Funk my Soul

Quite a wonderful 70s soul album with full orchestra and a glorious, soaring vocal by Barbara. The tunes are lovely and make for repeated listening. Highly recommended.

This album was sent by a new contributor Zero who runs a wonderful blog (here), I suggest you should visit it. You’ll find a lot of great music.

Barbara Pennington’s compelling, raise-the-dead voice is a cross between Chaka Khan’s and Gladys Knight’s, and is always exciting. Credit Ian Levine for sticking with the Chicago native he discovered in the ’70s on a mission to the Windy City. Levine’s at his best when he works with Pennington who delivers on the title track, “All Time Loser,” “Can’t Help Being Guilty,” and her first United Kingdom hits: “Running in Another Direction” and “Twenty-Four Hours a Day.”

This is a @320 vinyl rip (supplied by Zero) of the original LP including covers.

Tracks
A1 Midnight Ride 4:47
A2 All Time Loser 6:33
A3 Trusted Friend 6:35
B1 Spend a Little Time With Me 6:15
B2 Can’t Help Being Guilty 5:30
B3 24 Hours a Day 3:22
B4 It’s so Hard Getting Over 4:05
B5 You Are the Music Within Me 3:31

In 1975, 22-year-old Englishman Ian Levine - already a successful Northern Soul DJ - wanted to start out as a producer and headed to Chicago to find some talented singers. Having worked with established soul group The Exciters, he held an audition and found three black singers he liked - Evelyn Thomas, L J Johnson and Barbara Pennington. He took them all to the studio in the summer of 1975, returned to England with the tapes and got them signed to 20th Century, Mercury and Island respectively. Barbara debuted with “Running in Another Direction” and went on a UK tour with Evelyn and L J to promote it but while her two colleagues had stronger promotion from their labels and both enjoyed Top 30 chart hits, Island wasn’t too supportive about Miss Pennington and the single sold a disappointing 5000 copies. After equally disappointing sales of the second single “…”, Levine went to the US and got her signed to United Artists. “24 Hours a Day” came out late 1976 and wasn’t geared towards the Northern Soul scene but rather to the rising disco market. The record with Barbara’s Chaka Khan-style vocals became a big hit on the American disco scene and remains one of Levine’s all-time favourites. Three more singles followed, all included in her first album Midnight Ride which was released 1978. Rather than being a disco record, this was a sophomore set of mellow soul.

Six years later, Levine sought her out again. He was now one of the leading producers of Hi-NRG, the electronic disco of the early 80s, and wanted to record with Barbara again. “All American Boy” who was “ready for action” and a “physical attraction” came out on Record Shack and became a big Hi-NRG hit and an obvious hit on the gay scene. Barbara herself, now residing in the UK, wasn’t too pleased with the record. She wasn’t into disco and rather wanted to do laid-back soul music instead. Consecuently, the intended follow-up single “Vanity” was instead given to Carol Jiani, and Barbara released “Way Down Deep in My Soul”, a mid-tempo soul track. It was, however, the next single “Fan the Flame” with doo-wop backing vocals and live brass which became a steady club and radio favourite and gave her a UK Top 40 hit. It was followed by “On a Crowded Street” which was equally popular, both tracks were taken from her 1985 album Out of the Darkest Night from which also the title track came out on single. By 1986, Levine had broken with Record Shack and formed his own Nightmare label, and “Don’t Stop the World” was the first single to come out on the label but it lacked the elegance of her previous singles and didn’t do well. Two more singles “There Are Brighter Days” and “I’ve Been a Bad Girl” followed over the next years but didn’t do that well either, and Barbara soon left show business for a 9-to-5 job by a phone company. The 90s saw increased interest in her works. “24 Hours a Day” was covered by DJ Nomad (aka Damon Rochefort) in 1992 and became a UK chart hit. Furthermore, Miami-based Hot Productions re-issued her two albums on CD with bonus tracks (including the previously unreleased “Vanity”) and also assembled a compilation, including her three Nightmare tracks.

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Buy the vinyl from Groove Collector or Discogs

Buy the CD from Amazon.

Discography and more on Soul Train.

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An incredible bit of southern funk - the first landmark LP by Archie Bell & The Drells, and the first big burst of energy from the Texas scene of the 60s! The album’s incredible - with Archie up front on rough-hewn vocals, the band grooving in a mad tangle of guitar, bass, and drums, and some super-fierce horn work by the TSU Tornadoes! You’ve no doubt heard the band’s classic “Tighten Up (part 1)”, but this album also includes the incredible “part 2″ to the track - which takes the groove a million miles higher! (Dusty Groove).

