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!)

Sweepin' With The Caravans!

The Caravans - I Won't Be Back

Today's selection is not particularly rare for any one with a decent exposure to gospel music. The Caravans were one of gospel's leading female groups, and for good reason: the group was a veritable "who's who" of gospel, whose lineup included gospel legends Albertina Walker, Inez Andrews, Dorothy Norwood, Cassietta George and Shirley Caesar, and a young James Cleveland worked with the group as pianist and arranger! Today's selection was an early '60s single for the Gospel label, and it was one of Shirley Caesar's first signature songs. Please forgive the scratchy record from whence the MP3 came; focus instead on the rushing tempo, Caesar's great lead and the neat arrangement. You won't be able to sit still on this one!

It's Soul, Children!

The Soul Children - Move Over

When Stax Records ended its distribution agreement upon the sale of Atlantic Records in 1968, one of the many changes the label faced (in addition to the shocking loss of its entire pre-1968 catalogue) was the end of Sam & Dave's tenure with the label, as the legendary duo was merely "loaned" to Stax and allowed to have records on the label. For about a year, Atlantic released Sam & Dave records written and/or produced by Isaac Hayes & David Porter on their main imprint. Once that stream dried up Hayes and porter needed a new act for which to focus their creative energies. Deciding not to appear imitative of Sam & Dave by forming a new male duo, the two assembled the Soul Children, a two-man, two-woman group assembled from solo acts, most notably J. Blackfoot, who would have a moderately successful career as a solo in the '80s, and Norm West, who had recorded for Hi prior to joining the group. The group would stay with Stax until the label's latter days, even after Hayes and Porter stopped working with them, scoring a few hits along the way such as the 1971 dancer "Hearsay" (one of the rare Jim Stewart productions on Stax in the post-Atlantic era) and awesome ballads such as "The Sweeter He Is" and "I'll Be The Other Woman." "Move Over" was the flip side of "Give 'Em Love," their first Stax 45. Whereas "Give 'Em Love" was a pretty forgettable uptempo thing, "Move Over" is a nice slab of deep soul on which Blackfoot and West do some great pleading over a stately groove. (The rhythm track and arrangement is very similar to that of "A-B-C-D," a Hayes-Porter production on Ollie & The Nightingales, which is a good record in its own right.)

Get on Down With an Otis Redding Production!

Billy Young - Too Much

The outstanding Billy Young ballad "Nothing's Too Much (Nothing's Too Good)" knocked me out when I first heard it on the first Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures CD, and it has appeared on a prior episode of the podcast. Later on I got my hands on the Mercury 45, and, boy, what a treat was in store for me on the flip!

Georgia soul guru Brian Poust is right in saying that Billy Young's '60s records, produced by mentor Otis Redding, really didn't stand a chance in the marketplace, considering that Otis himself was having hits doing essentially the same sort of thing. (Young would go on to record less-derivative material on his own Joyja label and for other concerns in the following decade. See Brian's great post about Young from his Georgia Soul blog.) But I suppose one can never be too upset at having more of the "Otis Redding sound" to enjoy, can they? "Too Much" is a nice dancer featuring Otis' signature horn charts and a spirited performance by Young, whose lighter voice still captures the grit and gusto of his mentor's style.

Talkin' 'Bout The (Original) Real Thing!

Betty Everett - The Real Thing

Had Betty Everett's only recording been the 1964 pop and R&B smash "It's In His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song)" she would be forever anchored in pop culture history, but fortunately for us soul fans she recorded a wide range of material that truly showcased her varied soulful styles, be they deep bluesy soul like "Your Love Is Important to Me" on One-Derful! or tunes like today's selection on Vee-Jay (where she also hit with several duets with Jerry Butler), the smoother but awesome early '70s stuff she did for Uni and Fantasy ("Ain't Nothing Gonna Change Me" is a personal fave of her Fantasy sides), or funky disco things like "Hey Lucinda" (one of the final Sound Stage Seven 45s, which I need to feature one of thes days). By the time of her death in 2001 she had long been out of the spotlight, but she had a body of work that is worthy of investigation, especially for those who only know her for "Shoop Shoop!"

