Funk my Soul

Raphy strikes again with his 1st contribution for 2010 and remind us the wonderful Earl Grant.

Those of us who can remember seeing his performances before his untimely death in an auto accident in 1970, at the peak of his career, remember him as one of the most outstanding jazz-pop-soul organists, a master of the power, many voices, and subtlety of the Hammond B-3 organ, as well as an accomplished vocalist and dancer.

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original Decca Records LP, supplied by Raphy. Rip is perfect as usual but he couldn’t scan his own vinyl covers and thanks to Mr.Moo we found them through ebay.

Tracks
A1  A Brand New Me 2.10
A2 Elizabethan Reggae 2.35
A3  My Cherie Amour 2.22
A4  Steady 2.15
A5  Oh Happy Day 3.46
B1  Looking Back 2.52
B2  Model “A” Reggae 2.22
B3  Walk a Mile in My Shoes 3.24
B4  Grant’s Pass 2.36
B5  You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ 2.30

Review by Raphy

Friends, Family Members of Funk My Soul>>>>>>>>This Is Earl Grant.

A true treasure, if one can find such virtue in an individual. The Last of his kind that seems to grace us for a short period, yet impact us with endless memories…

(Liner Notes)
The Sparkling eyes, the ready grin, and the talent so big it spilled out of him in his piano, his organ, and his singing. This is what he was into in those last few weeks before the tragic accident that claimed his life. He was moving in a new and exciting directions.

The old Earl Grant magic was there, of course. That was always part of him. But he was digging deeper into the contemporary bag  for songs to happen to. He was doing more and more singing in his pleasant, easy-to-love voice. And he was getting greater and greater with

every new thing he probed. His singing, for example. Half of the songs on this album are vocals by Earl, and his style has never been better displayed. Listen, for example, to the charming salute to Nat’King’Cole that Earl worked into his vocal on “Looking Back”. And follow his sensitive rendition of “My Cherie Amour”, the Gospel feel on “Oh Happy Day” and the strident “A Brand New Me”.

Bill Holman and Don Peake, brilliant West Coast arrangers, wrote the charts for Earl to romp in during these last sessions. It was Earl’s delight to include the two reggaes because he knew they were brand new, were happening in England, and he would be the first with something fresh. The Calypso-like songs indicate that Earl was  onto something bright again.

Earl enjoyed these sessions hugely. In his performances you’ll hear  good-natured salutes to some of the giants of popular music…and  you’ll hear some of Earl’s musical comments, too.

But most of all, you’ll hear Earl Grant…singing, playing organ, playing piano, and bringing it all home with a big, rocking band behind him.

This was EARL GRANT.

The collector’s footnote: Earl Grant is an accomplished trumpeter, drummer and we all know he was one of the world’s greatest organist/pianist.. He was probably the first organist to make environmental sounds (like wind, birds, sea) etc.
He was as gifted as his well known relative the king, Nat Cole.

This album was recorded a few days before his death.
He considered this LP his best work he had ever done. Through this album, and all the other recorded music Earl Grant has left us, his magnificent talent will live on.

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For several decades, his music had been out of print and still now days only a few albums have a digital release. So, I suggest you all should check his Best Of on Amazon or Ebay along with a lot of his LP’s.

Since there’s no available clip from this album, listen up his signature song “The End”, a golden oldie.

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Big Thanks to Raphy for another great contribution. Please show some love and respect to him and of course Earl Grant for the music.

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For those who missed Mr.Moo here’s another one of his great contributions. Mr.Moo would like to inform you that WdF has lately ‘downsized’ to a small strictly private blog with mainly music (WdF like) blog owners and dedicated music reviewers as its members. The number of invitations is therefore very limited. So please do not ask for invites.

Now let’s go straight to Gloria Jones

This is an excellent early-mid ’70s soul album, a real unexpected pleasure.
It’s everything you could want from this genre and period.

Up-tempo, but not too disco/northern
Heartfelt but not too gospel/RnB
Funky but not too heavy/out here

Aided by the great Motown arranger Paul Riser, Jones shows remarkable stylistic range, from the deep soul of “Try Love” and reggae of “Why Can’t You Be Mine” to the proto-Philly sound of the title track and Mediterranean flavour of “Oh Baby”.

Though never viewed as a major figure in soul music, Gloria Jones was a prodigiously talented singer and songwriter whose signature hit, “Tainted Love” ranks as one of the greatest soul tracks of all time. In 1973, Jones released her lone album on Motown, SHARE MY LOVE, an effort filled with progressive arrangements, soaring vocals, and tough-minded rejoinders on love and living. The title track is a slinky, clarinet-led funk jam that recalls some of Stevie Wonder’s most ambitious arrangements.

