The Funky Brunch is a groovy Sunday affair hosted by Mr. Pop at the New Orleans-themed restaurant in Newburgh called Mama Roux. Man, the food is good at that joint and when Pete Pop gets his records going the marvelous music makes mastication much more magnificent. Sometimes The Boogaloo Omnibus helps him out and it still sorta swings. On June 25, Mr. Pop attended a family function, thus Phast Phreddie fed the funk to Mama’s fabulous patrons all day. It threatened to rain all day and the forecast probably kept some folks away. However, there were plenty of folks on hand to make the event fun and the humidity outside kept most of the patrons inside with the air conditioning. We got compliments on the music all day.
Here is a list of all 120 records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the Funky Brunch:
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swings at the Funky Brunch!
For some unknown reason, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus was not asked to guest DJ with Pete Pop at the Funky Brunch in May. Usually, when asked, the two boss record spinners take turns twirling their vinyl. Did not happen in May. However, in June, Mister Pop had two family obligations he had to attend to and it left The Phast One to swing the Funky Brunch by his lonesome! The first one took place on Sunday June 11.
To refresh the Boogaloo Bag readers’ memories, The Funky Brunch takes place every Sunday at Mama Roux, a very groovy New Orleans-themed restaurant located in the heart of beautiful, downtown Newburgh, NY. The place is elegant and serves the most delicious food on that side of the Hudson River. Every Sunday, from 11 in the morning until about 3 or 4 in the late afternoon, DJ Pete Pop sets a funky mood by playing recordings of Funk, Soul, Latin Boogaloo, Cumbia and all sorts of exotic rhythms. Sometimes, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus hangs with him. Sometimes, like on June 11, Pete Pop calls in sick and the Phast Man swings alone. He will do it again on June 25.
The Boog was fresh off his gig at Rockaway Beach. He had pulled about 150 records to play at that event, but only spun about 30. So he added a few nice things to his box and was ready to go.
DJ Pete Pop checks out the jam that Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus is putting down!
The Boog and Boogaloo Bag photographer/baker Miss Nancy pulled into The Dog around 8pm or so and Pete Pop had the place jumping, having been at it for about an hour. Nancy set her home made fudge on display for all comers. Around 8:30, The Phast Man was up in the booth blasting some hot wax.
Smokestack Lightnin’ is Pete Pop’s occasional Wednesday night happening at the Dogwood. This was only the second or third time he’s done it—maybe fourth—and he is still gaining momentum with it. There were enough people in attendance to make it fun and most of them bopped around to the cool sounds Mister Pete was putting down.
DJ Pete Pop swings at Smokestack Lightnin’
The Dogwood on a Wednesday night is not the most exciting place in the world. However, with Pete Pop playing his hot 45s, the groove-a-tude was exponentially raised. Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus made an honest attempt to keep the ball rolling by playing these records:
A seagull flies over Caracas Arepa Bar during Shake It Up Sunday!
Every summer for about a dozen years, our friend DJ Rata—who now calls himself El Fernández—hosts a beach bash at the Caracas Arepa Bar at Rockaway Beach. It is called Shake It Up Sundays. Several times he has asked Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus to come and guest DJ with him. El Fernández asked the Phast Man to do so again for the event that was held on Sunday May 28.
Caracas Arepa Bar getting ready for Shake It Up Sunday!
A band is also lined up to play at these gigs, and on this Sunday we are pleased to say that the soulful instrumental stylings of the Freddy Deboe Band was a most excellent choice! A band that opens it’s set with the Junior Walker and the All Stars’ great song “Cleo’s Back” has got to be good. Mr. Deboe, who has played with Eli “Paperboy” Reed, James Hunter Six, The Jay Vons and Lee Fields, blows a swingin’ tenor saxophone while his most able accompaniment consists of a guitarist, an organ player (who doubled on keyboard bass) and drummer. The Boogaloo Bag writers heartily recommend the reader go see the act if it comes to your town.
Freddy Deboe Band swings at Shake It Up Sunday!
Also, The Boogaloo Bag writers were very pleased with the turnout of old friends. So nice to see so many familiar smiling faces, including and especially Debbie D from Georgia, whose Boss Radio 66 is a fantastic music interweb streaming hustle that is essential listening. Plus, she is scheduled to be the guest DJ for the July 30 Shake It Up Sunday. Also in attendance was Nogood Nick, who has often worked with The Phast Man in the past. His DJ work at the Dynagrooves was always memorable. He had to cut out early for his own radio show: Electric Lazy Susan which airs on Sundays on the WFMU Give the Drummer Some interweb streaming hustle.
The Boog and El FernándezEl Fernández and The Boog
Meanwhile, back in the DJ booth, El Fernández played some boss records, as is his forté. He had the place rockin’! El Fernández also DJs regularly at Union Pool, Ore Bar, Izzy Rose and other fine establishments, mostly in Brooklyn. We love the way that he mixes wild R&B records with mambo and ska records. Who does that? He’ll do Shake It Up Sunday once a month and the dates for this summer are June 25, July 30, August 27 and maybe September 10. You don’t want to miss out on this bitchen beach party action.
Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at Shake It Up Sundays:
This is episode sixteen of The GO Mechanism—an audio odyssey designed to shatter your fragile egg-shell mind. It is hosted by Phast Phreddie who develops it in the secret laboratories of Boogaloo Omnibus Productionssomewhere in the Hudson Valley. The “G” stands for Groovy and it certainly is. The “O” stands for O’Rooney, a complex impulse that is incomprehensible to those possessing standard-issue precepts. If you have to ask, you will never know.
In order to achieve total comprehension of The GO Mechanism, the Boogaloo Bag reader is urged to seek out this episode’s corresponding audio presentation. After it airs on Luxuria Music as a Saturday Night Special program (this one on May 20), it will reside as a podcast on the Luxuria Music website for a few weeks before it is posted on the Mixclouds as well as below this posting. Look for the Saturday Night Special dated 5/21/2023
The GO Mechanism is produced whenever we feel like it, and incorporates exclusive copyrighted Vitaphonic, Ultra-sonic and Quasi-tonal methods in order to bring out a higher standard of standardness. Legacy GO Mechanisms may be found on the Mixclouds as well as here in The Boogaloo Bag.
An hour into The GO there will be a Science Corner. For this edition of The GO Mechanism, the producers have selected three karate records for the listener’s gratification.
Karate is a martial arts way of fighting that was developed in Japan. During the sixties and seventies, movies that featured karate fighting were popular in the U.S. and songs and even dances were developed in order to capitalize on its prominence. Dozens of songs were recorded at the time and we have presented three in The Science Corner: “Karate Boo Ga Loo” by Jerry-O, “Karate” by The Emperors and “It’s Karate Time” by Travis Wammack.
Jerry-O was Jerry Murray, who was a mover and shaker on the Chicago soul scene during the sixties; he was a songwriter, producer, owned record labels, presented shows and was a radio DJ. As part of the duo Tom and Jerry-O, he had a sizable R&B hit with “Boo-Ga-Loo” in 1965. A couple years later Jerry-O released “Karate Boo-Ga-Loo” on Boo-Ga-Loo Records before it was licensed to Shout Records. Other recordings were issued on White Whale and Bang. These are mostly party records, with Jerry-O and friends shouting dance names over funky backing tracks. Jerry-O Murray died in an automobile accident in the early seventies.
The Emperors were a vocal group from Harrisburg, PA. “Karate” was written by Tyrone Moss and Milton Brown, the drummer and organist, respectively, from the band that regularly backed The Emperors. The song was released in December 1966 and climbed to Number 16 on the Cashbox R&B chart early the next year. If the song sounds familiar to you, it is probably because Carlos Santana re-wrote the song as “Everybody’s Everything” and had a hit with it in 1971. Moss and Brown were properly credited and one would hope they were able to benefit from it. The Emperors would record an album and release two more singles. When the two follow-ups didn’t chart, the album was scrapped and not released until 2009. The Emperors would cut another single for Brunswick, “Karate Boogaloo”/“Mumble Shing A Ling,” but it failed to capture the magic of their first release and the group broke up soon after.
Travis Wammack is a guitarist who was born in Mississippi but made his mark in Memphis. He’s best known for a cool guitar workout instrumental called “Scratchy” from 1964. That song borrowed a bit from “Comin’ Home Baby” by Herbie Mann, which was written by Ben Tucker, Mann’s bassist at the time. “It’s Karate Time” is another cool guitar workout by Wammack. It is totally original, and, with the karate shouts, totally fun. Wammack cut a string of fabulous records during the sixties. Indeed, the flip side of this track is a haul-ass version of “Night Train” that may be heard in a future GO Mechanism. He was also a session player in Memphis and at the studio in Muscle Shoals. During the seventies and eighties he cut some southern country-rock albums. He is still alive and still performing.
GO Sixteen’s version of “Caravan”—a song heard in every GO Mechanism—is by Bill Haley and His Comets. It was recorded and released in Mexico. Haley had a string of hit records in the late fifties—the biggest being “(I Wanna) Rock Around the Clock,” which was Number One for eight weeks in 1955. By the end of the decade, his records stopped appearing on the Pop Charts. He moved to Mexico in 1961 in order to escape tax collectors and divorce lawyers. There, he learned Spanish, married a local woman and cut some records. The twist craze was starting up and Haley obliged the Mexican teens with a series of popular twist numbers, becoming Mexico’s King of the Twist. One of these recordings was “Caravana Twist”—“Caravan” with a twist beat. Since “Caravan” has a melody so sturdy you couldn’t hurt it if you beat it with a stick, it totally works—and, hey, you can twist to it. [ Further to Haley’s Mexican period, in January 1966, Haley and His Comets recorded an album-worth of tracks with Big Joe Turner, but only two EPs were issued, in Mexico only.]
In 2003, Norton Records initiated a Rolling Stones cover song series of 45s. The label asked some of its favorite acts to record a song by the popular British Invasion band and each track was issued on split singles. More than thirty of these records have been issued to date, and all of them are cool. The Dirtbombs version of “No Expectations” is one of these tracks—and for our money, the best one. The Detroit group took the song and sang it to the music of “Sympathy for the Devil,” with a surprise ending. The utter genius of the recording is astounding.
Rex Garvin & His Mighty Cravers
Although there are several examples of soul and funk records about the evils of heroin, the hallucinogenic drug L.S.D. is rarely sung about in R&B music. The GO Mechanism presents Rex Garvin & His Mighty Cravers with “Believe It or Not.” Although Garvin wrote “Over the Mountain, Across the Sea” for Johnnie and Joe, which was a Top Ten R&B and Pop hit in 1957, he never achieved much fame for his accomplishments, even though his music career lasted from about 1954 to 1971. He and His Mighty Cravers released a series of singles on several labels through those years, and only one album to show for it. His recordings range from interesting to fantastic—such as the track played in GO Mechanism Number Nine. Garvin may be the subject of a future Science Corner.
Marty Balin’s “I Specialize in Love” was released around 1962. It is one of two singles he recorded before joining the Jefferson Airplane a few years later. The song reminds us of the kind of material that Ricky Nelson was singing at the time.
“Lost on Xandu” is a version (sort of in the Jamaican sense of the word) of an instrumental first released on The Fleshtones album Brooklyn Sound Solution that featured Lenny Kaye on guitar. Lenny wrote the jam and a few years later wrote lyrics for the song and wanted to put it out as a single. The Fleshtones’ Peter Zaremba then jazzed it up on the flip side for this spaced-out version. Not on any LP!
“My Quiet Village” is sung by Darla Hood. Yes, Darla of Our Gang fame. Turns out she had a pretty good voice and she does a swell job on this exotica standard. Maybe she should have sung at the Little Rascals talent shows instead of Alfalfa!
With the release of “Flying Saucers Rock ’n’ Roll” on Sun Records, Billy Lee Riley became a legend among rockabilly aficionados. It is one of the greatest records of all time. He cut some other records for Sun, including another rockabilly classic “Red Hot,” then recorded for a series of labels—some of them he owned. Perhaps we’ll go into more of Riley’s career in a future Science Corner, as it is very interesting. For now, suffice it to say, there’s not a lot of information available for this one record he cut for Atlantic, “Happy Man.” The song has a catchy soul-pop vibe that should have been a big hit in 1968 when it was released. Somehow it failed to click and after a few more releases that mostly sank without a trace, Riley was out of music.
One of the Greatest Records Of All Time is always presented at the end of a GO Mechanism. For this GO, we continue the theme of The Science Corner with a karate record, this one by Chubby Checker. In September 1960, Mr. Checker’s cover of “The Twist,” first recorded by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, became a Number One pop hit record. In January 1962, it became a Number One pop hit record again—probably the only recording to ever accomplish that feat. During the early sixties, Checker released dozens of dance records—some of them fabulous, some of them less so. By the middle of the decade he was cutting some good pop-oriented soul records that found some favor with British Northern Soul parties, such as “(At The) Discotheque,” “Everything’s Wrong,”“You Got the Power” and “You Just Don’t Know.” He also cut “Karate Monkey,” a fantastic record that will get you off your seat and dancing. Not only is it a karate record, but it is a monkey record, and one of the best! Without a doubt in anyone’s mind, Chubby Checker’s “Karate Monkey” is one of the Greatest Records Of All Time!
