A Taste of Swinging Addis...
Sooks
714 Posts
Stop by the If It Rotates page this week for some great Ethiopian music, and learn why the capital was called 'Swinging Addis'... Ayalew Mesfin, Alemayehu Eshete, and Asselefetch Ashine! IF IT ROTATES
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First up - Price Blackman's cover of 'Rapper's Delight', here titled 'Rocker's Delight', in which he lets us know that a good man is a rasta man, and not to trample his collie field...! The Prince was also from Toronto, which is cool, and the record came out on 12" on the Solar Sounds label (no date, but probably early 80s). What's funny is that this isn't the only, nor the most famous, Jamaican cover of Rapper's Delight! That honour goes to another group by the name of Xanadu and Sweet Lady.
Next is an amazing track - Derrick Laro and Trinity and their reggae cover of Michael Jackson's 'Don't Stop Till You Get Enough'. Now, DSTYGE is a pretty unstoppable song in it's own right, and playing this reggae version always turns heads (when they realize what it is). It came out on a Joe Gibbs 12" (the flip is 'And Even Then Keep Going') in 1980. Check the toasting at the end! Genious. I love this tune.
When I get around to it, I'll also post up the Hindi (!) version of DSTYGE, by Usha Uthup... next time.
IF IT ROTATES
When you think of funky music, the first name that comes to mind is definitely not this week's entry... known as the Velvet Fog, it's Mel Torme! Yup, he was a teen idol in the 40s, on Nightcourt in the 80s (remember?) and, it also turns out that he had some damn cool records. First - from his 60s LP 'Mel Torme - Right Now!' check 'Comin' Home Baby' (which, as a side note, appears to have been written by Bob Dorough, of Multiplication Rock fame) for some serious big band funkiness! Also, from his 1974 LP Live at the Maisonette, dig his version of Stevie's 'Superstition'!
IF IT ROTATES
IF IT ROTATES
From Italy to Poland to the USA, three examples of the groove that all funk fans are after. The first track is by the Polish band NOL, from their 70s album Breakout on the Muza record label. This is actually a killer LP, with several great tracks. The one I chose, 'Sluchaj Rytmu', opens with a big open break before an opening that sounds like Beck could've sampled it. Because they're a rock band, there's the requisite guitar solo, but still, the track's a winner:
NOL - Sluchaj Rytmu
The second track is by a popular Italian duo Wess & Dori Ghezzi. Actually, Wess was from the US originally, but was a big star in Italy. He also put out some storming funk numbers as Wess and the Airedales, most notably that great cover of 'Vehicle' that was on the Kings of Digging comp. Anyways, the track that I include here, 'Sentimento Sentimento' actually has a terrible chorus that really ruins the song, but the opening (and middle) is pretty sweet. It would be nice to have an edit to cut out those parts... it's from a 1973 single on the Durium label.
Wess & Dori Ghezzi - Sentimento, Sentimento
Finally a dope track by the Left Rev. Eugene McDaniels, from his 1970 Outlaw LP. He took a lot of heat for this LP, because it wasn't soul, or rock, or any kind of established genre. This track, 'Cherrystones', like the track above, also has a chorus section that I'm not that fond of. Unlike the Wess & Dori track, however, you can play this one out!
Eugene McDaniels - Cherrystones
IF IT ROTATES
IF IT ROTATES
Last week we saw how "the groove" is found in recordings all over the world - it's only natural that you can find it in gospel recordings, too. In fact, since so many secular soul and funk artists came from gospel backgrounds, you could argue that it just might be the source. This week, I've got 3 groovy gospel tunes for you.
First up - Brother Samuel Cheatam, with 'Troubles of the World' from a 45 on Chicago's One Way record label (he has an album on One Way, too, called 'Stranger in the City'). This is a slow, brooding track with a deep and continuous groove. There's another edition of this 45 on the Cora label.
Brother Samuel Cheatam - Troubles of the World
Second - on the Stax subsidiary label 'The Gospel Truth', the Rance Allen Group giving us practically the opposite - upbeat, snappy, and those great gospel vocals on top. Some parts remind me of Sly and the Family Stone. The Rance Allen group has several albums on Gospel Truth, and this track, 'I Got To Be Myself' is available on 45.
The Rance Allen Group - I Got To Be Myself
Lastly, also on the Gospel Truth label, Charles May and Annette May Thomas' amazing 'Keep My Baby Warm'. You may have heard this before, because it's been comped a few times, but it's still worth hearing again... this is the most like a soul track - female vocals, a deep groove, but, at the end there's a great part where the music drops out and just the vocals let you know that it's gospel! There's an album on Gospel Truth called 'Songs Our Father Used to Sing', and this song is also available on 45.
Charles May and Annette May Thomas - Keep My Baby Warm
IF IT ROTATES