Sabater and Cuba were, for the most part, inseparable from one another. It’s impossible to consider the accomplishments of one without crediting the other (ironically though, an issue of “credit” is what ultimately soured their friendship and partnership).

When the Sextet broke out in the mid-1960s, Sabater’s voice was practically the platonic ideal for English-language vocalists in the boogaloo era and Sabater was a key bridge figure. You can hear, in his tones, the influence from doo-wop and Sinatra-style crooners but Sabater began to insert more of an R&B feel into it, helping pave the way for someone like Ralfi Pagan. Here’s the original version of what would become Sabater’s signature hit:

Joe Cuba Sextette: To Be With You
From Steppin’ Out (Seeco, 1963)

Sabater’s biggest hit was undoubtedly “Bang Bang,” a song that many associate with the birth of boogaloo; it wasn’t “the first” but it was likely the first major hit, helping spread the boogaloo gospel. Unlike “To Be With You,” which was written by Willie Torres, “Bang Bang” was Sabater’s own concoction, influenced by the Black and Latino dancers who’d come to the Sextet’s shows. Cuba would later claim to be a co-writer, thus dipping into half the publishing revenue, a move that would ultimately help destroy him and Sabater’s relationship. That unfortunate dynamic aside thought, “Bang Bang” remains one of the great Latin songs of all time:

Joe Cuba Sexet: Bang Bang
From Bang! Bang! Push! Push! Push! (Tico, 1966)

Sabater also penned this sleeper hit from the next Sextet album, My Man Speedy:

Joe Cuba Sextet: Gimme Some Love
From My Man Speedy (Tico, 1968)

By 1969, Jimmy Sabater left the Sextet and as his new LP title simply stated, he was now Solo. That album yielded what is probably my favorite song by him: “Times Are Changin” (written by boogaloo’s other great, undersung talent, Louis Ramirez).

Jimmy Sabater: Times Are Changin
From Solo (Tico, 1969)

1970′s El Hijo De Teresa/Teresa’s Son found him moving further into funk and salsa, including this multi-genre scorcher:

Jimmy Sabaer: Yroco
From El Hijo De Teresa/Teresa’s Son (Tico, 1970)

Sabater even held it down in the disco era, when he re-released “To Be With You” with an updated feel (courtesy producer Bobby Marin).

Jimmy Sabater: To Be With You (disco version)
From To Be With You (Salsa, 1976)

Even by 1980, at a time when many of his contemporaries from the 1960s were out the game, Sabater was still recording, this time with Fania for the LP Gusto, which yielded this very cool Heatwave cover:

Jimmy Sabater: Mind Blowing Decision
From Gusto (Fania, 1980)

Thanks for the memories, Jimmy.

Polyrhythmatic (1998). Hip-hop, indie-heavy. Probably my favorite hip-hop mix from that era…I just had great songs to use and I spent the most time on (basic) scratching and other segue tricks.

Double Flip (1999/2000). This was a “double album” – two cassettes – and a strong balance between East and West Coast indie titles from that era. I especially had fun creating four different intros, for each cassette side.

Soul Symphony (mid/late ’90s). My first non-hip-hop mix-CD. All soul and jazz samples inspired by Solesides releases.

Beginning in 2010, DJ Chris Read, in collaboration with Nick Armitage, began to put together a monthly party/mix series called “Classic Material.” ¹ The basic concept was that each month, they’d put together a party and a mix celebrating a year in the life of hip-hop music, finishing in 2000. For 14 months, this was one of the things I looked forward to since Read brought great creativity and song selection to each of these mixes. To top it all off, they created special boxsets, including a custom-designed logo, riffing off of hip-hop labels. ²

This month marks the end of the journey, with a special photography exhibit in effect in London. Chris and I spoke over Skype to discuss the birth of the project, how it evolved, and what some of his favorite years in rap music were.

Portions of the Classic Material mixes used in the podcast were from the following years:

• 1988

• 1990
• 1997
• 1996
• 1994
• 1993

RIP, Don Cornelius.

Read.

Listen.

Watch.

