The Pac-Keys - Stone Fox

The Pac-Keys - Stone Fox from the Hollywood Records 45

Here’s a little Friday goodness for you, which will hopefully hold you over until Monday’s post. Things have been pretty busy over here at Flea Market Funk at the moment, but I couldn’t let you guys start the weekend without a little bit of Rare Grooves. I got this record from the Asbury Lanes swap, and I pushed it right to the top of the queue. It is a double sider, and this post I’m going to focus on “Stone Fox’ by the Pac-keys on Hollywood Records.

Once again this is a side that one can not turn too much up on. It may be from Texas, but I can’t be 100% sure. The Hollywood Record label itself was responsible for records from around 1953 to 1968. They would put out sides from many artists such as Errol Garner, Damita Jo, Baby Face Willete, Lowell Fulsom, and more. From what I can tell the label put out Jazz, Soul, and Gospel records. While there were a few artists and or bands releasing multiple sides, it seems that there were a lot of one offs, and it looks that the rest of this discography definitely has some interesting sides, which I am going to keep my eyes out for.

The side itself starts out with a really nice drum break, then rolls along nicely with piano, organ and a saxophone for the remainder. It’s not something you’re going to throw on and get them killing the dance floor like an upbeat Soul shaker, but on the real, it’s a great record. I’ve not seen this one in the field and although it has turned up on a few play lists, and one review (from the guy I bought it from), I’d highly recommend this record, not only because “Stone Fox” is killer, but the flip side of “Dig in” is equally as good. Two for one on this 45, and you won’t be disappointed. If anyone out there has more info on the label or the record itself, please feel free to contact me. Have a great weekend and Keep Diggin’!

Buddy Miles R.I.P.

R.I.P. to one Buddy Miles. We lost a great man and a hell of a drummer. Larry over at Funky 16 Corners has a small recap of his life and a few songs up. We’re losing great musicians left and right, and Buddy’s will music will live on forever. Rest in Peace.

The Unemployed - Funky Rooster

The great producer Wardell Quezerque

The Unemployed - The Funky Rooster from the Cotillion 45

If you haven’t already read about Sunday’s record show, it was a blast. I was able to really get a great pile of records, and it’s funny because this particular record is a record I’ve been trying to locate for a while. I probably could have just sought it out on E Bay, or rang up Craig Moerer and got it, but I guess it’s just the thrill of the chase for me. This record really isn’t rare, it’s on a subsidiary label of Atlantic, but that’s neither here nor there. It’s still a good record. While we’re gonna be a bit brief today, let’s check out The Unemployed with “Funky Rooster” on the Cotillion label.

I couldn’t really turn a whole heck of a lot up on these guys. I know for sure that they were produced by Wardell Quezerque, and that this was possibly his son’s band. A producer and a co-owner of Nola Records, Quezerque would score hits such as Robert Parker’s “Barefootin’ “, King Floyd’s “Groove Me”, Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff”, Professor Longhair’s “Big Chief”, and many others. Known as the Creole Beethoven, he would orchestrate hits and become the maestro for many a recording session. He was associated with the Malaco label out of Jackson Mississippi, and was a well known fixture in the New Orleans music scene. So much so that his success with the King Floyd and Jean Knight singles (originally rejected by Atlantic for being not being commercial enough) would lead him to record with Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, the Pointer Sisters, and many other bigger stars. Let’s not forget he was sessioning and recording giants of New Orleans like Eddie Bo and Richard Tee as well before he took off.

This record is some Barnyard Funk if I ever heard it. Put your Fabulous Emotions records away on Nico because the Funky Chicken is no match for the Rooster. Some decent hitting drums and Southern style horns plus the requisite rooster calls keep your head nodding in this once forgotten side. The Unemployed had another record, “Funky Thing”, while it did not make much of a splash on the charts, found it’s way many years later to Funk comps and New Orleans area comps alike. Like I said earlier, this record really isn’t a rare one, and not necessarily the greatest Funk side, but it’s definitely unique enough to have caught my attention. With the production of Wardell Quezerque you just can’t go wrong. I’ll be back on Friday with another dusty gem from the crates. Keep Diggin’!

The Soul Catch - FMF Vol. 25

Here’s the Flea Market Funk Catch of the Day: The Soul Catch - FMF Vol. 25. It’s hard to believe that I’m at 25 already. It works out to be about a mix every two weeks. My one year anniversary is coming up, and I figured I’d get in a mix before I work on something special for the big day, March 30th. I’ll release the details when I get them, but I think you all will be very pleased.

What we have here today is a few recent scores and a pile of stuff I’ve been stock piling for a little while. I’ve been hibernating in the lab, in the words of Method Man, “Cooking up some marvelous shit.” I have also been toying with the idea of taking the 45 Sessions on the road for sometime and every time I make a new mix, I think that more and more I’ve got to make it happen. So if any of you out there need a 45 night in your town, feel free to contact me. I know most of you are going back to work or just starting your week, so relax and enjoy The Soul Catch - FMF Vol. 25. There is something for everyone in this podcast.

The Soul Catch - FMF Vol. 25 Track Listing

Pretty Purdy - Funky Donkey / Epic (England Pressing)
Lil’ Lavair & the Fabulous Jades - Cold Heat/ Now-Again
Johnny Talbot - Git Sum/ Jasman
The Mystic Moods - Cosmic Sea/ WB
Midnight Movers Unlimited - Truck In/ Renee
Nu-Sound Express Ltd. - Ain’t It Good Enough/ Silver Dollar
Gene Chandler - I Won’t Need You/ Checker
Kokolo - Each One Teach One/ Afro Kats
Mongo Santamaria - Mongo’s Boogaloo/ Columbia
Soul Runners - What Can I Say/ Patches
Undisputed Truth - California Soul/ Gordy
Jackie Moore - It’s Hardest To Leave/ Kavette
The Sophistications - Feets and Hips/ Magnetic Fields

Download or listen to The Soul Catch - FMF Vol. 25

I’ll be back later this week with some more gems. Keep Diggin’!

**PS: Check out my review on the Blog of Steven Terrell, a political reporter for the Sante Fe New Mexican. Thanks for the shout out. Any press is good press.

Asbury Park Record Show 02.24.08

Well, the second record show of the year was the most successful. There were about 10-12 vendors this time, lots of vinyl, a great brunch, plus Pete Pederson’s famous Bloody Mary’s. I was able to score a load of 45s, plus my man Greg (of Highland Park Record Sale Fame) hooked me up with a nice Horace Andy Lp. It was good to see everyone out, and there was a great representation by the Asbury Park 45 Sessions Crew, as well as some heads from Brooklyn and beyond. People actually came out of the wood work for this one. Fun was had by all, and of course we will be doing it all again next month. It looks like it’s going to be a monthly event, all the way through the Summer. In fact, we’re trying to orchestrate a weekend indoor/ outdoor Record Show and Garage Sale (or flea market) for sometime in June. Please stay tuned to FMF for details. A big shout out to Brian from 365 45’s for coming through with a really great load of records. Looking forward to the next batch!

Cool Hands Luke digging and looking cool.

Record Crowd

The Crew sampling Brian from 365 45s Blog’s great box of 7″ gems

Rabid Rob the Hip Hop Slob aka Rob Hell (r) and Brian from 365 45s looks on

Record Crowd Part 2

DJ Prime found his very own Prime Cuts record.

DJ Skills, the best producer you never heard of (yet), looks for some treats.

