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Marchin’ On

13/07/2011

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for the lack of posts as of late, Expect to see a lil more posting over the next little while. My good friend “Reza El Rico” has been expanding his food service empire….He just opened a homemade Ice Cream Shoppe in Toronto’s Kensington Market. It’s Called “Mr. Cream“….And it’s amazing. Go grab a waffle cone.

I on the other hand have a less reasonable excuse for my lack of work…I’ve been drinking.

You see, For the first time in a long time, I’ve been selfish with my time. Anyone who really knows me can tell you… That is not the norm.

I’m the go-to guy when your chips are down, when you need advice, a shoulder to cry and/or lean on.

My life for the last few years has been a whirlwind of outpouring my efforts into things that help other people… My family, My (Ex)girlfriend, My friends, hell….even you, (if you are reading this)…I make nothing from this website, I do it all for free and believe me brother…It has cost me a lot. I’ve been collecting records for over 20 years and i’ve paid for each and every one in more ways than you could imagine.

I had an epiphany while i was swimming in the Caribbean in January, So over  the last few months I’ve made a lot of changes to my life…

1. I realized that I hadn’t seen enough of the world…

-So I’ve been travelling as much as possible.

2. I realized that I wasn’t healthy…

-So I changed my diet.

Since March I’ve lost around 40-45 lbs, gone from a 36″ waist to a 30″ and I just joined a Gym and my very first Yoga class is next week. (Gonna fix that slouchy teenage posture…)

3. I realized that I wasn’t happy with the people around me…

-I cut them off, hard.  ”So Bye-Bye to all you groupies and gold-diggers”…

It’s a lot easier to run when you let go of all that dead weight.

4. I realized that I hadn’t really let loose and lost myself in a moment in years.

-So I did. (Once or twice…well,maybe three times.)

…And then I remembered how much fun being ME all by myself really is.

All is well?…no?????

One of my best friends of 10 years tore a strip off my ass yesterday for not making enough of an effort with our friendship as of late, My mother accused me of not helping with the family last week, My Facebook friends number goes down a few people everyday…

All this because for once I decided to focus on myself, just for a little while….To do exactly what I want, in any given moment, as opposed to doing what everyone else wants of me all the time.

Excuse me for attempting to have a life.

The fact of the matter is…People die, Relationships come and go, Your friends will stab you in the back, Your generosity will be quickly forgotten, Your wasted time will not grow back and when the shoe is on the other foot it will not fit somehow.

Take it from me, I’m turning OLD in September (shout out to my Virgo’s) and I have NONE of the things in life that I really truthfully want.

Yeah sure, I have a nice house with a big TV, Records “like…Whoa”, more shoes than Imelda Marcos and so on and so forth…But none of that means Jack-Shit to me at this point in my life.

I don’t care who doesn’t like it, I don’t care who thinks or says anything about me…Come Hell or high water…I’ll get where I need to be before it’s too late, with or without Y’all.

I stay in motion, Forever forward,

Never looking back, Smiling through….MARCHIN’ ON.

* and on that note…

Marchin’ On – Heath Brothers

Strata East Records 1976

The Heath Brothers was an American jazz group, formed in 1975 by the brothers Jimmy on tenor saxophone, Percy on bass, and Albert “Tootie” Heath bringing up the rear on the drums as well as pianist Stanley Cowell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tony Purrone on lead guitar and Jimmy’s son Mtume (Of “Juicy Fruit” fame) on percussion joined the group later.

This is the Heath Brothers’ only album for the Strata East label, and man, is it a tough one to find…borderline Holy Grail.

If you only listened to the A-side of this album, you’d find it to be a pleasant, straight-ahead jazz LP, with the warm flute of Jimmy Heath, rich bassline strumming of Percy Heath and labelmate Stanley Cowell cameoing on piano and mbira. “Maimoun” is just a gorgeous, mellow song closing out the first side and their cover of “Watergate Blues” isn’t bad either.

But flip the record over and add on the four part “Smilin’ Billy Suite” and you have the makings of one of Strata-East’s greatest albums. Sure, it helps that Q-Tip sampled “Suite II” for Nas’  Hip- Hop classic “One Love”, thereby introducing the album to the rest of the world… But like Monty Alexander’s “Love and Happiness” (get to that nugget later on…I promise.), the sum of the song is far greater than the sample. By this point in time and thanks to the internets, most folks have heard “Suite II” in some form, fashion or another – Hell…Redman swiped an entire 16 bars of the song on “Supaman Lova Pt. 3″. Catch up.

Cowell’s use of the mbira thumb piano on this tune is just mind blowingly fantastic, giving the whole song a different vibe from the traditional jazz instrumentation.

As a fan of all things Bass, it’s always surprised me how little love “Suite I” receives. While almost all the suites use the same basic melodic riff as a common anchor, “Suite I” focuses mostly on Percy Heath’s basslines before his brother Jimmy’s relaxed flute drifts in. “Suite III” is also pretty solid – much more dramatic and dissonant, largely thanks to Albert Heath’s playing of an African double reed woodwind. “Suite IV” brings back the major refrain once more, this time on sax, with a lighter, more upbeat feel than the previous three Suites. All in all, an undeniable masterpiece of the soul jazz era and one of the most sought after samples in the history of hip hop. The heath brothers went on to record 8 more (in my opinion) amazing albums before Percy Heath passed away in 2004.