It’s been a minute since the last Sidebar podcast but I figured I could make things up to y’all by busting out an interview with Syl Johnson, the legendary R&B/funk musician/singer out of Chicago. Syl’s going to be playing in Los Angeles, with Breakestra no less, on February 11th and I am hella excited to see how they’ll team up.

Syl’s been riding a wave of re-discovery every since his Complete Mythology anthology dropped on Numero Group back in 2010.¹ We talked about how busy he’s been, especially in working with a new generation of young singers, but the podcast is mostly devoted to going through the history of his songs, including getting a back story to “Different Strokes” that I had never heard before. I wouldn’t say it’s NSFW…but it’s definitely adult material!

All that plus you get to hear Syl doing his best Ol Dirty Bastard impersonation. Hot damn!

Music used in the podcast (all available on The Complete Mythology unless *otherwise indicated*)

• Sockin’ Soul Power

• *Mellow-D: Love Makes a Woman
• *Vicci Martinez: Anyway the Wind Blows
• *Syleena Johnson: Is It Because I’m Black?
• Teardrops
• I Resign From Your Love
• Come On, Sock It To Me
• Different Strokes
• *Kanye West and Jay-Z: The Joy
• Dresses Too Short
• Is It Because I’m Black?
• Concrete Reservation
• *Syl Johnson: Bout To Make Me Leave My Home (on The Complete Syl Johnson on Hi Records)
• *Boogie Down Productions: Criminal Minded
• *Wu-Tang Clan: Shame on a Nuh
• Try Me

So for this appreciation, I’m not going to try to pull off some “Etta James’s most important songs” post because I simply can’t claim to know this. I can, however, offer up some of her songs that I discovered over the years that I’ve enjoyed. Hope you will too.

Etta James: Leave Your Hat On
From Etta James (Cadet, 1973)

This was the first EJ recording I ever bought, mostly because 1) I thought the cover looked cool and 2) it sounded funky.² Even then, I knew this was a bit of a departure for James in terms of her most classic Chess sides from a decade earlier but she sounded pretty good (I mean, it’s Etta James) and the L.A.-based band she rocked out with held it down pretty well too. This LP used to be a super-easy find (presumably since “At Last” fans couldn’t hang with it); definitely worth copping on the cheap.

Etta James: I’d Rather Go Blind + I Got You Babe
From Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions (Cadet, 1968)

“I’d Rather Go Blind” was one of two songs included on the infamous Soul Sides Black Label collection but it wasn’t to many years later that I realized she had recorded this song with the Muscle Shoals band. Funny enough, I was watching the pilot episode to the new HBO series, Luck and this song came out of nowhere during a scene. Seemed apropos.

James’s cover of “I Got You Babe” might as well make you forget that it’s a Sonny and Cher tune; the band is murdering it on the rhythm track and though James sounds mixed a bit low, she still sizzles.

Etta James: Stormy Weather
From At Last! (Chess, 1960)

My interest in the At Last! album wasn’t from the title song, it was actually from hearing her rendition of “Sunday Kind of Love” on…um…a Dockers ad. ³ And in finally listening to her most classic longplay, I discovered this absolute lovely version of “Stormy Weather.” I’m sure it’ll be in some khakis ad in the future.

Sugar Pie Desanto and Etta James: Down In the Basement Pt. 1
From 7″ (Cadet, 1966). Also on Go Go Power.

I heard this at Funky Sole when Miles threw it down and had no idea that Sugar Pie Desanto and James had ever collaborated. Love this squawking kind of R&B cooker.

“The above song is dedicated to the city and people of San Francisco” (decked out in red and gold…and not just for the Year of the Dragon).

Again, sorry that the site looks like a death roll right now but as I’ve said before, this is going to happen more and more amongst our soul heros.

Rest in peace, Etta.

If you ever wanted to understand just what made him so remarkable, here’s as good a place to start.

Once I come up for air from all this work, I’ll try to say more.

(In better news, just recorded Sidebar #21 w/ Syl Johnson. At least some of our legends are still with us).

I’m going to try to get a better post up soon but I did want to say that one of the things I liked about Castor is that he was one of the young Black musicians from uptown who go fascinated with Latin boogaloo and ended up recording a few of them on his debut album in 1967, including this cover of Joe Cuba’s “Bang Bang”: