06.26.08. Welcome to our new website. We've been around since 2002 and are the home of Malcolm Catto and The Heliocentrics, The Whitefield Brothers, MRR-ADM, Karl Hector and The Malcouns, Triorganico, Mr. Chop and countless of funk and soul artists whose music we reissue.
Our new site has all of the features of our old one, and some new ones.
NOW AGAIN MUSIC LIBRARY VOLUME TWO - OH NO VS PERCEE P
6.28.08 Following his first foray into flipping the funk (Oh No vs. Now-Again - NAML 001), Oh No goes head to head with rap veteran Percee P. Oh No's soulful tracks stand up to Percee's lyrical assault, tempering the Rhyme Inspector's on-the-sixteenth-note barrage and highlighting his unique cadences.
Distinct from the versions of these songs released on Percee P's Madlib-produced Perseverance, these tracks are all culled from samples within the Now-Again catalog. Of course, they're all cleared with the artists and labels Now-Again represents. Roger Boykin, owner of the Soultex Records, the label that originally released the Booker T. Averheart 45 that Oh No sampled for "Praise," recently emailed us and said, "I have listened to the mix, and I like it very much. I'm still amazed at what can be done these days using the technology. This is a very nice use of the Averheart tune. Please tell Oh No GOOD WORK, from me."
These CDs are not for sale, but if you happen to catch a Percee P show, you might want to ask The Rhyme Inspector if he has a copy on hand. We're just saying...
06.27.08. The Breakestra's first release, the Deep Funk classic "Getcho Soul Togetha" came out on Stones Throw. So it's fitting that they'd come around the bend to Now-Again for a release as the band readies to record a new album. The result, two new songs from Miles Tackett and crew, see release here in vocal and instrumental form.
Miles and Egon's long-running Los Angeles weekly, Funky Sole, at Jimmy's Lounge in Hollywood, is name checked on the B-Side. But we figured we'd give you a taste of the "Lowdown Stank" instrumental edit in anticipation of this forthcoming release.
06.18.08. It's been well over two years, since we first mentioned that the Whitefield Brothers forthcoming albums would see release on Now-Again. We're constantly seeing emails from fans of this Munich-based group, asking when the albums will come about. So it's with great pleasure that we follow up the Whitefield Brothers's side-project Karl Hector and The Malcouns with the news that Jay and Max Whitefield have finally signed a deal with us to reissue their classic In The Raw album with bonus tracks and release a brand new album in early 2009.
In The Raw, in its originally released Soul-Fire Records form, is currently exchanging hands for hundreds of dollars, so fans of the Whitefield?s afro-delics will rejoice at getting a copy of the tunes alongside alternate takes, rare vinyl only releases and b-sides and unreleased songs. The band's forthcoming sophomore effort, as of yet untitled, features Bajka, Percee P, MED and there are plans for an Edan collaboration if time permits.
To whet your appetite for this release, we're giving you a taste of yet another Jay Whitefield produced project: "Hammerhead" by the DAR Band.
03.20.08. Breaking news! Your boys at Now-Again and Soul-Cal have finally completed the negotiations to legitimately reissue one of the finest soul songs they’ve ever heard – Key N' Cleary’s sublime “What It Takes To Live.” Good luck finding an original copy – the 45, when it does surface in auction, hits record numbers for rare soul.
While the record’s label credits The Chosen Few as the band behind this release, the genius of the record lies with the aforementioned Jessie Key & Sylvester Cleary. Entrepreneurs both, they involved themselves in many drives to better their home city of Buffalo, New York. One of the many ways was through song and this track, released in 1976, is one of at least five singles credited to the duo.
In association with New York-based collector and archivist David Griffiths, Now-Again and Soul-Cal are working on plans for an anthology of Key N' Cleary’s work. Watch this space for more details.
03.08.08. As if giving the Heliocentrics record a number one on MOJO's Vinyl Countdown wasn't enough of a compliment, the reviewer, Ian Harrison, also drew comparisons to Miles Davis and the JB's. With recognition like this, the Heliocentrics, may not just always be some obscure band that only those "in the know" know.
By the time The Group (actually called Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza) recorded this promo-only album for a subsid of RCA, they had been kicking around Rome for about six years. Under the direction of Franco Evangelisti, they recorded quite a few impressive albums of mostly avante-garde, and often psychedelic, improvisational music. For this recording, assisted by Ennio Morricone on a very flat trumpet, Bruno Battisti Da Mario on guitar and awesome studio drummer Renzo Restuccia, they pulled out all the stops and made one of the heaviest, break-beat laden pieces of pyschedelia I’ve ever stumbled across. This one hasn’t left my bag in three years.
Márconi Notaro
No Sub Reino Dos Metazoarios
Discos Rozenblit, Brasil 1973
With all of those who started shouting "private press only" after Shadow named an album after those American self-starters who took their recorded destiny into their own hands, consider this: as hard as it might have been to record, press and distribute your very own wax capsule in America in the early '70s (and as rare, and good, many of them are), doing the same under Brasil's military dictatorship was markedly more difficult. And releasing a psychedelic, fuzz and effects drenched opus with revolutionary musings disguised within double entendres? Next to impossible.
You'd want this one in your collection if it contained just one good track within its beautifully packaged gatefold cover. That this album screams perfection from start to finish just adds to its legendary status. The brainchild of poet Márconi Notaro, alongside his friends and compatriots Lula Cortes and Ze Ramalho (the men behind perhaps the most legendary of Brasil's private-pressed albums, 1975's awesome Paebiru), this album contains what can only be described as Brasilian ragas played with the Portuguese guitar and Lula's own invention, the Tricordio; improvised passages so fluid you'd swear they were scored; psychedelic-funk jams about staying true to one's origins; and, throughout, Notaro's complex yet approachable poetry, sung by the poet himself.
The highlight of the album, if there is just one: Notaro's improvised "Nao Tenho Imaginacao Pra Mudar De Mulher (I Don't Have The Imagination to Change Wives)," a gorgeously melancholic piece that, when one sees it transcribed (gotta thank my lovely girlfriend for that), is nearly impossible to imagine as having flowed directly from the mind of one of the most underrated Brasilian poet/composers.
(Time-Lag Records, based in Portland, Maine, just reissued this album through Lula and Notaro's daughter. Pick it up and support – if we're lucky, perhaps they'll reissue one of his impossibly rare books of poetry next).
If you’re given the opportunity to ever sequence an album (and especially if you sequence your own album), bear this bit of wisdom in mind: put your best song first. Seriously. Don’t save it for the middle, or, god forbid, the end of your record, thinking “Yeah, I’m gonna knock ‘em over the head with this one... When they get to it.” ‘Cause “they” probably never will. I mean, blame it on the average listener’s attention span. Blame it on the deluge of music that the average fan must sift through. Don’t blame it on the fact that, uh, maybe you can only make one, killer, totally amazing, fucking-damn-everyone-who-hears-this-must-admit-it’s-good song.
I mean, I’m not saying that the Top Drawer could only make one great song. Their solitary album, “Solid Oak,” actually contains a few nice bits of rural hard rock with just enough psychey edges. But the first track on side one – “Song Of A Sinner” – a nearly nine minute opus, is the reason that this album (in its original press*) sells for nearly two grand every time it pops up on eBay.