Drop some cash,buy this album.

(Yes $150+ is a lot of money for a record, it’s an investment in your ears.)

Grab a copy here.

Or

HERE

@320

See… I’m not that selfish.

Posted in jazz, she likes diggin', soul | Leave a Comment »

Together Brothers

20/05/2011

Together Brothers – Barry White and the Love Unlimited Orchestra

Pye Records – 1974

The steamy summer of 1974 Galveston, Texas is the backdrop for this Blaxplotation Classic, starring Lincoln Kilpatrick as “Billy Most” a misunderstood, troubled, cross dressing ex-con, who misguidedly obsesses over yearning to birth, suckle, nurture and rear his own progeny. Yet, due to obvious gender issues, is rendered incapable and sublimates by kidnapping a young Black boy to call his own.

The missing boy however has attachments to a community of teen youths, led by H.J. “Ahmad Nurradin” and four of his fellow “soul brothers and one “Good-Cop”, “Mr. Kool”, played by Ed Bernard of “Police Story-circa 1974″.

The storyline, though choppy and mellow dramatic; offers a very unreal and real snapshot of 1970′s Urban America. Big Afros, Race Based Slang, tube tops, Hip-Hugger Pants, Run-Down Shanties, Drugs, Pimps and assorted other stereotypes depicting the plight or making fun of a world left standing untouched in the wake of the 1960′s Civil Rights Movement.

As a jumping off point, “Mr. Kool” a mentor to “The Brothers” is brutally murdered by our antagonist, as he rescues the young boy who is subsequently rendered unable to speak. That is where our young vigilante group “The Brothers” band together to identify the killer and assist the police, by any means necessary.

Barry White’s soundtrack to the 1974 blaxploitation film Together Brothers doesn’t match the quality of classic efforts like Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly, Isaac Hayes’ Shaft, or Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man, but it is an appealing and welcome release all the same. Mayfield’s and Gaye’s soundtracks, in particular, benefited from solid material throughout, whereas White’s soundtrack does suffer from some plodding moments; “You Got Case” and “Stick Up” recycle past funk grooves, while the main theme “Somebody Is Gonna Off the Man” is ineffectively reconfigured throughout. An eerie, Morricone-style whistling and harp interlude on “Killer’s Lullaby” intrigues at first but falters with a thin arrangement. The lightness of tone and many string-laden numbers on Together Brothers shouldn’t be a surprise, though, since they reflect White’s romantic soul style: ghetto streets flowing with champagne. In fact, on a majority of the tracks, White’s spacious and silky arrangements and the Love Unlimited Orchestra’s adroit backing are substantial enough to offset the album’s weaker moments. The vocal version of “Somebody Is Gonna Off the Man” and the soundtrack’s one hit “Honey, Please Can’t You See” are classic examples of White’s pop-soul style, while mood numbers like “So Nice to Hear” and “Can’t Seem to Find Him” benefit from strong and varied arrangements; the latter features an effective three-way collage of funk, noir ambience, and orchestral bombast. Together Brothers is a must for dedicated White fans and a respectable title in the blaxploitation soundtrack catalog.

This album has been sampled by everyone from Quad City Dj’s for “C’mon ride the train” to Oc for his classsic “My world”,  Jeru the Damaja for “Too perverted” to Lil Wayne for “Bill Gates”…and a host of others.

you can get this great album for a steal here,

Or

HERE

@320.

Enjoy.

Posted in funk, soul, soundtrack | 1 Comment »

Where I’m Coming From

15/03/2011

 

The True Reflection – Where I’m Coming From

Atco Records -1973

 

 

“Where I’m coming From” is the sole album from The True Reflection, an excellent group from the 70s East Coast scene, from New York, transplanted to Philly…with a heavy harmony sound that should have made them famous, however Atco seriously fumbled the release of this outstanding album.

The record was cut during the prime early days of the Sigma Sound Studios, founded by recording engineer Joseph Tarsia in 1968. Located at 212 N. 12th Street in Philadelphia, it was the second studio in the country to offer 24-track recording and the first in the country to use console automation. Tarsia was formerly chief engineer at Philadelphia’s Cameo-Parkway Studios before branching out on his own. In the 1970s, Sigma Sound was strongly associated with Philadelphia soul and the sound of Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International records , which combined a driving rhythm section with a full orchestral sound of strings and brass. Sigma still operates to this day and has had some HEAVYWEIGHT artists record there. (Hell…David Bowie even recorded his album Young Americans at Sigma Sound.)

Enough about Sigma…(I’m such a studio nerd) Back to the Record….

And what a record it is….Not only does this album have a great cover with all the ingredients that I need to fork out money on a record I don’t know: Graffiti, Subways, huge afro’s and a killer typeface….The record also features arrangements by Philly greats like Norman Harris (He was a founding member of MFSB) Ronnie Baker (Bassist for the Trammps), and Vince Montana (The spiritual father of the Salsoul Orchestra), all working here in a mode that’s similar to that applied to The Spinners after they made their move to Atlantic.

