texas toast

a little barrio soul for yo ass!!
sunny & the sunliners - get down (197?)


i came across this jimmy-jam on youtube (again in the mecca of musicland) and almost pissed my knickers. now this song is one of my favorite tracks by war from their "all day music" lp (1971). i dont know which came first the scrambled eggs or the fried chicken. war or sunny. buy what i do know is that war is one of my top 10 favorite bands; they represent the west coast and LA funk scene strong & HARD! but just as a chameleon changes its appearance, war changed its sound. from soul to tejano funk to the all-american chicano representatives. por la razza! in others words from black to brown. which i dont mind...you know im color blind since were all the same color in the dark. but they had lost their original audience so quickly that it became appalling how different they were which is suprising that they noticed a change...weedheads! but thats for another time. so now i have a brown to black sit-ch & it actually works!.... really well! i checked out a few of sunny's 1st albums & its the traditional texas tejano music...then all of a sudden here they go sounding like the opening act for fred wesley or the jb's. and just like war's fans, im sure sunnys people were shocked at the transition. but for me, i welcome it with open arms & dancing feet. the raspy crushed velvet voice of sunny keeps me lifted & groovin'. im not sure how much sunny & his sunliners explored the world of funk & soul, but i hope there is much more out there in cyber-funk space! checkout their history...who knew something good beside bbq tri-tip came out of texas?! well of course selenas...si mon!  and what the hell is a sunliner anyway?

sunny & the sunliners

get lifted

this is a dedication to all the cannaheads that truly understand the powers of the peace pipe, the flower of jah! we are about to embark on a monumental journey in the upcoming 2010 election. a YES on 19 will ensure the freedom of all who have struggled to fight this fight for decades!

smoke my piece pipe - the wild magnolias (1975)


crazy black indians! hey thats me you're talking about....sorry.

you need it...i got it

the four tops - baby, i need your lovin (1964)


the four tops vs. the temptations is like comparing your left breast to your right one. you might favor one over the other, but essentially they are a package deal so nevertheless you end up loving them both equally. dont get me wrong, i love love love me some temptations, mostly cause i know more about their personal history. but the four tops are like the uncles i actually have, but more talented! they are more manly in a way that sets them a part from the tempts. more gritty...rougher, you know, more stank! their love songs make me feel pretty in that threatening, gangster wife, aggressively hard way. its funny cause david ruffin, the lead singer from the tempts, sounds like he would have been the perfect fit for the tops. it was motowns way of trying to promote their clean soulful sound by competing with the likes of sam & dave and otis redding. the more artist they have, with the same flavor but different amounts of sugar, the larger the sales. motown was right and it worked out perfect for everyone; motown, the tempts, & the tops! praise berry gordy! love-joy

get in there baby

you know what?? i have no words...not today!

janis joplin - try (1969)

black man's burdon

eric burdon & war - tobacco road (1970)


i will say this everytime i present eric burdon & war "what a combo" & "probably the most under appreciated acts of the 70s." the gutter drunken melodic sounds of mr. burdon mixed with the soulful church rhythms of war, blend nicely for the "coolest bar mitzvah" sound ever. it is one of my favorite renditions of this song along with lou rawls' & jimi's version. i read somewhere that blues guitarist & legend, edgar winter, has a 17minute version of it...oh my, cant wait to dig into that one!

expiration date

betty everett - you're no good (1963)


now!! we have a classic case of "say what?" here's the short story: this song was originally cut by dee dee warwick (sister of dionne) in 1963 for lieber & stoller. these are the same devils that produced most of elvis' hits & got credit for creating songs like "houndog" & "kansas city" (dear black moses give me a break). so when "producers" from vee-jay records heard it, $$ cha-ching $$, and they picked it up (bought the rights) in hopes to be recorded by dee clark, another r&b singer who happened to be tall, strong, & a man. but as pre-recording rehearsal continued, the corporate heads felt that the song was too insensitive for its enormous female consumer clientele, especially coming from a masculine male figure. really? a man telling a woman that she's no good. yeah right brotherman, get the steppin...so they split that scene & handed it off to singer betty everett. til this day, it is obvious that anti-male songs have always been a top seller for pop music and betty did just that...she took the tune to the top 50 on the r&b charts. wow. what a year 1963 was for this little diddy. it moved around more than ice head! NOW! fast foward 11 years to 1974, and with more soul than ever, ladies....its my pleasure to bring to you:

linda ronstadt - you're no good (1974)

bet your ass

the jackson 5 - i'll bet you (1970)


creep creep creep...man did we sleep on this track or what? i know i did, but since i have columbus-ed this shit & psuedo discovered it, i havent stopped playing it. i keep forgetting that its the jacksons at some points & times, like when im grinding the chair im sitting in...good grief charlie brown. this song reminds me of the isaac hayes tracks where he is rappin his game to some fine philly thats besides him, not some snotty nosed teen idols. this is my get down, get down track. hello mr. nasty time! i wonder whose idea it was berry's or joseph's ....hmmmmm. love-joy.