Tags: soul

15 Oct 2009, Comments (2)

Loyce Cotton-Try It, You’ll Like It (Aquarius 1972)

Author: alex larotta
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I tried it, I liked it, a lot. I pulled this weeks 45 last weekend at the Austin Record Convention, considerably up there on my want lists and paid a fairly reasonable price for it, thanks to Pete for his flavorful 45 stacks. And I’ll apologize for not having too much detailed information for this weeks post so I’ll have to keep this short and sweet, much like this song. Loyce Cotton’s Try It You’ll Like It was released on the Houston-based Aquarius label and produced by Pope, another small time Bayou City label with wider distributive capacity. It seems that Aquarius released a slew of 45 singles throughout their activity in the 60’s and 70’s and even touching on some boogie and modern soul in the late 70’s, one release being a particular favorite of mine, Doin’ It by Houston bluesman Clarence Green, which I’ll definitely post sometime soon in the near future. I couldn’t find much, or anything really, on Ms. Cotton’s career or that of her recordings in my thorough detective interneting. I did find that France’s Motown President and funk and soul connoisseur, Gilles Petard, released this song on the first series of his illustrious Absolute Funk compilations. If you don’t know, now you know…

As far as I know, Ms. Cotton released only one other 45 on another Houston-based label (Jetstream) but it doesn’t seem that her records made it further past the local radio circuit. It’s a shame, considering her potential for national radio play as a strong female soul vocalist. Nevertheless, Try It You’ll Like It is simple and straightforward funky soul with some nice wah wah on the guitar, a punchy bass line and a groove-filled organ solo right around the middle, tendering a persuasive message about the niceties of receiving love and kisses. Clocking in at a mere two minutes, this mid-tempo workout is a fine piece of the ever impressive catalog of Houston soul music.

LISTEN: Loyce Cotton-Try It You’ll Like It

1 Oct 2009, Comments (0)

Carol Jones- Don’t Destroy Me (Mutt 1968)

Author: alex larotta
CarolJones-1-1

Drums and horns. Heavy, raw, and mixed upfront and drenched in distortive compression, it’s true lo-fi gritty soul at it’s best! Carol Jones’s “Don’t Destroy Me” is a marvelous piece of the ever-impressive catalog of Motor City soul. Released on Mutt Records, a small, independent soul and pop label located in the western suburban banks of Detroit (in the back of the owner’s bail bond business to be exact), Don’t Destroy Me stands seemingly defiant of the popularized Motown signature, especially for a Detroit soul recording. And seeing how Mutt didn’t have any viable avenues for national distribution (or international for that matter), Carol Jones likely lived out her short-lived career on the Detroit club circuit.

And interesting side note, arranger Aaron Neal and producer Scott Bray did in fact release various versions of this sweet funk-tinged soul shaker, one of which is a model of the string-heavy and more melodic Detroit soul sound. Apparently that version is a bit more rare than this particular one, featuring Ms. Jones’ searing vocals mixed in the front and de-emphasis of the backbeat and horn section. According to some Internet gossip, there had been some interest in reissuing the Mutt catalog, but as reported by the son of the label owner, all of the master tapes had been destroyed in a devastating studio fire.

Though I couldn’t find much on Ms. Jones and her should’ve-been career, it is interesting to note that Mutt did have a wide array of repertoire and genre throughout their short-lived activity. Label-mates Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers issued their instrumental deep funk burner “Searching For Soul” on Mutt, check out Flea Market Funk’s great post on that here. And there were quite a few soulers, funkers, and rockers that released a slew of singles, but as far as I can tell, no full lengths of any sort.

Without further ado, hope you enjoy this weeks’ savory portion of raw soul, this one makes my heart flutter.