For some reason, three spoken word pieces presented in this GO Mechanism are by people that are actually acquainted with the GO producers: Danny Weizmann (a writer known to some as “Shredder”), Paul Body (drummer for the legendary Sheiks of Shake and The Love Supremes) and Pleasant Gehman (of The Screamin’ Sirens, Ringing Sisters and Disgraceland legend). During the early nineties, all three issued spoken word albums and we have extracted important tidbits from them for your edification. Danny speaks over a backing track by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band while Paul and Pleasant both speak over clips from jams by Miles Davis. Another of Shredder’s proclamations open’s the show.
The art that decorates this GO Mechanism is by a fellow named Mike Tempo. We know him, too, but not that well. We first met him as the percussionist for the exotic rhythm and rock band The Bonedaddys, which features the talented saxophonist Jay Work. Or maybe we met him even before that when he was in The Burning Sensations. Mr. Tempo also bangs on things for the Mark Leggett Quartet, Greg Sutton & the Sunday Salvation Band and other acts in the Southern California area. His motto is, “Have bongos, will travel!” He posts his art on the Facedog from time to time and we finally asked him if we could borrow an image; thus it is above these notes and below in the digital poster. Dig his work here: https://miketempoart.com
Once this GO Mechanism initially airs on the Luxuria Musics—on the evening of May 20—it will be available as a podcast for a few weeks on their website. Look for the Saturday Night Special dated 5/21/2023. Soon after it will be posted on the Mixclouds and below here in The Boogaloo Bag. Luxuria Music is a hep cat daddy music dispersal organization that deserves support from swingin’ cats and kittens such as those who dig The Boogaloo Bag. Support them with some loot! Find out how here!
All of the tracks played in GO Mechanism Number Sixteen:
Earl Bostic—Lester Leaps In
Bud Powell—52nd Street Theme (Blue Note)
Charlie Parker—Chasin’ the Bird (Savoy)
Sonny Stitt—Fine and Dandy (Prestige)
Takeshi Terauchi and the Bunnys–Let’s Go Shake (Seven Seas; Japan)
Busters All Stars—Summertime (Prince Buster/Rock A Shacka; Japan)
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band—Old Fart at Play (instrumental) (from album Grow Fins; Revenant)
Bill Haley y su Cometas—Caravana Twist (Orfeon; Mexico)
MIles Davis—Great Expectations (severe edit) (from album Complete Bitches Brew Sessions; Columbia/Legacy)
The Party Brothers—Do the Ground Hog (Revue)
The Mighty Sparrow—Calypso Boogaloo (RA; West Indies)
Michael Olatunji—Soul Makossa Part 2 (Paramount)
Miles Davis—The Little Blue Frog (alternate version, edited) (from album The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions; Columbia/Legacy)
The Surfaris—Scratch (from LP Hit City 64; Dot)
Los Corraleros—Pajarillo Montañero (Discos Fuenes, Colombia)
DJ Pete Pop and Phast Pheddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at the Funky Brunch!
T.S. Elliot once wrote, “April is the cruelest month…” Here at the Boogaloo Bag we beg to differ. To us, April is the coolest month! For four April Sundays in a row, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibuswas asked to DJ the Funky Brunch with (or once, without) DJ Pete Pop at the elegant Mama Roux in downtown Newburgh.
Daddy Long Legs in action!!!
The DJ Pete Pop action actually started on the Saturday the 22nd when he brought his Do the 45dance party to the Daddy Long Legs after-show event at The Colony in Woodstock. Daddy Long Legs is quite possibly the finest blues wailin’ band in the land. The group’s show at The Colony was amazing; it’s raucous act and showmanship had folks screamin’ and shoutin’ the entire time. Formerly a trio, the band has recently added a piano player and he added quite a bit of boss noise to Daddy Long Legs’ boss beat. The group has a brand new boss album out and The Boogaloo Bag writers insist that all its boss readers go out and purchase a copy right now! After the gig, DJ Pete Pop played some of his most exciting records and had folks dancing for about two hours before the joint closed up.
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus cleans the dust off his disc with the tassel from his fez!!DJ Pete Pop swings at the Colony!
The next day was April 23rd, a Sunday—Funky Brunch day. Pete had some family commitments and was unable to DJ the whole event, so Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus was called in to pinch hit for him. The Phast One swung for the fences, as you can readily tell by checking out the list of records he played below…
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swings at the Funky Brunch!
If it is Sunday, it is time for a Funky Brunch at Mama Roux—Newburgh’s fabulous New Orleans-themed dinery. On April 16, the Funky Brunch’s gracious host DJ Pete Pop was unable to make the scene, so Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus was called in to dish with the discs. Boy, did he dish—more than one hundred 45s were turned. Not only that, but he did all the behind-the-scenes work usually performed by Pete Pop, like dragging the equipment into the joint and setting it all up. Then, at the end of the day, tearing it all down and packing it up. Probably about ten hours of the day was spent dealing with the hustle, including driving from Pleasant Valley to south of Newburgh to pick up the electronics, up to Newburgh to set everything up at Mama’s, then packing up and taking it back to it’s home, THEN, finally driving home.
But it was worth it. During the five hours of disc spinning 107 records were played. We were even given compliments by a fellow who said he was visiting from Austin, Texas. Quite a coincidence as Pete Pop was, that very moment, in Austin Texas!!!
Marty’s Brussels Sprouts dish!Marty the Mod, post Brussels sprouts dish!Marty the Mod’s scooter!
Here’s a list of every record played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the April 16 Funky Brunch:
Les McCann Ltd. with Stanley Turrentine & Blue Mitchell–Twist Cha-Cha (Pacific Jazz)
DJ Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at the Funky Easter Brunch!
On Sunday April 9, DJ Pete Pop hosted another fabulous Funky Brunch. This one landed right on Easter Sunday. Because of the holiday, he had to ditch out early in order to meet some family commitments. Therefore, he asked Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus to drop by as guest DJ and to work the hustle after he cut out.
Easter Sunday at Mama Roux was a grand affair. The room was packed all day and even the back yard was utilized to handle spill-over of the hungry brunchers. It was reported that reservations were made weeks in advance. Was it the music or the food that got these Newburghians so excited? Hard to tell, because both are always excellent at the Funky Brunch.
At the end of the day, after the last record had been turned, the Mama Roux crew invited the Phast One and the official Boogaloo Bag photographer Miss Nancy to partake in some food that was laid out for the workers. Were we hungry? You bet. Not being foodies, we can’t tell you exactly what was on the plate, but it was gooooood!
For this Easter Sunday, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus brought out some gospel records, and a few other jams that he deemed appropriate for the occasion (such as “Savoy Truffle,” “Peter Cottontail,” “Back From the Dead”). Here’s a list of all the records he played:
DJ Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at the Funky Brunch.
The first weekend of April was a wild one for DJ Pete Pop. He started it out Friday night, spinning his boss sounds at The Silk Factory in Newburgh. The Silk Factory is located in a great big brick building that was constructed in 1910 and to house an actual silk factory. Now it’s a great big, multi-space, event venue, restaurant and probably an art gallery. Anyway, on this night, Pete Pop swung the joint, standing on the stage which was placed on the back of an old pickup truck.
DJ Pete Pop swings at the Silk Factory on the back of a truck!!
On Saturday, Pete Pop dragged his turntables and records over to The Colonyin Woodstock for the Hawk’s Nest Shop’s Vintage Market and Rock ’n’ Roll Dance Party. The Colony is one of the area’s premier music venues. In fact, our pals The Daddy Long Legs are going to play there in a few weeks (which reminds me I should get tickets before it sells out!). The event was fun, with dealers selling all sorts of vintage clothes, tiki mugs, jewelry, records and such, but the dimly lit room made it nearly impossible to see the fabulous stuff that was for sale. However, Pete Pop had no problems playing his fabulous records. They sounded terrific in the room. When Pete Pop needed a breather, he asked Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus to spell him, which he was happy to do, playing Pete’s records!
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus spells DJ Pete Pop at the Colony.
The next day was Sunday, which means Funky Brunch at Mama Roux day! Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus was asked to fall in and spin some jams and he did that with glee. The place was full of Funky Brunchers and the music Pete Pop and The Phast Man played had them all boppin’ their heads as they chewed their vittles. At the end of the Brunch, the chef put out some fried chicken, biscuits with gravy and a salad for the Mama Roux crew and the DJs were happy to partake.
The Boog picks a boss jam at the Funky Brunch.Pete Pop digs what The Boog is putting down!Our pal Marty enjoys the fine food at Mama Roux.
By the way, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus will be swingin’ at the Funky Brunch on the next two Sundays. On April 9th (Easter Sunday), DJ Pete Pop has to cut out early, so The Boog will be there most of the day. On the 16th (Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday), DJ Pete Pop will be out of town, so The Boog will be flying solo. Don’t miss out on the fun and excitement of the Funky Brunch—especially don’t miss out on Mama Roux’s excellent food!!
