Funk You

Song of the Day - FRANCINE KING (featuring Sax Kari) / Two Fools

This one is off of the "Sax Kari & Others -- Fumigate Funky Broadway - The New Orleans Sessions".

According to Dusty Groove, this is "A great batch of rough New Orleans soul -- recorded by Crescent City impresario Sax Kari and a host of other acts that he handled during the mid and late 60s! Sax is a lesser-known name in the annals of New Orleans soul ..."

I dig it cuz the drums are funky and the bass line is deep.  On top of this the lyrics are spot on.  Francine sings about hard headed women and 2 faced men.  We've all met them before, maybe you've dated one, but hey, at least you ain't alone.  Heck I even met a 3 handed woman once.  She was left  handed, right handed and underhanded.  Doah! 

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Song of the Day - Bobby Byrd / I'm On the Move

Bpbby Byrd was James Brown's wingman and backup singer in his Famous Flames backup vocal group

His solo career was short lived at best. However his contribution is not to be overlooked as he may have been the one to set James Brown on the right path by getting him a place to sleep and a job so he could get out of doing time in a juvenile detention center. In addition to being his bandleader and arranger until 1970, he also wrote more than 40 of his biggest hits.

This particular song came off a 1994 album with roughly the same name, "On the Move", which was many years since the brilliance of 1970's soul had faded.

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Song of the Day - Groove Collective / The Great Escape

This acid jazz outfit from downtown New York City was formed in 1990 by flutist Richard Worth.  Groove Collective has had 5 or so albums since then.  They're best seen live as their studio albums do not capture their raw live essence.

This particular song is off the out of print "Live and Hard To Find" album.  If you can find it I suggest picking it up as it really contains some great material.  "The Great Escape" is a wonderful track with keyboard licks that will knock your socks off.  Groovy!  This track sounds like it easily could have come out in the very early 70's.   

They just played this last weekend so it seems as they are still together in some shape or another.  Keep an eye on the radar to see if they're coming to your town.

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Song of the Day - Sam & Dave / Can't You Find Another Way

Samuel Moore and David Prater spent their childhood singing in church in the South. Their chance meeting took place in Miami at the at the "King of Hearts Club" in Miami in 1961. Their chance meeting lead to many highs and lows. The highs were the creation of some incredibly soulful songs. The lows, were creative indifferences, drug use and David's untimely death.

Their best years, albeit short occurred between 1966 and 1968. They released such greats as "Hold On! I'm Comin", "Soul Man" and "I Thank You". It's a shame that two guys who produced such quality work hated each other behind the scenes.

Enjoy this one off their "Soul Man" album. The drums and horns keep this one funky.

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Song of the Day - Parlet / Help From My Friends

Parlet was essentially comprised of back-up singers from P-Funk. George Clinton was their producer on each of their 3 albums. "Play Me or Trade Me", "Pleasure Principal", and "Invasion of the Booty Snatchers" have roots in Funk, R&B, Soul and Disco.

This particular song doesn't stray from the established vibe that the Mothership always brought. It's basically more of the same under the guise of female singers who in this case take center stage. This being said there is just something here that works. Maybe it's the keyboard riff or funk laiden backstage. The women of Parlet can also belt it out when not singing the reprise.

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Song of the Day - Roy Ayers / He's A Superstar

Roy Ayers, one of the great jazz vibraphonists of the 1960s and funk fusion greats of the 70's could take any subject and make it soulful and funky.

Let me start by saying that I'm not all that religious.  I am spiritual however.  This particular song praises Jesus Christ, the Superstar.  This song is so funk laiden and catchy it just makes you want to meet him, praise him and hang with him even if you're not religious.

Roy starts out with a diatribe, on corruption, destruction, and our fate.  The song then builds, and builds like a preacher firing up his congregation. 

Everything just works on this track.  The BPMs on this song are outta control as the drummer's beat is relentless.  The wah wah of the guitar never stops and keyboard baptises the rest of the song with it's groove.  Enjoy.

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Song of the Day - Fela Kuti / He Miss Road

Fela Kuti was the James Brown of Africa and the creator of Afro-Beat. Fela was born in Nigeria in 1938. His impact on the music scene was unmistakable. His politically driving songs are so powerful. The lyrics spoke of the common troubles Africans faced. He wanted a better Africa, one where human rights were the focus and the freedom of democracy would reign supreme.

His sound is unmistakable, his voice powerful, his band, talented. You cannot help but be drawn in by the might and forcefulness found in his passionate singing. Many of his songs would go on for what seemed like hours, each brining you on a journey. Like the up swell of a wave, each song would rise and rise until it crested. It is at this point in which Fela would leash out with the prowess of commander in chief, taking on any subject he felt important to take on.

This song's prelude is close to 5 minutes. He cleverly starts in with only humming to set the melody. Once this is done he breaks into a call and response with the background singers. It's monotonous but captivating, building into something that will hit you over the head like a ton of bricks. That crash hits you at about 10 minutes with the whole band raising up to add the exclamation point to the song, which in turn closes it out leaving the message ringing in your head. Did I mention that I love the keyboards. They sound like they're coming from a Casio keyboard but man does it sound just right.
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Song of the Day - Asiko / Hot Block

Here is a quick one for you. It's another great album from Ubiquity Records.  As with many of their artists, you will find hardly any information on the song or artist.  Same goes with this one.  Dig the keyboards on this one and the funky guitar.  Fresh like a moist towelette, I say.  This song has more of a funk fusion sound but it's not too far out there like most of the fusion that I've heard.  Hope you enjoy.

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Song of the Day - Jimmy Castor Bunch / It's Just Begun

You know the intro, you know the bassline, you know the horn and sax work. You just may have not heard the original so here it is. You've inevitably heard this song at some point in your life on a hip hop song, dj mixes, or other encantation. The bass line in this song is sick. This has got to be one of my favorites as everything in this song just works

The Jimmy Castor Bunch had limited success during the 70's & 80's with songs like "The Bertha Butt Boogie" and "Troglodyte" both of which can be found on their greatest greatest hits album. Some of their songs are just plain odd. I mean they talk about king kong, the creature from the black lagoon, gamma radiation and other strange things. But, hey at least their songs don't contain bubble gum teenie pop love lyrics.

On a side note, Jimmy's website states that they have a new album coming out.  Seems like they're still playing live here and there.  Anyway, have a great weekend.

Song of the Day - The Unknown / Pad Out

Scottish DJ and record collector Keb Darge is huge in U.K.'s deep funk scene. On his Legendary Deep Funk V.3 album he has put together a cornucopia of deep funk 45s. Pad Out By "The Unknown" is simple in it's structure. It's got influences of James Brown and others. The drumming is tight and funky, the horn sets the melody and the bass line keeps it moving. It's raw but I like it. I tried to find more information on this band but it looks like they may have only really put out this one single.  I hope you enjoy.