Ah beloved vinyl sleeves! Portuguese crate digger and vinyl lover Joaquim Paulo has teamed up with German publisher Taschen to release – Funk & Soul Covers, a book that will portray over 500 Lp cover sleeves from the likes of Don Blackman, Bootsy Collins, Brass Construction and The Blackbyrds. The book will also boast some great interviews with the likes of Larry Mizell and Daptones Gabriel Roth for example and also feature artists such as Quantic and Andy Smith listing their favorite LP covers and why – Egon from Stones Throw also gets involved! This edition follows on from the success of their Jazz Covers book which was terrific so no doubt this will be of equal par. You can leaf through the book online or purchase a physical copy from this September onwards. Your coffee table needs this! On the topic of covers here’s my own personal favorite. Its of the Terry Callier ‘What Color Is Love’ LP….Whats your favorite LP sleeve??

T

Roy Ayers - Uno Melodic

The label is Uno Melodic Records and was home to some of the most classic productions in the early Jazz Funk and Disco period. Soul Jazz Records have recently been issuing some of the labels rarer releases such as the ‘Ladies of the 80′s’ LP which features the classic ‘Turned Onto You’ and Roy’s own LP  ‘Lots of Love’ which features the much loved track ‘Chicago’ (amongst other dancefloor nuggests).

Another release the label is quite well known for is the classic LP released by Sylvia Striplin entitled ‘Give Me Your Love’ which was entirely produced by Roy himself who seemed to focus his production on female artists around this time and features ‘You Cant Turn Me Away’ a two step classic. Two other female artists included Bobbi Humphrey who put out the essential cut ‘Baby Dont You Know’ and Ethel Beatty who recorded one of our favorite cuts ‘I Know You Care’ which can all be listened to below. A classic label, one master producer, rare releases and timeless pieces of music all make the Uno Melodic label worth mentioning. Check it out!!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“I used to wear house shoes all the time”

Fresh from his recent release for All City records as part of the L.A x 10 series DJ House Shoes takes some time for out for ElevatorHipHop.com to discuss some issues close to his heart. Check the video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Just in case anyone forgot, the 90s were an incredible decade for hiphop. Over the next while we’re going to dissect 10 hiphop albums released during that period and wax a little about the original tunes that were sampled so beautifully for these seminal classics.  So read on for Part 1 of our ‘Each One Teach One’ series of articles…

Black Sheep debuted in 1991 and was composed of Andres “Dres” Titus and William “Mista Lawnge” McLean. The pair are native New Yorkers but met as teenagers in North Carolina, where both of their families relocated. The group was an affiliate of the Native Tongues, which included the Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. “Flavor of the Month” was their first single and shortly after the group released their first album “A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” which we have tried to deconstruct as best we can here.

Black Sheep gained popularity very quickly, most notably because of their fresh approach to production; the duo were always digging deeper than most to find original sample material and layering great flows (and at times remarkebly lucid lyrics) over the beats they produced.  As with most hiphop groups (and their debut releases) of the time, there’s a curious contradiction throughout this album.  On the one hand you have clever piss-takes of gangsta rap (which was a relatively new form of hiphop at the time), righteous afrocentric viewpoints and a very broad and mature appreciation of music displayed in the sample fodder used to construct the album.  On the other hand you have dick jokes, fuck-you anthems and some of the most overt (and quite frankly hilarious) misogyny ever put down on record.  As Hip-Hop albums go, this one’s perfect.

As the first album to get broken down in our Each One Teach One series what we’re aiming for here is  to turn you on to this great album if you happened to miss it first time round, never heard of it or just plain forgot about it and of course turn you on to the amazing records sampled by Black Sheep when they were making A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing.

The podcast of all the tunes is below so you can download that and listen at your leisure or just hit play on the individual tracks to hear what we’re talking about.

