VA - Coolin' (2002)

VA - Coolin' (2002)

Bridge - 1981 - Crying For Love

Bridge - Crying For Love

We all know the group - their mixture of soul, funk, disco and Latin elements made this marvellous grouping a really talented band with the versatility and option to change tempo, the direction and beat at the drop of a hat. Something not many artists can do today. Still, this CD is a collection of the demo cuts that won them a recording deal with the CBS owned Bang label. These songs were recorded in 1981 and were intended to become their album for the label. Sadly this was not to pass, and these songs were to sit and gather dust. As one quick spin off of this CD will show this was a criminal act. Still, First Experience has done the decent thing and has rectified this very sorry situation. 1981 as I have said before, was a vintage year for soul music and this is reflected in every song on this CD. I cannot really pull out any clear favourites on this CD but please, if I may, direct you to a few particular songs, which I think should be given special listening treatment. Vocalists Debravon Lewis and Derick Hughes are superb; the latter is very reminiscent of the sadly missed and masterful Donny Hathaway. Both "Stella" and "Listen" are excellent readings of the 1977 Norman Connors versions, and are here performed by the writers themselves in their own right. "From The Darkness To The Light" is a superb ballad complete with flute and summary percussion background which really does the honours. Continuing the trend is "Fire Burning" which underlines how criminal it was not to have had the material released years ago. The vocals on this song are stunning, with Derick Hughes really laying out the red carpet. Surprisingly, for me, was the "Next To Me" cut that was covered by drummer Kenneth Nash. On his 1986 "Mr Ears" album. These tracks are but a few of the highlights from many gems on here.

01. Crying For Love

02. Stella

03. From The Darkness To The Light

04. Fire Burning

05. Waiting Patiently

06. He Say C. She Say Game

07. Sweet & Wonderful

08. Out There In Space

09. No Where Love Affair

10. Rivers Of Love

11. Turn To Love

12. Next To Me

13. Reach Out

14. Listen

Link:Download

Jump Back - A Tribute To James Brown (2008)

01 Os Incriveis - I Feel Good

02 Jr. and The Preludes - Papa's Got a Brand New Bag

03 Soul Sounds - Lickin' Stick

04 Showmen - Voglio Restare Solo

05 Rabbits and Carrots - Give it Up Or Turn it Loose

06 Rabbits and Carrots - Sex Machine

07 Kashmere Stage Band - Super Bad

08 Soul Sound - I Got the Feelin'

09 Esquires Now - Think About it

10 The Presidents - It's my Thing

11 Victor Olaiya & His International All Stars - There Was a Time, Cold Sweat (Medley)

12 Victor Olaiya & His International All Stars - Mother Popcorn

13 Impalas - Soul

14 Big Boe and The Nighthawks - My Thing

15 The Invaders - Big Payback

16 Get Up With the Dancer - Sex Machine

17 University of Illinois Jazz Band feat. Don Smith - I Got the Feelin'

18 Harrison High School - Get on the Good Foot

19 Les Watson and The Panthers - Mother Popcorn

Link:Download

Good God! Heavy Funk Covers Of James Brown From All Over The World 1968-1974 (2007)

Good God, indeed -- a masterful compilation of some of the weirdest James Brown covers you've ever heard -- a truly global assortment of tunes, all of which really keep the best funky spirit of The Godfather in place! The tracks here go way past the usual, and most of the numbers are all quite obscure -- tracks recorded not even by soul singers, but by an assortment of artists of many different genres-- all working at different points around the globe in the 60s and 70s, brought together here by their love of James' original funky vision! And in case you're worried about these tunes being some watered-down version of the JB groove, put your fears to rest -- because all the cuts here have as many funky breaks and hard riffing as any of James' best from back in the day -- sometimes even more, given the weirdness of their styles!

01. El Klan - Cold Sweat

02. Dillard Crumb & The Soul Rockers - Mother Popcorn

03. St. Vincent's Latinaires - Hot Pants I'm Comin'

04. The Dave Pike Set - I Got The Feelin'

05. Toni Tornado - Soul Negro

06. Doublass High School Stage Band 1970 - My Thing , I Made A Mistake Medley

07. Lil' Tiger - Do It (Give It Up , My Thing Medley)

08. The Philosophers - Mama's Orgy (Cold Sweat)

09. Waltel Branco - Tema De Zorra (Popcorn With A Feeling)

10. East Of Underground - Popcorn

11. Six Pack - There Was A Time

12. Willy Dickson & The Playboys - Lickin' Stick

13. Som Livre House Band - Papa Don't Take No Mess

14. Skorpyons Of Jamaica - Think (About It)

15. El Combo Xingu - Hot Pants

16. Tihomir Pop Asanovic - Hot Pants Road

Link:Download

German Funk Fieber Vol. 2

01. Siegfried Schwab - High Snobiety

02. Malcolm’s Locks - Get Up Stand Up

03. Orchestra And Chorus Les Humphries – Mandrake

04. Lift - Wenn

05. James Last - Rice And Beans

06. The Cosmic Sound Orchestra - Listen to the Beat

07. Eric Thoener’s Sound Magazine - Speed Limit

08. Joy Fleming - Geld

09. Panta Rhei - Der Losverkäufer

10. Roland Kovac & The ORF Big Band - Operation Rose

11. Manfed Krug - Wenns Draußen Grün Wird

12. Jochen Brauer Sextett - Sunny

13. Kati Kovács - Sehnsucht

14. Memphis Black - Testify

15. Fredy Brock - Betwixt And Between

16. Don Anderson - Understanding

17. Jürgen Franke - Back Talk

18. Peter Thomas - Evening Air

Link:Listen

Link:Download

German Funk Fieber Vol. 1

01 - Gus Brendel - Night Clipper

02 - Messengers - Gang Bang

03 - Ken Aldin - Dark Alley

04 - Was Tun Band - Es Geht

05 - SWF Tanzorchester Rolf-Hans Mueller - Gate One

06 - Veit Marvos Red Point Orchestra - Family Affair

07 - Die Melon Men - Tuesday

08 - Martin Philippi Blues Band - I Got My Mojo Workin'

09 - Klaus Wunderlich - Summertime

10 - The Rainbow Orchestra - La Avispa

11 - Dave Kamien Division - Watermelon Man

12 - Howard Carpendale - Du Hast Mich

13 - Hugo Strasser - Flashlights

14 - Peter Herbolzheimer - Rock-O-Mobile

15 - Heinz Kiessling Orchestra - Uptown

16 - Sandra Haas - Kleiner Mann

18 - Udo Lindenberg - Votan Wahnwitz

Link:Download

Push - 1996 - Can't Fight It

Label: Soulciety Records

Catalog#: ME 00481

Country: Germany

Released: 1996

Bass - Ernie McKone

Drums - Crispin Taylor

Engineer - Alex Osman , Matt G

Guitar - Mark Vandergucht

Keyboards - Mike McEvoy*

Percussion - Conor Smith

Saxophone, Flute - Jacko Peake

Trumpet - Damon Brown (2)

Vocals - Eddie Saunders

1. Theme From "Push"

2. Fight It

3. Scarper

4. Contribution

5. Positive

6. The Flute Tune

7. Gimme Some More

8. Out On Sunday

9. Awesome Measure

10. It's Over

11. Jack's Jam

12. Ice

Link:Download

Supersauce - 1998 - Keep On Keepin' On

Gretchen Lieberum - vocals

Michael Cruz - bass

Alex Budman - saxophone, flute

Jordan Glasgow - keyboards

Tim Carter - drums

David Metzner - guitar

Also featured on Keep On Keepin' On:

Dustin Hengl - trumpet

Dave Scott - trumpet

Primo Navarez - percussion

Founded by bassist Michael Cruz and vocalists Gretchen Lieberum and Maya Rudolph, Supersauce formed in 1993 at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Picking up where bands like the Brand New Heavies and Incognito left off, the group achieved local stardom almost overnight. From their first gig at a Halloween house party, they immediately graduated to rocking sell out crowds at infamous Santa Cruz institution, The Catalyst. The recipe was simple -- part funk, part groove, and all party. As their theme song goes, "once you taste The Sauce, you'll never be the same."

01. Keep On Keepin' On

02. Soldier

03. EZ West

04. Walk Slowly

05. Song In C

06. M-Bomb

07. Butterfly

08. Six Bucks On The Dollar

09. Gotta Get Back

10. Mango Street

Link:Download

Chuck Amstrong - 1976 - Shackin' Up

An obscure album of southern funky soul from Chuck Armstrong , an artist we know from his earlier funky 45 work in Chicago, but who sounds quite different on this set! The album was produced by George Kerr in New Jersey, but it's got a rolling, vamping approach on most cuts , a sound that's somewhere between Muscle Shoals and the nascent Jackson style of the 70s. Chuck's vocals are well-suited to the set, and a few numbers bear traces of his earlier more northern sound.

01. Shackin' Up

02. Goodness Gracious

03. I'm A Lonley Man

04. Nightmare

05. She Had The Right

06. You Got To Deal With It (This Superworld)

07. Coming Home

08. Misleading Information

09. Give Me All Your Sweet Lovin'

10. Sweet Foxy Woman

Link:Download

Bobby Williams - 1974 - Funky Super Fly

One of THE all-time indie funk classics of the 70s, the standout LP by Bobby Williams, an obscure James Brown-styled vocalist with a really great sound! The style here cops plenty from JB at his funkiest, but that's A-OK with me, because Bobby gets that sound so completely right, and the raw production of the album make the record sound a good deal grittier than most of The Godfather's more mainstream records from the time. There's a hard-jamming quality to most of the numbers, with lots of tight horns, fast-romping rhythms, and calls from Bobby out to the band, who are more than happy to respond to his groove!

Funky Superfly

Soul Brother Party

Morning Of Love

Link:Download

Kyle Jason - 2005 - Revolution Of The Cool

If soul is back, then Kyle "Ice" Jason got enough to loan you some as James Brown used to say. This former Air America Radio host began his career as a member of the Eddie Murphy entourage. His 2005 release, "Revolution of the Cool" features the hit, "Coming From The Soul".

01. People, People

02. A Hipper Nipple

03. Cool Is Cool

04. After Midnight

05. Simone By Moonlight

06. Why (Am I So Funky)

07. Cat-O-Tonic

08. Paris Sky

09. Walkin'

10. Hot Sauce

11. Round Peg In a Roomfullasquares

12. I'm Tired Of Being Your Friend [Piano Mix]

Link:Download

Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds - 1973 - The Black Motion Picture Experience

Artist: The Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds

Album: The Black Motion Picture Experience

Label: Buddah

Original Released: 1973

Album info from www.blaxploitation.com

You might be tempted to pass up on this one because of the NASTY cover. Don't make that mistake. Buy this album. It's an instrumental reworking of all the major pre-1974 black action themes, and features the likes of Randy Brecker in a killer studio band. The album contains one of the few versions of the 'Slaughter' theme committed to vinyl.

Cecil Holmes was an executive at Buddah Records as well as a recording artist himself. This was one of his solo releases. It was aimed at capitalizing on the huge popularity of Blaxploitatin movies during the time. Many of the songs seemed shortened, but still keep to the original arrangements. Holmes included most of the well known hits like Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly and Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man/T Stands For Trouble. Also Sprach Zarathursta (2001) has a short but sweet open drum break.

