King Pins Doo-Woppin'

The King Pins - I Got the Monkey Off My Back



Some time ago I did a week of posts regarding the the Kelly Brothers, whose awesome gospel and R&B sides for Federal, Sims and Excello have been seriously underappreciated over the years. Today's selection is one of their R&B sides for Federal, where they used the "King Pins" name to differentiate their secular material from their earlier gospel work.

"I Got the Monkey Off My Back" was the flip to "You're Using Me," a good up-tempo number that was recently included in the King New Breed R&B comp on Kent. The flip's title is misleading, as it would appear to be another uptempo dance thing; "Monkey," however, is a doo-wop throwback featuring a very nice falsetto lead (maybe Robert Kelly?) and solid harmony by the group. (The group did do a monkey dance record, "The Monkey One More Time"; maybe that's a post for another day.)

(EDITOR'S NOTE - I've done some editing to the links section of the blog to add several blogs and podcasts that I've just learned about. I have to heartily recommend Fufu Stew, The Blush Organisation and Flea Market Funk right away. All three blogs feature some great podcasts and I look forward to enjoying both as part of my regular soul intake!)