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Halfway Through 2007, part 2
My favorite compilations, reissues, and historical releases of the year so far, part 1: Soul/R&B. Next week I’ll cover the rest of the reissues and such.
When I wrote my review of this 1970 psychedelic soul-rock nugget, I finished by calling this “My favorite ‘70s reissue of 2007 so far!” That’s still true.
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, the instrumental “Ashley’s Roachclip.” Full review
Eccentric Soul: Twinight’s Lunar Rotation (Numero)
Another great compilation from the Eccentric Soul series, this time drawing on such a treasure trove that two discs are needed to contain its bounty. Forty tracks of Chicago soul and funk from the Twinight label, including three previously unreleased items. As usual, it’s not only good listening but good reading, with a fascinating label history and a contextualization of the wonderful obscurities we hear. The hits of Syl Johnson (not included here – too well known!) funded a flow of 45 releases that missed the national charts in 1967-72 but sound great now. There are a few names you’ll recognize lurking here and there; for instance, Donny Hathaway’s playing on Josephine Taylor’s “I’ve Made Up My Mind.” There are a lot of styles heard here, not only soul and early funk but also a little blues, some harmony groups, and more. The many highlights include George McGregor’s “Temptation Is Too Hard to Fight” (love the guitar sound in the intro!), “Goin’ Man Huntin’” by Jo Ann Garrett, and the fuzzed-out “Soul Strokes” by Sidney Pinchback. This is a must-have for soul fans.
Never mind crate digging, the new thing is archive digging, and soul is proving to be especially rewarding territory. These 1973 tracks, most previously unreleased, offer yet another sterling example. Amnesty was an Indianapolis band combining the vocal talents of The Embers and the instrumental skills of The Crimson Tide. Their mix of harmony-vocal soul with deep funk will please P-Funk fans, while occasional traces of Afrobeat recall Osibisa and Mandrill. There’s nothing about the thoroughly enjoyable music here that explains why it wasn’t released at the time, until the bit in the booklet notes that says the Lamp label for which they recorded specialized in rock. The 1970s’ loss is our gain now that this killer album has finally appeared.
Florida Funk 1968-1975 (Now Again)
Reed Roberts of the Mighty Dog Catchers is quoted as saying, “I wasn’t listening to no local bands, the only band I was influenced by was James Brown’s. Straight up.” Based on this compilation, he wasn’t the only Floridian who felt that way. The focus is on obscure artists (the only “name” is Blowfly) and tiny labels, with most of the material coming out on 45s, but the sounds are familiar and the talents are big. The Universals get the 22-track set off to a great start with the anthemic 1970 joint “New Generation,” which is so great that it’s a shame their distribution was so bad – but we’ve got it now!
An African funk band based in London, Osibisa began its recording career with a bang: This and the following album, both produced by Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex) and both adorned with eye-catching Roger Dean covers, were released in 1971 and are classics of the time. Pounding drums and throbbing basslines influenced by James Brown (or Fela Kuti, if you will) underlay Santana-ish lead guitar, chank-chank funk rhythm guitar, jazzy horns and flute, heavy organ/electric piano, and call-and-response chants, all with that feeling of irresistible circular momentum that African and Caribbean rhythms have.
A cover of Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s “Spirits Up Above” adds flavor to the mix of influences and sounds. One further note: these albums are full of copyright dates: 1971, 1993, 2003. But their current incarnations have just now gotten distribution through Allegro, which is why I’m counting them as 2007 reissues.
Soul purists disdain this album because of two repertoire choices and the presence of guitarist Duane Allman, but those are good things. Lots of soul singers were trying to capture the rock audience with covers of rock hits, but few hit with the power of Pickett’s version of the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” because few (very few!) sang with his power AND had Allman’s wailing guitar backing. Pickett’s cover of Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild” may be less well known, but if anything it’s even better – the most macho of the Southern soul singers makes it seem like it was written for him alone. There are plenty of tracks that will make the purists happy, though, including the classic brag “A Man and a Half” and songs penned by Isaac Hayes, Don Covay, Bobby Womack, George Jackson, and more.
Pick up this disc and last year’s Incredible Bongo Band reissue and you have a good chunk of the source material for hip-hop’s greatest hits. Coffey was an ace session guitarist who drew on the cream of Motown instrumentalists when he went solo and immediately hit it big with “Scorpio.” Read all about it here.
By concentrating on this band’s funkiest tracks (putting the mellower stuff on LoveByrds, a separate compilation issued simultaneously), Fantasy’s given us an unstoppable party album. The famous tracks are “Walking in Rhythm” and the much-sampled “Rock Creek Park,” but there’s not a slack moment to be heard here.
