Cal Green was a guitarist who dabbled in a broad range of musical styles. Growing up in Texas in the 1940s and 1950s, he was at first influenced by the blues. Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown was his idol as a youngster. Then, in 1954, Hank Ballard and The Midnighters came thru town in 1954. An R&B outfit, Hank and the boys had just lost their guitarist to the draft and were in need of a replacement. Cal fit the bill, and he played with this group until 1959. Enter the 1960s and Cal Green entered the world of jazz. Most notably he played with organist Jack McDuff and vocalist Lou Rawls during this time frame.

(vangrooveexpress.blogspot.com)

Trippin’, the 45 you see here, is on the Mutt and Jeff label, a small Los Angeles-based label that issued a handful of releases in the late 1960s. Some sites tell me that this single was released in 1967 and others tell me 1969. I do know, though, that Cal Green released the album, Trippin’ With Cal Green, in 1969. So maybe the single came out a year or two earlier. I can’t say for sure. Anyway, I’ve copied a photo of Cal’s album below for your visual enjoyment:

Trippin’ has an airy atmosphere to it a la Wes Montgomery but without the lush syrupy string arrangements. Indeed, it is a chilled-out funky soulful jazzy affair. Have a listen!!!

Sound file is for educational purposes only.

I’ve come to a decision.  Now that we’ve come to the 10^th installment of Funky Seoul Corner, I’ve decided to devote every 10^th installment in the future to a 45 from the 80s.  Now, when I say 80s music I don’t want you think Culture Club, Wham, Spandau Ballet and those kinds of groups.  Nor do I want you to think of the 80s glam hair-bands, either.  I state the aforementioned because 80s music, when we talk about it, usually has those kinds of referents.  But Funky Seoul Corner is not about popular music of the 80s or about popular music in any era specifically–it’s about unknown and underappreciated music that deserves to be heard at least once, in my humble opinion.

So instead of remarking on what is already known, I would rather focus on what is less known.  I want to introduce to you tracks that, in all likelihood, are new to you, even though they are thirty some-odd years old.  The kinds of 80s discs that I have to offer you are the natural extensions of what was going down in the 60s and 70s in terms of boogie, funk, soul, and, yes, rap.  These 45s are also the precursors of what was to come musically….

So let’s kick it off with Duane Parham Society’s “The Rockin’ Place” from 1984.   One reason why I chose this 45 was its groovy picture cover!  It’s one of the few 45 picture covers I have in my collection.  Check it out!  And there you see Duane himself, all decked-out in what looks like a sequined dinner jacket!  With reason I choose the A side of this 45 to share with you.  It has all the elements you would expect of 80s music within this genre: drum machines, crazy electro sounds, alternating rappers, party voices, and an overall edgy and raw sound to it.

Now that you’ve listened to it, or are listening to it, you may say, HEY DJ FREE, this tune really isn’t all that original.  Sounds like so many of the other rappers out there who were making beats back in the 80s.  And to some extent I would agree with you, but I’m also pretty certain that this track wasn’t getting the airplay and sales it deserved when compared to the many other rapper-type artists who were spewing similar rhymes.  After all, take a look at the label: Saxville.  Ever heard of it?  Just a small private label from suburban Detroit, Michigan.  I doubt if it got much attention at all outside of its own hood.  All I’m trying to do here is to give voice to the unknown and under-represented.  Hope you enjoy it!

The sound file is for educational purposes only.

Editors’ Note: From this issue forward 3WM will be moderating all comments and requiring that any commenter input a legitimate email address when signing in. Previously, anyone who’d already entered information and posted a comment had free reign to post whatever he/she wanted at any time (unless it had several links in it). There will no longer be instant posting. We thank our readers in advance for adhering to this guideline.