It’s the band’s harmonies that really take the cake, though – as they mix together deep-rooted Temptations-esque righteous vocals with sweeter harmonies in the New Jersey falsetto mode (ironically member Glenn Leonard would go on to become a member of the Temptations….go figure.)  The style is very compelling, and kills on just about every cut. Titles include “Society”, “That Was Yesterday”, “It Really Hurts”, “Look At All The Lonely People” (My personal fav.), and the heavily sampled cut “Whispers”.

The True Reflection has been smpled by:

Brother Ali, G-Unit, 9th Wonder, Grammatik, Da Ranjah’s and the one and only Pete Rock.

 

Find out where I”m coming from, Right here.

 

 

or…

 

 

HERE

@320

 

Enjoy.

 

 

Posted in Philly, soul | Leave a Comment »

Ann Peebles 69′-75′ **The Valentine’s Day Massacre**

15/02/2011


 

Ann Peebles 1969-1975

Hi Records

 

When I think of Valentine’s Day, my thoughts don’t often land in a happy place…Valentines day is in my humble opinion a huge crock of shit, I personally have never really had a “good” valentines day, single OR dating someone.

A “Hallmark” holiday if there ever was one…Me, I think that if you really love someone… You should tell them EVERY day…Not just on the 14th of February for no good reason at all.

You wind up spending too much money on dumb things like flowers and chocolates, hotel rooms and dinners at over-hyped restaurants…All the while totally forgetting that love don’t cost a thing.

Real, true love is a mysterious and wonderful thing… Ask anyone who has ever found it and they will tell you, It comes from the strangest circumstances, at the most random of times…It can be overwhelming and all-enveloping. True love is one of the most wonderful things life will ever offer you, love is the light….a world without it is like a year without summer…And anyone who lives in the God-forsaken North 44 will tell you, that’s just plain cruel.

Ahhhhh Love…With a capital L.

I don’t pretend to know what love is for everyone, but I can tell you what it is for me; love is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person, love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, including the things you might be ashamed of, love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone, but still getting warm and fuzzy when they walk into a room and smile at you.

Love is a motherfucker too…One of the hardest things in life is watching the person you love, love someone else.

Love is like the world we live in it has two sides…the joy and the pain. A truly great writer of love songs will have had a plethora of experience in column A as well as column B.

When I think of great love songs my mind always comes back to one special lady…

A tiny little lady with a powerful voice and an even stronger attitude, Ann Peebles was one of the artists who defined Willie Mitchell’s legendary Memphis soul label Hi Records, along with Al Green and, later, O.V. Wright. Easily the best female singer in the Hi stable and often refered to as ” The Queen Of Hi Records” , Peebles ranked among the finest deep Southern soul singers of all time, notching an instant classic with her 1973 hit “I Can’t Stand the Rain.” She co-wrote a generous share of her own material with husband Don Bryant, and while she cut plenty of love and heartbreak tunes, her persona was built on the grit and resilient strength she displayed on songs like “I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down.” Peebles wasn’t always as appreciated on the charts as her work often merited, especially among pop listeners, but her best recordings hold up among the best of their era.

Peebles was born April 27, 1947, in East St. Louis, MO. Her father was a minister and her mother a singer, and naturally Peebles began singing at a young age in her father’s church choir. She also sang with the family group, the Peebles Choir, which had been touring the gospel circuit since Peebles’ grandfather founded it a generation earlier. As a teenager, she sang secular music on the St. Louis club circuit, supported and accompanied by her father. There she met blues bandleader Oliver Sain, a local legend, and eventually joined his revue. Peebles caught her big break in 1968 on a trip to Memphis, where she asked to sit in on a club set by trumpeter Gene “Bowlegs” Miller. Miller was already signed to Hi Records at the time, and duly impressed with Peebles’ voice, he brought her to Hi house producer Willie Mitchell for a tryout. Mitchell, who was still in the process of shifting the label from country to R&B (and had not yet discovered Al Green), immediately offered Peebles a contract; she was still shy of her 21st birthday.

Mitchell teamed Peebles with singer and house songwriter Don Bryant, seeking a bit more seasoning in her R&B phrasing. Peebles and Bryant soon began writing together, and would also end up dating in 1972. In the meantime, Peebles recorded her debut single, “Walk Away,” a song written by Sain that just missed the Top 20 on the R&B chart; the follow-up, “Give Me Some Credit,” was also a minor hit. Her fourth single, 1970′s “Part Time Love,” was her first R&B Top Ten, prompting a reissue of her debut album, This Is Ann Peebles, under that title. 1972′s Straight from the Heart was her first artistically realized LP, however; it featured several minor R&B hits in “I Pity the Fool,” “Slipped, Tripped and Fell in Love,” “I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home” (later covered by Bette Midler), and “Somebody’s on Your Case,” plus the signature album track “99 Lbs.” Her hot streak continued with 1973′s “I Can’t Stand the Rain”, which many critics still regard as her finest work. “I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down” was a decent-sized hit, and the brilliant title cut — written by Peebles, Bryant, and disc jockey Bernard Miller — became her biggest hit, peaking at number six R&B and famously becoming a favorite of John Lennon. She also charted with “(You Keep Me) Hangin’ On” and “Do I Need You,” but more importantly married Bryant in 1974.

