Baby, Do Right By Me

For your listening pleasure, I've assembled a mix featuring some of my all-time favorite soul sister sides. The mix starts off with a heavy soul number from Roberta Flack, taken from her 1970 album, Chapter Two. Aside from her stunning voice, this album strongly benefits from arrangement and production work by a number of heavy hitters, including King Curtis, Deodato, and Eugene McDaniels (who is also credited with writing this particular track). Next up is a track from Marva Whitney that has been a personal favorite of mine for a long time, as her LP, It's My Thing, is one of my earliest soul sister purchases (this track was released as both a single and on the LP, It's My Thing. This is the LP version, as I've never been able to get my hands on the single). Jean Knight, most well-known for song, Mr. Big Stuff, then follows up with a recent acquisition that is seriously funky and was the inspriration for the title of today's mix. The Sister and Brothers then provide another few minutes of funky madness (thanks for the hot tip, Pres) that has also recently made an appearance in a FuFu stew creation from Vincent the Soul Chef. From there, the mix moves to a pair of funky classics from Jeannie Reynolds and Betty Wright that don't need a whole lot of introduction, followed by a great piece of Motown sound from Honey Cone, that was penned by none other than General Johnson (I can assure you that this name will pop up here in the future). Ike and Tina Turner then turn out the quintessential funky sister side, a side that easily falls within my all-time top ten, that's an insanely heavy adaptation of Sly and the Family Stone's, Sing a Simple Song. To start rounding things out, Inez and Charlie Foxx bring things back to the soulful end of the spectrum, and Bobbi Humprey serves up a nice slice of jazzy funk from her days working with producer George Butler (pre-Larry Mizell) to finish out the mix.


Baby, Do Right By Me - Trunk of F.U.N.K. vol. 007

Tracklist

Song - Artist - Label

Roberta Flack – Reverend Lee – Atlantic
Marva Whitney – Get Out of My Life – King
Jean Knight – Jesse Joe (You Got to Go) – Dial
The Sister and Brothers – Yeah, You Right – Uni
Jeannie Reynolds – The Phones Been Jumping All Day – Casablanca
Betty Wright – Clean Up Woman - Alston
Honey Cone – Stick Up – Hot Wax
Ike and Tina Turner – Bold Soul Sister – Blue Thumb
Inez and Charlie Foxx – (1-2-3-4-5-6-7) Count the Days – Dynamo
Bobbi Humphrey – Smiling Faces Sometimes* – Blue Note

*R.I.P. Norman Whitfield. When I put this mix and post together last week it was prior to finding out about his passing. When I looked over this post last night before posting it, I had totally overlooked the fact that the mix closed out with Bobbi Humprhey's cover of Norman Whitfield's classic, Smiling Faces Sometimes (originally recorded by The Temptations). This is really an unfortunate coincidence, but nonetheless an appropriate tribute to one of the all-time great soul songwriters.

A Mind Wandering

Ahhhh... another two weeks have passed already. Honestly, I couldn't believe it when I realized that a new mix was scheduled for this week. Although things have calmed down a good bit over the last few weeks, it still seems like time is just flying by lately. This week's mix is inspired by my desire to kick back, relax, and enjoy a mental break from the daily routine. I'm sure that regulars here will notice that, despite including roughly the same number of tracks as vol. 1-3, this week's mix is a good bit longer than usual, clocking in at about 50 minutes. While perusing the blogosphere, it seems to me that all too often the vinyl junkies of the world overlook the long-player to make room for the funkiest of 45's. And don't get me wrong, I enjoy a succinct slice of funk as much as the next guy, but sometimes there exists a groove that needs to be stretched out. Trunk of F.U.N.K. vol 004, A Mind Wandering, was inspired by such grooves, and, for the most part, encompasses tracks that couldn't fit onto a single side of 7 inches of wax (a couple of shorter tracks were included simply because they fit the mood I've been searching for lately).

The mix starts off with a jazz-funk track from pianist Les McCann that slinks along in a cool electric groove. Hip hop heads will notice classic samples taken from this track by the likes of MC Shan and Pete Rock. The mix then moves to a heavy brazilian number from Airto, showcasing a standout performance from the percussion tag team of Airto and Flora Purim. Larry Young's Fuel then provides us with another slice of funk that is heavy on the electric keys, as well as a solid break to start the song off. A few weeks ago I mentioned that Ramsey Lewis would certainly show up here many times. I wasn't kidding, as this week's mix moves from the work of Larry Young to smoking electric piano work from Ramsey Lewis. This track is a personal favorite of mine due to the way it starts off with an amazingly heavy groove, which seems to totally fall apart in the middle and then come back together at the end. Next up A Wandering Mind keeps the soul-jazz feel with a song from funk powerhouse, Cymande. This group is no stranger to beatheads and vinyl junkies, but this track in particular seems to get less coverage than some of their more classic material, which seems crazy after hearing that great vamping flute line. Curtis Mayfield then gives us a break from all things jazz with a serious funk bomb. The title of this one is perfect, and begs the question, with a groove that funky does anything really need to be said? From there the soul-jazz re-emerges with one of the shorter tracks in this set. Highlighted previously on this site for their roles as members of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, The Young-Holt Unlimited use this track to prove that they can get bodies moving on the dancefloor without the assistance of Ramsey on the keys. And what would a laid-back jazz-funk mix be without some smoking organ work? To close things out A Wandering Mind presents back to back organ groovers. First up is a number from Jimmy McGriff taken from an album sub-labeled, The Super Funk Collection, which for anyone who's heard it is a more than accurate description. I can safely say that while this is the first track from this record presented here, it won't be the last. Finally, the mix wraps up with an organ groover from Lou Donaldson. An organ groover from Lou Donaldson, you say? But he's a sax player! Certainly that's the case, but here we have a track credited to a young Lonnie Smith, who is featured prominently on the organ throughout the entire number. So, without further ado, Trunk of F.U.N.K. presents...

Trunk of F.U.N.K. vol. 004 - A Mind Wandering

Tracklist

Title - Artist - Album - Label

1. The Harlem Buck Dance Strut - Les McCann - Layers - Atlantic
2. Finger (El Rada) - Airto - Fingers - CTI
3. Sticky Wicket - Larry Young's Fuel - Spaceball - Arista
4. Kufanya Mapenzi - Ramsey Lewis - Funky Serenity - Columbia
5. Rickshaw - Cymande - Cymande - Janus
6. Can't Say Nothin' - Curtis Mayfield - Back to the World - Curtom
7. Who's Making Love - Young-Holt Unlimited - Soulful Strut - Brunswick
8. Dig It On - Jimmy McGriff - If You're Ready Come Go With Me - Groove Merchant
9. Peepin' - Lou Donaldson - Mr. Shing-a-ling - Blue Note

P.S. The next installment of Trunk of F.U.N.K. radio won't be brought to you by your's truly. Instead, a real heavy hitter will be gracing our airwaves with the inaugural mix of the Trunk of F.U.N.K. guest mix series (sorry, I'm not going to spoil the surprise, you'll have to check back to find out who it is).