January | 2012 | skeletonpete.com

Archive for January 2012

Meah Pace @ Southpaw, 1.28.12

January 29, 2012 |

Author skeletonpete

Meah Pace and her band The Map Legends gave the audience at Brooklyn’s Southpaw a special treat during their January 28th opening set, with a killer performance of “I Would Rather Go Blind” paying tribute to the recently deceased Ms. Etta James. Meah delivered the classic blues/soul tune, which has been covered by everyone from Christine McVie (nee Perfect) to Beyonce, in spectacular torchy style. She and the band also backed headliner Eula Cooper, who returned to New York for the first time since 2008 to sing her collector’s soul sides, including the funky shuffle “Mr. Henry”.

Unfortunately the Southpaw venue will be closing up shop by springtime, with the owners focusing on their newer projects in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg and Greenpoint areas. The full story is here. If you’re looking to get a dose of soul before Southpaw shutters, The Impressions – backed by members of the Dap-Kings – will be there on Thursday Feb 2, 2012.

Brooklyn soul fans will be happy to know that the monthly Dig Deeper dance parties will move to The Bell House, which served as home for the 2010 Brooklyn Soul Fest.

Posted in Music, SkeletonPete Says |

Tags: dig deeper, etta james, eula cooper, i would rather go blind, map legends, meah pace, soul music, southpaw |

2 Comments »

Hey Jimmy: R.I.P. The Multi-Talented Mr. Castor

January 20, 2012 |

Author skeletonpete

Street Sounds
Remembering the music of Jimmy Castor on his passing is a personal recollection of Brooklyn “summer’s in the city”, gushing “johnny pumps” (no sprinkler caps, thank you), stickball and handball games, and local percussion players using the shelter of the Gowannus Expressway as a reverb chamber. It was part of the street soundtrack that became my musical DNA.

During the spring and summer months truck mounted kiddie rides traversed the city streets. A variety of possibilities might turn your corner on any given day. “The Whip”, a lilliputian Ferris Wheel, or the swinging “Half Moon”. Along with the clarion call of the “Mr. Softee” theme, you always listened for their approach. These trucks invariably had huge amusement park grade loud speakers mounted above their cabs and were always tuned to a top 40 station, usually WMCA and it’s “Good Guy” disc jockeys. The latest pop tunes could be heard reverberating off buildings from blocks away, and you knew “the rides” were coming. You could hear Joe Cuba’s “Bang Bang” coming out of anyone’s apartment window at any time, but something as indigenously urban as Castor’s mix of funk, Latin and afro-beat coming over mainstream radio was a revelation.

Tu Mama Te Llama
In particular it was Castor’s late sixties eminently re-playable 2’30 of proto-rap “Hey Leroy, Your Mamma’s Calling You”, that is burned in my brain for eternity. Its infectiously taunting “go to your Mamma” refrain made it kid friendly in all the worst ways. God forbid you were the one who’s folks called you to dinner out the window.

It was only later, after The Jimmy Castor Bunch hits of “Troglodyte (Caveman)” and “Bertha Butt Boogie”, that I learned Castor’s musical lineage went back to doo-wop days with Frankie Lymon’s Teenagers, as well as a stint playing saxophone with organist Dave “Baby” Cortez, whose “Happy Organ” still gets mega-playtime at my house. As you likely know many of Castor’s grooves were discovered in the cutout bins early in the days of hip-hop culture.

The “Hey Leroy” album is a great place to sample full the range of Castor’s styles and talents and any Jimmy Castor Bunch greatest hits package will fill in the 70’s monster funk tunes. If you’re on MOG, you can listen instantly.

Click this image to purchase on Amazon: