Booker T. & The MGs – Sun-king-mean-mr-mustard-polythene-pam-she-came-in-through-the-bathroom-window-i-want-you-shes-so-heavy

It’s hard to substitute anything for the Beatles’ distinctive vocals, but Booker T’s organ does a decent job filling in, and the arrangements, though straightforward renditions, bring out the soulful/bluesy side of the Beatles’ compositions.

Somewhat incongruously, I also have a take by Bola Sete, who tackles 2 bits of the medley in a twangy, funky,  vaguely psychedelic style.

Bola Sete – Polythene Pam/She Came In Through the Bathroom Window

From George Benson we have a very schmaltzy take on Here Comes the Sun that gives way to a groovy I Want You.

George Benson – Here Comes the Sun/I Want You She’s So Heavy

Lastly, Jackie Mittoo’s Wishbone, which, while not exactly a cover, certainly reveals a large shall we say “influence” from Abbey Road.

Jackie Mittoo – Wishbone

I try this myself sometimes as a creative exercise: take a chestnut that has been famously sampled to death, and find some new fragment of the song to bring forward and build a groove out of.

The Beatnuts are masters of this approach, of finding that brief interesting transitional moment, putting it under the microscope, and bringing it to life anew. My favorite example of this is their remix of Chi-Ali’s “Funky Lemonade”, which is not only one of my favorite hip hop tunes in the world, but is also somewhat rare, or at least used to be in the pre-sharity days when incredibly obscure treasures were not available on a daily basis. (Actually, in an earlier era of the internet offering unprecedented access to niche interests some years ago, I finally tracked down a promo-only 12″ from a record store in the Netherlands).

Chi-Ali – Funky Lemonade (Beatnuts Remix)

Chi-Ali’s story is depressing and I will not belabor it here, except to note for the uninitiated that he was a young member of the Native Tongues posse who showed great promise but ended up with a fate sadly all too common for African American males.

So about that sample. Once, on a road trip through the Southwestern USA, that organ stab jumped off a Grant Green tape (made for me by my buddy Punjab, source of all musics funky in my life at that point) and smacked me in the ears with its brilliant provenance. It is from the Alive album, which is absolutely essential and is hopefully already in a place of honor in every groove-lover’s collection. This album has been sampled heavily, with this specific track also used by the likes of A Tribe Called Quest and Cypress Hill. I eventually noticed that Pete Rock also used this sample around the same year so I don’t know who stole from whom. Anyway, there it is around the 37 second mark. The Beatnuts have pitched it up and bathed it in yummy scratches and a Guru sample and it is perfect.

Grant Green – Down Here On the Ground

Of course, this material is pretty well known (as it should be), so rather than rehash it here, I’ll dig a bit into the “crates” for some funky versions.

First up, representing Stevie Wonder, is the very groovy Weldon Irvine. This being 1976, it starts out kinda proto-discoish, but settles into a stepping funk groove with nice horn arrangements and vocals by Don Blackman.

Weldon Irvine – Don’t You Worry Bout A Thing

Lonnie Smith is just as groovy as many of his post-Jimmy Smith peers on the B3, but often more creative and daring. Here he reinvents Sly Stone’s classic “Stand” in a kozmik 17 minute epic jam from 1971, complete with dub effects and weird overdubbing. 

Lonnie Smith – Stand

Last, we have Frank Owens doing an instrumental version of “Freddy’s Dead” from 1973. I don’t know too much about this guy, though Dusty Groove notes that Bernard Purdie produced the session and plays on it. A pretty tame treatment of the tune, but with some nice rhodes soloing in place of Curtis Mayfield’s voice. I actually think you can judge it pretty well by the cover in this case.

Frank Owens – Freddy’s Dead