Our final London based night of the year at The Brown Sugar Bar passed by on Saturday and saw plenty of peeps turn out late on to make the night another good one. A big thank you to everyone who came down with their dancing shoes and made the night another enjoyable one for us! Dates for 2009 to come soon so watch this space.
In the mean time we’re back with another heavy dose of funk and soul 45s to help push you on through the week. I’ve put together a new mini mix for today which is mainly made up of recent finds, mainly all on the funk side of things but there’s a couple of R&B and Northern 45s in there for good measure as well.
The Beginning Of The End get things rolling with ‘Come Down Baby’, a track which has recently been given the remix treatment by Kay-Dee’s Kenny Dope. This is a pretty tough 45 to turn out and I’ve certainly never seen another promo copy before. The group consisted of three brothers, Frank 'Bud' Munnings, Raphael 'Ray' Munnings, Liroy 'Roy' Munnings, and Fred Henfield, and are probably more well known for their hit ‘Funky Nassau’, also taken from their only album.
'Love Man' by Bobby Powell is a straight up funk feast with a seriously infectious bass hook. This was a 45 that had featured on my wants list for sometime. A recent jaunt around E-Bay saw this copy secured for a bargain price.
The Whitefield Brothers step up next with ‘The Bastard’, released in 2001 on the now defunct Soul Fire Records. This is a track that lives up to its name for sure!
Roy Ward’s ‘Horse With A Freeze’ was penned and produced by the legendary Eddie Bo in 1968. No one is completely sure who Roy Ward actually was, and he may even have been Bo performing under an alias. Either way this is a seriously heavy piece of Nola funk.
Tommy And Cleve’s 1966 Checker outing, ‘Boo-Ga-Loo Baby’ was a 45 that I scored on a recent fly by digging trip round Notting Hill. On hearing the piano and heavy fat back drums I knew this one belonged in the play box!
Lonnie Youngblood follows on with ‘Soul Food’, another long time want that I scored thanks to one of the many dealers I’ve befriended round London and who insist on keeping piles of funk and soul 45’s behind their counters for my frequent visits – never a bad thing!!
This Rufus Thomas 45, ‘Jump Back’ caught my eye during my recent trip up to Notting Hill. As I’d never seen a black Canadian pressing on Stax before this was another record that I grabbed. Thankfully what’s in the grooves is as good as the label and this certainly went down well with our dancers on Saturday night.
Into the soulful finish and Jackie Day gives us ‘What’s The Cost?’ released on Art Rupe's Specialty label. This is a real belter and the chicken scratch guitar coupled with her powerful vocal delivery is a winner every time!
I was stuck on which side of this Darrel Banks 45 to pick for the play out on today’s mix, but in the end I chose ‘Open The Door To Your Heart’, a million seller from 1966. He went on to release several singles before his life was unfortunately cut short after he was shot through the neck by an off duty police officer during an alleged scuffle with his girlfriend.
That’s it for today’s selection, don’t forget our upcoming New Years Eve Soul And Funk Night at La Havana in Chichester, West Sussex, which while still just under two months away is already seeing tickets beginning to move for it. Details in the events tab at the top of the page, don’t sleep on it!!
Stay safe and we’ll be back shortly with more of the good stuff for you!
Track list
The Beginning Of The End – Come Down Baby Pt1 – Alston
Bobby Powell – Love Man – Whit
The Whitefield Brothers – The Bastard – Soul Fire Records
Roy Ward – Horse With A Freeze Pt2 – Seven B
Tommy And Cleve – Boo-Ga-Loo Baby – Checker
Lonnie Youngblood – Soul Food (That’s A What I Like) – Fairmount
Rufus Thomas – Jump Back – Stax
Jackie Day – What’s The Cost? – Specialty
Darrel Banks – Open The Door To Your Heart – Revilot Records
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