Seven full days into the more than 400 kilometer pilgrimage across the Korean peninsula in an attempt to trace the footsteps of 7th century Buddhist monk Wonhyo, the members of the trek have changed, the leader, Tony MacGregor, has taken a dangerous fall, Koreans have stepped forward with immense generosity and the road has provided its good share of challenges and rewards. All the while Macgregor, Chris McCarthy and Sangmin sunim, a Buddhist monk who’s joined the pilgrims, have pushed on sometimes joined by professor David Mason.

On Saturday, December 10, MacGregor was happy enough to answer some questions about the journey while settling in after a dinner at Muryang Buddhist Temple in Yeongyang. Among the many things he said, one stood out toward the end of the interview when he offered that each day was a “stepping into the unknown” which he was actually enjoying.

See here for the original story about the pilgrimage and visit the official Site where the pilgrims post pictures and words each day.

Scroll to the bottom for the podcast.

Wonhyo project planner Tony MacGregor and Buddhist monk Sangmin sunim on the first day of the journey.

Small temple, JaJang Am, high above Oeo-sa temple.

Yangdong Village

Pilgrim Chris McCarthy enjoys an orange and a rest on a walk through apple and rice country.

Entering Juwangsan National park on the way to Daejeonsa Temple

Entering Jinbo, 16 km from the day's destination.

Temple food breakfast at Muryang-sa in Yeongyang.

Cheongryang-sa temple in Cheongryang-san Park.

Ok, so here’s what I did. I was searching thru one of my boxes of 45s and I ran across Ureaus’ “Let Our Music Make Love To You.” I thought this obscure disc would make this week’s Funky Seoul Corner quite brief. After all, who has ever heard of Ureaus and this track on the Mel-Mel label? No one, probably. So I went on the net to confirm my hunch.

Well, I wasn’t overwhelmed by what I found, but I did find more than I expected. Turns out that Mel-Mel was a label out of Washington D.C.. But Mel-Mel was a one-off label, meaning that the 45 you see before you was the only 45 ever put out on this label. Why only one release? I have no idea, actually. In the realm of funky, soulful hard-to-find 45s you find that one-off labels are not all that uncommon. I’m guessing, too, that Mel Edwards, the producer and arranger of the disc, was behind the label’s name. I’m also putting one and one together and kind of guessing that since Mel-Mel was from the U.S. capital, so too was Ureaus.

One thing I did find interesting was that you can find Ureaus’ “Let Our Music Make Love To You” both on the Mel-Mel label and the Excello label. (The Excello copy you see here was copped off another site. The Mel-Mel copy, however, is my own.) Now, Excello had been a long-standing label based out of Nashville, Tennessee. It had been around since the early 50s. It released mostly country and blues tracks, although not exclusively, as the Ureaus release will attest. It should be noted here, too, that the Ureaus 45 was the second to last release on Excello in 1975.

You may ask yourself why the release on two different labels? In my research within the world of 45s I discovered that it was fairly routine for a local release to be picked up by a national label. I’ve seen this happen a number of times. I would get one 45 on a particular label only to discover later that the very same track had been released on another one. As I mentioned earlier, Mel-Mel had only one release. Like so many one-off labels, I’m sure that it had very limited financial resources. So one of two things happened: Either someone at Mel-Mel sent out copies of its 45 to other record companies or someone at Excello discovered the Mel-Mel release somehow. There was one clear advantage of this arrangement regardless of how it happened. Excello had the upper-hand at national distribution, which is what Mel-Mel and Ureaus both would have wanted. One would have hoped that national distribution would have led to more sales at record shops and more plays at radio stations. Whether or not this actually happened with this release remains unclear. On that note, the music will have to speak for itself.

N.B. I have included both part 1 and part 2 in the sound clip. Part 2 is the same song, but it is the “disco version.” Listen and enjoy!

Marvin Smith is a legend within the Northern Soul and Soul Circuit. (Yes, I do use the present tense to describe him because in so far as I know he is still with us.) I could give you his full resume, but you can easily google his name to find out that information.

