Amnesty - 1973 - Free Your Mind
Posted by nikos1109
A superb album finally gets a release.
Never mind crate digging, the new thing is archive digging, and soul is proving to be especially rewarding territory. These 1973 tracks, most previously unreleased, offer yet another sterling example. Amnesty was an Indianapolis band combining the vocal talents of the Embers and the instrumental skills of the Crimson Tide. Their mix of harmony-vocal soul with deep funk will please P-Funk fans, while occasional traces of Afrobeat recall Osibisa and Mandrill. There’s nothing about the thoroughly enjoyable music here that explains why it wasn’t released at the time, until the bit in the booklet notes that says the Lamp label for which they recorded specialized in rock. The 1970s’ loss is our gain now that this killer album has finally appeared.
This is a 320 CD rip of the Now-Again Records CD including covers.
Tracks
1 Can I Help You? 7:41
2 Love Fades 3:32
3 Mister President 4:19
4 Free Your Mind 5:51
5 We Have Love 4:32
6 Lord Help Me 3:38
7 Three Cheers for My Baby 4:10
8 Trouble Will Remain 2:34
9 We’ve Come a Long Way 1:54
10 Liberty 2:40
Fans of the exquisite, often never-before-released funk championed by Stones Throw’s reissue wing Now-Again Records are no stranger to Amnesty.
Based in Indianapolis in the early 1970s, the group released only two obscure 45s in their recording career. Birthed from the same scene as The Ebony Rhythm Band (Soul Heart Transplant - NWG 5011), Amnesty had a poltical edge similar to L.A. Carnival (Would Like To Pose A Question - NWG 5009) and the hardest brass section since The Kashmere Stage Band (Texas Thunder Soul - NWG 5023). Only one Amnesty song has ever been released on CD: “Free Your Mind” appeared on the most widely distributed Now-Again album to date - Cold Heat: Heavy Funk Rarities 1968-1974, Vol. 1 (NWG 5017).
This previously unreleased anthology comes from the same sessions as “Free Your Mind.” In 1973, Amnesty recorded five hard, vocal funk numbers alongside some ballads and a handful of demos based around nothing more than guitar accompaniment. Only two songs were ever released. While Amnesty’s ting, difficult-to-categorize prog funk/soul/rock could potentially reach far beyond Indianpolis’s bounds, the band never found a label to take them to the next level.
Obviously influenced by, but by no means simply imitators of, the sound of early Parliament and Funkadelic, Amnesty also responds to the grooves of Earth Wind & Fire and Sly & The Family Stone in their own way.
Finally made available 33 years after they were recorded, these songs present a funk style arranged with dangerous complexity and performed with precision - arguably the most unique funk to originate from Naptown, and some of the best music of its kind. (www.undergroundhiphop.com)
Long relegated to various ‘rarity’ compilations, Indianapolis eight-piece Amnesty (meaning ‘second chance’) have finally been recognised in a collection of recordings kept by long-time band archivist, bassist, and keeper-of-the-faith James ‘Red’ Massie. The result is a melting pot of early ‘70s psychedelic funk, jazz, rock and vocal harmonies. A strange combination, it attempts to catalogue the group’s evolution as they seek satisfaction in their second stab at fame.
Although they originally released only one 7-inch for the Lamp label (home of other psychedelic funk acts such as The Ebony Rhythm Band and The Diplomatics), Amnesty found a home at Moe Whittemore’s 700 West Studio in 1973. Here, along with that fateful 7-inch, they taped five hard funk numbers and a string of ballads and demos. From these sessions, they released “Three Cheers for Baby” and “Lord Help Me” as the B-side. The former song showcases their vocal abilities and their love for Temptations-inspired harmonies. Similar to other tracks on this compilation such as “We’ve Come A Long Way“, the backing of these vocal tracks is incredibly gritty and real. Amnesty’s sophisticated sweep and flow of horns, wah-wah, and percussion produces an amazing intensity; one which transcends the boundaries of pop.
On the released B-side, “Lord Help Me” dishes out a hot serving of supergroovalistic-parliament-thang. While the brass arrangement doesn’t sit with the likes of Fred Wesley, the call/response idiom familiar to gospel and the scathing proto-political/economic musings (‘the price of meat/almost higher than dope in the streets’) are a fine slice of funk. This particular track sheds real light on the group’s potential.
