Soul Spectrum

September 14th Soul Spectrum Radio Show - Special ALL BRAZIL edition

2011-09-16T10:20:00.001-07:00

Or you can download the show here.

September 7th Soul Spectrum Radio Show

2011-09-09T08:41:00.000-07:00

Or you can download the show here.

August 31st Soul Spectrum Radio Show

2011-08-31T22:07:00.000-07:00

Or you can download the show here.

August 29th Soul Spectrum Special Morning Edition

2011-08-31T22:05:00.000-07:00

Or you can download the show here.

August 24th Soul Spectrum Radio Show

2011-08-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

Or, download the whole show here.

August 18th Soul Spectrum Mini-Marathon with Special Guest: Ricky Pang

2011-08-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

Part One:

Part Two:

August 17th Soul Spectrum Radio Show with special guest: DJ Sureshot

2011-08-19T10:08:00.001-07:00

Shane Hunt aka DJ Sureshot graced The Soul Spectrum with his presence on today's show, playing some cuts from his new Good Look EP. Sureshot talks a bit about what it takes putting out your own record DIY-style, but that's not to say this release looks or sounds like your stereotypical DIY project. Freddy Anzures of Props pitches in on the visual design and DJ Sureshot's production rivals anything else out there today on the hip-hop beat-making side as well as the nu-funk production that seems to be thriving these days.

One thing that he said that I thought was interesting was Sureshot's approach to beat-making, blurring the lines between Hip-Hop, Psych and Funk, "To me it doesn't matter what genre it is, I'm still gonna approach every song in the same way."

Buy the EP on iTunes
Buy the EP on Amazon

You can get "Mr. Fortune & Fame" his first single from the EP featuring Mighty Pope on Dustygroove.

Listen to the entire hour-long radio show here:

You can download the show here.

August 10th Soul Spectrum Radio Show

2011-08-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

You can download the show here

August 3rd Soul Spectrum Radio Show

2011-08-03T14:52:00.000-07:00

You can download the show here.

KZSU Lunch Special Guest DJ Spots

2011-08-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

It was actually the opportunity to guest DJ on this show that kicked my ass into getting my own radio show. Here are the first two Lunch Special shows I've done so far this summer. And I'll be joining the show's host, Byrd of Paradise, again on October 10th.

June 6th Show

July 25th Show

In order to listen or download the show scroll down to the bottom of the page for links.

Takin' it to the Air Waves: Soul Spectrum is now on KZSU Radio

2011-08-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

Apologies for my absence. I knew that as soon as I had a baby something would lose out on the zero-sum game that is my life and it turns out the unlucky extracurricular that got the axe was the blog. But, as life changes and evolves, new opportunities emerge . . .

My day job at Stanford University has facilitated my entry into the world of college/independent radio at KZSU 90.1 FM Stanford. Starting earlier this summer I scored a regular radio spot for my show "Soul Spectrum". Currently, the show is on Wednesdays from Noon-1pm PST and if it ever changes time slots, I'll be sure to update you here.

Starting right about now I'm going to post my radio shows to the blog so that you can check them out and hear what's been floating my musical ark as of lately. If you're in the Bay Area, you might be able to get our signal at 90.1 FM or you can always stream the show live using this link.

With that, here's the last show I did with special guest DJ Ricky Pang from July 20th.

You can see the playlist for this and all of my shows here.

Or download the show here.

Alma Doce: Brasilian Sweet Soul Mix

2010-11-09T22:46:00.000-08:00

You can download the whole mix at 320 kbps here.

Tracklist:
1. Baby - Quinteto Ternura
2. Vida Antiga - Erasmo Carlos
3. Gostava Tanto de Voce - Tim Maia
4. Primavera - Trio Esperanca
5. O Vale - Cassiano
6. Nem Quero, Nem Saber - Claudia (cover of English song "I Don't Care" by Tim Maia)
7. Salve Linda Cancao Sem Esperanca - Luiz Melodia
8. Shadows Dark and Blue - Terry Winter
9. California Soul - Tamba 4 (promo only)
10. Sentimento - Tim Maia (his first single from '68)
11. Viu, Menina - Tony e Frankye
12. Estrela D'Alva - Socrates
13. Na Rua, Na Chuva, Na Fazenda - Golden Boys
14. Como? - Paulo Diniz
15. Depois Da Queda (Tema De Flor) - Roberto Menescal (edit)
16. Baby de Tal - Ronnie Von
17. Azul da Cor do Mar - Tim Maia
18. Quando Vejo o Sol - Os Incriveis
19. As Dores do Mundo - Hyldon
20. Feel Like Making Love - Anna Mazotti
21. Just For You - Gerson King Combo
22. Linha do Horizonte - Azimuth

Kicking Funk Loops from Here to Cal Tjader

2010-08-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

They don't make 'em like Cal Tjader any more. As a band leader he had a very straight forward vision: make interesting music that audiences could relate to. He did this for more than three straight decades, releasing dozens of albums on many record labels. He worked with many different bands with members such as Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo, Vince Guaraldi, Al McKibbon, Pete Escovedo, Coke Escovedo, Clare Fischer, Poncho Sanchez, Lonnie Hewitt, Armando Peraza, Tito Puente, Stan Getz, Carmen McCrae, Airto, Joao Donato, Lalo Schifrin, George Duke, Charlie Byrd, Eddie Palmieri and many more. Paraphrasing Cal's biographer (book due out in a couple years), musicians liked to play with Cal because he would give great sidemen the spotlight to shine, something that Cal's East Coast colleague Tito Puente would never do and resultingly Mongo and Willie jumped ship for Cal's cool latin band in the late 50s.

Cal's an unlikely source for hip-hop samples with his white-bread collegiate look and chunky glasses, but a quick survey of hip-hop classics will show you that Tjader had a knack from creating interesting sounds that made for great moody samples (Midnight Marauders interlude music, for instance). Just ask Pete Rock:

“It’s coming soon, so chill and don’t stress the creator/ I’ll kick funk loops from here to Cal Tjader…" (from the Pete Rock and CL Smooth song “In the Flesh,” from their “Main Ingredient” album).

This blog has a great two-part mix with Tjader originals interspersed with songs that sampled him, many of them rare instrumental versions.

I've been working on my Tjader collection since moving to the Bay Area and have nearly completed the 1965-1975 era, which is probably my favorite as it sees Tjader trying to stay hip and relevant and doing a pretty damn good job. The early sixties saw him switch from the Bay Area-founded Fantasy Records to the more nationally-focused Verve Records where he scored his biggest hit, "Soul Sauce". His mid-sixties Verve albums range from soft ballads to funky latin fusion and are all excellent listens. In the late 60s he founded Skye records with like-minded musical oddballs: Gabor Szabo and Gary McFarland and released three albums: Solar Heat, Sounds Out Burt Bacharach and Plus In. A recently released session from those years "Latin + Jazz = Cal Tjader" is particularly revelatory in that it represented, according to Tjader's biographer, Cal's preferred live repertoire: a couple ballads mixed in with some mid-tempo Latin-Jazz numbers.

When Skype folded after a couple years Cal went back to Fantasy and put out his funikiest and hardest-hitting Latin albums, in my opinion: Agua Dulce (1971), Tjader (1971), Last Bolero in Berkeley (1973) and Primo (1973). The seventies also saw him focus a lot on recording live, with great results, on Live at the Funky Quarters (1972), Puttin' It Together (1974), At Grace Cathedral (1975) and Here (1977). As you can see from the tracklist below, some of the best versions of his most loved songs can be found on these live albums. All in all, I don't think Cal ever made a bad album, nor did he fully sell-out in a commercial sense - there's no such thing as a Cal Tjader disco album and you can't say that for most jazz musicians that survived the 70s. I've assembled some of my favorite "Tjader Tjams" from the period 1964-1974 for your enjoyment. Eventually, I hope to get around to putting together the ying to this yang, "Tjader Tjems", the mellow companion to this Latin groovathon. Tjam On!

The Ambassador Presents Cal Tjader - Tjader Tjams
1. Moneypenny Goes for Broke, from: Sounds Out Burt Bacharach
2. Souled Out, from: The Prophet
3. Armando's Guajira (live), from: Latin + Jazz = Cal Tjader (CD only)
4. Soul Sauce (Guachi Guaro), from: Soul Sauce
5. Cubano Chant (live), from: Live at the Funky Quarters
6. Fried Bananas, from: Solar Heat
7. La Murga Pana Mena, from: Primo
8. Amazonas (live), from: Puttin' It Together
9. Agua Dulce (Cool-Ade), from: Agua Dulce
10. Mambero, from: Tjader
11. Ran Kan Kan, from: Agua Dulce
12. Solar Heat, from: Solar Heat
13. Leyte (live), from: Live at the Funky Quarters
14. Gimme Shelter, from: Agua Dulce
15. I Showed Them, from: Tjader
16. Walk on By, from: Sounds Out Burt Bacharach
17. Never My Love, from: Solar Heat
18. Never Can Say Goodbye, from: Last Bolero in Berkeley
19. Morning, from: Agua Dulce
20. Curtain Call, from: Last Bolero in Berkeley

Gostosa Mix on P-R-O-P-S.com Radio

2010-07-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

A brand-new mix from yours truly and my partner in crime at Gostosa, Guillermo, doing 10 songs each for P-R-O-P-S.com Radio.

Come on by Gostosa Thursday night for the "Rio Deal"

Gostosa (normally, every 2nd Wednesday)
Casanova - 527 Valencia @ 16th Street
9pm-2am

Gostosa . . . It's Only the Beginning

2010-07-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled to have a good buddy Freddy Anzures of P-R-O-P-S.com working with Jacob (aka DJ Guillermo) and yours truly on our new look for the monthly Brazilian affair at Casanova in the Mission. If it's not already crystal claro . . .

Gostosa = Hot or if you want a more prosaic answer, read this.

So, for each monthly party we're gonna feature a different Artista Brasileira (Brazilian artist of the musical variety) on our flyer, eventually culminating in a calendar. It'll be way classier and collectible than a Snap-On Tools cheesecake/soft-porn affair - we're talking only the best of the best from classic Brazilian album covers, back covers, wherever we can find images that cry out "Gostosa".

For our first month we have the lovely and criminally underated Astrud Gilberto. She may have started her career on a fluke: she just happened to be in the recording studio with her then-husband Joao Gilberto during the recording of the classic Getz/Gilberto album and at Creed Taylor's suggesting she sang the English version of "The Girl from Ipanema" lyrics because Joao refused, but she has proven herself to be a classy interpreter of Brazilian and American/Anglo pop songs as well. Her first solo album is a real treat with both Jobim and Donato providing arrangements and she was also responsible for being the first to release many classic Brazilian songs in the US.

Astrud Gilberto - Beginnings
DJ Guillermo hipped me to this tune after wrongly thinking there was nothing worth hearing on some of these late 60s Verve albums. Damn, was I wrong. This, the opening cut off her "September 17, 1969" album is a surprisingly good Brazilian-style cover of the Chicago Transit Authority tune. I was sure Airto was in on this, especially given the percussion breakdown, but its some unknown Italian producer who put this together.

Did Celebrity Kill the Harmony Group?

2010-07-09T09:51:00.001-07:00

I'm not saying that I miss the Back Street Boys, 'NSYNC or any of those Boyz II Men wannabe groups, but seriously, who out there in the popular music world is really championing harmony vocals? The genesis of this question came from a conversation with harmony vocal authority (but not himself a practitioner) Andy Noble, aka the vision behind Kings Go Forth. I interviewed Andy back in March while out at SxSW for a Wax Poetics profile coming out in the next issue (#42). We had a nice long talk (according to Andy, his 2nd best interview since becoming semi-famous with the breakout of KGF - I woulda liked to sit in on the #1 interview) about Kings Go Forth, the genesis of the band and its clear focus on harmony vocals and the use of arrangements in soul music, both of which Andy pointed out, are dying traditions.

Andy reminded me that harmony vocals groups were active until very recently (think: Jodeci, En Vogue, Tony Tone Toni, Boys II Men, etc) and that even as the sweet sounding R&B vocals faded out, the rise of the Hip-Hop posse and their vocal camaraderie seemed to momentarily fill its place. But who was to blame? Why weren't these voices coming together to create something larger than the sum of their parts still getting play on the radio, the TV or in the hearts and minds of young musically-inclined youth? We both pondered who the culprit of this harmonic genocide could have been . . . Without thinking too long we both came to the conclusion that, surprise, THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, was mostly likely to blame. Kids growing up in tough neighborhoods with few opportunities to succeed will naturally look to those in their communities who have succeeded and model themselves in their hero's fashion, be they community leaders, business owners, religious leaders, drug dealers or rappers/DJs. If a record label has the option of putting out one record choosing from either: (A) fantastic-sounding four piece vocal harmony group, or (B) super charismatic female vocalist with a pretty face and the rest of the usual assets - which one represents a more sure chance at fame and money? The celebrity factor dominates.

How do you market a vocal group in today's celebrity culture? Label execs, celebrity tabloids and everyone else wants to pick the group apart to find the "star" because, sadly, the performers aren't really about the performance anymore, they're about the look, the style, and the accessories of celebrity: clothes, sex, drugs, etc. It's strange to know that even with a group like Kings Go Forth this is happening, where there's real pressure for the vintage-era vocalist "Black Wolf" to become the "leader", the charismatic band representative despite Andy's best intentions to present the group as just that, a group.

I also blame that new-fangled television with its moving pictures that lets you know in no uncertain terms that no matter how sweet the Spinners sounded, they didn't look so sweet. Sure, they could lose the moth-print jackets, but let's not kid ourselves, there's no "star" in the group. But is music for listening or watching? For old-timers and honorary old-timers, like myself, it's for listening, but I don't think anyone under 30 would agree and with that we mourn the loss of ugly dudes singing sweetly. R.I.P.

But before we go, let me share my favorite new discovery in the Vocal Soul Harmony tradition: The Younghearts! These guys rule with their dynamic arrangements, killer voices and memorable hooks. I first snagged this fantastic two-sided 45 with "Oo La We" and "Change of Mind" a couple months back and then a couple weeks ago found, what I believe to be, their first LP "Do You Have the Time?". They reminded me a lot of Kings Go Forth and the great combination of unusual song structures/arrangements with heavenly harmonies. I'm sure if Andy were here right now, he could recite their curriculum vitae and give you a top ten . . .

The Young Hearts - Oo La We
I love any soul song with acoustic guitars and this weird song just works its way into your brain and heart, making one want to remark to complete strangers: "Oo La We!"
The Young Hearts - Change of Mind
Another fantastic arrangement with more of a funk or rock feel.

The Young Hearts - I'm Still Gonna Need You
You can't be a vocal group and not have a fair share of slow jams. Historically, that's where vocal groups really excelled and this is no exception. I believe this was the main single from this album.

The Younghearts - Do You Have the Time? (S.K.A.T.T.)
Speaking of Hip-Hop posses, this track is the equivalent of a golden-era hip-hop skit . . . a short and sweet playful studio goof, but unlike most skits this little throw-away rehash of the 6-minute title track is pure fire. Makes me wanna be an old school radio jock just "rapping" about the weather and shit over this funky groove.

Homenagem Musical ao Futebol Brasileiro

2010-06-24T22:44:00.000-07:00

Homenagem Musical ao Futebol Brasileiro - The Ambassador
Welcome back people! Sorry for the absence here on Soul Spectrum. There's been a lot happening back on the ranch that unfortunately nudged this fun diversion to the back burner for the past couple months. But as I've been getting caught up in the excitement of the World Cup I was galvanized last night to make a mix in honor of the first Brazil game I've been able to watch in this tournament. It was a good, close game with Brazil's colonial rivals that just ended in a 0-0 draw, but the shelf-life of this mix will last at least into the next round, if not longer. I'm of course cheering for the USA, but last time I checked there aren't too many songs about American soccer, or at least not yet.

Brazil, on the other hand, has a passionate and enduring love affair with the sport that borderlines insanity, especially around any big tournament. I remember being in Sao Paulo during an American's Cup in a relatively sleepy artsy neighborhood in a 5th floor apartment with the windows open and every time Brazil scored (or almost scored) you could hear cheers, screams, fireworks erupting from every direction throughout the city. I'm sure you can find a Brazilian that doesn't give a damn about Futebol, but your odds are about as good as finding an actual North Korean fan cheering on the Axis of Evil's lone World Cup contending team.