Jeff Jank, when hearing this the first time I threw it on the turntable at the Stones Throw office, off-handedly remarked, “Finally, some rare psych that doesn’t have a lead singer badly ripping off Jim Morrison.” With all due respect to my man D.R. Hooker (gotta shout out my home state of Connecticut), he’s right. Steve Geary, the writer of this track and presumably the vocalist, has a beautifully melancholic, very competent (but not amazing) voice that works just perfectly with over this home-grown, kinda-sloppy, super heavy vamp. Of course the drums are insistent, loud and sorta funky. Ron Linn holds it down on some kind of electric harpsichord. And our boy John Baker just brings it home with some of the most tasteful guitar ever laid on a psychedelic record. Not over the top. Not pyrotechnic. Soulful. It’s not that often that one can describe a guitar solo on a super-rare, in-demand psych record in these terms. For my ears, most of the time they’re just straight annoying.
Damn, this song is great. My girlfriend, upon first hearing it, said “Damn, this song is depressing.” Exactly the point.
The lyrics are a bit corny at times (“And it's hard to touch the state of mind/that I can see you and still be blind”), but this little portion has me wondering if these guys were saying something really deep (considering the fact that they were from Kentucky, or perhaps southern-Ohio, in the early 70s, and named their publishing company “Redneck Music”):
“Lord you have to understand/that I'm just twenty and a rebel young man...
And yet I ask to be forgiven/Knowing the life that I've been livin'/And yes, I know that it's too late/'cause on your judgment day you're going to close the gates/on me.”
Think about that one.
There’s a reissue of this out, on Akarma, but so far as I can tell, it’s a bootleg.
One last remark – the band recorded this album at Fultz Recording Studio in Kentucky, the same studio that The Aristocrats laid down the ultimate female-funk tune, “Don’t Go.”
*There is a second press of this album, which, in my humble opinion, actually sounds better than the first, and can be had for around $100. It’s easily distinguished from the first press ‘cause the band, sometime in the early 80s, had the foresight to write “Special Thanks To Nicholas Montagna for help with the second pressing” on the back, thick cardboard cover.
He 5
Merry Christmas Psychedelic Sound
Korea, 1969
I can’t front. When it comes to Korean Christmas records, my man Cut Chemist has me beat. He returned from Seoul earlier this year with some insane Christmas Carol record that contained possibly the funkiest track I’ve ever heard on a Korean record (Though my man Jason up in Toronto has been hipping me to some that sound incredible in their own rights, I haven’t heard ‘em yet).
But I had to get up in the Christmas mix myself (I was getting tired of playing the James Brown Soulful Christmas album and David Axelrod’s Messiah around the folks’ place every December) so I bought the He 5’s Merry Christmas Psychedelic Sound for Xmas ‘07 rotation.
I do love the He 5’s later incarnation, the He 6. Their first three records under that name are amongst my favorite Korean “group sound” psychedelic albums, and their cover of the Rare Earth’s “Get Ready” is probably my favorite Korean track at this moment. But this record, seemingly their first (?) is quite the novelty: all Christmas songs (a la “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”), done in an instrumental, garagey psychedelic fashion, just “acceptable” enough for the ears of aging hippies to play at your parent’s house on Christmas morning... But their cover of “Jingle Bells” morphs, about a minute and a half into the track, into a ten minute freak out cover of “In A Gadda Da Vida” and, after the drum break, wails into “Paint It Black.” The returns to “Jingle Bells” again. Yikes.
Then, immediately after, the He 5 play “Auld Lang Syne” for about two minutes before they, in the words of my boy Cut, “go at it like Billy Ball” and introduce their band. In broken English. With a drum break to boot. I once read a Korean website review the record and say: “Last track is influenced by black music like from James Brown etc.. very 'black' and funky.” Uh, yeah. It makes no sense but they’re really going for it. I like this one almost as much as Shin Jung Hyun’s cover of “Funky Broadway” on his (what else) “In A Gadda Da Vida” album.
I shall not attempt to edit Mssr. Gainsbourg’s biography into a sentence or two, as that wouldn’t do the French genius justice. If you’re interested, there is a decent (and the only English language) bio by Sylvie Simmons you might want to check entitled A Fistful of Gitanes. Rather, I’ll start by saying that there was a time when Serge’s proto-rap classic “Requiem Pour Un Con” completely twisted my generations’ wig back. Some of us, myself included, heard it first by watching the Jean Gabin-venue Le Pacha, the late '60s neo-noir that featured a mini music video of a pea-coated, chain-smoking Serge breathing his way through the song. Well, in those pre-eBay days, we all thought that if we were ever able to get ahold of a copy of the picture sleeve 7-inch OST to Le Pacha, our Serge collections would be complete. We all already owned copies of Histoire De Melody Nelson, you know?How mistaken we were.I’ll never forget the phone call from The Heliocentrics’ Malcolm Catto when he asked me if I’d ever heard of this promo-only 7-inch “La Horse.” Of course I hadn’t, and he went on to describe in vivid detail this track, composed by Serge and his long time arranging partner Jean-Claude Vannier that stood not only as one of Serge’s best instrumental releases, but also his rarest. The record was released by Serge’s publishing company, Hortensia, around the time of the release of the film, as a promotional-only item to be given to theater goers. A few years and missteps later (including one in a Parisian flea market, when the Euro was worth about a dollar, when the going rate for the record was about 900 E), I finally scored a copy from a collector based in, of all places, Oxnard. This one hasn’t left my box in years, and I DJ it out constantly. The banjo break is a bit hokey, but whatever – the film, another Gabin feature, took place in the countryside, so I guess Serge was just shouting out the hicks. Who cares? It follows one incredible drum break, doesn’t it?This, and a bunch of other Gainsbourg tracks, just came out on this CD. Peep it out. There are a few other incredible moments on that disc, but I dare say that this takes the “blue ribbon.”Oh, one last thing: that cover is a “paste on...”
03.10.08. Yes, you might have guessed based on our release of The Heliocentrics: we here at Now-Again are into Library Records. If you're asking yourself: "Damn, will I be able to find a copy of the Detroit Sex Machines at my local library?" you're on the wrong track. We're into those records put out by music publishing houses such as KPM, Southern, Lupus, SR, Cam and more in the 1960s and 70s when musicians like Nino Nardini, Alan Hawkshaw, Stefano Torrossi and more received carte blanche to create whatever kind of music they liked and they succeeded in creating some of the most beautiful music we've ever heard (see Nardini's Stringtronics, reissued officially by DJ Vadim).
Let's forget the fact that 9 out of 10 records on an imprint like KPM are barely worth the vinyl that they were pressed on: anyone who owns a copy of The Big Beat Vol. One knows that many of the selections from The Mohawks' legendary Champ album first saw release there.
We've started our own little Library Series, and ours has a nice twist we're interested in supplying our producer friends with sample fodder in the form of the hundreds of songs from our catalog to see what they'll create. First up, we tapped the talents of Oh No, one of our favorite producers. His promo-only CD is floating around in the field now, and, at some point in the future, we'll probably release it as a limited-edition vinyl LP
Your boy Oh had this to say: "That was an adventure in some real dramatic funk. As I arranged and composed the different variations of the Now-Again catalog, I wanted to bring out the emotions in each instrumental, rangin' from happiness, depression, confusion and anger.. Music to feel... Feel the music!!!!"
We couldn't agree more.
Next up: Koushik. Other producers in line include Edan, Madlib, and a few other surprises who you might not associate with the Now-Again flavor but soon will.
COMMENTS
03.08.08.Members of The L.A. Carnival recently reunited in Omaha, Nebraska to perform songs from their We'd Like to Pose A Question album as they were inducted into the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame.
The band was surprised to meet with an old friend who presented them with a reel-to-reel labeled "L.A. Carnival Live In Someone's Basement."
