imshakin » funk

James Polk and The Brothers – The Robot (Sonobeat 1969)

alex larotta — Thu, 12 May 2011 23:10:41 +0000

Aaaand we’re back. Excuse the lull, folks, but we’re dusting off the cobwebs and ready for more. Now, let’s talk Austin – home to us here at I’m Shakin’, though rarely covered as far as independently-produced 45s. Relatively speaking, Austin had a small music scene – recording/production wise – up until the early to mid ’70s, considerably late in the game for independent record production in general. Undoubtedly, and as is often the case of smaller communities, there were some few musicians and producers actively making records in the area before designated studios were readily available in Central Texas.

James Polk, prior to forming his legendary Twink label some few months later in ‘69 (named after his friend, ‘Twink’, proprietor of East Austin’s then-popular Hide-a-Way Lounge) recorded this single for father and son team Bill & Rim Josey and their Sonobeat Records, another local imprint of storied legacy. With the plug side Stick-To-It-Tive-Ness featuring the powerful, soulful vocals of Austin diva Yvonne Joseph, it seemed the Joseys were intent on marketing the vocal side of the record, given its distinct pop sensibility and radio friendliness. Though both sides are great in their own right, I personally prefer the flip – the oft-neglected B-side – which in this case is an extraordinary instrumental jazz-funk number. Polk delivers a knockout with his masterful hammond organ, The Brothers following closely at the helm. As generally defines the ’60s ‘Polk Sound’, the staggered drums are mixed upfront and center, with mellow horn play and a bouncy bass line keeping rhythm at a comfortable mid-tempo stroll. As a trained jazz maestro, Polk indiscriminately borrows from r&b, soul, and funk while maintaining jazz at the forefront, weaving in and out of time signature – resulting in this cerebral, Austin-born slice of jazz-funk. Recorded at the Joseys’ homemade recording studio in Northwest Austin, The Robot is the first and only record Polk would issue for Sonobeat before his next recordings on Twink. Following his brief foray as producer in Austin, Polk enjoyed a decade-long stint in the early 70s as bandleader for the Ray Charles Orchestra, earning a few Grammy nominations along the way. Polk is the story and key to Austin jazz music, inspiring legions of local musicians and entrepreneurs in his example, earning his legacy not only as a performer but as a long time music professor at Austin’s Huston-Tillotson University in his latter years. We’re happy to finally give him due credit, it’s been long overdue.

LISTEN: James Polk and The Brothers – The Robot

Soul One’s-Soul Pot (Deal 1971)

alex larotta — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 02:41:46 +0000

From the dusty, multicultural border pueblo of El Paso, TX, comes today’s Soul One’s with their 7″ single Soul Pot b/w This Is My Prayer. Steeped in wah-wah guitar fuzz, party-styled hoots and hollers, and latin-tinged percussion fills by way of 70s west-coast fusionists War and Azteca, Soul Pot takes the cake for some of the best in border town funk. Not much to report on the personnel makeup of Soul One’s or how active they may have been in recording/performance, but one single can speak volumes on talent and output. From inference, I could gather that there’s a handful of fellas in the group; from bass guitarist to rhythm and lead guitarists to multi-percussionists, all of which take a stab at singing/hollering throughout the song.

Considering the overall lo-fi ‘muddied’ feel to the track, it almost sounds like a single-track (possibly mono) recording with little post-production mixing or studio effect, adding to its lure as another fine addition to independent funk recordings in the great Lone Star State. After a series of dead ends looking for in-depth information on the group, it seems the Escondido publishers may have been based in western New Mexico, not too surprising considering the relative distance from El Paso city limits. Either way, I’m glad to finally have my hands on a copy, and more than happy to share with our audience. Should anyone have more info on this mysterious group, please feel free to send it along. Enjoy!

LISTEN: Soul One’s-Soul Pot

Carl Carlton-Wild Child (Back Beat 1970)

alex larotta — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 04:39:22 +0000

Before the disco sheen of ‘Everlasting Love’ and ‘She’s A Bad Mama Jama’, Houston’s Carl Carlton (by way of Detroit) dabbled with the experimental sounds of psychedelic funk, if for only a short moment in his career. Steeped in druggy grooves, backward tape loops, and fuzz guitar tones, Carlton’s Wild Child makes for some of the best in this short-lived variety. Carlton ran the gamut of nearly every soul style; from early R&B and southern funky soul to the 4/4 boogie train of the 1970s and 80s (from which he’s popularly known) and later affiliations with gospel music.

Likely taking his cue from acid-blues hero Jimi Hendrix and fellow Motor City native George Clinton with his new bag of funky rock, Carlton and his band got to work on branding their own take on psychedelia, produced by renowned Philly music producer Bunny Sigler (Gamble and Huff). Recorded on Don Robey’s home for Houston R&B–Back Beat Records–Carlton recorded a handful of 45s for the label until his departure in the mid 70s. Given the poor storage of the record by its previous owner(s), you’ll have to excuse the pops and tics, but this is Texas black psychedelia at its finest.

LISTEN: Carl Carlton-Wild Child

Eddie Bo- If It’s Good To You (It’s Good For You Pt. 1) (Scram 1969)

alex larotta — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 03:03:18 +0000

There’s little can be said about New Orleans’ larger-than-life high priest of funk, Eddie Bo, that I could say otherwise (see F16C’s magnificent tribute to the man, here). Nevertheless, I feel it’s due time that we here at I’m Shakin’ pay homage to the Crescent City’s most honorable jazz and r&b musician/producer, if only in just a few short paragraphs. Surely, a few (dozen) others come to mind, but Bo was something else, a notch above the rest–a trailblazer in a city of renowned trailblazers. Considering my gravitation towards the grittier/funkier/”Bo-ier” side of Bo’s discography, I thought I’d share one of his two singles from the Scram record label, entitled “If It’s Good To You (It’s Good For You)” Pt. 1.

