Country Funk?

Bobby Gentry seconded.

also, Lee Hazelwood was doing a sort of 60s, 70s country pop thing that was pretty funky, and his album "13" is pure soul funk and if i remember, retained his country roots.

sorry i'm so wishy washy, but i think i'm right?

does ZZ top fit into this?

'From Elvis in Memphis' (w/o Burton, tho right up your alley, from '69)
'Sticky Fingers'
'70s Delbert McClinton albums?
The records Allen Toussaint made under his own name in the '70s are also fairly country, laid-back and most definitely funky.

(begin countdown for chuck eddy to show up and ruin this thread with a Big n Rich rant)

yanc3y is a little bit country, a little bit funky.

Yes, but he is very tired right now, so he will say only Jerry Reed and Black Oak Arkansas and Charlie Daniels Band and Molly Hatchet (and maybe Dixie Dregs and John Anderson?) and leave it at that.

Earlier someone asked about Sir Douglas Quintet. "Mendocino" LP from '69, recently (finally) reissued on CD, is pretty funky. "I Wanna Be Your Mama Again" gives you an idea of the funkiness within.

Some of the Everly Brothers' mid-'60s stuff is surprisingly funky.

Lee Dorsey doing "Games People Play" on his "Yes We Can" LP is great.

Billy Swan is pretty funky at times, too.

Charlie Rich's "Memphis and Arkansas Bridge" is a funky track, one of Rich's definitive moments. He did cool Jimmy Reed covers too.

And actually, Jim Dickinson's "Dixie Fried" falls into this category too. His version of Carl Perkins title track is fantastic.

Gary Stewart did some nice things you might like too.

Wow, not on the albums I heard (one of which I liked okay). For country funk, I'd recommend Montgomery Gentry or Beck or just about anything recorded by white blues guys in 1929 over them anyday...(But even those seem kinda marginal where funkiness per se is concerned)

Doesn't James Brown have a couple country-leaning tracks, though? And what about Ray Charles? He must've bridged the gap once or twice...

And shit, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, fr crissakes!

John Fred and his Playboy Band? The Hombres?? I forget....

Roger Miller, "My Uncle Used to Love Me But She Died," maybe.

And maybe Rednex.

And Kid Rock, duh.....

If being one of funkiest bands in human history = "kinda," I agree.

Even a couple Primus tracks (their only good ones, I think, though I forget what they were called) belong on here, probably.

(So yeah, I guess whoever said I had a ton of suggestions was right.)

jerry was a racecar driver off the first album definitely has a fingerpickin feel to it... would the live Gram Parsons stuff with James Burton on guitar qualify for this thread?

'Funk City' by Bad Bascombe has some crazy country fiddle playing.

Try also The Dependables' album 'Klatu Berrada Niktu' wherein the former Blues Magoos hitch up with Carl Radle, Jim Gordon et al to cover Hayes/Porter songs among others. It's got horns, it's got pedal steel - it's pure country-funk bliss.

Christ! Larry Jon Wilson! I have that weirdass album he did on Monument, one of the great strange '70s new-south concept records.

http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/z/zzdirtylaundrythesoul_101b.jpg

Various -- Dirty Laundry -- The Soul Of Black Country . . . CD . . . $16.99 (Item: 375231)
Trikont (Germany), 1960s/1970s Condition: New Copy View Cart
An excellent collection of one of our favorite sides of southern soul -- the sub-stream of music that's clearly influenced by country music -- and which reflects the double-sided world of the southern recording scene! The tracks on the set provide a wonderful introduction to the genre -- and they mix together some well-known numbers with a wide variety of lesser-known tracks pulled from the indie side of the spectrum -- including some key numbers from the Nashville recording scene of the late 60s, clearly a key point of focus for this work. As with other Trikont sets, the notes alone are worth the price of admission -- and document the artists and tunes extremely well, both in German and in English. Titles include "Your Cheating Heart" by Bobby Powell, "He Called Me Baby" by Ella Washington, "What Condition My Condition Was In" by Betty Lavette, "There's A Heartbreak Somewhere" by Roscoe Shelton, "Almost Persuaded" by Etta James, "Bouquet Of Roses" by Bobby Womack, "Don't Take Her She's All I Got" by Freddie North, "In A Moment Of Weakness" by Johnny Adams, "Sixteen Tons" by James & Bobby Purify, "Dirty Laundry" by Curtis Mayfield, and "Till I Get It Right" by Willie Hobbs. 24 tracks in all!