Tracks
A1 Tighten Up (Part One) 3:10
A2 Tighten Up (Part Two) 2:52
A3 I Don’t Wanna Be a Playboy 3:00
A4 You’re Mine 2:46
A5 Knock on Wood 2:30
B1 Give Me Time 2:29
B2 In the Midnight Hour 2:27
B3 When You Left Heartache Began 2:36
B4 A Thousand Wonders 2:08
B5 A Soldier’s Prayer, 1967 2:54

Archie Bell formed his back-up singing group the Drells in 1966 with four local friends from Junior High School in Houston, TX. In 1967 Bell’s career got sidetracked when he was drafted and sent to Vietnam. While he was on leave back in the States in 67, he cut his most famous single Tighten Up, which became a #1 hit, selling almost three million copies. The single would later form the backbone of this LP, which also reached the RnB Top 20. Ironically, while Bell should have been basking in his fame, he was instead, recovering in a hospital in West Germany after being shot in the leg in Vietnam. He was only able to perform for short periods during leave and the Drells actually performed many times with a fill in, James Wise. The first time I heard the album I had to listen to it again. It opens up with Tighten Up (Part 1), but it’s a different mix than the one on the 45 that you hear on the radio all the time. This version starts off with an open bass line and seems a little slower. No matter which way it’s played though, it’s still a classic tune that has short drum break towards the beginning. The band also busts out with lively versions of Knock On Wood and In The Midnight Hour. I also like the cover artwork by Loring Eutemey who did a couple others for Atlantic that features a man and woman dancing in hip 60s gear.

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Official biography and other stories on Soul Patrol.

Buy the vinyl of the group on Groove Collector.

Buy both albums on CD on Amazon.

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A stormer from Archie Bell & The Drells - one of our favorite soul albums ever, and a masterpiece of mid-tempo soul! Archie Bell & The Drells sound amazing here - light years from the rougher funk of their earlier years, yet still with a groove that’s undeniable - an incredible meeting of soul music scenes handled by the young Gamble & Huff team - who not only produce most of the record, but also wrote most of the tracks on the set! The groove is lightly lilting, and totally on the money - a sound that’s incredible, and hard to describe in words — but which really grabs us from the get-go. All tracks are great, and totally fresh (Dusty Groove).

Tracks
A1 I Love My Baby 2.42
A2 Houston, Texas 2.41
A3 (There’s Gonna Be A) Showdown 2.44
A4 Giving up Dancing 2.22
A5 Girl You’re too Young 2.23
A6 Mama Didn’t Teach Me That Way 2.39
B1 Do the Hand Jive 2.27
B2 My Balloon’s Going Up 2.27
B3 Here I Go Again 2.15
B4 Go for What You Know 2.07
B5 Green Power 2.23
B6 Just a Little Closer 3.25

1968 saw Archie Bell and the Drell’s begin a partnership with producers/writers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.  Over the next year the parties collaborated on a series of five singles:

- 1968’s ‘There’s Gonna Be A Showdown’ b/w ‘Go For What You Know’ (Atlantic catalog number 45-2583)# 21 pop; # 6 R&B
- 1969’s ‘I Love My Baby’ b/w ‘Just a Little Closer’ (Atlantic catalog number 45-2612) # 94 pop; # 40 R&B
- 1969’s ‘Girl, You’re Too Young’ b/w ‘Do the Hand Jive’ (Atlantic catalog number 45-2644)# 59 pop; # 13 R&B
- 1969’s ‘My Balloon’s Going Up’ b/w ‘Giving Up Dancing’ (Atlantic catalog number 45-2663) # 87 pop; # 36 R&B
- 1969’s ‘Here I Go Again’ b/w ‘A World Without Music’ (Atlantic catalog number 45-2693)

Perhaps realizing the group’s audience was rapidly dwindling, rather than finance new studio material, Atlantic management was apparently content to collect the singles (nine of the ten sides - the 1969 ‘B’ side A World Without Music” was missing in action) along with and three studio odds and ends, releasing the package as 1969’s “There’s Gonna Be a Showdown”.  In spite of it’s haphazard roots, the results were surprisingly impressive.  Responsible for most of the material, Gamble and Huff displayed a keen knack for crafting highly commercial material that was soulful, but also had a distinctive pop edge.  For their part Bell and the Drells (Willie Pernell, Mark Putney, and James Wise), seldom sounded as good turning in strong performances on all but the most routine numbers.

