Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Bar-Kays - Knucklehead


How about a nice, funky instro for today's platter du jour? Just about everyone knows "Soul Finger", a great party disc and the flipside to today's selection. A huge hit in the summer of 1967, "Soul Finger" never fails to please, with it's twirly horn charts and some mean guitar playing. All the folks whooping it up and partying in the background set it off perfectly. Not much more needs to be said.

Then, there's "Knucklehead", yet another fantastic tune on the other side of the record. This one's a true instrumental and must have received a bit of airplay because it reached the lofty position of #100 on the Cashbox singles chart. It opens with a couple of pops on the snares that kick off a driving beat. Soon, a wailing harmonica joins in and we get some great, ringing guitar that gets plenty of lead time. All in all, the Bar-Kays whip up a tasty, upbeat, irresistible dance winner.

The Stax/Volt stable produced lots of terrific, essential records. Here's a nomination for one of the very best. Given its giant hit status, copies are plentiful and can be had for cheap. All the better, I always say.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Would love to listen to this, but there doesn't seem to be a link for this - or any other posts - am I missing something?

Todd Lucas said...

Nope, you're correct. Vinyl to digital technology alludes us still.

Jayster said...

Hi both,
Love this track, and am surprised that it almost never get aired, yet the flip-side, which is also fantastic, does the rounds like a two bit........ Hmm, better let you finish the analagy there!
Anyway - I've got a project on at the moment which you might be interested in - (You'll get one of the tracks without any effort!)
I haven't had chance to go through the whole BLOG yet, but it looks like Im going to have to - tons of great stuff by the looks of it!
Thanks

Todd Lucas said...

Thank you for the kind words, Jayster. Please let us know about your project.