Here’s a list of all the records Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus played at the Funky Brunch, held on April 2, 2023.
This is The GO Mechanism: an audio odyssey hosted by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus who will be your captain on this magic sailing ship, taking you on a journey through the essence of your being. G. O. GO! The “G” is for Groove, and in order to keep the groove groovin’, we don’t slow down to back announce records. If you are interested in the trash heard on the show, the track listing is below. The “O” stands for O’Rooney, an intangible force that puts the OO into “Cool.” Every GO Mechanism is assembled employing a classified superlaphonic method that is uniquely engineered to contain Groove and O’Rooney.
This GO Mechanism will initially stream over the Luxuria Music web hustle in the Saturday Night Special time-slot on March 11, then it will unlax as a Luxuria Music podcast for a few weeks; soon after it will be posted on the Mixclouds and here in The Boogaloo Bag.
In the middle of the program there will be a Science Corner, where we discuss a musical entity of some note. Today we will discuss the great Rhythm & Blues songwriter Rudy Toombs. We’ll start there…
—SCIENCE CORNER—
Rudolph Toombs was born in Monroe, LA in 1914 and grew up in Philadelphia before moving to Harlem. Before writing songs, he was a tap dancer at many of the local night clubs and theaters. He also appeared in a few films, including one that starred Louis Jordan. By the end of the forties, he was writing songs that were getting cut by such R&B stars as Wynonie Harris.
Toombs had several minor cuts under his belt when Ruth Brown recorded his “Teardrops From My Eyes,” which became a Number One R&B hit for eleven weeks in 1950. His career was on his way from that day forward.
Rudy Toombs’ most famous song is “One Mint Julep.” It was recorded by a vocal group from Washington, D.C. called The Clovers on December 19, 1951. During the spring of the next year it climbed to Number Two on the R&B chart. The song that kept it from being Number One was a song he wrote for Ruth Brown, “5-10-15 Hours.” During the fifties, “One Mint Julep” was rerecorded by Buddy Morrow, The Johnny Otis & the Jayos, and Chet Atkins. In 1962, Ray Charles recorded an instrumental version that was a Number One R&B hit and even went Top Ten pop. The song has since been recorded by around a hundred different artists.
We would be remiss if we did not note here that the song “I’m Shakin’” was written by Rudy Toombs. It was first recorded by Little Willie John in December 1959 and released the next year. It was then re-released a couple years later with added percussion; both releases were by King Records. About 20 years later, the American music band The Blasters recorded it and had great success with it. Another version, by The Ron Thompson Trio was recorded probably around the same time as The Blasters, and in the last twenty years, the song has been cut more than a dozen times.
Also, Rudy Toombs excelled at writing Rhythm & Booze songs. Dig this list of some of them:
During The Science Corner we will hear “Fatback and Corn Liquor” by Louis Jordan, “Miss Mosey,”as sung by the songwriter, and Thurston Harris‘ rockin’ version of “One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer.” The talk-over music is Willie Mitchell‘s version of “One Mint Julep.”
In 1962, Rudy Toombs was beaten up on a street in Harlem and it damaged his brain. He died of his injuries soon after.
—MORE GO!—
“Miss Joan and Mr. Sam” is the flip side of The Ronettes’ “Baby, I Love You.” It is an instrumental and does not feature any Ronette whatsoever, although the track is credited to them. It’s really a recording by a group of Los Angeles session musicians, known as The Wrecking Crew, playing post bop jazz; most likely the kind of music they would rather be playing than the pop music they were paid to play. Record producer Phil Spector often placed a “throw-away” instrumental on the B-side of his records in order for the A-side to be emphasized. He didn’t want some DJ to flip a record over and turn a B-side into a hit, which has happened on occasion; Spector wanted to pick the hit. The Boogaloo Bag writers and The GO Mechanism producers do not claim to be Spector experts, but they will posit that the players on this track are either Nino Tempo or Steve Douglas on saxophone (maybe both), Barney Kessel on guitar, Carol Kaye on bass and Hal Blaine on drums. Spector must have asked them to play two minutes of jazz as it fades exactly at the two-minute mark. If a reader has definitive knowledge on this track, please post it in the comments below.
Throughout the sixties drummer Sandy Nelson recorded instrumental records that featured songs that were on the charts at the time, as well as some original songs. Sometimes the cover songs were interesting. Usually, the originals were the best songs on the albums. This version of “Sunshine of Your Love” has been turned into a rockin’ organ groove.