Download the Mix

Black Sheep – Each One Teach One Part 1 by ChoiceCuts

Each One Teach One Playlist

Butt In The Mean Time

Original recording artist: Paul Butterfield
Sample taken from: ‘I Don’t Want To Go’
Appears on: Put It In Your Ear LP
Released by: Bearsville 1975

Paul Butterfield was a Chicago-born blues musician. As a teenager Butterfield started hanging around black blues musicians such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter and Otis Rush. Butterfield and his college buddy Elvin Bishop soon formed a band with Jerome Arnold and Sam Lay (both members of Howlin’ Wolf’s band). In 1963 the racially-mixed ensemble was a unqiue fixture at the famous venue “Big John’s”, a folk music club in the Old Town district on Chicago’s north side.  Having established himself as a top class harmonica player and blues guitarist he went on to play with various blues groups of the time, most notably The Band (whom he performed with at thir farewall show The Last Waltz).  This album is Paul Butterfield at his best.  The hook sampled on this track is instantly recognisable and indeed the album itself contains plenty of licks and breaks that we’re surprised weren’t pillaged for other cuts on the Black Sheep album.

Strobelite Honey

Original recording artist: Young and Company
Sample taken from: ‘I Like (What You’re Doing To Me)’
Appears on: Single 12″
Released by: Brunswick 1980

Young & Company consisted of three brother and three friends who formed the group in 1979.  The band’s biggest hit was this track “I Like (What You’re Doing To Me)” and again it’s the first 10 seconds of this track that punctuates “Strobelite Honey” with it’s unique sound.  The placement of the sample throughout the song and in key with the various other hooks and drums resulted in Strobelite Honey becoming a favourite cut from the album.  Keep an ear out for the other main sample in this tune taken from S.O.S Band’s hit single “Take Your Time, Do It Right”.  Strobelite Honey is probably the best example of how Black Sheep were able to take two straight up 4 bar loops and stick them together with very little chopping to the original sample to create something new.  Sometimes straight to the point is best.

To Whom It May Concern

Original recording artist: Gary Bartz
Sample taken from: ‘Celestial Blues’
Appears on: Harlem Bush Music LP
Released by: Milestone 1970

Gary Bartz is an incredible musican having played with Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Max Roach and Jackie McLean.  He now teaches at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music when not on the road and is still an active Saxophinist.  With Ron Carter on bass and an infectious Alto Sax playing throughout this song in unison with the vocal this was bound to be sampled at some stage and indeed it’s found it’s way onto many HipHop album’s since A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing.  As far as we know, Black Sheep were the first to sample Celestial Blues on a  major label release.  The sample itself is the perfect backdrop for Black Sheep’s style of rhyming, most notably Mistah Lawnge’s laconic and drawn out style.

Similak Child (Intro sample)

Original recording artist: Jefferson Airplane
Sample taken from: ‘Today’
Appears on: Surrealistic Pillow LP
Released by: RCA 1966

In the context of Similak Child people always seem to mix up  this version of ‘Today’ (the original version) with the classic Tom Scott version off  The Honeysuckle Breeze LP.  Most of you will know Tom Scott’s version as it’s got that insanely good sax break that Pete Rock sampled for They Reminisce Over You off the Mecca and the Soul Brother LP (also released in 1991).  But Black Sheep went to source for the sample for our favourite track off the Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing LP.  Similak Child is the only track where we have mentioned two songs used to construct the track. The juxtoposition of a white 1960s psychrock band with one of America’s most popular black jazz pianists is just too beautiful to ignore.  Jefferson Airplane sets the mood but Ramsey brings the tone. As for the barking dogs at the beggining of Similak Child?  Well, that’s hiphop production at it’s finest…

Similak Child (Main hook)

Original recording artist: Ramsey Lewis
Sample taken from: ‘Les Fleur’
Appears on: Maiden Voyage LP
Released by: Cadet 1968

This track is powerful.  Ramsey’s incredible piano speaks for itself; the strings are ever present but coupled with the soulful-by-the-bowlful vocals you would think there’s very little room to build upon a sample taken from the introduction of the song.  What’s amazing is Jefferson Airplane fits perfectly (see above) – yet another happy co-incidence in the world of sample-based production.   The sequencing of these two tracks together is one of those things you would expect was an accident in the studio, a record played while digging through loops on vinyl while one or the other of the samples we’re discussing here was on loop.  However it happened it works beautifully and both of these songs are just as infectious on their own as when they’re together.

