Tamiko Jones – Ya Ya from the A&M 45

Here we are on Friday again, and the Flea Market schedule has been hectic once again. I’ll be spinning tonight at the Asbury Lanes, opening up for Dub Trio , and tomorrow night at the Brickwall here in Asbury Park. Just a little Deep Funk, Soul, Reggae, plus some Classic Hip hop to keep your weekend flowing nicely. I doubt I’ll get any digging done, but who knows, maybe the weather will hold out a bit, who knows? What I have here today is a treat I picked up from The Old Man sometime ago. It’s from an unlikely artist. I knew that she had a few bangers, but this record was a bit of a surprise to me. Here’s Tamiko Jones and “Ya Ya” on A&M Records from 1968.

Born Barbara Tamiko Ferguson in Kyle, West Virginia in 1945, she started out her singing career in Jazz during the early 1960’s. She started out on the Checker label in 1963 with the side “Is It A Sin”, but soon moved to the ATCO label, Golden World, and then Atlantic. She would team up with Herbie Mann (who is one funky mother!) for “A Mann and A Woman” Lp. Recorded in Rio DiJanaro, Brazil and it featured Willie Tee and Bernard Purdie among others. The full length I’ll Do Anything For You was recorded at Sam Phillips recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee in June of 1968 on Creed Taylor’s A&M imprint CTI, which included this side. (Produced by Creed Taylor). There was an alternate version of the Ya Ya recorded about a week later. Jones would bounce around from label to label; December, 20th Century, Arista, Contempo, TK Disco, and featured Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye covers, plus a super slick version of Johnny Bristol’s “Touch Me Baby”.

This side is a nice little slice of Funk. With a definite Memphis influence, this twangy version of Ya Ya moves along nicely. Some decent guitar riffs provided by Bill Fontaine and Carl Lynch, great bass work by Chuck Rainey, and a Warren Smith’s back beat, this track has it all. Thrown in are great horn section and an even better big band section that make this Funk festival unstoppable. You may be familiar with other versions, done by Lee Dorsey or Rufus Thomas, but don’t count this one out. It’s a stone killer baby. I’ll be back next week with some more treats. Keep Diggin’!