Brazilian soccer and music have a very special relationship as you'll hear from the selections in this mix. I'm going to be so bold as to ignorantly proclaim that Brazil has more popular songs about the sport than any other nation. As such, it's no surprise that you'll see Brazilian music stars on the pitch in uniform, sporting their team colors, marrying famous soccer stars or singing about their favorite team. Samba's diva supreme, Elza Soares, married Garrincha, a player as famous as Pele within Brazil for his leadership and dominance in the 1958 and 1962 Brazilian World Cup victories. FIFA claims that he is the second best player in the history of the game, following Pele. On the back of this 1970s Elza Soares LP you can see Elza, Garrincha and their baby.

I'm certain my selections on this mix are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Brazilian soccer anthems, but I'm pretty content with it for a spontaneous mix made last night. If any of you know of any other great tunes, please let me know in the comments. Seeing Chico Buarque in his jersey here makes me want to scour his LPs for some hidden soccer homages buried in his deep catalog.

Jorge Ben, on the other hand is solidly represent in this 20-song mix with two of his own recordings ("Sem Essa no. 5" & "Camisa 10 de Gavea"), both Wilson Simonal tunes were composed by Ben and my most recent acquisition brings us the killer version of Ben's futebol classic "Fio Maravilha". And I left off the obvious selection "Ponta de Lança Africano - Umbabarauma" because I figure most of you already know that one. Jorge Ben's club team is Flamengo as you can see by the red & black emblem on his guitar.

The greatest player of all time teamed up with Sergio Mendes in the late-seventies for a documentary about himself. I can't speak to the quality of the film and the soundtrack is easily the worst Sergio album of his first two decades, but the soundtrack cover is possibly the best image capturing the intersection of Brazil's obsession with music and futebol. I did include a funky percussion groove from the soundtrack, the best moment from my opinion.

At the same time as this Sergio "solo" soundtrack project he did a fantastic album with the "New Brazil '77" featuring a couple exclusive Stevie Wonder compositions and the funky dancer "Mozambique" but it's also notable for having Pele making a cameo on the back cover as the doctor attempting to repair Sergio's band of wounded and dirty soccer players.

In Brazil even hippies like soccer as evidenced by Novos Baianos' third album and this clip. "F.C." means Futebol Club and by looking at their colors, they might be Flamengo fans as well. I love how Moraes Moreira just wanders off the practice pitch mid-game to sing a song and slowly but surely the rest of his team/band joins him:

Here's the track-list with some notes:

1. Ritmo de Abertura - Explosao de Samba
(I'm not sure who the band is here, but I've always loved crazy samba mixed with electronics)
2. Praia e Sol - Bebeto
(Bebeto, the poor man's Jorge Ben which is not so poor given Ben's musical wealth, sure has his priorities figured out: Beach, Sun, Girls, Soccer. Nuff said.)
3. Soccer Game - Eumir Deodato e os Caterdraticos '73
(A cool little instrumental from one of Brazil's most famous musical expats - this one was recorded in Brazil around the same time as his mega-hit remake of the theme to 2001)
4. Paz e Futebol - Marcos Valle
(the first of two appearances from Marcos Valle, this one from his Garra album - dig the outro scatting)
5. Pais Tropical - Wilson Simonal
(a classic Jorge Ben tune in the definitive version by Simonal. Nobody does a nationalistic pop-samba quite like Simonal. The soccer reference is "Sou Flamengo e tenho uma nega chamada Tereza", which means "I'm Flamengo and I have a black chick called Tereza"
6. Flamengo - Tim Maia
(A rare Tim Maia instrumental also praising the Rio team Flamengo)
7. Aquele Abraço - Osvaldo Nunes
(this is a new aquisition, a single-only version of the Gilberto Gil classic that also has a Flamengo reference: "Aia, torcida do Flamengo - aquele abraaco!")
8. O Samba da Minha Terra - Novos Baianos
(From the Novos Baianos album "Novos Baianos F.C." this is more of a tribute to Bahia, but it's killer and can be interpreted as generally patriotic.)
9. Sem Essa no. 5 - Jorge Ben
(there's a soccer reference in this Jorge Ben rarity, not found on any albums of his, but just on a label compilation from the early 70s)
10. Brasil, Eu Fico - Wilson Simonal
(another Jorge Ben nationalistic tune helmed by Simonal)
11. Fio Maravilha - Explosao do Samba
(love this version with the weird guitar and announcer effects)
12. Grito de Gol - Serginho Meriti
(a great tune about the "Scream of the Goal" by Samba-Soulster Serginho Meriti)
13. Se Meu Time Não Fosse o Campeão - MPB-4
(A late 70s tune from the MPB-4 about "if my team is not the champion")
14. Camisa 10 de Gavea - Jorge Ben
(A tribute to the guy wearing the number 10 jersey on Gavea's team, from the same album as "Ponta de Lança Africano - Umbabarauma", Africa-Brasil)
15. A Tristexa do Adeus (The Sadness of Goodbye) - Sergio Mendes
(Groovy instrumental from the Pelé soundtrack)
16. Maracana - Azymuth
(an instrumental tribute to the greatest Soccer stadium in the world)
17. Futebol de Bar - Cesar Mariano & Cia.
(an interesting piano ditty that turns into a stomping, funky groove for the song's outro)
18. Happy Brasilia - James Last
(the only non-Brazilian in the mix, this is a surprisingly authentic batucada jam from Germany's Herb Alpert)
19. Flamengo Até Morrer - Marcos Valle
(I considered putting this song in at spot #8 to have four Flamengo tunes in a row from four different princes of MPB, but the song fit better at the end of the mix. Find me a better love song to a soccer team, I dare you. "Flamengo until death.")
20. Aquarela Brasiliera - Nostalgia Electrônica Orchestra
(cheesy, yes, but it seemed a fitting nationalistic outro in a disco style from a weird album by keyboardist and arranger Daniel Salinas)

Say "Prisencolinensinainciusol" Five Times Fast

2010-04-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

I think this fine tune was the first victory for my iphone eBay application. As my buddy Atsushi as my witness, this 45 was won while enjoying happy hour at the Argus. Thanks to Klaudia and Brigham for putting this tune (& video) in my headlights. This tune is just one of the strangest specimens of global pop culture. As the story goes Adriano Celentano is something like Italy's Elvis with a similar two-pronged music and film approach. He was also a skilled gyrator of the hula hoop.

This song was written and performed with his wife, Claudia Mori an actress turned record producer. Adriano suggests that the song is about "incommunicability" and to drive this point home they crafted lyrics that sound like English, but rarely make any sense beyond a couple linked words. Check out the video below that attempts to transcribe the lyrics:

The song is clearly bizarre, but the relentless beat, boomeranging horn stabs and growling guitars make it a freaky dancefloor classic. On top of that, the TV production looks like it was Fellini's attempt to choreograph and direct a classic 50s Elvis movie dance number. There might only be like 12 dancers, but thanks to the well positioned mirrors, it might as well be a google plus 1. The original version is from an Italian TV show. The actual song starts 1:15 in to the clip. If you want to watch it without the subtitles, here ya go:

Being an Italian pop star, naturally Adriano had to do a house remix.

Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol
Here's the original 45 version. The flip is called "Disc Jockey" and is basically the same song, utilizing that same fantastic crunching beat set against horn stabs and snarling guitars.

Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol (GW Ruff Edit)
And this is a great extended, re-edited and re-imagined version by legendary UK DJ Greg Wilson.

Free Pass #2: Ned Doheny

2010-03-30T08:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming getting back to this "reoccurring series", but let me assure you it's well worth the wait. For those of you who aren't familiar with the concept, there exists a cadre of caucasian-persuasion musicians that Stevie Wonder might inaccurately refer to as his soul brother or sister. In other words, they pass for Black sonically. They also qualify if they're known to be White, but are nonetheless adored by the darker than blue demographic. Some examples: Phil Collins or Average White Band. Actually, tt was thanks to those pale Scottish soul-ders that I learned of Soul Spectrum's second ever Free Pass recipient.
Ned Doheny's 62nd birthday was just a few days ago (March 26th) as I found out just now doing some research. He was born on Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills, CA the grandson of oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny. Like many children of privilege of the time, Ned became a hippie. A Laurel Canyon hippie, to be exact. Ned was part of the extended Asylum records/David Geffen family as you can see from the photo above (from left to right: Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Cass Elliot, David Geffen & Ned Doheny: Venice, California, Easter Sunday, 1972)

As you can see from the photo, David & Ned were close. David's recently minted Asylum Records signed Ned as the very first artist and Ned's self-titled LP came out in 1973. I haven't heard that one yet, but I understand its more in that Laurel Canyon hippie-country style (this blog sure seems to like that kinda stuff). And finally, we get back to the Average White Band story . . . so Hamish Stuart, the falsetto crooning AWB songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is out in L.A. and starts writing songs with Ned. Ned's next album on CBS from 1976 featured the quiet storm classic "A Love of Your Own" which Average White Band also recorded. Ned recorded a follow-up for CBS in 1977, but the label only released the album, "Prone" in Japan in 1979. The single from that album, "To Prove My Love", was released more widely on 12" and 7" formats. A friend recently told me that the legendary DJ David Mancuso of "The Loft" parties played the 12" at the 40th anniversary of the "Love Saves the Day" party.

Ned Doheny - Give it Up for Love
Ned Doheny - A Love of Your Own
Ned Doheny - I've Got Your Number

Ned Doheny - To Prove My Love

Heavier than Fiction

2010-03-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

With the release of the Stonesthrow compilation of Fela Kuti covers, the cat’s finally out of the bag on the Mosco Tiles Fontclaire Steel Drum Orchestra; I can quit pretending I’m the only person who knows about their LP “Funk, Steel and Brass”. It’s my greatest bargain score ever, found for pennies in a box on the sidewalk in front of a junk shop in Montevideo, Uruguay.

I ask you: how can this record even exist? The idea is so perfect it’s like something made up by a record nerd, like the fake “legend” of Clutchy Hopkins.

It’s a steel drum orchestra from Trinidad; OK whatever. But this is not just some tourist hotel band. They record with a heavy drum kit and electric bass.

That’d be sweet by itself, right?

But check the stats:

Recorded in 1974 (if you know what I mean)
They don’t do the obvious stuff like James Brown; instead they cover artists now adored by beat-heads the world over, like Fela Kuti and Lou Donaldson
There’s a Cymande cover!
And just to add to the intergalactic left-field radness, it has a John Prine cover, too.

Bonus: The Mosco Tiles Orch. version of Lou Donaldson’s “Caterpillar” may be the heaviest sound ever in the history of recording. Maybe even heavier than Gil Evans' Las Vegas Song (start at about 03:00 and turn up the bass).

BTW anyone heard the other Mosco Tiles LP?

Mosco Tiles - Caterpillar
Mosco Tiles - The Message

Ode to Bobbie Gentry: Delta Sweetie (Part 2)

2010-03-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

If you're wondering where part one of this Bobbie Gentry tribute is, check out the more twang-ified side of Bobbie on my sister blog "Weed, Whites & Wine". I've been curious about Bobbie Gentry for awhile now, since I heard her stomping "Mississippi Delta" (below) on a Blue Note rare groove comp (Blue Juice Vol. 1) so whenever I found a record of hers cheap, I'd snag it. I've got most of them now and recently ripped some of my favorite tunes.

Bobbie pretty much defined pop country alongside Glen Campbell, with whom she did a duet album in her peak year (this one is by far the easiest to fine, but not the best example of her stuff). But unlike Glen, Bobbie took a funkier approach, often using drums way out in front and her guitar strumming style had a really rhythmic feel. She claims that she produced all of her records and that she wasn't credited on the LP back covers because it was just unheard of for a woman to be a producer in the mid-to-late sixties. Below I've collected some of the funkier tracks from Bobbie's albums.

Bobbie Gentry - Mississippi Delta
Ironically, this was the A-side to Bobbie's iconic hit song "Ode to Billy Joe". It's a slamming tune and very different than the haunting B-side. This goes to show that Bobbie came out of the gates firing off funky country pop.

Bobbie Gentry - Son of a Preacher Man
Sure, it's no Dusty, but I would say it K.O.'s Aretha's version. Unlike either Aretha or Dusty, Bobbie actually grew up in the South.

Bobbie Gentry - Find 'em, Fool 'em and Forget 'em
An interesting song selection, but checking out the steamy cover painting, you get she's going for a seductive almost pop-feminist theme. In this tune she learns the hard way the downside to being a player and getting played.

Bobbie Gentry - He Made a Woman Out of Me
This is kinda like flip perspective from the last song. You should check out the Weed, Whites & Wine post to hear the title track from this album, which explores similar territory.

Bobbie Gentry - Rainmaker
A nice version of this semi-funky Nilsson tune.

This is a great single-only tune from 1970. I gotta get this one.

and this really great clip of Donovan on Bobbie's show singing a duet on Donovan's Zen Pop song "There is a Mountain":

and one more very groovy version of the classic bayou blue-eyed soul "Niki Hoeky":

So Much Time . . Ain't Got Time Fa Nuthin'

2010-03-08T13:12:00.000-08:00

So, after dodging bullets since arriving in the Bay Area nearly two years ago I recently became one more (of the many) victims of this harsh economic climate. That might help explain why I have not posted anything new for a few weeks. I spent the past two weeks kicking it with my family and friends in Portland, OR. This also allowed me some time to do some care-free digging in Portland's famous record shops as well as thrift stores up and down the West Coast as my pal Chris and I drove back to the Bay Area along the coast. Needless to say, the coastal route is beautiful, but it's not much for soulful vinyl as the rural Oregon and Northern California coast makes Portland look like New York City. Be sure to check in over at Weed, Whites & Wine for some of my less-soulful and more twangy vinyl scores.

I'm still working through some of the goodies I brought back, but the one that is steady rotation in my brain is this killer little tune from the lesser-known Philly vocal group, The Futures. I snagged this little gem at a junk-shop in SE Portland for $5 along with a couple other great pieces. This tune really seems to speak to my current situation: so much time, but so much to do. Three weeks of being unemployed has taught me one thing: I work best with structure.

So, until something comes along that pays a little bit better I'm committing to give myself a bit of structure by posting on Soul Spectrum & Weed, Whites & Wine much more frequently, so stay tuned!

The Futures - Ain't No Time Fa Nuthin'

Digging in Brazil, Part 3: MPB Unplugged

2010-02-05T12:45:00.001-08:00

This is one of the more interesting records I picked up on this last trip. I've never seen it before and never heard of it either. It's the kind of record that only someone really geeky like me could enjoy as it includes some rare performances by some of my favorite artists arguably from one of the greatest years for Musica Popular Brasileiro (MPB) . . . 1972. This is one of those annual recap records documenting the biggest news stories in short segments, including a small bit on Caetano and Gil returning from exile, but musically that's the only good part on disc 1. Thankfully disc 2 is chock full of interviews with famous musicians with something like 20 different artists ranging from bossa nova legends Tom Jobim, Johnny Alf and Carlo Lyra to MPB stars Milton Nascimento, Gal Costa and Edu Lobo.

Not only are there interviews, but in many cases the interviewer asks the artist to perform something live in the studio, sometimes accompanied by guitar or maybe just a matchbox for percussion. I've picked my favorites from these interviews for my nerdiest readers.

Erasmo Carlos - Quem Mandou Levar (Samba da Preguiça)
This one is the real treasure in my opinion. It doesn't get much better than Erasmo accompanying himself on guitar in the prime of his career. I don't think he ever recorded this song elsewhere. Anyone know if anyone else ever recorded this songs and if so, what's the actual title?

Paulinho da Costa - Gaurdei Minha Viola
Here we have a Paulinho da Viola classic with his sweet as honey voice and accompanied only by some matchbox percussion. This is the pure essence of Paulinho da Viola.

Gal Costa - Untitled Song
Gal sound drunk and/or high in the interview section, but this little song is sweet.

Caetano Veloso - Tropicália (Live)
This is the one interesting musical section from the news of 1972 from Disc 1. I like his 1972 reinterpretation of Tropicalia.

Luiz Gonzaga - Accordeon Solo
Man, can Luiz wail on accordeon. I wish somebody who makes beats would cut this up and make something cool out of it. Holler if you want a wav file and I'll hook you up.

Rosinha da Valença - De Conversa Em Conversa
Maybe Rosinha recorded this lovely number on one of her albums, but I recognize this tune from João Gilberto's 1969 album recorded in Mexico. Nice stuff.

Milton Nascimento - Untitled Song
I was marginally dissappointed with this one just because I would think that Milton in 1972 would be 24/7 mind-blowing. I think this is a version of another song he does, but can't place it. Little help people?