In the wake of “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” Peebles was a star on the soul circuit, even if she never duplicated its commercial success. “Beware,” “Come to Mama,” and “Dr. Love Power” were all charting singles from 1975′s “Tellin’ It?”, but the rise of disco and the sale of Hi Records in 1977 would conspire against Peebles’ career momentum, her next few albums all doing worse than the last throughout the early 80′s, until her exit from the business (save for one un-toured release in 1989) until 1992…. Peebles signed with Rounder Records’ Bullseye Blues label, for whom she recorded 1992’s “Full Time Love“. The album contained all original new songs, some written with Bryant and guitarist Thomas Bingham, and featured the autobiographical “St. Louis Woman with a Memphis Melody.” Even though “Full Time Love“ received little exposure, it nonetheless proved that Peebles could compose and sing contemporary music without losing her gritty quality. For her next album, “Fill This World With Love”, released in 1996, Peebles reunited with the Hi Rhythm performers and the Memphis Horns group. By now, she and Bryant were heavily involved with a local Memphis therapeutic foster-care agency called Omni Vision, Inc., the rewards of which were reflected in the song “Stand Up,” a duet between Peebles and Mavis Staples. In 1999, Peebles contributed to a tribute album devoted to the songs of rock/blues artist Eric Clapton entitled Blues Power: Songs of Eric Clapton, interpreting “Tears In Heaven” as a spiritual plea surrounded by gospel harmonies. Now in control of all aspects of her career, including a new and expanding production company, Peebles remains an artist of rare depth and great contrasts; her extraordinary and powerful voice seems all the more striking coming from such a petite and restrained singer.

Peebles has been sampled by many hip hop artists, in particular RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan. Also her track “I Can’t Stand The Rain” was first covered by Patrice Banks of Graham Central Station on the 1975 release of Ain’t No ‘Bout A Doubt It album and has also been utilized as a sample by the hip hop duo Reflection Eternal for their song “Memories Live” .  In 1997, Missy Elliott recorded an interpolation of “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” entitled “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”, as the first single from her debut album, Supa Dupa Fly. The song “Im Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down” was sampled in the track “The Plan” by Wu-Tang Affiliated group Sunz of Man.

No discogs links, as per the usual with a megapost…So go to a record store and find your own copy.
Or…
Get the entire 5 Album discography of “The Queen Of Hi Records” from 1969′-75′ right…
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HERE
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All in one giant size 300mb file.
@320
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Enjoy.
“Happy Valentine’s Day.”

 

Posted in megapost, soul | Leave a Comment »

Sounds Of Unity & Love

10/02/2011

 

 

 

S.O.U.L. – What Is It? / Can You Feel It

1971 & 1972 Musicor Records

 

Originating in Cleveland, OH, “S.O.U.L.” stood for “Sounds of Unity & Love.” The members were Lee Lovett (bass), Gus Hawkins (sax/flute), Walter Winston (guitar) and Paul “The God Of The Drumbreak” Stubblefield. Larry Hancock (vocals/organ) was added in 1971 and Bernard Taylor (guitar) replaced Winston in 1972. All had been involved in other bands and in the church before the formation of S.O.U.L.

They entered a “Battle of the Bands” contest in 1970, sponsored by the May Company department store in Cleveland, WHK radio station, and Musicor Records. The group won the first prize of $ 1,000 and a recording contract with Musicor. They traveled to New York City in 1971 and recorded a 45 entitled “Down in the Ghetto Parts I & II” which exceeded the expectations of Musicor by doing so well regionally. They cut a second single, then were invited back to New York to record an album. “What It Is” consisted of seven tracks and illuminated the versatility of the band.

In many ways the spirit of James Brown presides over the funky grooves of S.O.U.L..’s first album, 1971′s “What Is It?” Although short in length, this album is a heavy, soul-drenched, seven course feast of raw funk power. In Europe, where S.O.U.L. enjoys a major cult following, the jazz-funk instrumental “Burning Spear” remains in heavy rotation on the radio and in the clubs. Featuring a heart-stopping drum and flute break, “Burning Spear” is the band’s go for broke stab at CTI-style early ’70s fusion. While he may not have the chops of a first-rate jazz player, flautist Gus Hawkins reveals on “Burning Spear” that he’s certainly got the feeling. And that, in a nutshell, is what makes the music of S.O.U.L. so rewarding. It did quite well, cracking the Top 40 album spot on Billboard’s soul album chart and nesting there for two months.

On their second album, “Can You Feel It?”, the sound is a lot more refined, but never slickly polished. Covers give way to outstanding originals. S.O.U.L.. had matured as a band, and yes, you can feel it. Newcomer Bernard  Taylor’s electric guitar moves forward in the mix, growling fluidly with a tone and style similar to that of Funkadelic’s Eddie Hazel. The vocal harmonies and arrangements take inspiration from the later sounds of the Temptations and Spinners. The songwriting is strong and thoughtful, particularly on such message-heavy tracks as “Do What Ever You Want To Do”, “Peace Of Mind,” and “Love, Peace And Power.” The album kicks off strong with the inspired title track and nicely wraps itself up just like it’s forerunner with a lush flute instrumental, “Sleeping Beauty.” All in all, this is a more finely crafted album, showcasing the band at the height of their soul powers. More successful than “What Is It?”, the album remained on the soul charts for five months.