Try Counting Sheep

Original recording artist: Jimi Hendrix
Sample taken from: ‘Got To Have It’
Appears on: Second Time Around LP
Released by: Astan 1979 (German Pressing)

Nothing more needs to be said about Jimi here.  A true master and nobody doubts it.  This is an interesting track though.  Around the time we got our hands on A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing we also got hold of Beastie Boy’s Check Your Head. This was very many years pre-ChoiceCuts and we were  just freshly into our teen years if memory serves.  The first track off Check Your Head and Try Counting Sheep sampled ‘Got To Have It’.  It was hearing two hiphop groups coming out with songs very different to each other but yet built on something entirely the same that began the fascination with sampling and more importantly with what was being sampled.   The realisation that HipHop music was borne of something else and that a legacy and heritage of soul and funk was awaiting discovery just below the surface was the seed that kept us out of pocket and in records.  The story continues…

Flavour Of The Month

Original recording artist: Bubble Gum Machine
Sample taken from: ‘I Wonder’
Appears on: The Bubble Gum Machine LP
Released by: Senate 1967

Psycherock doesn’t come more upfront than this.  This seems to have been a studio project for producer/writer Wes Farrell (credited as such on the back of the record). Released by the Senate label this self-titled 1967 album featured a decent mix of originals along with a rake of popular covers (Beatles, Buffalo Springfield, The Bee Gees etc).  ‘I Wonder’ is definitly the stand-out track on this record and it’s very cleverly sampled for ‘Flavor Of The Month’ which was Black Sheep’s first single.  One of the best cuts off the album, the chorus really comes alive with a very tight sample of horns taken from Herb Alpert’s ‘In a Little Spanish Town’.  Snappy drums, what sounds like a deep low-pass filter on the bassline from ‘I Wonder’ and one of HipHop’s catchiest chorus lines makes Flavor of the Month the perfect debut 12” for Black Sheep.

Le Menage

Original recording artist: Mouth & MacNeal
Sample taken from: ‘A.B.C’
Appears on: Mouth & MacNeal LP
Released by: Decca 1971

Mouth & MacNeal were a pop-duo from the Netherlands.  They enjoyed huge success in the 70s with various hit pop tunes and in 1974 represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest (that right there was the first and last time that competition will be mentioned on this website).  This track was chopped up by Black Sheep to construct the main hook of their La Menage track.  Relying on MacNeal’s sultry vocals pitched up just a notch to emphasise Mistah Lawnge and Dres’ vocals (and perhaps to match guest emcee Q-Tip’s nasal rhyme stlye) along with the orginal sample’s drums brought out by using the intro drum break from Funk Inc.’s ‘God Only Knows’ meant the track had that slow, lazy sound that the lyrical content of the tune demanded.  Listen to the lyrics to get what we mean.  When Slick Rick said on La Di Da Di ‘and on and on and on she kept [on]‘ he didn’t mean it this way…

Black with N.V (No Vision)

Original recording artist: Freddie Hubbard
Sample taken from: ‘Povo’
Appears on: Sky Dive LP
Released by: CTI 1972

Creed Taylor produced some of the best jazz records of the late 60s and 70s under the CTI Records label.  Always emphasising quality of recording and cover art over massaging artist egos some of the cleanest breaks and basslines can be found on CTI records.  Hubbard had a very varied career leading up to his time on CTI but enjoyed his best successes there.  One of our favourite CTI records is Hubbard’s SkyDive and it’s this album that has the incredible Povo track featuring Ron Carter and Billy Cobham.  The bassline of this standout track is the main hook for Black With N.V (No Vision).  Certainly the most thoughtful track on Black Sheep’s debut album it’s also the the most minimalist, consisting mainly of the Povo bassline, the drum break from New Birth’s ‘I Wash My Hands of the Whole Damn Deal’ and not much else.  This minimalism lends itself well to the song though, as a subtle phase in the drums is the only thing that might distract you from what Dres is trying to say.

Pass The 40

Original recording artist: Jimmy McGriff
Sample taken from: ‘Blue Juice’
Appears on: The Worm
Released by: Solid State 1968

Posse cuts.  Nothing beats a good posse cut.  This one is particularly strong featuring Mista Lawnge, Chris Lighty, Dave Gossett (yes, he rocks it), Dres, Moc-Fu and of course Chi-Ali who was about 12 when this track was recorded.  All that’s in this tune is the bassline from Jimmy McGriff’s ‘Blue Juice’ and a subtle guitar lick from Ike Quebec (“Shu Shu”). Most likely this simplicity is deliberate to allow the MC’s their space.  This is a great track on the album, one that showcases the talent of the extended Black Sheep family.  It’s a shame Chi Ali’s path in life led him to violence; he was sent to prison for murder in 2001.  Chi Ali and Shyheim always seemed to be the strongest of the spate of child rappers that appeared during the 90s.