Suffice it to say that he was a fixture throughout the 60s Chicago soul scene and most noted for his involvement with “The Artistics,” a soul group that put out a handful of LPs and 45s on local Chicago labels (Okeh and Brunswick).

The 45 you see before you is the second to last 45 that Marvin ever cut. This soul gem is on the Mayfield label, another Chicago label owned by the one-and-only Curtis Mayfield. (The influence of Curtis Mayfield on the soul scene, past-present-future, is undeniable. You will surely see him mentioned in future Funky Seoul Corners…) If you look at the 45 closer, you will also see Mayfield’s name listed as both the producer and the writer of the featured track, “You’re Really Something Sadie.”

In searching on-line for information about Marvin Smith and this tune in particular I ran across a site unknown to me before called manifestosoul.com. On the site was an interview with Marvin Smith conducted on May 2, 2009. As I read the interview I came across the following tidbit about Smith’s introduction to this week’s featured track. I figured I would let Marvin Smith do the talking:

“It was 1967 and I thought I’d hit the big time, but Curtis was so busy, that it was at least a year before I got a record out. They were in the studio one time and I walked in. I was thinking ‘hey, I’m your artist now and there’s nothing happening’. They were recording “You’re Really Something Sadie” and when I went in the track was playing. I told Curtis that I liked the track and I guess he felt guilty. He said ‘Do you want to try it?’ and of course I said ‘Yeah’. So Curtis, along with Fred and Sam of the Impressions, put some words down to go with the music and played it a couple of times. I’d never heard that song before but after two takes I had it. I tore that song up. All I could think was that this is my chance so I blew that song out. The other side was “Who Will Do Your Running Now” and I got the Impressions in the studio to do the backing for me. By sheer chance, maybe because I had been on before, the record got sent to the Dick Clark show. They had a feature called ‘Rate A Record’ and the kids gave me 95%. I really thought I’d made it. I went round telling everybody that I’d got a new song and that it was going to be a hit. Once again there was no promotion and from that day on I never heard it on the radio or anywhere else for that matter. It was just like history repeating. About a year later, Curtis wrote me a real nice letter saying he was sorry that he couldn’t dedicate more time to me but I guess he was concentrating on getting his own stuff together.” (Interview with Steve Handbury May 02 2009 manifestosoul.com)

Smith’s account is interesting on three levels. First, from what he said, we can estimate that this 45 was released sometime around 1968-69, maybe even 1970. I tried to find a reliable source to determine its exact year of release, but to no avail. Smith’s account is as close as I could come. Second, in talking about “You’re Really Something Sadie,” Smith claims he “had this song down and tore it up” after two takes. Two takes, ladies and gentlemen, even though he had never heard the track before! Now, not just anyone can get the soul, the feeling, that Marvin projects throughout this track in two takes—that’s lifetime experience. And quite frankly it’s this kind of experience that most artists hope to achieve but never do. Finally, I found Smith’s story to parallel that of so many soul and funk recording artists throughout the 60s and 70s. Great artistry plus no promotion equals artistic grief, sorrow, and poverty. Once the tune was committed to wax it was out of the hands of the artists and into the hands of the musical administrators and bureaucrats. But small labels like Mayfield just didn’t have the resources to visit the radio stations and the record stores to draw attention to their artists, certainly not on a national level, which is what you needed back in those days to create hit records and to make money. Smith himself laments “it was just like history repeating.” So he had been there himself once before. He created a great product but no one came to celebrate—an all too common ailment within the artistic community.

Well, Marvin, I’m trying to do my part here on Funky Seoul Corner, even though it is forty years too late. While I can’t send you any royalty payments, I can spread your message. Perhaps a person will check out the blogzine Three Wise Monkeys and say, hey, what’s this Funky Seoul Corner all about? Hopefully they’ll click on Funky Seoul Corner #8 and say, hey, who is this Marvin Smith dude? Man, what a voice! Man, what an arrangement—you’ve got the strings sustained throughout the tune, you’ve got the bongos in the background and snippets of the wah-wah guitar, and you’ve got the stabbing horns piercing at the appropriate times. Man, what a track! And perhaps they’ll take the time to find learn more about you and the music you made.

