things and time will tell.

Barry White – I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby 20th Century Records – TC-2018 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Styrene, Terre Haute Pressing US, 1973 info For no reason other than I felt like listening to it, here's Barry White with one of his very greatest singles. If you know someone who doesn't understand why people love this guy beyond silly impersonations of the sexy voice, I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby  is the place to start. The opening is amazing (and the break has been put to good use more than once on some classic hip hop productions), but listen to the arrangement here- so much going on. The build up that begins right around the 50 second mark is really something special. The B side, Just A Little More Baby , really lets the music (and Barry White's production skills) shine. More than just a straight instrumental of the A side hit, it's almost a dub mix with Barry's vocal scats echoing in and out and the different instruments getti...

Ann Sexton – You're Gonna Miss Me / You're Losing Me Seventy Seven Records – 77-133 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, US, 1973 info I know I can write too much sometimes (much like my talking in real life, yes, I know), but this one should be quick. Continuing with the funk records (of various sorts) featured in the last couple posts, today we have a great lost single from 1973. I've got no stories to tell you about Ann Sexton.  Until I started writing this and saw that others have documented some of her history , I knew pretty much nothing about Sexton except that she was a Southern soul singer who, from the records I've heard, deserved to be much more widely remembered. I knew she had recorded a couple albums and a clutch of singles for Nashville's Seventy-Seven records and a few other labels though the 1970s. After that, she disappears (from the record bins and my radar anyway).  According to the internet, she got fed up with the music industry, left the south for NYC in ...

Stro Elliot – Black & Loud: James Brown Reimagined By Stro Elliot Republic Records – B0033643-01 Vinyl, LP, Album, US, 2022 info Many years ago, I was riding in a car with someone a little older (and a lot cooler) than me. The guy went on to become a pretty successful DJ and producer, so not shockingly, we were talking music. The thing that I always remember about this conversation is this moment when the Godfather of Soul gets mentioned and the guy turns to say to me in his most serious voice "James Brown invented modern music." True enough for me. Remixing absolute legends from decades ago is risky business. Remixing an album's worth of stone classics that form the bedrock of modern music? Not likely to end well. Stro Elliot pulls it off though on his recent album of James Brown reworks.  My last post featured a Jamaican rework of James Brown from many years ago  and I thought it might be fun to follow it up with this new effort. Elliot  has become a lot more visibl...

Brentford All Stars / Dub Specialist – Greedy G / Granny Scratch Scratch Soul Jazz Records – SJR478-12 Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, UK, 2021 info It's hard to overstate the importance of Studio One in Jamaican music. The late Coxsone Dodd's record label is easily the most important in the history of reggae and the rhythms from his 1960s and 70s productions are still regularly getting a new shine and re-versioned for the  riddims  of today. Those tunes, revamped for the 1980s dancehall era by the Roots Radics and others, make up some of my favorite musical obsessions. All that said, I'm sharing a Studio One record today, but it's something else altogether. This is a recent 12" single from the UK collecting two Studio One tracks cut that I'm pretty sure were cut in the early to mid 70s. But these aren't the early reggae or rocksteady classics, instead we get two storming funk cuts. On  Greedy G ,  the Brentford All Stars (one of the regular names used for Coxson...

Sun Ra - Mike Huckaby Bonus Beats! Mike Huckaby - Sun Ra Reel To Reel Session - Live at Amoeba Records, LA - July 13, 2017 & Sun Ra - "The Lady With The Golden Stockings" (Mike Huckaby edit) A  quick post: A few days ago I shared a couple 12"s of Sun Ra edits by Mike Huckaby . If you were feeling those all, here are a couple bonuses to keep that vibe going. I love this stuff.  The excellent UK label Strut Records has been releasing Sun Ra compilations and albums over the last ten years or so, sometimes partnered with Art Yard (who, along with the Kindred Spirits label, issued those Huckaby edit 12s back in 2011). I seems like they had been planning at some point to promote one of those compilations by reviving this idea and releasing some more "Mike Huckaby reel-to-reel edits." As far as I know, the only other track that ever made it's way into the world for us all to hear was  this edit of The Lady With The Golden Stockings  that the label posted to So...