Though known from the funk miners and collectors for his heavy, distinctly New Orleans brand of funk, Bo started where most musicians did before the James Brown funk revolution–steeped in the sounds of jazz, soul, and southern r&b. In traditon with the famous Big Easy second-line rhythmaires, Bo’s early productions consisted of big, bright horns, boogie-woogie piano vamps, and r&b dance beat. His recordings and production credits touch nearly every pocket and musical genre of New Orleans and the greater Gulf south, working with the brightest soul-shouters, girl groups, duets, r&b combos, funksters, rockers, and everything in between. Which brings me to today’s feature-If It’s Good To You is the real-deal heavy funk side of Bo that defines his career and exemplifies how he made funk his own groovy thang. The Meters had Zigaboo Modeliste, James Brown had Clyde Stubblefield and Jabo Starks, Dyke and The Blazers had James Gadson, but Eddie Bo had James Black; perhaps one of the most unknown but equally talented human drum machines in the history of funk/rhythm music. In this same respect, it takes an equally talented recording engineer and producer to mix the session to sound just right, and in turn, create a unique, definitive sound; i.e The Bo Sound. James Black was the drummer behind Bo’s most sought-out 45s, with his unique fat snare snap, beefy kick drum, and New Orleans rhythm, his style and tone are key components of this quintessential sound.

Sadly, Bo passed away last year, but left behind a legacy of New Orleans soul music for generations to come. His singles are some of the most highly prized records in the record collecting community, and for good reason.

LISTEN: Eddie Bo- If It’s Good To You (It’s Good For You) Pt. 1

Black Blood and the Chocolate Pickles-Mississippi Mud (Black Blood 197?)

alex larotta — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:19:19 +0000

Novelty band names rarely get this good. Black Blood and The Chocolate Pickles cut their somber down-tempo funk number, “Mississippi Mud” in Baton Rouge, LA, on what I presume to be their own custom label, Black Blood Records. I was waiting to gather some more info on the group but they seem to be largely unknown, even in meticulous discography circles.

Black Blood went on to distribute and re-release their 45 with Stax subsidiary Enterprise Records, changing their band name to ‘Smithstonian’ before disbanding and leaving behind a trail of mystery for those seeking answers of their origins. I can only assume the name Black Blood and the Chocolate Pickles didn’t sit well with some of the higher ups at Enterprise, perhaps they were coerced to change it up to something more radio (ahem, white)-friendly. Enterprise released their version of Mississippi Mud under the Smithstonian tutelage, changing the b-side to an equally superb song entitled ‘Just Sitting’, both of which were featured on bootleg funk compilations.

With its haunting message and moody bass-heavy instrumentation, its story is eerily foretelling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster that struck the Mississippi basin in August of 2005, and thematically applies to the oil disaster that devastated the Gulf Coast earlier this year. Mississippi Mud is prime cut Gulf Coast music culture; a funereal song of the region’s largest natural resource with a rich yet often brutal history, and a deep-rooted Americana narrative as long as its furthest extensions.

LISTEN: Black Blood and the Chocolate Pickles-Mississippi Mud

Sol-Maranatha (GCP 1975)

alex larotta — Thu, 13 May 2010 04:27:37 +0000

Greetings all, this week I’m hauling in some Chicano jazz-funk from the seemingly endless musical depths of San Antonio, TX. Released in ‘75, bandleader/keyboardist/trombonist Joe Gallardo and Sol released their full-length self-titled album, from which this single comes, on Manny Guerra’s GCP record label. I’ve mentioned Manny Guerra on here before, his wide breadth and key development of San Antonio’s recording industry, from producer to arranger to session player and label owner, seems to stretch endlessly on credits from a diverse spread of recording artists in the region from the late 50s to present day. Manny is also well known to many for his arrangement credits with Sunny and The Sunglows and their cover of Little Willie John’s “Talk To Me” on Huey Meaux’s Teardrop Records, which was one of the biggest hits of their career.

Joe Gallardo’s Sol LP is lauded by many as a Texas psych funk masterpiece, with diverse sound ranges of acid jazz, whirly space synths, guitar freakouts, and funky latin percussion mixed together in a way that only 70s fusion can pull off. “Maranatha”, a shorter stereo mix version of the LP version, embodies the jazz fusion spirit of Herbie Hancock’s “Headhunters” LP, with full body kick drums, wah-wah guitar effects, and luscious horn crescendoes. Joe continues arranging and writing music to this day, and is a centrifugal developer of the Texas Jazz Festival in Corpus Christi that initially started in 1959 when he was a member of the Jazz Club at Del Mar College. He also tenders Grammy credits for his composition work on Mongo Santamaria’s “Amanecer” LP, and continues to perform and record in Hamburg, Germany with a multitude of noted jazz artists and producers from around the world.

You’ll notice that though I don’t usually feature 70s fusion music, I always make exceptions for the exceptional. Sol’s “Maranatha” is a fine example of the rich, versatile soundscapes of Chicano soul in Texas, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Also, just want to mention that we are packing our figurative bags and moving our site to a new server in the next few days. We’re also changing the domain name, but no worries, we will direct you to our new space so we can continue serving you music freaks with the depths of our music collections. Thanks for being with us thus far, we look forward to sharing our new digs with you and spreading the love of vinyl to all of our readers. All that aside, chew on some San Antonio funky fusion and we’ll be back next week on the new site!

LISTEN: Sol-Maranatha