"The Real Thing" is probably better-known among Northern Soul fans as sung by Tina Britt, who covered the tune on Veep. Admittedly, Britt's version added a lot more pep and dancefloor groove than Everett's 1965 original, but there's a pop-soul magic to Everett's version that makes the original appealing to me. The Ashford-Simpson-Armstead-penned tune bops along with little harp flourishes and cheerful horn charts while Betty and the background singers really sell the song.

(EDITOR'S NOTE - Due to time constraints I will not be recording a podcast for April; I will, however, begin a two-week break from school on Tuesday of next week, so I plan to roll out Episode #17 in the beginning of May; look out for it!)

B.B. & Maya on a Groovy Blues Day

B.B. King - Get Myself Somebody

Although now viewed as the senior statesman of blues music, B.B. King spent the '60s at the top of his game as an R&B hitmaker, scoring hits with new recordings on ABC and its BluesWay imprint and with old recordings he had recorded for Kent years before (King had switched to ABC in 1961 but Kent would release B.B. King 45s and LPs through 1972, most notoriously in the case of the mid-'60s LP The Jungle, the cover art of which featured a shot of singer Johnny Adams - not to be confused with the "Tan Canary" of the same name - holding a guitar, but in rearview). Part of what kept King on the charts were groovy numbers like today's selection. "Get Myself Somebody," a BluesWay 45, features some unusual support in the songwriting department - the renowned poet Maya Angelou wrote the lyrics - and a fantastic arrangement. King doesn't do any guitar playing on this one; instead he lets the dancefloor groove push his gospelly reading of Maya's lyrics along while the horn charts set up nice turnarounds. From log rollers to ditch diggers, from beggars to presidents, everybody should dig this record if they got a little sense!

A Time and Place For Bumpin' Funk

Lee Moses - Time and Place

I was exposed to today's selection by Oliver Wang (DJ O-Dub)'s excellent Soul Sides comp (if you haven't already, go to the links section and check out the Soul Sides blog, which is a fantastic, well-written music blog featuring lots of soul and its offshoots). Lee Moses' "Time and Place" is a nice piece of Miami-sounding soul with a push-and-pull funk groove that really cooks. The "slippin' around" lyrics are right in Clarence Carter country and are well-delivered by Lee. The 45 got a release on Front Page, which was one of the many labels Stax did short distribution deals for in the late '60s and early '70s. A subsequent album of the same title, which came out on a different label, is an extremely rare find.

Southern Soul "Law & Order"!

Clarence Carter - The Court Room

Your everlovin' Stepfather of Soul was somewhat indisposed yesterday, due to a law school mock trial that he had to try, which trial he and his partner unfortunately did not win. But those are the breaks - someone has to win and someone has to lose in every lawsuit, right? At any rate, today's selection will supplant the usual "Sunday Gospel Time" feature as a result.

Thinking about the mock trial brought me to today's selection. "The Court Room," released in 1971, was one of Clarence Carter's last hits on Atlantic before he moved on to FAME. The very atmospheric yet groovy arrangement provides a great backdrop for Carter to spin a tale of the trial of Rev. Joe Henry, whose propriety toward a certain young lass is in question. The string work on this record to me is the icing on the cake, cutting through Carter's proto-rap narrative and underscoring the dramatic moments. Unfortunately I didn't have that kind of drama in my trial, but if I did, I would've wanted this groove in the courtroom with me!

Stay With Johnny Daye!

Johnny Daye - Stay Baby Stay

Within the course of the past week I received two very interesting emails in connection with blue-eyed soul legend Johnny Daye. The first came from Bonedog Records, whose CD by Robert Peckman, Stirrin' Up Bees, includes the song "Let's Talk It Over," featuring Johnny on the vocals for his first release in over 30 years. Johnny's still sounding great and you can hear a sample of the song on the site. Yesterday, Daye himself emailed me, having found the blog when searching online for info about the Peckman CD. I was pleasantly surprised to see kind words from him about the blog and the entry I did some time ago about him. He noted that "Stay Baby Stay," his final 45, was his favorite recording and agreed that it is an exquisite ballad.

