Revisiting the Queen

Carla Thomas - Good Good Lovin'

Last summer I featured Carla Thomas on the blog and reiterated my regular declaration, "Carla Thomas is my favorite female soul singer (period)." Nothing's changed since then, and today's selection actually buttresses my opinion. "Good Good Lovin'" is one of those lost gems that appeared on the comp 3000 Volts of Stax. After a very tasteful guitar opening, Carla sweetly lays out her ballad while the band provides fine support. Long live the Queen!

Walkin' on the Moon!

Clay Tyson - Moon Man

Comedian Clay Tyson is a footnote in the history of African-American stand-up comedy, despite having a fair number of record releases and despite his serving a stint as part of the James Brown Revue. I've heard one of his stand-up LPs and his two James Brown-produced singles, which I'll discuss below, and I can see that he was indeed a lesser talent among the many "party record" comedians that were plying their trade at the time. (I'm apparently not alone on this - one Internet review of a "Playboy After Dark" TV appearance by JB and his group refers to Tyson's comedy as "lame," and a news story from Stars & Stripes covering a 1968 JB concert for the troops in Korea noted that Tyson's stand-up routine was axed by the AFKN, who was broadcasting the show live, in favor of a musical interlude!)

As I mentioned earlier, Tyson recorded two 45s with James Brown during his tenure with the Revue. The first, "You Don't Know What I Want" b/w "Man on the Moon," was a King 45 from 1968 in which Tyson, working over the "I Can't Stand Myself" riff, tells a blue fairy tale and comments on race and the space program. The second 45, "Moon Man" b/w "If You See a Ring Around The Bathtub (Baby You Know I Left You Clean)," was a 1972 release on I-Dentify. Despite the different titles on the 45, Tyson's doing the same two routines from the King 45, albeit with different music. "Moon Man" actually works a bit better than "Man on the Moon," as it features an attractive chug-a-lug groove over which Tyson talks about how white people hadn't invited any black people to go on any moon missions ("they ain't gonna take us," he asserts), but then suggests that black people should build a rocket (suggesting that James Brown hold a benefit concert to raise the money) and then go not to the moon, but to the sun (flying at night, of course, because the sun would be too hot during the day). It's pure nonsense, but Tyson and JB trade lines and the band does its thing, so the end result is a groovy funky 45.

The Dancefloor Gospel According to King Coleman!

Carlton (King) Coleman - Rock Gospel Mash

The Rev. Carlton "King" Coleman is one of the last of the great true showmen of the classic soul era, having played drums, emceed, designed his own stage outfits and, of most importance to us soul fans, recorded slabs of raw, good-timing R&B, soul and funk for a wide range of labels. Do check out this great Miami New Times profile of Coleman for an exhaustive view of the man and his career.

Coleman made a few records with James Brown in the '60s, first with "(Do The) Mashed Potatoes" (the article referenced above discusses the circumstances behind that record, as well as the interesting story of his first meeting with Brown) on Dade and then two other record releases on King, the two-part, Rufus Thomas-styled dancer "The Boo Boo Song" (1967) and today's feature, "Rock Gospel Mash" (1971). The latter was released as a promo single in a picture sleeve (man, I want one of those!) but was paired with a reissue of "The Boo Boo Song, Pt. 1" upon commercial release. "Rock Gospel Mash" features a very swinging, brassy groove, over which Coleman promotes his dance as a way to make the world a better place. "Rock Gospel Mash brings salvation," Coleman sings with lip-smacking relish, "to mash out racism, drug addiction and discrimination" - no small feat for a soul dance record! This tune sounds decidedly more like 1967 than 1971, which would make sense considering that Coleman retired from showbiz around that time to become a minister, but it is a killer all the same.

After the release of "Rock Gospel Time," Coleman recorded a gospel-funk album for Brunswick, Rock Gospel Time/The Rock Ministry, released under the name "Rev. C. Coleman" (another record I want to get a copy of!) Nowadays Coleman is still doing his thing, occasionally performing with rock outfit The Creepy T's. Does anyone know if he still has his gospel show in Miami?

Good Monday Moanin'!

Maurice & Mac - Ain't No Harm to Moan

The Chicago soul duo Maurice & Mac have been recently featured on this blog, so I'll cut right to the chase with today's selection. "Ain't No Harm to Moan" was the B-side of the duo's final single, released on the Brown Sugar label. The fine Chicago soul groove, coupled with the hum-along chorus and Maurice MacAllister's mid-song monologue, make for a fine record that was easily overlooked upon its 1972 release but certainly worth a second look.

