Martin's funk thread

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So on Friday I got home from work to a package inside the front door, of CDRs filled with albums in MP3 form - just over 500 albums in total. I'd like to credit the person who sent me this fantastic gift, but since that might risk him being inundated with "Um, any chance...?" emails I'll wait for him to own up, or until he gives me permission. It's maybe a quarter jazz, the rest funk (I realise that narrows down the possible senders).

The process of spreading them out, avoiding cherrypicking so that I end up with stacks of stuff by people I'm not sure about, or leaving all the jazz to last, is interesting to me, but mostly I want to talk here about the actual music. I'm not promising a review of every album (I may start a parallel jazz thread, not sure), and they'll vary a lot in size, but I thought it might be worth scribbling things here about what I play.

General notes: funk evolved largely from James Brown moving more and more towards rhythm and away from melody - this is the key movement from soul to funk. It's been blessed with a lot of extraordinarily skilled musicians, and while this has permitted breathtaking tightness and precision, it has also allowed a freedom to get very loose, almost sloppy. Another major influence came from Sly Stone's having feet in the soul camp and in West Coast psychedlic rock - that strand is particularly well represented in these albums, especially by 100 or so that are part of George Clinton's P-Funk extended family. Note also that the '70s was a period when the rock album became a major critical paradigm, where profundity (or the illusion of same), difficulty, intelligence, technique (especially overt displays of same) were all highly lauded, and fun, partying and calls to the heart and feet often weren't - this made this strand of funk a very big one. We also have elements of '60s southern soul (that still set the vocal paradigm for funk even as rock had a huge effect on the instrumental thinking); Motown/Northern Soul and the sweet soul of the '70s (the line between this and funk is sometimes hard to draw); and it was these last and funk that led to disco, and many acts from both went into this more commercially successful but less critically admired genre; and although I've said these DVDRs were three funk albums to one jazz album, the two aren't so separate, in that jazz-funk was a big area. Again, we have the critical approval (up to a point) and the respect for musical technique, and this was a major strand in soundtracks especially, alongside the now-funky soul veterans like Curtis and Isaac.

Anyway, I'll start a new post for each album I want to say something about. Besides the ones I have already listened to at home, I have burnt a CDR for walkman listening during the week: albums by Albert King, the Barkays, Betty Davis, Charles Mingus, Funkadelic, Graham Central Station, Grant Green, Jimmy McGriff, Maze, Sly & the Family Stone, Zapp.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 29 January 2006 13:46 (eighteen years ago) link

Note: the title isn't meant to exclude others talking about any of this stuff, of course.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 29 January 2006 13:47 (eighteen years ago) link

Mandrill - Mandrill
Their debut. A largeish funk band. It starts well, but does ramble off down some experimental blind alleys here and there. My heart sunk a little when I saw the title 'Peace and Love Movement I (Birth)' - and four more movements after it. Too much fannydangle, as a friend of mine would put it.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 29 January 2006 13:47 (eighteen years ago) link

Trey Lewd - Drop The Line
Great name - sex and, by rhyming association, drugs. This is post-PFunk stuff, with the occasional hint of an awareness of hiphop (it's from 1992). It's mostly solid enough and perfectly fine to listen to, but I can't remember too much more about it already.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 29 January 2006 13:48 (eighteen years ago) link

Bootsy Collins - Live In Oklahoma 1976
This would be just after he spun the Rubber Band off from the main PFunk outfits, and the fact that Stretchin' Out is the last number played probably ties it to the time when that was a hit. It's great: that odd mix of sloppiness and tightness (remember Bootsy was James Brown's bassist for a couple of years - he could do tight with the best of them), and fun throughout.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 29 January 2006 13:49 (eighteen years ago) link

Isley Brothers - Givin' It Back
The sense of going for intellectual appreciation more than party fun is obvious from the album cover: the three of them sit there looking serious in black and white, each with an acoustic guitar. This 1971 album is between their occasionally wondrous Motown days and their shiny-jumpsuit fuzz-guitar disco glories. Fortunately it isn't a folky album, but kind of a sweet soul workout with a singer-songwriter flavour, and they are as ever a joy to listen to. The songs sometimes deliver a clear political message, despite being all covers, except when they are simply covering Stills and Dylan (Lay Lady Lay) and James Taylor - the highspot is the opening bootleg soundclash of Neil Young and Hendrix. A fantastic and odd album from one of my favourite bands ever.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 29 January 2006 13:50 (eighteen years ago) link

