Different Strokes For Funky Folks

Don Covay: Why Did You Put Your Shoes Under My Bed and Standing In The Grits Line
From: Different Strokes For Different Folks [Janus, 1970]

An undeniable fact of digging is that, through the process of collecting old records, most diggers develop special affections for a few seemingly random performers. Normally this isn't just down to the music itself (though it obviously plays a large part) but also down to factors such as "discovering" an artist for yourself and a feeling that you need to champion their forgotten contributions to the art.

One such artist for me is Don Covay who, while widely respected and acknowledged within the industry, I still treasure like a rare gem. The track which did it for me personally was when I first heard Covay's What's In The Headlines which I featured back on Evigan Funk around two a half years ago. I also gave a summary bio of the man's life then and, since I'm a far lazier poster these days, you can check the archive for that.

All this is a roundabout way of me returning to the album What's In The Headlines is taken from, Covay's 1970 release, Different Strokes for Different Folks. Contrary to what Headlines may have suggested, the album finds Covay in furiously upbeat mood, bringing a mixture of R&B and funk to an impressively solid collection of songs.

Why Did You Put Your Shoes Under My Bed is a blistering funky number full of high octane playing and anguished raw vocals from Covay. The sparse use of horns adds extra punch when it does come in and the play between Covay's main vocals and backing track all add to the pulsating rhythm.

Standing In The Grits Line is more laidback but no less funky featuring an irresistibly catchy guitar and horn riff from the Jefferson Lemon Blues Band that Covay exploits to it's fullest.

Unfortunately the album is still out of print (maybe there's some debating going on about whether to keep Covay's original, "unique" front cover - I mean, it hardly screams funky delights does it?) but you can actually compose your own complete version from the bonus tracks on the reissues of Funky Yo Yo and Super Dude. So there you go.