Genesis – Where The Sour Turns to Sweet

Genesis Mk1

Listen/Download – Genesis – Where The Sour Turns To Sweet

Greetings all.

Before we get started this week …

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It’s time for the 2017 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive.

Since Iron Leg, and the Iron Leg Radio Show podcast are dependent of the continued health of Funky16Corners, and continue under the banner of the Funky16Corners Radio Network, it behooves me to post these links here, too.

The pledging will also take a slightly different form this year, moving to Patreon (click here or on the logo below to go to the Funky16Corners page) , where you will be able to spread your contributions out over the entire year, which will help cover the ongoing server/broadcast/hardware expenses. This year has seen the upgrade of a couple of crucial pieces of equipment, and any help you fine people can provide will keep the machinery moving here at Funky16Corners central. So please dig deep so we can continue to do the same!

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I hope you all enjoyed last week’s mix, and that some of you headed over to click on the Patreon link and donate in furtherance of the Funky16Corners/Iron Leg thing as a continuing institution.

Today’s selection hails from the very first album by one of the biggest prog bands of the 70s, who would oddly enough move on to be a huge pop band in the 80s, Genesis.

As is the case with most bands with a multi-decade existence, Genesis had a number of lineup/style variations, most of which I like (some of which – Phil Collins years ((cough)) – I do not.

Today’s selection, ‘Where the Sour Turns to Sweet’ is the opening track from their 1969 debut ‘From Genesis To Revelation’.

Originally issued in a Spinal Tap-pish black sleeve with minimal lettering, the album is an absolute masterpiece of later days popsike edging into prog and is filled with great melodies and playing.

The album was produced by Jonathan King, who discovered the members of Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, Anthony Phillips and Chris Stewart/John Silver on drums, when they were students at his alma mater, Charterhouse School.

As I said, the album is a great slice of UK popsike with just a touch of prog (not too much to turn off prog-haters) in the style of so much of the old British Psychedelic Trip/Rubble comps.

‘Where the Sour Turns To Sweet’ opens with piano chords and finger snaps, followed by Gabriel’s instantly recognizable voice (his wild, symbolic theatricality seems to be in its embryonic stages) .It gains steam with subtle orchestral flourishes, before a slightly more rocked out chorus.

There are plenty of hooks, and some beautiful chord changes.

The rest of the album is excellent, and ought to be pretty easy to find. It has been reissued multiple times (with multiple covers) to capitalize on the later success of the band.

I hope you dig the tune and I’ll see you all next week.

Don’t forget to donate!

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.

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Iron Leg 2017 Pledge Drive Mix – Freaking Out In England (And Elsewhere)

Freaking Out In England (and Elsewhere)
Mindbenders – The Morning After (Fontana)
Twiggy – When I Think of You (Capitol)
Cat Stevens – Matthew and Son (Deram)
Sharon Tandy – Look and Find (Atlantic)
Gary Walker and the Rain – Can’t Stand To Lose You (Polydor)
David Hemmings – Alathea (MGM)
Noel Harrison – Sign of the Queen (Warner Brothers)
Rolling Stones – We Love You (London)
Russell Morris – The Real Thing Pt1 (Diamond)
The Strawbs – Or Am I Dreaming (A&M)
The End- Shades of Orange (London)
Basil – Toymaker (GRT)
Les Sauterelles – Heavenly Club (London)
Big Jim Sullivan – Trans Love Airways (Fat Angel) (Mercury)
The Attack – Colour Of My Mind (Decca)
Hopscotch – Rockhouse (United Artists)
Free Ferry – Friend (Date)
Paul and Barry Ryan – Keep It Out of Sight (MGM)
Rupert’s People – Hold On (Bell)
Genesis – In the Beginning (Decca)
Dave Clark Five – Maze of Love (Columbia)
The Move – Here We Go Round the Lemon Tree (A&M)
Love Children – The Paper Chase (Deram)
Locomotive – Mr Armageddan (Bell)

Listen/Download – Iron Leg – Freaking Out In the UK (and Elsewhere) – 122MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

I spent most of last week trapped in a hospital bed, but when I got home I was so music-deprived that I headed down into the lab and set to work on a brand new mix (which you see before you).

