Mr. Jamo - Shake What You Brought With You

The first installment of the Trunk of F.U.N.K. weekly singles is a great two-part 45 that will definitely get any party started right

Shake What You Brought With You pt. 1&2 - Mr. Jamo -SSS International



Now for some back-story… In the early 60’s, Jamo Thomas expatriated from the Bahamas for Chicago to record a handful of soul sides for Thomas, Conlo, and Chess records, of which ‘I Spy (for the FBI)’ earned him the most fame. Later in the decade he moved south to record a number of 45s for Sound Stage 7 (run by Nashville DJ and producer John Richbourg – check this out for a deeper look at SS7) and SSS International, which was run by Shelby Sumpter Singleton, Jr., who would take over Sun Records from Sam Phillips in 1969. The single ‘Shake what you brought with you’ is – for lack of a better word – goofy, not just in comparison to Jamo Thomas’ other work, but in comparison to the SSS and SS7 catalogs. In particular, layering a groovy sitar and ramblings of Jamo (which are seemingly incoherent at times) over the top of snapping drums make it hard to envision what Jamo, Anthony Dorsey, and Stan Watson (who share equal writing credit) were thinking while working together in the studio. In the end, it probably matters less what they were thinking, and more that their madness resulted in a bona fide winner.

Stay Tuned!

-Greg

Here... We... Go...

Greetings and welcome to Trunk of F.U.N.K. (Freshly Unearthed Nuggets and CooKers) radio. After years of collecting funk and soul records, I’ve decided that there is no reason to keep what I’ve found to myself. Instead, I’ve decided it’s time to bring the music to the masses. The running theme here is to introduce the listener to records they’ve never heard before, rekindle an interest in records that have fallen by the wayside over the years, or simply as an excuse to listen to some seriously deep grooves. The plan (tentatively…) is to post a new show every week while also filling in the mid-week with any tracks that I’ve been particularly into lately. To get things started I’ve posted the first volume of Trunk of F.U.N.K. radio, Ain’t It Funky Now!. Hopefully this set will be just the pick-me-up needed to get your weekend started right.


Tracklist – Title-Artist-Label

1. Hook and Sling pt. 1&2 - Eddie Bo - Scram
2. Ain’t It Funky Now pt. 1&2 - Grant Green - Blue Note
3. Go For Yourself - Soul Tornadoes - Magic City
4. Every Now and Then - Mr. D & the Highlights - JAS Records
5. Amen, Brother - The Winstons - Metromedia
6. My Thing is a Moving Thing - T.S.U. Tornadoes - Volt
7. The Houston Hook - Imaginary Visions - Deep Funk
8. Do the Frog - Bo Diddley - Checker
9. A.A.B.B. - Put the Pieces Together One by One - I-Dentify
10. They Won’t Let Me - The Unemployed - Cotillion
11. Cold Bear - The Gaturs - ATCO


Trunk of Funk vol. 001 – Ain’t It Funky Now!

P.S. For more detailed information on some of these tracks (e.g. A.A.B.B.-Pick up the pieces one by one) I recommend heading over to Funky 16 Corners where serious knowledge is dropped on the regular.

Stay tuned!

-Greg