Here’s the first official post for my new audioblog, Melting Pot.  In the coming months and years you’ll find notes on a variety of sounds from funk and soul to latin and psych to punk and jazz and back again.

I thought I’d start the festivities off with a song, one of my favorites that share the title of this blog.  The original is a classic B-boy cut by Booker T & the MGs from 1971, something that should be in every DJs collection.  The version I’m posting here was done shortly after that by Jamaican Boris Gardiner on his record Is What’s Happening, which I got on a crunchy Jamaican vinyl reissue of the original album, bought at Amoeba Hollywood some time ago.

Boris Gardiner – Melting Pot

While this version retains much of the original’s funky feel, Gardiner does add some mean tambourine and fuzzy guitar into the rhythm, plus there’s a massive drum break towards the final third, something that always seems about to happen in the MG’s version, but never really materializes (at least not to my satisfaction, though I do love the original).

If you’re new to Gardiner’s music, there’s an excellent retrospective put out by Vampi Soul that you should definitely check out.

Onwards and Upwards,

Michael

Originally from Atlanta, GA, Michael Barnes has worked as a DJ for almost 30 years at non-commercial radio stations around the country, including WRAS-Atlanta, WORT-Madison, KALX-Berkeley, KCRW-Santa Monica and KPFK-Los Angeles.  Most recently, he hosted “Moods In Free Time” on Artform Radio/Worldwide FM. Barnes holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley and is presently a lecturer in Sociology at CSU-Long Beach. He currently resides in the Los Angeles area.

{Update ~ July 14th, 2023}  Following the lead of my “blog-fathers,” Oliver Wang & Matthew Africa, I began this website on July 7th, 2009 with the following message:

“The metaphor of the Melting Pot is just a way to symbolize the variety of music that you’ll find on this audioblog.  My tastes lean towards the funky, but you’ll find notes on a variety of genres from many different periods of time, from contemporary to classic and in between. I generally add new content two or three times a week, sometimes more, sometimes less… My hope is that the music you find here inspires you to support these artists (especially if they are performing nearby to where you are), discover something you might not have heard about or perhaps to be reminded of some sounds you might have forgotten. If you’re an artist or label rep and you object to your music being placed on this blog, kindly (emphasis on kindly) request that I remove the music and I’ll leave the pretty words only.” 

After seven years, I decided to essentially start all over again, partially connected to no longer regularly being on-air at a radio station, and thus no longer having access to a music library and new releases, and also connected to a desire to start over very much connected to where I was personally back in 2016.  Fast forward another seven years, and my feelings about that separation had changed, and so shortly after my 14^th anniversary, I decided to bring back all of those older posts and merge the two versions of Melting Pot, into a single site, in recognition of the fact that these days I felt much more comfortable with the past, present & future of all these multitudes contained within.

This present version, connects to my current philosophy in regards to sharing music, now with an emphasis on music that is apart of my collection, virtually all of it on vinyl. The only feature I held over from the first version of Melting Pot is “Dig Deep,” which was always my favorite section, a reflection of how sharing rare records remains a major part of why I enjoy doing this.  I’ve left virtually all of the original posts from the first seven years just as they were, and am in the process of cleaning up those posts, (and getting my mixcloud up-to-date, so that future mixes will have a home there as well as here) and replacing dead links.  These days I’m a total ghost on social media, so if you actually want to get a hold of me, reach me via e-mail at eljefe[at]meltingpotblog.com.  I am forever it seems trying to get into a good routine, with posts and responding to comments and e-mails, so forgive me if it takes me some time to respond to you if you do reach out.

Thank you to those of you who have been with us since the beginning and thank you to all of the new people who’ve come through since. It is a pleasure to share this music with you and to spread some beautiful Bright Moments to all who will listen here on Melting Pot.