Here’s some photos and of course record scores:

45s

Ray Barretto - Hard Hands/ Fania
Lou Donaldson - Sassy Soul Strut/ Blue Note
Brass Monkey - Brass Monkey/ (White Label)
The Invitations - They Say the Girl’s Crazy/ Silver Blue
The New Apocalypse - Stainless Soul/ MTA
Cleveland Eaton - Chitown Theme/ Black Jazz
The Nite Liters - Cherish Every Moment/ RCA
Lee Williams & the Cymbals - Shing A Ling USA/ Carnival
The Pac-Keys - Stone Fox/ Hollywood
Sanchez & Macka B - God A Come/ Xterminator
Fabulous Five Inc. - What the Police High Command Can Do/ Stage
The Unemployed - Funky Rooster/ Cotillion
The Gaytones - Build Me Up/ High Note
Eddie Lovette - Together/ Steady
Sammy Gordon & the Hip Huggers - Jungle Bump/ Lu Lu
Lunar Funk - Slip the Drummer One/ Bell
The Flirtations - How Can You Tell Me?/ Deram

Keep Diggin’!

R.I.P. Joe Gibbs plus AP Record Show Tomorrow

Joe Gibbs Record Shop

RIP to a great record producer and reggae ambassador, Joe Gibbs.

Come on down to the Asbury Lanes tomorrow!

Gloria Lynne - If You Don’t Get It Yourself

Gloria Lynne - If You Don’t Get It Yourself from the Up Front Records Lp Gloria Lynne

This particular record was something I was able to get in a pile from the feeding frenzy at the spot one early Saturday morning. The Meatball was digging through piles of 70’s lite Rock shit while the guy selling was pulling records out of his AMC Gremlin. I reached out to get a James Brown 12″ and he started to puff his feathers out a bit. “That’s mine”, he quipped. Fair play old Super Mario, I’ll take the Jazz records and of course this cut from Gloria Lynne. Here’s “If You Don’t Get It Yourself” from the Up Front Records Lp.

Gloria Alleyne was born in New York City in 1931. She grew up in Harlem, and after 5 years of vocal training, would go on the win an amateur night at the World Famous Apollo Theater. She was discovered by band leader, composer and A & R man for Everest Records, Raymond Scott. Not only a soloist, she released records with The Enchanters (Della Simpson, Pearl Brice, Frances Kelly) and the Dell Tones (Della Simpson, Sherry Gary, Frances Kelly as well). She would go on and release records on Everest, Fontana, Ember , Mercury and Impulse, in a variety of genres which range from straight up Jazz to Soul to R & B. Her signature song was 1964’s “I Wish You Love” on the Everest label. Throughout her career she’s perform with people like Ray Charles Billy Eckstein and more. In her later career, a career rich with the Jazz genre, she’d work with cats like Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock. She would co-write Hancock’s classic “Watermelon Man”. Lynne is a great example of of a singer who was not just great in one genre, but could adapt and be successful in several. Singers like Marlena Shaw and Della Reese, who could crank out some Soul among their Pop and Jazz pieces. Lynne has won many awards and was has been recognized not only by her peers, but the public as a legend.

“If You Don’t Get It Yourself” is a some great Funky Soul. It’s got a slight tinge of Blues guitar, but the beat is really solid. Lynne trades vocals with the guitar and has some great Sister help on the chorus. This was put out on the Up Front Record label out of Linden, NJ. Another New Jersey scorcher! I don’t know too much about the label, although I believe it to be some sort of a reissue label from the 70s. I do have a Bobby Hutcherson on the same label. It says Up Front is a division of Springboard Records, but to this date I can not turn anything up on that label as well. If anyone has any information to share with me, please feel free to hit me up. Have a great weekend. Keep Diggin’!

The Electric Express - I Can’t Believe We Did (the Whole Thing)

The Electric Express - I Can’t Believe We Did (the Whole Thing) from the AVCO Records 45

What we have here is a midweek heavy piece of Deep South Funk. I got this record from Pops, and without even listening to it on my portable, I knew it was going to be good. How good? Well, I found out shortly. This side was one of the best records I have picked up in the field lately. Here is The Electric Express with “I Can’t Believe We Did (the Whole Thing)” from 1972 on AVCO Records.

