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I think the mid-period stuff is wildly underrated - the run from Cosmic Slop through Tales of Kidd Funkadelic is remarkably consistent and probably the most deeply rewarding. The period often gets overlooked by the rock fans on the one hand who prefer the earliest, fuzzed out/prot-metal material and also by the dance fans who like the later bubbly, synth-heavy, hit-laden stuff (i.e., One Nation Under a Groove and on). But the middle period stuff is FULL of amazing sounds, its where Clinton hit his stride as a producer, and where Bernie Worrell comes to the for, but there's still plenty of guitar heroics, great riffs, Temptations-style group vocals, and loopy concepts. Honestly this is the stuff I pull out most often.

My recommendation for where to go after Standing would be Cosmic Slop, tbh.

xp

sorry Tuomas I haven't gotten to the Herbie yet, been a busy week for me!

Unfortunately the fact that BatST is a more straightforward funk/soul effort means that there's yodeling only on one or two tracks.

Oh don't worry, I know where to find the yodeling if I need it, thanks! Pretty enjoyable LP overall, nice variety in vocal approaches and instrumentation. Didn't care much for the two blues standards, I've heard enough cover versions over the years.

The Betty Davis album slams hard - all her albums do - and the woman herself makes for stunning album cover art. But yeah, her screech can be a little hard to take after listening awhile. (Approaches sheer white noise at times, practically!) Still, I'm glad these records were made, and glad that they're all available again.

thread full of lols + me defending Betty's catalog against some jerks

the mid period is a lot of pfunk fans fave because its the funk-rock period where eddie hazel writes most of it, after that he was incarcerated I think.

Drunk rather than incarcerated, I fear

no, i believe he was in and out of jail, possibly due to addiction

It was the booze that killed him though

20 years later!

no, i believe he was in and out of jail, possibly due to addiction

smoking angel dust on a plane, is the legend

maybe elephant rob is waiting until he gets home to look?

Sorry pfunkboy! I did indeed leave work for the day right after posting (though there actually isn't a lot that isn't safe where I work...now you probably all think I work in pr0n, ha). Those OP covers are pretty shocking and I'm sure they pissed somebody off here in the land of the free. I wish I could find a credible source for these stories I dimly recal, but my understanding is some Xtian group actually got Davis's tour canceled/shut down?

They shock now, so just imagine how shocking they were then. So you're the 2nd ilxor to work in pr0n then? ;)

Well, I do work in (book) publishing...

God, that old Betty Davis thread is not a fun read. I have a shitty ear, and I don't want to reopen this "debate" but I always thought she had a pretty nice voice. I can't think of anyone else who could sing "They Say I'm Different" the way she does.

Heh, I made a coupla fairly obnoxious (intentionally) full-o-shit remarks on that thread! (Didn't say anything bad about Betty, mind.)

Pfunkboy's Friday Funk Bonus Pick

This one will compliment Tuomas' picks.

Herbie Hancock - Manchild
http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/h/hancoc_herb_manchild~_101b.jpg
Spotify Link

Herbie's funkiest album IMO. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

AMG review

Perhaps the funkiest album of Herbie Hancock's early- to mid-'70s jazz/funk/fusion era, Man-Child starts off with the unforgettable "Hang Up Your Hang Ups," and the beat just keeps coming until the album's end. "Sun Touch" and "Bubbles" are slower, but funky nonetheless. Hancock is the star on his arsenal of keyboards, but guitarist Wah Wah Watson's presence is what puts a new sheen on this recording, distinguishing it from its predecessors, Head Hunters and Thrust. Others among the all-star cast of soloists and accompanists include Wayne Shorter on soprano sax, Stevie Wonder on chromatic harmonica, and longtime Hancock cohort Bennie Maupin on an arsenal of woodwinds.

Please still discuss the other album, this is just a bonus pick, which I think compliments the album Tuomas picked, which you can also discuss.

And if a mod is reading this , could they please perhaps add the bonus to the thread title, it might entice in others who had already finished with the weeks pics.

friday funk bonus bump

I'm sure Tuomas will approve of this album

late pass but that dr. john is... well it reminds me of that 30 rock joke- (kenneth: do you not remember your wedding vows? tracy: to be honest I could barely understand a word rick james was saying.) funky but my mind ain't clear enough and my booty not in the mood for shaking.