(Honestly, I'm not sure what more I could--or would need to--say of it.)

too many jerry reed hits to mention

"Amos Moses"
"When You're Hot, You're Hot"
"Alabama Wild Man"
"Ko-Ko Joe"
"Tupelo, Mississippi Flash"

...but you gotta watch it with Jerry, because he wasn't doing country-funk all the time. When he wasn't doing the Tony Joe White thing, he was going the cornball Glen Campbell route.

"Walk A Mile In My Shoes" -- Joe South
"Don't It Make You Wanna Go Home" -- Joe South
"Hush" -- Joe South
"Games People Play" -- Joe South
"Poor Side of Town" -- Johnny Rivers
"I've Got A Thing About You Baby" -- Tony Joe White
"Willie & Laura Mae Jones" -- Tony Joe White
"Hangin' On" -- Joe Simon
"We Held On" -- Joe Tex
"Patches" -- Clarence Carter
"Till I Can't Take It Anymore" -- Clarence Carter
"I Take It On Home" -- Charlie Rich
"Big Boss Man" -- Charlie Rich
"Down In The Boondocks" -- Billy Joe Royal
"Hush" -- Billy Joe Royal

stretching a little:
"Who Is He (And What Is He To You)?" -- Bill Withers
"I Can Understand It" -- Bobby Womack

"Ah, And We Do it Like This," 1990: they even talk about "our country sound that makes ya get down" in it. But Jon Caramanica (who has never heard the song) tells me he suspects this may be an entirely different Onyx than the ones who kinda sorta invented crunk a few years later (even though their song "Throw Ya Gunz" had a line that went "Ha, ha hah hah, AND WE DO IT LIKE THIS.")

And now, sorry, but I must say: Hot Apple Pie, "Hillbilly."

were you not paying attention to the "Dirty Laundry: The Soul of Black Country" cd posted just upthread?

On the subject of country soul (and maybe even country funk, which this thread started out as): OC Smith, OV Wright, OB McClinton. Stoney Edwards. Lionel Richie. With and without his Commodores.

#1 and #2 albums on the country charts this week are by Dierks Bentley and Van Zant by the way. Both of which have tracks I'd have no problem slipping in between a couple disco records in a DJ set.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3v6tk6axwkr3

"Saturday Night in Oak Grove Louisiana" Tony Joe White.

http://www.o-dub.com/images/countryfunk.jpg

it's kinda like a lost byrds album. great harmony singing, some nice fuzzy guitar and a bit of funk.

i found that country funk lp for $1 last week, it's pretty great.

One interesting story I heard about the BW Goes C&W album is that Womack wanted to call it Move Aside, Charley Pride, and Give Another Nigger a Try but United Artists wouldn't let him.

Barney Hoskyns, in Say it One Time for the Broken Hearted, says BW wanted to call the record Black in the Saddle

Black in the Saddle = Amazing!

Deadly Nightshade, F&W, 1976 -- three-woman band; haven't played this yet, but the title apparently means "Funky & Western," so hopefully this will qualify....(They're folkies, but the Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman song is supposedly disco!)

BW wanted to call the record Black in the Saddle

Interestingly, that's exactly what Cowboy Troy called his (not very good) second album, hmmm...

There's a short instrumental on the Muskrats first album called "Funky Country." It is, kinda.

Deadly Nightshade aren't! From Buy That For A Dollar thread: mind-boggingly shitty so far; not all that funky or western -- and closer to show-tuney than folky, despite the discofied program music of the Mary Hartman theme (which may or may not be a cover); covering "Dancing in the Streets" is entirely pointless, maybe not worse than Bowie/ Jagger but definitely a lot worse than Van Halen's.

country funk LP

i never realized that Area Code 615's "Stone Fox Chase" was sampled by Bubba Sparxxx until right now. i don't have the album that one's on, but i do have the first one. i pulled it out again recently and it's pretty funky. here's Southern Comfort

hey Beck samples that Country Funk "Apart of Me"

country funk record has several excellent tunes, too bad they didn't do anything else

shakey, which beck song?

that photo of Bobby Womack is so incredible! I can't seem to track down a good copy of his "BW Goes C&W" album. I got to get that comp!
-- edd s hurt

I thought that was Cleavon Little in "Blazing Saddles"!

http://mysteryposter.blogspot.com/2008/11/swamp-salad.html

this has some super funky parts, also some excellent female vocals and FUZZ.

Nice!

I feel like I've heard Johnny Guitar before. Is it on a Tarantino film?

sequel cover even better than first one!

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i46/richbob/MOREDC.jpg

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Jerry Reed owns this...

and hel-lo dirty laundry album cover.

I feel like I've heard Johnny Guitar before. Is it on a Tarantino film?

i've got no idea! google isn't much of a help, either. but i wouldn't be surprised.

jim ford was super funky

There's a Jim Ford thread, but I still haven't heard him. Some say his own albums were too cute, others love 'em, but in his time (RIP, right?)was mainly known as a picker and writer, apparently (Heard a Fresh Air interview, which you could prob still access on or from their site, in which Nick Lowe talks about playing a session with Ford, how very good he was, and that Ford, Bobbie Gentry's ex, claimed to have written "Ode To Billy Joe," and Lowe, knowing Ford's and Gentry's other songs, was inclined to believe him). Don't know what version of "Johnny Guitar" is referred to here, but the original was theme of the 50s Westerd, directed by Nicholas Ray, though it's rich pulp, starring Joan Crawford in her late prime.Technicolor noir soap/horse opera, like if Douglas Sirk were to do a Western. (But that could be closer to country funk than Ray's flick, as Sirk's Tarnished Angels, based on Faulkner's Pylon, about wired, smoldering , rattle-in-the saddle Southern Gothic barnstorming pilots, kinda fits) I'd say Eddie Hinton, with yowling, raspy but sometimes sweet vocals and all kinds of Muscle Shoals instrumental talent, def incl his versatile own, displayed even or especially on demos collected for The Songwriting Sessions (first two vols are the essentials, 3. is more for Hinton junkies only, but 1. and 2. may collect you). Prob George Soule, but Edd Hurt could tell you more about him, and might try Dallas Frazier's The R&B Sessions (D.F. somewhut Hintonesque, but coming more from the country side, while barefoot Hinton heading back to it, dig his live intro bout walking way down the road to get a drink, and, I think, barefoot too, certainly sounds very plausible). Maybe Roky Erickson--"Cold Night For Alligators"? His voice is like Hinton's or Sir Doug's, but so much stronger, more like country-metal, like metal singers are supposed to sound (not that Doug didn't do country-funk-metal, like "Baby, It Just Don't Matter") Also, try Herbie Mann's Memphis Underground, especially the title track and "Chain of Fools," feat. Larry Coryell and Sonny Sharrock ,buzzing in the mud, surrounded by session cats and just enough of Herbie's flute. Also some/most of Link Wray's great mid-70s album, The Link Wray Rumble (on Epic, with notes by Pete Townshend), esp. his cover of Tony Joe's "Backwoods Preacher Man." Bill Withers' early 70s live album (forget the title, but think he only did one live)(see robertchristgau.com for good description of that and other Withers)

faster horses:

Can't stop listening to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORfoK5Ap0FA

<3 this thread

what are the best jim ford and joe south albums?

jim ford - harlan county and point of no return

yeah harlan county is the one i keep hearing about

reissued recently, right?

i only know "i'm gonna make her love me" but that's all time

Strongly recommend this comp http://lightintheattic.net/releases/729-country-funk-1969-1975

any joe south record with 'the games people play.'
harlan county by jim ford is great, but i am also partial to bigmouth USA (the unissued paramount album)

the barefoot jerry/area code 615 thread makes a good companion to this one tbh, and so does the west coast post-psych ssw country-rock thread

i think a lot of the unissued paramount and unissued capitol stuff appears on the point of no return record, but maybe different takes/mixes

this is a great record too --
http://skydogselysium.blogspot.com/2010/02/donnie-fritts-prone-to-lean-1974.html

Decades and decades of country rap

http://www.spin.com/articles/rap-country-uncomfortable-history-accidental-racist/

i'm gonna go ahead and leave this here since i didn't know where else to put it (other than the thread entitled "mixes you make while drunk"). some late night swampy country bizness i put together last night, all 45s.

https://soundcloud.com/ianhetzner/made-to-roam

(is there a way to embed soundcloud round here?)

1. tommy hubbard - take a look at my love
2. gene wyatt & dawn glass - go together
3. jim ford - big mouth, usa
4. jamey ryan - holy cow
5. pat lundy - only mama that'll walk the line
6. ola louise - blues stay away from me
7. gosdin bros. - there must be a someone (i can turn to)
8. werly fairburn - that's just how bad it is
9. bruce channel - the web
10. larry collins - outcast
11. jewell ausbon - family reunion
12. rob galbraith - maggie mcghee, the preacher's daughter
13. j. david sloan - one toke over the line
14. johnny roberts - i was made to roam
15. shuggy ray smith - pappa & santa claus

also, i would love to hear an entire mix of "harper valley p.t.a." / "ode to billie joe" rip offs. i only put one in here but there must be dozens. i mean, shit, jeannie c. riley and bobbie gentry made a handful of 'em themselves.