After reading his email I went back and realized that I was very negligent in not fulfilling my promise in that earlier post to feature "Stay Baby Stay" at a later time, so today I make up for it. How much can I gush about the song's outstanding arrangement? The strings are nothing short of fabulous, the backup singers provide great support and Daye brings a smoldering energy to his vocals. There's no whooping or hollering here, just soul to the nth degree in this meditative recording. Dig the slight modulation near the end. It really works. Viva Johnny Daye!

(PS: Yoni Neeman's Soul of the Web site has a page featuring Daye's discography and has some audio clips of several recordings. Check them out!)

Serious Sister Soul!

The Lamp Sisters - I Thought It Was All Over



The Lamp Sisters were the siblings of Detroit soulster Buddy Lamp (of Wheelsville fame), and they released four 45s on Duke. I don't much else about them but that their "No Cure For The Blues" received some action in Northern Soul circles. Today's selection was the flip to the brassy, swinging "A Woman With The Blues." "I Thought It Was All Over" is a great Southern-styled ballad that really works. The lead vocal is very strong - she also does a nice spoken interlude - and the background vocals are very nicely done. The Peacock/Duke catalogue is full of so many great unheralded soul sides like this one - it's unfortunate that it hasn't been mined for reissue as well as it should.

Get on Down With Willie West!

Willie West - Hello Mama

I first heard of New Orleans soulster Willie West via Mr. Fine Wine's "Downtown Soulville" show, on an occasion when he played the brooding, funky "Fair Child" (Josie), which I really need to get a 45 copy of, although I never see it on eBay. I first heard today's selection on one of Larry Grogan's "Funky 16 Corners" mixes, and as soon as I heard it I immediately went on eBay and bought a copy of the Deesu 45. "Hello Mama" has a groove that I can't quite describe: it's a little funky, but it's also got this slow and sexy "Get Low Down" New Orleans thing going on. Whatever the groove is, it's a solid cooker, with West asserting that he's got a "brand new style" on the dance floor. His lyrics, though, are fairly insignificant in light of the tune's awesome groove, particularly later in the recording when Allen Toussaint starts tossing in some nice hard piano chords to funk it up. Right here, baby, is where it's at!

Call Me "Sir"!

Lattimore Brown - Bag of Tricks

Although I had heard of Sir Lattimore Brown before ever seeing any episodes of the 1966 R&B TV series The Beat!!!!, to see the wiry Brown strut his stuff lip-syncing his Sound Stage Seven recordings and tearing through covers of other songs of the day reminds me what was so magical about the classic soul era - a lot of artists who never broke into the big time (for just or unjust reasons) were out there, working the boards, absolutely full of soul. Today's selection shows why Lattimore Brown clearly fit that category.

The liner notes to Charly's Sound Stage Seven Story note that SS7 producer John Richbourg (WLAC's "John R") had problems with Brown because he had a hard time staying in tune when he sang. There's some truth to this, as Brown sang with so much soul that he bordered on reckless abandon, although more restrained performances like "I'm Not Through Loving You" are Southern soul gems that deserved more commercial action than they received.
"Bag of Tricks," today's selection, features a nice arrangement - I love the strings in the opening - and Brown's exploration of the song's lyrics, which fall within the "you-do-me-wrong-but-I-can't-leave" bag. Brown tries to play it straight at first, but by the end he's shouting and screaming, but it really works! Get on down, "Sir"!

(EDITOR'S NOTE - After writing the post I happened to find a nice treasure trove of soul videos on YouTube that includes Brown's appearance on The Beat!!!! doing "Bag of Tricks," albeit with very poor lip-syncing. Check these videos out!)

(EDITOR'S SECOND NOTE - YouTube has pulled the plug on the user who shared these clips ... bummer!)