“Sunshine of Your Love” is the first of several, for lack of a better term, “classic rock” songs that have been re-recorded and aired during this show. The others, later in the program, include “I Can’t Quit Her,” a song originally recorded by Al Kooper’s Blood, Sweat & Tears and “I’m Tired,” a song by Savoy Brown. It is often noted that rock artists are fond of cutting R&B and blues songs. These two are examples of just the opposite. This version of “Quit” is by Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band. Washington was an African American serving in the Air Force and stationed in England during the sixties. Washington was an authentic American Soul singer who played to his Mod audience. (The song “Geno” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners is about him. Also, don’t confuse him with Gino Washington, an excellent Detroit-based R&B singer from the same time period.) “I’m Tired” is by Little Milton, the great blues singer/guitarist who made a ton of great records, first for Sun, then Bobbin, Checker, Stax and Malaco. Although the arrangements are not too different from the originals, both songs benefit from strong vocal performances.
The Martini Kings are lead by our friend and bass player Tony Marsico. The band plays heavy, heavy Space Age Bachelor Pad Music, usually with a vibraphonist. For the album Groovin’, Marsico and percussionist Bob Conti are joined by guitarist Doug Macdonald, a veteran jazz cat who has been around the block. “Killer Joe (Reprise)” is the Benny Golson jazz standard with a spoken word bit by Mr. Marsico. We dig it.
Jimmy Takeuchi was a Japanese drummer. During the sixties and seventies he made a series of drum-heavy instrumental records that would feature hits of the day along with his own originals; sort of Japan’s answer to Sandy Nelson. For some reason, many of his albums were called Drum Drum Drum and feature women in bikinis on the cover. The album with his cool version of “Alligator Boogaloo” is no exception…
Every episode of The GO Mechanism features a version of “Caravan,” the Duke Ellington/Juan Tizol composition that must have been recorded by about a thousand different artists (See The Science Corner in GO #3for more on the song). For this episode we present a version by another great drummer: Bernard “Pretty” Purdy. He has played on as many records as there are versions of “Caravan;” maybe more, as he was one prolific drummer during his prime. His version of “Caravan” is a big fave at The GO Mechanism studios—it’s rockin’ and wailin’ drumming overpowers everything else in the world!
Another song that has been recorded many times—also, another song that may be considered “classic rock”—is “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones. The GO Mechanism presents here a version by the great British R&B/pop group Manfred Mann. Played as an instrumental, this was arranged by Jack Bruce, who also played bass on it.
Over the last several years, there has been a trend toward having bonus tracks on reissues of popular albums. We have some examples in this episode of The GO Mechanism by these artists: Love, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band and The Velvet Underground. All three are backing tracks sans the original vocals, as The GO Mechanism likes to specialize in instrumentals. The third example, “The Gift,” originally had a story recited by Velvets’ member John Cale. Instead we have the first two and a half pages of the short story The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner by the British author Allan Stillitoe. It is read by our in-house narrator Oweinama Biu.
Aki Aleong is an interesting cat. He was a character actor in movies and TV shows during the fifties and sixties, and also made records, as an artist, songwriter and producer. He may have had an ownership stake in Pan World Records, too. In 1959 he co-wrote and produced one of the Greatest Records Of All Time, “Shombalor” by Sheriff and the Ravels. In 1963 he released an album of surf music called Come Surf With Me, from whence comes our selection, “Earthquake.” We don’t have the LP, but we were able to obtain “Earthquake” on an Australian 45.
The Birds were arguably one of the greatest British beat bands of all time. The band’s power equalled that of The Who. Unfortunately, the group only released four singles during its short life. In 1999, a compilation of all the singles, plus some unreleased tracks and demos, was released in Europe. Called The Collector’s Guide to Rare British Birds, it is where we were able to obtain one of two versions of “Run, Run, Run,” a song by The Who! Today, The Birds are mostly remembered as the first band of a fellow named Ronnie Wood.
When it was recorded (January 1966) and released, Batman and Robin was considered a cheesy exploitation album by The Sensational Guitars of Dan & Dale. Over the last twenty years or so it has become an object of legend after it was revealed that the musicians who made it include members of The Sun Ra Arkestra and The Blues Project. How did these two diverse entities come together? The producer was Tom Wilson, who had worked with both. It must have meant very little to the musicians who recorded it as those involved don’t seem to discuss it much. Al Kooper, who was a member of The Blues Project at the time, doesn’t even mention it in any of his memoirs. However, there are some boss sounds on the album, as the listener can witness with one listen to “Robin’s Theme.”