Donald Byrd - Electric Byrd
This is jazz-funk, unless it's funky jazz, and very impressive, though its music is rather introspective and slow to get going. Three of the four tracks on the album top ten minutes. Byrd was a trumpeter, and the influence of Miles Davis is audible here even to me - Bitches Brew, most clearly.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 29 January 2006 13:50 (eighteen years ago) link

Bookmarking this thread. Thank you Martin.

― Masked Gazza, Sunday, 29 January 2006 15:05 (eighteen years ago) link

Martin's started a funk thread! God that makes me happy.

― Bimble brings a lawn chair to antartica so he can sit and drink silver coff (Bim, Sunday, 29 January 2006 18:28 (eighteen years ago) link

Brides of Funkenstein - Funk Or Walk
This is a 1978 George Clinton album, more or less, but the name stars are two female singers who toured with the P-Funk setup. There's also some kind of association with some of the Dramatics. Anyway, this is Clinton, and most of it sounds like Parliament at the time, but a couple don't, including one slow ballad. I don't think the singers are particularly terrific, sadly, and since showcasing them is the main distinction here, it's not that thrilling.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 29 January 2006 19:24 (eighteen years ago) link

I was more expecting a "haven't you got a blog you can fill up with this drivel?" response, so thanks!

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 29 January 2006 19:24 (eighteen years ago) link

I have that Brides of Funkenstein album, sadly the sleeve's the most entertaining thing about it.

http://www.whizzkid1.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/bridefunkenstein.jpg

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Sunday, 29 January 2006 20:21 (eighteen years ago) link

I like that Brides album. I have it on vinyl too. The Trey Lewd is rubbish though.
I think you will prefer the other Mandrill stuff, Martin. The 2nd album is my fave.

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Sunday, 29 January 2006 20:25 (eighteen years ago) link

Rick James - Come Get It
Someone I know much more by reputation and image than by his music - I think I'd only heard Superfreak. Big in the US at one time, but no hits in the UK at all. There's all sorts in here, Motown and funk jams and rock and ballads and seduction and drugs and glamour. He holds it together really well, and while it's uneven, this is a terrific album. He might become a favourite - and the megastack includes half a dozen of his albums, hurrah!

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 29 January 2006 21:11 (eighteen years ago) link

One of the effects of all this is probably that a P-Funk album a bit below par will seem poorer than it actually is among all the prime ones; whereas something a little different - and Trey qualifies by it being a '90s record rather than a '50s one - sounds fresh and gains points for that.

Possibly still to come tonight: Headhunters, Kool & the Gang.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 29 January 2006 21:16 (eighteen years ago) link

This thread is making me happy!

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Sunday, 29 January 2006 21:19 (eighteen years ago) link

By the time he's reviewed every album maybe the thread will rival the Dave Matthews Thread.

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Sunday, 29 January 2006 21:34 (eighteen years ago) link

I think that Bootsy live album is the one I've been after for years. It is if it has the version of Psychoticbumpinschool (or whatever) that's on the best-of.

― Jordan (Jordan), Sunday, 29 January 2006 22:22 (eighteen years ago) link

It does indeed have that track on it, but I don't know if it is the same as the version on the best of.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 29 January 2006 22:34 (eighteen years ago) link

Headhunters - Survival of the Fittest
This is really great - my favourite so far. The Headhunters were mostly Herbie Hancock's band, and this was their first outing without him. It's mostly instrumental, spacey jazzy funk with lots of terrific percussion. The playing is particularly great on this, with lots going on, wonderfully arranged and produced and coordinated - by Hancock. Musically it seems to combine so many of the best virtues of jazz and funk, seamlessly. Really wonderful.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 29 January 2006 22:34 (eighteen years ago) link

Re the Trey Lewd/90s Pfunk I think my favourite of that stuff is the Michael Hampton album and the O.G. Funk album which I shall reprint what AMG says about it.

