Dennis Coffey - Theme from Enter the Dragon

Dennis Coffey - Theme from Enter the Dragon on Sussex 45

Always a favorite record label of mine, (if not just because of the logo) the Sussex label has offered up some good finds to me throughout the years. The first Sussex 45 record I ever got, “Scorpio”, started a string of releases that quenched my Sussex thirst. I loved finding scores from Eddie Senay, The Soul Searchers, Bill Withers, and of course, my pick for today: “Theme from Enter the Dragon” by Dennis Coffey. This is not to say that I haven’t picked up some turds (we’re talking pre portable record player here folks) on the Sussex label, anyone remember Gallery? Even though he played on some Gallery stuff, it’s a soft rock turd no less. Alas, that will be for another post entitled: Flea Market Turds. Sussex has even gotten me a brush with half of the Beatminerz production team (Black Moon, Smif and Wessun) while DJing in the Lower East Side of Manhattan of New York City. I did a now defunct Thursday night called “Sexy Picnic” at a place called the Angel Bar with my DJ partner DJ Un-G. After DJing a set, I walked down to the bar to find a familiar face wearing a Sussex shirt. It was Mr. Walt of the Beatminerz. I asked him where he got the shirt. He replied: “An old white dude who plays guitar”, thinking I was some square who knew nothing of the label. I said: “Walt (and I didn’t know him personally), there is no way in hell Dennis Coffey gave you this shirt. He laughed, I laughed, and I still have never found a Sussex shirt to this day.

After I started digging for a while, I realized I had a love for soundtracks. I still do. I’ll buy any dumb soundtrack that comes across my way, from “Explorers”, to “the Last Dragon”, and and some soundtracks that are actually good, like “Serpico” or “Death Wish”. As soundtracks go, I believe that this is up there as one of my favorites. It is only fitting that Coffey takes a tune of the first ever American made Kung Fu movie, coincidentally Bruce Lee’s first American film, and funks it the hell up. We’re all aware of his Motown session work, but let’s be real here, he’s more well know for the guitar sound on “Scorpio”, “Taurus”, and others than the aforementioned sessions for Gordy. His signature fuzzed out wah-wah guitar starts out in overdrive. Bang a gong (not like T. Rex) and we’re off to the races. I can just see him letting his freak flag fly, his signature Gibson Firebird (which apparently he still has), and a whole suitcase full of pedals filling up the recording space. This Detroit half psych, half funk sounding wildman making this version so much funkier than the original. He even managed to do it sans the Kung Fu yelling. By the time the horns kick in, there is no time to look back. While Lalo Schifrin took his first use of Asian instruments to another level on the original song, the minimalistic use of the gong, wind chimes on this cover, in my opinion add just the right amount of flavor to make “Enter the Dragon” a tasty funk treat. I’m not saying it’s better than the original, just a great alternative to the otherwise superb soundtrack to a great movie. I guess Coffey didn’t find Lalo’s version up to how funky he really thought it really should be, and just turned it up a notch, doing it his way.

While doing some research for this piece, I stumbled on a few sessions Dennis Coffey did for Lalo Schifrin after he covered “Theme from Enter the Dragon”. Some of these studio sessions featured him on guitar of course, along side James Jamerson on bass, and one of the greatest session drummers ever, Paul Humphrey. They did some Planet of the Apes material (”Ape Shuffle and “Escape From Tomorrow”) and I honestly wish I could have been a fly on the wall during those recording/ studio sessions.

One last shout out: to Larry from Funky 16 Corners, Vincent from FuFu Stew, and Mike from This Is Tomorrow, who have been so kind to add me to the blog roll, and invite me to spin in cities that are not my own. You can see Larry and the rest of our 45 Sessions crew this Friday March 30th at the World Famous Asbury Lanes.