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original Motown LP including covers

Tracks
A1.  Share My Love 6:45
A2.  Why Can’t You Be Mine 3:25
A3.  Try Love 5:00
A4.  Tin Can People 2:30
B1.  Oh Baby 3:30
B2.  Old Love, New Love 4:15
B3.  So Tired (Of The Way You’re Treating Our Love Baby) 4:20
B4.  Baby Don’tcha Know (I’m Bleeding For You) 3:10
B5.  What Did I Do To Lose You 3:05

Let’s check Dusty Groove review : A heavy heavy set from Gloria Jones -a record that features some killer Paul Riser arrangements that are right up there with the deepest Motown work of the early 70s! Jones’ groove is always a bit different than most of her contemporaries - not the usual Motown bag, and really far-reaching for the label - heavy funk one minute, more sophisticated the next - and almost pointing the way towards her later association with T Rex, and Gloria’s time in the UK. Riser really pushes himself strongly here - backing Gloria with full strings on some tracks, soaring in the trademark upbeat Riser groove - then dropping into heavier rhythms at other points, with complicated elements that make the album a treasure trove of fresh surprises with each new track!

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A small bio from All Music Guide :  When the name of Gloria Jones comes up in rocktalk, it’s usually as a trivia question. Firstly, in the mid-’60s she recorded the original version of “Tainted Love,” which was covered by Soft Cell for a huge international hit in 1982. She was also the girlfriend of British glam rocker Marc Bolan, in addition to singing and playing keyboards in his T. Rex band. Her considerable talent as as a soul singer gets lost in the shuffle, especially because few of her recordings are currently available.

Jones earns a spot in rock history on the merits of “Tainted Love” alone. This propulsive mid-’60s soul stomper, wholly dissimilar to Soft Cell’s wimpy synth-pop cover, is one of the great ’60s hits that never was. “Heartbeat” was another throbbing near-miss, recorded with, oddly enough, producer Ed Cobb, who was more renowned for his work with garage-pop groups like the Standells and the Chocolate Watch Band. Both “Heartbeat” and “Tainted Love” were written by Cobb as well, although Jones was not without songwriting talent, co-writing Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross’ 1974 hit duet, “My Mistake.” Jones never had more than regional success, and (like several other minor American soul singers) moved to Great Britain, where the cultish devotion of Northern Soul fans ensured regular work.

In 1974, Jones joined T. Rex (which by that time was fading rapidly) as a keyboardist and backing vocalist. Becoming romantically involved with the singer, she also helped sway him into a more soul/dance-oriented direction. Bolan in turn helped her out on her solo album Vixen, playing guitar and writing songs. After having a child, their time together came to a tragic end when Bolan was killed in a car accident in 1977, with Jones at the wheel.

Check full biography, discography and more on Wikipedia
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“Share My Love” on CD   -  Reel Music

Thanks to Paul Williams and Reel Music (see here) finally this gem has been released on CD for the first time. This edition features a special bonus with the inclusion of Gloria’s original demo of “If I Were Your Woman”, co-written with Pam Sawyer and a huge hit for Gladys Knight & The Pips. Packaged with 16 page full colour booklet featuring essays by Rolan Bolan and A. Scott Galloway, who interviewed Gloria exclusively for this release. Also features special contributions from Pam Sawyer and Janie Bradford. Certainly a must have!!! Get yourself a copy for $10.99 here.  Furthermore do not miss the forthcoming release on Reel Music : Gloria Scott’s  “What Am I Gonna Do” one of my all time favourite albums.

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Wonderful stuff - and one of our favorite-ever Marvin Gaye albums! This is the legendary two-record set that Marvin wrote and recorded as an alimony payment to his ex-wife Anna Gordy. Although the album was thought of as a no-brainer quickie at the time - and predicted to fail so that Anna wouldn’t get any cash from it -the record is an extremely well-crafted one, filled with extremely personal songs that also have a warm soulful finish, in the style of Marvin’s work on the LP I Want You (which is kind of a nice bookend to this one - as it was an extended love poem to the young girlfriend that caused him to split up with Anna!) Hard and soulful, the record’s a searing testimony to the relationship between Marvin and Anna, and a painful document of the troubles between them - set to some mellow grooves that are easily some of Marvin’s greatest of the 70s! The set’s filled with great “lost” Marvin Gay songs, too - like “Sparrow”, “When Did You Stop Loving Me”, “Anger”, “You Can Leave, But It’s Going To Cost You”, and “Time to Get it Together”. (Dusty Groove)

