Its been a long time,. i shouldn'ta left you without a strong rhyme to step to...

You got it,you got it,you got it,you got it.......... i know ya got soul,..... if ya didn't ya wouldn't be in here............. And a mighty thanks for returning to the Funk Road after an extended hiatus. Things were a little hectic down the Funk road for a minute.....between moving , buying a new headquarters for the 1200's and crates, and finding myself alone after splitting with my soul-mate i've finally gotten myself settled in and able to give this blog my full attention.
...... So, Bobby Byrd,....... Ironically he's the one who discovered James Brown......... yet he himself became one of James Browns Funky People. "The hell" you say.... but its the truth.
Byrd and Brown met at a youth detention camp. Byrds local baseball team was playing against an inmate team that , coincidentally had one James Brown as a member. Brown, ever the showman, was showing off his singing and dancing skills to fellow inmates when he caught the eye of Byrd. Byrd was a member of a group called "the Avons" , a local vocal /instrumental group. In regards to first seeing Brown ,Byrd said "'I didn't need him in competition, I needed him with me, that's why I worked so hard to get him over to my group'". Byrd convinced his parents to offer James a home plan upon his release from detention.
The Avons, who had now changed their name to The Flames under the direction of Byrd , recorded their first single with James Brown at the helm. Released in 1956 on the King label , Please ,Please,Please did just the opposite to members of the band who were unhappy that the single was released as "James Brown and the Famous Flames" The band that Byrd himself had founded now had a new frontman and Byrd was relegated to keyboards. To add insult to injury many of the songs collaborated on by Brown and Byrd failed to give Byrd any writting or publishing credits at all.
Many incarnations of James Browns backing bands came and went thru the years. Byrd stuck with Brown ,playing as part of the James Brown Revue, as one of James Browns Funky People, and recording solo material with James Brown's backing bands.
The most famous of Byrds solo tunes is "I Know You Got Soul". Recorded in 1971 with the JB's, this 3:00 single was part of an 18 minute funk jam during the sessions for Browns "Hot Pants" album . With James Brown himself at the production controls the extended jam was later chopped into "I know you got soul"," Escape-ism" , and a few other tunes. Having only reached #30 on the billboard charts, nobody really expected what was to hapen next.
Its common knowledge among hip-hop fans, beat-heads, and crate diggers that James Brown is the most sampled man in music history. And its very possible that "I know you got soul" is the most sampled of James Browns work. Byrds work to be exact, but like i said earlier, Brown often gets credit where Byrd is due........ 30+ artists have sampled this song. MC Ren, DJ Jazzy Jeff ,Cool G Rap, Salt-n-Pepper,Special Ed, Ice Cube and multiple times by Public Enemy. Do I need to continue to make my point. The list is long........ but for me it starts and stops with Eric B and Rakim's funky joint of the same name.With Rakims use of internal rhyme, sophisticated metaphors, a methodical-yet-effortless delivery , and the dog-with- fleas scratching of Eric B. they easily take this song to the next level. They just don't make hip-hop like this anymore. ..........and its sad.

Enjoy the funky stuff....... and BTW, be sure to Email kingskunk45@gmail.com for your FREE Kingskunk45 sticker.

Booby Byrd-I Know You Got Soul - http://www.divshare.com/download/7861413-c55
Eric B and Rakim- I Know You Got Soul - http://www.divshare.com/download/7861430-207

RIP- Louie Bellson

As a friend remarked earlier today " its been a rough year for music legends" I am saddened to have heard about the passing of Louie Bellson, drummer extraordinaire.

Bellson was and still is one of the all time great drummers of our lifetime. Standing among the likes of Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa, Bellson played with them all........ from Dizzy and the Duke to Satchmo,.....Ella, Count Basie,. you name it Bellson played with them as well as leading his own groups, the most recent being the Louie Bellson Big Band Explosion.
So what does this have to do with the Funk Road you might ask.......In 1969 Louie Bellson and his 18 piece orchestra in conjuntion with producer /arranger Oliver Nelson teamed up with none other than the Godfather himself and sideman Maceo Parker to record a jazz,funk, big band album by the name of Soul on Top. The two tracks posted hear are done in ways you've never heard before ( unless you were lucky enough to have heard the original Soul on Top or the 2006 re-issue. )
Track one is a cover of the old Hank williams Sr. song "Your Cheating Heart" done only the way James Brown could do it..........and track 2 is the James Brown standard " Papa Got a Brand New Bag"only done (loosely) big band style

Your Cheatin' Heart- http://www.divshare.com/download/6592977-c9e
Papa Got a Brand New Bag - http://www.divshare.com/download/6592998-6e1

Ike and Tina Turner

Before we go any further I just want to say that I NEVER, under any circumstance, think its ok for a man to hit a woman. I also do not condone any violence against women or anyone for that matter.