Around the time S.O.U.L. began work on their third LP, Winston quit the group and was replaced by Bernard “Beloyd” Taylor. Beloyd’s birth place is a mystery, but he grew up in Cleveland. With Taylor, they enjoyed their most successful single, “This Time Around,” which made the Top 50 R&B. The next release, “The Jones,” written by Lee Lovett, entered the Top 100 and hung around for ten weeks.

After a few more  single releases  and a never materializing 3rd album…the guys split up, going their separate ways. Gus Hawkins went to school and became a phlebotomist, then worked at the Cleveland Clinic before moving to Atlanta, GA, to work and raise his family. Paul Stubblefield joined a ten-member group called the Rasts, recording and touring before becoming a member of the Murphys (a lounge act). He also toured with various versions of the Ink Spots and the Platters before moving to Phoenix, AZ for the better part of a decade, later moving back to Cleveland where he plays regular gigs and continues to make records. Taylor moved to Los Angeles and wrote “Get Away” for Earth, Wind & Fire in 1976. He also recorded solo for 20th Century Records and later toured with Earth, Wind & Fire. Lee Lovett stayed in Cleveland and recorded tracks with other groups.

Hancock was quite active since the breakup of S.O.U.L., recording with two versions of  his band; “Truth”. The first group featured Hancock, Al Boyd, Leo Green, and Russell Watts. Al Boyd later co-wrote “Shakey Ground” for the Temptations (it was redone by Phoebe Snow). “Truth” recordings failed to chart and two members left, leaving Hancock and Green as Truth’s only members. The two recorded an album on Devaki Records as “Truth”, entitled Coming Home, that fail to grab the public  when released. Interestingly, Dennis Edwards had been kicked out of the Temptations and was hanging around Cleveland and played a big (uncredited) part in the Coming Home album.

 

Larry Hancock passed away in January of this year.  He was 62.
No Discogs or Ebay links for these….cuz they are STUPID rare.
Holler at my man Aki @ Cosmos Records, he’s got a few of both albums… expect to pay in the hundreds for either.
…But you know how we do @ Shelikes12inches.com,
We Do It Big.
HERE you GO.
@320
Enjoy, you lucky bastards.

Posted in funk, jazz, soul | Leave a Comment »

What’s Up Front That Counts

07/02/2011

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/4154/dtthecountscd1vo0.jpg

 

The Counts – What’s Up Front That Counts

Westbound Records – 1971

 

 

The Fabulous Counts were an American soul/funk group from Detroit, Michigan. They won local acclaim as an instrumental group and as a backing ensemble for visiting solo acts after their formation in 1968.

Ever humble… “We are just another Jazz-Group” Mose Davis, head of the group always said.

It was more than a Jazz band though, before the term “Funk” had even been created, these cats took the tools from jazz…  and set about creating a new, fresh, rhythmic, danceable mix of what was later called “funk” out of detroit’s ghetto in the 60′s, like the hippies on the westcoast, these young black musicians spread their vibe, energy and philosophy around their area and became one of the most influencial groups in the scene. The first funk group who didn’t use an electric bass. “We had Mose, he played the bass with the hammond organ, that gave us that specific sound” said guitarist Leroy Emmanuel in a 2009 interview.

Working with producer Richard “Popcorn” Wylie, they released the instrumental single “Jan Jan” on Detroit’s Moira Records that year, which narrowly missed hitting the US R&B charts that winter. Their second single, “Dirty Red”, passed without trace, but the third single, “Get Down People”, hit the US pop charts.

A full-length album, “Jan Jan” was released in 1969 on Cotillion Records, but the group left the label in 1970 for financial reasons.

Signing with Westbound Records that year, the group changed their name simply to “The Counts” and released this smasher of a funk album “What’s up front that counts”, There’s loads of funky guitar work, plenty of sinister breaks, and a super-heavy stoner funk groove that never lets up on this debut album as “The Counts”. Features the 8 minute jammer “What’s Up Front That Counts”, the choppy “Pack Of Lies”, the organ-heavy “Rhythm Changes”, and more.

Shortchanged by Westbound Records in favor of The Ohio Players and Funkadelic, many of the band’s original members of the group left, and the band moved to Atlanta, Georgia, signing with Aware Records, where they released their final LP’s “Love Sign” and “Funk Pump” before the group called it quits in 1976.

Over the next 25 years Mose Davis played jazz piano around Atlanta with the Mose Davis Trio, Leroy Emmanuel played in a Canadian funk band called the LMT Connection and Demo Cates operated out of Canada as well as appeared as an actor in TV and movies. In 2009, like fellow Detroit Funk Rockers  and shelikes12inches.com favorite “Black Merda” they reunited back in the line up from 1976: Mose Davis (hammond organ,vocals), Leroy Emmanuel (guitar ,vocals), Demo Cates (saxes,vocals), Jimmy “Junebug” Jackson (drums,vocals) and Jimmy Brown (saxes,voc) and have been touring the world since.

 

The Counts have been sampled by Dr.Dre, Snoop Dogg, Dilated Peoples, french rapper-IAM, Atmosphere and Rakim Allah.

 

BTW >> In case anyone is interested… The Counts are playing a gig in their hometown of Detroit on Feb 26th at the Majestic Theatre.

(I’ll be there.)

 

 

grab a copy of this great album here, but don’t expect it to be cheap.

