Country Funk?

Christ! Larry Jon Wilson! I have that weirdass album he did on Monument, one of the great strange '70s new-south concept records.

http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/z/zzdirtylaundrythesoul_101b.jpg

Various -- Dirty Laundry -- The Soul Of Black Country . . . CD . . . $16.99 (Item: 375231)
Trikont (Germany), 1960s/1970s Condition: New Copy View Cart
An excellent collection of one of our favorite sides of southern soul -- the sub-stream of music that's clearly influenced by country music -- and which reflects the double-sided world of the southern recording scene! The tracks on the set provide a wonderful introduction to the genre -- and they mix together some well-known numbers with a wide variety of lesser-known tracks pulled from the indie side of the spectrum -- including some key numbers from the Nashville recording scene of the late 60s, clearly a key point of focus for this work. As with other Trikont sets, the notes alone are worth the price of admission -- and document the artists and tunes extremely well, both in German and in English. Titles include "Your Cheating Heart" by Bobby Powell, "He Called Me Baby" by Ella Washington, "What Condition My Condition Was In" by Betty Lavette, "There's A Heartbreak Somewhere" by Roscoe Shelton, "Almost Persuaded" by Etta James, "Bouquet Of Roses" by Bobby Womack, "Don't Take Her She's All I Got" by Freddie North, "In A Moment Of Weakness" by Johnny Adams, "Sixteen Tons" by James & Bobby Purify, "Dirty Laundry" by Curtis Mayfield, and "Till I Get It Right" by Willie Hobbs. 24 tracks in all!

(Honestly, I'm not sure what more I could--or would need to--say of it.)

too many jerry reed hits to mention

"Amos Moses"
"When You're Hot, You're Hot"
"Alabama Wild Man"
"Ko-Ko Joe"
"Tupelo, Mississippi Flash"

...but you gotta watch it with Jerry, because he wasn't doing country-funk all the time. When he wasn't doing the Tony Joe White thing, he was going the cornball Glen Campbell route.

"Walk A Mile In My Shoes" -- Joe South
"Don't It Make You Wanna Go Home" -- Joe South
"Hush" -- Joe South
"Games People Play" -- Joe South
"Poor Side of Town" -- Johnny Rivers
"I've Got A Thing About You Baby" -- Tony Joe White
"Willie & Laura Mae Jones" -- Tony Joe White
"Hangin' On" -- Joe Simon
"We Held On" -- Joe Tex
"Patches" -- Clarence Carter
"Till I Can't Take It Anymore" -- Clarence Carter
"I Take It On Home" -- Charlie Rich
"Big Boss Man" -- Charlie Rich
"Down In The Boondocks" -- Billy Joe Royal
"Hush" -- Billy Joe Royal

stretching a little:
"Who Is He (And What Is He To You)?" -- Bill Withers
"I Can Understand It" -- Bobby Womack

"Ah, And We Do it Like This," 1990: they even talk about "our country sound that makes ya get down" in it. But Jon Caramanica (who has never heard the song) tells me he suspects this may be an entirely different Onyx than the ones who kinda sorta invented crunk a few years later (even though their song "Throw Ya Gunz" had a line that went "Ha, ha hah hah, AND WE DO IT LIKE THIS.")

And now, sorry, but I must say: Hot Apple Pie, "Hillbilly."

were you not paying attention to the "Dirty Laundry: The Soul of Black Country" cd posted just upthread?

On the subject of country soul (and maybe even country funk, which this thread started out as): OC Smith, OV Wright, OB McClinton. Stoney Edwards. Lionel Richie. With and without his Commodores.

#1 and #2 albums on the country charts this week are by Dierks Bentley and Van Zant by the way. Both of which have tracks I'd have no problem slipping in between a couple disco records in a DJ set.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3v6tk6axwkr3

"Saturday Night in Oak Grove Louisiana" Tony Joe White.

http://www.o-dub.com/images/countryfunk.jpg

it's kinda like a lost byrds album. great harmony singing, some nice fuzzy guitar and a bit of funk.

i found that country funk lp for $1 last week, it's pretty great.

One interesting story I heard about the BW Goes C&W album is that Womack wanted to call it Move Aside, Charley Pride, and Give Another Nigger a Try but United Artists wouldn't let him.

Barney Hoskyns, in Say it One Time for the Broken Hearted, says BW wanted to call the record Black in the Saddle

Black in the Saddle = Amazing!

Deadly Nightshade, F&W, 1976 -- three-woman band; haven't played this yet, but the title apparently means "Funky & Western," so hopefully this will qualify....(They're folkies, but the Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman song is supposedly disco!)

BW wanted to call the record Black in the Saddle

Interestingly, that's exactly what Cowboy Troy called his (not very good) second album, hmmm...

There's a short instrumental on the Muskrats first album called "Funky Country." It is, kinda.

Deadly Nightshade aren't! From Buy That For A Dollar thread: mind-boggingly shitty so far; not all that funky or western -- and closer to show-tuney than folky, despite the discofied program music of the Mary Hartman theme (which may or may not be a cover); covering "Dancing in the Streets" is entirely pointless, maybe not worse than Bowie/ Jagger but definitely a lot worse than Van Halen's.

country funk LP

i never realized that Area Code 615's "Stone Fox Chase" was sampled by Bubba Sparxxx until right now. i don't have the album that one's on, but i do have the first one. i pulled it out again recently and it's pretty funky. here's Southern Comfort

Sent that to Edd Hurt, and he replied:
The only track here I knew is Dennis Linde's "Down to the Station." Linde is a curious figure, cut his stuff as a one-man band. Christgau reviewed one of his albums, pointing out his lack of vocal character. That's fair enough, I think. Linde's "Trapped in the Suburbs" got airplay in Nashville in the '70s, and none of his albums are on CD. I have the albums, including what some think is his best, Linde Manor, which Jerry Kennedy (a guitarist and producer who worked with Faron Young and many others in the '70s) produced with Billy Swan in 1970. DJ Shadow sampled one of the tracks on Endtroducing.
Looks like the Rob Galbraith single is a lead-up to his 1976 album Throw Me a Bone, which is sort of yacht-rockin', hipster-jazz-R&B stuff akin to what Donnie Fritts was doing around the same time. Better sung than Fritts. I know Rob pretty well, used to see him play with his R&B band--including Genesis-Zappa drummer Chester Thompson--at a now-defunct club in Nashville. Always a good show. Rob has produced Ronnie Milsap since the '80s. I recommend his 1970 Nashville Dirt, which is sparer than Throw Me a Bone and even class-conscious; Numero Group released a bunch of his demos in 2016.
I have a bunch of Travis Wammack records, including two he did in the early '80s, A Man...and a Guitar and Follow Me. But his 1972 self-titled album on Fame may be his best (he's still playing in Muscle Shoals and probably still doing his big instrumental hit "Scratchy"). This is the most psychodynamic of its tracks, "I Don't Really Want You," which has the most interesting structure of anything I've heard him do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERCYB3w_g6k

Talking about rednecks, I recommend Joe South's "Redneck," which Swamp Dogg covered.

I love "Oliver Swan," because it's great to hear how Billy Swan condenses prog rock into three minutes. I don't think Nick Lowe could have done much better.

Looking back at the 1969-1975 comp, I notice they picked the best non-hit song off Johnny Adams' Shelby Singleton-produced album Heart & Soul, which was the result of Adams working with New Orleans producer Wardell Quezergue on a remake of "Release Me" that attracted Singleton's attention. Heart & Soul also features "Reconsider Me," Adams' biggest hit.

Also, Dale Hawkins's L.A., Memphis & Tyler, Texas is an OK album that often just seems obvious. But there's one great track he cut with help from Dan Penn at Ardent Studios in Memphis, "Little Rain Cloud" (you can hear Penn singing in the background). Notable for a great guitar sound Big Star fans might recognize, it's a one-chord boogie that's about as psychedelic as soul-country stuff gets:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHRA52f1g1E

I like Linde's joeky, quirky, processed vocals on the Country Funk 3 track; whether he "has" enough vocal character or not, he is one. Edd sent me Rob Galbraith's Nashville Dirt, which is real good, before he settled into the yacht rock mode Edd mentions, pretty much the CF3 track, which is okay in its way. Great to know Travis Wammack is still at it!

every time I listen to this stuff a cigarette magically appears in my mouth

picked up Vol 3. man, that Dennis Linde track is great.

I'm not sure if it's too obvious a pick but it eludes me why this wasn't a pick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFNM7nG2OUQ

This Eli "Paperboy" Reed tribute album to Mearle Haggard, "Down Every Road" is pretty damn funky, like a 60s Soul James Brown kinda funk.

Thanks---and the Parliament post reminds me: looks like YouTube still has a good stash of GrooveGrass Boyz---Doc Watson and B-B-b-Bootsy Collins, with others.

Clover's 1977 album Unavailable

Okay in truth its quite horrid session/muso MOR but it has a great Barney Bubbles sleeve

Oh yeah---this wiki is flagged as unverified, but have seen references along the same lines elsewhere, also most of these guys did get credits, except the ones who backed EC, but several things about his debut have mentioned Clover:

Clover was an American country rock band formed in Mill Valley, California, United States and active from 1967 to 1978.[1] Clover are best known as the backing band for Elvis Costello's 1977 debut album My Aim Is True (recorded in the UK), and for its members going into greater success with Huey Lewis and the News, The Doobie Brothers, Toto, and Lucinda Williams...McFee, Ciambotti, Hopper and Shine (but not Louis or Call) backed Elvis Costello on his debut album My Aim Is True.[1] These musicians were not credited on the release for contractual reasons; some contemporary publicity for the album identified Costello's backing band as "The Shamrocks."

Was not ready for these breaks on Willie's Roadhouse this afternoon...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zWJsFYFMc8

Connie Smith: "If It Ain't Love...", 1972

local shop actually had a used copy of Vol 2 last month which I snapped up for 20 bucks. it hasn't been repressed yet (and might not ever?) so it's selling for significantly more than that, though idk who's buying them exactly

I'm on a Summer Dean kick and she's got a few pretty funky cuts..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znRsnNRh5l0

Today I listened to Bobby Darin's "Commitment" (1969), released credited to Bob Darin, Scott Engel-style. Quite a few tracks there are sorta country funk, not what you'd expect from Darin at all. Any fans here?