Lee Moses—Bad Girl, Part One and Part Two

For this week on Funky Seoul Corner we go to New York City by the way of Atlanta, Georgia. Musicor was an active N.Y.C. record label during the 1960s and 1970s. This label was a rather large one that featured talent from many musical genres, from soul to latin, from rock to country. Perhaps two of the biggest stars on this label were Gene Pitney and George Jones, both of whom garnered many hits for Musicor during the 60s.

And for this week’s 45 we go to 1967. Lee Moses, an Atlanta-native who relocated to New York City, cut three 45s for Musicor in 1967. One of these 45s was “Bad Girl.” “Bad Girl” is raw soul. On this track Lee Moses is on vocals and, I presume, rhythm guitar. (Lee was noted for his guitar work as well as his vocal skill.) As you might guess from the title, this tune is about the triumvirate of romantic relationships—lust, love, and trust. Lee speaks and sings from experience. You just got to believe what he has to tell you when you listen to his story. He knows what he is talking about. The sincerity in his voice leads you to believe his tale of woe.

Lee Moses recorded up until 1971. His final release was a full lp titled Time and Place. This album has something of a legendary status–an original copy of this lp fetches lots of Benjamins on the open market—if you can even find one. One highlight of this album is Lee’s version of “Hey Joe” in the way only Lee Moses can do it. Jimi would have been proud! (Moses and Hendrix were both part of the later-half of the 60s New York City musical scene.) But Lee basically disappeared after the release of this album. He returned to Atlanta and performed locally, but never really recorded again. Who knows what happened? You can click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Moses for Wiki’s short bio on Lee Moses.

N.B.: I have included both parts 1 and 2 of Bad Girl for your musical enjoyment. In the future, whenever I feature a track that has 2 parts, I will record both parts so that you can hear the tune in its entirety. After all, it may be two sides of a 45, but it is still one song… I have also included a photo of Lee Moses below:

One of the first soul/funk 45s I ever bought was Lavell Kamma and the Afro Soul Revue on the “Tupelo Sound” label doing “Soft Soul/I Know Where It’s At.” I would listen to it at home, but I never played it out. I liked it a lot, but it just never fit into any of my sets. Maybe one day…. So when “Funky Seoul Corner” was created, I decided to make this a forum of 45s I rarely, if ever, get the chance to play live. This is one of those records.

Before and while I write my blurb on a 45, I do a check online to see what information is out there. I did the same thing with this 45. Here’s what I found: I found sites, like YouTube, where you can see this 45 spinning around and playing; I even found sites where you had very brief discussions and reviews of the 45. I did discover, for instance, that this 45 was released in 1972. I never knew that because there is no date listed on the label. Of course I consider the source, so 1972 may not be the correct year. But once you listen you will feel that 1972 sounds about right. All of the above is fine and dandy but my online search did reveal one more find, and a surprising one at that.

I found out that Lavell Kamma has a page on Myspace! Here’s the link you can check out for yourself: http://www.myspace.com/thelavellkammaband. Hi-de-ho! I never thought I would be reviewing a record performed by an artist who is still alive! Anyway, if you go to his page, you can read some interesting tidbits in his brief bio. The music selections on the page are somewhat bizarre. I only listened to a couple of tracks because you hear this white-boy-hillbilly voice talking and singing!?! What is this all about!?! It sure isn’t Lavell Kamma singing, that’s for sure! Maybe he was the one playing the keyboards, but I tell you what–that ain’t the Lavell Kamma I know! You’ll know what I mean if you compare the 45 with the music selections on his Myspace page.

But the real kicker is if you scroll down his Myspace page you can click on a video of him performing in 2010. Now that’s most likely the Lavell Kamma I know! Getting down as a one-man-band—really! In fact, for a man of his age, he kicks serious booty! Part of the video captures the patrons of the establishment funkifying. It’s what you would expect from a 2010 video. Without giving away anymore details, I will just say I really enjoyed watching it. (It’s way cooler than listening to those weird music selections up above on the page.) It provides a nice contrast to the 45 you will listen to that was recorded over almost 40 years ago. I also noticed that Lavell Kamma only has five friends on his Myspace page. What?? Show him some love!!!

DISCLAIMER: Sound files are posted for educational purposes only.

Now that the weather is warming up, I felt it would be time to plug Billy Stewart’s “Summertime.” Now, I’m not a big fan of this Gershwin tune in particular. Most versions I have heard have bored me to tears. But Stewart’s version is all-together different. Released on the Chess (Chicago) label in 1966, “Summertime” peaked at #7 on Billboard’s R&B chart and at #10 on the Pop chart respectively.

Without a doubt, this tune was Billy Stewart’s biggest hit of his recording career. In a nut-shell, this track showcases Stewart’s dynamic vocal prowess. Soul Singing 101—that’s a fact! His liberal use of trills and scat throughout this track helped solidify his distinctive talent. Whenever I listen to this 45, I feel that Billy and his band are right there with me. Its live sound and high energy truly make this a song to hear during the summer months of the year. Listen and enjoy!

Note about Billy Stewart: Stewart cut almost all of his tracks for Chess from the late 50s until 1969. He cut four albums and twenty singles during his career. Nine singles made the top 50 in Billboard charts, most of them coming from the mid to late 60s. Chart success indicates that he must have had some credible fan-base. Unfortunately, he met an untimely death in 1970 as the car he was driving crashed into the Neuse River, North Carolina, killing him and three members of his band. He was only 32.

DISCLAIMER: Sound files are posted for educational purposes only.

Funky Seoul Corner #3 features another 45 from Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. (F.S.C. #1 was also a Detroit record.) What a lot of people don’t realize, or forget, is that Detroit was a hot-bed for musicians and the recording industry throughout the 1960s up until the 1968 Detroit riots. Most people can only think of Motown as coming from Detroit, but the reality was that there were tons of little labels in Detroit during this period. Many of these labels had only a handful of releases; some others fared better, perhaps staying afloat for a few years before returning to obscurity.

Stephanye Records was one such label. Stephanye was based out of Detroit, but only released three 45s circa 1966. Like the label, Roy Handy, the featured artist on this 45, is also something of an unknown. An on-line search revealed six releases to his name, the final three while being a member of the soul group, The Chosen Few, in 1973. Other than this information, I could find nothing else of significant value either about the label or the artist.

But if you look at the production and songwriting credits on the label there are some very well-known soul-world names. On the production side of things you have Gene Redd, a noted music producer at the time who, among other things, helped Kool and the Gang get started just a few years later. Also on the production side you have George Clinton. You may recognize his name from the mid-70s Parliament and P-Funk, but Clinton had been around a lot longer than that. I continually see his name pop up both as a producer and as a songwriter from his earlier days. Indeed, his name is listed on both the production and the songwriting credits for this single, too. His name as a songwriter stands along side Holland-Dozier, two thirds of the Holland-Dozier-Holland team that helped Motown claim nation-wide recognition. So Roy Handy’s single for Stephanye certainly had the backing of big-time names within the Detroit music industry of this era.

Check out the track and enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Sound files are posted for educational purposes only.

Although I had this 45 on my “to buy” list for eons, I finally managed to pick up this copy just last year from a record dealer back in the states. I have yet to play it out anywhere, but if I did its mellow yet groovy sound would compel me to spin it early, perhaps as I’m starting to sip my first cocktail…. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Sound files are posted for educational purposes only.