FF:Old School News & World Funk Report
-
Artist:
-
Track:
Cause What's Old Is News To Me
Politics: After Barack became the president-elect, I saw many outpourings in the cyberworld..one section of these spontaneous displays of joy concerned playlists. I saw compilations of songs played at rallies, ipod suggestions, and song dedications to the new president. Cropping up quite a bit in these lists were The Pointer Sisters, who turned in a close to definitive version of Allen Toussaint's Yes We Can, back on their 1973 self-titled debut.
When they got a chance to cut their first record, Anita,Ruth,June, and Bonnie signed on with the always interesting Blue Thumb label. If you only know their high energy 80's hits you might be surprised at the eclectic style on their debut. They write some of their own tunes (Jada), own a few covers (Yes We Can), and generally throw down a vocal gauntlet (Sugar,Cloudburst)for others to try for. You've got Blues here, Funk here, R&B here, Jazz here, and more...and they do it all fairly effortlessly. I'm no fan of their wedding favorites of the 80's, but this debut has all my respect. It swings. You've probably heard Yes We Can, so check out the Freddie Boom Boom Washington style funk of That's How I Feel in the dot and another early track Chainey Do (1975)in comments.
World Update: About 2 weeks ago I went whole hog into an African music collection frenzy. Some servers may have been hurt, and I apologize. I got some stuff from Ivy, DJ Soul45, and emusic (following on to a Baudolino post), but I went nuts at Awesome Tapes From Africa. I downloaded six months of posts from this genius blog, and I learned a lot. Almost everything that shows up on that blog is worth your time, but when I heard Umaru Sanda, I immediately thought of funk master (check the podcast), fistula spume. Mixing almost Arabic/Indian sounding vocals (sung in Hausa), traditional percussions, and ultra DIY sounding synths, Yadda Da Allah, has to be spume special. Direct from Niger to the comments of this post.
Science News: I know it's no surprise to MOG users that you can't always trust the internets. Fer instance Afrique's - Soul Makossa, is described on one site as Cameroonian Highlife music ( I won't mention the site), when the 1973 album is straight up instrumental funk, recorded in the USA by American musicians. I found the vinyl at a flea market in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. It is also one of my initial LP rips, as I try, against all odds, to bring myself into the new century. The record fetures a band of crack LA studio musicians including Chuck Rainey, King Erirsson, Charles Kynard, and David T. Walker, who gathered for a one off to try to cash in on the left field success of Manu Dibango's - Soul Makossa. They do an almost letter perfect rendition of that proto-disco tune, but more interesting to me were the sample classics, House Of The Rising Funk and Kissing My Love (the Bill Withers tune, with some nutty Moog action). Check the breaks in comments.
Entertainment News: When a modern filmmaker wants a score that's half modern electronics and half blaxploitation they look to Brit, David Holmes. He did the score for Stephen Soderbergh's Outta Sight and Ocean's Eleven and appeared on the ST for Pi. He's also done the music for the latest iphone campaign and he has a new record called, The Holy Pictures, so he stays busy..Busier than me, anyway.
Like so many musicmakers these days, Mr. Holmes started as a DJ, and the above pictured mix is from 2002. In typical old news fashion, I just laid my hands to it this week. Come Get It, I Got It, features his own compositions next to some pretty darn rare funk and R&B tunes, and it sounds great. Of note to me (and in comments) is Betty Adams - Make It Real (Ride On), a slow starting stormer of Aretha-esque soul. A little research on the Soul Detective Blog lets you know that Betty only made about 3 records, before turning to religion, and leaving the funk behind her. If you think I do a lot of digging here, the folks at Soul Detective make me look like a blind mole rat to their John Henry (no disrespect to blind mole rats who are very good diggers, but not mountain movers).
Obituaries: Lots of smiles on the cover of the Cosimo Matassa Story (a 4CD set I just picked up), and why not, the legendary New Orleans studio owner was on hand for some of NOLA's greatest R&B records. Sadly a NOLA original,who recorded sides at Cosimo's J&M studio, Chuck Carbo, passed away in July of this year. Mr. Carbo started out as the lead singer of The Spiders, who had a #5 R&B hit in '54 with Witchcraft (a Dave Bartholomew tune-not the Sinatra one-that was later covered by Elvis Presley). He continued to perform until the 21st century, so his career spanned the entire length of the Rock and Roll era. An era he was an eyewitness to and participant in from its inception, as some believe R&R started in NOLA. In the late 60's/early 70's he cut some funky numbers for Eddie Bo, including Take Care Of Your Homework (see comments). Also check an old Baudolino post for his slamming track Can I Be Your Squeeze.◄ Chuck Carbo's 1993 effort Drawers Trouble is in more of a Blues vein (Dr. John guests), but it is also worth checking out. RIP Chuck Carbo.
This week we also got the news that singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and human rights activist, Odetta, passed away. I had a chance to see her perform a few times, and there aren't too many folks who could command the stage the way she did. An influence and inspiration to many folks (just about anyone in the NYC folk revival) she will be missed.