In contrast to the multiple side projects that involve Parliament-Funkadelic alumni (such as Slave Master and Hardware), O.G. Funk is actually a P-Funk project through and through. Some of P-Funk's most legendary graduates -- Bernie Worrell, Billy "Bass" Nelson, Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey, and Gary "Mudbone" Cooper, along with such collaborators as Grandmaster Melle Mel and Bill Laswell -- construct a sound that's very close to mid-period Funkadelic records such as Let's Take It to the Stage and Cosmic Slop. The music ranges from the "Maggot Brain"-like epic "Music for My Brother," an instrumental tribute to Eddie Hazel, to the thundering funk-rock of "Yeah Yeah Yeah" (which recasts the intro to Funkadelic's "Music for My Mother") to "I Wanna Know" (a reworking of "I Wanna Know If It's Good to You"). Unfortunately, such borrowing does highlight the album's one noticeable flaw -- frequently, it seems that Nelson and Brailey are simply resting on their laurels by rehashing their earlier, more successful Funkadelic songs. It is certainly true, though, that Worrell, Nelson, and Brailey have every right to reaffirm their connection to a past they had a big part in creating. (It doesn't hurt that the musicianship is top-notch.) The album also has enough original tracks, such as "Don't Take Your Love From Me" and the title track, to be worth one's while. Out of the Dark should be required listening for P-Funk fans, but even newcomers will find plenty to enjoy here.

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Sunday, 29 January 2006 22:56 (eighteen years ago) link

Trey Lewd was George's son, yeah?

― kit brash (kit brash), Sunday, 29 January 2006 23:30 (eighteen years ago) link

No idea.

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Monday, 30 January 2006 00:10 (eighteen years ago) link

Just googled it. It's his son Tracey Lewis.

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Monday, 30 January 2006 00:24 (eighteen years ago) link

great thread martin, keep it up.

― Hairy Asshurt (Toaster), Monday, 30 January 2006 00:48 (eighteen years ago) link

God I better take notes pretty soon here, when I'm less inebriated.

― Bimble brings a lawn chair to antartica so he can sit and drink silver coff (Bim, Monday, 30 January 2006 01:27 (eighteen years ago) link

I hope Martin does a jazz thread too.
Maybe this will inspire others to do a similar thread on other genres like krautrock/hip hop/prog rock/metal/dance music etc

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Monday, 30 January 2006 09:47 (eighteen years ago) link

Not many people will suddenly have several hundred new albums in one genre.

Also, I'm not sure about a jazz thread, partly because I think I have even less of interest to say on that than on funk, and partly because the selection is more dominated by a few people - out of at a guess 130 jazz albums, 25 are by Grant Green, 22 (this is from work and therefore from memory so may be inaccurate) by Charles Mingus, 17 by Jimmy Smith and that's already half of it. I think Funkadelic may be the only act in the funk three-quarters to hit that high a count, and that's out of 370 or so. I may have something to say about Grant Green, but it seems unlikely I'll have new things to say about each of his albums.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 30 January 2006 13:47 (eighteen years ago) link

So Martin's Progressive And Psychedelic Rock Thread is not going to happen then ? ;)

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Monday, 30 January 2006 13:57 (eighteen years ago) link

The Headhunters' drummer was Harvey Mason, who was pretty ubiquitous as a session jazz musician in the 70's, but rarely gets as much praise as some of the more flashier drummers of ythe era, such as Billy Cobham (not that there's anything wrong with him). Anyway, he's among my favourite drummers of all time, just listen to "Shiftless Shuffle" by Herbie or Sunburst by Eddie Henderson and you know why.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 30 January 2006 13:58 (eighteen years ago) link

What about Mike Clarke? Didn't he drum for the Headhunters?

― Redd Harvest (Ken L), Monday, 30 January 2006 14:19 (eighteen years ago) link

Big in the US at one time, but no hits in the UK at all.

I cannot comprehend this (not that I would question Martin's knowledge).

just listen to "Shiftless Shuffle" by Herbie or Sunburst by Eddie Henderson and you know why.

