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This reissue compiling 12 tracks from THE SOUL SEARCHERS’ two 1970s albums for Sussex raises two obvious questions. One is simply, what took so long? Not only is this some of the best funk of the period, and historically important as the root source of what in a few years would become the Washington D.C. Go-Go scene, it includes one of the most heavily sampled breakbeats around, from the instrumental “Ashley’s Roachclip.”
The percussion-heavy breaks (there are few funk bands with this much conga!) that got audiences so excited not only attracted the attention of hip-hoppers looking for the perfect beats, they were extended into the vamps that characterized Go-Go, with Soul Searchers singer/guitarist CHUCK BROWN spearheading that musical revolution. A track such as 1974’s “If It Ain’t Funky” points directly to his later, revolutionary “Bustin’ Loose.” Chuck was no relation to JAMES BROWN (whose “Think” is covered here), but his music was masterfully extrapolated from JB’s in groove-heavy chunks of funk that also feature plenty of swirling organ and tight horn charts.
But this isn’t just a bunch of vamps. Many tracks, such as “1993,” show a jazzy sense of harmony, and the brassy horn chart on “I Rolled It, You Hold It” is a classic that would inspire envy in Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. Even the slow tune, “Ain’t It Heavy,” sounds great, like one of those mellow War tracks you’d groove to on a sunny summer day.
This reissue isn’t perfect. For one thing, the sound’s a little dim, making me wonder whether Vampi Soul couldn’t get access to some masters. Oh, and my second question: why not more tracks? Both LPs would fit on a CD (this one’s just 54 minutes). Still, having waited decades for this material to be digitized, it’s good to at least have two-thirds of it.