A1. ACROSS 110th STREET (B.Womack-J.J.Johnson)

A2. SLAUGHTER (Billy Preston)

A3. BEN (W.Scharf-D.Black)

A4. ALSO SPRACH ZARATHRUSTA (2001)

A5. SUPERFLY (C.Mayfield) Curtom

B1. TROUBLE MAN/T STANDS FOR TROUBLE (M.Gaye)

B2. SHAFT (Isaac Hayes)

B3. LOVE THEME FROM LADY SING THE BLUES

B4. FREDDIE'S DEAD (C.Mayfield)

Link:Download

Arthur Adams - 1975 - Home Brew

Arthur Adams - Home Brew

Label: Fantasy

Catalog#: F-9479

Released: 1975

Arranged By - Wayne Henderson

Bass - James Jamerson (tracks: A1, A4 to B5) , Wilton Felder (tracks: A2)

Clavinet - Jerry Peters (tracks: A1 to A2, B1) , Joe Sample (tracks: A5, B4)

Drums - Stix Hooper* (tracks: A2 to A3) , Earl Palmer (tracks: A1, A4 to B5)

Electric Piano - Joe Sample (tracks: A1 to A2, A4 to B3, B5)

Engineer - Rik Pekkonen (tracks: A2 to A3)

Flugelhorn - Oscar Brashear (tracks: B2)

Flute - Ronnie Laws (tracks: B2, B5)

Guitar - Al Vescovo* (tracks: A2 to A3) , Arthur Adams , Dennis Coffey (tracks: A1, A4 to B6)

Horn [Baritone Horn] - George Bohanon (tracks: B2)

Orchestrated By - Donal Cooke

Organ - Jerry Peters (tracks: A3)

Piano - Joe Sample (tracks: A3)

Producer - Arthur Adams , Wayne Henderson

Recorded By - Don Cody

Recorded By [Additional] - Eddie Harris

Remix - F. Byron Clark

Saxophone [Soprano] - Ronnie Laws (tracks: A4, B5)

Saxophone [Tenor] - Ronnie Laws (tracks: A1 to B1, B3 to B4)

Strings - Jerry Peters (tracks: A4, B2)

Synthesizer - Jerry Peters (tracks: B1 to B2) , Joe Sample (tracks: B3)

Tambourine - Wayne Henderson (tracks: A2, A5)

Tom Tom - Wayne Henderson (tracks: A2)

Trombone - George Bohanon (tracks: A1 to B4)

Trumpet - Oscar Brashear (tracks: A1 to B4)

1. Home Brew

2. Do What Cha Doin'

3. The Blues

4. We've Got An Understanding

5. That's The Way You Move

6. Keep On Dancing

7. First-Class Woman

8. Chicago Sidewalk

9. Bumpin' Around

10. That's The Way It's Gonna Be

Link:Download

King Solomon - 1978 - Energy Crisis

MEGA-RARE FUNK/BLUES LP

KING SOLOMON - ENERGY CRISIS

CELESTIN USA LP 1978

Price : EUR 298.00

01. I Got a Sweet Tooth

02. Energy Crisis

03. Political Rag

04. Ain't It Funky Ya'll

05. Sexy Baby

06. Get Up Soul Brother

07. Don't Play This Song

08. Our Song (Instr.)

09. Ain't It Funky Ya'll (Instr.)

Link:Download

Sister Funk 2 - 2007 - The Sound Of Unknown Soul Sisters - Compiled By DJ Ian Wright

A second great serving of all-female funk and a collection that's arguably better than the now-legendary first volume in the series! Ian Wright's definitely outdone himself here and the selection of work here is really really wonderful , with hardly any familiar names at all , save for a few smaller soul stars who are represented by some pretty obscure tunes! The vibe is hard and gritty throughout , but also plenty soulful too , and Ian doesn't sacrifice quality of the tune in pursuit of a rare piece of wax, so that the work is all top-shelf all the way through , a collection of female soul and funk artists who easily rival the biggest names from their generations! As usual with Jazzman, the whole thing's done with notes that are as careful as the track selection.