We are in the middle of the Funky16Corners 2017 Pledge Drive (see below), and I thought that since Iron Leg was also an important part of the operation, and I had only ever done one pledge drive mix here, that the time was right for a new one.

Most of the longer form things that have appeared in this space for the last few years have been podcasts, i.e. the Iron Leg Radio Show, Testify! And a couple of other things for WFMU.

When I was thinking of what kind of mix to put together it occurred to me that I had collected quite a lot of UK freakbeat and psych vinyl in the last four or five years, and that those ought to be assembled.

There are a few things from outside of the UK (Switzerland and Australia) and a couple of things by Englishmen working in Los Angeles (David Hemmings and Noel Harrison), thus the ‘ELSEWHERE’ in the title, but the vibe is all UK freakout.

There are a lot of favorites here, including some poppier things, some very heavy numbers and a couple of tunes that butt right up against prog, but I think you’ll dig the mixture.

So if you do, and you dig what we do here and/or at Funky16Corners, click on the Patreon link and toss a couple of shekels in the barrel.

With many thanks.

Larry

________________________________________________

It’s time for the 2017 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive.

Since Iron Leg, and the Iron Leg Radio Show podcast are dependent of the continued health of Funky16Corners, and continue under the banner of the Funky16Corners Radio Network, it behooves me to post these links here, too.

The pledging will also take a slightly different form this year, moving to Patreon (click here or on the logo below to go to the Funky16Corners page) , where you will be able to spread your contributions out over the entire year, which will help cover the ongoing server/broadcast/hardware expenses. This year has seen the upgrade of a couple of crucial pieces of equipment, and any help you fine people can provide will keep the machinery moving here at Funky16Corners central. So please dig deep so we can continue to do the same!

_______________________________________________

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.

The Knack – Banana Man

The Knack

Listen/Download – The Knack – Banana Man

Greetings all.

Before we get started this week …

________________________________________________

It’s time for the 2017 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive.

Since Iron Leg, and the Iron Leg Radio Show podcast are dependent of the continued health of Funky16Corners, and continue under the banner of the Funky16Corners Radio Network, it behooves me to post these links here, too.

The pledging will also take a slightly different form this year, moving to Patreon (click here or on the logo below to go to the Funky16Corners page) , where you will be able to spread your contributions out over the entire year, which will help cover the ongoing server/broadcast/hardware expenses. This year has seen the upgrade of a couple of crucial pieces of equipment, and any help you fine people can provide will keep the machinery moving here at Funky16Corners central. So please dig deep so we can continue to do the same!

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I first wrote about the Knack in this space five years ago, with their classic 45 ‘Time Waits For No One’.

They were – to refresh your memory – a SoCal group that laid down four 45s for Capitol between 1966 and 1968, and then had their memory all but steamrolled by the success of the 1970s/1980s Knack (a completely different group) and ‘My Sharona’.

This Knack wrote and recorded some excellent, UK-influenced pop/rock in their relatively brief time together, with lots and lots of hooks, complicated guitar interplay and group harmonies.

‘Banana Man’ was the b-side of their second to last 45 in 1967.

It has a much more “West Coast’ sound (produced by Lex De Azevedo who also produced the Four King Cousins) than their previous 45s, sounding locked in to the Sunset Strip folk rock/goodtime pop vibe.

Oddly enough, as good as the Knack’s 45s are – and they are (good) – I don’t see them as potential hits. They are all well written, well played and filled with interesting ideas, buyt ultimately they seem just a bit too interesting for the charts.

It’s a little painful to suggest that a band might be too interesting for the charts, but in this case (and many, many others during that densely packed 1965-1968 period) it was likely true.

Thanks to aggressive promotion by Capitol the group had a couple of pockets of regional success – with ‘I’m Aware’ and the other side of this 45 ‘Pretty Daisy’ – but never broke through on a larger scale.

