Funk my Soul

The power behind this outfit was Detroit singer/label owner Johnnie Mae Matthews.  Matthews had recorded some solo sides, but by the mid-1960s had shifted her attention to the business side of the house operating a series of small Detroit labels such as Art, Audrey, Big Hit, Jam, Northern, Reel, and Tank.  In 1968 son/drummer Artwell (Art) Matthew and bassist/cousin Mark Patterson started the band Raw Integrated Funk (Ted Nugent was an early member).  Matthews also signed on as their manager and steered them towards a more soul/funk direction as Black Nasty.  The band went through a steady stream of personnel changes an by the early-1970s was largely a family affair with Art and Larry supported by lead guitarist Jackie Cosper  keyboard player  Michael Judkins, sister/singer Audrey Matthews, singer Alice Myers, and keyboardist Larry Thomas.

The group made their recording debut with a 1971 single on Matthew’s Tank label:

- 1971’s ‘You Keep Me Hanging On‘ b/w ‘You Keep Me Hanging On (instrumental)’ (Tank catalog number TY 002)

The single did well in Detroit and with support from Stax songwriter Sir Mack Rice the band sign with Stax’s Enterprise subsidiary which released three singles and an album before dropping them in 1975 shortly before the label collapsed in bankruptcy.

- 1971’s ‘Black Nasty Boogie (Parts 1 and 2) (Enterprise catalog number 9039)
- 1972’s “Rushing Sea‘ b/w ‘Getting Funky Round Here’ (Enterprise catalog number 9054).
- 1974’s ‘Talking To the People‘ b/w ‘I Must be In Love’ (Enterprise catalog number 9098)

1975 saw the band release another one-shot single on Matthew’s optimistically named Big Hit label: - ‘Party On 4th Street (Parts 1 and 2)‘ (Big Hit catalog number TC 0125)

Tracks
A1. Got To Move 2:50
A2. It’s Summertime 2:58
A3. I Need Love 3:20
A4. Look What You’ve Done 3:05
A5. Maybe Your Baby 3:25
B1. Bicentennial Rock & Roll 3:05
B2. Within 5:35
B3. No Deposit, Not Return 2:15
B4. Unlucky Love 2:10
B5. Space Boogie 2:45

Review by RDTEN1

Dropped by the Stax-affiliated Enterprise label after releasing an LP as Black Nasty (1973’s “Talking To the People“), in 1976 the band reappeared as The Nazty.  Signed to the Nashville-based Mankind imprint, they made their label debut with 1976’s “I Got To Move”.  Musically the album featured a largely original collection of material and while there wasn’t a great deal of originality on these ten tracks, the performances were uniformly energetic and enthusiastic. The few online reviews draw a comparison to George Clinton and the Funkadelic/Parliament empire, but to my ears that was a poor comparison since these folks were far more commercial and conventional (plus most of the songs featured Audrey Matthews handling lead vocals).  Regardless, it made for one of those rare albums where the band sounded like they were having fun during the recording sessions.  One of the curiosities on this album stems from the fact they were great when it came to up tempo funk numbers like Got To Move” and ‘Maybe Your Baby, but thoroughly sucked on the ballads like ‘Look What You’ve Done’.

- ‘Got To Move‘ opened the album was a roaring slice of Sly-styled funk.  Kicked along by Audrey’s in-your-face vocal and a great Larry Graham-styled bass line from Mark Patterson, this one was simply fantastic.  Should have been a massive hit for the band.

- A rollicking, breezy, summer-ready track, ‘It’s Summertime‘ had it all going …  great melody, fantastic hook, nice male/female lead vocals, and super cheesy synthesizers.  This was another one that should have been a massive hit for the group.
- Showcasing Audrey on lead vocals, ‘I Need Love‘ was a pretty, but pedestrian ballad.  The problem with this one was Audrey didn’t seem particularly comfortable with the song’s key and her vocals sounded strained and barely in tune.  This one was almost painful to listen to as you weren’t sure she was going to make it through the tune.
- The album’s second ballad, ‘Look What You’ve Done‘ made it clear slower numbers weren’t their creative strength.  There was a song in there somewhere, but the combination of a flat vocal and the absence of a good hook left it as an also-ran composition.
- Turning Stevie Wonder’s ‘Maybe Your Baby‘ into a rollicking slice of funk was actually a great idea resulting in one of the first side’s highlights.
- Side two opened up with the album’s most unusual performance and the standout performance.  Harkening back to their rock roots, ‘Bicentennial Rock & Roll‘ was literally a fantastic rock sound.  The Bus Boys would have killed for a track this good.  Anyone who didn’t think a black band could rock needed to hear this one …
- Following the standout performance, ‘Within‘ found the band trying another ballad.  As you’d expect, the results were lukewarm with the song never really gaining much momentum though Jackie Cosper turned in some nice acoustic guitar work towards the end of the song.
- ‘No Deposit, Not Return‘ was a classic slice of stomping funk with a killer hook in the title track refrain.  Slinky and instantly memorable, these guys could pump certainly crank it up.   The song also had another killer lead guitar performance from Copser.
- Kicked along by some gurgling synthesizers, ‘Unlucky Love‘ was a tasty dance number.  With a great refrain it was one of the more commercial efforts on the album.
- As mentioned earlier, the few brief online reviews you’ll find for this album compare them to George Clinton and the Funkadelic/Parliament family.  The one exception where the comparison held some merit was the closer ‘Space Boogie‘ which actually did sound a little bit like Clinton and company had they had any interest in scoring top-40 exposure.  Propelled by Patterson’s bass, the result was a heavy funk monster that was virtually impossible to resist.  Cosper also happened to turn in his best solo on this one.

The album was also tapped for a pair of singles:

- 1976’s ‘It’s Summertime’ b/w ‘Look What You’ve Done’ (Mankind catalog number 12024)
- 1976’s ‘I Got To Move’ b/w ‘Maybe Your Baby’ (Mankind catalog number 12026)

All in all a nice surprise.  I’ll have to track down a copy of the debut album.

With the album vanishing into thin air, the band subsequently morphed into The ADC Band.

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Buy it from Batcatrecords or Groove Collector

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