 

or…

 


HERE

@320

 

 

Enjoy.

Posted in funk, jazz, soul | Leave a Comment »

People… Hold On.

29/01/2011

 

People… Hold On – Eddie Kendricks

Tamla Records -1972

 

“Sometimes you have to let go… to see if there was anything worth holding on to.” ~ Anonymous

 

Edward James Kendrick was born in Union Springs, Alabama on December 17, 1939, the son of Johnny and Lee Bell Kendrick. He had one sister, Patricia, and three brothers, Charles, Robert, and Clarence. His family moved to Birmingham, where he met and began singing with his best friend Paul Williams in their church choir in the late 1940s. In 1955, Kendricks, Williams, and friends Kell Osborne and Jerome Averette formed a doo-wop group called The Cavaliers, and began performing around Birmingham. The group decided to move for better opportunities in their musical careers, and in 1957 the group moved to Cleveland, Ohio. In Cleveland, they met manager Milton Jenkins, and soon moved with Jenkins to Detroit, Michigan, where the Cavaliers renamed themselves ‘The Primes’. Under Jenkins’ management, the Primes did well for themselves in the Detroit area, eventually creating a female spin-off group called The Primettes (later The Supremes). In 1961, Osbourne moved to California, and the Primes disbanded. Kendricks and Paul Williams joined forces with members of The Distants to become The Elgins, who signed to Motown that same year as… The Temptations.

The Temptations quickly became the most successful male vocal group of the 1960s. Although technically Kendricks was first tenor in the group’s harmony, he predominately sang in a falsetto voice. Among the Temptations songs Kendricks sang lead on were “Dream Come True”, the group’s first charting single; “The Way You Do the Things You Do”, the group’s first US Top 20 hit; “I’ll Be in Trouble”; “The Girl’s Alright With Me”, a popular b-side that Kendricks co-wrote; “Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)”; “Get Ready”; “Please Return Your Love to Me”; and “Just My Imagination”. He was also allowed to sing a few leads in his natural voice such as “May I Have This Dance”. He shares lead vocal duty on other records, including “You’re My Everything” (shared with David Ruffin), and a long string of Norman Whitfield produced psychedelic soul records where all five Temptations sang lead, such as the Grammy winner “Cloud Nine”, “I Can’t Get Next to You”, and “Ball of Confusion”. He also leads on “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”, a popular duet with Diana Ross and the Supremes, and on the Temptations’ famous version of the Christmas classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.

In the Temptations, Kendricks was responsible for creating most of the group’s vocal arrangements, and also served as wardrobe manager, including the now famous purple suits the group wore for one performance. He also co-wrote several Temptations songs apart from “The Girl’s Alright With Me” including “Isn’t She Pretty”  and “Don’t Send Me Away”. His favorite food was cornbread, and as a result he was nicknamed “Cornbread” (or “Corn“ for short) by his groupmates. According to Otis Williams, Kendricks romantically pursued Diana Ross, lead singer of the Supremes, and he was said to have been close friends with Martha Reeves of the Vandellas. In her second book, Supreme Faith, Supremes singer Mary Wilson writes that she and Kendricks were lovers “briefly,” but remained close friends.

Kendricks remained in the group through the rest of the decade, but a number of issues began to push him away from it in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was uncomfortable with singing the psychedelic style that Whitfield was now crafting for the group as opposed to the romantic ballads they had sung under the direction of Smokey Robinson, his friend Paul Williams was often too ill to perform with the group, and Kendricks often found himself at odds with bandmates Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin. As he grew away from the group, Kendricks began to rekindle his friendship with ex-Temptation David Ruffin, who convinced him to leave the group. In a 1991 interview with Urban Street Kendricks said he actually started to make the decision to leave the group as early as 1965, even though that was when the band was finally starting to take off, because of things that “weren’t quite proper.” He explained that they were working with people that “didn’t have their best interests at heart.” Kendricks, however, initially decided to stay in the group because he was worried he would not get the support he needed if he left the group. Kendricks also expressed the fact that his relationship with Berry Gordy was less than cordial. “Berry Gordy is a man I don’t know, I only met him about three times,” he said, but “I know he didn’t particularly care for me.” Kendricks stated that he did not agree with many decisions that were made. Kendricks recorded one last hit single with the Temptations, 1971′s “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)”; by the time the record reached #1 on the US pop charts in April 1971, Kendricks had quit The Temptations in May 1971 and signed a solo deal with Motown’s Tamla imprint, but many of his problems with Motown would reoccur.

For his second outing on Tamla “People … Hold On” the former Temptations leader  expanded his horizons, dabbling with communally conscious soul and making initial forays into dance music that would predate disco. As he had done for Kendricks solo debut All By Myself, producer Frank Wilson contributes several tunes. Among them is “If You Let Me” that kicks off the disc with a bright groove, custom made for the vocalists’ sanguine lead. Things get downright funky on the sanctified “Let Me Run Into Your Lonely Heart”. The mercurial beat is bathed in distortion and wah-wah guitar that trades back and forth with a syncopated clavinet. All the while, Kendricks shows off his range-free tenor as he effortlessly vacillates in and out of his trademark overdrive falsetto. The sacred influence of “Day By Day” is underscored by some stellar keyboard with organ and piano runs that could just as easily have been heard in a Sunday morning prayer meeting.