It's Not Eccentric ... Well, Yes It Is ...

The Rising Sun - Do What You're Doin'

For today's Friday feature I return to Numero's Outskirts of Deep City edition of the Eccentric Soul series. Usually I use the title "It's Not Eccentric; It's Awesome" for strong ballads from that series, but today's selection stays closer to the "Eccentric" end of the equation. The Miami band The Rising Sun backed Perk Badger on the lesser-known version of his "Do Your Stuff" that appeared on the comp (featured earlier on the blog), and "Do What You're Doin'" features the vocal talents of the group. It's clear that these guys had been listening to "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" more than a few times before they went to record this, as the song's refrain and overall feel apes the Temptations' hit.

Borrowing aside, this is a song that has a lot of nice parts: the rhythm bed is great, the lead singer has a lot of soul and the backing vocals are on-point. Despite these fine parts, though, the whole is somewhat mystifying. The bass singer is rhythmically laying down the phrase "keep on doin' what you're doin'," the background singers are repeating the line "they say that gettin' it's kinda cool now, so just keep on doin' it" (or something like that) and the lead singer is improvising around those two phrases. What are they trying to get over with the song? Probably something sensuous, but it's just not clear. My wife complains that this sounds like two or three radios are playing different stations at the same time, but I disagree. It might not make sense, but to me it sounds good! Keep on doin' ... whatever it is!

The Country Soul Return of the Stepfather (Esquire?) of Soul!

Barbara Brown - Things Have Gone to Pieces (demo)

My, it's been a long time since we were together last! I survived the torrent of exams, a paper, family and law school graduation without a scratch, and now am glad to get back in the saddle with some fine soul music! (If anyone is interested in the aforementioned torrent, I've put together a quick-and-dirty photo website documenting the graduation, and those of you who are on MySpace can see those pics and more at my page there.)



It's a great thing that the CD era has brought from obscurity so many overlooked but awesome acts of the classic soul era, including Southern soul singer Barbara Brown and her family group, The Browns, featured on Kent's awesome 2007 anthology Can't Find Happiness, which presents the lion's share of the group's work and is a "must-buy" for any serious Southern soul fan. Rather than go into the group's story I encourage you to check out Sir Shambling's profile of the group for information and additional audio (check out his whole site, if you haven't already). Although their Stax single "Big Party" is my personal favorite of the group's recordings, this demo version of Barbara's solo-billed 1968 Tower single "Things Have Gone to Pieces" (from the Kent CD) is getting serious play on my iPod. The stripped-down demo (the single included backing vocals and strings) allows the country soul of the song to shine, and Brown's gospelly vocal really drives the song's lyrics home.

Gettin' Discofied!

Fern Kinney - Groove Me



Today's post is a rare foray into late-'70s disco, but this stone groover is worth such a trip. Jackson, Mississippi native Fern Kinney started out as a member of the Poppies, whose "Lullaby of Love," recorded before she joined the group, was a minor hit in 1966. After an unsuccessful solo release on Atlantic in 1968, Kinney turned to studio background work over at Malaco Studios, and her backing vocals graced hits such as King Floyd's "Groove Me," Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff," and former Poppies singer Dorothy Moore's "Misty Blue." Over a decade after the failed Atlantic single, Fern attempted another grab at the brass ring and found it with her sultry disco version of "Groove Me." After the Malaco single began to gather some steam, it was picked up by TK for a 12-inch release, and from there it rocketed to #6 on Billboard's Club Play chart in 1979. A second disco release, "Together We Are Beautiful," didn't do so well stateside but hit #1 in the U.K. Further international success was not forthcoming, however, and after a couple of more minor hits Kinney returned to session work as the disco era ended.

Today's feature is the single edit of "Groove Me." The catchy bassline and some of the horn lines from the King Floyd original are adapted into the updated groove, but Fern's seductive cooing and the dance beat really take the song to a different place than Wardell Quezerque's 1971 arrangement. It really works, though, and it shows that there were indeed some fine disco records being made at the beginning of the end of the disco era.

(EDITOR'S NOTE - This week is going to be quite a busy one, with exams, a paper, family arrivals and my graduation, so today's post will be the last until next week. Look out for a new edition of the podcast in a week or two, brought to you by the newly-minted "Esquire of Soul"!)