Sunburst is one of my favorite albums of the era. Galaxy: UNGH!

"Never Buy Texas from a Cowboy" is easily the best thing the Brides of Funkenstein did. Rhino Handmade needs to reissue the album of the same name, just so it can be back in print.

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Monday, 30 January 2006 14:36 (eighteen years ago) link

POST MORE MARTIN! I'm loving your writing and envy that you have all this funk to listen to!

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Monday, 30 January 2006 14:58 (eighteen years ago) link

So on Friday I got home from work to a package inside the front door, of CDRs filled with albums in MP3 form - just over 500 albums in total.

If I was you Martin, I'd check I hadn't died and gone to (funk) heaven.

http://www.rerock4ever.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/TS/PRLTSDRK304.jpg

― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:08 (eighteen years ago) link

An absolutely astonishing gift, and Martin's easily one of the few folks I'd trust to do justice to the subject. :-) Rah this thread!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:10 (eighteen years ago) link

Have you got any Gap Band in this lot Martin? (Not that I want to pre-empt yr expositions.)

― The Man in the Iron-On Mask (noodle vague), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:16 (eighteen years ago) link

He doesn't. I told you that last night.

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:27 (eighteen years ago) link

LOLZ.

I don't remember asking. Was I harping on?

― The Man in the Iron-On Mask (noodle vague), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:30 (eighteen years ago) link

You asked if i knew if he had any gap band and I said that they weren't on the dvdrs he got. He may well have the original vinyl.
Soul/Disco et al is very much his field I think.

I'm hoping Martin might review some of his own collection eventually to enlighten us all more.

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:32 (eighteen years ago) link

... give the boy a chance, he's got 500 albums to review here, ov vey!

― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:35 (eighteen years ago) link

What about Mike Clarke? Didn't he drum for the Headhunters?

Yeah, sorry, I got things mixed up. Harvey Mason was the drummer for the original Headhunters, but Mike Clarke replaced him, and does indeed play on Survival of the Fittest.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 30 January 2006 16:15 (eighteen years ago) link

Andy K, Rick James had five singles chart between 41 and 60, but since we have never had more than 40 highlighted on TV or radio, this counts as no hits.

My Gap Band album collection remains at zero, sadly.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 30 January 2006 19:22 (eighteen years ago) link

Dammit I accidentally deleted my 'Kool & the Gang' (their debut) review, and don't have it in me to recreate it, but: 1st track, album title and act name are all the same, which I don't think I've come across before; tragically it doesn't go "Hey hey we're Kool and the Gang"; this is funk, but the roots of the more shiny, glossy, romantic disco act are all very obvious. It's a fine album.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 30 January 2006 19:26 (eighteen years ago) link

Oh no!!! Please rewrite it!!!

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Monday, 30 January 2006 19:29 (eighteen years ago) link

Bar-Kays - Black Rock - Gotta Groove
This is actually two albums, but I didn't realise that when I grabbed it off one of the stack of DVDs, since it's in one folder (a twofer, presumably). It's kind of patchy, but you forgive a lot of a band that had most of its membership killed along with Otis Redding. There's all sorts tried here: the ground is Memphis soul, as befits Booker T & the MGs' stand-ins, but there's Sly-style psychedelia, a couple of bloody Beatles covers, soul ballads, and plenty of party music heading towards funk. Some is misjudged, but these people can really play, and when they get it right it's tremendous. There are about 10 Bar-Kays albums, and I'm looking forward to hearing the rest.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 30 January 2006 19:29 (eighteen years ago) link

Yeah thats a 2 albums on 1 cd job. Love it. Apart from the bloody beatles covers. Which were quite ubiquitous in soul and jazz albums in the 60s.

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Monday, 30 January 2006 19:45 (eighteen years ago) link

Yes, and almost always a terrible mistake. They were the worst tracks on a short sequence of Aretha albums, for instance.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 20:26 (eighteen years ago) link

Ha! I've learned to love or at least like the Aretha versions of "Eleanor Rigby" and "Let It Be," but I know what you mean.

― Redd Harvest (Ken L), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 20:32 (eighteen years ago) link

I like The Beatles, but i don't wish to ever hear any covers.
Especially "Yesterday" which is always bloody covered. It's impossible to escape.

My parents have a Tijuana Brass Band lp of Beatles Covers that someone gave them many years back. I doubt it's ever been played.

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 20:42 (eighteen years ago) link

Maybe you should give it to the JBR and that could be her "way in."

― Redd Harvest (Ken L), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 20:43 (eighteen years ago) link

Skipping 291 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

(bah i should do some more of those lessons: the next one wz tyrannosaurus rex)

― mark s (mark s), Monday, 6 March 2006 21:16 (eighteen years ago) link

Rick James - Bustin' Out Of L Seven
I've found my American friends are mystified at his almost non-existent musical profile here, but he had zero top 40 hits in the UK. I'm certainly a fan by now, and this is good, but this one rather washed over me without making too much impression - lacks a strong tune or two, I thought.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 11 March 2006 12:28 (eighteen years ago) link

Slave - The Hardness Of The World
I got some stick for being too dismissive of the first Slave album I played, so I paid a bit more attention this time. The music is probably stronger and richer than I'd noticed, but some things are much worse. 'Can't Get Enough Of You' may be the most rubbish lyric I've ever heard. Had I not been paying attention, I'd not have noticed the vacuity of the words; overall, still not a fan.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 11 March 2006 12:29 (eighteen years ago) link

Tal Ross - Aka Detrimental Vasoline-Giant Shirley
Is there some P-Funk link here? Most of the dreary rock in the stash proves to have some connection back to George Clinton. This is rolling, boogying stuff rather than guitar hero wanking, and his voice is likeable in an inept soul kind of way, but it's not my thing.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 11 March 2006 12:29 (eighteen years ago) link

J.B.'s - Doing It To Death
I'm not sure if this is real-live or the old soul studio-live, but whatever, producer James Brown is all over this with chants and intros and stuff. It's absolutely magnificent playing - there aren't many bands I'd rather listen to than the great J.B.'s line-ups. The material here is short of stellar, but the punch and energy with which they play it are irresistible.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 11 March 2006 12:29 (eighteen years ago) link

Otis Day & The Nights - Shout
You might recognise the name: this was the band at the party in Animal House. It was created for the movie, with an actor in the front role, but someone had the smart idea of making it into a real band, with the same actor singing. They toured successfully, and George Clinton produced this album. It makes gestures at his kind of funk in the early tracks, and otherwise goes for party R&B. Neither is any good, frankly.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 11 March 2006 12:29 (eighteen years ago) link

Rufus & Chaka Khan - Master Jam
I'm not sure about this one. I like Rufus's punchy funk, and I like Quincy Jones slick productions, but I'm not convinced they belong together. It seems to lose the edge without becoming as smoothly lovely as QJ's best. We still get Chaka Khan's potent singing, so it's still an enjoyable album.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 11 March 2006 12:29 (eighteen years ago) link

Stone City Band - Boys Are Back
I hadn't realised that this was Rick James' backing band, and Rick produced this and wrote some of it. He's not wasting his best material on them, and some of this is hopelessly lame. At its best, it's still only pretty good.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 11 March 2006 12:30 (eighteen years ago) link

War - Deliver The Word
Another that I'm equivocal about. A couple of really terrific funk numbers (especially Me And Baby Brother), but lots of faffing around elsewhere, too much of the jazz and even '70s rock/prog tendencies in places. Some great tracks, but not an album I can love.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 11 March 2006 12:30 (eighteen years ago) link

Commodores - Movin' On
I dare say it's the backwards-influence of decades of annoying blandness since, and if Lionel Richie or the group had never had all the Easy/Hello ballad hits I would find him a decent soul singer, maybe better - but I can't. The instrumental funk numbers are pretty good - though I didn't think there's anything as kinetic as Machine Gun, for instance - but the Lionel slowies really put me off.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 11 March 2006 12:30 (eighteen years ago) link

Tawl Ross was guitarist on the early Funkadelic albums along with Eddie Hazel!!!!
He was one of the drug casualties and didn't make anything after funkadelic until that album in the 90s.