Rick Chudacoff, the band's bass player, remembered the session occurring sometime around 1972 after the band had undergone some personnel changes, notably in the horn section. Fiery drummer/vocalist Lester Abrams remained, alongside Chudacoff and vocalist Arno Lucas.
The ten-song session contains all covers, including a few Sly & The Family Stone joints, an instrumental version of "Ain't No Sunshine" and an Edgar Winters Group track. Someday we might release this gem (probably when we do our L.A. Carnival box set – no we're not kidding), but for now, feast your ears on their version of Winter's "Give It Everything You Got." Cover? In our humble opinions, the Winter version might as well cease to exist. This is our kind of funk.
Way back when I attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee (with Now Again’s accomplished art director Matt Rowland), I hosted a radio show on the college’s radio station WRVU called “Origins of Hip Hop.” Yes, I know – corny title, but I meant well. And I managed to track down and interview quite a few progenitors of my generations’ most important music like the Idris Muhammad, Silver Apples, Lalo Schifrin, David Axelrod. This all before 1999, when, it seemed, everyone came to the surface and what I was trying to do didn’t seem so special anymore.
Well, one of those people that I got in contact with, but never managed to interview, was Phil Morrison from the Stark Reality. Anyone interested can now find out about the Stark Reality through the reissue I did for Stones Throw. But back then, no one outside of a very tight inner circle had even heard the entirety of the band’s psychedelic jazz opus Hoagy Carmichael’s Music Shop. Phil was most accommodating to me, and, when I finally tracked down a copy of the album and went about starting the process to reissue it, the first person I looked up was Phil. We’ve been friends for a while, and I’d been seeing his name mentioned on a series of albums that had popped up in different scenes, so I decided to give him a shout to see what he was up to.
1. Phil! It’s been almost five years since we reissued the Stark Reality album. How’ve you been doing and what have you been doing?
Well, Eothen, first of all, I want to again say "thanks" to you and your record company for resurrecting Stark Reality. I know you say it was a "labor of love" but for me it brought back one of the most creative periods in my musical life...... and to see the appreciation from the young people who I consider to be "on it" – like you and the Stark Reality fans – it's amazing!!
As far as what I've been doing ....man.... Where shall I begin? Well, when we first hooked up, I believe I was in China ...giggin', writing and trying to soak up the flavor of China. Mainly because I wanted it reflected in my music. Some of the young Chinese musicians who were into jazz would come to our gigs and we ended up sort of mentoring them which resulted in us doing concerts and recording together...... with some of them playing jazz on their traditional Chinese instruments. Our pianist, who is an old friend from Boston, Keith Williams, was able to relate to them in terms of music theory & terminology – he's a Berklee graduate – and I would write tunes that would hopefully capture the flavor of China.... and we'd rehearse and finally record. After a few years of going back and forth to China, we recorded a couple of CDs which features the Chinese violin called the erhu (ahr-hoo).... The latest one named Hollow Reed was just released last month.
2. Lately, I’ve seen your name mentioned on a couple of different records from the '70s and '80s, and they’re well different than the music that you recorded with the ’Reality. Tell me about the first, Birigwa, which was first issued on the small Seeds label from Boston in the early '70s.
Birigwa was an African student from Uganda studying in Boston in the early '70s and a very talented vocalist/guitarist. Another talented Boston pianist named Mait Edey, who I knew, called me & Vinnie Johnson and asked if we would play on a project that featured this African singer/guitarist (Birigwa).
At the time, Vinnie and I were working with the master blues man T-Bone Walker – what a treat that was – but we were home between gigs and available.
We had a good time recording with Birigwa which was produced and directed by Mait Edey. The music was like African folk – I believe Birigwa sung in Swahili primarily – with a jazz groove. Good stuff!
3. Who owned the Seeds label? How were the records sold?
I assume Seeds was owned by Mait Edey and he just put the recording out there as sort of a "mom & pop" type thing. Mait was a real nice guy who was more an artist than a business man as far as I knew. Around the same time, we did another blues-oriented album featuring Mait on piano along with other fine Boston musicians. It was called "Natural Food" and also re-released with "Birigwa" on Porter Records.
4. Is this the only record outside of the Stark Reality that features yourself and drummer Vinnie Johnson holding down the rhythm together?
No.... Actually Vinnie and I were in a rhythm section behind an outstanding singer, Mamie Lee, who you probably know of. Man, it was such a joy performing with her... She didn't receive the recognition she deserved but at least Vinnie & I had the good fortune to record with her for MGM Records with Don Costa of Frank Sinatra fame doing the producing. The pianist in her group was Carl Schroeder, who went on to become Sarah Vaughn's pianist ....Carl was baaad! Oops! It wasn't Vinnie on drums on the recording..... It was another good drummer named Peter Donald. I think Vinnie joined the group after Peter. I must be getting old :-) ... By the way, on the Mamie Lee recording, the great Sam Rivers played some flute and saxophone... at least I remember that. It is also one of the few recordings where I am playing acoustic bass. You can check her out on Monty's homepage.... www.montystark.com
5. Did you record on any other albums in the 1970s? Our boy Vinnie, of course, is featured on Stanton Davis’s Brighter Days album.
In the late '70s, I worked with singer/pianist Freddy Cole and we recorded an album called Quiet Storm. Freddy can not only sing and play some groovin' piano, but he's also a gifted writer. I had the honor of putting lyrics to a composition for his brother Nat called "He Was The King" which is on that recording. Stanton Davis was one of the best trumpet players in Boston and his Ghetto Mysticism band would rival any band in the country for Jazz/funk.
6. The second album, New World Generation, is from the early '80s and has recently been rediscovered by modern soul and boogie fans. Tell me about it – you were the manager of the group, were you not?
Well..... since I was one of the founding members of the group but didn't play bass in it..... I had to have some title! We were all friends in Boston and the musical orientation of the members was jazz & funk ..... but the musical direction was more funk ....plus the fact that I was committed to my gig with Freddy Cole who at that time had gigs in Brazil every year. The title tune on the recording New World Generation was co-written by Lekan and me so I'll always feel connected. That's another group that should have made it to a higher level. Maybe now it's time has come.....at least for the recording. Of particular note in that group was the lead female singer, Suzanne Swan but for musicianship and groove.... They were all happenin'!
7. This label, Close Connections, was out of Massachusetts as well, right?
Oh oh! Close Connections?...... Was that the label NWG was released on? I don't recall the name..... Man, I'd really make a good manager wouldn't I?
8. Did you enjoy the disco sound? As great as this album is, it surprises me that someone as into the jazz rhythm as you is behind it.
Actually, my involvement in the music and its direction was minimal. However, I did my share of gigs including disco during that period...... and to steal a line from Denzel...... "You do whatcha gotta do to do whatcha wanna do...."
9. Did you do any other records in the 1980s?
No, not that I can recall. Most of my post "Reality" recordings were done in the 90's .......either straight ahead stuff or music that included Asian instruments recorded in China and Japan, as well as the US.
10. Last but not least – man, tell me that there are some other unreleased Stark Reality songs out there for us to hear! We true believers are fiending for them!
Of course there are...... and I'm the only one that has them.... so let's talk!!!..... Sure......and I have a bridge to sell you too! You know, I'm surprised you came up with as much material as you did. Who knows, maybe someone recorded one of our "live" performances. We used to play at a place called the "Western Front" in Cambridge..... burnin'! ...and the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco..... we were cookin' so tough ....the joint had to close down! :-)
If only someone recorded those sessions..... oh well..... I can dream can't I?
......or should I stick to Reality!
Phil Morrison
......striving to be of service to humanity by promoting international harmony through music!
02.04.08. Conrad O. Johnson, bandleader of the Kashmere High School Stage Band from 1968-1978 and owner of Kram Records, the label that issued the Band’s legendary eight albums and three 7” singles of Texas jazz, funk and soul music, died in Houston yesterday at 92 years of age.
He received one hell of a send off. On Friday, the Kashmere Stage Band reunited for a performance at the High School’s auditorium. Filmmaker Mark Landsman, who is producing and directing a documentary on the Band, worked with Johnson’s foundation and Kashmere High School to set off the event for his crew’s cameras. But the reason that the Band’s members, many of whom left the music field after their departure from Kashmere High, reunited and rehearsed, daily, for a month prior to the concert, was to give Johnson the respect he deserved and had fought for, for so long.
Johnson, known by those close to him simply as “Prof” took the reins of the Band in the late 1960s and worked with his charges to perfect the idiom that they understood most: funk. Heavy funk at that. By the time that the band recorded their third album, “Thunder Soul,” they were funking like a mini-JBs. And, by the time they won “Best Stage Band In The Nation” in 1972, they were funking as hard as the JBs themselves. (The Kashmere Stage Band’s full story can be found here at http://www.stonesthrow.com/nowagain/kashmere/index.html).
Yet the Band was relegated to the annals of funk lore, largely due to the fact that the records they released were so rare and, when a collector did get his hands on an original copy, he usually wanted to keep that power for his own ears. A few people did bootleg a song or two in the mid 90s, and, by 2000, the band’s name heated up then fledgling chat rooms when DJ Shadow sampled their namesake track “Kashmere” for the Handsome Boy’s Modeling School cut “Holy Calamity.” With Stones Throw, I reissued “Kashmere,” the first legitimate reissue of a Kashmere Stage Band track, on The Funky 16 Corners in 2001.
The band that performed on “Kashmere” as teenagers back in 1973, including Gerald Calhoun on bass, Earl Spiller on guitar, Bruce Middleton on tenor sax and the indomitable Craig Green on drums, performed the anthem and other Johnson-penned classics like “Zero Point” at the auditorium on Friday. It was overwhelming to say the least. I’m not the kind of person easily impressed by a funk band, and I’m especially critical of those bands that played intensely in the late 60s and early 70s reuniting and performing as a shadow of their monstrous selves. But the Kashmere Stage Band funked like their lives depended on it. By the time they reached the climax on Bubbha Thomas’s modal jazz classic “All Praises To Allah,” and Craig Green rode the uptempo breakbeat like Clyde Stubblefield and Gerald Calhoun plucked those same staccato notes that danced along those same rhythms nearly forty years ago, I stood breathless.
After the event, I mentioned to Prof's son that there were still some Kashmere albums at Prof's house on Rosewood Drive that I needed to transfer, for the possibility of assembling a compilation of Kashmere's ballads. He told me that the family had moved Prof out of the house he'd lived in for nearly sixty years, and that he had moved all of Prof's records into a storage unit on the side of the house. I made my way over and sorted through everything on Saturday, becoming more inspired as I went through the stacks of vinyl. The man's recorded output with that stage band was just tremendous, and the fact that he had kept such meticulous archives of his music, well into his 90s, blew me away.
On Sunday, I drove out to Conrad Jr.'s house to catch up with Prof before leaving for Los Angeles. When I arrived, vinyl in hand for safe delivery, I sat and talked with Prof… we had one of the best talks we'd had in months. We talked about the band, and how good they sounded ("Doggone! Man, could they have sounded any better?" he asked), about Bubbha Thomas and his Youthful Musicians Summer Program and the 45 that they released in the mid 70s - a cover of Prof's "Lost Love," about future performances of the band, and, of course, about future anthologies of the band's recordings. He was most excited about that. Smiling, laughing, and gently prodding me with the same types of questions he did over the first years of our musical courtship ("Look here man, how are you going to do it? With what songs? From where? With the reel to reels?") - and, of course, making sure his business was straight.
He was so thrilled, so happy, so with it... I left feeling uplifted. I hadn't just spoken with a sick man, a man recovering from the heart attack that had confined him to a hospital bed just days before. I had spoken with a peer - a man who was going to be with us forever - carefully stewarding the next steps of his legendary Band, the band whose legend seems to grow greater by the day.
In a way, he will be.
NOTE: Egon is selling original copies of some of the band’s LPs and 45s in order to help the Johnson family pay for Prof’s funeral expenses. If you’re interested – serious buyers only, as these records aren’t cheap – email egon@stonesthrow.com, subject line “Kashmere Records.”
Heliocentrics Bonus 7-inch (aka "Fan Club 45") available FREE with purchase of the Heliocentrics' debut album Out There. At select retailers only, while supplies last.
It took a little while to get the goods but here it is, the interview with Egon, aka Eothen Alapatt, the general manager of Stones Throw records, and the man behind the re-issue wing of Stones Throw, Now-Again Records.
Now-Again recently released Re:Sounds Vol.1 a blistering compilation of 70s funk re-issues remixed and flipped by some of Stones Throw’s finest.
Egon talked extensively about his dedication to reissuing obscure funk from the United States and overseas, the making of Re:Sounds, upcoming projects on Now-Again and his love of fine wines.
This interview is not short, so here are some mp3s from Re:Sounds, to groove to while you’re reading:
"Blind World," Aloe Blacc
"I Wish," Kashmere Stage Band
"Too Much Tenderness," Koushik
"Before I Die," Guilty Simpson
"Trouble Will Remain (Truth & Soul Remix)," Amnesty
IJ: Explain what Now-Again is and the philosophy behind it and how it's different from Soul Cal.
Egon: Now-Again has been more or less known the "reissue wing" of Stones Throw, and, in terms of reissues, it focuses on American funk music from the late 60s and early 70s. It also issues many albums from that era that have never seen the light of day – like the LA Carnival's Pose A Question album and the Amnesty Free Your Mind album.
As of late, though, I've been issuing new music on Now-Again including the recently released Now-Again Re:Sounds, which contained music from the Now-Again reissue catalog flipped in different ways by current producers, bands and vocalists.
Soul-Cal is something that PB Wolf and I started together and it mainly focuses on reissues of 70s and 80s disco and soul music. We've yet to release an album, but the first – an anthology of all of our 12" releases with full annotation, liner notes, pictures, etc. is due out next year.
Egon interview Pt. 2
IJ: Talk about your commitment to re-issues, how you started doing it why you think it's important.
Egon: I started with hip hop - specifically the "golden age" of the late 80s and early 90s. At that time, producers such as The Bomb Squad, Large Professor, the DITC crew, DJ Premier and more littered their tracks with samples from old funk records. Some were obvious ¬ The Bomb Squad should have gotten kickbacks from James Brown for the amount of times that they used "Funky Drummer." Some were obscure - such as Premier's sampling of the Billy Garner 45 "I Got Some" for "B.Y.S" on the Daily Operation LP. By the time I was 16 or 17, I realized that I wanted to know ALL of the source material for the hip hop tracks that I loved, and I started digging. Of course I started with the obvious - all of the records on the Ultimate Breaks and Beats series - and moved slowly into the world of the obscure, regionally released funk records by those musicians who were influenced by the likes of James Brown, The Meters, Sly & The Family Stone and Kool & The Gang. This was around the time that I entered Vanderbilt University, in 1996. I had made the research of rare records somewhat of a secondary study. And, given that I had the priviledge of hosting a radio show on Vanderbilt's quite large college station, WRVU, I started broadcasting my weekly finds to my audience.
During the four years that I attended Vanderbilt, I studied hard - and had some great teachers, like Dooley O, Georges Sulmner from Raw Shack, Dante Carfagna, Cool Chris from San Francisco's Groove Merchant and more. By 1999, I found myself contacting funk musicians for interviews who had never been contacted before. Well, I should say, they had never been contacted by anyone about the random 45 or LP they recorded, released and distributed themselves.
It was at that point I realized that I should be figuring out a way to release their music, legitimately. I mean, I would find a musician whose music might have been bootlegged – but his story wasn't out there. The music wasn't taken from the master tapes. No one had found him to find out if – maybe – he had any unreleased material from thirty years past that should see the light of day.
I was given a wonderful opportunity by Galt MacDermot to put my work into practice, by archiving and producing reissues of the music he recorded and released independently in the 60s and 70s on his Kilmarnock label. That really kick started everything for me – Galt gave me an opportunity to prove that I could put my money where my mouth was. And his catalog – so genius, so deep. It was quite an honor and, I can say seven years later, one I was lucky enough to not screw up! Everything started there.
When Peanut Butter Wolf offered me a chance to help him run Stones Throw Records in the spring of my senior year at Vanderbilt, neither he, nor I, thought that we would ever re-release music on Stones Throw.
In fact, I was working on some spec projects for companies in Boston and New York at the time, and actually putting the finishing touches on an anthology release for Ubiquity. But, as he and I drove across the country, from my home in Connecticut to my new home in Los Angeles, I introduced him to some of the people whose music I respected, and whose stories I had begun to uncover. He was moved enough to say "You know, we should put some of this music out on Stones Throw." That was the beginning of The Funky 16 Corners, and I don't think I'm bragging to say that it was a benchmark in Deep Funk compiling. We only released music when we could officially broker a license. We used master tapes whenever possible. We annotated each session, dug up photos, told stories.
And we made a promise to pay, when royalties became due. Over the past five years that comp has sold over 30,000 copies and the artists have been paid many times over. We're very proud of that fact.
Again, hip hop is my first love, and sample-based hip hop – the likes of which producers like the late J.Dilla and Madlib still bring to new heights – is my favorite kind of hip hop. I love digging up an obscure record, reissuing it, and hearing someone flip it into a hip hop song. I mean, just by someone doing that, there is a beacon lit – one that kids, thirty years in the future, can use as a source to track down the music behind the music they love, like I did when I was sixteen.
Egon interview Pt. 3
IJ: Talk about the various projects you're currently involved with and what you're most excited about.
Egon: A few years ago I met a man in Indianapolis by the name of James Massie. He had lead an amazing ensemble named Amnesty in the early 1970s – a progressive funk band that sounded somewhat like Parliament's earliest recordings (think Osmium) with a taste of Earth Wind & Fire and Sly & The Family Stone thrown in. At the time, most of us thought that the band had only released one 45 – a scorching, super rare piece called "Everybody Who Wants To Be Free" on Indianapolis's LAMP Records label. That 45 alone would have been enough to cement the band's legacy as purveyor's of some of the most original sounding funk to originate from Naptown, but, upon meeting James, I found that they had released a second 45 on another small Indianapolis label, and had actually recorded a series of intense songs in 1973 for an album that had never seen the light of day. Now, James wasn't the easiest man to track down – I ended up finding him through an old friend of his who had also been in Indy-based funk bands in the 70s. And he had seen some bad times in the late 70s and 80s. But he had been saved, had cleaned up his act, and, over the past three years, he came to entrust me with his meticulously-maintained archives, which included photos and other bits and pieces from the Midwest Funk heyday, and the release of the music on Now-Again. That project just came out this past spring on Now-Again – we're extremely proud that this music will see it's first release through our label. That people will discover Amnesty's rich history through work that we1ve done. Their album is one of the best unreleased albums I1ve yet heard.
IJ: What's up with the international funk tip? I hear you're into Lebanese and Turkish funk?
Egon: A while back, when discussing Galt MacDermot's music with a friend and fellow collector, he said something to me like, "Yeah, his music is cool and all, but, you know, I'm not into "funky music," I'm into “funk."
I always thought that was a bit shortsighted.
To me, the most exciting part of collecting funk records - outside of the rare and rarer occurrence of finding some undiscovered American funk band playing as good as the JBs or the Jimi Hendrix Experience or some combination of the two – is expanding my horizons to search for the influence that "funk" had on "music" across the globe – and the proliferation of "funky music" that ensued.
The Mediterranean folk sound, when melded with the funk rhythms of the late 60s, is a beautiful blend. Obviously, Oh No felt the same way as he flipped a good bunch of my records into Dr. No's Oxperiment, an incredible statement in its own right.
IJ: What's in your heavy rotation at the moment?
Egon: The Heliocentrics album that we're about to release on Now-Again. New band from the UK; the drummer is an old friend of mine, Malcolm Catto.
It is the perfect "funky" album, as far as I'm concerned. David Axelrod is currently working on string arrangements for one of the band's songs and he said, when I sent him the song and the song's lead sheets, "Man, this is a good band."
He doesn't say that about just anyone.
Egon interview Pt. 4
IJ: Whatchyou sippin' on (can you suggest a good red and white, preferably not from Cali because of labor issues)?
Egon: Ah, you're limiting me there, given that I'm living in Los Angeles, surrounded by amazing Carlifornian wineries.
That being said, let me point up north to a fellow Connecticut Native, Dick Shea's vineyard and winery. He only grows and makes Pinot Noir.
He's based in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and his wines (and those wines made by other producers with grapes grown from his vineyards) are amongst my favorite Pinots at the moment.
As to whites, can I suggest that anyone who has $300 sitting in their bank account should go find a half bottle of Chateau D'Yquem's 2001 vintage. Yes, it's expensive, but it's still around and god knows what it will cost in five to ten years, when it opens up. It will probably last 100 years (store it properly, y'all) and you'll bequeath it to your grandchildren if you don't imbibe its luciousness your greedy self.
IJ: Can you give a brief explainer or run down the concept of Re:Sounds.
Egon: The main point is, and I truly feel this with funk from the 60s and 70s (as opposed to, say, most bubble gum 60s pop or 80s hair metal): the music is timeless and enjoyable, on its own, without any knowledge of what made the music so damn important in the grand scheme of American – shit, World – music's history. It is rhythm. It is the most popular rhythm in the world – it is the dominant rhythm since it's inception, and it shows no sign of changing. It is known across the world, yet it originated here, and it's progenitors are largely with us, ready to tell their tales, and let their music be heard anew.
What better way to prove the above point than to give a series of young, talented musicians a chance to run through the Now-Again catalog and remix, re-edit and re-vamp some classic funk tunes? This way, hopefully, a handful of young music fans who might never have purchased a Now-Again (or any) reissue in their lives can have a chance to experience some of the joy that comes from listening to an amazing funk groove.
Now-Again has teamed up with Traffic Entertainment to reissue:
- Kashmere Stage Band Plays Originals LP
- Kashmere Stage Band Zero Point LP
- Kashmere Stage Band Out Of Gas But Still Burning LP
- Rhythm Machine Rhythm Machine LP/CD
- Bubbha Thomas & The Lightmen Country Fried Chicken LP
- Lightmen Plus One Energy Control Center LP
..We've been doing these for a while. It's all legit and through the artists. Check back here to keep up to date on these and coming reissues in partnership with Traffic Entertainment.
The two Bubbha Thomas-led joints mentioned above have just been issued on CD by P-Vine, in conjunction with Now-Again, for Japan only. Liner notes by Egon. Limited copies are available at Dusty Groove.
COMMENTS
KOUSHIK AND PERCEE P "COLD BEATS" NOW AVAILABLE ON BEATPORT
Beatport is an online music store specializing in dance music whose downloads are encoded at a bit rate of 320kb/s, available in available as MP3, MP4 and WAV (44.1KHz) formats.
Koushik + Percee P Cold Beats: A Cold Heat Megamix (NA5022) is currently a digital exclusive at Beatport. Cold Beats – the second of two 12-inch remix singles – features an exclusive megamix of raw, heavy funk from Now-Again's Cold Heat: Heavy Funk Rarities 1968-1974 compilation (NA5017 – 2005). Koushik handles the beats, which legendary Bronx MC Percee P then rips to shreds.
Much of the Stones Throw Records catalog – including Madvillain, Madlib and Dilla – has recently been made available on Beatport, as well.
Seattle songwriter Clifford Nyren passed on at age 49 as new generation rediscovers his music.
Clifford Dix Nyren, musician/songwriter and green industry sales executive, passed away on March 26th, 2007. The cause was complications from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.
Clifford Nyren had been part of the green industry for over 20 years, working in sales, management, and as a manufacturer’s representative, most recently as the Pacific Northwest Representative for the Nightscaping Company. Earlier, he had sales & management positions at United Pipe & Supply.
Clifford was primarily a songwriter, guitarist and all around musician. Partnering with his brother Stuart on drums to form the band Chase Street, Clifford headlined prominent Los Angeles jazz clubs throughout the 1980s with his unique blend of jazz fusion and funk.
After relocating to the Pacific Northwest, the Nyren Brothers Band (performing then as Chase Street) performed at many local events and venues including The Pacific Northwest Arts Festival, Taste of Bellevue, Tacoma's Freedom Festival, and University Village Jazz Concerts sponsored by KWJZ Smooth Jazz 99.
A few years ago, Egon, DJ and general manager of Los Angeles based independent hip hop label Stones Throw Records, took a chance on a college LP from the ‘70s on ebay and discovered Clifford’s “Keep Running Away.” He immediately included the record in his DJ sets and came to notice that the song commanded great response wherever he played it - from Hollywood Boulevard to Tokyo, Japan. He eventually tracked Clifford down and negotiated release on the Soul-Cal subsidiary of Stones Throw Records, which he founded with legendary DJ Peanut Butter Wolf to reissue lost soul and funk from the mid to late 1970s.
The 12” pressing of “Keep Running Away” came out in January 2007 and has received praise from all over the world; it stands as the fastest selling Soul-Cal 12” single. Egon and Peanut Butter Wolf loved the song so much that they included it on their compilation “Chrome Children Volume Two” which they released in conjunction with Turner Broadcasting Corporation’s The Cartoon Network. The song was downloaded nearly 100,000 times, and will now be released on CD through Stones Throw Records on June 19th and will be available in stores worldwide, and on every major internet retailer.
Clifford had been working on and recording a collection of new songs, now to be released posthumously under The Nyren Brothers Band.
A private celebration of life and performance of Clifford’s music will be held at Jazz Alley in Seattle. Along with wife, Darla, and brother, Stuart, Clifford Nyren is survived by a brother, Chuck Nyren, and a sister, Jill Nyren. “Keep Running Away” can be heard and an interview with Clifford Nyren found at Soul-Cal’s site.
The latest single from DJ Shadow's latest album, The Outsider, hit stores featuring two songs with Malcolm Catto, Jake Ferguson, Adrian Owusu and Jack Yglesias – collectively known as The Heliocentrics.
The A side, "This Time (I’m Gonna Do It My Way)," features the band playing their unique heavy funk over a '70s acoustic soul demo re-discovered by Shadow in an old studio. The song features a string section arranged by Wil Malone (who previously worked with Massive Attack 'Unfinished Sympathy' and The Verve 'Bitter Sweet Symphony'). A special B side – a cover of Jimi Hendrix and Curtis Knight's funky R&B classic "Love Love" – is available on select versions of the single.
The first Heliocentrics single on Stones Throw/Now-Again – "Before I Die" – is due out in the first quarter of 2007.
Egon just gave his first deep funk comp, The Funky 16 Corners (STH 2038 – first released in 2001), a thorough reworking. The entire album has been restored and remastered by Stones Throw's mastering engineer Dave Cooley, and some selections that were originally mastered from vinyl have been replaced with versions taken directly from the original master tapes. He also reworked the liner notes, correcting occasional inaccuracies – including the entire story of the legendary Slim & The Soulful Saints.
The new, updated version of the compilation can be distinguished by the red sticker on the front cover bearing quotes from Rolling Stone and NPR..
The Real Story Behind Tickled Pink
Clarence Pinckney discovered
Around the Now-Again office, one of our catalog’s most played funk tracks is Tickled Pink’s “Reach Out (And Give Me Your Hand),” the wild, raucous nugget of wah-wah funk issued on Texas Funk (NA 5019). That damn 7-inch was so rare and obscure that hardly anyone knew of its existence until it was reissued on this Jazzman/Now-Again compilation. However, as is sometimes the case in the ad-hoc world of deep-funk tracking, there has been some conjecture as to the lineage and genesis of the band, whose solitary 7-inch offered little concrete info to go on. Recently, a random email from the band’s founder, Clarence Pinckney, to Egon, lead to a series of communication with the bandlead that has since shed more light on this dynamite organization.
Clarence Pinckney: The Man and His Music
By Will James
Born and raised in Glensville, Georgia, Clarence “Pinky” Pinckney’s introduction to music originated at the United House of Prayer for All People Church where he played in his church marching band, The Grace Silver Leaf Band, and for the shout band, The Seven Blowing Angels. Pinky attended early high school in Savannah, Georgia before moving to New York City. At age 18, Pinky was booked into his first engagement as a professional musician in 1960 at legendary Madison Square Garden, as lead trumpet player for The Ross Elliott Quartet, which opened for The Count Basie Band.
Pinky continued to develop and refine his musical skills throughout the early 1960’s and enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1962. Pinky’s honorable discharge in 1968 from the USAF concluded an exemplary service career. During this six-year stint in military service, Pinky served at Carswell Air Force Base in Forth Worth, Texas then was assigned TDY in Guam, before completing his service tour at McCord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington. He received numerous awards and commendations for his excellence as a Crew Chief, servicing and maintaining the first Boeing B-52 heavy bombers used during the Viet Nam war. Retiring from military service allowed Pinky the freedom to pursue his primary passion ... creating and composing music.
In 1969 Pinky formed the group The Mint Juleps, teaming with Drummer and promotional whiz Gil Ray and vocalist Marge Gregory in the Tacoma/Seattle area until 1970. That same year he originated Pinky & The Topics. As drummer and horn specialist for the group, Pinky’s captivating presence was complemented by organist Kenny Trebillcock, guitarist Mike Smith, and vocalist Vicki Teller. Soon afterward, Merlin Bell replaced Trebillcock on keyboard.
In 1971, Pinky assembled a sharp and talented trio comprised of Billy Haddon from Cleveland, Ohio on organ, Mark Breeze from Spokane, Washington on drums, and Pinky on alto and trumpet. This trio became the inaugural version of ‘Tickled Pink’ – a name that has left a lasting legacy for several American music formats.