LISTEN: Carol Jones-Don’t Destroy Me

17 Sep 2009, Comments (5)

The Mighty Gospel Giants-Lift Jesus (Minit 1970)

Author: alex larotta
the mighty gospel giants

Greetings humble readers, today’s selection is a fine piece of gospel funk conceived and orchestrated by heavyweght gospel group The Mighty Gospel Giants. I picked up this copy of The Mighty Gospel Giants full length LP “Let There Be Peace” on a recent dig while visiting my folks in Houston at a near by thrift shop, sitting lonely in a dusty stack of unloved lounge and Lawrence Welk styled big band records. The featured cut, Lift Jesus, is a nice amalgamation of funky gospel soul, released on the Minit gospel label in 1970. Lift Jesus features a searing B3 organ and a snare heavy drum pattern leading the rhythm at a steady mid tempo pace layered on a mouthful of fervent tamborine shakes.

Bandleader Bishop Charles Edward Cook, who sadly passed away in January of this year, provided the lovely shout-singing gospel vocals carried by the backups of his fellow Giants. Lucky for us, The Mighty Gospel Giants cut a handful of excellent soul-tinged gospel records throughout their expansive recording career. The Giants garnered their chops performing within New York’s burgeoning gospel quartet scene during the late 1950’s and continued to successfully record and perform throughout the 60’s and early 70’s, even releasing material on Gospel and Soul label giants Savoy and Veep amongst a few others before moving to Minit for their late career releases. Though I wasn’t able to find finer details about the group’s career and apparent regional popularity, I did find that legendary jazz producer George Butler produced this particular record sometime during his heavy production heyday at Blue Note, Columbia, and United Artists. Mr. Butler, well known as a heavy weight producer in early bebop and the later jazz fusion movement, put his magic touch on this record to put a funky twist on the traditional Gospel arrangement. Enjoy!

the mighty gospel giants

LISTEN: The Mighty Gospel Giants – Lift Jesus

3 Sep 2009, Comments (3)

Masters Of Soul-Right On (1970)

Author: alex larotta
MASTERS RIGHT ON

For the kick-off post of what will be our enduring and on-going funky mission here at I’m Shakin, I’d like to start with a fine selection from Houston, TX’s own Masters of Soul. ”Right On” is an up-tempo funky soul strut featuring a tight knit rhythm section (with some very nice layered conga percussion), elaborate and lush horn stabs, and impressive vocal range and harmonization from some of the finest in Houston’s rich soul and r&b community.  

  Cutting their teeth years prior as a regionally popular soul/doo-wop group by the name of The Royal Masters in the late 50’s (under the guidance of local producer and music powerhouse, Huey Meaux aka The Crazy Cajun), the group later signed with Skipper Lee Frazier’s now-infamous soul and R&B haven for Houston musicians, Ovide Records. Swaying with the change in popular rhythm, they soon altered their sound, image, and band name to include the name of their beloved hometown, Masters of Houston. According to Brett Koshkin over at The Houston Press, they soon had to renege on the name due to legal disputes with their previous label and later settled on Masters of Soul (mind you, the word ‘Masters’ never left their name!). The new sound consisted of down-tempo deep soul and ballad-style numbers alongside a handful of funky-soul and even psych-tinged compositions reflecting the deeply diverse changes of the era. Local musician Luke Wayne Richards, a young bassist known within the Houston soul circuit at that time, was invited by Skipper Lee to play bass on a few of the Masters’ recordings as well as performing as a backup player for other Ovide label-mates (including Archie Bell and The Drells), and most presumably on this slab of funky-soul. He also recorded for the local soul outfit, Wild Honey (though based in Florida, recorded in Houston), who resided on the highly regarded independent soul/funk/r&b label, Houston International. Mr. Richards continues to perform for various bands and labels, even lending his infectious bass lines to producers and artists within Houston’s large rap community, working with the likes of Lil Keke, Too Short, and even the late DJ Screw, amongst others.

This gem is one part of their enduring legacy, and the fine folks over at Tuff City (Soul Tay Shus) were gracious enough to release a fair chunk of their releases and activity on Ovide on CD and LP entitled Masters of Soul: Right On: Rare & Unreleased Texas Soul 1968-1975, you can check it out here. Some of their material as well as other Ovide artists/material are also available on another great Tuff City comp entitled “Funky, Funky Houston”.

LISTEN: Masters Of Soul Right On

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