Avco is no stranger to good music. Originally started by film producer Joseph E. Levine, who was the head of Avco Embassy Pictures, he also had Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore on board with him as well. These producers/songwriters/performers would help Avco Embassy (later just Avco) make a name for themselves with their eclectic roster of bands and performers. Their roster has everything from Funk, Soul, Psych, Pop, Folk, even Country and Western. While not really a label that had charting records, they did manage to get one to reach the R & B charts, Della Reese’s Black is Beautiful. Despite their non charting efforts, in a digger’s world, Avco had some gems. Artists like Donnie Elbert, the aforementioned Della Reese, The Chambers Brothers, and even Van Macoy can be found if you dig around. I really like the Donnie Elbert stuff, who out of the lot I just mentioned, has the better sides. Avco was purchased by Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore in 1975, where they changed the name to H & L. Lasting only a few more years, they eventually went bankrupt.

There is not much to dig up about this band, other than they are out of the Greensboro, NC area and originally released records on Linco. Their biggest single was in 1971’s “It’s the Real Thing”, (#15 on the Soul Charts). They also put out sides “Where You Coming From” and “Life Ain’t Easy”, as well as this burner we have right here. The song itself was written by James Powell and Vick Hudson (who also is attributed to the group Inner City Function, who released “Don’t You Need Someone Like Me (I Can Set Your Love Free)” also on Linco.) It was produced by Walter Grady, who has been involved in 1974’s “People Get Down” by the Second Movement, E. W. Funktionaire’s “Noah” on Graytom , and “Stick Your Finger in the Ground (and Watch the World Go Round)” by Bridge, Also on Graytom. It does appear that there definitely was some shady dealings with the man, which may or may not have attributed to the disappearance of The Electric Express. Now was there a full length release from these cats in the works from Atlantic ( the Linco sides were distributed by them)? This we will never know for sure.

This record is a a funk bomb. In between “Give the Drummer Some More” by Little Hooks w/Ray Nato & the Kings, and any James Brown call and response, 34 years later this side still stands strong. As they go around from guitar to bass to drums, plus throw in a dash of horns, the band could really do the whole thing. It doesn’t hurt that here’s a great drum break in this side, either. They keep the groove movin’ and before you know it, the better part of 3 minutes is gone, similar to the way the band disappeared. This side is a definite keeper, and I will be keeping my eyes out for those Linco sides as well. See you Friday with some Soul.

PS: I want to shout out Jason Perlmutter of Carolina Funk and Carolina Soul fame who spoke to me in brief on the band. He’s got a 3 hour special called The Carolina Soul Radio Show this Thursday the 21st on WXYC.org out of Chapel Hill, NC from 9PM to midnight. The following night he’ll be performing with J-Rocc of the Beat Junkies. If you’re in the area, please check him out. Keep Diggin’!

The Scene - FMF Vol. 24

Aah yes, another Monday, another mix. Actually, there are a few mixes. You’ve got this newest mix FMF Vol. 24 - The Scene, but I’ve also updated the Download page with all the up to date mixes (up to number 23), and given some artwork for the two live recorded shows from a few 2007 45 Sessions. In this particular new mix, I’m visiting some more Deep Funk nuggets, a bit of the old Soul, a few new records, and a little Latin to quench your Monday morning mix thirst. I gigged on Friday night, so unfortunately I had no digging stories from Saturday morning. I’m hoping to get my hands on some stuff in the mail this week that I’ll be featuring in the upcoming posts. I’d like to send a shout out to the guys from The Hook and Sling once again for our joint collaboration last week. Good look fellas. Also, a shout to Soul Brother Matt Fox, who I will be collaborating with very soon on a special mix for Rare Rillen . Germany stand up! As for now, sit back, relax, and check out what’s happening in “The Scene”.

The Scene - FMF Vol. 24 Tracklist

Garland Jefferies - I Can’t Believe You Quit Me/ Uni
Dizzie Gillespie - The Windmills of Your Mind/ Solid State
Hank “Soul Man” Mullen - He Upset Your Dreams/ Ever Soul
Truth - Excedrin Headache#24/ Sound of Cleveland
Paul Humphrey & His Cool Aid Chemists - Detroit/ Lizard
The Electric Express - I Can’t Believe (We Did the Whole Thing)/ AVCO
S.O.U.L. - The Joneses Part 1/ Musicor
Burning Spear - S.O.U.L (version)/ Top Pop
The Lions - Jungle Struttin’/ Ubiquity
Brother Jack McDuff - Hot Barbecue/ Prestige
Hector Rivera - At the Party/ Barry!
Sherri Pye - Gimme A Break/ Match
The Futures - Stay With Me/ Gamble

Dowload or Listen To The Scene - Flea Market Funk Vol. 24

I will be back on Wednesday with some more goodness. Keep on keepin’ on and most importantly, Keep Diggin’!

PS: There was an article in yesterdays New York Times that is related to the review I did of Sugar Minott on last Friday. It involves Reggae and nursery rhymes. Enjoy!

Don’t forget this:

Sugar Minott - Vanity Pt. 1

Sugar Minott - Vanity Part 1 from the Studio 1 45

I hope you all enjoyed the Blast from the past and Stinkie Steve’s athletic abilities from 1973. The guy is a trip. I’m gonna see if I can get him to host a guest mix. We’ll see how that goes. I wanted to give my man Larry from Funky 16 Corners a shout. He was just featured as on of WFMU’s top 6 MP3 blogs, and gave me a mention. Many thanks my dude, always nice to see a member of the AP 45 Sessions Crew get some press. Here is a bit of that heavy dose of reggae he was mentioning. This is another haul from Psyche Dave, from 1974, straight from Jamaica, Sugar Minott with “Vanity Part 1″ on the Studio 1 label.

Born Lincoln Barrington Minott in Kingston, Jamaica in 1956. Starting off at an early age, he became a selector in the Sound of Silence Keytone which later gave way to his own Gathering of Youth Sound System. He’s team up with one of my favorites Tony Tuff and Derrick Howard in 1969 to form The African Brothers. This Roots trio would eventually be associated with the Micron Music (run by Mick Johnson and Ronny Burke of Sunsplash fame). The band released a hand full of singles, and even started their own Ital record label. It was short lived and the three band members would go on to persue solo careers eventually. In 1974 Minott would link up with the famous Jamaican producer Coxsone Dodd and the Studio One label. It was here he would release this record, the first Studio One offering with Coxsone. Vanity was followed by “Mr DC”, “House is not a Home” and “Hang on Natty”. He would also gone on to be a session player at S1, loaning his talents as a drummer and guitarist. His first solo album “Live Loving” followed after, but in a few short years he would leave, only to form his own Black Roots label in 1979. This was the beginning of Dancehall and The Sound Youthman Promotion, Minott’s new crew, was ushering this new genre in. Black Roots would go on to be associated with Junior Reid, Yami Bolo, Don Angelo, Tenor Saw (RIP), Nitty Gritty, Garnet Silk, Tony Rebel, Daddy Freddy, Johnny Osbourne, and many more. Minott would not only dabble in Dancehall and Roots, he’d be associated with Lovers Rock, and work with many well known producers and performers throughout his career. He’d be involved in projects with Prince Jammy, Tappa Zukie, Gregory Isaacs, Scientist, Leroy Smart and Joe Gibbs. The list goes on and on, but you get the picture. This veteran was an integral part of Jamaican music in many levels, as a producer, artist, talent scout, and ambassador. He continues to keep the legacy going strong today.

This record is straight up Roots from start to finish. With Coxsone at the helm, like the captain of a ship, he was steering Sugar in the right direction. It’s interesting because the sound quality of this record, while the vinyl is in decent shape, the sound quality is not. It fades in and out, pops and tweaks, but still has that Studio 1 vibe to it. Sugar talks in nursery rhymes, and Coxsone still makes a child’s nursery rhyme sound like gold. I do not have enough good things to say about Studio 1. These 45s are few and far between in the field, so when you see them, scoop them up. I’ll be back over the weekend with some more tales from the dusty crates. Keep Diggin’!