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Things have been moving ahead at full steam around here at Secret Stash. We have so many projects in the works and shows coming up that we are shaking with anticipation to even just tell you about them. Let’s just get started then as this week will in many ways spark the explosion of sweet funkiness that will be bound to tire all y’all out by Summer’s end around here.

This Wednesday we’ll be returning once again to the Icehouse with another new band we’ve recently assembled to kick off the season for Secret Stash Records Presents: Sonny Knight and the Lakers.

Sonny Knight has a long history as a singer in the Twin Cities. Sonny cut his first 45′, “Tears on My Pillow” b/w “My Darling” as Little Sonny Knight and the Cymbals in 1965. His youthful energy and dynamic voice come across wonderously on the swinging track of vintage vocal soul that Sonny recorded when he was just 15 years old. Similarily, the flip side slows things down allowing Sonny to lead his band with a soft soulful ballad that no doubt made the audience swoon. Eventually Sonny would be a part of several other groups in the 60’s and the 70’s Twin Cities cult favorite funk band, Haze.

Last year when it came time to put our Twin Cities Funk & Soul revue band together for the release of that compilation we became good friends and really close to Sonny Knight as he was enlisted to be a part of the reformed Valdons. With his vocal chops stronger than ever he’s been a key part of the group and helped bridge the 60’s soul spirit with 70’s funkiness singing on several other songs from the era including crowd favorites originally done by Prophets of Peace.

We’ve been long wanting to showcase Sonny’s energy and talents on his own and so it was with great inspiration that we’ve put together a band to back him up and allow for him to dominate the stage. Things really came together after the Secret Stash Soul Revue were invited to record a song, “Sorry” for the Beck “Song Reader” project where Sonny applied his signature voice to some new music for the first time.

Eventually it became necessary to assemble a group of budding talents to surround Sonny’s own unique abilities and bridge the past and present generations to resurrect those early songs but to create new grooves and melodies in what has turned out to be an inspiring combination that we can’t be more eager to share.

Thus it is with great pleasure we are able to introduce for the first time to the stage, Sonny Knight and the Lakers This Wednesday night, April 3rd at the Icehouse in Minneapolis.

As rehearsals have indicated it will be an amazing debut and particularly historic night not only for Secret Stash, but in Twin Cities music as well.

Our intern Joe McKenzie checks in with some cool history of the song “I (Who Have Nothing)”.

Recently we received a phone call from a friend saying they heard an American Idol performance that totally reminded them of us. As it turns out, Candice Glover had just performed “I (Who Have Nothing),” a song The Valdons have been performing around town with the Secret Stash Soul Revue. This is one of those songs that has been done a million times. We thought it’d be fun to share a little info about the history of this timeless tune.

“I (Who Have Nothing)” began life as “Uno Dei Tanti,” an Italian saying which means roughly “One of many.” This version was released by the Italian singer Joe Sentieri in 1961. In 1963 the songwriting duo of Leiber & Stoller wrote new lyrics over the original music, which became the song “I (Who Have Nothing)”. This updated version was sung by Ben E. King, which became a top 40 hit in 1963.

Tom Jones scored a top 20 hit with the song in 1970. This version features lush strings, reverb-drenched guitar, and the signature vocal acrobatics of the Welsh wonder himself.

Gladys Knight did her own version in 1979. Knight adds real bite to the delivery, along with the addition of prominent background vocals and a flute that has 70s written all over it.

The song has also been performed twice on American Idol, once by Jordin Sparks in 2007 and again by Candice Glover this year. Sparks stays mostly true to the Ben E. King original, with a few modern R&B updates from Glover.

 

The song was also heavily sampled by Jedi Mind Tricks, with added drums and new verses.

Hometown heroes The Valdons cut a killer version in ’71. They bring tangible energy to the song, adding a new intro, powerful organ and auxiliary percussion.

Finally, here are the Valdons performing the song with the Secret Stash Soul Revue to a sold out First Avenue at the Current’s 8th Birthday Party, January 2013.

 

We had a great time bringing the Twin Cities Funk & Soul All-Stars back to the stage this past week at First Avenue for 89.3 The Current’s 8th Birthday bash. With our own “Fancy Ray” McCloney as MC the boys really got the crowd moving and grooving with a scorching set of vintage Funk and Soul. To put a cherry on top, we were lucky enough to be joined by surprise guest, Nick “The Feelin’” Mrozinski who fronted the band for Al Green’s classic “I’m So Tired of Being Alone”. Not only did he make the crowd swoon but he turned out being as cool and sweet in person as he is on The Voice.
This week we are quite proud to be featured on the Youtube produced web show American Hipster. The program goes from city to city featuring arts, music, food and culture from each town. Having stopped through Minneapolis this past Fall we were lucky enough to be captured along with other noteworthy Minneapolis scene shakers including artists Broken Crow, Travail Restaurant and the “Vote No” movement. We were lucky the crew was so cool and in tune with what we do as we think they did a great job showing the inner workings and true spirit of our little operation here in Uptown. They even managed to include a cool shot of one of the Galactic Pizza heroes!!

Check it out!

 

Wow! We had an amazing year in 2012 and things are only going to get even more funky in 2013. We are so excited about the avalanche of killing records we plan on unleashing to world this year we can barely contain ourselves.

It’s going to get so funky up in here we’ve had a tough time keeping this one under our hats for a while now..We were so happy to announce this morning with Jill and Steve at 89.3 The Current the return of the Twin Cities Funk & Soul All-Stars to the stage for the radio station’s upcoming 8th birthday throw down at First Avenue later this month!!

Tickets on sale Friday..and once their gone, their gone!!

We kicked off our series at Icehouse last month with our very own Afro-Peruvian band, Peña.

This month Secret Stash Records and KFAI Radio are proud to present  THE DÉROBÉ DANCE BAND!

The Dérobé Dance Band is a Minneapolis based group that plays West Africa music of the 1970s. Started by Secret Stash Records co-founders Eric Foss and Cory Wong, the catalyst for their founding was Secret Stash’s ongoing series of Ghanaian and Nigerian album reissues. During the reissue process they have spent hundreds of hours listening to and researching Afrobeat, Afro funk, and Highlife. Motivated by the music that has consumed their lives, Foss (drums) and Wong (guitar) called on a host of local Latin, Jazz, and R&B musicians to assemble their own West African dance band. Inspired by the works of K Frimpong, Peter King, Dr. K. Gyasi, Ebo Taylor, Fela Kuti, and many others, The Dérobé Dance Band delivers a heavy danceable mix of funk, rock, and African rhythms. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see live West African music in the Twin Cities.

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Heads Up! Secret Stash is proud to help present the magnificent “Soul Queen of New Orleans” Ms. Irma Thomas this Thursday night at the Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant where she will be performing two sets. We have pairs of tickets to giveaway to Ms. Thomas’ 9pm set. Check out our facebook page for more info!