Breakbeat Tuesday – Straight From The Philly Vaults

Back in March when I spun at The Do Over in Miami I think the second or third record I played was one that a whole grip of people kind of flipped their wig about. It was an instrumental version of The Ambassador’s “Ain’t Got The Love (Of One Girl On My Mind)” which is probably best know to our generation as the basis of Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth’s “I Got A Love.” Yeah, Ambassadors is a hot record, and definitely a heavy piece, but c’mon son… the INSTRUMENTAL?

So about 10 years ago my man D*** B**** whom I had known for a minute from around the collectors circuit and just from being “dude” in Philly hit me up and was like “Yo Cosmo, you have to hear these Ambassadors instrumental acetates.” Of course I was like yeah fuck you son with them wolf tickets. But he kept on at it about them until I had to figure it out if he was bullshitting. Well, my man was not lying…

The Ambassadors was a sweet soul singing group from North Philly – and Philly was known for its sweet soul vocalist stylings at the time with groups like The Delfonics and the Stylistics. The Ambassadors were discovered by WDAS program director Jimmy Bishop who quickly signed them to his imprint Arctic Records. The Ambassadors released one LP, 1969’s “Soul Summit” and they had a minor hit with “I Really Love You.”

Here’s a picture of Jimmy Bishop (left) with Joe “Butterball” Tamburro (far right,) the man who succeeded him as program director at WDAS and is still there to this day, and whom is one of my favorite DJs of all time.

It wasn’t until 23 years later that the song “Ain’t Got The Love” really became such a sought-after piece. It’s an incredible song, actually written by another one of Bishop’s discovery’s – the incredible Barbara Mason – and produced by Bishop himself. Bishop produced a bunch of music at the time, including the very strange and psychedelic soul tune “Jason Pew Mosso” by The Interpretations.

So my man, the homeboy with the acetates, had this acetate which as an instrumental version of The Ambassadors “Ain’t Got The Love” but it wasn’t by them – it was by The Sam Reed Band. So it turned out that Sam Reed was a South Phillly based sax player who would session around town as well as being part of the house band at the world famous and legendary Uptown Theater on North Broad Street. Bishop put together a band under his and Sam Reed’s direction to do all the music for the Arctic releases. Now I guess that they thought that the instrumental versions wouldn’t fly as well as the ones with vocals. To me that’s surprising considering who they have playing on these tracks – guys like Vince Montana, Ronnie Baker, Norman Harris, Earl Young. You know, the guys who became MFSB and pretty much CREATED disco and are the living embodiment of The Philly Sound (and the SalSoul sound as well hahah…) Well anyway, even though that acetate is dumb-rare, the song was released on the “Mutha Funkin Sonofa Bitch (The Truth Behind The Philly Legend)” compilation in 2006. This one is by special request, so enjoy!

The Sam Reed Band “Ambassadors Theme” (Arctic acetate 1969? / Funkadelphia 2006)

BONUS BEATS: It’s been exactly 5 years since Katrina and seems like everyone forgot. I didn’t, nor will I ever. Hold your head, Nola. You’re stronger than you think, and more inspirational than you know. Here’s a nugget from there, just one of many that magical place has given the world. And just in case you forgot, George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.

Eddie Bo & The Soul Finders “We’re Doing It (Thang) Pt. 2” (Bo-Sound, 1970)

Red Fridays At U Hall – Washington, DC 08/06/10

Red Fridays

Friday, August 6th, 2010
Red Fridays

Featuring special guests
Sam “The Man” Burns
& Cosmo Baker
@ U Street Music Hall – 1115 U Street NW – Washington, DC

Sixpacks, Shotguns & Serato Finale with Gucci Mane

So yesterday marked the official end of the Sixpacks, Shotguns & Serato tour! Big thanks to my brothers and partners DJ Ayres, Smalltown Pete & Smalltown Mike for the adventures and the memories. It was a smashing success and wouldn’t have been if we all weren’t such dudes. Also thanks to Miche, Kenny Mac, Jo Magik, our friends at Scion and at Red Bull, Calgary, Banff, Saskatoon, Red Deer, Fernie, Winnipeg, Toronto and Brooklyn for showing love. We documented the whole tour fully so stay tuned for the full video coming soon.

For the last stop of the tour we  came to Brooklyn to participate in the very last Jelly NYC Pool Party. It was an amazing time and big shout to Sarah and Alex. Also thanks to Brooklyn for coming out and riding with us without any idea who the special guests were going to be. They ended up being Gucci Mane, DMC, Doug E. Fresh, Cool Kids and Chuck Schumer. Not bad for a lazy Sunday afternoon…

Chucky S Laying the hammer down. (Courtesy of Nicky Digital)

Crowd is really feeling Chuck. (Courtesy of Nicky Digital)

Ladies getting hype for Chuck. (Courtesy of Nicky Digital)

Or maybe this guy… (Courtesy of Nicky Digital)

Actually no bullshit Big Freedia stole the whole show! (Courtesy of Nicky Digital)

DMC showed the crowd he’s still the King Of Rock. (courtesy Brooklyn Vegan)

He brought Andrew WK out to do “It’s Tricky” and “Walk This Way.” (courtesy Brooklyn Vegan)

Then Doug E. Fresh came out unannounced and showed why he’s the “Worlds Greatest Entertainer.” (courtesy Brooklyn Vegan)

Then it was Gucci Time… (courtesy Brooklyn Vegan)

Me, Ayres & Jane on stage while DMC rocks.

Me, Smalltown Pete, Ayres & Smalltown Mike – A GREAT SUCCESS!

Thanks to my friends at Brooklyn Vegan and also my man Nicky Digital for some great shots and footage (including this exclusive video of DMC, Andrew WK and Les Savy Fav‘s Tim Harrington performing “Walk This Way.”

Turntable Lab Secret Hangout Volume 2 – Free EP Download

Big shout to my Turntable Lab family for the release of the new FREE EP, Secret Hangout Volume 2.  This is a free compilation with joints by me and DJ Ayres along with our friends Thee Mike B, Blu Jemz, Michna and more. All the music is really good and fun, and my contribution is the Doobie Brothers edit that I did a couple of years ago that people were sweating. So now it’s time to grip it – on that other level.

Now this is slightly involved so pay attention. Here’s the directions on how to get it:
1) Go here http://digital.turntablelab.com and log in (or create an account if you don’t have one already).
2) Go to cart, click redeem promo code and enter “newfriend”
3) Checkout and voila! no purchase necessary!

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