Edu Lobo - Candeias
Wow. Really digging this one. I guess Edu wrote it, but I know it from the lovely Gal & Caetano album "Domingo".

Digging in Brazil, Part 2: Samba da Preguiça Mix

2010-01-17T10:29:00.001-08:00

The Ambassador - Samba da Preguiça Mix, January 2010
New mix from The Ambassador. All selections original and recently acquired by yours truly on my most recent trip to Brazil. Of particular note are the live-in-studio spots from Vinicius & Erasmo at the beginning and Paulinho da Viola at the end. This one and the Zeca do Trombone e Roberto Sax are the only records with more than one track featured. Enjoy!

Digging in Brazil, Part 1

2010-01-15T17:00:00.000-08:00

A little over a week ago I got back from a two week trip to Brazil. Actually, it was my honeymoon with my lovely wife Jamie. We traveled to São Paulo, Trancoso, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro and had a fantastic time in the warm weather and with good friends, old and new. My wife is very understanding of my vinyl affliction and as we were planning the trip she conceded that I should have an opportunity to do a little record shopping. We decided that while in São Paulo I would do my thang and that the rest of the trip would be relatively vinyl-free. So, I lined up two spots in SP and did some $$ damage.

I got some great items at both of these spots, some of which I'll definitely be sharing in the coming weeks, but for the most part I knew what I was looking for so I didn't take many chances on things that I hadn't previously listened to by way of collector friends or other blogs, etc. I did however have one opportunity for real "digging" in Rio when I chanced by a "Sebo" in Copacabana. It was beginning to rain and was threatening to pour when Jamie and I passed an open door to a used book store and upon a quick glance I saw a stack on vinyl in the main aisle and had to stop. While we had agreed that there would only be premeditated record shopping in São Paulo, my one addendum was that incidental record shopping would be permitted on a case-by-case basis. In this one instance, and there was only one the whole trip, I kinda just bull-dozed Jamie and told her that I would meet her back at our friend's apartment in 20 minutes . . . which turned into an hour at least. Even though I got dozens of great albums that I've been looking for forever at the other spots in SP, there's nothing like digging through a pile of dirty and unorganized records not sure what you're gonna find. After getting home to San Francisco and unpacking, cleaning and exploring my finds, its the records I got at this Sebo that I'm the most excited about because they're still brand new to me.

Today I have a few tracks from a generic Samba compilation called "Garra Brasileira" which translates as "Brazilian Claw", but that can't be right?!? Anyone else know a better translation for "Garra"? What's cool about this album is that it mixes classic samba songs from a top-notch group of studio players Conjunto Garra Brasileira (uncredited individually, of course) augmented by some wah-wah guitar and bleepy keyboards. I picked some of my favorite tracks that make the most of these seemingly incongruous sounds.

Conjunto Garra Brasileira - Eu Só Quero Um Xodó
This is an early version of this classic Dominguinhos Forró song done with the requisite accordeon and the addition of some quirky keyboards.

Ned Helena e Garra Brasileira - Tatuagem
This one is a mystery for several reasons, first of all is because I'm struggling to identify why I like it so much. Secondly, I'm not sure if this is a cover like most of the other tunes here or an original. And, lastly . . . who the hell is Ned Helena and why is she named "Ned". To attempt to answer the first mystery, I think it has a lot to do with the bleepy keyboards and the mellow organ groove. In full disclosure this is edited from a medley of which the second half sucks.

Conjunto Garra Brasileira - Mosca Na Sopa
A cool little version (also edited out of an otherwise crappy medley) of the Raul Seixas tune.

Djavan e Conjunto Garra Brasileira - Porta Aberta
Here we have Djavan doing his thing at least a year before he broke out on his own with his first LP. This is another great example of Wah-Wah Samba.

More Brazilian goodies coming up soon, so stay tuned!

A Friend's Selling this Killer Painting SALSA LATIN FANIA

2010-01-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

Click here to view the painting on eBay

My buddy needs to sell the painting and I'd like to see that he gets a good price for it seeing as he'd prefer not to sell it at all.

Here's some info from the listing on eBay:

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a unique original (and very beautiful) painting by Island Records UK in-house artist Tony Wright used for a UK-only release by the Fania All-Stars on Island Records in 1975.

The gorgeous 16" square painting depicts a 70s Spanish Harlem barrio street scene, complete with bodegas, tenement buildings and ghetto residents including the obligatory conguero with a big 'fro playing on a stoop in front of a building!

Prelude to a Return: Clara Nunes Videos

2010-01-06T21:22:00.000-08:00

We got back from our Honeymoon on Sunday and I've been suffering from some form of airplane bug combined with jet lag ever since. I'm planning on ripping some of my recently acquired gems, but before I get to that I have to share with you this great DVD I picked up that's blowing my mind as I type this. It's not that it's particularly good, because it's not. But if your idea of Brazil is shaped by the images and sounds you digest by way of the Bossa Nova scene, Tropicalia movement or through the marquee MPB stars like Milton, Elis and Chico, then this video will give you a completely different view on Brazil.

Having just returned from there, I can concur that life is one way in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and everywhere else life it's another. Watching videos of the Tropicalia gang doing their thing, you might think you were watching something from Europe, but in comparison this Clara Nunes DVD makes Brazil seem closer to the Third World than the Old World. The production value often resemble vintage Karaoke videos, but these O.G. singa-long clips from the 70s and early 80s were likely made outside of the two metropolises and they featured almost exclusively non-white Brazilians.

Then there's Clara herself who is clearly of mixed race and showcases her Candomble religion proudly often wearing a white dress and African beads. Her voice is powerful and mesmerizing. Oh and did I forget to mention she's simultaneously sexy and intimidating in a Amazon woman kind of way?

Nearly every Clara Nunes album is great as she was one of the most consistent Sambistas of the 70s revival era along with Martinho da Vila and Paulinho da Viola. According to AllBrazilianmusic.com she was responsible for breaking open the popular female samba singer role for other classic female samba singers such as Beth Caravalho and Alcione.

Check out this killer LIVE clip (sadly, not enough of these on the DVD) with Sivuca killing it on accordeon on this funky forró cut:
Clara Nunes with Sivuca - Feira de Mangaio

Here are two more great ones, but unfortunately I couldn't grab the embed code, so you have to watch 'em on youtube:

Sagarana

Morena de Angola

It's a Wonder I forgot this one . . . Stevie Wonder's "Sugar"

2009-12-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

Stevie Wonder - Sugar
I really can't believe I forgot this tune when selecting some of favorite lesser-known Stevie jams. Most people look to "Music of My Mind" as the first "funky" Stevie album and for the most part they're right, but before that album there was the mixed bag of "Where I'm Coming From" which hinted at a more experimental, bugged-out Stevie on funky keyboards and big drum sounds. But the song we have here is an album track off of his previous album, "Signed, Sealed & Delivered" from 1970. Sure, most of the album is soul-pop like the title track and that would probably be the description too for this cut, but listening to the drums (played by Stevie) and how prominent they are in the mix you can't help but think Stevie knew what was going on and you can feel that he was chomping at the bit to get out from under the Motown machine and let loose a funky maelstrom. I give you "Sugar". Tastes so sweet!

Bay Area Peeps: Wonderfull - This Saturday @ Mezzanine with DJ Spinna & Bobbito and more

2009-12-10T11:43:00.001-08:00

I've been meaning to get to one of these Wonderfull events since I first heard about it years ago back in NYC and for some stupid reason I just have never been able to make it, but this time I'm gonna break the curse and get my ass down to Mezzanine this weekend. And in honor of that I have some of my favorite Stevie Maravilha (his Brazilian nickname) deep cuts and cover tunes for your listening pleasure. Also, check out P-R-O-P-S radio for a killer set of Wonderfullness. Not much on commentary here and no albums covers (too many songs here and it's busy here at work), so just hit play on the yahoo media player and Stevie and friends take you on a trip through music of Stevie's mind . . .

Stevie Wonder - Christmas Greeting
Couldn't pass this one up given the time of year. I want a whole album of keyboard based Christmas funk from 'Lil Drummer Stevie.

Stevie Wonder - Love a Go-Go
This is one of the first album track/deep cuts that I sought out and as a result was even further inspired by the breadth and depth of Stevie's genius. I think this was big in the UK/Norther Soul thang . . .

Syreeta - I Love Everything About You
Possibly my favorite Stevie version ever . . . and all-time favorite song. period. when I first got this album I listened to this one track on repeat for two days straight. seriously.

Tamiko Jones - Creepin'
Who woulda thought you could fuck with Stevie & Minnie dueting on the original version? I'm not saying it's better, but its damn good!

Ray Charles - Living For the City
The most recent Steviania acquisition . . . so dope. Nobody (aside from Stevie) does Fender Rhodes so nasty and raw as "The Genius".

Ellen McIlwaine - Higher Ground
By far those most left-field cut here . . . you can't deny Ms. McIlwaine's mastery of this song. The way she does it, you can imagine that she wrote it. For me, this speaks to the universality of Stevie's tunes.

Main Ingredient - Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing
Main Ingredient have a long history of doing Stevie tunes, but this has got to be my favorite.

Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered (Live)
A somewhat rare early-seventies live recording from an Jazz/R&B festival from 1974. I posted the whole album awhile back, but have since taken the songs down.

Sister Sledge - As
I can't say this holds a flame to the original, but it's such a great song that I could tolerate some less than perfect cover versions. This one is from the Sisters Sledge right before their Chic-produced breakout album. This one was recorded in Germany with the masterminds behind Silver Convention, Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay.

Laso - Another Star
Here we have a latin instrumental take on another Songs in the Key of Life classic. Laso was a Joe Bataan side project that sounds very much like an MFSB or Vince Montana release from the same time. New York Latin Disco, Yeah!

The Gary Byrd Experience - The Crown (Instrumental)
I feel a bit like a racist posting the instrumental version of this song and by default ommitting the social-conscious lyrics of Prof. Gary Byrd, but honestly his rap sucks and the best part about this song is the "Good Times"-esque bass line and Stevie's one verse about 1/2 way in. He just kills it!

Stevie Wonder - All I Do
Thanks to my brother Charlie for hipping me to this tune early on. I honestly thought Stevie was done with Songs in the Key of Life until I heard this joint. This is some superb soulful mid-tempo disco. I forgot to bring it, but I also love the previously unreleased version of Syreeta doing this tune from back in the late 60s in a straight-up Motown cookie-cutter formula (and I don't mean that in a bad way) cause it sounds like a totally different song in that style, tempo and from a female perspective.

Stevie Wonder - Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away
My favorite sleeper Stevie track from Fullfillingness First Finale. This is the kind of religious music I can get down to.

Goodwill Girl Groups

2009-12-08T07:42:00.000-08:00

These are three of the eight records I got last week for $7.98 at the Goodwill near where I work. I don't go too often, but each time I manage to find something interesting. Last time it was a David Axelrod produced Lou Rawls joint. I've been assessing my purchases and found these three great tracks in the process. The Pointer Sisters jam some of you probably know and I was aware of it before copping the album, but these other two were pleasent surprises. Enjoy!

Pointer Sisters - Don't It Drive Your Crazy

Softouch - Please Be True

Hot - Just 'Cause I'm Guilty

Inter-American Dialogue: The Leon Ware - Marcos Valle Connection

2009-12-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

This is what blogs are for. I've been fascinated by the collaboration between Marcos Valle (left) and Leon Ware (below) for years now, ever since I read on Dustygroove that Marcos had written some songs on Leon's "Rockin' You Eternally" album. A deeper look reveals that their collaboration was a two-way street and the songs they wrote together are peppered across several albums of Leon's and Marocs'. Sure, I could try and write a proper article about this phenomenon, but the blog format seems ideally suited for this topic. I recognize that not everyone will be intrigued by this side alley of popular music, but for those who are, I'll dissect this collaboration in depth.
I've collected some (but not all) of the songs and recordings of the Ware-Valle partnership in this blog post, beginning with a song that was written by Marcos Valle and Robert Lamm (of Chicago) which Leon recorded for his 1979 album "Inside is Love."

Leon Ware - Love Is a Simple Thing
As far as I can tell, this is the first published intersection between Leon and Marcos, though Marcos is not playing on this record. It's strange to think that Marcos Valle and late-seventies Chicago were grooving to the same sounds, but it was a different time and when you really think of it they both come from similar backgrounds: jazz-influenced, blue-eyed pop soul.

Leon Ware - Rockin' You Eternally
For me, this is really the crowning achievement of the inter-American songwriter duo. The title track of Leon's first of two album on Elektra, "Rockin' You Eternally" is quintessential quiet-storm funk. Leon's clearly spearheading the lyrics on this one, but the music has got the unmistakable Marcos Valle touch, especially in the (and I'm not very expert in describing musical concepts) way the song changes keys in the chorus. You'll not that same chord progression in a Marcos song below that otherwise sounds nothing like this tune. I wonder if there is a recording somewhere of Marcos doing this tune in Portuguese or a Leon Ware - Marcos Valle demo . . .

Leon Ware - Baby Don't Stop Me
Here we have the first example of a song that both Leon and Marcos recorded in different, but very similar versions. Leon's is clearly rooted in an early-80s quiet-storm boogie mode with hardly a trace of Brazil in the mix.

Marcos Valle - A Paraíba Não É Chicago
I've been listening to this album non-stop for the past few days and it just doesn't get old. The whole thing is great, without a weak song among the bunch. This is the lead-off track and as you can hear, it's Marcos' version of "Baby, Don't Stop Me" with that exact chorus being sung by Chicago' Peter Cetera. This song and "Sei La" were the only two songs recorded in LA, I'm guessing, before Marcos returned to Brazil to stay and finish the album.

Marcos Valle - Velhos Surfistas Querendo Voar
This is the real sleeper on the album and took a dozen or so listens to really grow on me. This is also the tune that reappropriates the chord-progression from "Rocking You Eternally", but that's about where the similarity with the latter song ends. This song is where the album title comes from too.

Marcos Valle - Não Pode Ser Qualquer Mulher
This is a beautiful tune composed by the duo, with lyrical assistance from Marcos' go-to lyric writer, Paul Sergio Valle (his brother).

Marcos Valle - Bicho No Cio
Before I even knew about the Marcos Valle - Leon Ware connection I got this Brazilian promotional 7" single with four songs and this was one of them. I immediately dug the slow, funky groove and began my search for the album it came from. This is also the second song, like "Baby Don't Stop Me" that both artists did in similar versions.

Leon Ware - Got To Be Loved
Here we have Leon's version of "Bicho No Cio". I love Leon's work throughout his career, so I mean no disrespect when I say that aside from "Rocking You Eternally", I prefer Marcos' versions over Leon's and this song is no exception.

Leon Ware - Somewhere
This is an interesting tune that shows Leon getting into a Brazilian groove unlike any other recording of his I've heard. That would be Flora & Airto on vocals and percussion.

Marcos Valle - Dia D
Here's the last tune in the set, a one-off collaboration in a funky party mode. This album features one other tune with co-writing credits from Leon, but its a pretty mediocre slow-jam. This is a fun song from a seriously under-rated album. Actually, my next post will likely pull the song "Fogo de Sol", which I just discovered is the vocal version of one of my favorite Marcos Valle tunes, "Adam's Hotel" from the Deodato album "First Cuckoo".

Argentinian Fire From Egle Martin

2009-11-19T14:15:00.001-08:00

I picked up this rare 7" single in Curitiba, Brazil back in 2004 at a record store run by a very nice dude named Julio. I was buying a fair bit of stuff so he just sorta threw it in as a bonus and because it was a Uruguayan (turns out its an Argentinian record - I could be wrong again but it would appear that Egle's from Argentina, but the band is from Uruguay - correct me if you know differently) record he wasn't even sure what it was worth. It's since become a favorite of mine and a few friends I've shared it with.

But then last night I dropped it in my set at Dalva (word up, Toph One) and it became the clear runaway hit of the night. I'll be scanning the cover and uploading for all to see, but here are the two tracks, both great, but the intro to the first one is so dramatic and jazzy . . . then the smokin' latin beat drops!

