Groove o' the day: Greg Errico - If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up

By request here's a groove by played by Greg Errico on If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up by Betty Davis (née Mabry) on her self-titled album. Which was also produced by Greg Errico. It's one of the funkier things ever. 

This is the first four measures of the track— by the third measure he settles on the main groove he'll be repeating throughout this section of the song. 

People try to groove like this by hitting the drums harder, and it doesn't work, it just sounds harsh. He's not playing loud, but he's getting a deep sound, a great sound out of the snare drum. 

Hihats are played all with the right hand, accenting on the 8th notes. There's some interesting texture happening on the snare drum with the ghost notes, including a 32nd note triplet at the end of the measure. 

On the recording you can hear what sounds like concert toms occasionally— they conflict with the ghost notes on the snare drum, so they're either played by somebody else, or they're overdubbed, or another instrument is doing something that reads like concert toms to my ear. I wrote that out so you can emulate that if you want.  

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Groove o' the day: Betty Davis - Shut Off The Light

Fairly funky thing here... fairly compared to nuclear war, maybe... the opening groove from Shut Off The Light from Betty Davis's Nasty Gal album. Drums are variously credited as being Nicky Neal, Semmie Neal Jr., and Buddy Williams on bass drum— sounds like there was an overdub in there later in the tune. We already have a transcription of the title track from this album credited to Semmie Neal, so we'll stay with that here too.

The cue in the pickup measure is keyboards, and drums are in on the & of 1 of the first full measure. There are no tom toms or cymbals other than hihats anywhere on the track.

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Funk practice loop: Betty Davis - If I'm In Luck...

My apologies for the lack of posts lately— I've been very busy with gigs, and with work on my house. Mainly installing a patio in my back yard, which involves digging up and moving out God knows how many thousands of pounds of dirt and moving in an equal amount of gravel, sand, and pavers. It can kick your ass. But here's a new funk loop I've been enjoying working with. It's sampled from Betty Davis's If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up, from her first solo album. Tempo good for any of your more demanding or dense funk practice materials, quarter note = 64 bpm. I'm using it to run the harmonic coordination section of Dahlgren & Fine— it almost sounds grooving when you play it with this loop.

Now, if I were you, I'd get one of those YouTube mp3 ripping web browser extensions, download this sucker, and put it on your mp3 player. Set it to repeat and it loops seamlessly forever. 

Video of the complete track is after the break. Greg Errico is on drums. 

Transcription: Greg Errico — Anti Love Song

I could've handled this one as a groove o' the day, probably, since the variations over the course of the piece are fairly minor, but I felt like writing out the whole thing, and didn't want to miss any of the fills. The tune is Anti Love Song, by the outrageous Betty Davis (née Mabry), with drumming by Greg Errico, best known for his work with Sly & The Family Stone. His playing here is just what funk is to me:

The 16th notes are swung slightly. There is some very faint ghosting on the snare drum and hihat at various points in the song, which I didn't write out— there's not enough audio information to be meaningful, and it's not especially important. We can assume that some of things he plays as the grooves get busier may be happening inaudibly earlier on. Also see my transcription of Nasty Gal for more Betty Davis, and more of this type of hardcore 70's funk.

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Transcription/GOTD: Betty Davis — Nasty Gal

H/t to my brother on this one— he played me this record. This is from the title track of Betty Davis's album Nasty Gal. Davis (*née Mabry) was married to Miles Davis in the late 60's, when she influenced him to revamp his music and image, before going on to make a few records of some of the most outrageous funk ever. Drums are by Semmie “Nicky” Neal, Jr., who I've not heard of otherwise. I've written out the opening of the tune, with the two measure groove, with repeating fill, that he plays for the bulk of the tune, as well as the three drum/vocal breaks, and a sample of the ending groove:

This is a great lesson on how to play fills in funk— that is, at an even volume with no drummery BS. There's a good review of Davis's first record here, with background on her relationship with Miles.

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Audio after the break— you want to hear this one: