I don’t know where I was in 1974… I mean, I do, but I was listening to Bowie and T.Rex, Slade and The Sweet. So I had never encountered William DeVaughn. (more…)

Going back to New Orleans, and back to the Neville Brothers, here is Aaron’s brother Art, teaming up with Allen Toussaint.
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I would be being unfair to myself – and Dolly – if I failed to include her greatest song, yet I had somehow neglected it until now. So here it is.
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I’ll make no apology for staying in New Orleans – or for posting another song by Aaron Neville, this time from 1973. (more…)

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Walter “Wolfman” Washington plays the blues in that unique New Orleans style, blending funk, soul and jazz in that steamy brew synonymous with the Crescent City. (more…)

When it comes to Marvin Gaye, I have to confess that if I had to choose, I’m more of a What’s Going On guy than a Let’s Get It on guy. I’ll take social realism over romance and seduction every time. (more…)

The cowbell is not an instrument you naturally associate with funk. And cowbell solos are as rare as hens’ teeth… unless you’re listening to this smooth groove by British funksters Cymande. (more…)

James Brown invented funk in 1965 with Papa Got A Brand New Bag, a song he memorably described thus: “The title told it all – I have a new bag.” (more…)