A year later, Pinky wrote and arranged the single, “Reach Out (And Give Me Your Hand),” and recorded the song at Phil York’s studio in Dallas, Texas. Little did he know at the time, Pinky had struck gold in “Reach Out” when the red hot single became a standard highlight for a plethora of radio station play lists around the country, and became a Golden Oldies retro hit that has been widely marketed by more than a dozen commercial music distributors for the past fifteen years. After recording “Reach Out,” Pinky took his band outside the Continental U.S. to the 50th state in the union. While on the Alaska circuit in 1972, Tickled Pink captivated audiences in the prestigious Top of the World Club at the Anchorage Westward Hotel.
In 1973 Pinky recruited a brilliant guitarist, Larry Marshall, from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, while Fred Taylor from Seattle, Washington took over on drums. To enhance the attraction, diversity, and marketability of Tickled Pink, Pinky began his search early in 1974 for an elite vocalist for the group. With help from the hand of fate, Pinky was in the right place at the right time when he re-discovered fellow native New Yorker and former Morris High School classmate Joyce Diamond, while she was performing at the Evergreen Inn in Olympia, Washington as the featured vocalist for the Las Vegas style show band, “Firelight.”
Pinky pulled off the recruiting coup of the year when he signed the spellbinding and lovely Diamond, a former member of the 1960’s all-female vocal groups, The Chiffons and The Chantels, creating a dynamic and explosive front line for the group. Shortly afterward, Pinky’s brother Jerome joined the band as percussionist, and Audie Wong replaced Taylor as the group’s lead drummer, although Pinky took his regular turns on the drummer’s stool. During this period, Pinky wrote, arranged, and produced another hot single for Tickled Pink, “Do What Ya Wanna.”
With this exciting lineup, Tickled Pink embarked on a Canadian tour that thrilled audiences at some of the top nightclubs in Vancouver, British Columbia, including the famous Baceda’s, and the Kego Club. When the tour resumed, the band played before capacity crowds in the Sky Room at the CPR Hotel in Winnipeg, Manitoba and at the Expressway Lounge at the Landmark Hotel in Thunder Bay, Ontario. From there, Tickled Pink returned stateside and opened the lavish new Retreat Lounge at the Keystone Inn Ski Resort in Dillon, Colorado, then played a return engagement at the Spokane House in Washington.
In 1976 Tickled Pink shifted personnel again. With Pinky spending more time on drums while still blowing alto and trumpet, he and Joyce Diamond were now backed up by keyboard specialist Allan Monroe and veteran bassist Bob Noreen. This dynamite quartet electrified audiences in top clubs from Kansas City, Missouri to Seattle, Washington where they compiled another masterful live recording at the Tradewinds Resort in 1977.
After Tickled Pink disbanded in 1979, Pinky took a one-year hiatus from the road before packing up his instruments and taking his act to the high seas. For more information, please visit Pinky’s website, mrtickledpink.com
Indianapolis’s legendary Rhythm Machine is one of the rare funk bands that transitioned between eras of funk’s history seamlessly, creating awesome funk sides for a host of independent labels between the years of 1968 and 1976. Born out of cult Indy funk band The Highlighters’ (of The Funky 16 Corners fame) ashes, the Rhythm Machine was founded in the early ’70s by bass player James Boone and guitarist James Brantley. Determined to make a go of it as a show band, the two assembled another high-energy group of musicians and cut their first 7-inch for the small Rodan imprint in 1972. The funk cut on this single, “Freakish Love,” came to prominence as a Keb Darge spin in the fledgling days of Deep Funk’s (re)discovery in London’s early ’90s club scene.
It wasn’t long until Darge dug a little deeper to discover the Machine’s first 7-inch cut for Indianapolis’s Lulu label. “The Kick,” since reissued on Stones Throw’s The Funky 16 Corners compilation, hinted at great things to come by the band, as it showcased their polished Kool and The Gang-influenced brass attack on the funk form.
In the late ’90s – a time when most ardent Deep Funk fans barely crept beyond the early ’70s golden age – Darge began championing a little heard cut from the Rhythm Machine’s 1976 independently released, self-titled LP, which he (lucky bastard) had found on 7-inch single. “Put A Smile On Time” – a sublime example of exquisite soul vocals mixed with the insistent rhythm of a top-notch funk ensemble – certainly stands out on the Rhythm Machine’s super rare LP, but is by no means the album’s only shining moment. “Put A Smile On Time,” alongside the Machine’s lovely ballad “Brenda and Me” were recently reissued on a Soul-Cal Records 12-inch Giant Single – perfectly setting the stage for the reissue of the fabled band’s debut.
Lost for thirty years, The Rhythm Machine is now available to the musical public, legitimately reissued in its original packaging. Offering up brilliant soul, haunting ballads and high-energy mid-’70s funk, this tasty medley is served best in its entirety. Remastered from the original 1⁄4-inch tape mix-downs, this limited-edition CD reissue marks the second collaboration between Now-Again Records and Traffic Entertainment Group – the first being the acclaimed Soul Seven boxed set of 7-inch singles.
Rhythm Machine “Put a Smile on Time” b/w “Brenda and Me”
SCR 103 Special Disco 12” Giant Single
Two soulful masterpieces follow C. Henry Woods disco stompers on the newly formed Soul-Cal Records. The Indianapolis, Indiana-based label Lulu is well known within the deep funk world as the label that launched records by Spider Harrison, The Turner Brothers and The Highlighters in the early 70s. However, in the mid 70s, the label released what has come to be known as one of the most sought after of all modern soul cuts – The Rhythm Machine’s “Put A Smile On Time” – as both a seven inch single, and a cut on the Machine’s uber-rare LP.
UK tastemaker DJ Keb Darge was the first to spin this sublime example of exquisite soul mixed with the insistent rhythms that only a top-notch funk band could produce. Lusty DJs have since driven the price for an original single into the triple digits. Now, remastered from the original analog master tapes – and paired with the full length, album version of the beautiful “Brenda And Me” ballad – this 12” is ready for dance floors the world over.
Written by Rhythm Machine (Lulu Music - BMI)
Produced by Jerry Hermann
Originally released in 1976 on Lulu Records 6091-25A/B, Indianapolis, Indiana
COMMENTS
WESTWOOD, CA - APRIL 01, 2006: Renowned actor/comedian Cedric the Entertainer hosted Nickelodeon's 19th Annual Kid's Choice Awards while sporting the now-world-famous Soul-Cal Records emblem across his chest.
His own offspring in tow, Cedric arrived at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Westwood wearing the highly recognizable insignia of the Los Angeles-based Soul-Cal record label and clothing line.
Observers noted the unusual soulfulness with which the entertaining Cedric distributed orange blimp-shaped awards to the nation's most popular entertainers of kids. Many attributed the Barbershop 2 star's extra pinache to his newfound interest in the raw disco and modern soul of his T-shirt's namesake.
Cedric reportedly left the awards show in a limousine blasting the melodic strains of Soul-Cal recording artist Pure Essence's "3rd Rock."
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 12, 2006: The heroic image of Turkish psychedelic rock icon Baris Manço adorned the birthday cake of Now-Again Records CEO, Eothen "Egon" Alapatt, last Wednesday during an impromptu celebration. Revellers gathered at Alapatt's Glassell Park residence to commemorate his 28th year on this funky planet.
The Manço-adorned dessert provided the evening's highlight. A treat for the eyes as well as the palate, the frosted rendition of Turkey's beloved singer provided a tasty way for the half-dozen partygoers in attendance to enjoy a lesson in flavor from the other side of the globe.
