Clifford Coulter – Yodelin’ In A Whatchamaname Thang
Clifford Coulter – Ridin’ On Empty
Clifford Coulter – Mr. Peabody/JVC
As with past years, I spent quite a bit of 2013 getting reacquainted with records that I used to own. I’m surprised that I hadn’t run into this Clifford Coulter record sooner, but I was more than happy to run into it at Atomic records a few months ago. “Do It Now” is part of a couple handfuls of seriously funky records on Impulse, which is best known as the house that Coltrane built, but by the 1970s had a very diverse roster.
Though I’m not certain, I’m pretty sure that Clifford Coulter came out of the Bay Area, aside from his debut being called “East Side San Jose” there’s just something greasy about the way he plays his funk that seems emblematic of that Bay Area sound. This album features one of my all-time favorite instrumentals, the absolutely atrociously titled, “Yodelin’ In A Whatchamaname Thang.” Part of my problem with the title is that while there is some wordless singing in the song, there isn’t any actual Yodeling. Additionally, the length and silliness in the title takes away from what is a really scintillating funky track. It’s not I can offer a better title, but damn near anything would be an improvement, even if it was just a description of what the song is, like “Breezy Funk.” The vibe of the song is certainly something that sticks in your mind and stays there for a long long time.
I’ve also included one of two full-on vocal performances from Coulter, “Ridin’ On Empty” as well as the party funk of “Mr. Peabody,” which in some ways I kind of wish didn’t have the chatter but kept the soul clap. Since “Peabody” and “JVC” run right together on the record and they’re both some dern funky, I didn’t see any reason to break-up a good thing. Not sure why it took me so long to dig this one up, I likely could have gotten a copy online any day of the week, but some records you only remember how much you loved them once you run into them again after being away for a long time.
Cheers,
Michael