Sunday, May 9 2010

Breakbeat Tuesday – Sweet As Sugar

You  know, as I’ve said in the past (both on this site and to my family and friends in person,) I am a professional DJ – and if faced with the question as to having one’s vocation be the definition of the person, then I guess that would be where I would fit in. And, although we all know that there’s way too many shades of grey to fit people into that box of “what you do defines you” I have fully embraced what it is that I do, and have been grateful for the opportunity to do what is truly my passion for many years now. But, when I travel, for business or for pleasure, when it comes time to fill out a customs form, under “occupation” I write “DJ.”

Obviously the main aim of this site is to chronicle my thoughts and journeys as a DJ, with the ultimate goal being that those who come and visit this site to buying some music from me or finding out about a time that they can come out and see me perform live. But again this is where those shades of grey come into play. There’s a tremendous amount of research and studying that goes into learning about this music thing, and that’s great for me considering my love for old music and penchant for incorporating oldies and forgotten gems into my current sound and repertoire. This is great for me because I’m a bit of a history buff. Also, it’s in my nature to share and so if I unearth something that I think is cool then it’s a natural urge for me to spread that information around to those who I hope are in to this sort of thing. In addition to all this, I’ve been writing for a long time now and although that’s not really the medium that the muse directs me towards, writing is still pretty much second nature to me. Over the past several months of me working on keeping this site updated, after a long period of neglect, I have started to find my voice again. And it’s a wonderful thing when people come up to me and tell me that they “read my blog religiously” because there’s a sense of validation I get knowing I reach people outside of the music. I’m compelled to do this – I have no other choice.

This site has kind of taken on a life of its own. Sure there are lots of people who are more well suited for writing about the great archeological quest that is digging for records – “this thing of ours” as I like to call it. I think of Oliver Wang at Soul-Sides, I think of my man, the great Matthew Africa, a person whom I am eclipsed by his super-human knowledge of music. But this site is just me – it’s my voice, and a conduit for me to get what I want off my chest. With all that being the case, the past several weeks I’ve been talking with a friend of mine (a super well known DJ and Producer) and he’s convinced me to work on a greater project that will transcend this little hobby / blog of mine. It’s kind of a big endeavour but over the past week or so all the signs have pointed me in the direction of deciding that this has to be done. So with what started as Breakbeat Tuesday will hopefully transform into something greater. It’s going to take a while, a year easy, but I think it’s going to be worth it. Like I have said – I’m compelled to do this and I have no other choice. But enough of my ramblings, let’s get to the MUSIC…

I don’t know much about “Sugar” Billy Garner and I’ve tried to do as much research as I could, and thanks to my friend Larry Grogan who runs the Funky 16 Corners site I was able to figure out a few things. Garner (also known as Willie Garner among other things) was a Detroit based signer and songwriter who in the early and mid 70s released a few 45s as well as 1 LP (which became very popular years after the fact because one of the songs on it was covered by Joss Stone on her debut LP.) Most of his music was produced by Dave Hamilton who was the one-time guitarist and vibes player for The Funk Brothers, Motown Records in-house band. Garner faded into obscurity and by some accounts eventually made his way to Memphis, TN and became a brick layer. But in the cyclical nature of the way this thing works, his music was given second life through hip-hop. In 1992 the great DJ Premier gave a nod to Garner when he used (and masterfully flipped) Garner’s 1971 funk / breakbeat monster “I Got Some” for “B.Y.S.” off the “Daily Operation” LP.  The original song begins with an incredibly raw and powerful breakbeat and then launches into a heavy hammond and piano driven funk monster about Sugar Billy coming home and “gettin’ some” from his woman. And those piano hits were chopped to high heaven by Primo in an unconventional way for 1992, proving that Mister Works Of Mart was so far ahead of his time, and not for just the choice of the original sample source material alone.

Garner’s records are very hard to come by and especially the original “I Got Some” 45 on New Day records which I’ve seen go for up to $500 for a copy. For us record fiends though, that price might just be well worth it because it’s a monster… Breakbeat and all.

Sugar Billy Garner “I Got Some” (New Day, 1971)

The bonus beat goes to DJ Clinton Sparks for his decision to use the original “I Got Some” for Kanye West and Busta Rhymes to spit over for his “Touch The Sky” mixtape in 2006. Basically the same construction as B.Y.S. but with a little touch of the raw break and Garners impassioned vocals that come slipping through. And I can’t front, I love hearing MCs spitting over some “real schitt” sample-based bangers…

Clinton Sparks “Love 2 Hate feat. Kanye West & Busta Rhymes” (Mix Unit, 2006)