That's awesome moe! I was thinking of reviving this thread this week to share my spotify playlist but I wanted to curate it a little bit more... anyhow here's how it goes so far... there's a bit of swamp rock and blues thrown in for good measure so it's not strictly country funk but at least a fourth of them qualify as such:

http://open.spotify.com/user/moteldemoka/playlist/1A5LQOLAUa3TK6ChYLGeRw

also, i would love to hear an entire mix of "harper valley p.t.a." / "ode to billie joe" rip offs.

There's a comp called Country Soul Sisters on Soul Jazz that has a few of these. Pretty cool overall.

There's two, actually. Soul Jazz put out another not long ago.

Aretha's "With Pen In Hand," Dusty's "Son of a Preacher Man," Freda's "Band of Gold," prob sev by Staples Singers/Mavis (incl. some of her recent) all seem to fit theme of this tread. Thanks for the soundcloud, Moe.

Remember that country funk compilation from light in the attic? Volume II has arrived!

http://lightintheattic.net/releases/1176-country-funk-volume-ii-1967-1974

that 1st comp was a good one to have in the car.

That first one was good to have anywhere! I've got so much play out that, very excited for a volume II!

Oh cool. The first one was at-work/in-car/at-home entertainment for me for a year or so!

recently i discovered that you can "follow" people on spotify, so out of curiosity i looked at who was "following" me. this led to the discovery of a user with many, many playlists (i suspect it's an ilxor), and one playlist in particular focused on "funky country" or something like that caught me eye. i decided to make a companion playlist, with the only rules being that i wouldn't use any of the artists on that playlist, and of course the songs had to be on spotify. this is what i ended up with, following my normal sort of c60 format (leaving room for goofy sound collage / spoken word stuff like you do when you make a tape)

dale hawkins - "LA-memphis-tyler"
terry reid - "things to try"
dan penn - "tearjoint"
billy joe royal - "steal away"
ricky nelson - "sweet mary"
the band - "king harvest"
the meters - "wichita lineman"
skip easterling "i'm your hoochie koochie man"
moby grape - "love song"
dillard & clark - "don't let me down"
joe south - "motherless children"
bob dylan - "country pie"
bonnie raitt - "thank you"
neil young - "are you ready for the country?"
lee michaels - "heighty hi"

p.s. GOTT it's funny that our ILM paths would cross twice today re: dale hawkins !!!

lol Dale's the secret thread running through the universe

cool list!

xpost LITA's Country Funk Vol. 2 worth checking, but some tracks too self-congratulatory/novelty in ways more than earned. Lotta hot stuff on this thread, dunno how available now. I posted about ace Ace comps---Cover Me: The Eddie Hinton Songbook, Reggie Young's Guitar Session Star, maybe more---on yonder Sweet Soul Music thread, also see Ace site re their Penn-Oldham and other collections (you might have to add expected favorites in some cases, but they always turn up turnips new to me and welcome)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJwihdYfyN4

allen toussaint got mentioned once ITT 15 years ago. time to mention him again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA-G81xJT3U

oh god i love that song. "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further" is also a fucking jam

that song is like my daily affirmation, and the whole first album gets lots of play these days. i need more of his stuff.

oops i was thinking of the Lee Dorsey version, but Toussaint did record a cover w/Elvis Costello apparently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYcjW2MOZoI

hell yeah

Kelly Gordon's Defunked record veers into the corny a fair bit but it has this tune and a great duet w/Bobbie Gentry called Love Took My Heart And Mashed That Sucker Flat.

oops

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqEv-ZAyV8o

that's great

shuggie track is so good too, really angry with myself that i didn't think of it when i made my mix

Listening to this year's Pam Tillis, Looking For A Feeling, on YouTube, and damn if most of it isn't build on country funk, one way or another, though it's always a given, never a retro novelty, as scenes from earlier life ride the present. Cover is her in the orange shower w Oreo & wine.

70s Little Richard. Anyone mention him?

Oooh great call. His early-70s version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is a fave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYZW3a9LBf0

finally making time to work through the thread and listen to everything, track down recommended comps, etc. so much good stuff here, especially enjoying the two "country got soul" comps that jed mentions in '04

https://www.discogs.com/Various-Country-Got-Soul-Volume-One/release/1747107
https://www.discogs.com/Various-Country-Got-Soul-Volume-Two/release/2165569

haven't seen him mentioned but i feel like tim hardin could really get there sometimes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5D8XmAxTY0

wray brothers & co.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enXQE4gsKVs

The Tnder Things, "How You Make A Fool"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2s2HEbEyoU

Title track of current album, and the single, as it should be: most of the others are headphone growers (but keep growing, especially the arrangements and playing)

recently i discovered that you can "follow" people on spotify, so out of curiosity i looked at who was "following" me. this led to the discovery of a user with many, many playlists (i suspect it's an ilxor), and one playlist in particular focused on "funky country" or something like that caught me eye. i decided to make a companion playlist, with the only rules being that i wouldn't use any of the artists on that playlist, and of course the songs had to be on spotify. this is what i ended up with, following my normal sort of c60 format (leaving room for goofy sound collage / spoken word stuff like you do when you make a tape)

dale hawkins - "LA-memphis-tyler"
terry reid - "things to try"
dan penn - "tearjoint"
billy joe royal - "steal away"
ricky nelson - "sweet mary"
the band - "king harvest"
the meters - "wichita lineman"
skip easterling "i'm your hoochie koochie man"
moby grape - "love song"
dillard & clark - "don't let me down"
joe south - "motherless children"
bob dylan - "country pie"
bonnie raitt - "thank you"
neil young - "are you ready for the country?"
lee michaels - "heighty hi"

p.s. GOTT it's funny that our ILM paths would cross twice today re: dale hawkins !!!

― budo jeru

Was it me? I follow a lot of ILM posters but I always have a hard time relating their board nicknames to their spotify profiles.

it might no be me but here’s a playlist I’ve used for years now:

https://open.spotify.com/user/moteldemoka/playlist/1A5LQOLAUa3TK6ChYLGeRw

It’s in heavy need of a cleanup though.

Here's my equivalent playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4135h0uHLl7WxL6DdUrjJt?si=nqUk0O0zRjimCgp6XuPt9Q

Remember that country funk compilation from light in the attic? Volume II has arrived!

http://lightintheattic.net/releases/1176-country-funk-volume-ii-1967-1974

― Moka, Wednesday, May 21, 2014 2:43 PM (six years ago) bookmarkflaglink

We need Volume III!

wasn't Moka or bendy but thanks for sharing !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drQmtlqrBso
Free Beer - I'm in Love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMe_ycQzdxs
Bobby Charles - Street People

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNpqKCOLi2Y
Rev. Ether, The Kingdom, The Power & The Glory - 1862 B. P. [Et Cet'er-A] 1970 Soul Funk 45

Oh yeah, the elusive Rev. Ether, thanks for reminder. Willie Nelson w Mavis Staples, "Grandma's Hands," Willie with Tony Joe White, Jamey Johnson, Leon Russell, "God's Problem Child"---he's prob got some more.

Ronnie Barron's Reverend Ether LP is just generally great if you like some New Orleans in your country funk.

"Freeway Mama," "Duke of Crenshaw" and "Don't Let My Husband Catch You" are all monster tunes.

Supposedly even better, according to xgau---I've never seen it:
Blues Delicacies, Vol. 1 [Vivid Sound, 1980]
The erstwhile Reverend Ether, who worked as Paul Butterfield's sideman after declining Dr. John's shingle, here adds a respectfully raunchy collection of standards to the modest store of first-rate New Orleans rock and roll LPs. This is no Wild Tchoupitoulas or Fats Domino or Crawfish Fiesta, but it sure holds its own against Mac Rebennack's Gumbo or Lee Dorsey's Yes We Can. A minor delight for the aficionado and a revelation for the uninitiated. Problem is, it'll cost you 15 bucks as a Japanese import, if you can find it. Rounder, Alligator, Flying Fish--help! Warners--oh never mind. A-
I found Dr. John's Gumbo a revelation at first, and a not-fail party record ever after; Christgau liked it pretty well too, so that's a pretty encouraging compliment. Still haven't heard Yes We Can, but a friend had a good boot of his Clash tour.

"blue delicacies" is very much throwback '50s NOLA r&b, it's just okay imo and p distinct from the funky gumbo country mélange that is "reverend ether"

dow if you haven't heard lee's "yes we can" LP, you really have to find a way to track it down soon !

Oh yeah. And prob something from this fits (it's on Ace, so hey):

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/714AfEMgK5L._SL1200_.jpg

https://www.discogs.com/Various-Sweet-Inspiration-The-Songs-Of-Dan-Penn-Spooner-Oldham/release/3181187

Barbara Mandrell's work with Billy Sherill on her first couple of lps is pretty good r'n'b drenched stuff. Not sure if that equates to totally funky but I do like the 2lps I got together.

Those are great records, they have a lot in common with Diana Track’s best stuff I think.

Trask, that says.

what's a good place to start with diana trask ?

xp can't go wrong with penn / oldham

Reminds me of the time someone said to my friend Mr. Fine Wine “You can’t go wrong with Spooner and Oldham.”

Also true. Though Arthur and Will are more hardcore.

I only know two or three Trask lps but my favourites are “Diana’s Country” and “Miss Country Soul” are my favourites (in that order).

These two are from Diana’s Country: The Chokin’ Kind, Don’t Let It Get Away

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FE0hAdRm8JM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hdm4-f-7YXU

Hey now, it’s Vol. III: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/various-artists-country-funk-volume-iii-1975-1982/

(great review, btw)

Oh this is so good!

No Don Williams?!?

just heard the first volume...excellent!! everything on here reminds me of Parliament's first album

Speaking of the xpost self-titled Bobby Charles album, I posted about the deeluxe edition on The Band's thread, def a relevant feel for this thread too:
Yall I just listened to the xpost Bobby Charles Rhino Handmade 3-CD expansion digital ghost on Spotify (also available as downloads, like maybe all the Handmades; I've noticed Fugs, Beefheart, Television): two more LPs-worth of good-to excellent tracks, which hopefully he still had the rights to put (w/o re-recording) on yon self-released albums, when he reportedly fled Woodstock Babylon for Sweet Home Louisiana(nuthin weird goin' on down there, nuh-uh). Listening this way, I don't have the CD booklet, but who specifically played what on what has always been conjectural, according to my not-very-extensive research, and a lot of this sounds as Bandy as the original s/t; also, several cuts sound like they might incl. Garth *and* Dr. John, ideally enough. Anybody looking for cover material should def. check this out, "You Were There" def. rec. to Willie (Geoff Muldaur and the aforementioned Ronnie Barron are among other likely contributors to those sessions.)

My take on xpost Country Funk 3---this goes on a while, but doesn't tell about nearly all of it [17 tracks]:

Country Funk 3 1975-1982: Judging by round-ups on this site, I seem not to have heard 2012's Country Funk 1969-1975, but did peg 2014's Country Funk 2 1967-1974: (often very stoned, mainly too consistently happy (& sometimes self-congratz 4 bing funkee) to be more country than countryoid---Isn't Western Swing often damn happy? Yes, but it's Western) Well picky picky. So they're countryoid, so what. Self-congratz was more of a problem, but here the funkiness per se is more relaxed, more of a given, with suggestion of NOLA (and Memphis, thinking of early 70s Hi Rhythm): such as Dr. John discretion of the strut, chick-chick-chicken butt and peck of the clavinet and organ, even a savoir d' Allan Toussaint to the horns sometimes; somebody's been studying all that. Disco is a given too, but meant to sound eager–-so LIght In The Attic's catalog page puts it: As the 1970s began to wane and the 1980s approached, the Country Funk pallet expanded to include disco beats, heavy Moog synth bass lines and more clavinet than you could shake a stick at. Volume III shows artists continuing to buck traditional country tropes and production while embracing modern soul, disco, and coked-up 80s synth-pop. This is the true soundtrack of the Urban Cowboy. Saddle up, partners.

Welp, we might need a little help with that, hoss, cause the more disco this sounds, sometimes the more generic, the kind of disco that waned with the aforementioned 70s, 'til the whole per se genre hit a wall in early 80s, at the latest—sure, country tends to run a little behind with mainstream crossovers from the urban clubs etc., and deliberately so, after Saturday Night Fever was re-edited and spread through fly-over suburbs, and my friend's country-to-metro parents snuck downtown to take disco lessons at an Arthur Murray studio (busted by their kids, who suspected them of having joined a cult or somethin)---then and only then, with Revolta trading the white suit and chains of SAF for Urban Cowboy duds (though the actual soundtrack of that was not country funk-disco, cause aimed at the now post-disco mainstream, more like the New Traditionalism of 70s-80s cusp country, only softer-edged), could the country artists' embracing really begin, as they run to catch up with the disco train, now leaving the station. So they can sound excited, still happy, not too stoned now, professional, and certainly sem-romantically horny to a newly overt degree(a little anxious about that sometimes, but part of the excitement).

LITA mentions country tropes: Cousin Conway Twitty reports back, maybe sends us a postcard, about how if you go to the city, up high and look down, you can see folks setting "NIght Fires" on the ground, and those rhyme with "sweet desires," making the moon shine all night long, and he sounds like he loves to see people getting together, in the city and back home, people everywhere need it, just come on in, hallelujah!