The Raincoats – Running Away / No One's Little Girl Rough Trade – RT093 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single, UK, Jul 1982 info By 1982, punk had helped opened doors for things that would be much more interesting than four white guys making rock and roll fast again. I guess that's part of the story: punk never was all white, definitely not just for boys, and (after that initial burst onto the scene anyway) wasn't always even very rock and roll. Cue the Raincoats. All women (except when they weren't quite), punk-ish... but less so with each recording. Violins, melodies, feminist, art, reggae and more were thrown in the mix leaving a short string of records that I think are among of the best arguments that some wonderful things came out of punk rock for those who might be skeptical. The Raincoats had already pounded out two albums in about 2 years' time when this single came out. The band shows off a new level of confidence and... funkiness? One side features their take on ...

Lauryn Hill – Doo Wop (That Thing) Ruffhouse Records – 78868-S1 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, US, 1998 info The big single from Lauryn Hill’s first solo album, served up here on a 7” that I picked up back in 1998. It's funny how some music brings you back to a moment… I remember being excited for  The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill to come out- and it wound up being an  exciting record. I expected her post-Fugees solo set to be good, but Ms. Hill handed us a damn near perfect, classic album. Listening for the first time in a while recently, it's sounds pretty timeless to me, holding up even after almost 25(?!?) years. A side,  Doo Wop (That Thing),  highlights that even with hit singles like this, Miseducation  was not a crossover pop turn. She could sing, rap, write and had plenty to say that wasn't designed to sell records or score easy radio play. This cut's tales of the darker motives, posturing and desperate moves made in the name of love showed off how effortlessly she...

Grace Jones – Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions Island Records – 314 524-501-2 2 x CD, Compilation, US, Jun 16, 1998 info In my last post I said that Sly & Robbie's work with Grace Jones "sounded like the future." Seemed like that made it a fitting post for a new year... Happy New Year, everyone. Wish everyone peace, health and strength as we head into 2022. _______________________________ In 1979 and 1980, Island Records completed construction on their new Compass Point recording studios in Nassau. Label chief Chris Blackwell was worked to pull together his dream band of in-house musicians to work with the stars he'd soon begin flying to the Bahamas to record. Blackwell had lived in JA in his youth and had some success promoting the reggae artists he'd signed to Island abroad (especially some guy named Marley), so it's not completely surprising that he'd decided that he wanted a Jamaican rhythm section for the new house band. Sly Dunbar and Ro...

The Brothers And Sisters – I Am Somebody Toddlin' Town Records – 128 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, US, 1969 info A quick break from the Lee "Scratch" Perry tributes to celebrate a birthday... (I hope you aren't too bored with the LSP productions yet though, still have a couple more planned!) Last weekend, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. celebrated his 80th birthday. Far more important tributes were made, but I figured it was an excuse to share this with you. Reverend Jackson is an institution in my little corner of the world, and I don't say that critically. Organizations are ultimately just made of people. I've come to respect more every year just how fragile these things we build around us can be. And just how important it is to have institutions that weather the storms, that exist (even imperfectly) for our people to draw on, to find some basic structures and lessons when the time comes. The significance not just of his decades of activism, but of Black instituti...

Afrika Bambaataa & The Godfather Of Soul James Brown ‎– Unity Tommy Boy ‎– TB 847 Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, US, 1984 info 25 minutes of James Brown diving head first into hip hop ala 1984, brought to the party by his greatest NYC disciple, Afrika Bambaataa. They rap against cold war greed and violence and the virtues of funk over live breakbeats supplied by some of my favorite musicians. It's a shame this record isn't more remembered, it's a gem. The '80s weren't packed with new highlights in the James Brown discography, but hanging out with the Universal Zulu Nation brought something out in him and the Godfather of Soul gives a great performance on Unity . Maybe he enjoyed hearing his music being kept fresh. Maybe he was moved by Bambaataa's obvious joy at getting to record with his hero. Or maybe he was just feeling inspired to preach that day on the power of funk, the dangers of nuclear war, the importance of education and the gospel of " peace, uni...

Bobbi Humphrey ‎– Chicago, Damn Blue Note ‎– BN-XW395-W Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, US, 1973 info I think I've mentioned this before, but there aren't really enough quality flute-led funk songs in my life. Here's a favorite by flautist Bobbi Humphrey, served up on a 45 from Blue Note in 1973 in the midst of their soul jazz years. You can usually sign me up for the extended, 8 minute plus disco mix of a song I love, but I do really enjoy the shortened single edits of these two tracks from Humphrey's excellent Blacks And Blues  LP. Each has been chopped to less than half the length of their full album version, but, especially on the A side, it really does highlight the song's funk strengths. Chicago, Damn  is a classic in my book (and not just because it has one of the greatest song titles of all time). The song is written and produced by the great Larry Mizell and I'm pretty sure it features his brother Fonce on the Clavinet. Great synth and percussion, but of course...

 Quantic ‎– You Will Return Tru Thoughts ‎– TRU7289 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Limited Edition, Europe, 19 Apr 2014 Info I was looking for something to listen to that would improve my mood a few days ago and remembered this record. I am going to credit it for the return of the sun and beautiful weather this week. Will Holland, aka Quantic, succeeds once again here in mixing many of his favorite styles -dancefloor beats, Latin instrumentation, lush orchestrations, funk and folk touches- topped off with vocals from his regular collaborator, Alice Russell. His earliest Quantic records were good, but still essentially downtempo, hip-hop influenced productions, drawing from the British trip hop and electronic scenes. His his growth into serious reggae, cumbia, soul jazz and more was pretty remarkable though.  The UK native transformed himself into a more "international" artist than many that I can think of, spending the better part of a decade based in Colombia honing his cumbia chop...

A second appearance on this blog for the students of Chicago's Carver High School. Sharing their debut 12" featuring the Class of 1983  was half the reason I initially set this thing up, so I highly recommend checking it out if you missed it. By 1985, Carver's music teacher, John Harris, had picked up a Linn drum  and was ready to drop another of Chicago's earliest hip-hop records with a new crew of Carver High MCs... Carver High ‎– Boogie With A Book (Let's Read!) Challenger Records ‎– CH7300 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, US, 1985 Info I can't tell you much more about Chicago's far South side rap pioneers than what I shared in that previous post. Two and a half years later and we get to see that these high school students (along with their music teacher and his Motherfox bandmates) were tracking some of the changes in hip-hop styles that were bubbling up. Again: this was 1985 . The Midwest wasn't exactly overflowing with homegrown hip-hop records yet... But...

While we're on the topic... Wood, Brass & Steel ‎– Funkanova / What Cha Say White label ‎– AN-001-A Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Unofficial Release, US, 2005 info This is a 2005 white label featuring Kenny Dope re-edits of two disco funk burners from Wood, Brass & Steel. Kenny Dope Gonzalez is best known for his house productions as half of Masters At Work, but the guy's soul, funk and disco credentials run deep with many years of disco mixes, hip-hop productions, and running his Dopewax and  Kay-Dee Records labels. Kenny slipped these mixes into the world on one bootleg 12" and, as far as I know, they've never been issued anywhere else (other than one track popping up on CD-R promo mix CD he made once promoting a Kenny Dope disco compilation). It's a shame, these are something special. I had forgotten I had this- even better than I remember! Both tracks come from WB&S's 1976 self titled LP. By now Doug Wimbish had officially joined the group on bass. ...

Skull Snaps ‎– Skull Snaps GSF Records ‎– GSF-S-1011 Vinyl, LP, Album, US, Reissue (Original release, 1973) Info I mentioned this 1973 LP by Skull Snaps in my last post and figured I'd follow up on it. Continuing with the saga of "It's A New Day..." The Diplomats, originated as a Washington DC area soul group, a trio (and sometimes quartet?) of singers who released  a string of 45s through the 1960s . By the early '70s, they had moved both to New York and to a new sound. As their music shifted toward funk, so did their name, dropping the R&B diplomacy of their early days and rechristening themselves "Skull Snaps." Skull Snaps only released one LP, a 1973 album recorded with George Kerr for GSF records. The Skull Snaps were now comprised of Diplomats Samm Culley (bass) and Ervan Waters (guitar) along with new recruit George Bragg on drums. They were billed as a band, not just a vocal trio, and album's liner notes credit them playing those instrume...

Wood, Brass & Steel ‎– Hey, What's That You Say / Always There Soul Brother Records ‎– SB7023 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Remastered, UK, 2016 Info Much to be thankful for? Yes. But as a friend recently said to me, "2020 can kick rocks." I haven't posted anything here in months, but decided Thanksgiving would be the day I made some time. I prepared this record late last night, before finding out about a friend passing this morning. Chorus on Side A: "Hey, what's that you say? It's a new day. And a better day is coming." Doing my best to try to take that one to heart. I'm thankful for those who struggle despite everything in our way. My forgiving friends and family. I'm reeling a little today- heartbroken and furious about losing someone that this world needs ... and confident that she'll keep inspiring us to stick with our fights , be deeply committed, and take care of each other like family. _____________________________________________...