We're Doin' It: A Collaboration With The World Renowned Mr. Double Down

How we doin', soul kids? Many apologies for my (un)intended hiatus. I had my PC serviced and upgraded, mainly so I'd have the capacity to store another zillion albums or so on my hard drive. I know...ridiculous.

At any rate, I'm kicking off my resurgence with a guest feature by the almighty Mr. Double Down from The Hook And Sling. I first encountered this site a few months ago, and I've literally been hooked ever since (no puns). Listening to the mixes and podcasts over there has become one of the many highlights of my week.

I have much respect for Mr. Double Down because he meets 3 very important criteria: 1) He's knowledgeable, yet humble; 2) He's got some truly amazing records in his crates that I've never heard before; and 3) He's a master in the fine art of mixology. I'm sure that many of you will have an appreciation for these qualities as well...he's the man.

You can start listening to his FANTASTIC guest mix in the player below (the first track is my new favorite song), but there are further download options and some extras towards the end of the post.

Be easy, children...Scholar




My name is Mr Double Down and along with The Popcorn King and Hoppin’ John we run The Hook And Sling, a monthly funk and soul night in central London, as well as the same titled Podcast and Blog over on Podbean.com.

Souled On Music is one of a small handful of Blogs that I always look forward to reading a new post from. So when Scholar asked if I’d contribute to these great pages here I was to say the least extremely flattered. Today’s offering is a mix direct from my 45 collection and is a combination of new finds and old favourites. I’d like to take this opportunity to give you an idea of the cuts we play at our night and also include on our own Blog. Hopefully if you enjoy them you’ll come and see us at The Hook and Sling.


We kick things off with The Inner Drive and "Party Man". This is a new acquisition and is a 45 that seems to evolve as it plays out. Released in 1974, it starts off as a nice laid back slice of synth laden stoner funk and finishes up as a fantastic chugging funk jam. Great stuff!!


Next up is The Oceanliners and their Miami funk monster "Funky Pants". This is a great re-issue from Tramp records, the original being released on the highly collectable Blue Candle label. The core of the band contains members who toured with Betty Wright and eventually went on to form K.C and the Sunshine Band. This is deep funk at its best and always goes down a storm with the dancers at our monthly night.


Sticking to the gritty funk theme is ‘Go For Yourself’ by The Soul Toranodoes. Released in 1969 on Ernest Burt’s self titled label, it’s led by the chicken scratch guitar and Bobby Heller’s Hammond organ. This is a bit of a raggedy copy but it’s what’s in the grooves that count. Interestingly the band were accused by James Brown of this cut being a rip off of his own "Cold Sweat" single. Check out their other releases on Burt’s other label Magic City.


The next two 45s are from the Boogaloo mould. Roy Lee Johnson’s "Boogaloo #3" does the business every time, big drums and full horns make this a must own. Johnson was primarily a Blues and Southern soul artist from Georgia and had some what of a chequered career. This was a big Keb Darge spin at his ‘Legendary Deep Funk’ night in Soho. Check out the stuttering saxophone towards the end – KILLER!


A.C. Reed's "Boogaloo-Tramp" doesn’t take any prisoners from the get go. Reed was a highly accomplished Tenor Saxophone player and songwriter from Missouri. The tracks massive drums and knock out guitar lick make this another Hook And Sling favourite.


King Curtis and The Noble Knights came from a recent digging session at a record fair I regularly frequent. "Twisting Time" falls in with the Twist dance craze of the 60’s and is a nice little laid back groover. This is the flipside to "Soul Twist", his 1962 number one R&B hit.




I bought the Joe Loss Orchestra’s "Twisting Party" E.P. as its picture cover was so striking. Buried in the middle of the flipside was "Hip Slinger". Joe Loss hailed from good old London town and led one of the most successful Big band acts of the 1940’s. The whole of this 7” E.P. cashes in on the Twist dance craze, which was huge at the time.


Alvin Cash is another Hook and Sling favourite and I have featured many of his cuts in mixes and articles over on our site. This alternative version of his first million selling 45 "Twine Time" is a later recording from XL Records. It’s highly sought after, with the copies that can be found changing hands for three figures (this one I can assure you is going nowhere!). It’s more down tempo than the original on Mar-V-Lus Records, but with its choppy guitar lick is still a great dancer none the less.


We head into the soulful finish with Young-Holt Unlimited and the Brunswick release "Soulful Strut". It was previously an instrumental backing track for Barbara Acklin, very "Tighten Up"-esque with punchy horns, rolling piano and fat back drums. This earnt the group a number 3 hit in 1968.


I had to slip some Northern soul somewhere into this mix and The Show Stoppers track "Eeny Meeny" ticks all the boxes. The group was formed by two of Solomon Burke’s younger brothers, obviously hungry for the success their older brother was enjoying at the time. This builds and builds and will no doubt leave the infectious chorus stuck in your head!!


We finish off with Wizdom’s Kay-Dee re-edit by George ‘Chocolate’ Perry. "I’m So In Love With You" is the most modern track featured on this mix, but plays out the soulful finish here perfectly.

Mr. Double Down Presents We're Doin' It: A Guest Mix For Souled On Music (Download via divShare)

Mr. Double Down Presents We're Doin' It: A Guest Mix For Souled On Music (download via savefile)

Track List

Intro
Inner Drive – Party Man – Zodiac Records
Oceanliners – Funky Pants – Blue Tramp
The Soul Toranodoes – Go For Yourself – Burt
Roy Lee Johnson And His Band – Boogaloo #3 – Josie
A.C. Reed – Boogaloo Tramp – Nike
King Curtis And His Noble Knights – Twisting Time – Enjoy Records
Joe Loss And His Orchestra – Hip Slinger – His Masters Voice
Alvin Cash – Twine Time – XL Records
Young-Holt Unlimited – Soulful Strut – Brunswick
The Show Stoppers – Eeny Meeny – M-G-M
Wizdom – I’m So In Love With You – Kay-Dee Records
Outro


Fundamental Supplementalz:


"Bar-B-Q"---Wendy Rene (divShare)

"Bar-B-Q"---Wendy Rene (savefile)

"Bar-B-Q" comes from the crates of my fellow Hook And Slinger, The Popcorn King (a self professed Stax fanatic). Wendy Rene was just a young teenager when she joined the Stax revue and released this in 1964. This never fails to get people up on the floor moving and always lifts the mood at our night.

"After The Laughter"---Wendy Rene (divShare)

"After The Laughter"---Wendy Rene (savefile)

Dig deeper....Wendy Rene

I know that there are a lot of Hip Hop fans here at Souled On, so I also wanted to share this with you. "After The Laughter" is a great angsty ballad and really shows how mature Wendy’s voice was despite her age. It may be familiar as the hook and opening vocals were used on The Wu-Tang Clan's "Tearz" from Enter The Wu-Tang - 36 Chambers. Not the most obscure Hip Hop cut for you, but a classic one to say the least.

The Wu performing "Tearz" live:


Finally, I want to firstly thank Scholar for allowing me the privilege of sharing my 45’s on today’s guest post. And secondly I’d like to thank all the Souled On readers and listeners for taking the time to check out my ramblings!!

I hope you enjoyed listening to this as much as I did putting it together!

Mr Double Down
The Hook And Sling

Word From The Hook And Sling's Mums:

"There is no such word as can’t."---Grandma Double Down