Larry Jon Wilson's country trope trophy doesn't mention dancing or fire or desire or any fresh excitement, though he is guardedly hopeful, despite working down in Deatsville, which I know people from, and how it's got him down, and a preacher notices, says, "Come on along to my big church, and bring some money." Larry Jon, remembering his father taking him to a little country church, declines the invitation, says he's still looking for "Heaven on a dirt road." Music pulses under there like distant cousins of sandworms. A fairly dark atmosphere, but maybe just because he's tired with no streetlights; that's my hope.

Another country trope, though it was certainly and prob mainly a movie one too, for quite a while, had , still, in the years these tracks were made, to do with singles running around and around, while their friends and neighbors get married, or already are: the former become something of a vicarious thrill and/or point of concerned speculation for the latter —thus Brian Hyland's "Hale The Man"---maybe sic, or maybe ironic salute–-Hail Hale, you the man and the gang's all here, but you live alone, so why you try to hard to get into that party, while runnin' runnin', and livin' to regret it (spoiler). So maybe there's a tension, a nervous energy to some of the eagerness here. But Travis Wammack doesn't feel it, he's grinning in the shadows, prob best he lets the music do most of the talking, walking up with a rhythm guitar that sounds like a rusty farm implement well-repurposed—then it gets psychedelisized, as the Chambers Brothers would say, and then the whole track does, maybe with synths for horns and the LITA-mentioned Moog bass line, some more voices.

Dolly Parton doesn't seem to feel the tension either, or if she does, she successfully pushes back, with a regal step, ready to chose the man "who will dance me home,"(home is another country trope) if and only if such a one proves qualified: no last call desperation here. For she is a lady who has it all together, a modern one too, and now it can be told, even in a country-aimed song (quite a few country years after Loretta Lynn's "The Pill," but that was not a trendsetter). So too with, sounds like, whichever of Gary & Sandy is singing,"Come on and take it like a man," with a reassurance, or at least warmth, in the smiler's message, "I won't bite, too hard anyway, but ready." Take me home and make me like it! Ronnie Milsap sounds truly ready to "Get it up, get down, giveitallyagot, and get out": that's the chorus, with his lover's even more specific instructions quoted in verse:, lessons learned, says he could go on all night—gets faded out while he's saying it, ha ha, but he's already done 5:21, by far the longest here!

Which can be frustrating—"always leave them wanting more," sure, but how about some club mixes, LITA? If you can't find any for these, find some others, or make some. As written, some of these don't get very far: premise verse, chorus clincher, placeholder verse, gimme that chorus again, the end. Or just verse, chorus, chorus, the end. The usual country approach is to make the stasis more appealing, at least. But sometimes it works here as a statement, not quite standing pat (Dolly and Gary & Sandi and Ronnie make their positions clear, while still in motion, like holograms flying sideways). Terri Gibbs spells it out a little at the end, for us, but maybe also for herself, note to self, in case you're wavering: remembers looking nice in a new dress, while Mama's warning her not to get stuck, like Mama did, with "a no-good gambler for 27 years, get yourself a rich man." Later, she also recalls Mama "in a raggedy old dress, down on her knees scrubbin' the floor—ain't gonna let no destitute fool put a ring on me, gonna get myself a rich man." Cut, print, that's all we need, the way she does it.

In a way it's a story song, and so is Billy Swan's "Oliver Swan," who was laughed at, country and homeless, but with something stashed somewhere, his little hoard–-drunk and shambling, "Oliver Swan had no one." But one night, he stumbles across a flying saucerful of women, "looking for a guy." (Close as this song gets to dance club tropes, verbally, though got a nice beat.) He asks them to excuse him, he'll be back in just a minute.

(Also there's one previously unreleased, amazingly so: "Alone at Last," by Tony Joe White, steady as ever, more poignant than sometimes, even before he suddenly climbs a staircase line, like I didn't know he could do: whole thing is spare and intimate and mobile as a Silk Degrees demo might be.)(Come to think of it, why isn't Boz Scaggs on here? Too expensive? Not available?)