With that being said, I think Tina Turner did her best work under the threat of a backhand from Ike. There,.... I said it. As bad as it may sound I honestly believe that. People can say what they want about Ike Turner, but the one thing they can't say is that the man was a bad band leader. He was able to push his band to the limits of their abilities. If you don't believe me, check out " A Black Mans Soul" . Its an album of all instrumentals recorded by Ike Turner and his backing band The Kings of Rhythm .
Alot of people are familiar with Ike and Tinas version of "Proud Mary", and many are even more more familiar with Tinas solo work in the 80's such as "Private Dancer" and "Whats Love Got To Do With It". But the stuff I'm talking about is the seldom heard gutbucket funk the pair recorded during their heyday in the 70's. I'm gonna bust out a few here that you may or may not have ever heard...... the band is funkier than..... well,. a mosquiters tweeter...... Ike is piloting the band like a bus driver high on cocaine, and Tina wails like a woman possessed.

Bold Soul Sister - http://www.divshare.com/download/6593042-105
Put on your Tight Pants - : http://www.divshare.com/download/6593052-0ec
I Wanna Take You Higher - http://www.divshare.com/download/6593068-1f4

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

Hailing from the same town as the Godfather himself, this Augusta, Ga girl surely proved wrong those who originally told her she "wasn't pretty enough" and was "too fat" to have a successful career in music.

Getting her start singing in the churches of her youth, Sharon Jones graduated to talent shows and occassionally with local funk bands of the mid 70's.During that period she made a decent living doing session work as a backing vocalist on a variety of gospel, soul and disco often going uncredited or occassionally being credited as Lafaye Jones . By the early 80's Jones sound was deemed no longer fashionable and so she returned to church singing and the occassional wedding band. Having mostly exited the music scene she took a job as a prison guard at New Yorks infamous Riker's Island and also as an armoured truck guard for Wells Fargo.

Fast forward to 1996 when Phillip Lehman and Gabriel Roth , co -owners of the now defunt Pure Records label arranged a recording session with deep funk and soul legend Lee Fields. Acting on a tip from the session sax player who was dating Jones at the time, she was one of three called in to do backing vocals for the sessions. Jones was the only one of the three to actually show up , and after having completed the sessions herself, she had so impressed Lehman and Roth that they had her record 2 solo tracks which later appeared on the Soul Providers album entitled Soul Tequila.

Pure Records morphed into Desco Records, which released three ,now highly sought after, 45 singles by Sharon Jones . Desco Records disbanded in 2000 after differances in opinion between Lehman and Roth.

In 2002 , Gabriel Roth went on to found Daptone Records.One of the first artist signed to was Sharon Jones Piecing together a band culled from members of groups who had earlier recorded for Desco, the Dap-Kings were born. With a backing band intact, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings recorded Dap-Dippin' with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. This was Daptone Records first full length release.

Biringing immediate attention to the herself, the band and to Daptone Records she was highly sought after once again. In 2005 they released Naturally, and 2007 brought 100 Days, 100 Nights. With much touring, and guest appearances she quickly became the spearhead of the revivalist funk and soul movement.

The three tracks available for download here are 3 different versions of "How Long Do I Have to Wait" from her 2005 release "Naturally". The first is the original cut as it appeared on the album. The second is a reggae inspired remix by Ticklah from the recently released Daptone 7 inch 45 single, and the third is a dub remix also by Ticklah which was the flipside of the aforementioned 7 inch single.

Until next time, in the words of the great Don Cornelius , I wish you PEACE, LOVE, AND SOUULLLLLLL!

Original Release - http://www.divshare.com/download/6334798-f3d
Ticklah remix - http://www.divshare.com/download/6334820-cae
Ticklah dub remix - http://www.divshare.com/download/6334828-990

Beastie Boys - Love American Style

There are few people in my life who's musical opinions matter to me. One of those people is my good friend ,digging partner and fellow music junkie Marc.

Marc runs his own audio blog over at "Marc of the Covenant".... you can find your way to him in my "other blogs I frequent" link section. Marc and I have been friends for quite a while. You might have met him years ago as the dready that worked at Mixed Media when it was still in the univesrsity area or you might know him as Mr. Gray, your child's 2nd grade teacher. Either way, Marc's musical hand is far,far reaching often pulling out the obscure, or finding an advance copy of an album not due in stores for months. Marcs generosity with his music and knowledge are just a few of the reasons I find Marc to be one of my closest friends. Almost weekly he'll toss me an MP3 disc or fill up my USB drive.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned to Marc that I'd like to find a copy of a rare Beastie Boys 12 Inch EP entitled "Love American Style". It was said to contain 2 tracks from Pauls Boutique and 2 more unreleased tracks from the same era. It should have come as no surprise when Marc replied " oh..... yeah I got that, Its not a first -pressing but it is the re-issue of it". To which I replied, " well if you come across another one somewhere keep me in mind." I didn't really think much more about it after that.