Hungover?

Today, sam is tony adams

nah, tory hate instead of booze.

Go listen to Chocolate City then

Tuomas are you a fan of this Herbie Hancock album?

I am. dl'd it recently but I'd heard bits of it before. definitely peak prot-electro funk period for him.

I bought it in a 3cd box I think it was back in the 90s. Loved it from the moment I heard it. It is really funky.

And funnily enough, it doesnt sound dated at all unlike the 80s stuff.

Yup, its a 3xCD box of Headhunters,Man-Child and Future Shock. It's even on Spotify in this form.

that's an odd combo - Thrust seems like a more logical match for the others than Future Shock

Probably 2 well known albums in with a less well known one so it still sells.

me hungover earlier today with my signed! copy of HH; also enjoyed listening to Man-Child again this afternoon.

http://img263.imageshack.us/i/herbie.jpg/

http://www.chromogenik.com/misc/herbie.jpg

I blame Sam for this trend

cheers jj

Hmm, for some reason I've never acquired a copy of Man-Child, even though I like it and I own all the other Herbie albums between Mwandhishi and Sunlight. I agree with Herman that it is very good, but I'm not sure if it's Herbie's funkiest... I'd say that title goes to Secrets ("Spider" off that album sounds like a theme to some lost blaxploitation flick), though Man-Child isn't far, and it's probably better as a whole than Secrets.

Secrets is that the disco one? or is that feets dont fail me now? I have both (got very cheap) but cant say I've played them in over 10 years

i dont have sunlight

heh

Feets Don't Fail Me Now (1979)

Herbie Hancock's electric records up until this point were marked by intelligence and adventure, even at their most earthy. But no, this one doesn't have an ounce of either. Herbie falls hook, line and sinker for the disco fad and submerges his personality underneath the plastic vocals and four-on-the-floor disco beat. Hancock's own gauzy vocals through a Sennheiser vocoder are embarrassing, and even his synthesizer work sounds coarse and gimmicky. This time, even the purists were right; this is of no interest to jazz listeners and it isn't even good disco. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide

Yeah, Feets Don't Fail Me is the disco one. It has a couple of awesome stompers on it. The reason I feel Secrets is the funkiest Herbie album is cause it puts so much weigth on the bass and rhythm guitar - basically it's a showcase for Wah Wah Watson.

Sunlight, alongside Lite Me Up and a couple of others, has been reissued by the French branch of Columbia, they're not part of Columbia/Sony's "Legends" series, that's why they're harder to find than most Herbie reissues. You should definitely check it out though, it has some lovely pieces of breezy vocoder disco, plus a weird, angular fusion piece with Tony Williams and Jaco Pastorius.

wah wah watson is on manchild though!

Yeah, but he's more prominent on Secrets.

They're all on Spotify, Tuomas. I might give them a go but I cant see me liking it. Not a big disco fan, it killed off a lot of funk, and I find that unforgivable! (i do like some early stuff, and next weeks bonus pick will be one of those, its smoking hot, funky as shit and an all-time classic, but that's all i'm gonna say)

Well, Sunlight is less disco than Feets, it's not that far from Man-Child except that it has a softer, sweeter sound and vocoder vocals.

xpost: Really? I've seen "Sunlight" around quite often over the last few years. I guess Sony's last bunch of CDs pressed went.

I love "I Thought It Was You" offa Sunlight. Agree with Tumoas, its worth checking (its on Spotfiy) - the disco/electro/vocoder/funk of "I Thought It Was You" and the closing "Good Question" which is like a improv-jazz jam on all the cool new funk and electro instruments Herbie was toying with. Basically everyone goes crazy and its great.

yeah I'm giving Sunlight a listen now, but I'm not a fan of vocoder really.

Not a big disco fan, it killed off a lot of funk, and I find that unforgivable! (i do like some early stuff, and next weeks bonus pick will be one of those, its smoking hot, funky as shit and an all-time classic, but that's all i'm gonna say)

hmmmm.... hope it's not something that 2 Live Crew sampled from.... I got that lined up.

but I'm not a fan of vocoder really.

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Friday, 7 May 2010 22:37 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

you're probably not gonna like my picks for when I'm due!

pm me with your picks funkybum! I'll let you know.

or email me at my username @ g mail
(not herman)

argh you didnt include email to reply to