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Saturday, 11 March 2006 12:41 (eighteen years ago) link

Fabulous Counts - Jan Jan
An uneven album more in the instrumental R&B vein than funk, for the most part. It kind of takes off occasionally with a wild party vibe and plenty of hammond, and I like it a lot at those moments - but they really aren't frequent enough.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 16:35 (eighteen years ago) link

oh also: sorry to anyone who cares, and I will try to get back to a better schedule than weekly.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 16:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Albert King - Blues At Sunset
haha, beat this for a lame first sentence (from the bio on AMG): "Albert King is truly a "King of the Blues," although he doesn't hold that title (B.B. does)." He's a pleasure to listen to, and this is a live run-through of lots of familiar material, all beautifully played. This is immediately before his funk turn, but I can't say there is too much suggestion of that on this album.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 16:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Bar-Kays - Too Hot to Stop
Plenty of line-up changes by this point of course, but they maintain the high standards of musicianship from the beginning. They've shifted a long way from Stax towards P-Funk by this point, and that's a bad move for my tastes - and the material here is less than stellar. It's still a pleasure, but I can't get that excited.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 16:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Bootsy's Rubber Band - Bootsy Player of the Year
The faster material here (Hollywood Squares and up, in tempo terms) are amongst the greatest moments, for my funkier tastes, in the entire P-Funk oeuvre. Funky and fun, wonderfully played, with tunes and songs. The ballads (are there any other P-Funk albums with as many of them?) are les thrilling, but the highs make this among the best P-Funk albums I've ever heard.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 16:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Graham Central Station - live in japan '92
A bootleg, I guess, and I don't know who's in the band, but it's basically a crowd-pleasing set with lots of old material including ample Sly & the Family Stone content. The playing is good, Larry isn't too indulgent with the fuzzy slap bass - though he still wants it to be a lead instrument - and it's mostly good fun.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 16:37 (eighteen years ago) link

Mutiny - Black Hat Daddy & The Silver Comb Gang
This starts appallingly, with a very clumsy Led Zeppish number, except it doesn't rock much, but much of the rest is better, more straight P-Funk style. I can't say I was crazy about any of it, and there was probably as much that I disliked as that I liked.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 16:38 (eighteen years ago) link

Parlet - The Best of Parlet
The playing (is it entirely by Parliament?) is excellent, and the singing is fine (though I don't think any of these women who normally worked as P-Funk backing singers were ever likely to become solo stars). As best ofs go, this has remarkably little memorable material or strong songs, and I guess that's why this spin-off never took off.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 16:39 (eighteen years ago) link

Sly & The Family Stone - Anthology
This is something like as good as it gets: I'm not that big a fan of West Coast/psychedelic pop and rock, but Sly's soul and R&B and funk elements are another matter, and he blends them all seamlessly into something wholly his own. Obviously anyone could throw these things together, but getting some really talented musicians isn't so easy, and Sly is a genuinely great singer, and wrote a whole load of wonderful songs. I'm not suggesting that this comp is all you need of the band (there are, say, four really great normal albums), but it's a good and sound selection, and therefore an absolutely magnificent album.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 16:41 (eighteen years ago) link

Bloodstone - Natural High
A strange band who seem not to have wanted to settle on a style. This isn't a bad thing in principle, but when you decide to record Little Green Apples it may be time to think again (though I concede that it is superbly sung here). The album is all over the place, but when they find the right energy level to suit the material and style they sound absolutely fantastic.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 16:42 (eighteen years ago) link

Brides Of Funkenstein - Live at Howard Theatre
I don't know what to make of this, and AMG knows nothing of this guy James Wesley Jackson who is very prominent on it. Anyway, otherwise we have P-Funk of a loose and fairly funky stripe, and another bunch of female singers never bound for the big time.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 16:43 (eighteen years ago) link

Cameo - Feel Me
There seem to be a string of quite good Cameo albums harking back to P-Funk and some Detroit acts, and hinting at the sinuous, muscular style they found in the mid-80s. This is one of them. I kind of like it, but I struggle to think of much else to say.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 16:44 (eighteen years ago) link

