Fat Tuesday: Drummer / Birther - Smokey Johnson

"A lot of those New Orleans drummers would come through, and I got a lot of stuff from those guys"- John "Jabo' Starks (Drummer-James Brown)

Some might say James Brown invented funk..some (including Earl Palmer himself) would say Earl Palmer was the man who brought the funk first, melding the New Orleans second line into pop tunes for Dave Bartholomew and Fats Domino. Still others look to cat who replaced Earl in Bartholomew's ensemble, Smokey Johnson, as the man who birthed funk. Fact is funk has always been with us, but Smokey might've found it first..(Earl King-Trick Bag '62).

Until recently, I thought it was the Meters Ziggy Modeliste who defined NOLA funk (and therefore funk in general), but a site called Home Of The Groove clued me into the fact that Ziggy (and Idris Muhammed, another funky drummer) were mentored by none other than Smokey Johnson. It's no surprise either, that many of Smokey's laid baid NOLA funk sides were produced by Wardell Quezerque (another highly underrated innovator in the soul funk field.)



Smokey was mostly a session cat, but below you'll find a few of his singles as a leader, including It Ain't My Fault from '64, a tune that might be the first funk tune on record and one that has become a Mardi Gras standard..Also see Funkie Moon for an example of where Ziggy Modeliste might have learned a few of his signature licks..
In the web link above there's a story about how Smokey and a bunch of NOLA cats went up to Motown to audition..they cut a bunch of demos, but it was Smokey who impressed the most and stayed on for two months of production line work in the snakepit. Earl King said," part of the reason why they got in the door was Motown's fascination with Smokey Johnson, who could do more on a trap set by himself than any two of the label's session drummers." I dunno if that's just legend, but if it isn't it makes a lot of sense. From the beginning of recorded music in the US innovation has always spread from NOLA north...

Smokey suffered a stroke in '93 so he no longer plays..he lost his home in Katrina and currently lives in Musicians' Village, a Habitat for Humanity project in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans.
Tuff City has reisuued Smokey's solo work originally recorded for the NOLA label in the 60's on a comp called It Ain't My Fault. Definitely worth a look.

It Ain't My Fault

 

Funkie Moon

Go get Smokey..

New Genre Bid-Afro Rock: Cymande

Luckily for digital and dusty vinyl crate diggers, the actual rock based (or rock-like) music that is/was made in Africa has become a bit of a cause célèbre on the re-issue circuit. Psych, groove, funk, and many other styles are appearing now on a regular basis. Blogs direct from Africa like Oro or  Brooklyn's always awesome, Awesome Tapes From Africa are just a few of the spots that continue to explore the staggering amount of music that was and is made in Africa. I mean we're talking about 20 or 30 different countries, all with a fully functioning record biz, major and indie. In case you haven't noticed, music has a little bit more cultural importance to folks in Africa. Oh sure, there are impressarios looking to make a buck, but that can't compare to 50,000 years of musical traditions....At any (rant) rate,the reissue explosion keeps groove hunters busy.

 Go get Afro Rock Vol.1

The 2002 comp just above is a definite winner for beat junkies,as it was one of the first all-African artist Afro- Rock comps aimed at English speakers. Those listeners may have had their appetite whetted for motherland funk by the 1999 offering below...which has a few African artists, but also includes the bands that make up the foundation of what I call Afro-Rock. Bands like the Lafayette Afro Rock Band and Oneness of Juju were a part of a brief outfreakage in the music biz, where large, mostly black (but not from Africa) ensembles were making music that was more Afro-centric than straight up African. The deep roots of the music might have been African, but this music was all about fusion.

 Go get Africafunk

Wil-Dog Abers of Ozomatli: "I first heard Cymande in 1992. Cut Chemist made me a mix tape...When I first heard Dove, I went nuts. I never heard anything like it before. Cymande mixed so many styles and sounds. They laid the path for bands like Ozomatli.."

Cymande-Cymande (1972)
Bra 

Rickshaw

Dove

  

Of all the bands that came out of the Afro Rock (basically the 70's) era, Cymande is far and away my favorite. Formed by West Indian immigrants in late 60's England, these expats incorporated funk, soul,  latin, rock,rasta philosophy, and loads of Nyabinghi percussion on the 3 records they made for Chess subsidiary Janus Records from 72-74.

Cymande-Second Time Around (1973)
Fug

Willie's Headache

  

They got enough traction in the US (Bra and The Message were charting singles) that they toured here with Mandrill (makes sense) and Al Green (not as sure about that pairing), as well as, making an appearance on Soul Train. (youtube did not come through for me)

After their 70's chart run these records lived on in clubs..especially Bra which is an often compiled club classic. All that percussion sounds mighty good on a big room sound system.Check the bonus beats for the classic Danny Krivit edit of Bra)

The hip hop generation has borrowed heavily from these records, with De la Soul, The Fugees, and many more finding great use for the luminous grooves contained herein.

Cymande-Promised Heights (1974)
Brothers On The Slide

Mighty Heavy Load

 

If you see the first record in a Salvation Army bin, don't hesitate, it is a classic from cover to cover..but any of their first 3 albums (a 1981 piece,Arrival, meant to cash in on their club cache is to be avoided) offer top shelf funk. Steve Scipio's basslines are worth just about any price..then there's some Santana-esque guitar, and then there's all those drums...mmmm good.

Go get Cymande-The Message (Their first 3 Lp's)- Part One    Part Two

 Cymande=Dove Of Peace

* Ray King - Vocals/Percussion
* Steve Scipio - Bass
* Derek Gibbs - Soprano/Alto
* Pablo Gonsales - Congas
* Joey Dee - Vocals/Percussion
* Peter Serreo - Tenor
* Sam Kelly - Drums
* Mike Rose - Alto/Flute/Bongos
* Patrick Patterson - Guitar
* Jimmy Lindsey - Vocals/ Percussion (Promised Heights LP)

 Bonus Beats

Danny Krivit Edit of Bra

The Fugee's sampling Dove for The Score

For completeness only, I'll include 1981's Arrival...beware..

Don't say I didn't warn you...Go get Arrival