The nearly eight-minute “Girl You Need A Change Of Mind” is nothing short of an epic precursor to the extended four-on-the-floor numbers that would soon be christened as ‘disco’. In addition to providing an above average R&B groove, Kendricks’ new band — the Washington D.C.-based Young Senators — are joined by the unmistakable touch of Eddie “Bongo” Brown’s rhythmically limber congas. The record buying and radio listening public obviously agreed as the song was edited and issued on a 45 rpm that made it to the Top 15 R&B Singles survey.
Returning to the project’s thematic motif “Someday We’ll Have A Better World” is a mid-tempo optimistic track with a plea for  more peaceful co-existence. The project’s title composition “My People … Hold On” is  a stunning opus of a song with stark contrasting sounds and Kendricks begging the audience for some sanity in an otherwise crazy world.

If you were ever to buy an Eddie Kendricks album, THIS would be the one to get. It’s by far his greatest work.

Exasperated by lack of creative and financial control, Kendricks left Motown, forced to sign away the rights to his royalties to do so, in 1978, moving first to Arista Records, and later to Atlantic Records. By this time, his popularity had waned, and he was also gradually losing his voice as a result of chain smoking. He and David Ruffin briefly re-joined the Temptations for a 1982 reunion tour. Ruffin and Kendrick (Kendricks dropped the “s” from his stage name during the 1980s) reportedly met up one night when Ruffin went to watch Kendrick perform in a nightclub; Kendrick spotted Ruffin in the crowd, pointed him out, and invited him to come up on stage and perform with him. Afterward they talked about touring on their own and recorded an album as a duo for RCA in 1988.

In 1989, Kendrick, Ruffin, and their Temptations bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There, Kendrick and Ruffin made plans with fellow former Temptation Dennis Edwards to tour and record as “Ruffin/Kendrick/Edwards, Former Leads of The Temptations.” The Ruffin/Kendrick/ Edwards project was cut short in 1991, when Kendrick was diagnosed with lung cancer and David Ruffin died of a drug overdose. Although, Kendrick and Edwards continued to tour for the remainder of 1991.

In late 1991, Kendrick, by now living in his native Birmingham, Alabama, underwent surgery to have one of his lungs removed in hopes of preventing the spread of the cancer. He continued to tour through the summer of 1992, when he fell ill again and was hospitalized. Kendrick died on October 5, 1992 of lung cancer in Birmingham at the age of 52.

 

…Hold on, to your very own copy of his masterpiece album here,

 

Or…

 

 

HERE

@320

 

 

 

Enjoy.

Posted in disco, pysch-funk-jazz-soul, soul | 1 Comment »

Edwin Birdsong

05/01/2011

 

Edwin Birdsong -Edwin Birdsong

Philadelphia International Records – 1979

 

A student of Juilliard and an acomplished  Jazz musician, Edwin Birdsong is a Grammy winner and pioneer in his field. A musician, writer, producer and performer…. he has performed with many musical greats –Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Stevie Wonder, to name a few.

Edwin began playing music on the Organ and Piano in his Father’s Los Angeles church. While perfecting his Blues and Jazz skills at local Clubs, he would also join the Los Angeles Community Choir, singing and playing with artists such as Merry Clayton, DJ Rogers and Billy Preston.

After Being Drafted and serving a tour in Vietnam, he was stationed in Germany… where he began playing in clubs all over the country and later France before moving to New York to Study. He became a composition major at Juilliard after 2 years at the Manhattan School of Music.
In 1971 he would sign with Polydor Records, with one of the highlights of his year coming when the 86-piece New York Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall featuring his own music, transcribed from his first record.
Birdsong was signed with William Morris Agency after Sam McKeith saw him on TV. (Sam is also the agent that found Bruce Springsteen, the original BAWSE…sorry, officer Ricky!). Edwin continued recording and performing at any opportunity , issuing two albums featuring his special brand of funk, rock, fusion, and jazz, “What It Is” in 1971 and “Supernatural” in 1973.

In 1975 Birdsong decided the time was right to strike out on his own, and he released “Dance of Survival” on Bamboo Records, a label he co-owned.
He then recorded “Edwin Birdsong” for Philadelphia International in 1979, which included the popular singles “Cola Bottle Baby”and  ‘”Phizz-Phizz.”

Much success was to come from teaming with master vibist Roy Ayers. Edwin changed Roy’s style by singing with him on “Running Away” which they co-wrote which featured Edwin’s voice out front. Edwin wrote “Freaky Deaky”, for Ubiquity, Roy’s group… when they played it in a Chicago Club the people went wild and they knew it was an automatic Hit. Based on the success of those songs,  Birdsong would go on to co-produce Ayers’ LPs “Vibrations”, “Lifeline”, and “Let’s Do It”.   They also collaborated on productions and songs for the group “Ladies of the Eighties”, with Birdsong naming the group in a moment of inspiration. Edwin also managed Roy and signed him to Oscar Cohen at ABC Booking.
After years of solely working with Ayers, Birdsong recorded the singles “Perfect Love” in 1984 and “Son of a Rapper Snapper” in 1985 for his own label Singh records, named after one of his sons.

Today’s superstars know Birdsong’s secret…funk and soul with an irresistible beat. That is why Snoop Dogg, DJ Quik, GangStarr and Kanye West have all sampled his music on some of their most popular hits. If you have ever enjoyed A Tribe Called Quest’s “Bonita Apple Bum”, or De La Soul’s “Me Myself and I”, then you have really been grooving to Edwin Birdsong’s tune’s.

In 2008  Birdsong finally found the critical success that had eluded him for so many years…two Grammy’s would be his, for his part in the Kanye West song ‘Stronger’.  Two Grammy Awards  as Songwriter and Publisher with The French house music duo, Daft Punk for ‘Best Electronic/Dance Album’ and Best Dance Recording. Daft Punk had liberally sampled Birdsong’s  “Cola Bottle Baby” for their platinum selling song “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”.  Inspired by his tour Dj’s love of all things french and hipsterish, Kanye West would then go on to sample that song for “Stronger” winning  the Grammy’s for Best Rap Solo Performance and Album Of The Year

In 2009, Birdsong went back to his first love, live performance. He was a featured performer on the Key-tar with the band Trulio Disgracias on the California leg of the popular underground music festival the Warped Tour.

Rumor has it a tour is in the works for 2011…

 

Get down with a cola bottle baby right here.

 

Or

 

HERE

@320

 

Enjoy.

Posted in disco, funk, soul | Leave a Comment »

Fully Loaded

20/10/2010

 

 

Magnum-Fully Loaded

The Phoenix Records 1974

 

Magnum was an 8 piece heavy funk band from San Pedro, California.  Unfortunately due to reasons unknown they only produced this one album.

For fans of groups like Rasputin Stash, Black Heat, Mandrill and many of the other albums on this site, this album will be right up your alley. A samplers  wet dream, the album features horn driven ’70s black rock guitar playing,  heavy basslines and a robotically tight rhythm section.  It has elements of things you might hear on a Roy Ayers or Harlem River Drive LP. It starts off with a wonderfully soulful cut, “Evolution”, Down tempo, with conga rhythms and a good brass section, not to mention smooth lyrics. 5+ minutes long and worth every moment. The album, on the whole, has a psych-soul feel to it ­ weird, loopy songs at times with cosmic verses (see “Your Mind”) but not nearly as out there as other albums from the same time. The Afro-Latin influence keeps the rhythm tracks firmly in place and occasionally, Magnum let’s loose, like on “It’s the Music That Makes Us Do It’ which has this ridiculously raw drumbreak mid-way through. Side B starts off with a smooth, laid back tune called “Witch Doctor’s Brew” and it starts with some great Rhodes melodies that drift lazily through. Then comes the drums and locks the groove in place. “Funky Junky” brings it back into some mid-tempo, Afro-Latin dance rhythms. The album ends with another Afro-Latin number, “Composition Seven” ­ a 9 and a half minute song that is perfect for passing a Sunday afternoon with some friends and a good smoke.

This album is another one of those records that I sat endlessly debating weather or not I should post due to it’s phantom nature…This is one of the more rare pieces I own, Some records get called “Rare Groove”, but really…I see them all the time, they had a major label release,radio play..etc. This Lp is not one of those. This album only saw a pressing of less than 1,000 world wide and most of those copies have been destroyed with time, or are in the clutches of serious collectors. You will basically never find this album.

When  I was in Chicago last year on a digging adventure, I took an afternoon and rolled out to Dusty Groove Records…If you dig, you know Dusty Groove, If not…CLICK HERE. Dusty groove has EVERYTHING.

So, I’m talking to one of the guys that work there, looking for heavy shit, the $100 and up kinda stuff.. and I bring up Fully Loaded as an example, guy tells me that they haven’t seen a copy come through the store in years, and the last time he saw it, it was at a record show, where it sold for $500!!!!! (and it has since gone up in price!). You should have seen the look on the guy’s face when i told him how much I paid for mine ($2, yes!).

So I figured, what the hell, I got it for almost nothing…Might as well share it with ya, it’s just to good not to be heard.

 

If you wanna join the ranks of us uber vinyl nerds…sell your new flatscreen tv and grab a copy here.

or

Have this one, right here

@320… You spoiled, lucky bastards.

 

Enjoy.

 

Posted in funk, soul | Leave a Comment »

Changing Times…A.K.A Packing My Bags.

14/10/2010


So…as you may or may not have noticed, my good friend Reza El Rico has had some, but not much input into this site…truth be told, I wish it was more…However in his defence he is a very busy man..Running multiple successful bussineses, digging, a relationship, etc…. So he really isn’t able to do alot of recording records…however he does have some turntables in his cafe and he likes to play records for his customers, recently he has started recording some mixes at work for his 1 month trip digging in southeast asia….Cambodian Funk?….oh yeah.

I myself have had a crazy and stressful couple of days as well as of late and kind of slept on my ripping vinyl mission this weekend, so when reza told me to throw this mix up on the blog if  I wanted to…

Long story short…Rez to the rescue…And something new for Shelikes12inches.com

Over an hour of all vinyl…no $%$#ing serato, the perfect soundtrack to a Cambodian adventure or just a lazy day on the sofa.

PACKING MY BAGS

a mix by Reza El Rico.

@320…always.

Posted in funk, jazz, mix, pysch-funk-jazz-soul, soul | Leave a Comment »

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