Cal Tjader: Big Noise From Winnetka
taken from the album Mas Ritmo Caliente on Fantasy (1957)

Mongo Santamaria: Cold Sweat
taken from the album Soul Bag on Columbia (1968)

Boogaloo Joe Jones: Right On
taken from the album Right On Brother on Prestige (1969)

The Juju Orchestra: Funky Nassau
taken from the 12″ on Gema (2005)

I have this idea that everybody in England dances; that the clubs in Brighton or Brixton or wherever else in that soggy gray land, on a Saturday night fill with thousands of pasty bodies writhing in manic ecstasy. Tweaking, crumping, jerking and generally doing the do…

But that’s not all. In the England that I imagine (Does it exist? Am I fabricating this Dionyssian utopia from nothing?) a packed discoteque might, on any given night of the week, jump off the proverbial chain, whilst the P.A. bumps… jazz?

I don’t know. Maybe Giles Peterson just got me thinking that anything’s possible. If I’m wrong (Union Jacker’s, where you at?!), let me know. Otherwise, I’ll keep supplying tunes like these, thinking I may have a fertile career waiting for me on the other side of the pond.

Quickly: Early Cal Tjader with Willie Bobo on drums and Mongo on percussion (and a dirty lil’ whistlin’ that absolutely slays ish). Mongo covering James Brown with Bernard Purdie rocking the breaks: what more do you want? Boogaloo Joe gets nice. And finally, big up Germany, ’cause these cats is gettin’ LIVE!

Orchestre Du Baobab: Kelen Ati Len
Originally released on the album “Visage Du Senegaal” (1975) and re-released as a 7″ on Soundway (2006)

Manny Corchado: Pow Wow
Originally released on the album “Aprovecha El Tiempo” on Decca (196?) and re-released on Jazzman (2006)

In general, I like to see myself as the architect of my destiny. There’s that lovely quote from Invictus (the poem not the record label, dorks), which I carried around with me for a number of years: “I am the captain of my fate, I am the master of my soul.” But on the other side of the coin, there’s that old adage: “What’s done is done.” A bit trite, to be sure, but founded on a substantive (albeit fatalistic) truth: that what’s behind us is now beyond our control, with what lies before us–our immediate future–the ineluctable result.

Maybe this is wierd, but I’ll just come right out and say it, Oprah-style: I worry less about myself and my own bunglings than the petty mistakes of others. I fret deeply about the imperiled course of my fellow man, and, to be perfectly frank, from time to time I actually lose sleep over the inane gaffes of strangers.

For example. The mighty Soundway Records recently reissued this Baobab track, which, granted, is one of the most LAVA-HOT BANGERS in the history of space and time. However. There is simply no excuse for dropping a hard-earned Benjamin Franklin for a re-pressed 45 that came out fewer than six months ago–and I don’t care how limited the pressing. Such was the inexplicable boner executed by some credulous Ebay-er a few weeks back, and I’ll be damned if I’m not thinking about it still. What a knuckle-head! Get the CD you big dope! Or, while you’re at it, flaunting your Big Willie cheddar, why don’t you just make it two bills and buy a nice copy of the original LP? But then, what’s done is done…

Anyhow, this post is for that kid: a hundred dollars poorer, and, I hope, pleased as goddamn pie with his acquisition. Way to go, buddy!

Ps. The Manny Corchado joint is another recently repressed classic that, hopefully, nobody is selling their kidney to purchase. Enjoy that.

Pps. I fully recognize that to spend this much time both perusing Ebay and thinking about other people’s finances legitmately qualifies me as a loser. But f— it. I’m the master of my soul, bitches.

Nancy Sinatra: These Boots Were Made For Walkin’
Taken from the album Boots on Reprise

James Brown: Get On The Good Foot
Taken from the album Get On The Good Foot on Polydor

Big Daddy Kane: Ain’t No Half Steppin’
Taken from the 12″ on Cold Chillin’

Fats Waller: Your Feet’s Too Big
Taken from the album Greatest Hits on RCA

These are dark days. And this is how I say, Poor me.

Late last night, I had finally lined up a tasty little smattering of danceable tunes for this week’s post… and then it hit me– I can’t dance. Hell, I can’t walk. I can’t even shuffle. So $%#! the fonky booty shakers. I want the world to know my pain.

To that end, I decided to convey my throbbing invalidity with a handful of songs that, doing little to decrease my hyper-acute self-pity, at least make very clear where the problem lies.

Dance it up, Jerks. Get on the Good Foot! Half-Step with Daddy Kane! See if I care. I’ll be in my bedroom watching Golden Girls re-runs, tears welled in the corners of my eyes.

Don Covay: Money (That’s What I Want)
Taken from the album Superdude on Mercury (1973)
Don Covay: Rumble In The Jungle
Taken from the album Hot Blood on Mercury (1975)
Don Covay: What’s In The Headlines Today
Taken from the album Different Strokes For Different Folks on Atlantic (1970)
Don Covay: An Ugly Woman (Is Twice As Sweet)
Taken from the unreleased album Funky Yo-Yo intended for release on Polydor

There’s something to be said for the Kevin McHale’s of the world. The C-3P0’s. The Dan Quayle’s out there. These are the great unheralded could-have-been’s. The crucial, if relatively anonymous counterparts to their celebrated brethren. Well, here’s one more to add to the mix. I’ll come right out and say it: Don F’ing Covay. God bless ‘im.