Tracks
A1   Here, My Dear (2:48)
A2   I Met A Little Girl (4:58)
A3   When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You (6:11)
A4  Anger (3:58)
B1   Is That Enough (7:42)
B2   Everybody Needs Love (5:41)
B3   Time To Get It Together (3:51)
C1  Sparrow (6:06)
C2   Anna’s Song (5:49)
C3   When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You (Instrumental) (5:59)
D1   A Funky Space Reincarnation (8:12)
D2   You Can Leave, But It’s Going To Cost You (5:27)
D3   Falling In Love Again (4:36)
D4   When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You (Reprise) (0:40)

Review by Trakbuv

The man that was Marvin Gaye – like so many gifted icons - shrouded in pain, misunderstanding, and ultimately doubt.  Primarily lauded for his 3 landmark LPs - ‘What’s Going On’, ‘Let’s Get It On, and ‘I Want You’ - he consummated his genius in exemplary fashion with music that is the best that speakers can offer.  Yet beneath all of this artistic exuberance lay a world in tatters.  His marriage to Anna Gordy, Berry Gordy’s sister, had become a public sham, with him moving in with Janis Hunter in 1973, and having two children by her in the following 2 years.  His marriage to Anna in 1964 had apparently been problematic from the outset, with Marvin reflecting that their “union was not marked by undying fidelity”.  The parading of 2 extramarital offspring was too much for Anna to bear, and she filed for divorce in 1975.  However, settlement proved to be an untidy affair and eventually a compromise was reached where the advance on the next album, and an agreed sum of the first earnings from that album, would go to Anna.

To quote Marvin : “I figured I’d do a quickie record - nothing heavy. Why should I break my neck when Anna was going to wind up with the money anyway ? But the more I lived with the notion of doing an album for Anna, the more it fascinated me.  It became a compulsion, I had to free myself of Anna, and I saw this as the way”.  In his words, the album became a personal venting of what their marriage had represented : “I sang and sang until I drained myself of everything I’d lived through”.  It apparently took 3 months to record, but was held back for over a year : “I was afraid to let it go”, remarked Marvin.   In his struggle to convey his feelings on record, Marvin ended up playing all keyboard components to the album : “I didn’t plan it that way.  It just turned out to be a hands-on project.  I’d never written music so personal”.

Pain, love, suffering, joy - the album epitomises the word ‘bittersweet’.  However, the deeply personal tone of the album was met, unremarkably, with a very lukewarm response.  Its overtly extravagant, almost nauseating cover design probably didn’t help.  It only possessed one possible single, the marvellously infectious ‘A funky space reincarnation’ which did cause some excitement on the disco floor.  But how many ‘Best Of’ compilations contain tracks from this LP ?  No, this - more so than any of his others – was an ALBUM experience.  Its gentle, consuming pathos is perfectly sublimated in the opening bars – this is Marvin Gaye at his most melancholic.  ‘I met a little girl’ recalls their meeting - he a tender 20, she 17 years his senior - and their subsequent passage from joy to pain.  Probably the saddest song I’ve ever heard is crafted so preciously in ‘When did you stop loving me’ - there is unearthly genius beseeching us here.  My favourite Marvin Gaye track of all time.  “Anger” subtly captures the cacophony of its title, effortlessly, and that break - ‘I don’t want to be mad, I don’t want to be feeling bad’ - fantastic.  Another one of my all-time MG faves - ‘Is that enough’ - extraordinary production, delivery, aura - this is what they call a burner, a jazz cooker - his frustration winding up slowly over it’s mammoth near 8 minutes while never faltering for a single micro moment.  The positive softness of ‘Everybody needs love’, the funky infidelity of ‘Time to get it together’, and then the fragile sorrow of ‘Sparrow’ - the freeform sax drawing salty tears from the vinyl.  Awesome !  Then one of those heart stopping moments - when he screams ‘Anna’ - it never fails to draw breath – enchanting.  And yet another one of my all-time MG’s - the off the planet funk of ‘You can leave’ - spunky sparring, jabbing and jostling with fire - and spitting sexiness - it’s that word genius again, but off the scale !  And as a deliberate focus of optimism, the penultimate track points to the life’s cyclic trap : ‘Falling in love again’.