“Hot Butter ’n All Part 2” is the backing track to “Part 1” by the great, but largely unheard-of, Lou Courtney. He was a journeyman soul artist/songwriter/producer who we will feature in a future Science Corner, but for now, suffice it to say that he was involved with the careers of Jerry Lee Lewis, Freddie & the Dreamers, Bonnie Raitt and The Fifth Dimension. When we feature him in The Science Corner we will hear “Part 1.”
To close this episode of The GO Mechanism, we present one of the Greatest Records Of All Time, Eddie Kirk’s “The Grunt.” This is raw, screaming-and-banging-on-shit at it’s best. Eddie Kirkland was born in Jamaica and grew up in Alabama. After serving in the Army during World War II, he lived in Detroit, where he became a second guitarist for John Lee Hooker; Kirkland plays on many of Hooker’s recordings made in the early fifties. Under his own name—either as Eddie Kirkland or Eddie Kirk—he cut tracks for a host of record companies, including RPM, King, Fortune and Lu Pine.
During sessions recorded on December 8, 1961 and March 9, 1962, he cut enough material with King Curtis and his band that it was released on an album called It’s the Blues Man. Up to that point, only a handfull of singles were issued by him—most of them are now impossible to find. Although he cut eight tracks for Lu Pine (circa 1959/60), only a single was issued; the other tracks came out on a compilation during the late seventies or early eighties. In the early sixties, Kirkland somehow made his way to Macon, Georgia, where he hooked up with Otis Redding and became the guitarist for Redding’s touring band. This brought him to the attention of Stax records, who recorded two singles that were issued on the subsidiary Volt label.
In 1968, Kirkland was back in Detroit, where he cut “The Grunt,” a remarkable accomplishment in audio history. The excited girls you hear screeching during the record are his young daughters—Betty Ann, Jo Ann and Geraldine Kirkland.
Eddie Kirkland
During the seventies, Kirkland took to wearing a turban and he recorded for several independent labels. On February 27, 2011, Eddie Kirkland died when the car he was driving was hit by a Greyhound bus as he was trying to make a u-turn somewhere in Florida.
The graphic image used in the poster for this episode’s GO Mechanism is by our friend David Allan. A British cat, we first met him in the Hollywood punk rock scene of the late seventies. He was a photographer and graphic designer for Slash Magazine and he designed album covers. He moved to New York City in 1980 and we were able to reconnect with him when the Boogaloo Bag writers moved to Brooklyn in the nineties. When he moved to Spain a few years ago, we were able to obtain some of his paintings, including the one used here, called Red Rotator. It is viewable anyway you look at it. Dig more of his work here.
After The GO Mechanism initially airs on the Luxuria Musics—this one on Saturday, March 11— it will be available as a podcast for a few weeks. Look for the Saturday Night Special dated 3/12/2023. Once it falls off the Lux Mu podcast hustle, it will be posted on the Mixclouds as well as here in the Boogaloo Bag. Luxuria Music is a swingin’ thing that deserves your support. Visit it often. Listen to the many cool shows. If you dig the scene, contribute monetarily. Keep Lux Mu alive!
All the tracks played in GO Mechanism Number Fifteen:
Earl Bostic—Lester Leaps In (King)
Sonny Rollins Quintet featuring Thelonious Monk—The Way You Look Tonight (from LP Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins; Prestige)
The Ronettes (The Wrecking Crew)—Miss Joan and Mr. Sam (Philles)
Sandy Nelson—Sunshine of Your Love (from LP Rebirth of the Beat; Imperial)
Martini Kings and Doug MacDonald—Killer Joe (reprise) (from album Groovin!!!; Swingomatic)
Jimmy Takeuchi & His Exciters—Alligator Boogaloo (from LP Drum Drum Drum; Toshiba; Japan)
Love—A House Is Not a Motel (backing track) (from album Forever Changes: Collector’s Edition; Rhino/Elektra)
Toño Quirazco—Soul Makossa (Orfeon; Mexico)
Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band—I Can’t Quit Her (Pye; UK)
Tito Puente—Ti Mon Bo (RCA Victor)
—“The Owl” by Edward Thomas, recited by Dylan Thomas
Pretty Purdie—Caravan (Date)
The Sheldons—The Cat (Dot)
Hank Ballard—Do It Zulu Style (King)
Babatunde Olatunji—Dye Ko Dide (from LP High Life; Columbia)
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