High Energy, Funky Soul from Oakland’s Savonics

The Savonics “Soul Groove” (MTA Records, 1968)
  • Listen to this song in 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).
  • Listen to the song on Youtube: Soul Groove, I Had A Girl
  • Download the songs here: Soul Groove, I Had A Girl

Hello everyone, welcome back to the site for a look at another 45. Today we have a wonderful two-sider by The Savonics a group with a painfully short discography. The Savonics were a young group out of Oakland, CA made up of a mix of high school and young college students; Marty Legget, Tony Newsome, Glen Colbert, Hollis Carr, Melvin Jenkins, Howard Hickerson, Johnnie Tompson and Tommie Matthews. These young guys went out and made a name for themselves winning high school and regional talent shows all over the place. One of these talent shows got them a prize of studio time at the legendary Coast Recorders studio across the bay in San Francisco. It appears the sides recorded never made it into large scale production which is a real shame but if anyone can find their acetates of Duck and Summertime, please let me know…

The Savonics in the studio at Coast Recorders in SF, Ca. Photo from The Oakland Tribune, 1967

In addition to their regular gigging weekends The Catacombs in Berkeley, CA (a club I can find nothing about…) The Savonics continued to play and win talent shows include the Northern California Battle of The Bands which got them “a recording contract” and an opportunity to play on Dick Clark’s Happening 68. Though we can’t be certain it’s safe to assume that contract was with MTA and the recording was done at Leo Kulka’s Golden State Recorders as he’s listed as the producer on the track.

Leo Kulka and his 16 track studio were main drivers in “the San Francisco Sound” with lots of amazing Bay Area bands including Sly and The Family Stone, Grace Slick, Janis Joplin and of course, The Savonics recording with him.

Ad for Leo Kulka’s Golden State Recorders which includes MTA Records as a partner.

The “Soul Groove” side which we’re looking at today is basically a roll call of the band so I was really excited to find the photo listing all the players and getting to see them in action- the same way the record calls them out one by one. As much as I swear by the 45 format I do wish this side could be stretch out a little longer than two minutes and forty five seconds. On the other hand, we likely wouldn’t have anything at all if not for the format, so I’m counting my lucky stars.

The flip is a nice ballad “I Had A Girl” that shows even party bands understand the importance of a good slow song in the mix.

For clarity, these Savonics are a different group than the Savonics credited on Eugene Blacknell’s 45 from 1962. Though he was an ultra-funky high school instrumentalist from the Bay his group and recording was a good 6 years before Soul Groove was released and during the interim Eugene was on the road touring with Joe Simon. When Eugene did return to Oakland in 1967 he formed a different group, Eugene Blacknell and The New Breed.

Minor update! After doing some digging around on the artists names it appears three of the members, drummer Glen(n) Colbert, bass player Melvin Jenkins and guitarist Tony Newsome were also in the group The Ebony Jam Band who put out a single boogie funk LP in 1981.

I hope you enjoy today’s side of fast-paced, funky Bay Area soul. We’ll be back on Friday with a full hour of hard hitting funky, boogie-fied 45s from the 70s and even a couple touching the 80s.

Sending peace and good music your way.
-George / Snack Attack

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