Hi kids, welcome back.
I grew up on a pretty steady diet of Otis Redding, Curtis Mayfield, Solomon Burke, etc, albeit served up by my father, a Scandinavian man with no ass who can’t dance. My first vinyl purchase was James Brown’s Soul On Top (1970), age ten. I’ve always loved soul and I think that the mid-late 60s era is my favorite, when things were getting kind of grittier and grimier and you could hear funk and psych rock starting to find its footing. This sound is in heavy rotation at bars and in soundtracks and at dinner parties for good reason, so you’ve probably heard all of the tracks on this playlist before. Either way, it’s a great mood for a Friday:
02.1 Your Love Was Strange, The Dramatics
The one-two punch of the stressed out vocals and the frenetic tempo of this track paints this almost anxious, ominous picture up until the second the key turns major. The Dramatics were based in Detroit and were in the height of their popularity in the late 60s through the 70s, but they came briefly out of retirement in 1993 to record Doggy Dog World with Snoop Dog.
02.2 Lonely Town, Lonely Street, Bill Withers
02.3 Hand Clapping Song, The Meters
02.4 Them Changes, Buddy Miles
Buddy Miles was one of Jimi Hendrix’s preferred drummers, and he shows up on just about every Hendrix album in some capacity. This is his only solo album, which is a tragedy since it’s incredible— apparently it was panned at the time. No relation to the Thundercat track of the same name!
02.5 Funky, The Chambers Brothers
To me, this and the track Fly by Sugar Ray are linked cosmically.
02.6 Home in Your Heart, Solomon Burke
There’s nothing else that screams 1960s like a saucy little flute trill. This also is absolutely not the point, but Solomon Burke had 21 kids. 21. He has over 90 grandchildren.
02.7 Machine Gun / Ohio, The Isley Brothers
This track is mostly a re-work of Ohio by Neil Young, and it’s from the Isley Brothers’ album Givin’ It Back (1971). The group was rightfully pissed off about their biggest songs being covered and co-opted by white rock groups, so they cut an entire record where they more or less did the same in reverse. Their cover versions unilaterally blow the originals out of the water.
02.8 Cynthy-Ruth, Black Merda!
The backbone of this track is nearly identical to the Bill Withers song above, Lonely Town, Lonely Street. Before you make any assumptions, this one came first, in 1970.
02.9 Getting Nasty, Ike Turner & The King of Rhythm
Ike Turner was a horrible human. But for those of us hopelessly charmed by tracks featuring musicians or production staff yelling, laughing, clapping, and/or otherwise straight-up vibing in the background, this track is a huge win. I’m sorry. Feel free to yell at me in the comments.
02.10 Running, Baby Huey
02.11 Concrete Reservation, Syl Johnson
02.11 Why Is It So Hard, Charles Bradley
Charles Bradley is a really interesting figure who basically did not see any kind of commercial success until his mid-fifties. He was homeless, worked as a line cook, hitch-hiked back and forth across the United States, moonlighted as a James Brown Impersonator, and essentially got by on odd jobs before he was finally signed to Daptone Records in 2002. He cut a handful of absolutely killer records with them before he passed away in 2017, and each one is worth a dedicated front-to-back listen.
02.13 Home Is Where the Hatred Is, Gil Scott-Heron
I, a very, very white American person, have nothing to say about Gil Scott Heron that’s worth reading. He’s fantastic and you should listen to his music.
02.14 Qualified, Darondo
I am quite possibly Darondo’s biggest fan. His voice is the definition of acquired taste. I don’t know why his music wasn’t particularly popular during his lifetime, but his work got a massive boost when Didn’t I was featured on Gilles Peterson Digs America back in 2005. Darondo’s been creeping into playlists and soundtracks steadily ever since, and I am all for it.
02.15 Runaway People, Dyke & The Blazers
Interesting fact: this group’s album Funky Broadway (1966) was the first to ever use the word “funky” in its title, which got it banned by some radio stations for being offensive. We’ve really come a long way.
I’ll leave you there. Happy Friday, you funky lil freaks.
xoxo em