Elsewhere, the opener “Can I Help You?” and “Mister President” seem to combine the rhythms of Cymande with the psychedelic contemplations of Indianapolis brothers-in-arms Ebony Rhythm Band - a combination which seems to flavour many of the featured recordings. Love Fades is also steeped in funkadelic flavours that wouldn’t be out of place on Cosmic Slop.
Not only does Free Your Mind showcase the talent of a greatly overlooked funk act, it is also a damn fine record for your average funk listener. (Tom Noonan)
Buy it from Ebay or Discogs or Amazon
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June 12th, 2010 at 1:58 am
already know this one, exXxcellent stuff! anyone not familiar with this: grab it and have some totally satisifying listening quality time
recommended ideed!
peace, E-mile
June 12th, 2010 at 2:35 am
Whee! Tasty!!!
June 12th, 2010 at 6:18 am
Thanks, this one is very cool. Hell, everything you post is very cool.
June 12th, 2010 at 7:18 am
Thank you … Peace
June 12th, 2010 at 8:48 am
big thanks for this, and for the 320 + artwork, always appreciate the effort that takes!
June 12th, 2010 at 10:51 am
A must have for the purest of Funk fans!
June 12th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
What a fantastic album many thanks
June 12th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Brilliant LP. Particularly liking “Trouble Will Remain”. Thanks as ever, the blog remains superb
June 12th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Thanks for another fine post.
June 12th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Another fantastic post! I just cannot get enough of this stuff!
June 12th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
great! thank you!
June 12th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
A compilation of great music i’ve been familiar with for some time. Thankyou for this rip!
June 13th, 2010 at 1:17 am
At last this kind of Funk really exist ! Holy Graaly ! Thanx !
June 13th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
UNBELIEVABLE !! Are these sessions all from the same era ? Unbelievable breadth from pure soul harmonies of the Embers on “We’ve come a long way” and “Liberty” to the psychadelifunk of “Mr President”. This really is an amazing find - with a real melting pot of sounds of bands that all went onto become household names - EWF, Parliament(s), Cymande, Sly, Ohios, etc. Incredible instrumentation, vocals and arrangements - what can a bonafide soul lover want for more ? My faves are ‘Three cheers’, ‘Love fades’ and ‘We have love’. A perfect pearl from the bottom of the deepest blue sea - incredible share Nikos - thank you so much !!!
June 13th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Really looking forward to hearing this. Great surprise.
June 14th, 2010 at 12:38 am
More archive digging, please!
June 14th, 2010 at 6:33 am
thanks for this one! gonna be a summer listen!
June 14th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Thx for this great funk stuff - i luv it
June 14th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
cant wait to hear this thanx nikos
June 14th, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Thanks, much appreciated.
June 14th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
A treasure rediscovered. Thanks so much.
June 15th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
many thanks. amazing song. looking forward to the album!
June 15th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
A real rarity; I’m looking forward to hearing it.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Amazing album. My favorite track is “We’ve Come A Long Way”. Thanks…
June 17th, 2010 at 12:09 am
Thank you for the opportunity to expand my musical knowledge & horizons. In some ways, this site is like a spelogical PhD in soul music…digging deep to research and bringing up gems.
Many thanks and respect,
Eugene
June 17th, 2010 at 7:47 am
I’ve had this for a while, but never knew they were from my hometown of Naptown. Word!
June 17th, 2010 at 9:55 am
Thx Bro This is pure gold.
June 18th, 2010 at 9:49 am
Never heard about them before..they sound great. Thank you Nick for introducing this band.
June 18th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Absolute greatness!! Thx a lot for this post!!
June 18th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
great album unknown for me a real gem
thanks moses
June 19th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Wow, this is unbeleivable! Truly one of the best soul-funk albums I have ever heard. I just can’t get my ears off it. Thanks a lot, and keep it up!
June 21st, 2010 at 11:19 pm
Bootiful. Thank You
June 22nd, 2010 at 3:31 am
Been gone for a time but I come back to some gems. Ditto what Trakbuv said….The Analyst laid it out as usual. Many thanks for schooling the young and old, and keeping good music flowing.
June 23rd, 2010 at 12:23 am
Top notch. The guitar work and lyrics remind me of Terry Callier, but then there’s that scorching funk too… Thank you for finding this. I’m sad the musicians never got more recognition, but I hope black America has gems like this to share for years to come.
June 23rd, 2010 at 12:50 am
very interesting album with a jazz vibe… keep up the great work,thanks
July 6th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Another gem from the vaults! Reminded me of Mandrill but also and the French based BLO-later- Lafayette soul band. Thank you one more time