While today's most astute and eager young raw funk enthusiasts look to Now-Again to clear their path to the hipness of tomorrow, Egon can be found, as usual, about a hemisphere ahead of the curve. While even the most clued-in vinyl consumers out there are presently raving about the latest Now-Again funk release, Egon and Co. have already traded in their dashikis and bell-bottoms for Baris-style capes, belt buckles, and matching gauntlets. (... On second thought, we'll still be needing those bell-bottoms, thanks.)
Anyway, it's Bosphorus Fever around the Now-Again office, and it's entirely due to the monumental influence of Mr. Manço – the Funky President of the Ottoman Empire. Manço's unparalleled decades-long career in outlandish music bridged generations, as well as continents, by incorporating traditional Turkish instrumentation and harmonies into the '70s Rock format so popular in the West. Intertwining the sinuous melodies of his electric zither with the fuzz-toned fury of psych, Manço resoundingly affirmed that "that hot shit" knows no geographical boundaries.
While such audio alchemy blew minds on an intercontinental scale, Manço's highly sophisticated graphic design sense imparted his musical message with an appealing and potent visual dimension. When he passed in 1999, this mustachioed maestro left civilization a complex musical legacy, enriched all the more by a truly awe-inspiring run of some of the flyest album covers known to man. Manço's graphic presentation – not to mention his taste in clothes – sustained an impeccable degree of quality and relevance over a span of time which is perhaps unrivalled in popular music history.
It is for these and many other less tangible reasons that Baris Manço has come to represent the human standard of artistic completeness to which we at Now-Again Records humbly aspire. As future generations continue to bear witness to the far-reaching achievements of this aesthete par excellence, may their creative spirits be fertilized by his most dynamic, transcultural seed.
Now Again Records, in association with Stones Throw Records, and its European distribution partner Play It Again Sam, is offering exclusive items for sale through its website for the first time. It's for a just cause – the rebuilding of the life of New Orleans' funk legend Ernie Williams, founder and leader of Ernie & The Top Notes. Ernie, like almost all New Orleans residents, suffered greatly and lost nearly everything in Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
Ernie's songs "The Dap Walk," "Things Could Be Better" and "Things Are Better" are the stuff of Deep Funk legend. These songs were first legitimately compiled by Egon for release on The Funky 16 Corners and the Soul Seven Box Set, and Peanut Butter Wolf for release on Peanut Butter Wolf's Jukebox 45s.
For sale are copies of the limited edition Stones Throw Fan Club 45 #2, and European copies of the 2CD reissue of The Funky 16 Corners compilation (the second disc contains Madlib's "6 Variations of In The Rain," Cut Chemist's "Bunky's Pick" and J.Rocc's "Junkie's Pick." All copies are autographed by Ernie Williams, and all proceeds go to Ernie Williams.
Cost is $15.00 per 45, and $20.00 per CD. This cost includes first-class shipping and handling to any location in the continental United States. International orders should email egon@stonesthrow.com for information as to additional shipping costs.
To order a copy of the 45, CD, or both, you must pay by Paypal, directly through Egon (use email address: egon@stonesthrow.com) who will direct all proceeds, minus PayPal fees, to Ernie Williams at his temporary home in Clarksville, Tennessee.
This project marks the first release under the Yesterdays New Quintet umbrella where Madlib collaborates with other live musicians.
The album’s title track was co-written by Simon and Ubick and also features the UK’s Malcolm Catto on drums. Catto made significant contributions to the Keystones' Wildflowers album and Blood’s Haul EP.
Tuesday, August 3, 2004
By KATIE ORLOFF / The Press-Enterprise
In 1969 these boys from San Bernardino loved to play music.
They called themselves Lil' Lavair & the Fabulous Jades. They played weddings and other events. They won local Battle of the Bands contests. They cut a single and dreamed of making it rich.
Today they've scattered. They include two school district superintendents, a retired hospital manager, a casino technician, a rabbi and a corrections officer.
But they're more than that. They're classic funk. And for a long time they didn't even realize it.
The Fabulous Jades broke up in about 1970, after their record didn't take off and band members started to pursue other interests.
But the funk movement continued to grow. Unbeknownst to them, their record had gained momentum in the United Kingdom's funk scene. By the late 90s, it had reached the play list at a popular London nightclub, according to Now-Again Records, a company that re-released the group's song, "Cold Heat," last year.
Monday, a label manager with Stones Throw, Now-Again's parent company, met with seven band members at the Radisson Hotel in downtown San Bernardino to hear their story and pitch the idea of possibly including "Cold Heat" on a future funk compilation album.
For many of the Fabulous Jades members, it was the first time they'd seen each other in about 30 years. They laughed as they talked about not knowing their music had taken off.
"All your life, you're going about your business an you think you're accomplishing things. This comes back and pops up," said Ralph Payan, 65, a retired manager at Patton State Hospital. "This is like icing on the cake."
They remember how young they were. Most were in their teens when the band started in the early 60s. Some were younger.
Some – like Dennis Byas, today the superintendent of the Colton Joint Unified School District – played their horns in the Pacific High School Marching Band.
Others were simply music fans. Dwight White, today a rabbi at the Church of Yahweh in San Bernardino, remembers boasting that he could dance like James Brown and that his brother, Delbert, could sing like him.
Delbert eventually was given the name Lil' Lavair and became the lead singer.
Early on, they made about $7 or $8 each for playing events, weddings and corporate parties. They got popular in the Inland Empire music scene, which they said had a lot of funk and soul bands then.
Eventually they started pulling in $100 each for a show. They played at a club owned by Frank Sinatra in Palm Springs. They had a manager, who bought a van and painted their name on it. They'd thought they'd made it big.
When they cut the album, they convinced themselves they would earn $50,000 each for the effort. But no one remembers where the figure came from.
They didn't get the $50,000, though Byas remembers a royalties check for 37 cents. But on Monday they got admiration.
Eothen Alapatt, the record label manager, said he was considering posting signs around town to try to flush out the Fabulous Jades until a member contacted him. "Cold Heat," he said, packs all the elements of funk into a single, three-minute song.
"You guys were creating one of the pinnacles of it," Alapatt said.
This article appeared in the Inland Southern California Press-Enterprise, August 3, 2004. Reach Katie Orloff at (909) 806-3054 or korloff@pe.com.
Now Again inks deal to reissue Kashmere High School's funkiest 60s and 70s Stage Band cuts.
Following in the footsteps of his Funky 16 Corners compilation – which contained the only legitmate license of the Houston, Texas high school funk heavyweights "Kashmere" – Egon journeyed to Houston, Texas with photographer B+ to negotiate the release of the Kashmere Stage Band's toughest funk tunes. The Stage Band released a total of eight albums and three 45s on the Kram label under the direction of legendary Texas bandmaster Conrad O. Johnson between the years of 1968 and 1978. All are sought after by collectors and DJs not only because of their rarity, but for their top notch funk quality. This ever-changing crew of high-schoolers recorded music that funked with the best of the best – forget high school bands, we're talking about sixteen year old kids who would give the JBs a run for their money!
Egon and B+ sifted through dozens of reels – both released and unreleased, studio and live – with Conrad O. Johnson and ex-Kashmere bandmember and recording engineer Claude Robinson. The result will be coupled with extensive liner notes and archival photos and memorbilia for a definitive CD and vinyl compilation with the help of many who already know the obvious truth – that this material simply must see the light of day, as quickly as possible. The CD/2LP anthology will be preceded by vinyl reissues of the band's LP masterpieces: Zero Point, Plays Originals and Out of Gas (But Still Burning) – starting soon and stretching through to the end of this year.