17 tracks, I'd say 11, 12, anyway an LP's worth of keepers, so far.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGwQpcKyjIcuwefRF7rUz1BLEwe8mJ__1

Sent that to Edd Hurt, and he replied:
The only track here I knew is Dennis Linde's "Down to the Station." Linde is a curious figure, cut his stuff as a one-man band. Christgau reviewed one of his albums, pointing out his lack of vocal character. That's fair enough, I think. Linde's "Trapped in the Suburbs" got airplay in Nashville in the '70s, and none of his albums are on CD. I have the albums, including what some think is his best, Linde Manor, which Jerry Kennedy (a guitarist and producer who worked with Faron Young and many others in the '70s) produced with Billy Swan in 1970. DJ Shadow sampled one of the tracks on Endtroducing.
Looks like the Rob Galbraith single is a lead-up to his 1976 album Throw Me a Bone, which is sort of yacht-rockin', hipster-jazz-R&B stuff akin to what Donnie Fritts was doing around the same time. Better sung than Fritts. I know Rob pretty well, used to see him play with his R&B band--including Genesis-Zappa drummer Chester Thompson--at a now-defunct club in Nashville. Always a good show. Rob has produced Ronnie Milsap since the '80s. I recommend his 1970 Nashville Dirt, which is sparer than Throw Me a Bone and even class-conscious; Numero Group released a bunch of his demos in 2016.
I have a bunch of Travis Wammack records, including two he did in the early '80s, A Man...and a Guitar and Follow Me. But his 1972 self-titled album on Fame may be his best (he's still playing in Muscle Shoals and probably still doing his big instrumental hit "Scratchy"). This is the most psychodynamic of its tracks, "I Don't Really Want You," which has the most interesting structure of anything I've heard him do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERCYB3w_g6k

Talking about rednecks, I recommend Joe South's "Redneck," which Swamp Dogg covered.

I love "Oliver Swan," because it's great to hear how Billy Swan condenses prog rock into three minutes. I don't think Nick Lowe could have done much better.

Looking back at the 1969-1975 comp, I notice they picked the best non-hit song off Johnny Adams' Shelby Singleton-produced album Heart & Soul, which was the result of Adams working with New Orleans producer Wardell Quezergue on a remake of "Release Me" that attracted Singleton's attention. Heart & Soul also features "Reconsider Me," Adams' biggest hit.

Also, Dale Hawkins's L.A., Memphis & Tyler, Texas is an OK album that often just seems obvious. But there's one great track he cut with help from Dan Penn at Ardent Studios in Memphis, "Little Rain Cloud" (you can hear Penn singing in the background). Notable for a great guitar sound Big Star fans might recognize, it's a one-chord boogie that's about as psychedelic as soul-country stuff gets:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHRA52f1g1E

I like Linde's joeky, quirky, processed vocals on the Country Funk 3 track; whether he "has" enough vocal character or not, he is one. Edd sent me Rob Galbraith's Nashville Dirt, which is real good, before he settled into the yacht rock mode Edd mentions, pretty much the CF3 track, which is okay in its way. Great to know Travis Wammack is still at it!

every time I listen to this stuff a cigarette magically appears in my mouth

picked up Vol 3. man, that Dennis Linde track is great.

I'm not sure if it's too obvious a pick but it eludes me why this wasn't a pick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFNM7nG2OUQ

This Eli "Paperboy" Reed tribute album to Mearle Haggard, "Down Every Road" is pretty damn funky, like a 60s Soul James Brown kinda funk.

Thanks---and the Parliament post reminds me: looks like YouTube still has a good stash of GrooveGrass Boyz---Doc Watson and B-B-b-Bootsy Collins, with others.

Clover's 1977 album Unavailable

Okay in truth its quite horrid session/muso MOR but it has a great Barney Bubbles sleeve

Oh yeah---this wiki is flagged as unverified, but have seen references along the same lines elsewhere, also most of these guys did get credits, except the ones who backed EC, but several things about his debut have mentioned Clover:

Clover was an American country rock band formed in Mill Valley, California, United States and active from 1967 to 1978.[1] Clover are best known as the backing band for Elvis Costello's 1977 debut album My Aim Is True (recorded in the UK), and for its members going into greater success with Huey Lewis and the News, The Doobie Brothers, Toto, and Lucinda Williams...McFee, Ciambotti, Hopper and Shine (but not Louis or Call) backed Elvis Costello on his debut album My Aim Is True.[1] These musicians were not credited on the release for contractual reasons; some contemporary publicity for the album identified Costello's backing band as "The Shamrocks."

Was not ready for these breaks on Willie's Roadhouse this afternoon...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zWJsFYFMc8

Connie Smith: "If It Ain't Love...", 1972

local shop actually had a used copy of Vol 2 last month which I snapped up for 20 bucks. it hasn't been repressed yet (and might not ever?) so it's selling for significantly more than that, though idk who's buying them exactly

I'm on a Summer Dean kick and she's got a few pretty funky cuts..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znRsnNRh5l0

Today I listened to Bobby Darin's "Commitment" (1969), released credited to Bob Darin, Scott Engel-style. Quite a few tracks there are sorta country funk, not what you'd expect from Darin at all. Any fans here?