Egle Martin - Dombe Barilo Egle Martin - El Dombe

There's an Argentine pressing here on eBay.
This is what that eBay seller had to say about the record:
Egle Martin (a.k.a. La Negra) was sorta like La Lupe from the south of the southern hemisphere. She was deeply involved into the Afro-Latin American culture, and especially the underground Uruguayan and Brazilian scene (experiencing the Bossa and Candomble, often with her Brazilian friends, Maysa and Luiz Eca, among others, and skilled Uruguayan musicians). The Dombe was a rhythm inspired by the afro-Uruguayan Candomble, of her own creation, which also mixes American Funk, Boogaloo and Latin Jazz. Dombe Barilo is a KILLER track in its own right, with those fantastic bongo drums, brass sections, horn arrangements, funky bass-n-drums, plus Egle's vibrant manner of singing, with some lush and intense scat vocal in parts. El Dombe, is the track which gives its name to the rhythm, and is equally good. Both tracks have cool lyrics, and they mainly refer to the dance, and this rhythm.

Intergalactic Space Funk: Phase I: Launch

2009-11-02T12:01:00.001-08:00

The Ambassador - Intergalactic Space Funk: Phase I: Launch
As promised a few months ago, here's the newest installment of the SPACE FUNK. This is part one of several future chapters of Space Funk. To be honest, I messed up the mix shortly after this section was completed and that seemed like a good enough reason to break these up into sections and thematically it works too. This first "Phase" is about leaving earth and journeying into space. The mix starts off with some general funkiness with plenty of spacy keyboards and then slowly builds until you are blasting off into space. The next phase will find our intrepid space funkateers on the Moon and beyond.

This mix was re-inspired by my Friday night activities at San Francisco's "Ghetto Futuristic Psychedelic Funkadelic Electronic Erotic Dance Party happening" aka "Future Shock". Big ups to Freddy, Marky, Jason & Stefan for throwing a great party and inspiring me to complete phase I and beyond . . .

The Count's California Count-Down - Side A & B

2009-10-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Now both sides of the mix are up for your listening pleasure!

Happy Monday, Soul Spectators!

This quick little post is part one two of a mix I made this weekend for some friends who are about to embark on a West Coast Tour. Chris and Dan are gonna be escorting the Taiwanese indie-rock/pop band Won Fu on their first US tour. I was trying to imagine them bopping along the I-5 to some groovy tunes and that was my inspiration. I also wanted to use some of the great interludes from this Sesame Street record I recently copped. Keep in mind that all of the interludes used were put together with David Axelrod's help. Sure, they are not mind-blowing like his normal output, but they're pretty sweet nonetheless.

The Ambassador - The Count's California Count-Down - Side A
The Ambassador - The Count's California Count-Down - Side B

Balanço Brasileiro

2009-10-16T07:31:00.001-07:00

There's Baile Funk, Samba Funk, Funky Samba, Brazilian Soul, Roots Samba, Bossa Nova and dozens more sub-genres of Brazilian music that swing, but today we're gonna focus on just that, the SWING. In Brazilian Portuguese, the term is "Balanço". Now, there's no real specific definition of "Balanço" but like the term suggests, its more a feeling, the way a song moves. I think this term became popularized in the early-to-mid sixties when the instrumental Bossa Jazz trios were in swinging in full fore, such as Tamba Trio, Jongo Trio, Bossa Três and many others. These groups were melodic, but they also SWUNG HARD.

Around this time you also have "dance music" purveyors, like Ed Lincoln with his organ and his swinging dance records. One of Ed's main men and occasional vocalist was Orlandivo, who first started recording in the early 60s. He made a couple albums in the early-to-mid sixties and then not another solo record until the 1977 album he did with João Donato (see below). He was a vocalist, percussionist and song writer.

One of Orlandivo's best known songs is featured today in four versions, "Tamanco No Samba". The direct translation means "Clog in Samba", but clog like the wooden shoe, not what's backing up your drain. If someone knows what this is referring to, please chime in. A quick glance at the lyrics suggests the song is about the sound a woman makes when dancing the samba wearing clogs - a bonus percussive element to the samba. Works for me.

Anyways, this is a sleeper favorite from Orlandivo's 1977 album, which is chock full of great tunes and then I found it retitled as "Samba Blim" from the Tamba 4 album of the same name on A&M from 1968. The drummer from Tamba 4, Helcio Milito, often appears alongside Orlandivo on various album credits throughout the years, so I'm guessing they go way back. Next, I heard another cover on the beautiful 70s bossa vocal jazz album Aquarius and then my main man Cal Tjader covered the tune with help from Airto on his "Amazonas" album. And with that, I bring you "Tamanco No Samba."

Tamba 4 - Samba Blim
I picked up their first A&M album "We and the Sea" awhile back but it was when my initial bossa binge was waning, so I failed to appreciate this top-shelf band making full use of the American recording environment. This, their second and final record for A&M (though rumors have it there was a third recorded - the promo single only "California Soul" being from those sessions) is really solid. They were such a versatile band for three (occasionally four) members including the singing bassist, Bebeto. I discovered this tune after knowing and loving the 1977 Orlandivo version and realized it was the same song with a different title, which was not uncommon for US releases of Brazilian tunes.

Aquarius - Tamanco No Samba
This is an extremely rare record that has more than a little in common with the criminally underrated duo of Burnier & Cartier. Cartier is absent on this one, but Octavio Burner and his wife Sonia are all over this and the sound is very similar to their albums and then there are two of their compositions on here. Overall, this is a lovely mid-seventies Bossa Nova album with stunning production. You can download it here from Quimsy's blog.

Orlandivo - Tamanco No Samba
One of the best albums of the 70s for my money. Orlandivo's songs and laid-back vocal style combined with a top-shelf band including João Donato on arrangements. Loronix has the album here.

Cal Tjader - Tamanco No Samba
Cal knew his Brazilian music and on top of that he had Airto produce this mid-seventies outing so you knew he was gonna have the Brazilian beat dialed in to perfection. This joint was recorded walking distance from where I work in Berkeley, CA.

Great Songs (Now With Lyrics!)

2009-10-09T07:02:00.001-07:00

I am certain there are a million and one other examples of this phenomenon (classic instrumental songs getting new lyrics), but this post stems from my relatively recent fascination with jazz vocalist Mark Murphy. I never in my boringest dreams thought that I would have anything resembling a fascination with a "jazz vocalist." Sure, I showed my sensitive side in college with my "best of" Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday CDs and how can you not like a little Frank Sinatra now and then, but somehow these icons escape the labeling of "jazz vocalist". Partly, I think it's the fault of all those too-smooth (Al Jarreau), silly (Bobby McFerrin) crappy-ass jazz vocalists that are ruining it for the truly artistic and inspired examples out there still doing their thing (check out Jose James).

I first heard Mark Murphy on a mix made by my man Greg Caz. The song was "Sunday in New York" and no doubt the slightly funky rhythm section, hot horns and because I lived in NYC at the time allowed me to listen deeper. After a few listens it was all about Mark's vocal style and delivery. I've been tracking down his catalog ever since. Something I noticed on a few of his albums was how he would take a classic jazz track and write lyrics for it so that the listener could immediately relate to the tune, but now there was a new element, a new soloist doing their thing in an unfamiliar way over a familiar song. Sure, there's "Watermelon Man" with its latin/vocal version by Mongo Santamaria (though there aren't many words to this lyric, "Hey, Watermelon Man!") or Carmen McCrae's vocal take on "Take Five", but Mark picks some tracks that clairvoyantly speak to the hip-hop generation as they are classic sample cuts. But before we get into some "serious" jazz music, I asked my co-worker, Eric, for any ideas on this theme and he suggested this classic lyrical interpretation of a familiar instrumental tune:

Mark Murphy - On the Red Clay
This is a killer album, possibly my favorite of Mark's so far and it took me getting out-bid a couple times before I secured my own copy. While the Freddie Hubbard version (below) is not the one that Tribe sampled (that was Jack Wilkins), it's a great tune and I feel Mark really captures the energy of the song taking only the title and extrapolating from there.

Mark Murphy - Canteloupe Island
A more obvious choice, but a great song nonetheless and Mark's lyrics seem to fit the tropical mood painted by Herbie's original version.

Mark Murphy - Sly
This was a strange choice I thought as "Sly" was not an obvious pick from Herbie's classic "Headhunters" album, but Mark really finds a bouncing vocal style to play around with Herbie's musical structure. This is from another great album my Mark Murphy that features one of the best versions of Tom Jobim's "Waters of March". Please chime in on the comments if you have any favorite instrumentals-turned-vocal tunes.

Jerry Butler: Should I Stay or Shoul I Go?

2009-09-28T07:34:00.001-07:00

Here are two tracks from a recent acquisition of mine. I'm not a huge Jerry Butler fan, but I generally flip over his records when digging through the stacks, mostly to find that album with the Method Man sample. This is not the one, but while scanning the back cover I saw two other names that I know and adore: Donny Hathaway and Terry Callier. Donny arranged "Sail Away" and Terry wrote "Windy City Soul." By this time in 1971, Donny was already on his way to fame and Terry was just getting started and both were probably honored to be working with Jerry Butler, Chicago soul royalty.

These two songs make for nice bookends as one longs for an escape from one's locale and the other is about a homecoming.

Jerry Butler - Sail Away
Jerry Butler - Windy City Soul

A Trip Around Brasil - A New Brasil Mix

2009-09-18T09:46:00.001-07:00

O Embaixador - Viagem Pelo Brasil
Just made this mix last night and it's far from perfect, but I think you might enjoy it. I started out with a few songs I was planning on including, but then it just kinda became a stream of consciousness style mix. Notable on this mix is the three-in-a-row Brasilian tunes by way of A&M records including some promo only Tamba Trio and Sergio Mendes. We also have some funky northeastern tunes, before delivering a dose of samba and then some Brasilian boogie before coming back home to samba. I might be convinced to create a track-list if enough people wanna know what's what. I hope you dig it.

Barry Good Music

2009-09-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

Barry White is one of those musicians that I never really followed too closely because his music was already so ubiquitous, I assumed that I had already heard it all. Sure, I definitely liked some of his stuff a lot and even got down to some greatest hits CD when I lived in Indonesia and was starved of good music. But it wasn't until lately that I realized what a wealth of music he was responsible for beyond his own records.

I have been rocking the Love Unlimited record below for a couple years now and managed to track down the My Sweet Summer Suite 12" a while back, but honestly I was thinking these tracks were just one-offs. Then, more recently, I came across the Gloria Scott record and then the Jay Dee single (also featured on the $20 Worth of Soul Mix and I realized that there really is something to this Barry White dude beyond the hits.

Gloria Scott - What Am I Gonna Do?
This album is awesome! It's kinda like the first Love Unlimited album, but with a more soulful solo female vocalist. Most of the songs are mid-tempo and really emotionally-charged, but man the arrangements and the hooks are sooo good! This is the first track of the disc, but honestly I coulda picked one of 5 others that are just as good. Pick up the reissue CD or LP at dustygroove.

Love Unlimited - I Can't Let Him Down
This is a later Love Unlimited jam that I absolutely love. The intro is soaring and then the beat just drops and the song is on its way. This song shows Barry in a more rare fast-paced groove.

Love Unlimited Orchestra - My Sweet Summer Suite (12" Version)
I initially liked this one for its tropical, cuica-filled intro, but the groove is just great.

Jay Dee - Strange Funky Games and Things
Another Barry White side-project, Jay Dee is a decent singer but what we have here is really just prime Barry White arrangements and playing from Love Unlimited, Barry's ever-present ensemble. I'm sure there are other individuals responsible for these excellent tunes: the Love Unlimited singers, Jay Dee, arrangers such as the legendary Gene Page and Webster Lewis, but the one thing all these tunes have in common is the larger than life . . . Barry White.

New All-45 Mix: $20 Worth of Soul

2009-09-10T10:19:00.001-07:00

The idea behind this mix is to demonstrate what can be accomplished with $20, some patience, record cleaning solution and some elbow grease. Two weekends ago I went down the street for my regular dig at the Alemany Flea Market. I ended up getting records from two different vendors, neither of which specialize in vinyl. I convinced the vendor at the first spot to sell me a stack of 25 sleeveless and dusty 45s and one Stacy Lattislaw LP for $20. The mix you are listening to was constructed from 18 of these 25 45s a day or two after I got'em. You'll notice that there's a bit of surface noise on some of the cuts, but (speaking for myself here) the mix is pretty darn listenable.

A lot of these tracks are songs I have on album, but I was psyched to find them on 45, like the Faze-O, the Johhny "Guitar" Watson and the Rufus cuts. The scores as far as I'm concerned are the Fred Wesley jam and the Jay Dee tune. Not a bad way to spend $20 I would say. I hope you get some value out of it too.

The Ambassador - $20 Worth of Soul
1. Johnny Nash - You Got Soul
2. Gene Chandler - A Song Called Soul
3. The Joneses - Hey Girl, Part 1
4. Jay Dee - Strange Funky Games and Things
5. The Isley Brothers - Work To Do
6. Rufus - You Got the Love
7. Earth, Wind & Fire - Evil
8. Suede - Everybody Must Pay
9. Sly & the Family Stone - Loose Booty
10. Muscle Shoals Horns - Born To Get Down
11. Jimmy "Bo" Horne - Gimme Some
12. Shirley & Company - Shame, Shame, Shame
13. Slave - Just a Touch of Love
14. Fred Wesley - House Party
15. Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Superman Lover
16. Faze-O - Riding High
17. Rance Allen Group - Ain't No Need of Crying
18. Garnet Mimms - A Quiet Place

Disco Monster #8: Recent 12" Acquistions

2009-08-27T11:50:00.001-07:00

Hello folks, another Disco Monster for you here with no common theme between these two songs other than they are AWESOME and I got them recently and had had them on my want list for a minute. I hope you dig them.

Odyssey - Going Back To My Roots
This songs been covered a few times and each version is great. The original comes from Lamont Dozier from his "Peddlin' Music on the Side" album from 1977. According to Allmusic.com: "The Afro-centric disco hit "Going Back to My Roots" was co-arranged by Hugh Masekela and has a message that most can relate to: "zipping up my boots/ going back to my roots/ to the place of my birth/ back down to earth/ ain't talkin' 'bout no roots in the land/ talkin' 'bout the roots in the man." The 12" version of "Going Back to My Roots" is a collectible and the song was a 1981 disco hit for RCA Records group Odyssey ("Native New Yorker")." Richie Havens also has a dope version from the early eighties that is well worth checking out.

El Coco - Cocomotion '79
I had a crappy rip of this tune for years and only just copped the original and ripped it for your listening enjoyment. El Coco was the front for disco music producers Laurin Rinder and Michael Lewis. This song is basically a spacy remix of their 1977 disco hit "Cocomotion". The "Coco" that is not so suitably referenced in many of the "group's" songs is a not-so-subtle reference to the preferred disco-era narcotic. I really like this later version for its dubby production and subtle jazzy arrangements.

Gotta Be a Do-Right Man

2009-08-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

The new "ball & chain" making sure I play all the right records at the wedding party

Now that I'm a married man friends and strangers feel obliged to 1) ask me if my life is different now that I'm married; and 2) offer advice about surviving and prospering in married life.

So far, the answer to the first one is, "not yet" as we lived together for 2+ years before tying the knot. For the second bit of unsolicited info, I'm happy to receive suggestions as god knows I could use the help. The best piece of wisdom, received just moments ago was "choose your battles." My coworkers aren't the only ones with pearls of romantic wisdom . . .

Bobby Womack - Woman's Gotta Have It
The Poet of R&B here with his ode to "keepin' your thing together." Not only does this song have one of the baddest basslines in the history of music, but the lyrics are 100% truth.

Average White Band - T.L.C.
This gem from AWB's under-appreciated first album (with this cover and a later pressing called "Put It Where You Want It") sheds some light on how a lady likes to be treated . . . in the bedroom.

Now, if I had put more thought into this before leaving the house with only these two MP3s I woulda showcased something coming from a more respectable source, say a woman. My first thought would be Aretha's "Do Right Woman", but then I remembered that that song was written by two white, southern gentlemen, Dan Penn & Chips Moman. I guess that'll have to do for right now and anyhow it's pretty darn honest & accurate. I can say that because it's one of my wife's favorites.

This classic soul staple is a brilliant song this is because it can be sung by both man or woman and is equally poignant and powerful. Just check the lyrics below to see for yourself. Here's Etta James' version, recording in 1967 but not released until 1993.

Take me to heart
And I'll always love you
And nobody can make me do wrong
Take me for granted
Leaving love unshown
Makes will power weak
And temptation strong

A woman's only human
You should understand
She's not just a plaything
She's flesh and blood
Just like her man

If you want a do right
All days woman
You've gotta be a do right
All night man

Yeah, yeah
They say that it's a man's world
But you can't prove that by me
And as long as we're together baby
Show some respect for me

If you want a do right
All days woman
You've gotta be a do right
All night man

A woman's only human
This you should understand
She's not just a plaything
She's flesh and blood
Just like her man

If you want a do right
All days woman
You've gotta be a do right
All nights man
You've gotta be a do right
All nights man

Wax Poetics - Brazil Edition - Tim Maia

2009-08-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of time here today, but wanted to let everyone know that the new Wax Poetics is out and includes my newest feature on legendary Brazilian Soul Godfather, Tim Maia. I culled some awesome video clips together of the legend that you can peep over at Soul Spectrum Videos. I also found a download to one of my favorite Tim Maia albums, his 1976 album on Poydor. You can find it here on the Bossa Blog and check out Loronix for some other Tim Maia albums 1970 & 1973.

3, 2, 1 . . . Space Funk to the Future!

2009-08-03T10:29:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking about "space funk" for quite awhile. In fact, I have a special record box where I keep space-related records and obvious space funk gems for the day when I make the long awaited space funk mix. Given my dedication to the subgenre its a bit surprising that it's taken me this long to commit a Soul Spectrum post to the topic. No doubt that this will be the last, today we're just gonna dip our toes into the milky way of intergalactic funk.

I don't think many people would argue that George Clinton and his P-Funkateers were the first conquistadors of the interplanetary funk, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. What I find interesting and will surely comment on in a more detailed post (maybe accompanying the long-delayed Space Funk mix) is how for a solid decade or more (let's say 1968-1983) SPACE was a big inspiration for musicians, artists and civilians alike. Space represented a whole number of things. To some, like Manzel, it was an excuse to play with some pretty crazy keyboards. For Marvin, Space was a romantic getaway where you take a group tour and maybe do some space drugs ("no, this thing I got it ain't classified as dope, stuff I got from Venus, I had it all week, it's gettin' old, come on and try this new stuff with me baby") or take a spin in some futuristic sex machine (I'm thinking the "Orgasmatron" from Woody Allen's "Sleeper"). For some, like Marty Moore, or is it Maxwell - it's not clear who the artist is on this 45 - Space represents a scarier place where technology runs amok and we're stranded to deal with the "fall out." I love how the dance involves that "everybody, fall out!"

Don't underestimate the Space Funk as Dr. Funkenstein once said:

Funk upon a time
In the days of the Funkapus
The concept of specially-designed Afronauts
Capable of funkatizing galaxies
Was first laid on man-child
But was later repossessed
And placed among the secrets of the pyramids
Until a more positive attitude
Towards this most sacred phenomenon,
Clone Funk,
Could be acquired

There in these terrestrial projects
It would wait, along with its coinhabitants of kings and pharoahs
Like sleeping beauties with a kiss
That would release them to multiply
In the image of the chosen one:
Dr Funkenstein.
And funk is its own reward.
May I frighten you?

Manzel - Space Funk (extended version)

Maxwell (Marty Moore) - Radiation Funk

Marvin Gaye - A Funky Space Reincarnation (alternate extended mix)

"the goods" Radio,August 2nd

2009-08-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

David Rhyspan Holding it down for the Lads

1. Blackalicious f/ Chali 2na - "4000 Miles"

2. Shuggie Otis - "Sparkle City"

3. Stevie Wonder - "Tuesday Heartbreak"

4. Vijay Iyer - "Galang"

5. *Rich Brown & Rinsethealgorithm - "Forward Motion (in progress)"

6. *Kalmunity Jazz Collective - Untitled Track 1

7. Charlie Hunter - "Oakland"

8. *David Ryshpan (Incubator RMX) - "Dancing Serpent in Dawn's Quiet (Dilla's Quiet)"

9. Cheebacabra - "Auto-indexing"

10. Prespeus - "7 pm"

11. Woon & Subeena - "Solidify"

12. Juba Dance - "Hecky Naw"

13. Me'shell Ndegeocello f/ Sabina Sciubba - "Aquarium"

14. *Sarah Linhares - "Step Up"

15. Dave Douglas' Brass Ecstasy - "Mr. Pitiful"

16. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - "Ballicki Bone"

17. Herbaliser Band - "Geddim!"

18. Modulo 4 - "Cantiga para meu amor"

19. Azymuth - "Quanto vale um samba"

20. Copa 7 - "Fofoqueira"

21. Banda Black Rio - "Casa forte"

22. *Moonstarr - "Gonna Break it Down"

23. Ricardo Ray - "Richie's Jala Jala"

24. Yerba Buena - "Bote Bote Va"

25. The Soul Fantastics - "Ain't No Sunshine"

Thanks David !

Barney Wilen's African Adventure

2009-07-30T11:03:00.001-07:00

With the wedding just a couple weeks out I've been narrowing down and perfecting the various wedding playlists. Being a collector and DJ I'm naturally pretty particular about the music that will accompany possibly the most significant ceremony of my life. There will be no ABBA (sorry) and likely nothing else that has ever been featured in a TV commercial or any wedding movies. Jamie pretty much knows what she's getting herself into and for the most part enjoys my musical contributions to our shared life, but I've been intentionally playing her songs that I'm planning on putting on the wedding playlists. These Barney Wilen tunes are some that got strong support from the soon-to-be wife. I love the carefree vibe of these two tunes. They're really unlike anything else I can think of and I wish there was more out there that sounded like this, so if anyone has suggestions, leave em in the comments.

I don't know much about Barney Wilen, other than he's a French saxaphone player who graced many an American jazz leaders' group in the 50s and 60s when American expats were setting up shop in Paris. He then became pretty engrossed with the hippy scene, as evidenced by his "Dear Prof. Leary" album from the late 60s. The album from which these two tunes were pulled was released in 1971 on the French label Saravah, discussed here. The back story goes that Barney and friends spent two years travelling from Tangiers to Dakar and documented their trip musically and with film. The resulting album is a double LP that fetches a pretty penny when it comes up for auction in the original pressing (the image featured below) or the simpler, and less appealing reissue cover. Orgy in Rhythm has the album for download here.

Barney Wilen - Gardenia Devil
Both songs are making the wedding mix, despite the barely noticeable "f" word usage in this one. If it weren't for that I would think it would make a great kid's song. Maybe it still can? I mean I plan on being an open-minded parent and have every intention of raising my child(ren) on african jazz freakouts. You with me Jamie?

Barney Wilen - Zombizar
This one is the stomper. Man, I love this stuff.

M.J. Tribute - Trying To Be Like Mike

2009-07-22T22:08:00.000-07:00

It's interesting that for an artist as monumental as MJ there were not that many imitators trying to rip his style or even cover his songs. I mean, you hear more Prince wanna-bes than you do M.J. clones, but just because they don't try to fuck with his musical style doesn't mean they don't try to cop his visual aesthetic. Props to Sterling for sending me this great link. That being said, I did track down two interesting covers of some classic MJ tunes. Enjoy. This now concludes my MJ Tribute.

Os Tarantulas - Saiba Ser Feliz (Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough)

Slingshot - Do It Again/Billie Jean

M.J. Tribute - The Solo Years

2009-07-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

Here's round two (of three) of my M.J. Tributes . . . moving on to solo Michael. Not that I was alive back then, but what many people seem to gloss over is that it wasn't a forgone conclusion that Michael Jackson the adult was going to be a superstar. Sure, the pint-sized James Brown was a certified sensation, but as he morphed into a gangly teen and his voice wavered from the high-pitched, almost femenine tone to a more mature, yet still feminine, delivery there was a time there when the Jackson 5 were borderline irrelevant, circa 1975-1978ish. They had left Motown, signed to Epic and started recording with Gamble & Huff at Philly International as "The Jacksons" seeing as Motown owned their original name. It wasn't until 1978's "Destiny" album did you begin to see what a mature Michael sounded like. That album is basically a prequel to "Off the Wall".

The 2001 expanded reissue of "Off the Wall" featured some interesting demos of some of the classic songs from the album such as "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Workin' Day & Night". These demos, while far from superior to the original give a window into Michael's creative process and the ambiance in the home studio where he doubtless recorded these tracks with his brothers and sisters. This is Michael before the nose-job, before the glove and before the impenetrable security and back when he was really close to his siblings.

I found this 1980 issue of Jet magazine down at my local flea market and couldn't help but pick it up. It talks about Michael's production work on his sister Latoya's debut album (still looking for a cheap copy of this one that doesn't require eBay shipping).

Michael Jackson - Girl You're So Together
This is a strange album. I picked it up at the same place that had the "Joyful Jukebox Music" thinking it was more of the same: MJ from the Motown vaults. It is, but then again it ain't. The vocals were recorded back in the day but all of the instrumental tracks are from the early 1980s as this thing hit the stores in 1984. Sadly, the instrumental tracks are not graced by Quincy Jone's magic touch, but are done by some studio hacks I've never heard of. Most of these tracks plain BLOW, but the following two are at least worth hearing as they build on some pretty great vocal parts from Michael and these ones manage to stand above the rest because the 80s musical stylings are minimal. This first one is a Mizell Bros. composition like the one from the previous post. I can't help but dig the Mizell-MJ collaboration even if it got dumbed-down a decade later.

Michael Jackson - Touch The One You Love
This one's got a horrible opening, but the hook got to me.

Michael Jackson - Workin' Day & Night (original demo)
Like I said above, it's so great to hear Michael in his element working out one of his classic songs.

Michael Jackson - Baby Be Mine
This is probably new to few, but its probably my favorite non-obvious track off of Thriller. It's interesting, I was DJing a little gathering a few years back and there were a couple people that were a few years younger than me - let's say there were born in the 80s - and they had never heard this song! Thriller was such a huge album that for most anyone that was conscious when it came out, all the tracks are probably familiar, but for those who came to know MJ later, they may only know the big hits. Its a sad thing, but oh so true.

M.J. Tribute - The J5 Years

2009-07-21T22:18:00.000-07:00

So, I'm not sure if people are totally saturated with M.J.alia, but good tunes are good tunes and hopefully some of these will be new to some of you. I have a trio of posts coming in rapid succession that will begin with his early years with the Jackson Five. Michael was the star of the group from day one, but that doesn't mean he was always the lead-singer so I tried to pick out some songs that feature Michael on lead vocal duties, but some of these, like "Pride & Joy" is more of an ensemble performance, which is fitting as it was a rare Norman Whitfield produced/written number who was best known for his work with the Temptations.

I've tried to pick out some album cuts, a live cover/medley and a couple of selections from the motown vaults after the bros. left Soulsville, USA.

The Jackson Five - Ready Or Not (Here I Come)
Most people know this one because of the Fugees and I have to say its my favorite tune of theirs, but that doesn't mean the J5 version is no less definitive. The song was penned by Thom Bell and the Delfonics did the song first in 1969.

The Jackson Five - Walk On/The Love You Save (live)
This soundtrack/live album is a strange one with some real through away tracks (the title track for one), but the real money is in the live cover tunes they do (Sly, Dave Mason and Isaac Hayes on the above cut). Instead of doing a full version of "Walk On By" as interpreted by Ike the J5 just use it as a heavy and funky opening riff for their hit "The Love You Save". I guess that's why they didn't use the full name of the song and just "Walk On."

The Jackson Five - It's Your Thing
This cover tune was previously unreleased when the 1995 Soulsation box set came out. I got the single disc compilation (picture above) around when it came out and this was my go-to party joint.

The Jackson Five - Pride & Joy
Like I said above, this tune was written and produced by Norman Whitfield and his trademark sound is unmistakable from that opening drum roll. Not a truly classic J5 cut, but I can't help sharing the intersection of Whitfield and Michael.

The Jackson Five - Love Is The Thing You Need
Another cool cut from this Joyful Jukebox Music compilation is this great Mizell Bros. composition and production. One of the hidden secrets of Motown is the membership of the elusive "Corporation" that produced many J5 tunes. Its been said that Freddie Perren (a friend and frequent Mizell Bros. collaborator) and Fonce Mizell were active members of the corporation, but this cut is penned by both main Mizell bros. and showcases early elements of their trademark sound.

Next up, the Solo Years . . .

Brazilian Funk Explosion!

2009-07-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

Apologies for my absence. As you may have read in the past, I'm getting married later this summer and that's been keeping me plenty busy. Add to that the work that needed to get done for the upcoming Wax Poetics issue, which will be all about Brazilian music, of which yours truly contributed four unique journalistic morsels (one big one on the late, great Tim Maia). With that theme in mind I present to you a super dope mix from my main man DJ Cliffy whose Black Rio 2 I very favorably reviewed for said forthcoming issue of WP and which you should be able to buy now or very soon.

The downloadable mix features a tight selection of cuts from the generous comp. You can get it here on zShare or here on mediafire.

Or, you can just stream it here.
DJ Cliffy - Black Rio 2 Mix

I'll be back sometime soon with some more Brazilian goodies, some MJ rarities and more. Also, if you haven't heard the new Mayer Hawthorne joint, you should. Yes, it's a cover, but for my two cents Mr. Hawthorne one-upped the original.

R.I.P. M.J.

2009-06-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all of the music!

Michael Jackson is the king of the dance party, now and forever.

You will be missed.

Promo Only! These jamz are not for sale.

2009-06-25T10:51:00.000-07:00

Here are two great sides from A&M of the Brazilian variety that for whatever reason never made it out as a commercial release. The promotional only white label release is an interesting thing as the reason for its limited release can be a result of a number of different situations. Maybe they tested them out as promos to see if there was interest and there wasn't . . . Maybe the group switched record labels, which could be the case for both of these as the Sergio track was supposedly recorded during the sessions for the "Primal Roots" album on A&M and the following album, Love Music, came out on Bell in 1973. Tamba 4 released two albums on A&M before moving back to Brazil and while I have no idea when this single came out, I think it was after their two albums as the song "California Soul" didn't see the light of day until 1968 when the 5th Dimension and Marvin & Tammi recorded it. We may never know why these records were never released commercially, but I think it's fair to say it wasn't because of poor quality.

Sergio Mendes & Brazil '77 - The Crab (Karan - gai - jo)
This song is great for a number of reasons: 1) It's a Joao Donato original tune that was far as I know was never recorded by anyone other than Sergio's troop; 2) It comes from the sessions for one of Sergio's most underrated albums "Primal Roots" which saw Sergio getting back to roots and its the one album that actually sounds like some other stuff being released in Brazil from the same time period; and lastly, 3) It's freakin' weird. Listen to that strange scream in the background!

Tamba 4 - California Soul
Sure, there's no shortage of cover versions of "California Soul", but how many feature whispy portuguese accented vocals and strange organ sounds? Just this one.

Grab Bag Across the Soul Spectrum

2009-06-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile . . . apologies. I'm gonna blame it on wedding planning, but not sure that really explains it. To make it up to you I'm giving you a grab-bag of 45s I've picked up around San Francisco at a Ricky's in the Lower Haight and a garage sale in Glen Park of all places. Enjoy.

Harvey Scales & The 7 Sounds - Get Down
A bit beat up, but still very listenable. This one must have been during that "freeze" dance craze. I love that "freeze" breakdown. "Don't move a muscle!"

Maxayn - Check Out Your Mind
The classic Mayfield cut done by the strange gender and racially mixed Maxayn. Interesting fact: The disco auteur Mandre, was the brains behind this band.

J.J. Jackson - I Dig Girls
I don't know anything about this guy, but I LOVE this song. A simple message that I can relate to.

Hugh Masekela - Gettin' It On
Man, this one blew my socks off. Talk about early Afro-funk, this takes James Brown's chicken- scratch and pairs it with Hugh's layered horns. money.

Sweet Samba from the Cow's Hoof

2009-06-05T10:06:00.000-07:00

It's Friday and we could all use a little sweetness to get the weekend started right. Proper. I remember picking up this album from a used record shop in a Rio de Janeiro Galleria. I was just starting to dabble in samba and this looked like as good a place as any to start. I was right. This album is from an old war-horse of rootsy samba. Manoel Conceição aka Mão De Vaca, which means cow's hoof, is ferocious guitar player who's been active since the 1950s, though finding any info about him's difficult. He released this album more than a decade earlier (I love this 1963 version of a fly girl in her short shorts - how scandalous!).

Manoel Conceição (Mão De Vaca) - Disse Me Disse
I absolutely love the production on this record. The whole thing swings like crazy, but it also sounds very clean. Like J Thyme says on his blog, "A real jewel in the crown of the RCA sound." Particularly, I love the female chorus, so sweet.

Manoel Conceição (Mão De Vaca) - Não Põe A Mão
The title of this one says, "Don't Lay a Hand" on my guitar. During the breakdown about 2/3 through Mão De Vaca says something like, 'you can dance the samba with my lady, but please don't touch my guitar.'

