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that's odd. I do know Dr. John has one of those "my manager(s) screwed me and released stuff against my will and I had to sue them" kinda debacles in his past, maybe it's related.

its quite common on Spotify though

some people dont like their most famous songs being available for free but dr john has way more known songs available on Spotify. Maybe someone collaborated with him on it and they object?

for the future on these album listening threads, can we link both spotify and lala for the amurricuns among us?

Shakey is amurricun, And im guessing non americans cant provide links to it. Shakey only got spotify links because he asked me for them.

I'm just lazy

btw Spotify has Bittersweet/Skin I'm In... Plus

2009 two CD set. This release contains the third and fourth albums by Chairmen Of The Board: Bittersweet (1972) features the hits 'Working On A Building Of Love', 'Elmo James' and 'I'm On My Way To A Better Place' while Skin I'm In (1974) features 'Finders Keepers'. The bonus album is the ultra-rare Aries (1972) by group member Danny Woods, while the bonus tracks are the Chairmen singles issued after the release of Skin I'm In. All these albums have been unavailable for many years. The booklet is fully annotated by Tony Rounce, and features many rare singles labels. Edsel.

I just have the original 2in1 cd, so im really looking forward to hear that Aries album.

Elmo James is my fave Chairmen Of The Board track btw. Bittersweet is as good as Skin I'm In, so please everyone check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLTBDbsrUk4&feature=PlayList&p=1D6B783AF48C1572&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=6

I upgraded to Spotify Premium because of all this listening club stuff, figured it was worth it for this month.

The Chairman of the Board album is really ace, I'm surprised I never came across it before. "Morning Glory" blows me away.

Can a mod change my 1st post to TUESDAY instead of Wednesday please?

Oh and I need to change the dates on this:

It's now

4/5 - Tuomas
11/5 - a hoy hoy
18/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
25/5 - Ismael Klata
1/6 - forksclovetu
8/6 - Seandalai
15/6 - moka
22/6 - Abbott
32/6 - The Rev
6/7 - pfunkboy
13/7 - Turangalila

xp pfunkboy - did you go Premium for the quality upgrade, or just to get rid of the ads? I remember at the beginning, they were only upping some of the library to 320kbs, have they now got everything in high quality?

I've been thinking about upgrading for a few months now, but I'm not yet convinced it's worth it.

partly to be adfree and partly because im using it a lot more due to the listening club. I'm sure I heard an advert the other days saying everything is 320 for premium users. But I dont know.

Following up on last week's albums: Mandrill was okay but nothing special, and I was so bored by the Ohio Players record I didn't get all the way through it. Still haven't listened to the Funkadelic yet. Maybe I should stick to the jazz listening club.

nooooo. Stick with us. You can do both! You got bored of a 9 track album or did you listen to the 2xCD version?

I didn't even make it through the first 9 tracks.

I will listen to the Funkadelic and the week 2 records.

I was gonna do a later Ohio Players album but I knew shakey would moan I didn't pick a Westbound/Junie era album.

I think you're the 1st dissenter for Pleasure though. So not bad going.

kinda like metal, this stuff really has to be listened to loud, fwiw

I went Funkadelic > Mandrill > Ohio Players, they're all good albums though.

Week 1: Ohio Players > Funkadelic > Mandrill
Week 2: James Brown > Chairmen Of The Board > Dr John

With Chairmen, I found most of the tracks to be more upfront with their funk conviction - like a great party album - but sometimes something was lacking, possibly too many chants. James is just potent through and through. I liked about 50% of the Dr John - but maybe listening while working is not the best place to fully appreciate it; there where times when I thought "this would be great BBQ music with beers and a baggy shirt"

Keeprs: Ohio Players, James Brown (which I already knew) and gonna give the Funkadelic one more listen.

xpost: i was comparing Chairmen Of The Board "Skin I'm In" to James Brown "The Payback"

To my ears it's just as good!

I think quite a few of the posters on here have a preference for different branches of funk. Some prefer the jazzy stuff some like it hard edged and freaky and some just want to dance. I wonder if Tuomas will pick anything hard edged/freaky that rocks.

and no, Prince doesn't count ;)

Prince defies classification in a lot of ways

Im just pre-empting someone shouting Prince

It is ILM

maybe listening while working is not the best place to fully appreciate it; there where times when I thought "this would be great BBQ music with beers and a baggy shirt"

yeah I was thinking some more about this and funk is basically best-suited to open communal environments - parties, dancefloors, cars with the windows down, etc. was blasting "Let's Take it to the Stage" the other day while driving around and just marvelling at how amazingly heavy that track is, for ex., something that wouldn't be readily apparent in a different listening situation

Had The Payback on earlier - that band is tight. Geir must've finally worn me down - I was half-expecting an industrial funk nightmare of a record. Actually it's quite melodic, would go down well in Norway I think.

Gotta confess I've never been particularly crazy for that Ohio Players album, even tho I've owned the vinyl for years. Limited tolerance for the ballads, which is my problem. Also, "Walt's First Trip" isn't as out-there as the title would suggest. So, I guess it's Funkadelic > Mandrill > Ohio Players for me, as far as the first week goes. On to JB and co.

(All this stuff makes a fine soundtrack for watching the NHL playoffs, thanks for asking)

I wonder if Tuomas will pick anything hard edged/freaky that rocks.

I've actually half-discarded my original idea of a jazz-funk theme, and at least one of the albums I'm gonna introduce is as hard and rocking as it gets.

I checked out Dr. John album and I have to agree with whoever said that you'd have to play it loud at a barbecue or something to really appreciate the music. Listening to it on my computer via headphones, it sounds like a nice enough piece of greasy New Orleans funk, but there's nothing that stands out really.

Hey tuomas you can choose as you please! But I think that funk played by jazz guys might be better on the jazz thread BUT if it's more funk than jazz then I say it's welcome here. Like, I was gonna pick donald byrd - blackbyrd, but , no matter what jazz purists say, is a jazz album, however The Blackbyrds albums should be posted here.

there's plenty of funk stuff that gets cordoned off as "jazz" for some inexplicable reason (Eugene McDaniels springs to mind)

funk is seen as a bad word for some people, too tied in with 'fusion' maybe?

Just out of interest, how many here have heard Ohio Players or Mandrill before?

I'd heard of but not heard either.

Had only heard Ohio Players guest on other tracks. Never even heard of Mandrill.

had heard of, but never listened to Mandrill before - seen plenty of their LPs in second hand shops; never heard of or listened to Ohio Players before; same goes for Chairmen Of The Board.

I had only heard "Skin Tight," "Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster," and liked all three. I think 4-minute bursts, blowing out a little transistor radio, without warning, in the 1970s, is how I enjoy them the best.

So what you're saying is you need a time machine to enjoy them now?

possibly

The Blackbyrds are on my shortlist, we'll see whether anyone posts them before I do (the tension!).

Listening to the Funkadelic now, and having a NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN ABOUT kinda time. I've loved "Alice in My Fantasies" for years from the Blind Idiot God version.

Not heard that cover actually. Glad you liked something though!

WmC what did you think of the rest of the album?
How is everyone else getting on with the albums?

Find the vocals really offputting with Funkadelic, they could've used a straight-up singer who wasn't in on the joke I reckon.