I heard this LP deep in my hormonal teens - it seemed to capture something that my body and soul was struggling with - a bitter sweetness that comes with confusion, doubt, and the threat of freedom and independence – something that maybe Marvin shared.  I leave the final words for Anna : “It’s taken me a while, but with passage of time I’ve come to appreciate every form of Marvin’s music, even songs written in anger.  In the end, you know, when he was very sick, he came to see me often.  We stayed close”.
In the end, true love has no rules.

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Marvin Gaye quotations courtesy of his biographer, David Ritz. This is a must have album for any serious Soul-Funk collection. Let’s enjoy “Anger” while waiting for the album to download.

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Thanks Trakbuv for a very sentimental review! This album is so overwhelmed with feelings (Love, pain, anger..). Feel free to share them with us, along with your opinion about the album and post.

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Marvin Gaye link

Stevie Wonder link

Sly and the Family link

War link

4 Classic albums

These artists and albums are beyond reviews and info’s.

Four of the best records ever recorded in R’n'B Music.

A fine @320 CD rip.

Enjoy!

Still on vacations. I’ll be back in a few days with Jackie Moore and a lot of cool stuff.

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This is the Gene Chandler’s 1st album on the Mercury Label (available only in vinyl) and I must say it’s :

“Groovy Situation”.

Listening, over and over again to the album and looking back to the “Duke of Earl” and hearing a completely different sound, all from one man, is truly an experience. That’s what this album will be to you, an experience you won’t soon forget. Here Gene has something for everyone, the pop music lovers will certainly enjoy “Groovy Situation” , “Simply Call It Love” and “It’s Your Love I’m After”. The Soul of Gene comes out as he does “Unforgettable” and “Hallelujah, I Love Her So”.

Gene Chandler is best known for his 1962 Doo Wop hit Duke Of Earl. He continued to record after that and had a long relationship with Curtis Mayfield, who wrote most of his material in the mid-1960s. Situation is one of Chandler’s later releases and featured his pop hit Groovy Situation that sold about 1 million copies. That song is by far the best off the album, which is full of the slick Soul and heavy ballads that was popular in Chandler’s Chicago at the time.

This a @320 vinyl rip of the original Mercury record including covers.

Tracks
A1 Groovy Situation (3:12)
A2 Simply Call It Love (2:35)
A3 Hallelujah, I Love Her So (2:20)
A4 Not The Marrying Kind (3:08)
A5 Give Me A Chance (3:38)
B1 Am I Blue (4:10)
B2 Bright Lights And You, Girl (2:15)
B3 Hey, Little Angel (3:00)
B4 Unforgettable (3:10)
B5 It’s Your Lov e I’m After (2:25)

Arranged By : Tom Washington - Produced by : Gene Chandler

The reviews

1

Killer stuff from Gene! After recording a few sadly overlooked albums for Brunwsick, Gene hit big big big with this killer record on Mercury! The record virtually defines the Chicago soul sound of the late 60s, with arrangements by Tom Tom, production by Gene, and a great loping soul groove but the best part of all is Gene, who’s an amazing singer with a maturity that stretches years beyond his earlier hits, and which put him in a camp with the best of his generation. The songwriting is excellent throughout, with a great mix of uptempo numbers and heartbreakingly personal ones. Titles include “Groovy Situation”, “Simply Call It Love”, “Not The Marrying Kind”, “Give Me a Chance”, and “Hey, Little Angel”.

2

….Finally, tired of the road and no viable new hits, Gene turned his attention to the business end of the industry. After all his successes, Gene decided to put his energy into producing, arranging and hyping other acts. Gene formed two music-publishing companies, a production company and was President of Bamboo Records. Gene’s biggest hit at Bamboo was “Backfield in Motion” by Mel and Tim in 1969. Gene selected this song, cut it and sold a million copies. In 1970 Gene signed with Mercury Records and recorded “Groovy Situation”. The Strength of both of these tunes got him nominated for “Producer of The Year” Award for the National Association of Television and Radio announcers (NATRA). Gene won the NATRA award in Houston, Texas in August of 1970. He beat Norman Whitfield, producer of the Temptations and Gamble and Huff of the Philadelphia sound for the award, an astounding accomplishment considering the popularity of the Detroit and Philly revolution in that time period.

” Groovy Situation ” was a top hit that summer, selling another million. Gene’s disco hits were extremely popular in the UK in the 70s and 80s and Gene collaborated with Reggae star ” Johnny Nash ” in London. “Get Down”, another million-seller absolutely rocked the disco revolution. Gene was with Chi-Sound Records, as Executive vice-president under the direction of Carl Davis at the same time “Get Down” was recorded.

Listen up

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