Peter Thomas Brasileiro

2009-06-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

Not the German Peter Thomas, but the Brazilian organist. Sure, he looks old, white and decidedly un-funky, but listen for yourself. This guy made his name churning out 1960s organ dance records much like Ed Lincoln, but it wasn't until after he played keys for Tim Maia in the studio, that he really turned the funky corner.

The LP that these two tracks are drawn from is one of those impossible to google albums. It's obscurity is compounded by the artist sharing the same name with tens of thousands of other Peter Thomases, but also with a much more famous German Peter Thomas musician.

I might add a photo later if I can remember, but the cover to this one is awesome in that cheap-o photoshop style: an early 1970s keyboard, maybe an organ, floating in the deepest darkest space and the words: O Melhor do Peter Thomas (The Best of Peter Thomas). That's it. The whole album rules with these standout instrumental tracks leading the charge. The rest of the album is more samba flavored with that great female vocal chorus sound I love so much.

Peter Thomas - Afrikan Bossa

Peter Thomas - Pan-Latino

Mais Verocai

2009-05-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

I was mentioning in my Arthur Verocai post that Carlos Dafe killed it on "Pelas Sombras" and a recent email from Mochilla put that video in my inbox.

After Hours Brazilian Jazz

2009-05-27T12:23:00.001-07:00

The funny thing about eBay is that sometimes a search will lead me to a seller who has other interesting records that I wouldn't have thought to search for, but I put them in my "watched items" satchel and see what happens. In this case, I lost the auction that brought me to this seller and ended up getting another record from the same seller. The record in question was Manfredo Fest's "After Hours" on Daybreak Records from 1972. Loronix has the full rip here (but let me say I thought the rip to be sub-par, which is why I re-ripped my favorites and am posting for your listening pleasure below)

You might remember the blind Brazilian keyboard player from his solo records in brazil or maybe his stint in the Sergio Mendes mentored group Bossa Rio (I did a post a while back where you can hear Manfredo's organ go head to head with Joao Donato's piano). After Bossa Rio Manfredo settled down in Minneapolis and struck out on his own with "After Hours." He had a couple more solo albums in the 1970s-1990s and passed away in 1999. You can find seven of his albums on Loronix and a full biography here.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this album as it grooves along nicely with solid Brazilian touches, but doesn't try to too hard to come off as authentic. Manfredo's playing is excellent as he switches between Fender Rhodes, Hammon B-3 and acoustic piano. The only original is the killer "Bossa Rock Blues" and the other two are from soundtracks, I believe. Enjoy!

Manfredo Fest - Amanda
Manfredo Fest - Bossa Rock Blues
Manfredo Fest - Moondust

Lounge Music for Hipsters

2009-05-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

It's not easy to peg Gary McFarland's music. At first glance he's an arranger and occasional musician or soloist, but chancing upon his 1969 album on Skye Records (he was a co-founder with Gabor Szabo and Cal Tjader) you get an entirely different view of the artist. This album lands somewhere in between light jazz, lounge music, bossa nova and jazz renditions of pop hits, but even that fails to capture the texture of most of this album. The arrangements call just as much on Smile-era Beach Boys as they do on middle of the road sixties exotica. He dares to take on Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" a challenging tune to cover to say the least. He also taps the recent musical immigrant, Airto Moreira, to solo with the traditional Brazilian percussion instrument, the berimbau, on the tune by the same name. After listing to the album obsessively for the past few months I have come to the realization that this must have been cool-out music for the sophisticated jazz hipsters. This is no Martin Denny, but its still just as passive in that it makes for great background music. But every now and then a particular movement, vocal harmony or percussive breakdown reveals its true complexity.

It's this complexity that is McFarland's lasting legacy. On the surface he didn't appear to be making music that was that different from his peers, but repeat listens reveal a depth of understanding of musical textures, memorable melodies and subtle, yet excellent musicianship. I'm still exploring McFarland's output, but this particular album is a special one for me. There are a number of cool songs here, but the following three selections really stand out. McFarland's story is a tragic and bizarre one as the story goes he was dosed with liquid methadone while drinking with a friend at a New York City bar and died instantly. One can only imagine in which direction he would have taken his music, had he survived. You can check out Doug Payne's excellent tribute here.

Gary McFarland - Because

Gary McFarland - Suzanne

Gary McFarland - Berimbau

Disco Monster #7 & #1 redux

2009-05-08T10:32:00.002-07:00

Cameo - I Just Want To Be
Most of you will recognize the opening guitar riff from its appropriation in the Beastie Boys' Paul Boutique album. I can't believe I didn't have this song before getting this 12" EP. I gotta catch up on my Cameo . . . Word Up!

Brenda & the Tabulations - Let's Go (All The Way Down) Danny Krivit re-edit
The very first Disco Monster was the album cut of this very song. I have to say finding this Casablanca 12" EP reaffirmed my love for this song as none other than the Mr. K gave it a tasty re-edit back in 1985. I remember thinking there should be a 12" version and my initial research didn't turn anything up, but a little dig in the junky-ass flea market on San Pablo Ave. in Oakland proved the internets wrong.

The Sound of a Phenomenal Band Clapping

2009-05-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

It's cool to be able to observe a band's development from their beginnings as they plot and plan and record and gig and generally just try to make it in this crazy music industry. My good friend Sean is one part of the Embassy Sound Productions duo which is the nerve center of The Phenomenal Handclap Band. I remember Sean talking about everything from recording sessions, songwriting and label shopping so its great to see them getting some attention lately.

One thing I can say about PHCB is that they are not one of those, 'oh, we were just jamming one day and decided to form a band' kind of groups. No. Daniel Collas and Sean Marquand started with a vision, a sound and they built their band to play the songs and to project the aesthetic in mind. Now, I'm sure there have been changes along the way, but its refreshing to see a musical and aesthetic vision being fleshed out in real life. Sure, you might be saying, most "pop" music starts with a concept and then the evil record companies hire songwriters and pretty faces to embody the concept. These guys are way more old-school in that respect, more like Phil Spector or Motown's "The Corporation" - they have a musical vision and have pulled together the best team they could to make it sound and feel just the right way.

Listening to their soon to be released album (June 23, 2009) there are lots of different styles represented and unlike other old-school styled bands (Sharon Jones, El Michel's, etc) these guys don't stick that closely to tried and true genres. Some songs have a Brazilian flare (Sean is one part of the Brazilian Beat Brooklyn DJ duo and also produced, with Daniel, the Banda Uniao Black "comeback" album from a few years back), some chunky & funky seventies rock (think James Gang, Three Dog Night or Doobie Brothers), dance-floor funk (think Sly & the Family Stone), soundtrack moodiness and quirky soul music (think The Sylvers). Visually they have a coherent presentation in the couple shows I've seen with everyone dressed in white and a nod to Sergio Mendes' combos in their twin female vocalists. It's really something impressive to see.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band - Baby
YOU MUST CLICK ON THE ABOVE PLAYER TO LISTEN TO THIS TRACK - the Yahoo Media Player won't play this one.
This is their first single released stateside on Truth & Soul. I had the good fortune to see the core band members play this one at Sean's wedding last summer. I've ordered mine, have you? You can buy this single on Truth & Soul's website.

Another standout track ("15-20") has been released in the UK in limited supply, so grab it now before it's gone.

Some videos of them in action:
"You'll Disappear" - Live at The Rivington Lounge in New York City

"I've Been Born Again" - Live at SxSW and captured by NPR Music

Here's some great press they've gotten lately:
Playboy's 10 Bands To Watch For.
PHCB in NME
PHCP on Radio 1
MySpace/Blogosphere:
The Phenomenal Handclap Band on MySpace
The Band's blog

Azymix Re-upped @ Mojo Knights

2009-04-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

Sir Mojo Knight asked me to share my "Azymix" mix over at Mojo Knights and happily obliged. This time we've added a track list, which should be posted shortly. Check it out here.

T.G.I. Mutha Funkin' Friday!

2009-04-24T10:00:00.004-07:00

It's about time we leave Brazil and get back to home turf for some smokin' tunes perfect for getting ready for the weekend. I'm still neck-deep in Tim Maiania, but everyone needs a break sometimes. I'm sure he'll be making another appearance here in not too long. Today's post has been in the procrastinating for months, if not years. A while back I chance upon two excellent disco 12"s that had a theme in common - Friday Night! And then I remembered another great Friday song that couldn't be more different in style than disco, but that's why this blog is called "Soul Spectrum", because I don't keep to one genre, but just play what I want, when I want and today its kick-ass Friday tunes!

Black Oak Arkansas - Hot Rod (live)
I got this record back in the glory days of 50 cent records at Everyday Music in Portland, OR. My brother and Mr. Morgan turned me on to this digging "technique" back in the summer of 2001 as I was just beginning to fill out my crates with everything from disco to rock. I found this album and quickly realized that this group was on a whole nother level. If Lynyrd Skynyrd is the poor-man's Allman Brothers' Band, then Black Oak Arkansas is the illiterate, inbred-man's Lynyrd Skynyrd. Fronted by a long-haired hillbilly by the name of "Big" Jim Dandy (who plays electrified washboard), these guys have no shame about their Southern pastimes (Hot Rod) or the Arkansas weather forecast (Hot & Nasty) or their dystopic visions of the future (Mutants of the Monster). I also liked that this live album was recorded in Seattle and Portland, confirming that the pasty-white Pacific Northwest is a not-too-distant cousin of the southern poor-white-trash. This song is all about the opening monologue and is specifically why its starts off today's Friday playlist.

Bell & James - Livin' It Up (Friday Nite)
And now we make the not-so-subtle transition to our disco double-whammy. This one I came across on some "Paradise Garage Classics" mix and managed to score the 12" at a flea market in Brooklyn. Pretty straight-ahead late 70s disco just the way I like it. The instrumental break-down is particularly nice.

The Fantastic Aleems featuring Leroy Burgess - Get Down Friday Nite
I snagged this one for a pretty penny from a friend, DJ Gerald McBoing Boing and though I rarely spend more than a couple bucks on a 12", this one was well worth it. Here we have the identical twins, the Aleem brothers, with some help from boogie-king Leroy Burgess getting us ready for the weekend. I absolutely love the use of the keyboards on this to create a kind of dissonant effect which makes the production stand out all the more.

Freeez - Southern Freeez (LP version)
OK, so this song has nothing explicitly to do with Friday, but I chanced upon it while reorganizing and remembered that I had wanted to blog about it. I have listened to it at least a half dozen times in the past 24 hours and need to share it with the rest of you. Josh Nice bought this for me on eBay and it just arrived unannounced in my mailbox. Many thanks, JC! I was also reminded of this song because I came across this album on the ever-great "My Jazz World" blog. This song is one of those "Greatest Feeling" kinda jams. And I guess that's what makes it a great Friday song. Just get in that ecstatic weekend mind state and rock to this.

If You Think ... Roberto Carlos Is Just a Douche

2009-04-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

. . . then you haven't been checking the song-writing credits on your favorite artists' best songs. Roberto is the better-known half of one of Brazil's best known and loved songwriting teams. Along with brother - from - another - mother Erasmo, Roberto wrote some classic pop tunes that were covered by a broad spectrum of MPB artists. Today, we're just gonna take one of his songs more popular songs from the late 60s and show you how a wide variety of Brazilian musicians from across the musical spectrum covered this classic jam.

Roberto Carlos - Se Você Pensa
"Se Você Pensa" was originally recorded for Roberto's 1967 album "O Inimitavel". The groove and hook are clearly in place on the original version and both of these elements are experimented with on the subsequent covers. The song is basically an ultimatum to a selfish lover, but I could have the lyrics wrong. For Roberto it's got the best of both worlds: love and anger, both of which he emotes pretty convincingly.

Gal Costa - Se Você Pensa
One of the next cover versions came from the queen of Tropicalia, Gal Costa. You can hear the fuzz quotient getting increased significantly and the aggressive lyrics getting more snarl and bite from the young and adventurous Gal on her first solo album.

Wilson das Neves - Se Você Pensa
Funky drummer Wilson das Neves takes on this classic on his 1969 album and really speeds up the tempo. This is the first of three instrumental covers of this song and you can hear that even in an instrumental the song has legs and can really run!

Eliana Pittman - Se Você Pensa
I had the great pleasure of catching Ms. Pittman perform at a small restaurant / bar in downtown São Paulo back in the summer of 2004. She's a marvelous vocalist that has excelled in the jazz field as well as the samba scene and even doing funkier material. This album from 1969 has her stretching out on her own following the passing of her father, the famous American horn player Booker Pittman, who she recorded with prior to this album. I'm not sure who's playing behind her, but whoever it is THEY SMOKE! Just check out her immaculate phrasing on her cover of today's tune.

Som Tres - Se Você Pensa
Another instrumental groover from the always excellent Som Tres. From the same year as the Eliana and Wilson versions, but with a unique approach nonetheless.

Luiz Eça - Se Você Pensa
There were two versions of this tune by Luiz Eça to choose from, this one and the one from his super-rare Luiz Eça y La Sagrada Familia, which has vocals and was recorded in Mexico. This version opens with a huge drum break and proceeds to jazz it up a bit.

Moraes Moreira - Se Você Pensa
The final version is from several years later, 1975, and was recorded by one of Novos Baianos' frontmen, Moraes Moreira, for his first solo album. He only recorded one cover song on this album and he choose to take on Roberto's iconic tune with a proto-punk high-speed guitar onslaught. This track was also featured on the Brazilian soap opera soundtrack for the show "Pecado Capital."

Roberto Carlos . . . yes, that Roberto Carlos (unless you're referring to the soccer player)

2009-03-31T21:20:00.000-07:00

My foray into Tim Maia mania brought us to one of Tim Maia's early band-mates from the Sputnik's, Roberto Carlos. This led to me dragging out the few Roberto Carlos LPs I own and ripping the best tracks from them. We're gonna have another Roberto Carlos post in a little bit, where we compare versions of one of his most famous songs, "Se Voce Pensa." But for now we're gonna sample some of his best songs from the three albums I own.

Roberto is like the Elvis of Brazil and maybe because of this is referred to as "O Rei" or "The King". Along with his brother-from-another-mother Erasmo Carlos and Wanderlea, they formed the holy trinity of Jovem Guarda, or Young Guard rock n' roll in mid-60s Brazil. I've been seriously researching and enjoying Brazilian music for over ten years now and only recently have I come to really appreciate Roberto's work. He's best known for his often syrupy, romantic ballads so that was an initial turn-off, but when I chanced upon his 1969 album with "Nao Vou Ficar" (among other great tunes) my interest was piqued. What I like about this period of his, honestly the only period I know, is that 1) the up-tempo number really swing with great horn arrangements and some killer songs with great melodies and memorable lyrical hooks. The hits among these songs are iconic hits that most Brazilians know by heart. Roberto's voice is an acquired taste; it's simultaneously fragile and urgent. The combination of his vocals and the great band make for some interesting Brazilian rock gems. According to DJ Greg Caz, the execs at CBS spared no expense on Roberto's records and from as early as the late 1960s sent Roberto to L.A. to record his albums with session musicians there. That might explain why Roberto's records showed a funkier, tougher R&B sound earlier than contemporary Brazilian recordings from some of his Jovem Guarda peers, Tim Maia being one of them.

Roberto and his songwriting partner, Erasmo, were adored and jokingly mimicked by Tropicalistas Caetano, Gil and Gal. Gal covered most of Roberto's hits from this period and you'll get a taste of one of those in the next Roberto Carlos post. That's probably how I first heard of him, specifically Gal's namedropping of Roberto and Erasmo following her shout-outs to her Tropicalista comrades on her tune "Meu Nome e Gal", which was actually written by Roberto and Erasmo! So, clearly, the lines were blurred between the Tropicalists and the Jovem Guarda crews. Erasmo's 1971 record would blur the lines even more by employing Sergio Dias and Lanny Gordin to play on his album.

Roberto Carlos - Não Há Dinheiro Que Pague
A classic record from 1968 with some huge hits such as "Se Voce Pensa" and the following song, "Eu Te Amo". I don't think this one was a huge hit, but it's pretty great nonetheless!

Roberto Carlos - Eu Te Amo, Te Amo
A great slow-burner that's a Jovem Guarda classic.

Roberto Carlos - As Curvas da Estrada de Santos
Another slow-burner from this classic album that also includes Tim Maia's "Nao Vou Ficar."

Roberto Carlos - Se Eu Pudesse Voltar Ao Tempo
This album has a couple great tunes, but I couldn't recognize any "hits" that I'm aware of as far as being covered by others. The opening horn arrangement on this one reminds me of "Baby" from Erasmo Carlos' 1976 album. It's also screaming out to be sampled . . .

Sonia Melo - Eu Te Amo, Te Amo
I can't even remember when or how I got this record, but I picked this tune out from the mostly crap selection. Sonia's version has a great hyperactive bass player and some very groovy keyboards. Just to show how prolific and popular Roberto and Erasmo were, this album was made up entirely of their songs.

Check out some AWESOME Roberto Carlos videos on Soul Spectrum Videos!

Tim Maia Mania - Raridades, Part 2

2009-03-30T09:39:00.001-07:00

Back with some more Tim Maia rareness, this time from a little later in his career and again limited to "covers" or guest vocal spots for the Brazilian Soul Brother Number One. At the end of last "episode" our hero was on the verge of becoming one of Brazil's biggest pop stars. His first four albums sold extremely well and he was regularly sending singles into the Brazilian top-40 orbit. So much so that his style and even his songs were getting play from other established and up and coming artists.

Brazilian Boys - Nossa Senhora do Tim
The Brazilian Boys were a group of mostly white dudes playing portuguese language cover versions of Simon & Garfunkel and Johnny Nash and dabbling in the dancable "Samba Rock" style coming out of Sao Paulo. Their best song from this album (I believe their first, though they do have another one) is a cover/adaptation of Tim Maia's "Salve Nossa Senhora" from his second album. They basically cover the song but add the line "que Tim Maia falou" which means "what Tim Maia said."

During Tim's golden years he declined nearly every offer to guest on other people's a semi-official position based on two factors: 1) Tim's ego was too large to play second-fiddle to anyone, and 2) Tim had his own style that no one else really came close to and he was notoriously difficult to work with. So it was only at the beginning of his career, when he needed the boost, and as his career started losing steam that he teamed up with other artists for some notable duets or collaborations.

Rosana - Chegou a Hora (with Tim Maia)
Thanks to Elan aka DJ E-Zinho for this one. I had never even heard of this 1979 collaboration and the otherwise exhaustive Nelson Motta book makes no mention of it either. This was from Rosana's first album and despite being a fairly major recording artist, this album is poorly documented online, hence the poor cover image. It makes some sense that Tim would be on this recording as the players, producers and song-writers on her album were basically the same people on his albums from the period: Lincoln Olivetti, Robson Jorge, Tiberio Gaspar, etc. And the sound is pure Lincoln Olivetti & Robson Jorge - the Quincy Jones of late 70s and early 80s R&B. What is strange about this is that initially Tim only agreed to guest on songs of his close friends, first Fabio and Hyldon and then (as we shall see below) Erasmo Carlos . . . but, Rosana?!? He must have had the hots for Rosana, or was financially in pinch, which was usually the reason for any collaboration during the second half of his career (1980 and on . . .)

Erasmo Carlos - Alem do Horizonte (with Tim Maia)
Erasmo's last decent album features the Brazilian king of rock dueting on every track with a veritable who's who of Brazilian superstars. Tim joins Erasmo on a classic Roberto & Erasmo composition that once again shows obvious signs of Olivettiana. The sounds might be a bit dated, but I love the horns and Tim really does wonders on this track, making Erasmo sound like the guest vocalist.

Check back soon for some deep cuts from the man himself.

R.I.P. Joe Cuba - From Radio Rios

2009-03-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

Check out a personal and touching tribute to the King of Spanish Harlem, Joe Cuba, from Soul Spectrum contributer Radio Rios.

Tim Maia Mania - Raridades, Part 1

2009-03-26T23:08:00.001-07:00

I'm in full Tim Maia Mania. I'm finishing up Nelson Motta's excellent biography of the man, the myth, the legend aka Tiao Marmiteiro, Tiao Maconheiro, Jimmy the Brazilian, O Rei do Samba Soul - Tim Maia. I decided to take this mania public and I'll be posting some classics and some obscurities for as long as I can stand it, which could be awhile.

Also, I IMPLORE you to check out this clip I posted over at Soul Spectrum Videos that features some ridiculously rare Tim Maia footage from his Racional phase as well as from his excellent post-Racional 1976 album. Jaw-dropping stuff here.

In researching Tim's life its interesting to note that his success was almost single-handedly attributable to his own charisma and single-minded vision of becoming a rock n' roll star. Unlike today where an iota of talent and millions in marketing dollars can make a star, Tim was about as pure a star as you can imagine. He fought every known stereotype and triumphed to become one of Brazil's biggest pop stars of all time. He was fat, black, irresponsible, a stoner, a coke-head, a philanderer, was momentarily a cult-member, he was imprisoned in the US and Brazil multiple times and yet he still managed to stay in the limelight for over two decades.

This success did not come easy. He was deported from the US back to Brazil in 1964 after being caught in a stolen car with weed in his possession. Back in Brazil, he hit the ground running and immediately tried to get in contact with his old friends from Barra de Tijuca who had miraculously become huge teen idols: Roberto and Erasmo Carlos (no relation). Leveraging their fame and access to benefit Tim was easier said than done as these two "safe", white pop stars were hesitant about promoting an unkempt, mostly homeless, fat, black soul singer on their shows, even if he had taught them both how to play guitar. First off, nobody in Brazil knew what soul music was . . . at least at that time.

Tim managed to put out two singles in 1968 and 1969 and neither did very well and both are extremely rare. Part of their failure had to do with the incongruence of Tim's vision for Brazilian soul music and the record label's inability to properly reproduce that beat-heavy, funky sound. Tim's initial success was going to have come through writing for and producing other artists, those less black and fat than he.

Roberto Carlos - Não Vou Ficar
Tim managed to sneak into Roberto Carlos' swanky apartment building and waited for the "King" of Jovem Guarda to come home. He demanded Roberto put him on his show. Roberto compromised and agreed to record a song of Tim's, but not the one that Tim was pitching that day. He wanted something a little rougher, something with some teeth and that contagious funky soul sound that Tim knew better than anyone in Brazil. Tim came up with this song and it became a huge hit for Roberto. When you compare it with Tim's version, from his second solo album from two years later, Roberto's version sounds like muzak, but for the time, and for Roberto, this was cutting edge. Roberto's soul shouts kinda sound more like soul whimpers.

Eduardo Araujo - Você
Around the same time Tim connected with another Jovem Guarda star, Eduardo Araujo, who was taken by the soul sounds emanating from the US and together with Tim Maia's album put together one of the very first Brazilian soul albums. Tim arranged all the songs, translated all the lyrics from English to Portuguese, sang back-up and even contributed one of his songs, "Voce". The song would be a hit when Tim recorded it, again for his second solo album from 1971. This version also pales in comparison, but I think it's worth a listen.

Eduardo Araujo - A Mulher
This is Eduardo and Tim's version of one of my all time favorite soul songs, James Brown's "Cold Sweat". Enough said.

Elis Regina with Tim Maia - These Are the Songs
This is the one that put Tim on the map, because it was the first BIG record that actually had his voice on it. This duet with Elis Regina also introduced him to his future record label, Polydor and his future producer, good friend and ultimate biographer, Nelson Motta. Unlike the other songs here, THIS is the best version. Tim redid this song solo on his third album, but the later version lacks the chemistry of this recording.

Trio Esperança - Primavera
This cover version of one of Tim's big hits from his first album must have been recorded right after his version came out, because this one is also from 1970. The song was recorded by one of the best known family groups from the Jovem Guada and later, the Brazilian soul scene, Trio Esperanca. The song was written by Tim's friend and soul parter Cassiano.

Arthur Verocai live with 36-piece orchestra

2009-03-17T07:42:00.000-07:00

When I first heard about Mochilla's plan to bring the all-but-forgotten Brazilian musician, arranger and cult-favorite Arthur Verocai to L.A. to perform his self-titled 1972 album live, I was kind of dumbfounded. Really, of all the people to invite, why pick this footnote from Brazilian MPB (Musica Popular Brasil ie "mainstream, sophisticated pop music" think Elis Regina or Milton Nascimento)? Verocai is about as obscure in Brazil as David Axelrod is here in the states, except that Verocai only had one release under his own name until 2005. Having witnessed the performance first hand this past weekend I finally get the vision of Mochilla front-man Brian Cross (and friends) who came up with this idea.

First off, the original album is phenomenal and perfectly suited for this grandiose performance with a string section, horn section, percussionists, two keyboard players, two guitarists and alternating stand-up and electric bass . . . and most importantly the ensemble pulled it off perfectly. The performance sounded great. Secondly, it was staggering to think that this was the first time that these songs had ever been performed live and the second time they have been performed at all (the first time being in the studio and most likely that wasn't all 36 pieces playing live at the same time). Lastly, it was a great concept to take this relatively obscure document from 1972 performed in 2009 and restoring it to its deserved place in history. Bottom line is that this recording may be extremely obscure and therefore considered esoteric, but the music is so good it deserves to be heard and in its original form, or better than that its original form performed LIVE!

Congrats to the entire Mochilla crew for a great show!

Even though he has a new album out on Far Out, called Encore, and his original 1972 self-titled album was reissued by Ubiquity, both are now out of print or at least out of stock at Dustygroove. If you wanna know how much OG Verocai-related vinyl goes for, here's a sampling. I personally know of one person (DJ Nuts) who owns an original Arthur Verocai album.

I can't not mention the universe of stars and legendary musicians that were part of these 36 pieces. You can kind of make them out in the picture, so I'll try to point them out in the picture.

1) Arthur Verocai, man of the hour (center stage in suit, very skinny, clapping in direction of the string section)
2) Airto Moreira (right below the bottom right corner of the screen)
3) Ivan "Mamao" Conti, drummer from Azymuth (middle, clapping hands with white hair)
4) Carlos Dafe (below Airto with "panama hat")
5) Jose Roberto Bertrami, keyboards from Azymuth - played Hammond B-3 for the show (furthest right in white baseball cap)
6) Justo Almario, saxophone (in red shirt on far left clapping and bit blurry)

Arthur Verocai - Presente Grego
This is for the beat-heads. What a great thing to hear those horn swells live!
Arthur Verocai - Pelas Sombras
What I didn't know until recently was that the male vocal on the original recording was noneother than Carlos Dafe and he was in the flesh for the performance as well. He killed it on this one! A soaring and impassioned vocal part that made my hair stand on end!

Arthur Verocai - Caminho da Roça
A chill instrumental from his new album.

Arthur Verocai - Bis (featuring Azymuth)
Azymuth chipped in on a couple tracks on his new album. This is one of my favorites. Overall, the 1972 album is better but this is a very respectable follow up. And when he performed it was difficult to tell the new songs from the old having not memorized either album . . .

I just found this great interview of Verocai from recently explaining his new album "Encore" and his background:

A clip from the performance courtesy of Mochilla:

For more Verocai listening check out Loronix.

Update: Entire Newport in New York album here!

2009-03-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

A quick post here to end the week on. I've been out sick with the flu for longer than I can remember being sick for a LONG time. four out of five days and the day I did go into work I had to leave an hour early because I was exhausted. I'm finally feeling well enough to rise out of my flannel sheets and make a quick blog post (or two - check WW&W for some countrified Arthur Russell)

I picked up this LP for cheap some time back mainly for Donny Hathaway's live version of "Valdez in the Country" but I was pleasantly surprised to find a handful of gems on this album. If you're curious about why Newport was in New York, I found this article from Time magazine backinthday. I've included my favorites here.

Ray Charles - Every Saturday Night (live)
Ray Charles in the seventies, still keeping with the times with this funky good times number. I wish ever saturday night was like this in my neighborhood! I'll pass this weekend as I'm still recovering, but this is gonna be my blueprint for next weekend.

Aretha Franklin - Brand New Me (live)

Ray Charles - Just a Man (live)

The Staple Singers - You're Gonna Make Me Cry (live)
My favorite deep soul weeper done to perfection originally by O.V. Wright, but Mavis and fam really stretch out the pain on this one and give an excellent reading.

Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered (live)
Sure, we've all heard this one a thousand times as its been featured in every rom-com in the last two decades, but have you ever heard it live and funky? I didn't think so. There's a bootleg out there of Steve live around this time by the sound quality kinda sucks and I can't say I listen to it very much. I was psyched to hear this, because this is what I would expect Stevie live in 1974 to sound like.

Donny Hathaway - Valdez in the Country (live)
Donny says something at the beginning of this tune about how we all know what "Valdez in the Country" stands for. Sadly, Donny, I for one have no idea what you're talking about. Anyone out there have any clue? Here's a link to an interesting article about Donny's live recordings.

The Staple Singers - And the Lord Will Hear (live)

The Ambassador Presents . . . AZYMIX!

2009-03-02T16:41:00.001-08:00

The Ambassador - Azymix (Crazy Samba)
This was a long time in the procrastinating . . . I had been planning on making an all Azymuth mix since they had their long-awaited show in L.A. this past summer. The mix runs just a bit over an hour and covers some of their more rare collaborations, appearances, exclusive tracks and songs where the trio (Jose Roberto Bertrami, piano and keyboards; Alexandre Malheiros, Bass; and Ivan Conti (aka Mamao), Drums) made up the core of the band. I hope you enjoy and if you want to know what or who a particular track is, just post a comment including at what minute:seconds the track commences.

O Som Dos Blacks

2009-02-24T21:42:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of Brazilian DJ records from the 1970s. Taking a look at the tracks that were picked and all of the pictures and documentation of that era is like a secret window into a scene that is long gone. Sure, the Baile Funk parties that continue to rage in the same neighborhoods of Rio owe alot to their precursors such as the the parties thrown by Luizinho Disc Jockey Soul and his cohorts. This particular LP is from 1977 and shows what the height of the Black Rio DJ scene was all about. This album has got some serious funk on it and most of it is pretty deep. I've picked my favorite four cuts from here, but there are some other great ones to sample. If this scene is interesting to you and you wanna learn more, check out Thomas Fawcett's excellent website - Brazil Soul Power. Further down, I embedded a clip from the film "City of God" otherwise known as "Cidade de Deus" which has a scene depicting a favela soul baile. If you haven't seen the movie, check it out (the music is SUPERB!) or just peep the video to get a taste of what one of these 1970s soul parties must have been like. You gotta love the cover of this album. You just couldn't do this in the US! But Brazilian racial politics are different and being a "white" guy who DJs "black" music you could legitimately dress up as a half-black-face uncle sam. God Bless Brazil!

Hudson County - Bim Sala Bim
This is a rare one that's been comped here and there. Killer track.

Brother Soul - Cookies
Love it. That opening must have been sampled somewhere. This should have been my theme song from my cookie-stealing adolescence.

Zulema - Wanna Be Where You Are
A great cover of this tune done in a really upbeat style.

Chocolate Milk - Never Ever Do Without You
I've always liked Chocolate Milk for their work with producer and songwriter Allen Toussaint, but I had never heard this uptempo number until Luizinho introduced me.

And here's the "City of God" video. Skip ahead to 14:00 for the beginning of the party. I recognized the following songs in this sequence:
1) Dance Across the Floor - Jimmy 'Bo' Horne
2) So Very Hard To Go - Tower of Power
3) Kung-Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas.

Also, Seu Jorge's character is getting down at this party, towards the end.

La cité de dieu partie 4
Uploaded by zouz90

The following are all images from the back of the LP. The miracle of modern technology is that I can take pictures and blow them up. These are the best of the bunch. I particularly like Luizinho's "O Som Dos Blacks" logo!

Stormy Monday

2009-02-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

So, what they tell me is that THIS is what a February in San Francisco is supposed to be like, as opposed to the 70+ degree sun-drenched weekends we'd experienced earlier in 2009. It's been raining off and on for more than a week now. God knows California needs it! But like I mentioned in my previous post, there's something comforting about knowing that your activities are limited to what you can take care of indoors.

I've been meaning to post this tune for awhile and naturally, the timing had to be just right. Here we are on a stormy Monday listening to Latimore's classic rendition of this tune.

Latimore - Stormy Monday
It didn't occur to me until after I wiki-ed the song that I probably first really listened to this song on the Allman Brothers live at Fillmore East album. Latimore's version is such a breath of fresh air and such an unexpected hit tune for this warhorse of Florida Soul music. He takes on this classic without much modern adornment except for the electric piano. But Latimore is clearly comfortable playing the blues as he masterfully covers this oft-covered classic as if he woke up with a bad case of the mondays. My fiance, Jamie, likes to think she's a low-maintenance kinda girl, which I'm thankful to say she is . . . most of the time. Knowing me as she does and my fondness for musical references, particularly cheesy ones, she likes to tease me by saying she's "easy like Sunday morning," to which I usually respond, "you mean easy like Monday morning." Ouch! Burn!

