Musical Episode #054 : Funky Vampin, an hour of instrumental 45s

• Listen to this podcast on Mixcloud
• Listen to this podcast as a Spotify playlist here (though note, spotify doesn’t have all / many of the songs featured on the site so some playlists may be incomplete or feature slightly different versions than the original 45s I’m referring to here. This week it’s particularly bad!)
• Download the podcast here.

Welcome Back All,

This week we have another nice hour of 45s for you, this time it’s all upbeat instrumental sides. This episode has no hosting on it, it’s been a taxing week with my jobs (again) so I’ve been running behind and rather than rush it or get no sleep I thought it’s ok to have some mixes without hosting. I will have a little time this weekend and hope to get caught up on some prep for future mixes. I do hope to keep them consistent with Friday releases but life is hard and life is not always about being on the computer so I’m not going to hold myself to it and hope that’s ok with you all if there’s an occasional deviation from that schedule.

Anyhow, on to today’s mix, it’s a nice selection of funky R&B sides, soul jazz, and lots of sounds in-between. A couple of nice covers including Truman Thomas’ take on the Edwin Starr classic and The Casuals version “Money (That’s What I Want).” The two sides by Gene Dozier “Hunk of Funk” and “Funky Broadway” are a welcome change from him writing and producing after he moved from Philly to LA and putting his name on the artist label. A couple of sides by the wonderful East Coast pianist Ray Bryant grace the mix- he put out lots of great sides and worked with lots of greats including Ella Fiztgerald and Aretha Franklin- but he’s here without singers and leading his band beautifully. Brooks O’Dell is a wonderful singer and flip to Slow Motion is a beautiful side of deep soul but we get the instrumental Slow Motion to kick off the mix. Lots of other nice songs- from New Orleans’ The Stokes, Detroit’s Mark III Trio and Donald Austin -in the mix and you can see the full track list below.

Peace to everyone, everywhere, in all ways.

-George / Snack Attack

Tracklist:
Brooks O’Dell – Slow Motion (Bell, 1965)
Truman Thomas – 25 Miles (Veep, 1969)
3rd Avenue Blues Band – Pipedream (Revue, 1969)
Ray Johnson and His Group – Soul City (Infinity, 1962)
Odell Brown & The Organizers – No More Water In The Well (Cadet, 1967)
The Three Souls – The Horse (Argo, 1960)
Ray Bryant Trio – Little Susie 4 (Signature, 1960)
Ray Bryant Combo – Sack O’ Woe (Columbia, 1961)
Gene Ammons – Swinging The Jug Part 1 (Ra-Bra, 1969)
Gene Ludwig – The Vamp (Travis, 1965)
The Stokes – Piecrust (Alon, 1965)
Sandy Nelson – Drums Are My Beat (Imperial, 1962)
Donald Austin – Crazy Legs (Eastbound, 1972)
The Buena Vistas – Big Red (Marquee, 1968)
Gene Dozier & The Brotherhood – A Hunk of Funk (Minit, 1967)
Gene Dozier & The Brotherhood – Funky Broadway (Minit, 1968)
Jimmy Smith – Chain of Fools (Verve, 1968)
Mark III Trio – G’wan (Go On) (Wingate, 1966)
Chip & Dave – Seventh Round (Sure Star, 1965)
The Originals – Anna (Jackpot, 1958)
The Casuals – Money (That’s What I Want) (Minaret, 1963)
Arnie & His Soul Brothers – Look Out (Emmes, 1962)

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