That said, all of the Knack’s 45s have been collected and reissued (with bonus tracks) by Now Sound, and the collection is highly recommended.

I hope you dig the track and I’ll see you all next week.

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.

The Rockets – Hole In My Pocket

The Rockets

Listen/Download – The Rockets – Hole In My Pocket

Greetings all.

Before we get started this week …

________________________________________________

It’s time for the 2017 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive.

Since Iron Leg, and the Iron Leg Radio Show podcast are dependent of the continued health of Funky16Corners, and continue under the banner of the Funky16Corners Radio Network, it behooves me to post these links here, too.

The pledging will also take a slightly different form this year, moving to Patreon (click here or on the logo below to go to the Funky16Corners page) , where you will be able to spread your contributions out over the entire year, which will help cover the ongoing server/broadcast/hardware expenses. This year has seen the upgrade of a couple of crucial pieces of equipment, and any help you fine people can provide will keep the machinery moving here at Funky16Corners central. So please dig deep so we can continue to do the same!

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The 45 you see before you today was the sole single released by a band that would have been all but lost to time were it not for their next job.

The Rockets released one album on White Whale in 1968, after which a large portion of the band (Danny Whitten, Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot) would form the heart of Crazy Horse, working with Neil Young for decades, with the exception of Whitten who died of an OD in 1972.

Today’s selection has a slightly shambolic, Basement Tapes-y air to it, with a country fiddle weaving in and out of a (very) crunchy rock band. The rusty saw-ing of fiddler Bobby Notkoff butts right up against the border of ‘annoying’ but manages to fit in with the overall vibe of the band.

The production (by Barry Goldberg) is an amiable mess. Interestingly enough, Goldberg (who seems to have dragged Notkoff with him from the Electric Flag) would go on to cover the song later in 1968 with his own band, the Barry Goldberg Reunion.

The rest of the album wanders around in the California country rock soup of the time, with hints of the Buffalo Springfield’s experimental bent in tunes like ‘Let Me Go’ which has a slightly acidic edge to it.

You can definitely hear the roots of Crazy Horse popping up here and there.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all next week.

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.

Iron Leg Radio Show Episode #75

Why hello there!

Playlist

ILRS#75

The Koobas – Take Me For a Little While (Kapp)
The Koobas – Somewhere In the Night (Kapp)
Counts IV – Spoonful (Date)
Counts IV – Where Are You (Date)
Frosty – Organ Grinder’s Monkey (MGM)
Frosty – I Want You To Know (MGM)
Robbs – Violets of Dawn (Mercury)

Pleasure Fair – Nursery Rhyme (Uni)
Pleasure Fair – East West (Uni)
Noel Harrison – Museum (WB)
Noel Harrison – Sign of the Queen (WB)
Sagittarius – Virgo (Columbia)
Lyme and Cybelle – Like the Seasons (White Whale)
The Troggs – You Can Cry If You Want To (Fontana)
Tony Mottola – Kites are Fun (Project 3)
Tony Mottola – I Found a Love (Project 3)

Gary Walker – You Don’t Love Me (Date)
Gary Walker – Get It Right (Date)
Gary Walker and the Rain – I Can’t Stand To Lose You (Polydor)
King Bees – On Your Way Down the Drain (RCA)
Three Dog Night – The Loner (ABC/Dunhill)
Three Dog Night – Nobody (ABC/Dunhill)

Listen/Download -Iron Leg Radio Show Episode #75 – 161MB/256kbps

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Greetings all.

Welcome to this month’s episode of the Iron Leg Radio Show.

This was the very first live broadcast of the Iron Leg Radio Show, which will be coming to you on the first Saturday of every month (see you on 8/5) at Mixlr.com/Funky16Corners

We have a nice selection of new arrivals, intra-crate excavations and some old faves, so dig it.
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Also…

It’s time for the 2017 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive.

Since Iron Leg, and the Iron Leg Radio Show podcast are dependent of the continued health of Funky16Corners, and continue under the banner of the Funky16Corners Radio Network, it behooves me to post these links here, too.

The pledging will also take a slightly different form this year, moving to Patreon (click here or on the logo below to go to the Funky16Corners page) , where you will be able to spread your contributions out over the entire year, which will help cover the ongoing server/broadcast/hardware expenses. This year has seen the upgrade of a couple of crucial pieces of equipment, and any help you fine people can provide will keep the machinery moving here at Funky16Corners central. So please dig deep so we can continue to do the same!

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So pull down the ones and zeros, dig it and I’ll see you next week.

Make sure you subscribe to the podcast in iTunes!

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners

Dig the first live broadcast of the Iron Leg Radio Show!

Greetings all.

Just a quick note to let you know that the monthly live broadcasting of the Iron Leg Radio Show will commence this Saturday, 7/1 (and will continue on the first Saturday of every month going forward) at 9AM at Mixlr.com/Funky16Corners

You can tune in and join the chat, and the shows will all continue to be archived as a podcast in iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, Mixcloud and right here at Iron Leg.

So join me on Saturday!

Peace

Larry

________________________________________________
Also…

It’s time for the 2017 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive.

Since Iron Leg, and the Iron Leg Radio Show podcast are dependent of the continued health of Funky16Corners, and continue under the banner of the Funky16Corners Radio Network, it behooves me to post these links here, too.

The pledging will also take a slightly different form this year, moving to Patreon (click here or on the logo below to go to the Funky16Corners page) , where you will be able to spread your contributions out over the entire year, which will help cover the ongoing server/broadcast/hardware expenses. This year has seen the upgrade of a couple of crucial pieces of equipment, and any help you fine people can provide will keep the machinery moving here at Funky16Corners central. So please dig deep so we can continue to do the same!

_______________________________________________

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.

Tina Mason – Are You There

Tina Mason

Listen/Download – Tina Mason – Are You There

Greetings all.

Before we get started this week …

________________________________________________

It’s time for the 2017 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive.

Since Iron Leg, and the Iron Leg Radio Show podcast are dependent of the continued health of Funky16Corners, and continue under the banner of the Funky16Corners Radio Network, it behooves me to post these links here, too.

The pledging will also take a slightly different form this year, moving to Patreon (click here or on the logo below to go to the Funky16Corners page) , where you will be able to spread your contributions out over the entire year, which will help cover the ongoing server/broadcast/hardware expenses. This year has seen the upgrade of a couple of crucial pieces of equipment, and any help you fine people can provide will keep the machinery moving here at Funky16Corners central. So please dig deep so we can continue to do the same!

_______________________________________________

The record you see before you made its way into my crates a few years back via the inclusion of an early version of the the song ‘What’. That tune, written by HB Barnum was originally recorded by Judy Street and went on to become a Northern Soul classic.

The version by Tina Mason (recorded/released shortly after the Street 45) is a slightly slower, more stylish affair, but still cool.

Mason had a short but interesting recording career, first with Tina and the Mustangs on Capitol, then on her one full album.

She had a certain amount of Southern California success, having performed at Disneyland and then becoming a regular on ‘Where the Action Is’ (where she met her future husband, Phil ‘Fang’ Volk of Paul Revere and the Raiders.

Her 1967 album ‘Is Something Wonderful’ was produced by David Axelrod and arranged by HB Barnum (no doubt the reason she recorded ‘What’) and features a wide variety of sounds.

Mason’s stuff walked the line between girl-group and soul, as well as a certain kind of sophisticated pop.

Today’s selection is a great cover of the Bacharach/David ‘Are You There (With Another Girl)’ (title truncated on Mason’s album), which was a hit for Dionne Warwick in 1965.

Mason’s version is a great showcase for her voice, backed with a lush arrangement, sounding like a kinder, gentler wall of sound. There’s a booming bass, shimmering rhythm guitar and understated strings and brass, with a female chorus backing Mason’s lead vocal.

The production by Axelrod is typically first-rate, and it’s a wonderful take on a great song.

The LP is apparently pretty hard to find these days, but it was reissued (with bonus tracks) on CD in 2008 by Now Sounds.

I hope you dig the track, and I’ll see you all next week.

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.