01 - Rhetta Hughes - You're Doing It With Her

02 - Honey & The Bees - Love Addict

03 - Dolly Gilmore - Sweet Sweet Baby

04 - Barbara King - What I Did In The Street

05 - Coletta Woodson - Follow The Wind

06 - Sandy Gaye - Watch The Dog

07 - Big Ella - The Queen

08 - Sheila Wilkerson - Baby You're A Jive Cat

09 - Richi Corbin Trio - A Woman Was Made For A Man

10 - Barbara Trent - Heartbreak Hotel

11 - Althea Spencer - Take Me Baby

12 - Cheryl Johnson - It's Not Too Late

13 - Barbara Howard - I Dont Want Your Love

14 - Leon Mitchison - Whatcha Need

15 - Cheryl Dorsey - If You Want Your Man

16 - The Fabulettes - Muddy Waters

17 - Keisa Brown - The Dance Man

18 - Barbara Mason - You Better Stop It

19 - Hard Drivers - Since I Was A Little Girl

20 - Florence Trapp - Love Came Into My Life

Link:Download

Isaac Hayes - 2003 - Instrumentals

The only thing better than Isaac Hayes' vocal tracks are those wicked funky instrumentals that he used on a lot of his best early 70s albums and soundtracks , most of the best of which are included in this excellent little set! The CD does what someone should have done a long time ago , collects all the best dope instrumentals from Ike's classic Stax albums, with a focus on laidback grooves and slow funk numbers, including those that have been sampled over the years. And sure, you might already own a few of these on the original albums, but hearing them together like this opens a whole new door to Ike's genius , one that makes us appreciate him even more, and feel like we've been lucky enough to find a crate full of studio tracks laid out in a completely different way.

1. Hung Up on My Baby

2. Ike's Mood, Pt. 1

3. No Name Bar

4. Let's Stay Together

5. Café Regio's

6. Blue's Crib

7. Now We're One

8. Dorinda's Party

9. Type Thang

10. Pursuit of the Pimpmobile

11. Driving in the Sun

12. Ellie's Love Theme

13. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face [Mono Version]

Link:Downalod

Gil Scott-Heron

Gil Scott-Heron was born in Chicago , Illinois , on April 1st 1949. He attended Lincoln and John Hopkins University. He wrote two novels. The Vulture and The Nigger Factory. He met Brian Jackson, his frequent collaborator. Gil Scott-Heron began playing keyboards and, teaming up with Brian Jackson, setting his political poetry to a jazz-funk fusion. First releases were on the Flying Dutchman label in the 70's.

This is the man whose attitude, poetry and "bluesology" influenced a whole generation of radical rap musicians. Renowned in the '70s and '80s as the "Minister of Information", Gil Scott Heron is the voice of humanity, whose prose dissects the ills of the world with scalpel-sharp precision. He is a writer/poet/musician and one of America's great originals. Performing work from his latest album 'Spirits', Scott Heron is a man with something to say and a message worth listening to. During the 1970s and 1980's for Arista label, Scott-Heron released twelve albums. Then, after a twelve-year break, he signed with TVT Records and released Spirits in 1993.

The first cut of this album, "Message To The Messenger," is a warning to today’s rappers, urging them to take responsibility in their art and in their communities. Since then, he has played to sell-out crowds all over the world, performing at major festivals in England. More recently he has been arrested for possession of a gram of cocaine and now faces about a year in prison. He is also working on a book "The Last Holiday" for Publisher Canongatе www.canongate.net.

Defiant as ever he turned down rehabilitation as an alternative to prison. Maybe in prison he will get a fresh perspective and produce more of his articulate insights. Gil Scott-Heron got out of prison on the 28th October 2002. Since getting out of prison he has teamed up with Brian Jackson. He has played SOB with Brian on October 2003 and there is BBC Documentary showing in December 2003. At the end of October 2003, on his way to a gig in Chicago, he was arrested at La Guardia airport, New York. He’s charged with possession of a controlled substance and detained at Rikers Island Penitentiary in New York. He got out in June 2004...