Brother Jack McDuff - Oblighetto

My first foray into jazz was Miles Davis and John Coltrane. I was a relatively naive music collector who thought that opening the door to a new genre would be easy. Actually, it was not. When I realized what jazz was all about, the many forms and shapes it could take, and just how much was out there, I almost gave up. Then, there was Blue Note Records. The Blue Note sound got me. The Lp cover art got me too. I got into Grant Green, and scrambled to get everything that was available from him. In some of his records, there was this organ sound, and it was a sound I grew to love. I can recall being at the Groove Merchant in San Francisco in the 90’s, staring in awe at a copies of “The Final Comedown”, and “Green Street”. This love of Green’s jazz/funk/soul sound led me to guys like Lou Donaldson, who in turn led me to Jimmy Smith, Reuben Wilson, Jimmy McGriff, Groove Holmes, and ultimately to Brother Jack McDuff. I got into the Hammond B-3 sound with a lot of voracity, and again visited my favorite record shop (which at that time was an hour away) once a week to buy what ever I could by these Blue Note artists. Brother Jack had “Moon Rappin’ “, and I was in heaven.

From the very first time I put on “Moon Rappin’ “, “Oblighetto” always stood out. The eerie, spacey organ sound of Brother Jack (later changing his title to Captain, and punctuating it with a Captain’s hat) kept my attention. As the equally creepy and outer space vocals of Jean DuShon kick in (side note: DuShon was a veteran jazz singer who worked with many jazz greats and recorded albums for Atlantic and Chess Records among others), I almost felt like I was watching a space horror movie as a kid, glued to our television tuned to Philadelphia’s Channel 48 Creature Double Feature. However, I was glued to something altogether different, some aural stimulation created by McDuff’s Hammond, which shortly kicks just as hard as a David Beckham penalty kick. McDuff’s organ, Jerry Byrd’s guitar, Richard Davis’s bass, and Joe Dukes’ drums lock into a tight groove, and they seem like they’re really recording it from the moon. The term “in the pocket” seems like a severe understatement. If you can’t nod your head to this gem of funky jazz, then it might be time for you to get your ears checked out.

When I got into the record game heavy and started to collect all the roots of hip hop, the first stuff I started buying up were Blue Note 45s, the foundation of all the music I was into. This was the music I was spinning out at clubs. So when I got “Oblighetto”, it wasn’t long before I found out that a portion of it was used in a song by A Tribe Called Quest, a certain song that I had been into since “The Low End Theory” dropped, a song that always got a great response at my DJ nights: “Scenario”.

“Oblighetto” has also seen some more light of day, when Blue Note released a remix record in 2004. This great track was flipped and remixed by none other than the late, great, producer James Yancey, aka Jay Dee, aka J Dilla. By 2004 we knew Dilla was a genius producer, and this reworking of this record was another set of his production muscles he flexed, remixing this McDuff tune. While the whole “Moon Rappin’” record was not as much heavy funk as it was jazz soul, “Oblighetto”, in my opinion has as a funky element that can not be denied. Brother Jack (or Captain Jack, whichever you prefer), died in 2001 at the age of 74. He had a long musical career, recording for Prestige, Blue Note, Concord, Atlantic, Cadet, and Sugarhill among others. He was one of the greats of the jazz organ, and is definitely missed.

Keep Diggin’!

Funky music is my style….

It’s been way too long, and I’ve finally got off my lazy ass and started a record blog. The purpose is to open some people’s eyes to some records they otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to. I’m DJ Prestige. I’ve been collecting music all my life, but started DJing seriously in 1997. I’ve got some great stuff in my record collection, LPs and 45s to share with whoever wants to listen. The majority of the records I get are from digging at Flea Markets (hence the name), yard sales and thrift stores. There are some great spots here in Jersey, and I’ll be posting record reviews, finds, and general banter.

I’m going to do my best to post at least a record a week, complete with record scans and an mp3 for the your listening pleasure. My first record will be coming up shortly, and it’s going to be Brother Jack McDuff’s “Oblighetto”, on Blue Note Records.

All Live 45 Mix Flea Market Funk February 2007, All 45s all live

Meanwhile, next Friday night March 30, 2007, myself and a whole gang of DJs are going to do our second installment of the 45 Sessions in Asbury Park, NJ. A night of all funk, soul, latin jazz and reggae 45s, no 12″ allowed. Here is the flyer for this month’s party:

Here are some photos from last month’s party:
yours truly, DJ Prestige

M.Fasis

DJ Prime

Jay Boxcar

Mr. Funky 16 Corners Larry Grogan

Jack the Ripper

Connie T. Empress of ESSC

DJ Bluewater

The 45 Crowd!