Stevie Wonder - Talking Book
I'm a colossal fan of Motown, but for some reason Stevie Wonder was never one of my big favourites there. I loved Uptight, for example, but this album features what are for me the two extremes of his mature work. Superstition is a wonderful record, funky and original and irresistibly catchy. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life is another matter - inarguably classy songwriting, but it's so lightweight and anodyne, and I never liked it. It seemed to me that we got too much of this stuff from Stevie, and that's kind of true here on one of his acknowledged masterpieces. Some of it's lovely and I can see its rep, some of it doesn't suit me.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 16:45 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm amazed you are not a fan of Stevie Wonder. I thought he would be one of your faves.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Saturday, 18 March 2006 20:13 (eighteen years ago) link

A reasonable guess, yeah, but bar Uptight and Superstition there is almost nothing I care about.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 March 2006 23:02 (eighteen years ago) link

Wait til you play Innervisions. I was never a fan of his bar the early singles until i heard that album.
Theres some cracking footage of him playing The Beat Club from around the time of Innervisions. Its brilliant.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Saturday, 18 March 2006 23:27 (eighteen years ago) link

I reckon I'm something like a third of the way through now. I have been noting down the albums I like best, so that I can be sure to have them burnt onto all-terrific CDRs at the end of this. So, the favourites from the first third (which you can deduce from reading the reviews, I guess) are (the order is that in which they came in):

Parliament - Chocolate City
Funkadelic - Live in Dayton 1981
Mutiny - Mutiny On The Mamaship
Bootsy's Rubber Band - Bootsy Player of the Year
Bootsy Collins - live in louisville 1978
Sly & The Family Stone - Anthology
Pfunk all-stars - live at the beverly theater
Betty Davis - s/t
Blackbyrds - s/t
Bloodstone - train ride to hollywood
Curtis Mayfield - Roots
Funk, Inc - s/t
Graham Central Station - Ain’t No ‘Bout-A-Doubt It
Headhunters - Survival Of The Fittest
Isaac Hayes - At Wattstax
Isley Brothers - Givin' It Back
Isley Brothers - Brother, Brother, Brother
James Brown - Live At The Apollo Vol.2 1967
James Brown - Live In Zaire
Kool & The Gang - Wild and Peaceful
Kool & The Gang - Spirit Of The Boogie
Mandrill - composite truth
Meters - cabbage alley
Meters - Fire On The Bayou
Rick James - Come get it
Rufus & Chaka Khan - Ask Rufus
Pleasure - Joyous
Bar-Kays - Soul Finger
Chairmen Of The Board - In Session
Ohio Players - Pain
Ohio Players - Skin Tight
Tower of Power - Back To Oakland
Tower of Power - Urban Renewal
War - All Day Music
Jimmy McGriff - I've Got a Woman

That looks a bit scant for the jazz, but I've been really liking almost all of the Mingus, Jimmy Smith and Herbie Hancock (that's almost 50 albums between those three).

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 19 March 2006 22:37 (eighteen years ago) link

Some of the Herbie Hancock stuff is funk. So you can review it here!

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Monday, 20 March 2006 02:27 (eighteen years ago) link

Mico Wave - 1987 - From The Inside Out!!!

P-Funk of a reasonably enjoyable kind, more at the funk end than the heavy rock end, maybe even more Bootsy than Clinton. Another that didn't make a powerful impression, I'm afraid.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:44 (eighteen years ago) link

Funkadelic - 1970 - Funkadelic
An excellent early album with a bit more '60s R&B and soul still audible, not too excessive an amount of heavy rock guitar, and some strong funk.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:45 (eighteen years ago) link

James Brown - Live At The Apollo
Okay, I had this already, but um, it was labelled with the wrong year so maybe it was a different - nah, really I just wanted to include it on one of these CDs, and I particularly wanted to play it now because I just got the 33 1/3 book on it by one Douglas Wolk, so it was a good time to play it again. The book's terrific, by the way, and it makes me hear a bunch of new things in this, but it was already one of my all-time favourite albums, certainly one of my three favourite live albums ever. It's an exhilirating, fiery experience.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:46 (eighteen years ago) link

