Phunklords
Funkadelic
Connections and Disconnections
Avenue Records : 1981
[Listen] [Buy]
Figure Eight
Hal Galper
The Guerilla Band
Mainstream Records : 1973
[Listen] [Buy - out of print]
Getting Nasty
Ike Turner & The Kings of Rhythm
A Black Man's Soul
Pompeii Records : 1969
[Listen] [Buy]
We're Doing Our Thing
Black Nasty
Talking to the People
Stax : 1973
[Listen] [Buy]
First, some songs. Delicious! Good, random assortment as usual, right?
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By 1981, the P-funk metropolis was in ruins, and rapidly approaching the end of the cosmic, groove-heavy road. There were messy legal disputes, the unending influx of new musicians that pushed the original band members to the sidelines, as well as George Clinton's massive problems with money management. As such, the end of the 70s saw several key players run for the hills, including several personnel who were with Clinton from the very beginning, as members of the doo-wop group the Parliaments who started it all way back in 1956.
Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins, Calvin Simon and Grady Thomas formed a new band under the Funkadelic name [which causes further disputes, but you could see that coming], and this album was the fruit of their efforts. It takes the funk sound perfected by the band throughout the 70s and adds a little extra disco to the mix. Overall, it's not a great LP, but there are occasional flashes of the brilliance that made them great for so long.
This cut is the opening track, and sets a synth-driven tone to an uneven album. With no George Clinton around to take center stage, its a group effort, heavy on the slap bass and funk guitar and taking no prisoners. Definitely dated, but definitely danceable. [When the LP was re-released in 1992, it was re-named as Who's a Funkadelic?]
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Next, a little disjointed fusion from Hal Galper. The jazz pianist made his way onto the scene sometime around 1960 when he took the reins as Chet Baker's piano player [he can be heard on Baker's hit LP The Most Important Jazz Album of 1964/65], and worked with several big-time players including Cannonball Adderley and John Scofield.
This album was one of three he recorded under his own name around that time. The backing group is solid: the double drum assault of Steve Hass and Charles Alias, not to mention the Brecker brothers Randy and Michael on horns and Cannonball Adderley vet Victor Gaskin on electric bass.
Galper plays electric pianos here, and gives the band a funky challenge with his syncopated, extended riffs that stretch for what seems like forever over stuttering beats. It's hardly new territory for the era, but it's funky as all hell, and is a solid off-the-radar example of jazz fusion. Galper's solo that kicks in around [1:21] is sinister and dark, brooding under the canopy of Gaskin and guitarist Howard Mann who tug the main riff along, puzzling the ears. [Randy's solo at [2:47] is just deranged and freakish to keep you entertained]
Whether it's your cup of tea or not, it's worthy of some FmGT face time.
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Next, a quick and simple cut from arguably Ike Turner's best contribution to the world at large. Sampled by Jurassic 5 in "Concrete Schoolyard", the nasty piano breakdown is way too much to resist. Admit it, you're powerless. Once those drums kick in, you join in with the echoing handclaps and those distant, joyous voices screaming their affirmations and approval. You don't play the song, the song plays you. [Also great on this album: the classic track "Funky Mule"]
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Last, but not least, before we get down to the real business at hand: a little bit of the original Black Nasty [not to be confused with the white shock rapper from Kansas]. They were part of the Detroit funk scene of the early 70s, following the trail blazed by the likes of Parliament/Funkadelic and blending heavy rock guitar into the funk pantheon. The results weren't bad; a small string of records on Stax between '71 and '74 [3 singles, one LP from which this track is taken]. As with so many bands flooding the market, they underwent several personnel changes and label switches due to either labels going bankrupt or people moving to different projects, going through several new incarnations [Nazty, and notably ADC Band, scoring a R&B hit single with "Long Stroke" in 1978] and recording well into the next decade.
As it stands, the music isn't bad. Heavy on the guitars, loud and rumbling on the bass, and classic, dreamy soul vocals. Bright chord progressions, lots of reverb, lots of organ. This cut starts with a simple-enough funk riff before the bass kicks down the door and makes the mix interesting. Simple music done right. Makes me wish I had a tambourine.
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Now, onto more important matters.
The main order of business today is to pay some respects. I know we've got ourselves a good readership, thanks in part to many other wonderful bloggers [many of whom we link to on the right-hand side], and FmGT has become so much more to me [and the rest of us, I reckon] than just a place on the internet to write stuff and try to sound clever.
As such, I feel like it's been forever since I even thanked or highlighted some of the places my browser is almost always open to, as I read them endlessly even when the content is not changing every single second of the day.
Therefore, due to the fact that I don't get nearly enough time to comment and make this known [and also thanks to some recent posts on my favourite blogs doing the same, which shattered my sloth on the subject], so today I'll run through my Elite 8 at the moment.
Also, I seriously need to update the links. I read a ton more blogs that need to graduate to the list instead of my greedy, un-sharing brain. Spreading the love is so much more satisfying than keeping it all to oneself.
1. Souled On.
Scholar, how do you do it so? Is there a blueprint I can follow, or some secret recipe I can steal that might help me out? Top-notch soul, delivered all the motherf*cking time for ingrates like myself. The history is on point, the selections are perfect, and well, it's nice to know that there are people taking care of us.
2. Analog Giant.
I've known K on the internet for a while now. He's a daily read, especially in helping me stay up-to-speed on the remixes and new digs that are seemingly appearing at the speed of light at the moment. While most of my digging and hunter-gathering over the last year has been going back into the 60s and 70s, K keeps me feeling like I know what's fresh and piping hot around the music world, and for that, I'm seriously grateful. Not to mention the dude just got married, and he is living the dream up in Vermont [soon to be Chicago, those lucky bastards]. Maybe he'd be nice enough to send me some icky, or at least some Ben & Jerry's? [wink wink]
3. Straight Bangin'.
Joey is always on top form, with a solid blend of rap and hip-hop [the dude seriously knows his business], as well as all those stories that I miss in the mainstream media, or in the basketball/sports world. Check out the top 25 Rap/Hip-Hop album discussion going on at the moment, being run by SB and Passion of the Weiss.
4. Sneakmove.
Goddamn. I don't know how I got turned on to this place, but it's always entertaining, giving me anything wild and weird from the music world, not to mention a host of solid video content and tunes from every corner of the universe. A daily visit for me, without doubt.
5. Soul Sides.
This place is no secret whatsoever, and with good reason. Oliver Wang is about as knowledgeable as they come, his writing is insightful and a pleasure to read, and I'm forever discovering music on there. The regular downloading and reading I do there make me embarrassed to say that I know music, because he's seriously light years ahead.
6. Floodwatch Music.
A site run by the venerable Floodwatch [who also contributes periodically to another excellent music blog, Ear Fuzz] that never fails to entertain and illuminate. Great writing, great variety, great everything. I am ashamed that I have not put him in the links until now, because I've been reading on the sly for forever-and-a-day. Go wish the dude happy birthday too -- one year is a long time in the blogo-whatever-we-call-ourselves-now.
7. The Passion of the Weiss.
Humorous, opinionated, knowledgeable. Keeps me entertained and clued in on anything worth knowing about. Good writing is always going to hook me in to a spot, and this is no exception. Jeff Weiss is a damn fine blogger.
8. Moistworks.
Music knowledge from people who know music, and who write anything worth reading about music in the media. The picks are obscure, random and well-reasoned, the writing is entertaining, and their writer's weeks are never to be missed.
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This should have been done ages ago. In fact, this draft, half-finished, was sitting on the servers since the end of March, and it's finally done. This is but the tip of the iceberg. In the meantime, if you don't already, visit them, and visit them often. They are worth your time.
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In other random, but still good, news, we are in the final stages of securing ourselves a large living quarters in Harlem. 3/4 of FmGT will soon be under the same roof.
What does it mean for you?
Better posts, more quantity, and also the beginning of interactive events, not to mention some action from us on the original music front. Hopefully. We have a lot of pent-up energy, a lot of optimism, and a lot of good ideas. As and when this is finalized, I'm sure one of us will talk about it a lot more.