I'd thought about searching ebay, but thats like hunting fish in a barrel and paying to do it. When it comes to digging I prefer to find what I'm looking for elbow deep in a cardboard box of musty old records on sunday mornings at the flea market.

I guess that you sometimes need to be careful of what you wish for as Marc's copy of "Love American Style" found its way to my house christmas eve along with a bad-ass James Brown sweatshirt. Immediatly being encased in a plastic sleeve and placed into the crates to await the right moment to go under the needle for digitization. Its taken me almost 2 weeks to just play the record.
It was,without a doubt, the best christmas present I received this year. Thanks Marc!

The first track on the B-side is "33% God", a remix of "Shake Your Rump". Track 2 is "Dis Yourself in '89( Just Do It), a remix of "Hey Ladies" I'm not gonna post either of the two tracks from the A-side . They are both available on the Pauls Boutique.

Track 1- 33% God http://www.divshare.com/download/6266042-0b0
Track 2 - Dis Yourself in '89 (Just Do It) http://www.divshare.com/download/6266058-889

2008 Cold Mountain Winter Ale

As much as I hate to admit it, I wasn't a big fan of this beer. I had high hopes based on my recollection of the Cold Mountain Winter Ale I 'd had a few years ago, probably 2002 or 2003 The last time I'd had this beer it came in a cobalt clue 22oz potbelly style bottle with a ceramic recloseble cap similar those found on a Grolsh bottle.

Produced seasonally and in limited supply by the Highland Brewing Co. of Asheville ,NC the recipe for Cold Mountain changes yearly. This years recipe was medium reddish-copper in tone with a medium moving towards full body. Although the label describes the ale as being lightly hopped I found the hoppiness to be the overwhelming focus its flavor. Also described as having "hints of spice" I didn't find much in the way of holiday spice except maybe for the faint bitterness of nutmeg.

Trying to give this beer the best chance I could I drank it in 3 differant degrees of coldness. As soon as I removed it from the fridge I poured a pint and drank about a third of it. This being the coldest, it tasted of cold coffee with hints of caramel and a hoppy bitterness. As I let the beer warm up a tad the hops became much more pronounced and I found myself fighting to avoid the "bitter-beer face".
After having drank about three-fourths of my pint I poured the remainder of my 22oz into my glass and allowed myself 15 or 20 minutes to allow the beer to warm up even furthur to just below room temperature which in my house is around 62 degrees. As the ale got warmer, the sweetness of the caramel as well as a slight bitter orange/coriander note that offset the nutmeg became apparent. This made the last 3 or 4 swallows probably the most enjoyable part of the beer. It was unfortunate that the entire beer wasn't as pleasant.

I originally had bought 3 22oz'ers before the holiday. I opened one for my friend Marc on christmas eve. He enjoyed the beer (or maybe he was already to the point where any beer tastes good?) but I was drinking corn liquer and lemonade and didn't taste it that evening. I drank the 2nd bottle this evening, and Marc will probably get the 3rd one to drink tommorow night when we watch the Sooners stomp the pulp outta Florida tommorrow night.

All Points Bulletin

I grabbed this one at a flea market last fall, sight unheard/unseen. It turned out to be a pretty good score as I later came to find out that Little City Records , originally from the Chocolate City, moved itself to Charlotte,NC in late 1977 or early 1978.
All Points Bulletin was a 6 piece band hailing from northwest Washington D.C. None of the personnel line-ups I've found made mention of any horn players so I 'm guessing that studio musicians were used for the horn parts.
Discographies generally only seem to list 5 singles released between 1975 and 1979. No full length Lps ever seemed to have been released, although the label on my 45 states " from the forth coming Lp "Funky Bottom-Bottom Funk" LC1500.
Side one is Funky Bottom-Bottom Funk. A vocal groove with some funky flanged -out guitar and clavinet and some nice horn breaks.
Side two is Astro Ride is an instrumental bass and drum driven number with some real punchy horns.
There is a little bit of static on these recordings, but I don't think its anything that can't be overlooked considering this 45 is a little more than 30 years old.

Side 1- Funky Bottom-Bottom Funk http://www.divshare.com/download/6259396-b5b
Sice 2- Astro Ride http://www.divshare.com/download/6259408-083

Cavaliers Unlimited (addendum)

If you downloaded Side 2- The Nasty before 7:30 PM today ( 01/06/09) please download it again from the link at the bottom of this post. It seems that when I ripped it from vinyl to mp3 that had my turntable on 33 instead of 45, so I made the song a little slower and a little lower. Sorry about that.

Side 2- The Nasty http://www.divshare.com/download/6258679-ead

B.T. Express

Originally known as Brooklyn Trucking Express , this 8- piece funk/disco ensemble made a name for themselves in the mid-70's with tunes like "Do it( til your satisfied)" and "the Express" .

They were a little bit Earth,Wind,and Fire , a little bit Kool and the Gang, with a sound all their own .

Released on Roadshow records, a Columbia Records subsidary, "Herbs" was the reggae-tinged funky instrumental flipside to the single "Can't Stop Groovin' Now (Wanna Do It Some More) from their 1980 release "Energy to Burn" .... and although a little late in the funk game, it proved to be one of the best works of their career.

Side A - Can't Stop Groovin' http://www.divshare.com/download/6252884-3d1
Side B - Herbs http://www.divshare.com/download/6252879-0a0

Cavaliers Unlimited

For my first musical post I thought I'd give ya a little something that I just picked up earlier this evening from Lunchbox Records here in Charlotte.

This 7 inch was originally recorded in 1968 by the Portland ,Oregon group Cavaliers Unlimited. Few of the original 45's are know to exist, and those in existence are mostly in poor condition.

In more recent years DJ Shadows Cali-Tex label re-released these same 2 tracks under license from the original band.

The copy I purchased tonight is a re-re-release by Mississippi records ,also out of Portland and is volume #1 of their North Portland Music series . It was limited to a 500 copy pressing and is some very rough-edged raw funk both figuratively and literally in the sense that the production and recording quality leave a little to be desired.

Side A - Soul Vein http://www.divshare.com/download/6252272-78c

Side B - The Nasty http://www.divshare.com/download/6258679-ead

Floyds Restaurant II

I was turned on to Floyds a few months ago by my friend Jerry.

Floyds has multiple Charlotte locations ( 3 to be exact) , but I have only frequented the one located at the Intersection of Plaza and Milton Rd. I can't personally vouch for the food at the other two, but if they are anything like this location I highly suggest a trip to Floyds.

Floyds is soul food at its finest. In addition to the fatback sandwich they serve fried or baked chicken, meatloaf, a multitude of differant fish, and a selection of sides that'll make your head spin. They've got pintos, fried squash, collards, steamed cabbage, mashed potaotes and gravy, fried okra, and the list goes on and on......... but I'd feel respite if i didn't mention what really keeps me coming back again and again.

Macaroni and cheese....... Baked, down-home style....... straight from the family reunion. . Ask my friends, they'll tell ya, I make a mean pan of mac and cheese. But these people have it perfected. The right blend of creamy, cheesy buttery, noodley goodness. Its so good that sometimes i get 2 sides of mac and cheese.

Usually on my plate is the 2 piece fried chicken (white meat). This consists of a fried breast and wing, sometimes 2 wings if they look a little small. The chicken is always crisp on the outside, and moist on the inside without too much greasiness to get in the way. But make no mistake, it is fried chicken so there is gonna be some grease. I usually douse mine in hot sauce for added goodness. On the side I either get collards or steamed cabbage and the prerequisite mac and cheese.

In addition to your meat and sides you also get a monster piece of slightly sweet,cake-moist cornbread. you can butter it if ya want, but when itsthat moist there usually isn't a need to add anything to it, with the exception of using it to sop up some of your collard/cabbage juices.

Wash it all down with a refillable sweet-tea or lemonade.... both made home-style with plenty of sugar.

Speaking of sugar, if you've still got room for dessert I'd suggest trying the southern favorite banana pudding. Made fresh daily , they'llover stuff a to-go cup for ya. If banana pudding isn't your bag, then sample the peach cobbler.

I was convinced they had someones grandma held captive in the kitchen cooking for them , and as it turned out, I was right. Owner Donna Floyd is a mother and grandmother with lots of her family surrounding her at work and at home. Although Floyds is located in an old fast-food restaurant , the food is anything but fast-food quality. Once you take one bite or her delicious fried chicken or meatloaf you'll immediately realize that you're sitting at Grandmas house on a sunday afternoon sipping sweat-tea , gnawin on a chicken bone, and feeling that cool southern breeze.'

the first post

Thanks for taking the Funk Road exit! I hope you enjoy whatever it is that you find here.
..... It might be music, it could be my reviews and opinions on just about anything from food and restaurants to beer,wine, movies, or herb,..... it might just be me pontificating on current events. Stop back frequently,. you never know what you might find. Thanks- KingSkunk