Mandrill - Just Outside Of Town
I really like Mandrill. They try all sorts of things. Not all of them work, but hardly any strike me as not worth hearing, and some are terrific. This for instance features some cool jazzy vibes, and some of the best super-heavy funk I've heard. There are dull spots, but I like a band that makes me check my diskman (which plays MP3 disks with a dozen or so albums on) to see if we have moved on to some other act.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:46 (eighteen years ago) link

Rick James - Fire It Up
This one feels a touch routine, a bit 'will this do?'. I like his style - with a dash of extra disco this time - so I'm happy to hear him even off form, but this is undistinguished work.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:52 (eighteen years ago) link

Sly & The Family Stone - Live Dallas TX 09-01-69
Not a great mix on what I take to be a bootleg, but when that isn't a problem this is tremendous, even though it comes before or right at the start of their greatest period.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:53 (eighteen years ago) link

Bar-Kays - Cold Blooded
Mid-'70s Memphis R&B by one of the band's line-ups. It's the kind of thing I can listen to all day - but in all honesty I could listen to it all day without getting to this rather ordinary though very skilled example of the style.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:53 (eighteen years ago) link

Chairmen of the Board - Bittersweet
I know it isn't one of the first couple of big hits that come to mind for most people from this band, but Bittersweet is probably my favourite of their songs. I don't know exactly what's going on in the chorus in technical terms, but I find it hugely affecting, and I think it may be General Johnson's best vocal performance. It also has a genuine 'what the fuck?' middle section. This album is mostly somewhere near this kind of elevated level, with a couple of weaker tracks but none of the MOR disasters of previous albums (the man responsible had left the band by now). A great album.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:54 (eighteen years ago) link

Graham Central Station - Live In London
I'm kind of getting bored with them by now, but this is thoroughly enjoyable when they do songs I like (mostly Sly numbers) and when Larry isn't too egotistical. Their own material doesn't hold up so well, I think.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:54 (eighteen years ago) link

Mutiny - Funk Plus The One
There is loads of P-Funk and related material in the megastack, and while I am loving some of it, and disliking the rock end of things, even the copyists who don't lean much that way, mostly, are sometimes pointless. Mutiny aren't bad, they sound like P-Funk, but I don't really see why we need them.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:55 (eighteen years ago) link

Fuzzy Haskins - Radioactive
He's no kind of singer, and while there's nothing terribly wrong with this - there's quite a lot of good playing, for instance - it's kind of routine, lacking any great songs to make up for the vocal inadequacies. Since he was a major member of the Clinton bands, see above for comments really.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:55 (eighteen years ago) link

oh also: sorry to anyone who cares, and I will try to get back to a better schedule than weekly.

Fortnightly?

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Sunday, 2 April 2006 14:25 (eighteen years ago) link

ha, sorry: I'll try to catch up tomorrow, possibly...

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 2 April 2006 18:57 (eighteen years ago) link

one year passes...

I wish Martin would start posting again.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Saturday, 14 April 2007 00:37 (seventeen years ago) link

this is an incredible thread.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 14 April 2007 01:23 (seventeen years ago) link

Hell yeah.

― Bimble, Saturday, 14 April 2007 05:40 (seventeen years ago) link

one year passes...

Martin come back and finish the reviews!

― Pfunkboy Formerly Known As... (Herman G. Neuname), Friday, 28 November 2008 17:33 (fifteen years ago) link

two years pass...

classic

― cold gettin' dumb (m coleman), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 21:42 (twelve years ago) link

Forgot about this thread.

― Scharlach Sometimes (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 28 July 2011 01:34 (twelve years ago) link

One of the first replies is bimble

― No. I think social networks need to keep it real (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 28 July 2011 01:36 (twelve years ago) link

I'll never forget his excitement about these dvdr-s. Hope they go to a good home. It's a real shame he never got to finish reviewing them always hoped he would one day come back to ilx and restart this thread.
RIP Martin. You and Bimble are going to have some great chats on a cloud.

― Armand Schaubroeck Ratfucker, Thursday, 28 July 2011 08:53 (twelve years ago) link

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