Compiled by Loughlin. Most of these records were found in bargain bins, tacked on record shop walls with $40.00 stickers on the sleeve or on eBay where the post and packaging cost more than the damn record.

Upfront from our friends over at Big City, NYC. Jared & Co. are dropping this limited edition flav on 45 Big City Records & BBP present: Oxygen & Cut Wizard Albee ‘Gone Diggin/ Masterminds in Effect’ with beats by Gensu Dean and artwork by Mr Krum.

Limited Edition-500 copies – hit up beatstogo@gmail.com for a copy if you are not in NYC.
As per Big City “Long Island’s Hype Sound Productions consisted of Just Divine & Cut Wizard Albee.  Just Divine is better known as Oxygen with the group Sputnik Brown. We are honored to bring forth two dope hip hop gems for your collection.”

The A-side track originally recorded in 2007.  B-side track recorded in 1988

Who else could venture into these territories but Jazzman Gerald. Daring to go where no other label has before by releasing Sun Ra‘s 7” singles in there original format! We sure do love these little offerings for our collections. The tracks selected for this box set were limited upon there initial release with little as 40-50 copies seeing daylight on Sun Ra’s own label Saturn. This set of 3 x 45rpm singles are pressed onto glow-in-the-dark vinyl and packaged in a unique, custom-made triple gate fold screen printed sleeve, and strictly limited so be quick if you intend on buying one. Available from the Jazzman Website at present…Go Go Go!

This amazing one-off album produced by Roy Ayers featured the group Eighties Ladies made up of the singing talents of Susan Beaubian, Marva Hicks, Vivian Prince, Denie Corbett & Sylvia Striplin backed by an all-start line-up Roy Ayers band (including Rick James who shares the production).

The anthemic ‘Turned on To You” and “Ladies of the Eighties” are both included in this absolutely classic boogie-funk-jazz-soul album from the start of the 80s.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Soul Jazz Records are re-issuing this remastered album in its entirety with original artwork, in Soul Jazz case edition CD and deluxe heavyweight card and gatefold vinyl.

More information available from Soul Jazz Website here!

A pioneering record dealer and label head based in north London, and a regular guest for us here at ChoiceCuts, Gerald Short of Jazzman records has been bringing the delights of yesteryear to the marketplace for over ten years and dealing in vinyl for almost twenty. We caught up with him on the phone to find out more about the history behind the label that has become synonymous with unforgettable grooves.

DJs, Producers, Collectors and music lovers the world over have been eating up Jazzman releases since 1998. Carefully chosen and faithfully reissued, artists like Nina Simone, Marlena Shaw, Jonathan Richman, The Highlighters Band, and Nino Nardini have found their way on to a catalogue that is as varied as it is deep. It is testament to the hard work that Short and his team have put in that at a time when so many labels are struggling, Jazzman continues to grow and win over new listeners by focusing on music from the past.

Gerald, you started a stall in Camden in the early 1990s, can you tell us a bit about this period and the type of people who bought from you?

Well, record dealers at the time were asking for way too much money for old vinyl and my dad was based in the United States, I thought i could kill two birds with one stone and visit my dad and buy a shitload of wax to bring back to sell at my stall. I got a loan of £1000 from the generous lady in the stall next to me and went on my trip stateside. Camden gets about 1 million people in at the weekend through its stalls and thoroughfares. Soul Jazz Records had moved to the West End around Berwick Street and there was a gap in the market for what I wanted to sell.

As the return trips to USA became more frequent I would find myself picking up doubles and triples of certain vinyl. This led to me forming a mail-order list, my customer base thus increased. I would then start photocopying the lists, record some of the rare stuff onto cassette for people buyers to check out. People began to call me on the phone and I would play sample snippets to them; I would receive wish lists from buyers, other competitors lists to see what they were selling or wanted and pretty much immersed myself into the whole scene. I would have regulars, people like Gilles P looking for jazz and soul, Hip Hop producers from New York and beyond looking for the perfect drum samples. I would rely on my own instincts and the more the rep grew the more the customer base grew.