He is Standing By!

2009-02-23T00:19:00.000-08:00

Ok I'm going to get a little bit obsessive. But in my approximately 25 years of chasing records, I have rarely been as impressed by a tune in the way I'm impressed with "Step Forward" by Leroy Stewart. I really care about this record. Might be my favorite recording ever.

In a way, it isn't special at all. A little about the record business in the place where this it comes from—Jamaica, West Indies: in the 1970s the commerce was (and to a lesser extent still is) all about 45s, not albums. These 45s were released at a frantic pace, recorded and mixed quickly and pressed on cheap crackly vinyl with the record label applied out-of-center and the song title sometimes written by hand, or not at all.

Vocalists were dime-a-dozen, often lining up outside the studios for a chance to impress a producer with their skills and perhaps get a chance at the microphone to earn a few bucks. Dozens of tunes might be recorded over the same popular backing track, and producers would work to make it sound different each time, through the mixing. Engineers might mix 3,4, 10 records in a day.

My point is that "Step Forward" is something that was produced quickly in assembly-line fashion, to the extent that the people who made it might not even remember doing it. But that's also part of the charm. When you're one of too many singers in the neighborhood who want to make a record for a pretty well-known producer, the pressure is on to perform well.

This is gospel music, straight up. This vocalist—who to our knowledge didn't make any other records—has a delivery that can only come from a total devotion to what he's saying. He probably grew up singing in the church, like many Jamaican singers then and now. But there's something truly exceptional about this performance. All I can hear is a hungry guy who, after an eternity of waiting to make a record, finally gets his chance, and just leaves his entire soul on the tape.

But apart from the virtuoso singing, there are a few other strange and wonderful features of this record. For some reason, 100% of the vocal sound is on one side of the stereo spectrum [stereo means there's two tracks, one for each speaker, but usually they have a lot in common], such that you basically have an instrumental on the other track. The production is super spare, like there's a cathedral of space between the instruments.

But my favorite thing about it just might be there by mistake. Maybe on purpose, but more likely because the tape machine wasn't properly maintained, the vocal track has a "bleed" that gives you a faint echo of each word about a half second before (not after) every note he sings. It's like delay, but in reverse, and combined with this particular singing performance, it's an astonishing ghostly effect.

As I said, it's pretty likely that this same backing track was used on multiple records with different singers, and that the engineer tried whatever creative things he could think of to make the track sound different each time. On this version, he's gone particularly spare. He uses the hi-hat as the anchor.

Imagine what a mixing board looks like, with sliding faders that control the volume of each instrument. Then imagine the mixing board with all the faders except the hi-hat channel turned all the way down. "Tsit-tsit-tsit-tsit…" Starting from that base, he adds touches of each instrument by sliding the faders up and down, sometimes seemingly at random, to complement the vocal, like a painter adding colors.

I love how he takes out the bass line when the chorus starts, and brings it back much later than you think it should, like he had to lean over and get the telephone and missed the beat. But that just adds to the sense of tense anticipation that pervades the whole thing.

Listening to this tune, you're on the edge of your seat, waiting for everything.

You're waiting for the bass player to finish each ten-note loop. If you notice, in that loop there's almost more resting than playing. "Boop boo boo boop [wait wait wait] boop boo boop [wait] boo boo [wait] boo [wait wait wait wait wait]."

You're waiting for the snare drum to come back and devastate your ear. There are only three proper appearances of the snare in the whole song (not counting the intro), and the rest of the drum strokes are all on the rim, which gives tons of power to the real snare sound when it finally arrives.

And in hearing him beg you over and over to "Please live good!", you're waiting for your heathen self to just give up and accept God in the way that this dude does.

So without further ado, here's "Step Forward" by Leroy Stewart, original release date and label unknown. We do know that it was released on Live & Love records in the UK in the 1970s and later featured on the US compilation LP "All that Jazzbo" in the early 1990s, but it’s likely there was a small Jamaican pressing at some stage. The producer may have been Prince Jazzbo, but given the vintage, our sources suspect it was engineered at King Tubby’s or elsewhere. Thanks to Flashman for turning me on to this, and for the research assistance.

Leroy Stewart - Step Forward

[Note: If you listen on little computer speakers, you're wasting your time. It was made to be played on giant speaker cabinets in a huge dirt lot full of sweaty people. At least put on some headphones!]

Chove Chuva

2009-02-15T22:01:00.001-08:00

It's been raining for a couple days straight here in the Bay Area and god knows we need it, but shit is kinda depressing when it rains non-stop. We have a couple of leaks in our storage area with the requisite drip-dropping of slowly filling receptacles. I like the rain because it forces you to slow down and relax or at least sharpen your focus to what's in front of you in your immediate INDOOR vacinity.

My all time favorite song about rain is Jorge Ben's classic "Chove Chuva." The melancholy melody and simple-as-pie lyrics ("Chove Chuva, Chuva sem parar" = "The rain is raining, rain with no end") matched with a killer slow-burn jazzy groove make this an understated masterpiece from one of the greatest Brazilian songwriters and he recorded it at the age of 21. The summer I spent in Brazil I had the chance to spend the weekend with some Brazilian peers (friends of a friend where I was interning) at a beach near São Paulo called Ubatuba. As we were driving out there Ligia warned me that it was probably going to rain the whole time, so not to get too excited about the "beach." The local nickname for the town is "Ubachuva". Sure enough it poured the whole time, but we all had a great time chilling on the hammocks in the garden, grilling up fresh fish, drinking beers, playing cards and listening to tunes from the guitar and the boombox. I happened to have a CD or two (pre-Ipod days) of some Brazilian tunes and thankfully one of them included "Chove Chuva". When that song came on it just fit the mood so perfectly and I could finally imagine the approximate atmosphere, down to the climate, of where the king of Samba Soul, Jorge Ben(jor) wrote one of his finest tunes.

Here's a post inspired about Jorge's tune and a relaxing and much needed Brazilian or Bay Area rain.

Jorge Ben - Chove Chuva
The classic from Jorge Ben's breakout album on Phillips from 1963. Not owning the original vinyl myself (though I do have a 4 song EP from this album) I don't know the details, but according to Joe Sixpack, "Here Ben works with several of the best samba-jazz and pop bandleaders of the bossa era, including Maestro Gaya, Meirelles, and Luiz Carlos Vinha... Combined with Ben's sleek vocals, each arranger spins magic."

Elza Soares - Chove Chuva
This song, evidently, is an extremely rare non-LP track that may originate from a single, but can also be found on a double LP label sampler called Tesouro Musical. Or you can get the pretty dope "Brazilian Funk Experience" CD. There's several more notable versions of this song, but there's one that can't be avoided . . . Topo Gigio's version. Topo Gigio was a puppet mouse with a TV show, duh.

Antonio Adolfo - Essa Chuva
We've already heard some sad Antonio Adolfo music before and even from this album. There's a lot more to go 'round. This album is a real masterpiece and is way up on my list of albums to track down.

Hyldon - Na Rua, Na Chuva, Na Fazenda (Casinha de Sapé)
We're hearing from Hyldon again and this his most famous song. Tim Maia covers this one with a superb reading on his Nuvens album. Hyldon's is still the best. I remember this song was used to great effect in the film City of God. The reluctant drug dealer was scheming with his girlfriend how they were going to escape the favela and move to the country and start a marijuana farm.

All I'm Saying is . . . Give Cheese a Chance!

2009-02-13T09:54:00.000-08:00

Thanks to DJ Sean Marquand of Brazilian Beat Brooklyn flashed this James Last Orchestra album cover one late night at Black Betty and then months later (two weeks ago) I chanced upon this record for $0.20 at the annual Housing Works vinyl & paperback sale in New York City.

The track of note on this album is the surprisingly authentic Batucada cut called "Happy Brasilia". It kinda blows my mind that this troupe of marginally funky and rhythmically challenged Germans could deliver such a stomping and percussive homage to the Brazilian Samba. But, evidently I've been sleeping on the wonders of James Last as you can see here from the Wax Poetics online content - not funky enough to make the print issue, but funky enough for the internets.

James Last Orchestra - Give Peace a Chance
The other track of note is their sing-along romp through John & Yoko's "Give Peace a Chance." I haven't listened to the original in ages, but I love the funky intro to this chant-along and maybe because I haven't heard this song a million times, this version doesn't offend so much.

James Last Orchestra - Happy Brasilia
Teutonic Samba - dig it!

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - Summertime
And now on to the king of Cheese. It's hard to completely hate Herb because he gave us three great things: 1) A&M records, 2) The song "Rise" which most of you will recognize from the samplage in the Biggie tune "Hypnotize", and 3) Lani Hall, his wife the solo artist and former singer in Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66.

This version of "Summertime" has an arrangement that is just different enough that I can get down to it. The credits from the back of the record suggests that Herb was inspired by Ahmad Jamal's version of the song.

Mystifying Mamas - From Chicago to Paris

2009-02-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

Just the other day I was revisiting this CD, Saravah by Cafe Apres-Midi, a Japanese compilation of music from the small, independent French record label from the late 1960s - 1980s. The range of music on here is just great with some French styles, lots of Brazilian influence, some Jazz, some soul and funk as well as some African styles.

The story goes that the label was started by singer and songwriter, Pierre Barouh (read more here if you can understand French). Barouh "discovered" Brazilian music while traveling in Portugal and was soon smitten. In 1966 he played a major musical role in the Claude Lelouch fim, Un Homme et Une Femme, otherwise known as "A Man and A Woman". Barouh sang on the soundtrack and even managed to insert his love for Brazilian music with the inclusion of the Vinicius de Moraes and Baden Powell tune "Samba da Bancao" recorded in French with Baden Powell on guitar as "Samba Saravah." The movie and soundtrack were huge hits and the money Barouh received for his performance, he directly invested into his new record label, Saravah.

In 1969 he traveled to Brazil and captured some of the country's best musicians in an extremely casual setting. The documentary was only officially released recently. Here's a clip of Paulinho da Viola jamming with Maria Bethania at a beach cafe.

The label was home to some excellent musicians and some great albums, such as Pierre Akendengue's two early 70s albums, Barney Wilen's "Moshi" and as well as Nana Vasconcelos and Bridgette Fontaine. While, I'm getting a little sidetracked here, the first song today was included in this Saravah comp even though it was originally issued on the obscure French label, Horse.

The Art Ensemble of Chicago Featuring Marva Broome - Mystifying Mama
Though I have found little evidence to definitively prove that the Art Ensemble of Chicago played on this recording, comparing it to the next track you can understand why its assumed it was them backing Ms. Broome. What a killer combination of Jazz and Soul, not quite soul-jazz but something close to that. Too bad she didn't put out more than this one single. Evidently she sings back-up vocals on Barney Wilen's superb Saravah album, "Moshi".

The Art Ensemble of Chicago Featuring Fontella Bass - Theme de Yo-Yo
So, this track isn't a product of Pierre Barouh's Saravah label, but that whole story was a nice excuse for letting me post this slamming jazz-inflected funk explosion. This song can get a little bit crazy, but I just love how the band bobs and weaves around Fontella's vocals and comes crashing down in a cacophony of horns and drums every now and then. I first heard this cut in Maine being played on public radio and I immediately had to track it down. Fontella was married to one of the Art Ensemble of Chicago players, Lester Bowie, at the time of this recording. Here's a bit of a bio on her.

Some More American Rarities By Way of Brazil

2009-01-27T10:56:00.000-08:00

I've already posted a few songs culled from Brazilian DJ compilations (here and here), but I've been meaning to post some more, so here it goes! These songs are actually ripped from the original US-pressed 45s, but I first heard these songs on the following Brazilian compilations. Most of these 45s didn't set me back too much probably because they're not as well known as some of the other collectible funk 45s out there, but the old school Brazilian DJs, they knew . . .

Mod Singers & Mod Lads - Let's Have Some Fun, Part 1
This is a crazy track and never ceases to get inquiries when I play it out. The flip is an instrumental with a cookin' guitar part filling in for the vocals. Makes ya wanna have fun, don't it? Anyone have any info about this group? Somebody can pick up a copy here.

The Happenings - Tomorrow, Today Will Be Yesterday
This is a great little psych-soul stomper from the otherwise cheezy group, The Happenings. I think this single is not on any LPs, but could be wrong. The lyrics are pretty corny, I mean c'mon, "Tomorrow, today will be yesterday"? About as deep as a mud puddle. But that percussion break-down in the middle is smokin'.

The Assembledge - Satisfaction
This one comes from another DJ compilation from the early 70s in Brazil and also on TopTape records, however DJ Monsieur Lima compiled this one. He's sort of the third musketeer of the early Brazilian DJ scene.

Different Strokes From Familiar Folks

2009-01-23T10:03:00.000-08:00

Once a band or an artist has found a style that they're successful in, they generally stick pretty closely to that formula. They might dabble in different genres, but mostly their style will transcend these flitting aesthetic deviations. The following songs are some examples of pretty familiar artists doing some distinctly different sounding songs, so much so that at first listen you might be astonished to think that THAT band could sound like THIS?

The Turtles - Buzzsaw
The Laurel Canyon staples of the pop-rock scene (everyone knows their ubiquitous "Happy Together" hit) do their best Booker T. & the M.G.s on their finest album, "Battle of the Bands". Check out a post next door at Weed, Whites & Wine for another song from this same album.

Mick Fleetwood & the Superbrains Group - Superbrains
The patriarch of the Mac from 1981 and his first solo outing. He recorded the entire album in Ghana with a handful of anglo players and a rotating set of Ghanaian musicians and groups. The songs on the album range from bluesy-rock to straight-up afrobeat. This song was written and performed by the group Superbrains with just Mick and his bassist sitting in. I love the haunting echo-laden guitar part that runs through this tune.

Michael Nesmith & the First National Band
So I finally got this, Nesmith's second solo album with the First National Band, and when I flipped the record to the first song on side two, I was floored. That spooky kalimba-sounding intro is ripe for sampling and then he starts singing in nasally, white-bread country-inflected Spanish! A weird song, but definitely worth checking out. Nesmith keeps me guessing. Check out the lengthy post I did on WW&W if you like what you hear here.

Nina Simone - Baltimore
Nina does reggae? Yep, and damn well. And its a Randy Newman tune. What a weird combo, but it sounds as natural as peanut butter and jelly. The only tip off that it's 70s CTI jazz is the string arrangement. Arranger David Matthews of James Brown fame is responsible for the production.

Bill Wyman - Si Si (Je Suis Un Rockstar)
This has been my jam for awhile. Many thanks to Josh Nice for hooking me up with this one. Yes, this is THE Bill Wyman that played bass for the Stones FOREVER. A weird song, but trust me, upon repeat listen this will be a new fav!

Oh and for something unrelated, but equally strange, check this out over on Waxidermy and be sure to read all of the comments.

Hail to the Teeth?

2009-01-20T08:06:00.000-08:00

On this momentous day I figured I would share a little song about perhaps our last progressive and visionary president, Jimmy Carter. Sure, everyone seems to love Bill Clinton from the rear-view mirror, but when you really look at Clinton's legacy he wasn't that much different than his republican predecessors. Carter warned us about the oncoming energy crisis and was laughed out of the white house for installing solar panels and opting to wear a sweater rather than turn up the thermostat.

I wonder where Obama is looking for inspiration on his first official day in office.

District of Columbia - Hail to the Teeth (Disco Mix)
This is kinda like a predecessor to the Rappin' Duke style of rhyme flow and it clearly precedes hip-hop in general, but if this guy ain't rappin', I'm not sure what he's doin'.

It's only a short bit in the middle of this video, but clearly its now open season on Obama impersonations thanks to Jamie Fox.

If You Haven't Noticed It Yet . . .

2009-01-16T17:09:00.000-08:00

I started a new audio blog dedicated to a slightly different genre of music. It's called "Weed, Whites & Wine". The Format is similar to Soul Spectrum, but the content is of the twangy, strumming variety. I felt that this other passion of mine didn't really have a home on Soul Spectrum and so it deserved its own venue.

It's a bit of a "soft-launch" as I'm about a half-dozen posts into WW&W already, but my most recent post might hold a bit of interest for Soul Spectrum followers because of the funky drum-break cut "Super Soul Theme" from the soundtrack to the film "Vanishing Point" as performed by the J.B. Pickers. Check it out here: Weed, Whites & Wine.