Even though the group’s singles continued to do well, the parent LP was a mediocre performer, peaking at # 163 on the pop charts.  While Bell and company continued to release 45s for Atlantic through 1971, this unfortunately marked their final studio LP for the label. The moved to Philadelphia International for 3 more albums between 1975-77.

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Hey, ya’ll! Here i am again after my holidays with another special LP.

This is the super rare Dutch steel band LP which features the afro soul style cover version of the Kool and The Gang classic tune “Funky Stuff”. A real club DJ ripper and at the top of the steel band funk LP’s. There’s a great funky version of “Theme from Shaft” with wah wah guitar & nice steel drums patterns,  an awesome funky rock cover version of “Down by the River” and “Hey Joe”!!!!!!. Take a listen to the clip for a taste of the super steel band funk and breaks on this mighty record.

This is a 320@ vinyl rip of the original Negram LP including covers.

Tracks
A1 Down By The River 5.09 (Vocals - Armand Colla)
A2 Theme From Shaft 2.41
A3 Snowfire 3.47  (Vocals - Gustaaf Milzink)
A4 Stoned Out Of My Mind 2.39
A5 Softly 2.57
A6 Hey Joe 3.19
B1 Feelin’ Alright 7.31
B2 Serenta 2.03
B3 Funky Stuff 3.22  (Vocals - Armand Colla , Bernito E. Riley)
B4 Where Is The Love 2.39 (Vocals - Gustaaf Milzink)

This is one of the more expensive steel band LP’s that is sought after by beat diggers. Most of the album consists of covers of American hits, which is its main appeal. Amazingly enough, on the opening ‘Down By The River‘, you can hardly hear the steel drums until a solo towards the end. What you do hear is plenty of percussion that ads a nice twist to the tune. About half of the songs are played as straight covers like ‘Hey Joe‘, while the other half have the steel drums prominently in the mix like ‘Theme From Shaft‘ and ‘Feelin Allright‘. The best cut is a version of Kool & The Gang’s ‘Funky Stuff‘ found on the second side. Definitely one of the better steel drum records out there.

This Steel band is a twelve-piece seventies party band, consisting of Surinames and Trinidadian musicians.
Since Surinam was still part of The Netherlands in those days, the name of the band abroad was The Original Trinidad Steel Band and released two albums as such (Beautiful Caribbean and Caribbean Steel & Show on Hansa, with Frank Farian as their producer), apart from their three Dutch albums. Their most interesting Dutch album is Funky Limbo (EMI, 1978), which was produced by Ernie Anches. Anches was also involved with various other funky Surinam acts, such as Oscar Harris, The Twinkle Stars and Thunderstorm. The preceding album Dance Dance Dance (EMI, 1976) made DRSSB a lot more rare, because it contained their international hit single ‘January February’. This brought them a very busy touring schedule. Today the band is still active and consists of quite a few sons of the original members like Sticko who is the son of Dolf (Mr Satisfied) the founder of this Band.

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Read (if you speak Dutch) the story and discography of the band here.

The Dutch Rhythm Steel & Show Band on My Space

Buy the vinyl from Groove Collector for 52 to 77 € or Discogs for 39 to 94,5 €.

While downloading listen up “Down By The River”

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Well, just to show that FMS can get a little contemporary on occasion, we have shifted to the cusp of the 90s with Mica Paris’s debut, ‘So Good’. Here in the UK, she is the undisputed Queen of BritSoul and one of the select few truly talented artists from here to break it big time.  Never quite achieving the iconic status she deserved at home, let alone internationally, she is, however, probably the most respected UK singer of her generation - a singer’s singer, if you will.  With those dulcet, husky vibrations - she is instantly recognisable - from her low seducing keys, to the full might of her soprano. So welcome to her debut that unleashed her wonder into the world.  This is a wonderful, timeless joy.

This is a @256 vinyl rip of the original Island Records LP including covers

Tracks
A1 Like Dreamers Do (4:22)
A2 My One Temptation (4:34)
A3 Nothing Hits Your Heart Like Soul Music (4:25)
A4 Sway (Dance The Blues Away) (4:51)
A5 Don’t Give Me Up (3:39)
B1 Breathe Life Into Me (4:58)
B2 I’d Hate To Love You (4:48)
B3 Great Impersonation (3:42)
B4 Words Into Action (4:47)
B5 So Good (4:52)

Bonus

Where Is The Love (with Will Downing) (3:34)
I Wish I Never Met You (with Bobby Womack) (8:30)
Where are the children (4:31)

Review by Trakbuv

Brought up in Lewisham, London, it was her grandmother who encouraged her to sing in the local church albeit unwillingly. However, it got the euphoria of singing deeply ensconced in her lungs and Mica was instantly smitten. By 14, she was a session singer for Shakatak and by 16, had become part of the gospel quintet, ‘The Spirit Of Watts’. However, Mica had her sights beyond these religious confines, and having left home at 15 to pursue this dream, landed a decent job as backing singer for ‘Hollywood Beyond’. Together with the bassist for the group and ‘The Style Council’, Paul Powell, they began cutting some demos that essentially became the springboard for her recording career. The men in suits came flooding in, all with offers of an album deal – those demos must have been fire ! Mica wisely elected for Island Records and the writing/production partnership of Peter Vale and Miles Waters.

I recall hearing ‘My one temptation’ the first time – the advance single to the LP – the hype was massif for this 19 year old Londoner, but nothing could prepare me for the sheer joy of this track and the smokey soulfulness of this lady. My summer soundtrack of 1988. With the urgent follow-up, ‘Like dreamers do’, Mica consolidated her success with a slightly more pop-flavoured groove, featuring the much lauded Courtney Pine. This was a Brit collaboration made in heaven, featuring two up-and-coming talents that we could be proud of for all the right reasons. So what was the album going to unveil – surely these were the cream tracks of a debut set to capitalise on a rising star in the making ? Well, I was so amazed at the calibre of this LP that it still ranks as arguably the best of that year and one that, more importantly, stands repeated listenings and the test of time. My and Nikos’s favourite track is the extremely mature ‘Don’t give me up’, co-written with Paul Powell, and presumably on that diamond demotape : ‘I had set out to be a singer/singerwriter’, stated the teenage soulster. ‘However, I’m objective enough to realise that I still have a considerable way to way to go – we included ‘Don’t give me up’ unanimously’. How could they ever DARE to disagree ! And the inclusion of Will Downing was another inspiration : ‘I was in the Island studios and popped upstairs for something. I grabbed him (Will Downing) by the arm and dragged him to the studio all the time cajoling him to cut the track on the spot.’

The album wisely avoids too much of the topical gimmicks of Rock and Jack Swing that were infiltrating our music, with a clear good foot in the real stuff. Thus, the uptempo cuts still sound fresh and funky, even if steeped in synthesized syncopation – try and resist ‘Nothing hits your heart’ or ‘Great impersonation’. Another reason for its longevity is the predominance of mid to slow tempo grooves. I make special mention of the intensely beautiful ‘Words into action’ (also cut by Jermaine Jackson) – featuring another great BritSoul exponent of the time, Paul Johnson – who had been instrumental in introducing Mica to the guys at 4th & Broadway Records - and the similarly glorious ‘Sway’ – the perfect slowie as the club is closing and the ashtrays are being collected. The title track gives Mica a chance to get bluesy and demonstrate that she could compete with the likes of Ruby Turner, another awesome British talent of the time.

I have included the track that appears on the CD version of ‘So Good’, the duet with Will Downing. It’s unfortunate that less than a year earlier, Robert Brookins released a cover version of ‘Where is the love’ with Stephanie Mills, which was far superior in my humble opinion, and consequently an unwise choice by whoever concerned. I have also snuck two tracks that originally appeared as demo acetates on local radio. You cannot imagine my disappointment when neither appeared on the subsequent ‘Contradiction’ LP, a fact that was harder to grasp with the complete absence of better material on it. Both tracks, if I recall correctly, are the product of Patrick Moten, the songwriter/producer responsible for the phenomenal Anita Baker debut, ‘The Songstress’. If you liked that album, then wait until you hear these songs showcasing Mica Paris as equivalent to anyone out there, including the Songstress herself !

Please forgive me for blowing the muted horn for British Soul music, but we do have a lot of fine, fine talent that simply never see the light of day outside our shores (and then only the diehard fans), something that is a problem even today. Mica was one of those rare cases where the talent AND determination AND timing were all right to see her grow to the next level, although I still feel she is a sadly neglected soul phenomenon when I consider our American counterparts. Please give it up for one of my heroes and a stunning ambassador for our music regardless of global artificial boundaries.

Quotations are taken from of an article by Bob Kilbourn, Blues and Soul vol.517.

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