At the moment I’m buying and selling a lot of 50s music, so I keep an eye out for these records, you have to give people what they want and keep abreast of trends and cycles. At the moment everyone’s listening to 80s music and back in the 80s, people who listened to modern soul let’s say were clocking 50s music also, so it’s all swings and roundabouts. Also, soul/funk collectors who have been buying for a long time either go back further into doo-wop and 50s music or gravitate towards modern soul like disco and boogie etc.

So when did the idea to licence and reissue come about?

I was DJing in Berlin and played some tracks that were not run of the mill and the crowd were very receptive. I felt rare records and music shouldn’t be exclusively for those with money or in the know. Songs are owned by the artists and the artist wants everyone to hear them and make their own judgement. Obviously there were people doing reissues at the time, but a lot were not doing it legally or properly. I wanted to facilitate the artist in the right way, whether the format was 45, 12inch or CD. This is a win-win situation for the artist, myself, if Jazzman pulls it off, and of course the music fan who can be assured of purchasing a quality and faithful reissue.

In 1998 I released Kathleen Emery ‘Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child’ and the rest is history. DJs tend to think that if they own the record or if it is rare they have some kind of ownership of the song making things exclusive, but I am more about making it inclusive therefore I go to the endeavour of going down the right channels to broker a deal with the artist and make the product top quality for the marketplace.

Of the other labels reissuing old music or unreleased music, which stand out?
Immediately Now Again; Egon has excellent taste, is a hard worker and has the artist as priority, again he goes to the endeavour of putting his all into it. His work for Stones Throw is impeccable and is more commonly known, but the Now Again/Soul Cal reissues, these are great releases. Worthy mentions are Lotus Land, PPU, Numero, Timmion the list goes on. I hope I don’t offend anyone by leaving them out; anyone doing it for the right reasons, whatever the genre, is alright in my book.

Then onto our next topic, Fat City Record Shop; you bought the retail arm from Dave Walker in Manchester in August. This was, and is, a shop with impeccable taste and always seems to have its finger on what’s hot release-wise for DJs and collectors. Tell us about the reasoning behind taking on another business in these recessionary times?

I have always loved Fat City’s whole vibe and as they a had strong customer base like I did it made sense for us to join forces. Dave wanted to get out and pursue another career and I could centralise his stock from London. Boombox, a big distributor for Fat City, is only a few doors down from me, so it made perfect sense. It meant we were supplying old and new music and I have the online shop now, so changes Dave wanted to make I can do now incrementally. We still are finding our way as we go along but for a small business we are doing OK since the acquisition. I oversee the buying but we have Lindsay and Skeg keeping tabs for me on the new stuff as I’m not that ‘in the know’ about the new stuff as I am about jazz, soul and funk … I’m a jazzman at heart you know.

What new labels and music are you interested in at moment?
The Porter label is great, Poobah Records, Truth and Soul, your boys Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. Usually I am working away in the office and I will just hear the guys play stuff and go ‘what’s that?’ and remember the name or label. There is so much out there to choose from that we have to filter carefully through it all to keep the quality control intact for our customers; so, yeah, some of the new beats I’m feeling, but not everything.

Notice any difference in the buyers these days compared to when you started out?
People are now buying everything, 10 years ago we were more pigeonholed by our buying and allegiance to genres. Now with the internet, people are buying rock, soul, jazz, pop. There’s a big convergence of buying tastes; and with more music out there to be acquired we need to be aware of what the buyer wants and keep our principles about us. The mystery of music, albums and artists and shelf life is gone, but the offset of this is more music is being reissued and there is more accessibility for the consumer.

Stuff coming out on Jazzman in 2010 would be the new Californian Funk compilation, John Heartsman & Circles ‘Music of My Heart’, George Smallwoods ‘Just For You’, Mountain Mocha Kilimanjro debut from Japan and of course Lloyd Millar ‘A Lifetime In Oriental Jazz’

To date Jazzman and his team have reissued 72 singles on 7inch
3 Jukebox on 7inch
5 Soul Spectrum on 7inch
38 Funk45 7inches
30 Albums on 12inch/CD
19 12inches on Jazzman.

Notable favourites reissued by Gerald include Sahib Shihab ‘Companionship’ and Clark Boland Sextet ‘Music for the Small Hours’ both Jazz albums.