Funnel Of Love (MP3s)

If you haven't already heard Funnel Of Love, Wanda Jackson's rhythmically hypnotic 1961 exercise in country / psychedelia, you can check it out below.

Strange but true:  I recently learned that this positively irresistible 45 rpm recording sounds equally enchanting when slowed down to 33 rpm!

Sounds impossible, I know, but listen in as Wanda's beguiling wildcat voice is converted into the vaguely blurred rasp of a smitten young man.  The ear (well, my ear) detects that the recording sounds artificially slowed down for only the first few seconds, after which it sounds completely normal, though it definitely retains an authentically exotic flair.  Big points go to Roy Clark whose guitar playing layers atmospheric appeal onto the proceedings on both the standard and the slowed down version.

Wanda Jackson  -  Funnel Of Love (45rpm)  (2:04)

Wanda Jackson  -  Funnel Of Love (45rpm played at 33 1/3 rpm)  (2:48)

The credit for this fascinating audio discovery goes to Todd Butler, who stumbled upon it while conducting audio experiments back in high school, a decade or two before I met him.  He shared the information with his pal Arthur Johnson, who just recently clued me in. 

Sadly, Todd passed away at age 40 in 2004. 

Billed as "Georgia Todd Butler," he made many contributions to the WFMU program The Audio Kitchen.  Hosted by The Professor, The Audio Kitchen was, according to Station Manager Ken, "the greatest found sound radio program ever."  Todd would often head into Atlanta's thrift stores armed with a Walkman and patiently plow through the cassettes on display in search of homemade audio ephemera to share with fellow enthusiasts.  Samples of Todd's discoveries that made it onto the WFMU airwaves can be heard here, here, and here.

As great as it was, Funnel Of Love wasn't a hit.  In fact, it was the b-side of Right Or Wrong, a tune which found success on both the Country and the Pop charts (#9 and #29 respectively).  Just one year later, in 1962, she recorded the topically and stylistically similar Whirlpool, though it too was inexplicably relegated to life as a b-side.

Wanda Jackson  -  Whirlpool  (2:16)

In the better late than never department, Wanda Jackson was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last week.  To be sure most music snobs, and I include myself here, feel a little bit of an obligation to sneer at the very concept of  "the rock & roll hall of fame" and its way of doing things. 

For those who get the nod, though, it's an understandably big honor so congratulations to Wanda Jackson on all her accomplishments.  In 2002, Wanda Jackson was interviewed by Rex on Fool's Paradise.  That program can be accessed here.  And in 2008, Michael Shelley interviewed her for his show.  Go here to listen to that interview.

Comments

[Andrew Male]

45rpm tracks that sounds equally ace at 33 1/3?
i feel a top ten coming on.
Can I add The Osmonds' Crazy Horses 45, which sounds like a stoner rock masterpiece at 33?

[James]

I believe Michael Shelley also interviewed her more recently?

[just john]

45s that sound good at 33 include:

Elton John -- "Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting" sounds like the Rolling Stones, if Mick were drunker than drunk. The guitars sound great!

Archies -- "Sugar Sugar" sounds very soulful.

[Lex10]

A: I'm agin r=the Rn'R Hall of fame
B: I just heard this on "Born Bad" Awesome.

[Listener Greg G.]

Thanks for the reminder about Wanda being on Michael Shelley's show, James. I added that information to the post.

[trouble]

the funnel of love has always been one of my favorite songs. AND wanda still rocks live, catch her where you can! thanks for the slowed down vibe

[Fatherflot]

I like the slowed down version. Sounds like an outtake from The Gun Club's "Miami" sessions with a different vocalist. Can't be Jeffrey Lee Pierce -- every note isn't sharp.

[Ray Brazen]

Here's a link to YouTube footage of Wanda at the Rock Hall Dinner last Saturday. Oh my god. The girl can still growl like she did in '58. Close your eyes and try to tell the difference. Justice in this world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dasf5wdOQIw

[Ray Brazen]

ooops actually it's from a couple days before the rock hall thing... doesn't matter...

[Matt]

This is really cool. It sounds like Conway Twitty underwater.

[Jonny]

Absolutely brilliant!

Funny thing is, I was shocked to see this post as I have been listening to the original quite a bit in the last week. I put it on my Spring mix CD. Whoa, some kind of cosmik consciousness, I guess.

But this slowed down version adds a whole new dimension!

[etherealpr]

Check out "Superstar" by the Carpenters -- Karen's normal edge of heartache descends into a magical fog of wrist-slashing gloom.

Also, John Oswald's "Pretender" does a similar thing with Dolly Parton -- she sounds far more realistic as a man than she does in her usual helium-charged register, which gives the lyrics of "The Great Pretender" an added edge of mystery.

[fshrthw]

it really sounds like it has been recorded like this :
1) the instruments
2) the voice of a man with the instruments slowed down to 331/3 rpm.
3) everything back to 45 rpm

[Munro]

Tin Machine did a really good cover of "Funnel of Love". And now I'm fascinated by the idea of a 45 to 33 mix/radio show.

[Chris Acklin]

Cheers for this. I've been in Wanda's thrall since I was a kid and have been especially drawn to 'Funnel of Love'. I'd forgotten what a brilliantly enrapturing tune it is until I heard it again on the soundtrack to last years' 'RocknRolla'. VERY sexy!

Great ear-opening post. Thanks.

[Ned Bodie]

Best copy version of Funnel of Love in my opinion is that done by the Detroit Cobras. The best damn real rock and roll band in the world.

[Drewkulele]

OK, so as "fshrthw" noted above, that 45 played at 33 definitely sounds like a guy, not a slowed-down girl, but, in any case, is there any way to simulate this with mp3s? In other words, is there a shareware program or an iTunes add-on or something like that that would enable us to play our existing mp3 collections at slower speeds? I mean, 33 1/3rpms is 74% slower than 45rpms, so if we could play an mp3 at 74% speed, it would be the same effect, right? I'll bet there's a lot of similarly interesting gems hidden away in there if only there's some way to hear 'em!

[Jabberwocky]

The slowed version made me feel strange.

Sort of like watching the "Beverly Hillbillies" with the sound turned off, all the while listening to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" backwards!

[rey cruz]

you *can* simulate this with dj software like Traktor DJStudio.
Thanks for the reminder! I'm having fun playing around with it now. I started with high pitched vocal groups BeeGees & Four Seasons. I like what it does with the lead vocals but not so much with the backing voices. I like how Valli sounds like a mush-mouthed soul man.
Dinah Washington sounds like a bad Sammy Davis Jr impression and
Prince's "I Feel For You" is even mo' sexy and mo' funky.