You gotta hand it to the ol’ D.C., he really gave it his best shot. Even without the electrifying voice of Wilson, the on-stage charisma of Otis, or the chops of James, Don Covay made his mark: Forty plus years in the studio and still going strong. A real ox, this one.

Don charted records in three decades, over the course of a dozen albums spanning everything from gospel to rock and back again. Almost preturnaturally doomed to be ever-so-slightly eclipsed by virtually all of his major label mates, Don kept at it. Kept churning out those dance craze novelty tracks, the crooner gems, the occasional quasi-anthemic funk masterpiece, so that, nearly a half-century later, some punk-chump wanna-be soul guru like me could look back across his body of work and say, Hey, Don. Nice job, buddy. You did good.

1.”Money”– Perhaps the best opening to a song in history. Period.
2.”Rumble…”–ALI KUBA YAY!
3.”Headlines…”–Soulful blues… with KAZOO!
4.”Ugly Woman…”–Riotous second-line stomper.

Here’s to you Superdude. Cheers to the illustrious Mr. Covay! A working man’s hero. The man who, when he wasn’t trying in vain to become the star he was never quite born to be, wrote “Chain of Fools” and “Mercy, Mercy”. Here’s the guy who lent his gravelled tone to one of the greatest forces in Rock n’ Roll history…

Sure Mick Jagger was the star, but let’s call a spade a spade, shall we. Where would ol’ Mickey be without the one, the only, Don Covay?

Nina Simone: Baltimore
Taken from the album Baltimore on CTI (1975)

Nina Simone: Funkier Than A Mosquito’s Tweeter
Taken from the album Is It Finished on RCA (1974)

Lorez Alexandria: Baltimore Oriole
Taken from the album Jazzier Rhythms on Hubbub Records, originally released on Argo (1963)

Aside from Spank Rock and–well, maybe just Spank Rock–the ol’ B-more just doesn’t get too much love these days. Sure there’s the revitalized club scene; maybe the Cal Ripken crew is even vying for playoff seat this year. But the truth of the matter remains that Baltimore exists as a kind of mystical urban abberation on the map of great American cities. Kinda like Pittsburgh.

I find it pretty strange, then, that for a city with such a step-sisterly presence in the landscape of this country, such ill songs have been written for her.

Cue bubbling baseline. I remember exactly where I stood in the checkout line of the now defunct Aaron’s Records (R.I.P), when I heard it. And I thought, ‘Wow, this sure is a nice reggae tune…’ A few more bars rumbled on and then, like a asteroid to my aural cavity–BLAMMO! Nina!?!

Sure, the tune doesn’t exactly sing the praises of the Dirty B, per se (what with the junkies and prostitutes being the highlighted citezenry), and you’d be right to note the slightly cheesed-out string-heavy chorus as a detracting element, but I’ll be damned if the song as a whole doesn’t do justice to the land of the Oriole. And I’ll be damned if it doesn’t just beg for and succeed, I might add, in garnering Baltimore a little much-deserved recognition.

This post is for you Baltimore. You and your junkies and your prostitutes and, yes, your Orioles. Also this marks the first nod Queen Nina has received on the Crate. I think I can speak for both myself and the Cap’n when I say that Ms. Simone was one of the greatest… pretty much ever. Do your research you won’t be disappointed.

As for Lorez… bottom line this track dominates the universe. Also, I think you’ll note its sonic similarity to the “Mosquito’s Tweeter” track (another universe dominator), which I thought was nifty. You can find more info about this stunning jazz maven here.

Both of these divas passed away in the last few years, Lorez in 2001 and Nina in 2003. May their funky contributions live on!

For now, that’s all. Keep posted, friends. Peace.

Captain Planet & Murphy’s Law : The Funk Brothers Mix
(the link works now!)

Bad news: The summer ends. Adios to the concerts in the park, the beached out Sundays, all 31 of Baskin Robbins’ flavors.

Good news: Your favorite blog celebrates a lengthy hiatus and 99 epic, soulful, funky, beat-heavy, smooth-groovin’, mind-meltingly original posts with a impromptu sibling collabo mix. Murphy and the Captain working a broad pallet of delightful tunes into a thirty-two minute sampler. No crazy mixin’ here–just good music live and direct from the City of Angels…

It’s probably no substitute for the euphoric swell of ice cream on a summer day, but then, what is… We offer what we can–the Crate’s own specialty menu: 11 flavors of delectable listening.

Bayete Umbra Zindiko: Don’t Need Nobody
Fugi: Mary (Don’t Take Me On No Bad Trip)
James Brown Band: Just Enough Room For Storage
Marlena Shaw: Woman Of The Ghetto
Bobbi Humphrey: Jasper Country Man
The Sylvers: We Can Make It If We Try
The Temprees: People Make The World Go Round
Omar: Get To Know You Better
Raphael Cortijo y Su Bonche: Tiempo De Amor
Aloe Blacc: Patria Mia
Strange Fruit Project: Under Pressure