Like the ACOE, Joe McPhee had more opportunities to record overseas than at home. Also like the ACOE McPhee made his recording debut on a small, independent domestic label. In the case of the ACOE, their first recording came out as the sophomore release on the Nessa label, still active today, under the name the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble. McPhee’s first release as a leader was the inaugural release on the CjR label, which as far as I know, only released three lp’s, all of which were McPhee’s. On the track "Shakey," Jake McPhee is clearly influenced by both Coltrane and James Brown. The band includes organ, electric piano, electric bass, and two percussionists. This kind of track, recorded live, includes elements of touring soul and R&B groups on which many jazz players cut their teeth, as noted above, and lengthy, free improvisation practiced by the out players. McPhee apparently decided to pursue more free avenues of expression and neither of his other later two lp’s for CjR include the kind of work heard here.

Joe McPhee: Shakey Jake
From Nation Time (CJR, 1971)

One player who frequently played in the funky vein was Phil Ranelin. His early funky sides can be found on the artist-owned Tribe label, such as "Sounds From The Village" on Vibes From The Tribe. The track is equally Funk Brothers’ Motown and electric-era Miles Davis, paying homage to the hard-bop Detroit forefathers of the previous generation (i.e. Yusef Lateef, Donald Byrd, Roy Brooks, etc.) and looking forward to the House and Techno forefathers of two generations later.

Phil Ranelin: Sounds From The Village
From Vibes From The Tribe (Tribe, 1976)

Artist-owned labels were frequently purveyors of out jazz. Another example is the proto-Hip-Hop of Maulawi’s "Street Rap" on Strata East. More of an argument between a couple in the city than a rap, the arrangement of the vocals (!?) over the funky accompaniment is meant to be downright ghetto soul. Similarly, Rudolph Johnson’s Black Jazz recording of Devon Jean comes on like the theme song to Sanford & Son. Interestingly, Johnson’s Second Coming lp, also from Black Jazz, clearly shows the influence of less-funky-but-truly-beautiful A-Love-Supreme-era-Impulse-work of John Coltrane.

Maulawi: Street Rap
From S/T (Strata East, 1974)

Rudolph Johnson: Devon Jean
From: Spring Rain (Black Jazz, 1971)

Both Webster Lewis’ Do You Believe and Roy Brooks’ The Free Slave are live recordings that open with funky drums. The funk continues on Believe with Lewis’ organ and the vocals of Judd Watkins. If the track reminds the listener of Barry White, that is because Lewis was at one time White’s band leader. One will also be forgiven for hearing a connection to fellow funky out organist Larry Young for whom Lewis took over in Tony William’s Lifetime. Brooks was more of a soul jazz and post-bop drummer than a free drummer. He will be familiar to Blue Note junkies as the drummer behind Horace Silver’s Song For My Father. Brooks is also well know for helping introduce the world the post-bop styling of Woody Shaw, who played trumpet on The Free Slave. Shaw’s playing here harkens back to Larry Young’s Unity and Shaw’s own In The Beginning. While neither of those two titles is as funky as The Free Slave, which shows the influence of boogaloo, they are both fantastic.

Webster Lewis: Do You Believe
From In Norway - The Club 7 Live Tapes (Plastic Strip,
2007, Originally released Arne Bendiksen Records, 1971)

Roy Brooks: The Free Slave
From The Free Slave (Muse, 1972)