Prior to my working for a label that distributed records she made in the 90's and 00's, my only musical knowledge of her came from a song of hers called, Hit or Miss, which was coverd by Bo Diddley◄ and later sampled by De La Soul. So depite all those things Odetta did, she could throw down a good groove when she wanted to..(check comments)..RIP Odetta.
Have an excellent weekend. I'll return with more news, tunes, and funk from our global headquarters next week.
Comments (28)
I'll be back with those tunes after I deal with some technical difficulties.
This is "Championship MOGging" all the way.
Ha! Brilliant post. Love the news style. I actually feel I'm learning something instead of wasting my life away. Nice one!
Blimey.
All right,all fixed and ready to go..thank you gentleman, sorry for the delay. Went old school for the players,too..
"Cause What's Old Is News To Me" booyah. i'd like a t-shirt, please.
what a brilliant post, Cody. i am bookmarking it for repeated revisits. Awesome Tapes from Africa and the Soul Detective Blog sound like a birthday treat, i am on my way.
a MOG medal is going to look good on this post.
i did not know fisty is now podcasty. aw, the stuff i miss when i step away from the computer.
I dunno if they've published yet..but he posted o podcast on the M.
goddamn Cody - if quality posts were money, you wouldn't need a job!
Nice follow up to the "darkside"
thanks rummy! Though I love the darkside..there's still something special about posting here..st lest for me.
I hear ya
Nice to see the pointer sisters get their due. I wore that record out back then and the follow up steppin with the picture of the high heeled tennis shoes. Just started getting into african music this summer and there is so much, thanks for this post, it will keep me busy and out of trouble for a while
I thought your outlaw days were over and you were the all new mellow cp? Glad I could be of assistance.
uhm.........when do we get the sports news, might want to lead with former NFL football player getting 15 years in the big house
Excellent call Kev..This just in..
hahahahah.........shit cody, I just spit water out onto my keyboard! Such good humor on a friday night!
It wouldn't have been half as funny without the MOG player..thanks to Bartleby for that code from way back when.
Damn Cody, that is a week in the news if ever there was one. I well remember this Pointer Sisters album and saw them play in London supporting it. The 40s vibe was already looking a bit thin but they certainly had an amazing vocal ensemble, as the track you highlight amply shows.
I had no idea about this African site you mention - I'm off to clog my bandwidth with what sounds like amazing bootie. I'll be back to check out your further samples.
Best. Newspaper. Yet.
You're a star!
I thank you for sharing!!!
My pleasure J..welcome.
@Mr.I-Awesome Tapes is..., you will enjoy it.
@Ms.Anna..Thank you.I'm supposed to be a journalism major..if only I could get this to count as one of the papers I should be writing...or learn how to spell,or type,or use ellipses properly.
You amaze me Cody w/your knowledge of the old school scene. Your dedication knows no bounds. And what a megapost!
I didn't know the Pointers were from the bay area but then again I didn't live here until well after their heyday.
Thanks A1..I try to keep my ears open...In a lot of ways mining the old school vein is so much easier these days with the number of resources out there..discographies,samples,video clips, and MOG (of course); all just a click away. To a cat like myself who came up digging in crates and picking brains of record store employees, it's like shootin' fish in a barrel these days.
Sometimes I think virtual crate digging is just a little too easy. On the other hand it's great to think you can access almost any tune with a minimum of work. I've never been a collector, per se, I've always had the simple wish of hearing some of the music I've only read about in books. And yet, holding a piece of vinyl that you've searched low and high for, is a feeling that can't be matched by any bandwidth acquisition.
Goodness me!!! What a bountiful post! News for the mind, music for the cochlea... What do you mean "hit or miss?" It's blasting hit.
Now "let me take care of my homework if I want to be seen in the same room as you."
The mega post is rapidly becoming my new stylee Bartleby..until it gets old. So it'll prolly be in effect for another week or two.
Hard to find a less-than-sterling track, none of which I've every heard before, amidst this bounty. Also, I'm scared to return to the African and Soul URLs you provided, for fear that I'll never de-addict myself from them. A few quick quips before I have to return to real life duties: That fine version of "Witchcraft" is the one Elvis covered. That cool Odetta track is the first one of hers I've heard in maybe 45 years, and it sounds here as if the kept up with later styles quite well. That's a great picture of her, with her furled brow exhibiting a charged mind. I know her mostly from a ten-inch Fantasy label LP, Odetta & Larry, that my mother used to play in the early Sixties, that had the Leadbelly song "Cotton Fields," which I bet was the note-for-note inspiration for Credence Clearwater's version. Anyway, another great post, Cody!
Thank you,Spike...I guess Elvis covered both the Dave Bartholomew and the Sinatra (can't remember who wrote it) Withchcraft. I was shocked when I found out the Bo Diddley tune came from Odetta, but after seeing her live I understood she was a lot more than a folkie.